Without allowing the bastard to finish, I lost it. All control. All sense of reality. All sense of doing the right thing. I slammed him against the wall with enough force his beloved picture of him flying some goddamn plane fell from the wall, the glass shattering. I didn’t hesitate to wrap my hand around his throat. “You motherfucking son of a bitch.”
Dan’s eyes opened wide mainly because he’d never seen me lose control. Not once during our limited friendship. This time I had a damn good reason. So I squeezed his neck, fighting with that very anger to keep from snapping it.
“Please.”
“Please what? Allow you to live?” Something snapped back into place in my mind and I let him go, turning away out of disgust, not embarrassment. “I cannot believe you allowed that to happen.”
“Do you… think I… wanted to expose those people?” His strangled cough annoyed the hell out of me.
“At this point, I have no clue what you wanted, but it’s painfully obvious you were going to let the chips fall without interference. Do you know what that means, Dan?” I raked both hands through my hair before shifting so I could see his face. He damn well better have shame as an expression or I might finish the job I started. “That means about two dozen people might suddenly turn up dead. If one of them does, you’re to blame. It’s your office. You’ll have blood on your hands.”
His look shifted to exasperation. “Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you know I’ve lost sleep? I’ve tried to figure out who the hell would do that? You know me, Hudson. This isn’t anything I’m taking lightly.”
A full minute passed before I could even stomach making a reply. “I used to know you, Dan. Not any longer.”
“At least you can rest easy. Your name wasn’t on the list.”
“Well, how fabulous for me and no one else. Christ. I hope to fuck you did put the fear of God into those people. They need to watch their backs.”
“Yeah, they know.”
“About your incompetence or just that he’s free?”
When he didn’t answer, that became a clear indication they weren’t provided with a full scope of what they could expect.
“I’m going to give you a piece of advice just like I offered to one of your attorneys. You should take a leave of absence, Dan. I think that will do you some good.” What he didn’t know was part of the reason I wanted him out of my face was so I didn’t find the need to finish snapping his neck.
“There are too many outstanding cases for me to be able to do that.” He tried to smile while beads of sweat rolled down both sides of his face. “Plus, I will find the leak.”
“Uh-huh. Excuse me if I’m having some difficulty believing anything you say. Besides, I think you have several qualified people in your office. Don’t you?” If he wouldn’t do his job, I’d do it for him.
He narrowed his eyes. “What are you planning on doing?”
“Nothing. If my family had been threatened, I’d need some time to regroup. That’s all I’m saying.”
His sigh was heavy and he looked away. “Maybe you’re right. I have some vacation time stored up. I could use a few days to try and get this shit off my mind. I can still work on finding the leak so he or she can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
I swear to God, I almost laughed in his face. At this point, what in the hell would the law do for all the people in danger?
“You do what you need to do, Dan. So will I.”
I could tell he knew better than to challenge me at this point.
“Things used to be easier when we started out, eh, buddy?”
I half laughed. The sound was bitter. “That was a lifetime ago, Dan. Things have changed.” People had succumbed to temptation and had strayed from the path of righteousness. It was a tale as old as time. Palms could be greased, people choosing to look the other way. Or blackmailed or threatened into succumbing.
Only the strongest survived.
“I’m going to make a promise to you, Dan. If I find out you had anything to do with the list of names being leaked, I will have you up on federal charges. And as you know. I am a man of my word.”
“I had nothing to do with it. I swear to God.”
He threw out his hand and for some reason, I took a second before accepting the gesture. It was nothing against him. Now I better understood what had occurred and why. He was simply trying to protect his family.
I would do the same.
Only I’d do it in my way.
