The Client (Page 27)

"What kind of lawyer is she?" Roy asked.

Mean as hell, thought McThune. Shrewd as the devil, thought Trumann. Quite talented with electronics., "She works hard, doesn’t make much money, but then, I don’t think money is important to Reggie." "Where in the world did she get a name like Reggie?" Foltrigg asked, thoroughly baffled by it. Perhaps it comes from Regina, Ord thought to himself.

Sharpinski started to speak, then thought for a second. "It would take hours to tell what I know about her, and I really don’t want to. It’s not important, is it?" "Maybe," Boxx snapped.

Sharpinski glared at him, then looked at Foltrigg. "When she started law school, she tried to erase most of her past, especially the painful years. She took back her maiden name of Love. I guess she got Reggie from Regina, but I’ve never asked. But she did it legally, court orders and all, and there’s no trace of the old Regina Cardoni, at least not on paper. She didn’t talk about her past in law school, but she was the topic of a lot of conversation. Not that she gives a damn." "Is she still sober?" Foltrigg wanted the dirt, and this irritated Sharpinski. To McThune and Trumann she appeared remarkably sober.

"You’ll have to ask her, Mr. Foltrigg." "How often do you see her?" "Once a month, maybe twice. We talk on the phone occasionally." "How old is she?" Foltrigg asked the question with a great deal of suspicion, as if perhaps Sharpinski and Reggie had a little thing going on the side.

"You’ll have to ask her that too. Early fifties, I’d guess." "Why don’t you call her now, ask her what’s going on, just friendly small talk, you know. See if she mentions Mark Sway." Sharpinski gave Foltrigg a look that would sour butter. Then he looked at Ord, his boss, as if to say "Can you believe this nut?" Ord rolled his eyes and began refilling a stapler.

"Because she’s not stupid, Mr. Foltrigg. In fact, she’s quite smart, and if I call she’ll immediately know the reason why." "Perhaps you’re right." "I am." "I would like you to go with us at three to her office, if you can work it in." Sharpinski looked at Ord for guidance. Ord was deeply involved with the stapler. "I can’t do it. I’m very busy. Anything else?" "No. You can go now," Ord suddenly said. "Thanks, David." Sharpinski left the office.

"I really need him to go with me," Foltrigg said to Ord.

"He said he was busy, Roy. My boys work," he said, looking at Boxx and Fink. A secretary knocked and entered. She brought a two-page fax to Foltrigg, who read it with Boxx. "It’s from my office," he explained to Ord as if he and he alone had such technology at his fingertips. They read on, and Foltrigg finally finished. "Ever hear of Willis Upchurch?" "Yes. He’s a big shot defense lawyer from Chicago, lot of mob ‘work. What’s he done?" "It says he just finished a press conference before a lot of cameras in New Orleans, and that he’s been hired by Muldanno, that the case will be postponed, his client will be found not guilty, etc., etc." "That sounds like Willis Upchurch. I can’t believe you haven’t heard of him." "He’s never been to New Orleans," Foltrigg said with authority, as if he remembered every lawyer who dared to step on his turf.

"Your case just became a nightmare." "Wonderful. Just wonderful."

Chapter 11

JL HE ROOM WAS DARK BECAUSE THE SHADES WERE PULLED.

Dianne was curled along the end of Ricky’s bed, napping. After a morning of mumbling and thrashing and getting everyone’s hopes aroused, he had drifted away again after lunch and had returned to the now-familiar position of knees pulled to his chest, IV in the arm, thumb in the mouth. Greenway assured her repeatedly that he was not in pain. But after squeezing and kissing him for four hours, she was convinced her son was hurting. She was exhausted.

Mark sat on the foldaway bed with his back against the wall under the window, and stared at his brother and his mother in the bed. He, too, was exhausted, but sleep was not possible. Events were whirling around his overworked brain, and he tried to keep thinking. What was the next move? Could Reggie be trusted? He’d seen all those lawyer shows and movies on TV, and it seemed as if half the lawyers could be trusted and the other half were snakes. When should he tell Dianne and Dr. Greenway? If he told them everything, would it help Ricky? He thought about this for a long time. He sat on the bed listening to the quiet voices in the hallway as the nurses went about their work, and debated with himself about how much to tell.

The digital clock next to the bed gave the time as two thirty-two. It was impossible to believe that all this crap had happened in less than twenty-four hours. He scratched his knees and made the decision to tell Greenway everything that Ricky could have seen and heard. He stared at the blond hair sticking out from under the sheet, and he felt better. He would come clean, stop the lying, and do all he could to help Ricky. The things Romey told him in the car were not heard by anyone else, and, for the moment, and subject to advice from his lawyer, he would hold them private for a while.

But not for long. These burdens were getting heavy. This was not a game of hide-and-seek played by trailer park kids in the woods and ravines around Tucker Wheel Estates. This was not a sly little escape from his bedroom for a moonlit walk through the neighborhood. Romey stuck a real gun in his mouth. These were real FBI agents with real badges, just like the true crime stories on television. He had hired a real lawyer who’d stuck a real tape recorder to his stomach so she could outfox the FBI. The man who killed the senator was a professional killer who’d murdered many others, according to Romey, and was a member of the Mafia, and thosepeople would think nothing of rubbing out an eleven-year-old kid.

This was just too much for him to handle alone. He should be at school right now, fifth period, doing math which he hated but suddenly missed. He’d have a long talk with Reggie. She’d arrange a meeting with the FBI, and he’d tell them every stinking detail Ro-mey had unloaded on him. Then they would protect him. Maybe they would send in bodyguards until the killer went to jail, or maybe they would arrest him immediately and all would be safe. Maybe.

Then he remembered a movie about a guy who squealed on the Mafia and thought the FBI would protect him, but suddenly he was on the run with bullets flying over his head and bombs going off. The FBI wouldn’t return his phone calls because the guy didn’t say something right in the courtroom. At least twenty times during the movie someone said, "The mob never forgets." In the final scene, this guy’s car was blown to bits just as he turned the key, and he landed a half a mile away with no legs. As he took his final breath, a dark figure stood over him and said, "The mob never forgets." It wasn’t much of a movie, but its message was suddenly clear to Mark.

He needed a Sprite. His mother’s purse was on the floor under the bed, and he slowly unzipped it. There were three bottles of pills. There were two packs of cigarettes and for a split second he -was tempted. He found the quarters and left the room.

A nurse whispered to an old man in the waiting area. Mark opened his Sprite and walked to the elevators. Greenway had asked him to stay in the room as much as possible, but he was tired of the room and tired of Greenway, and there seemed little chance of Ricky waking anytime soon. He entered the elevator and pushed the button to the basement. He would check out the cafeteria, and see what the lawyers were doing.

A man entered just before the doors closed, and seemed to look at him a bit too long. "Are you Mark Sway?" he asked.