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Squeeze
Plea Excerpt |
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Brody Carlisle opened the door and sank into the seat. He pulled his wallet from his pocket. "You showed up just in time." Button wheeled the car from the curb. "Just in time?" "To save me from laying on Leveraged lady in the eighth at Emerald Downs. I already took a bath in the Mariners game." "My radio's bellied up. Haven't heard the scores." "Seattle had dozens of hits, loaded the bases in the fifth and seventh. Terrific game." She frowned. "You bet on the Tigers?" Carlisle removed all the bills from his wallet and arranged them on his lap. "No. The Mariners did everything right except finding home plate: Detroit took it, five-zip." He began counting. "Ten, twenty, fifty. . .Well, as long as I have. . ." He thrust his hand in his trousers' pocket and removed some more folded bills. "Ah. Let's see. . .this makes that call last night look awful good." "Call. . .?" "Must have been about seven-thirty." He stopped counting and stared up absently at the car's headliner. "This lawyer - a big tuna in one of the law firms in the SeaFirst building - he offered me a five-thousand retainer, advance stipends for two months, and an almost unlimited expense budget. To sign onto a big case." "Oh, that's wonderful." "I turned him down." "What? Why?" "Day after tomorrow I'm off to Westport for the best salmon run they've had in years." Carlisle straightened the creases in some of the bills in his lap. "You're turning down five thousand bucks for a fish?" He gave her a look with eyebrows knitted. "Not 'a fish.' A fishing trip. On a terrific charter boat." His glance returned to the money. "That is, if I've got enough here for my round-trip ticket. Let's see. . .." "What's this big case the lawyer was talking about?" "They're - the law firm - lining up a defense for Howard Cordner. He's the brains and CEO behind Orbicular Capital." Button glanced at him. "Isn't he the guy they suspect in Ramon's murder?" "Apparently. The firm's prepping for indictment. . ." His face turned suddenly somber. "Your friend - Galaxy, wasn't it - she didn't --" "No, she didn't kill herself. They've got her on antidepressants. But she's --" "Not doing well, eh?" Without looking at him, Button slowly shook her head. "Even though Ramon treated her like trash, she can't face the future knowing he's gone. She cries at the drop of a hat. You know, love is --" "Strange," Carlisle said, shaking his head. "Fluky. It can strike two people with absolutely nothing in common. Nothing except --" "He kept coming back. Over and over." She glanced at him. "It was love. Fluky love, maybe, but love." Carlisle gathered up the bills and returned them to his wallet. "Well, looks like there's enough here." "Howard Cordner - you think he might have done it?" "We don't know, do we?" "You don't have a hunch?" "Hunches don't count," he said, leaning forward and shoving the wallet into his pocket. |
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