Chapter
Sixteen
Landon prepared himself for a very awkward conversation with Noah. He’d been doing a lot of thinking and even praying about the situation. Since he had prayed for Kate the other night, it seemed only natural that he would pray about the situation with Noah. He wasn’t expecting any immediate, quick fixes to his problems, but he wanted to take responsibility for his actions.
He’d apologized to Noah right after the incident, but looking back now, he knew it wasn’t a heartfelt apology. He hadn’t really been sorry at all. He was only sorry that he had been caught.
He’d asked Noah to come to Kate’s house to look at the new security system before Kate got home. He didn’t think Noah would have shown if he had told him he wanted to talk about personal stuff.
Noah arrived, and Landon opened the door. “Come on inside.”
Noah blew right past him. “What’s this about a concern you have about the system? This thing is brand-new. I installed it myself.”
“Have a seat, and I’ll explain.”
Noah raised an eyebrow but didn’t object as he was led into the kitchen.
Landon sat across the table from Noah. It was time to face what he had done. “I didn’t call you here to talk about the security system. Although, while you’re here, I would appreciate you running a diagnostic check just to be on the safe side.”
“So what is it you really want?” Noah asked.
Landon took a deep breath. “I want to apologize.”
Noah blinked. “What?”
“I know I deserve the cold shoulder plus so much more. I also know that when I told you I was sorry over a year ago, I didn’t mean it, and you probably realized that.”
“So why now?”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I did. I knew it was wrong at the time, but I didn’t care. When I came back from that last tour, I wanted to be as destructive as possible—to myself and even to those I cared about. I’m not making excuses for what I did—my actions were inexcusable—but I want you to know that I truly am sorry for hurting you and betraying you. You’ve only been a friend to me, and I can’t say the same about myself to you.”
Noah’s dark eyes softened. “I know you went through some messed up stuff in Iraq. I worked with military guys at ATF and heard enough of their stories to understand that you came back a different man. And I should’ve done more when you returned. I shouldn’t have shut you out regardless of what you did to me, because I knew you were struggling. Even though I tried not to, I held a grudge against you for a long time because of Gina. I’ve been praying that I could let it go and that we’d have this exact conversation one day.”
“Funny you mention that, because I’ve started trying to reconnect with my faith.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, I know it’s shocking. Especially after all the things I said and the way I acted when I came back.” He was ashamed of so many things.
“You were hurting, Landon. The Lord doesn’t hold that against you.” Noah paused. “It’s Kate, isn’t it? These changes in you are because of her.”
He sucked in a breath as he contemplated Noah’s words. “What do you mean?”
“I see the way you look at her, man. It’s obvious.”
Was it that obvious? Landon hadn’t even come to terms with his feelings yet, but his friend was calling him out. He shook his head. “Kate is a remarkable woman, and she has helped me a lot, just by being able to talk with her about things that I haven’t opened up to anyone else about. But right now, we’re just good friends.”
“I think you probably want more than that, though, and it’s great. I just want to warn you, given the stakes involved in this case. You can’t afford to have your judgment clouded because of your feelings.”
“Roger that.” He understood Noah’s point. It was a valid one, but he wasn’t sure how he was going to manage his relationship with Kate going forward—whatever that may be. He wasn’t even sure how Kate felt about him.
“One other thing,” Noah said. “The situation with Gina was messed up, but the fact that she was willing to cheat on me made me realize that she wasn’t the woman I thought she was.”
“Has there been anyone since?”
Noah shook his head. “I’m a bit wary of putting myself out there again, and our business taking off has been great. I’ve been able to throw myself into the work. Cooper and I are really building something.”
“I’m totally impressed, but I always knew you two guys were the real deal.”
“That means a lot, coming from you. We’ve been putting in the time and effort, that’s for sure. And I think Cooper probably hasn’t pushed it because of the rocky relationship between you and me, but we’re going to be expanding into investigations work. There’s an opportunity for you there, if you’re interested.”
“He did mention it, and I’m honored you guys would even consider me. Let me get through this case, and then we can figure out whether that would make any sense.” It floored him that Noah was truly willing to forgive him—so much so that he’d basically offered Landon a job. “Noah, I don’t deserve your friendship. You’re a better man than I’ll ever be.”
Noah reached over the table and gave Landon’s shoulder a hearty pat. “We need to put this behind us.”
“I don’t even know what to say, beyond thank you.”
“So we’re good, then. Let me take a look at the system while I’m here. Have there been any more threats since the garage incident?”
“No, but between me and Coop, we’ve been providing tight security for her. I’m still mad at myself for loosening things up in the first place.”
“What do you think MPC’s endgame is?”
“As far as endgame, it worries me to even think like that. I believe their immediate goal is to scare her to impact her trial preparation. But as Kate gets closer to the truth, if they sense that, then this could go sideways really quick.”
“And who is actually behind all of this?”
“We’re trying to figure that out too. We found out from Pierce that there’s a guy in corporate security trying to keep the scientists in line. Whether he had anything to do with the attacks against Kate, I don’t know. Also, I can’t imagine someone like that acting without some direction or authorization from a person with power. Whether that goes all the way to the CEO is an open question. And to add to that, there’s an extra wrinkle because Kate is friends with the opposing counsel. She doesn’t think he could be connected to any of this, but I’m not so sure.”
“Maybe you’re just jealous?”
Landon laughed. “Maybe a little, but that’s not why I’m suspicious. The whole thing stinks, if you ask me. I don’t trust him at all. He’s representing a company that we know has done some pretty bad stuff.”
“Well, I’ve got the tech side covered, but whatever else you guys need, just let me know.”
Enough of the games. Kate walked toward Bonnie’s office. It was time to confront her head on and find out if Bonnie had any role in what was happening at the firm. It was clear someone was playing mind games with her. It was hurting the case, which meant the client, and Kate wanted it to stop.
Kate knocked, but since Bonnie’s door was open, she walked right on in.
Bonnie looked up from her computer. “Do you want to talk?”
“Yes.” Kate shut the door behind her and took a seat in one of Bonnie’s fancy navy chairs. Partners were responsible for buying their own furniture, and Bonnie’s office was the most stylish in the firm.
“Judging from the annoyed look on your face, something must be wrong. You really don’t hide your feelings well, Kate.”
“You’re right. You’re one of my partners, and I need to know that you’re not trying to hurt me or the case.”
“What are you talking about?”
Kate held back a groan. “For starters, how about my brief being deleted from the shared system? Or the binders disappearing from the war room? Or a whole set of documents that had been reviewed by the team being wiped clean of all notes? I could keep going. And I want to know if you’re involved in this.”
Kate didn’t think she’d ever seen Bonnie look surprised before. “I had absolutely nothing to do with any of that. I’m shocked that you would come into my office and accuse me of this. It’s ridiculous.”
“Is it that crazy? You’ve made it very clear since the day I stepped foot into this firm that you don’t like me, especially after the Mitchell trial, when you didn’t take my strategy advice and lost. You’ve never forgiven me for how that made you look. So here I am, on the biggest case of my career, and I can’t help but wonder if you want to see me fall flat on my face.”
Bonnie’s eyes widened. “I want no such thing. You and I are nothing alike, and you’re right that I didn’t seek you out to become my new best friend, but I would never—and I repeat, never—jeopardize a case. I know I can be tough to deal with, but I am not disloyal to my partners.”
The passion in Bonnie’s words shook Kate. Was it possible Bonnie was completely innocent in all of this? “But if it’s not you, then who could it be?”
“Putting aside for a moment that you wrongly accused me of this, it’s a big problem. Could it be one of the junior associates pulling some sort of practical joke? Maybe Phil, the guy I kicked off the team? He was humiliated in front of all of his peers. That might be strong enough motivation to act out as payback against the team he can’t be a part of.”
“I considered Phil, but would he really risk his job over this? He has to know that the repercussions for deleting a partner’s brief are a lot more than a slap on the wrist.”
“Maybe, but like I told you before, Millennials are a lot different than we ever were at that age. Have you checked with security to make sure there haven’t been any breaches into our systems or our offices?”
“No, but that’s a good idea.” Kate paused and gave Bonnie a sheepish look. “I’m sorry that I came in here flinging accusations at you.”
“It’s okay. You’re under a lot of pressure, but it’s not me. So someone else is trying to mess with you. I would call a meeting of all the associates working on the case and try to ferret out the culprit. And since you aren’t exactly the scariest of people, I’ll offer my services. Have you talked to Adam or William about this?”
“Not yet. I didn’t want to bring them into it.”
“Fine. The two of us will handle it. Set up the meeting, and I’ll be there.”
“Thank you, Bonnie. You have no idea how much that means to me.”
Bonnie gave her a wry smirk. “Don’t read too much into it. We’re still not going to be bffs.”
Kate smiled. “I’ve gotten that message loud and clear, but thank you.”
She left Bonnie’s office relieved but wondering if she could truly trust Bonnie. She really didn’t know who she could trust. Someone on her own team was still working against her.
Ethan walked toward the MPC building, on his way to talk to Royce about his upcoming deposition. His cell rang, and he took the call before he entered the building because he saw that it was Kate. He wondered what she wanted.
“Hey there,” he answered.
“Hi,” Kate said. “Do you have a minute?”
“I’m about to head into a meeting, but I have two minutes to spare.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way.”
“Uh-oh. Anytime you use that kind of intro, it can’t be good.”
“Something happened to me last week. I don’t want to get into all the details, but I was attacked in the stairwell of a parking garage downtown.”
He stopped short. “What? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine now, but . . .”
“But what? Kate, what aren’t you telling me?”
“We’ve known each other for a long time, so I’m asking you this because of our friendship.” She paused. “You didn’t know anything about this, did you?”
“Of course not. How would I know anything about it?” He gripped his cell tightly against his ear.
“Because I have a feeling that MPC is trying to send me a signal.”
“You think MPC sent someone after you?”
“It’s very possible. This isn’t the first incident since I started working on this case. They want to throw me off my game.”
“That’s insane. There’s no way they would do that.” As the words came out of his mouth, his stomach clenched. Would they? Could Royce be capable of something like this? Even though Royce was cutthroat, this seemed like a stretch even for him. A big stretch.
“I want to believe that, Ethan. And I hate to think that you could be involved in trying to hurt me.”
“I absolutely would never do anything like that, Kate. You know I care about you.” How much should he defend MPC without knowing the facts? He believed it was his duty to defend them until he knew more. “MPC is focused on the legal case, not attacking you personally. Do you have any evidence to support why you think it could be them?”
There was a pause on the other line. “No. I don’t have concrete evidence. I’m glad to hear you think that they aren’t targeting me, but I felt like I had to let you know what I thought might be going on. And if they are coming after me, I need you to tell them to back off.”
“Thanks for letting me know. I have to run into this meeting now.” He needed to get off the phone and confront Royce about this. “But take care of yourself, Kate.”
He ended the call and walked into the MPC building as his mind raced, trying to piece together the implications. Royce had said he was worried about Kate nosing around, but it was a long way between that and sending someone to attack her.
It seemed like forever before Penny was able to escort him into Royce’s office. When he entered, he saw Bradley Cummings was there too. That only made Ethan more suspicious. Why did Royce and Bradley need to meet so much? His imagination was running wild.
“Ethan, great to see you,” Royce said.
“I need a minute with you alone,” Ethan said, dispensing with the pleasantries.
Royce looked at him for a moment, sizing him up. “All right. Bradley, keep me updated on what you’re working on. I’ll touch base with you later.”
Bradley nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Ethan with Royce.
“What is it now? You have more bad news for me? First losing this motion and now who knows what?”
Ethan tried to remain calm and remind himself that Royce was still the client—a very important client, key to his career. “Did you send someone to attack Kate?”
Royce’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Kate was assaulted in a downtown parking garage. I’m asking you point-blank if you had anything to do with it.”
“Absolutely not. I know you may have some reservations about my business practices, but there are clear lines that I won’t cross. I haven’t touched that lawyer, and I have no intention to. But I’m relying on you to beat her in the courtroom, and so far, you aren’t doing too well at that.”
Royce’s stinging words cut at Ethan, but he did seem convincing about not having anything to do with Kate’s attack. Maybe Kate was just paranoid and looking for answers. “We can come back around to that issue, but I just wanted to make sure I could look Kate in the eyes and tell her truthfully that MPC is not responsible for what happened to her.”
“Of course you can. That should be the last worry on your mind.”
“Good. Now, as far as losing the motion, that’s one of the reasons I’m here. After the loss, the settlement demand went up to five hundred million.”
Royce rolled his eyes. “That’s ludicrous. Even if I wanted to agree to that, which I don’t, there’s no way the board would go for it. We aren’t in the wrong here, Ethan. I’ve told you time and again. Yes, the initial version of the drug had some adverse side effects—all drugs do. But there’s no evidence that Celix causes brain tumors.”
Ethan considered the CEO for a moment. It wasn’t unusual for clients to lie to their lawyers. But now wasn’t the time to force the issue. “Understood. The other thing we need to start thinking about is your deposition.”
Royce waved his hand in the air. “I don’t want you stressing about that. I’m going to be a stellar witness. I’ve been deposed in other lawsuits before.”
Ethan swallowed a sigh. Trying to control Royce as a witness was going to be nearly impossible. “Were any of them this substantial?”
Royce shook his head. “No, but I guarantee that you won’t have to worry about me.”
Somehow Ethan highly doubted that. “What are you going to do if a problematic document is put in front of you at the deposition?”
“That’s not going to happen if you do your job and make sure they aren’t turned over in the first place.”
“Nothing is a hundred percent when you’re dealing with this volume of documents. There is such a thing as human or even computer error.”
“For your sake, you better hope that doesn’t happen. And even if it does, I can spin documents if I need to. You don’t get to be the CEO of one of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies unless you can handle things like this.”
“You do realize there is something called perjury. I don’t want to put you in that position. We need to be prepared.”
Royce frowned. “Ethan, I’m beginning to think that you’re much softer than what I need here. You’re knee-deep in all of this, so you need to put your conscience aside and get the job done.”
Ethan’s fists clenched, and he forced them to relax. “With all due respect, Royce, I hope you didn’t put your conscience aside and decide to send Kate a threatening message.”
Royce’s frown deepened into a glower. “You should have as much concern over the case as you do over that woman. Is there something you haven’t told me about your relationship with her?”
“No. We’re friends. That’s it. But you didn’t answer my question.”
“I already answered when you first barged in here with your bad attitude. I’m not going to resort to physical violence—at least not against her—but you, on the other hand, are trying my patience right now.”
There was no way Ethan could do any substantive deposition preparation with Royce today. They were both far too upset. He needed to defuse the situation and regroup. “I think it might be best for me to go and for us to find another time to work on preparing you for deposition.”
Royce relaxed a bit. “You’re right. Things today have gotten a bit heated. There’s a lot on the line for both of us. We have to remember that we’re on the same team and want the same result. That should drive us to work together and do whatever is necessary to reach those goals.”
“I agree.”
Except, unlike Royce, he actually had some lines that he wouldn’t cross. He just had to figure out what those were.