Page 17 of Motion to Dismiss

I’m beyond done with you, too…

I power off my phone and head to the bookshop that’s right ahead of me.

The only thing I have to answer to moving forward is my new life…

QUID PRO QUO (N):

LATIN FOR "SOMETHING FOR SOMETHING," TO IDENTIFY WHAT EACH PARTY TO AN AGREEMENT EXPECTS FROM THE OTHER, SOMETIMES CALLED MUTUAL CONSIDERATION.

JAMESON

Two Weeks Later

“You can start talking anytime now, Mr. Harris.” I glance at my watch before looking up at my latest client.

Dressed in a jogging suit and sunglasses, he’s been trembling in his seat for the past ten minutes. I can’t tell if it’s from nerves or excitement, but I’m seconds away from walking out on him.

“I bill by the hour, Mr. Harris.” I give him one last chance. “Especially for emergency sessions, so please tell me why you needed to see me so early this morning.”

“Yes, that would be nice.” He nods, but he doesn’t say anything else.

Okay, then. I shut my folder and stand.

“No, wait,” he says. “Please sit back down. I’m just getting a vibe on you. I’m going to pay you for every second, I swear.”

I sit back down.

“Do you have something worth losing, Mr. Tate?” he asks. “Like, family or close friends?”

“Limited family, and I have an assistant who I consider to be a great friend.”

“So, you don’t have a special woman or girlfriend you’d do anything for?”

I used to. “No.”

“Well, how am I supposed to trust you with my case if you don’t have anything to risk?”

“Don’t trust me,” I say. “Last I checked, I don’t know anything about your case—yet.”

“I guess I’ll take my chances, then.” He clears his throat. “First and foremost, I’ve heard such amazing things about your legal work.”

“Flattering me will not earn you a discount.”

“I know, I know.” He pulls a sheet of paper from his briefcase and slides it across the table. “I need to make sure I’ve calculated my potential charges and potential prison time properly.”

“My clients don’t typically go to prison, Mr. Harris.”

“Embezzling fifty thousand dollars is the same as embezzling five hundred thousand dollars, correct?”

“Do those numbers sound the same to you?”

“I mean, charge-wise,” he says. “Like, both amounts are a Class C felony either way.”

“Technically, yes.”

“So, if I steal it all at once, that’s only one charge,” he says, “but if I steal it in increments of fifty thousand each, that’s multiple charges, so it’s better if I find a way to steal it all, right?”

What the hell?