Page 4 of Final Verdict
Alas, every few months this place gives me a new reason to regret ever signing the papers.
Today, my main sign is missing the lights under the first “T” and the final letters, so it currently reads “ate & ass.”
Groaning, I pull out my phone and call my top contractor.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Tate!” he answers on the first ring.
“It’ll be a good afternoon when you finally fix my sign, Mr. Julian,” I say. “It’s been two weeks since I called you about it.”
“Yeah, I know, but…”
“But,what?”
“I’m taking my time until I see what happens with that Marbury case you’re handling,” he says. “Word got around that he’s hiring you to represent him.”
“And?”
“And I don’t know if I can work on something that might benefit that boy.”
Jesus Christ…
“With all due respect, Mr. Julian, my clients and their lawsuits have nothing to do with my firm’s lights.”
“Teenager or not, Marbury is not a good person, and you know as well as I do that his drunkenness caused that accident.”
“My sign is supposed to say Tate & Associates.” I ignore his comment. “That’s the only reason I’m calling you.”
“What if the accident had severely injured someone you know, Mr. Tate?” he asks. “Someone you love?”
I don’t love anyone.
“Do you have an ETA on fixing this issue, or do I need to hire someone else?” I ask.
“If Marbury was born to poor parents instead of wealthy ones, I bet you wouldn’t take his case.” He pauses. “You have like twenty cars already, so I doubt you need the extra money.”
I hold back a sigh.
At this point in my career, I don’t need the money from most of my clients, but winning has become one hell of a drug, and I’m the biggest addict I know.
Still, I’ve never felt the need to explain anything about my case selection process to anyone, and that’s not changing anytime soon.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Julian.” I step out of my car. “I’ll hire someone else to handle this. You’ll hear from my assistant about cancelling all future services.”
“Oh, no, wait! I was just?—”
I end the call and stroll through my firm’s doors.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Tate!” My best hire, Rachel, rushes toward me with a smile. “Did you have a good day in court?”
“Always,” I say. “Update my record, please. Not guilty.”
“On it.” She hands me a file. “As a heads up, Miles just hired a team of new paralegals and college students for the upcoming Joseph case.”
“Without asking me?”
“He said you’ll need all the help you can get.” She shrugs. “Oh, and your stepfather has been waiting on line one for almost half an hour.”
“Tell him I died.”
