The Singles Table, page 27
“Dave Richards. He’s a psychologist at the VA clinic. He really helped me out. I’ll give you his number.” Elias grinned. “Tell him I went to the beach the other day and stayed there so long I got a fucking tan.”
* * *
• • •
Janice was playing Candy Crush when Zara walked into the office. She’d clearly just come in from a smoke and her clothes reeked of tobacco. “You’ve got a new-client meeting this afternoon. I’ve put it in your schedule. He says he’s an actor.” All this without lifting her head. But today, Zara didn’t care.
“A celebrity client? Are you serious?”
“I said he’s an actor.” Her three-pack-a-day habit had given her voice a gravelly rasp that wasn’t out of place in a firm with a tiger for a mascot. “I didn’t say he’s a celebrity. At least he wasn’t until he got caught snorting coke off some skanky bitch’s ass at a party. I looked him up online after he called. If that’s the kind of law you’re planning to practice, I’m going to have a word with Tony. I won’t work in that kind of environment. I have standards.”
“We just filmed a commercial where we’re all roaring in a jungle of cartoon tigers,” Zara pointed out. “Right now, Tony is contemplating whether we should wear tiger suits for the next one. Finances are so tight Faroz just chased an ambulance all the way to the hospital. The bar can’t get much lower.”
Janice gave an indignant huff. “Yeah, well, I won’t be asking for his autograph.”
“What’s his name?”
“Bob Smith.”
* * *
• • •
“I never thought I’d be pulling out your card so soon after we met.” Bob settled in the seat across from Zara. He looked like he hadn’t slept for days. Lines of strain were etched into his brow, and his jaw was rough and unshaven. Dark circles under his eyes made them seem more prominent, and his skin was pale and blotchy. He wore a baseball cap and a puffy jacket, even though it was seventy-five degrees outside.
He looked better as a zombie.
“I saw you at the City Club party the other night,” he said. “I remembered you were the tiger lawyer from the ads on TV.”
“I’m glad they made an impression.” She made a mental note to tell Tony the tiger should stay.
“I wanted to talk to you but you looked like you were in a hurry to leave.” He removed his cap and ran his hand through his thick, dark hair. “I shouldn’t have even been there. My agent thought it might help my image, but as you can imagine, everyone just wanted to talk about the pictures.”
“What pictures?”
Bob pushed his phone across the table. “I’m sure it’s all over the world by now. You know how the press gets when there’s a celebrity scandal.”
Celebrity scandal? Zara’s heart drummed in her chest. This was it. Her first entertainment case with a client she’d brought in herself. Clearly nothing said professional competence like doing beer funnels while dressed as a zombie.
She studied the pictures on Bob’s phone. “Is this . . . ?” She looked closer. Yes. It was the zombie bride who had tried to hook up with Jay. Zara almost felt sorry for her. She could have had a wild night of sex in a limo. Instead, she’d wound up half-naked on a restroom floor with Bob Smith sniffing lines of white powder off her ass.
“It’s in the news, the gossip columns, the blogs . . . everywhere. The utter destruction of my career is online for the world to see.” He spat the words out, thin hands shaking as he pointed to the screen. Method actor. Definitely. If he managed to pull himself out of zombie hell he might actually make it to the B-list.
“That’s me high on zombie dust in the restroom with the gal who was checking coats. She said she wanted to give me a special surprise before we went to the hotel for the after-party. I got a surprise all right. When the producers saw those pictures, they terminated my contracts for Day of the Night of the Evening of the Revenge of the Bride of the Son of the Terror of the Return of the Attack of the Alien, Mutant, Evil, Hellbound, Flesh-Eating, Rotting Corpse Living Dead Parts 7 and 8: In Shocking 4-D. They are even talking about cutting me out altogether and replacing me with a digital zombie. They said it’s a family franchise and they don’t want their lead star to be associated with sex and drugs.” He toyed with his hat. “The whole thing is crazy. I’m a celebrity. What celebrity doesn’t do drugs?”
Zara knew many celebrities who didn’t do drugs, but this wasn’t the time to share. She handed the phone back to Bob. “I’m sorry this happened but—”
“But nothing.” Bob turned his furious gaze on Zara. “I hired J-Tech to take care of security and part of that was making sure no one got into the venue with a phone or recording device. They were supposed to check everybody and make sure all electronic devices were left at the door.”
Jay’s fault? She couldn’t imagine he would make such a serious mistake. He was so careful about everything.
“I went through their screening,” she said. “They were very thorough.”
“Then explain this.” Bob flipped the phone around to show her yet another unflattering picture, this one of him and the zombie bride doing the nasty over the sink. “I’m surprised it wasn’t all over the BBC and other world news. Or maybe it was. I just can’t read any other languages.”
Zara doubted that a D-list celebrity with only a few credits to his name—one of them a failed kids’ TV pilot about a superhero who had opened a microwave too soon and thereafter could transform himself into a bowl of soup—would be of interest to the BBC, but she wasn’t as plugged into the celebrity world as Bob.
“My career is ruined,” Bob spat out. “Day of the Night of the Evening—that’s what we call the film because frankly the title is a mouthful—was going to be as big as the Marvel Universe. There could have been sequels and spin-offs and spin-offs of the spin-offs. And what about merchandising? My character could have been on everything from T-shirts to fuzzy blankets to those cute slippers that squeak when kids walk. I could have been immortalized in plastic. Maybe even wax. I should have just paid the blackmail money.”
Zara’s heart almost stopped in her chest. “Jay blackmailed you?”
“The dude who took the pictures got my e-mail address and tried to blackmail me for five hundred thousand dollars. I don’t know who it is, but he clearly knows nothing about show business or how little we get paid. It was so ridiculous, my agent thought he was bluffing so we told him to take a hike, and look what happened. I called the police and they said there was little chance of finding him because everything was online.”
“We have a good investigator,” Zara said. “We’ll do our best to find him and bring him to justice so he doesn’t do this to anyone else.”
“Justice?” Bob snorted. “I don’t give a damn about justice. This business is all about reputation and now I’ve got none. Zilch. My name is dirt in the zombie world. I can’t even be a children’s entertainer. No one will hire me now.” His snort became a snarl. “I need to make up that lost income. I’ve gotten used to living a certain lifestyle, and I’m not gonna give it up just because I was having a little fun. I definitely want to go after the blackmailer, but since the police were so sure I’d never find him, I was thinking I should go after J-Tech. After all, it’s their fault. If they hadn’t let the dude in with his phone, I wouldn’t be in this mess. They’re a national company. I’m sure they have deep pockets. I want to sue them for everything they’ve got. I could have made millions, maybe even billions if zombie toys became the next big thing.”
Zara felt sick to her stomach. It was just her luck that her very first entertainment law case with a real-life celebrity had to be against the man who had introduced her to the client in the first place—the man who claimed he loved her. How could she betray Jay by turning that kindness back on him? And how could she act against J-Tech knowing that the company couldn’t afford to get involved in a lawsuit? It would be the end of Jay’s dream.
On the other hand, a high-profile lawsuit would secure her future in the firm and give her a foot in the door to the entertainment industry.
“How do you know Jay?” she asked, stalling for time. “I thought you two were friends.”
“Our moms went through cancer treatment at the same time at the same hospital.” He put his hat back on, tucking a few rogue curls under the band. “You get to know the people supporting the people when you’re there all the time. He told me if I ever needed security for an event, I should give him a call. So that’s what I did. After the filming was done, I offered to host the wrap party because I heard Keanu Reeves does that kind of thing and I fucking love Keanu.”
She nodded in agreement. “Who doesn’t?”
“I called in that favor from Jay and he set it up. I said no phones, cameras, or recording equipment. The A-listers always have that rule, and since I’m going to be A-list one day, I try to live my life like an A-lister would.”
“That makes sense.”
Bob’s puffy jacket rustled as he sat back in his chair, one skinny ankle crossed over his knee. “He wouldn’t have let a camera slip through if I was A-list. His reputation would be ruined just like mine has been ruined.” He slammed his fist on the arm of his chair. “Well, fuck him. And fuck his company. And fuck whoever took those pictures. I’m going to sue them all and you’re going to help me because you’re fierce like a tiger.” He roared so loudly Zara jumped in her chair.
Moments later Janice flung the door open. “What the hell?”
“Everything is fine.” Zara took a breath to calm her racing pulse. “Mr. Smith is just enthusiastic about our firm mascot.”
“Whew.” She gave a sarcastic smirk and wiped a hand over her brow. “I thought there was an animal in here.”
“I’m a method actor,” Bob said, puffing out his chest. “It’s understandable how you got confused. I spent a few hours this morning watching tiger shows and practicing the roar before I came here so I could understand your firm better.”
“That’s true dedication to the craft.” Janice’s voice dripped sarcasm, and Zara could sense more coming.
“We’re all good here,” she said firmly. “You can go.”
“Does he do lions? Can he pounce?”
“Thank you, Janice. Close the door, please, on your way out.”
“So how do we start?” Bob asked. “Do you want me to sign things? Do you need a retainer or something like that? I’m gonna make sure it hits the press the minute we file. If I’m going down, I’m taking J-Tech with me. This is going to be a big case for you. Huge. You’re lucky I saw you at the City Club the other day, or another lawyer would have gotten the case.”
Something niggled at the back of her mind. “I might have a conflict of interest,” she said, thinking quickly. Maybe she wouldn’t have to make the decision. Maybe it had already been made for her thanks to the Rules of Professional Conduct. “I can’t represent you if there’s any appearance of impropriety, and Jay and I—”
“Are you guys together?”
“Well . . . no.” Because he’d told her he loved her and she’d run out the door. Because she’d realized she loved him and had no idea what to do with that. Or how to fix what she’d broken.
“So, what’s the problem?”
Zara shifted in her seat. “We were . . . sort of . . . involved. For a short time. It wasn’t serious . . .”
At least not to me.
“Ah. Bad breakup. I get it.” Bob grinned. “So this is perfect. It’s the ultimate revenge. He introduced you to me and now you’re going to sue his ass.”
She gave him a tight smile. Regardless of how badly she wanted this case, she didn’t think she could betray Jay by taking Bob on as a client and turning around and suing his ass.
“I definitely came to the right place.” Bob rubbed his hands together. “The tiger says it all. Fierce. Predatory. Powerful. Prince of the jungle. The other firms I visited were boring. All dark suits and solemn faces. None of them would dress up for a zombie party. They don’t understand the industry like you do. They don’t understand this.” He pointed to a framed picture of a tiger on the wall. “The killer instinct.”
The other firms. He’d interviewed other lawyers before he had come here. If she turned him down, he’d just find someone else to take the case. And what if Jay’s team hadn’t been negligent? Would another firm conduct a thorough investigation or would they just start the lawsuit and leave it up to J-Tech to prove it wasn’t their fault and in the process lose their key investor?
“I’ll need to run this past one of the partners,” she said. “I’ll be back in a minute. I’ll send Janice in with some coffee.”
“Does she have any raw meat?” he called out. “I’m still in character.”
She found Tony in his office and explained the situation.
“If you’re not together then there are no professional-conduct issues,” he said. “But you can’t talk to Jay about the case or the client until the matter is resolved, and a relationship is out of the question. In fact, it would be best if you blocked his calls and messages until this is sorted. If you’re wrong and J-Tech was negligent, that could mean years, or it would mean dropping the case and dealing with the financial repercussions.”
“I was there,” she said. “They were very thorough. They had all sorts of metal-detecting gadgets and four guards at the door checking bags. And something doesn’t feel right about the pictures. How could Bob not see someone standing in the restroom with a camera? It wasn’t very big.”
“That’s a lot of faith you’re putting in your gut.” Tony pulled out his lightsaber and gave it a swing. “If you clear J-Tech, and you don’t find the person who took the pictures, you’ll have put a lot of time into a case that goes nowhere. It would be better for your billables to sue J-Tech and make them prove they weren’t liable. Given our financial situation and your tenuous position in the firm, do you really want to take the risk?”
“Yes.” She didn’t even need to think about it. There was no way she was going years keeping Jay at arm’s length. She loved him, trusted him, had faith in him. And she needed him to know it.
She just hoped he didn’t find out that she was planning to sue his ass to save him.
• 27 •
Jay studied the e-mail from Chris Moskovitz’s assistant with disbelief. Contract canceled. Because of a lawsuit against his company? He’d been staring at his screen for the last fifteen minutes but so far, the words hadn’t changed.
“I got here as fast as I could.” Elias burst into his office. “Jessica and I went for a lunchtime run in the park. She beat me again, but I’m doing sprints in the mornings so . . .” He trailed off. “What’s wrong? What’s the big emergency?”
“Were we served with notice of any legal proceedings?”
“Not that I know of.”
“I called Lucia because she’s our solicitor of record and she didn’t receive anything, either. She’s going to look into it and call me back.”
Elias threw himself into the chair across from Jay’s desk. His hair was still wet from his shower, his shirt clinging to his damp shoulders. “So, who’s suing us?”
“Bob Smith. Apparently, someone got a phone into the zombie party venue and took some compromising pictures of him that he alleges have ruined his career. Chris heard about it and had his assistant cancel our contract. I called her up and she said he’s just landed the role of a lifetime and he can’t take any risks. They need a security company that can make sure no cameras or paparazzi get into their events.”
“There’s no way anyone got into the zombie party with a camera.” Elias straightened in his chair. “We had four people on the door, and we were using a high-sensitivity metal detector—it can detect a phone inside any body cavity.”
“Not an image I wanted in my head.”
“Just saying. No. Fucking. Way.”
Jay handed Elias his phone opened to the app where Bob’s party pictures were splashed out on the front page. “The evidence speaks for itself.”
Elias ran a hand through his hair, scattering droplets of water across the carpet. “How the hell did that happen?”
Jay had been wondering that himself. He trusted the members of his team implicitly. They were serious, professional, and conscientious. In all the years they had worked for him, they had never slipped up. That meant the mistake was on him.
“It had to be me. Zara was there. I was distracted . . .”
“No.” Elias shook his head. “Not a chance. That’s not you.”
“Maybe it is. I don’t know who the hell I am anymore.” He’d had two sessions with the VA clinic psychologist, and they’d made a start unraveling his pain and guilt about the crash. It was going to be a long, slow process, but he’d taken the biggest step and he was committed to seeing it through to the end.
Elias studied the pictures. “Why is it such a big deal? I see pictures of celebrities like this all the time. It blows over quickly and for some it’s good PR.”
“The zombie movies are family films. Snorting coke off a naked woman’s ass on a restroom floor isn’t good for the image.”
“What about our funding?” Elias said. “We still don’t have board approval. We’re obligated to disclose any litigation pending against the company.”
“I know.” Jay sighed. “Just when everything was looking up, it all goes to shit again.”
His phone rang and he took the call, motioning for Elias to stay when he heard Lucia’s voice on the other end. He put the phone on speaker and they leaned in to hear what she had to say.
“It’s bad news, I’m afraid. Though I did have an interesting conversation with Moskovitz’s attorney. He was present when Bob told Chris about the security breach at the party. Apparently, Bob said he’d hired the best lawyers in the Bay Area to sue J-Tech. He called them the apex predators of the city.”
