Page 68 of He Has It All (Boston Brawlers Hockey)
“We’ve done some legwork for the case,” Eli continues, “quick investigation, background and preparation.” He looks straight at me. “Tim is a pretty upstanding guy from what we can gather. His wife, while not a pillar, has no obvious strikes against her, but we haven’t gone back as far as college yet.”
I nod. I know Tim is a decent guy, his choice in women notwithstanding. I’m not disappointed by the discovery, but he’s suing me—going for the jugular—and the fresh confirmation of his betrayal makes me want to puke. Clamping my mouth shut tight, I think of kittens and kids playing street hockey.
“We had Chelsea write up a statement,” Eli continues, “and sign an affidavit about what she witnessed. We’re looking into other potential witnesses.”
“I’m a witness,” Levi says. “I want to stand up for my bro—”
“Absolutely not,” I say. I turn to Eli. “Go on.”
“We had our in-house people do a quick audit of your financials and thank God everything appears in order. Partly thanks to Ham running a tight ship.” Eli nods at Ham, who winks.
“The weakness of our defense is your reputation as a womanizer.”
I take the blow, keeping my cool, but flinching on the inside. Ham shakes his head in sympathy.
“We changed our strategy too little too late,” he says.
Eli clears his throat and continues, “On the other hand, it makes Tiffany’s story less plausible since you’ve no need to attack a woman to gain sexual favor. Apparently, it’s well known and documented that women throw themselves at you.”
“True story,” Levi says.
Eli shakes his head. “For real?” he asks me.
Heaving a sigh, I nod.
“Damn.”
“It sucks to be me,” I say, half grinning. Because it really does suck lately.
“Yes, well, that brings us to the question. Do we want to settle or do we want to go to trial and defend the suit?”
“Defend it. I did nothing wrong.” Easy decision.
Ham frowns. “If you do that, you’ll have to put up with media and public scrutiny for the duration. And correct me if I’m wrong, but it could take years to get to trial.”
Eli says, “Eighteen months at a minimum. Most likely two years.”
“What if we could get it dismissed?” Levi says.
“Well that would be peachy. Why don’t we do that?” I say.
“No, seriously,” Levi says. “This is Tim we’re talking about, not a stranger. There’s something going on beneath the surface with this shit. This isn’t about greed. And it most certainly is not about justice, since Tiffany is a fucking liar.”
“True, but what does that add up to?” I say. “We’re working with a nutcase and her blind and deaf husband who is so far gone that he throws away—no, drops a nuclear bomb on a long-time friendship and a big-time client because he buys into his wife’s bullshit.”
“I think we can get to him. Or at least there’s a chance and we should take it.”
“Go for it,” Eli says, skeptical. “Let me know how it turns out. Meantime, I’ll be preparing an answer to the complaint.”
“Good luck,” I say. “That all we got?”
“No,” Eli says. “I’ve arranged for a conference call this evening with the plaintiff’s attorney to discuss the possibility of a settlement. We can see where he stands, maybe get a feel for their case at the very least. I don’t expect to actually settle the case tonight. Keep that in mind.”
He sets his phone on the table in front of us and taps in a number. We all listen to the phone ring. I’m thinking it’s kind of late for a business call and hope they’re not screwing with us.
Eli says, “I’ll put it on speaker, but I’m doing all the talking. I know what we want them to hear and what we don’t.”
The ringing stops and the phone clicks.
