The absolute last thing I want to do is have a conversation with Pete Sanders, but it’s better to rip this Band-Aid off now.
I message Lila to send him back.
The door opens and Lila extends an arm, motioning for him to enter my office.
Pete is in his late fifties. He’s average height but heavyset in a way that makes him look stumpy. And instead of embracing his male-pattern baldness, he’s trained the hair on the back of his head to swirl around to the front and settle on top.
I stand when he comes in the room but don’t go around to greet him like I normally would.
We shake hands from across my desk, and I gesture to the chair next to him. “Have a seat and tell me what brings you in today.”
He takes his time getting settled while watching me the whole time. I relax and give him the impression I have all day.
“Since Ben is dead, is this conversation protected by client–attorney privilege?” His question isn’t completely unexpected but the abruptness is jarring, as is the lack of condolences on Ben’s unexpected passing.
“Yes, of course.”
“Okay, good. I need to know what’s happening to my case now.”
I rock back in my chair as I explain exactly what will be in a letter Lila is drafting that will go out to all of Ben’s clients tomorrow. “When a member of a firm passes away, the remaining member or members, me, in this case, will review each open case and decide if the firm can continue representing the client or if the client needs to be referred to new counsel. Obviously, the client has a say in this process and can choose either to leave or to stay, depending on the firm’s decision.”
Pete doesn’t know it yet but his is definitely one I will be passing off to someone else.
He leans forward, his hands resting on his knees. “No. You’re not understanding me. What happens tomycase. Ben had it all but handled, so what happens now?”
I tilt my head to the side, giving him the impression I’m confused by his question. “Handled?” I flip through the sparse pages in the office copy of this file. “Were you accepting a plea deal or…”
Pete leans forward to the point I fear he will face-plant on my desk. “Fucking handled! As in those pieces of shit at the DOT will recant or risk their own dirty little secrets coming out. Those bastards were all too happy to take my money, but the second they got questioned, they ratted me out.”
I wasn’t sure if he’d play dumb or come right out and say Ben was intimidating witnesses, but there it is.
I hold a hand up. “Mr. Sanders. Let me just say I’m unaware of what you’re referring to, and I feel sure Ben would act in your defense to the best of his abilities while also obeying the laws we all are held to…”
He doesn’t wait for me to finish. He stands and sweeps his hand across the top of my desk, and file folders go flying. I try to grab as many as I can before they tumble to the floor but all I get is air.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Pete is red in the face, pointing his finger at me. “Drop the moral high ground bullshit speech. This fucking firm was built on backdoor deals. Please tell me you don’t believe a kid fresh out of law school won Representative Wells’s case on his own, given the mountain of evidence they had on him, without someone making that evidence go away. Figure outhow Ben was going to make my case go away and finish what he fucking started. You will not like what happens if this case goes to trial.”
He storms out just as Lila pokes her head in.
She watches him go, then comes running to help me pick everything up. “What in the world was that about?”
“That son of a bitch thinks he’s going to threaten me,” I mumble as I gather everything off the floor and plop it all on top of my desk.
Now I’m wondering how many clients like Pete Sanders Ben has.
“Will you get me a printout of all of Ben’s open cases. Just the clients’ names.” I’m going to cross-check them against the stack I took from his home office. “Also, Ben references the name ‘Chief’ in his notes. Ask Tricia if she knows who that is. Maybe it’s a PI he uses…or something along those lines.”
What the fuck, Ben.
Chapter 19
Aubrey
The Alibi
Saturday, October 10
