Page 23 of The Right to Remain

“Is this something I should tell the grand jury, Mr. Swyteck?” asked Elliott.

“Only if I can get the state attorney to grant you immunity from prosecution first.”

“I must be missing something,” said Theo. “Why the hell would CJ open his doors and let us seethis?”

“Good question,” Jack said as he tossed the gun frame back into the box with all the others. “Nobody’sthatstupid.”

Chapter 7

It was a typical Monday morning at the courthouse for Jack. A couple of hearings on pretrial motions, a cup of bad coffee from the vending machine, and a trip down the internal stairwell because the elevator was broken. He was cutting across the lobby, almost to the revolving-door exit, when another lawyer caught his attention.

“Swyteck, got a minute?”

He stopped. It was Patricia Dubrow, the attorney who’d been on the losing side of Jack’s ninety-ninth jury trial and then referred Elliott to him as a client.

“Sure,” said Jack. “And thanks again for the referral.”

“No problem. Are you good with that cup of lukewarm swill, or can I buy you a real coffee?”

“I remember real coffee,” said Jack as he pitched the paper cup into the trash.

They exited through the revolving door and continued down the courthouse steps. The coffee shop was directly across the street, an easy jaywalk away. They ordered at the walk-up counter, two café con leches and one Cuban pastry (guava with cream cheese) to share—which Jack ordered in Spanish, not because the barista didn’t speak English, but because it was a scientific fact that a little extra effort made everything taste better, even if your Spanish was so bad it made yourabuelacringe. There were no seats available inside, so they stood outside at one of the high-top tables.

Jack cut the pastry into equal halves and gave one to Patricia, who kicked off the conversation.

“So, I heard you took a tour of my client’s company.”

Jack was taken aback. “You represent C. J. Vandermeer?”

“And his company. That’s why I referred Elliott to you. In case there is a potential conflict between the employee and the employer.”

“I’m sorry. You didn’t tell me the nature of the conflict. I would have called you before visiting the plant, had I known.”

“I understand. But just so there are no more crossed wires, you should also know that I represent Helena Pollard. Which means that you shouldn’t be calling her.”

“I wasn’t calling to ask her to hire me. Just doing normal leg work to get Elliott ready to testify.”

“Of course. But from now on, do your leg work through me.”

“No problem,” said Jack. “But I’m a little confused. You referred Elliott to me because you said it was a conflict of interest for you to take him on.”

“Apotentialconflict,” she said. “It was conceivable to me that Elliott might say something contrary to the interests of my other clients—the company or C. J. Vandermeer.”

“You don’t see the same potential conflict by taking on Helena as a client?”

“Nope.”

Jack waited to hear more. She drank from her coffee cup.

“That’s it?” asked Jack. “‘Nope’?”

“I’ve vetted the situation thoroughly, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“You mind walking me through that analysis?”

She tasted the pastry and literally gave Jack a thumbs-up, then continued.

“I saw a potential conflict between Elliott and the company, so I referred him to you. Helena’s interests are completely aligned with CJ’s, so I’m representing both, with their consent. On the other hand, there’s anactualconflict between Helena and Elliott. Which is why you need to stop calling Helena.”