Read Online An Invisible Client by Victor Methos - Free Book Online Page A

to seem busy, the Bar would look for ways to disbar people. They would conduct stings on attorneys and disbar them the first chance they got. That never happened to the big-name attorneys at the big firms. It was always the little man who got screwed: the working man.
    “He’s hiding something. Something he’s scared I’m going to find.”
    “Maybe. Or maybe he’s old. This is a new, up-and-coming company, and they want him on it personally. Maybe he just doesn’t feel like trying cases anymore.”
    I took a deep breath. Ultimately, I had no control over what Bob did or didn’t do.
    “Listen,” Jepp said, “I’m going to calm him down. Let him know it’s just business. I got connections at the Bar, too. I don’t think anything will come of it, but I thought I’d relay the message that this is a sensitive one for him.”
    I couldn’t understand why. At $400 million in revenue, Pharma-K wasn’t even Walcott’s biggest client.
    “Well, lemme know if you hear anything else.”
    “I will. You take care of yourself, Noah.”
    I stared at the walls for a good five minutes after that, trying to understand why Bob would care so much about this one case. In reality, Pharma-K could pay us off with what would be considered pennies in relation to their revenue and have us sign a nondisclosure agreement so we could never release details about the case or the settlement. This was about more than trying to avoid the bad press from a lawsuit. I was close to something Bob was frightened of.
    Raimi poked his head in. “Meeting.”
    I checked my watch. It was time for our weekly case meeting, where the attorneys gave updates on the major cases the firm was handling. At work meetings, there was a fine line between getting on the same page and just masturbating in a conference room for two hours. Our meetings seemed to cross into the latter territory more often than not.
    I hiked over to the conference room, where I found pastries and silver water pitchers with glasses, not paper cups. I sat down at the head of the conference table and leaned back in my seat. Once everyone was seated, the Commandant shouted, “All right, quit your jawin’. Marty, you start.”
    Marty went into the details of an airline case he was handling. A small plane had gone down over Venezuela while carrying two Americans, both our clients. We suspected there had been a malfunction with the engine, and Marty began discussing the conversation he’d had with our engineers, who would be called as experts in the case.
    I zoned out until I spotted Olivia in the corner. She smiled at me, and I grinned. Then I rested my cheek on my palm and listened for the next hour as we went around the table and everyone talked about cases no one else cared about. That was the masturbation part.
    Finally, it came to me.
    “Noah,” Marty said, “what’s going on with the Pharma Killer case? We taking it?”
    Another attorney, a senior associate with a haircut like an anchorman’s, said, “I heard we were handling that. That’s awesome.”
    I stared at him, and he swallowed and looked away.
    “Still looking into it. Waiting for a report from KGB.”
    The anchorman said, “That guy kinda gives me the creeps.”
    Marty responded, “He’s the best investigator I’ve ever seen. And he’s exclusively for partner use. I don’t want his time taken up by dog bites and rear-end accidents. He’s on our big stuff.” He looked at me. “Anything else, Noah?”
    I shook my head, and they moved on to the next attorney.
    The meeting lasted two and a half hours, and I didn’t feel like we accomplished much. I rose and was about to leave when the Commandant said, “You have a call with Nyer the Denier in fifteen minutes.”
    “Shit. Now? I was gonna go to the gym.”
    “Three-hundred-thousand-dollar case. Get to it and get that money, Mister. Now.”
    Sometimes, I wondered why the Commandant’s name wasn’t on the wall. I headed to my office and waited for the call.