Brad Meltzer - Dead Even

Entering the indoor concourse that surrounded the rink, Sara saw that the only thing that had changed since the Carlyle was the location. The regular restaurants were now replaced by the standard Wayne & Portnoy party configuration. Hors d’oeuvre stations were scattered throughout the rooms, drinks were being served at six different bars, and the same old lawyers in their same old tuxedos were having the same old conversations.

“Sara! Over here!” someone shouted from across the room. She recognized Jared’s voice and craned her neck to find him. As he waved her over, she saw that he was standing with an older man who was graying at the temples. “Fred, I want you to meet my wife,” Jared said as Sara approached them. “Sara, this is Fred Joseph – maybe the best defense man in the whole firm.”

Putting on her best party smile, Sara politely shook Fred’s hand. “So nice to finally meet you,” she said.

“Isn’t it, though,” Fred replied. Only Jared laughed at the joke. Undeterred, Fred added, “Jared tells me you two are on opposite sides. Must be tough trying to talk to each other.”

“Yeah,” she said. She couldn’t even force a laugh. “Listen, Fred, would you mind excusing us a moment? I haven’t seen him all day and-”

“No need to explain,” Fred said. “Jared, we’ll talk later.”

“That’d be great,” Jared said with a full smile. But as soon as Fred was out of sight, the smile was gone. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he barked at Sara. “He’s a partner.”

“I don’t care if he’s your mother,” Sara shot back. “I’m not in the mood.”

A few people were starting to stare. Refusing to make a scene, Jared took her by the hand and calmly walked to the corner of the restaurant. Still finding no privacy, he headed toward the swinging doors of the kitchen. Inside, there were waiters with silver platters running in every direction. All Jared cared about, though, was that there were no lawyers.

But before Jared could say a word, a waiter approached the couple. “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t have you standing here. We’ve got hot plates-”

“This is an emergency,” Jared insisted. “Just give me a minute.”

“But, sir…”

Jared pulled Sara to the far wall of the kitchen, next to an ever-growing stack of dirty dishes. “We’re out of the way. Now give me a minute.” The annoyed waiter left, and Jared looked back at his wife. “Don’t ever embarrass me like that again,” he said to Sara. “This is my life.”

“You knew I didn’t want to come tonight.”

“But you said you would.”

“I don’t care what I said – I don’t want to be here.”

“And you think I do? I’m up to my ears in work. This case is killing me.”

“You always have it the worst, don’t you?”

“Actually, I do,” Jared said, raising his voice. “So the least you can do is make it easier for me.”

“Why? You’re not making it easier for me to see Kozlow. Instead, I have to put it all in writing.”

“So that’s what this is about. You’re mad because I’m sticking to protocol. Well, sorry, hon, but if you didn’t want to play hardball-”

“Don’t give me your macho clichés. This isn’t hardball and it’s certainly not protocol – it’s just you being a pompous ass.”

“Oh, it is?”

“It definitely is. Why else would you make me jump through your paper-shuffling hoops?”

“Why would you call my law firm’s billing department pretending to be Kathleen?” Jared shot back.

Sara froze. “What’re you talking about?”

“Sara, I know you were the one who called. What’d you think, they weren’t going to tell me that someone was trying to get Kozlow’s billing information? The moment I heard it, I knew it was you.”

Sara didn’t say a word.

“And you think I was playing unfair?” Jared continued. “What you did not only violated a half dozen ethics rules – it also violated our trust. You know my career is at stake, and you still played dirty behind my back. I’d never do that to you.”

“You wouldn’t?”

“No, I wouldn’t,” Jared insisted.

“Then why’d you tell Barrow to feed me bogus information about the case?”

Jared stared angrily at his wife.

“Oh, no, you’d never do anything behind my back,” Sara said sarcastically. “You’re all perfect and proper with your superstar firm, and its big parties, and its never-lose attitude. Well, let me tell you something: When all is said and done, you’re just as ruthless as I am. The only difference is I don’t pretend that I’m pitching my tent on the moral high ground.”

“I don’t need the lecture,” Jared interrupted. “I know what I did, and I take full responsibility for it. So if you want to talk about this case, let’s talk. Otherwise, I don’t need to spend every night fighting about our individual trial strategies.”

Sara leaned against one of the industrial refrigerators and took a deep breath. “I agree. Now what else is there to talk about?”

“How about the realistic conclusion of this case?” Jared asked. “The way I see it, we should get this wrapped up as soon as possible. The longer we keep it going, the less time we have for Pop, who I’m sure would-”

“You son of a bitch.”

“What’d I-”

“Don’t you dare use him against me!” Sara shouted. “He’s not a bargaining chip! He’s my family! Do you understand?”

“Sara, I swear I didn’t mean anything by that. I was just-”

“I know exactly what you meant. Now if you want to talk, that’s fine, but leave Pop out of it. I don’t even want to hear his name mentioned.”

“Fine, then let me get straight to the point. As far as I can tell, you have nothing to work with. You won a weak indictment based on the testimony of an incompetent cop and an unreliable witness – both of whom you know I’ll rip apart at trial. When you take them out, this is nothing more than a simple mistaken-identity case. So to make it easy on you, I’m giving you one last offer: Take the dismiss and seal now, or take the loss at trial. It’s your choice.”

“That’s a nice speech,” Sara said. “But there’s no way you’re avoiding a trial.”

Jared’s fists tightened and his face flushed with blood. “Dammit, Sara, why do you have to be so stubborn?”

“That’s funny,” Sara said coldly as she walked out of the kitchen. “I was just going to ask you the same question.” Pushing her way through the doors, she added, “Enjoy the rest of your party.”

“You look terrible,” the elevator operator told Sara a week later.

“You should’ve seen me when I woke up,” Sara said. Bags under her eyes darkened her fair complexion. “It took me a full hour to make myself look this good.”

“It always happens that way – you start losing your case, you start losing your sleep.”

“Who said I’m losing my case?” Sara asked as the elevator doors shut.

“Don’t get mad at me, I’m just telling you what I hear. Word on this ride is that you’re facing off against your husband. Honey, if you wanted to hurt yourself, there are less painful ways to do it.” When Sara didn’t show a hint of a smile, he added, “It’s getting down and dirty, isn’t it?”

Sara nodded. “When he first got on the case, I was torn up by the idea that I might potentially hurt him. But now… now it’s starting to get personal. Every day, we’re finding new ways to stab each other in the back.”

“Of course you are – the best way to hide fear is with anger. It’s the next logical step. You shouldn’t be surprised.”

“I’m not surprised, I’m just disappointed. I thought we were stronger than that.”