74
LEAH COULDN’T recall seeing Steven Blake show surprise before. But Blake made no attempt to hide his incredulity as she told him that Duncan Riley had just subpoenaed her to testify at a hearing in the Fowler murder.
“I knew there was a lot I didn’t know,” Blake said after a moment. “But it sounds like I at least need to know some of it.”
Leah nodded crisply. “Here’s what I expect Duncan is going to claim, and then we can talk about possible responses. He’s going to allege that my brother was involved in siphoning money out of the Aurora project, using Pellettieri to do so. That Sean Fowler was the middleman for that, and that after the investigation of the Aurora kicked up again, Fowler attempted to blackmail Jeremy about his involvement, and that Fowler was murdered out of that. To make sure Fowler’s murder didn’t lead to Jeremy, or back to the Aurora generally, Rafael Nazario was set up, with the idea your firm would reach a quick plea. And that because of the framing of Nazario, a fraud has been committed upon the court, which therefore frees Duncan up to disclose our involvement.”
Blake’s earlier surprise was nothing compared to the look on his face now. Despite herself, Leah felt a perverse sense of pride at knocking the veteran lawyer so far back on his heels. It was childish, she knew, and not an appropriate response to the situation. And really what it told her was just how completely off the rails she’d managed to go.
Blake started to say something, but then stopped himself before any words came out. He rubbed at his face, then glanced over at Leah, who forced herself to meet his gaze. Blake looked away first, his face ashen. A full minute had passed since Leah finished speaking.
“You’ve got me pretty far into this, haven’t you?” Blake finally said. “You told me you wanted my firm to keep the murder case so that a defense lawyer didn’t try to turn the whole thing into some kind of referendum on the redevelopment of Riis. ‘Handle the case quickly and quietly so it doesn’t become a distraction to the construction,’ you said.”
“I may not have been entirely truthful,” Leah agreed. “It’s probably best if you get past that quickly, under the circumstances.”
Blake looked at her, his composure returning. “Does Duncan have any hard evidence to support any of these accusations?” he asked.
Leah shook her head. “As far as I know, he has pretty much nothing in the way of proof. This is just a theory he’s put together.”
“He’s got to have some building blocks. I’ll be able to counter him more effectively if I know what he’s working with.”
“How much do you want me to tell you?”
“I’m already going to look like an accessory, with the Nazario case, the positional conflict, firing him. I assume Duncan thinks I was part of this whole thing.”
“You were,” Leah said coldly. “You just chose to stay unaware of it.”
“Is your father involved in all this?” Blake countered. “Does he even know anything about it?”
Leah tried not to show her reaction. “You don’t have to concern yourself with my father.”
“I’ve known Simon for twenty-five years,” Blake replied. “He’ll never forgive me if you get taken down on this on my watch.”
“The easiest way to contain this, for all of us, is to keep Duncan from having this hearing at all. Does he really have a legal basis for it?”
“It’s not a situation I’ve previously encountered,” Blake deadpanned. “A lawyer does have an obligation to go to the court to prevent perjury, but this isn’t that. Generally the only way he can break privilege is to prevent a future crime—that doesn’t seem to quite fit either. But I’ve spent the last seven years teaching Duncan the fine art of fitting square pegs into round holes.… This would be easier to control if you hadn’t had me fire him.”
Leah immediately nodded; she’d been planning to bring this up. “It was an overreaction, and yes, obviously backfired. Perhaps we should bring him back into the fold?”
“We can try, though he can maybe use it against us if he says no.”
“You think no is what he’ll say?”
Blake thought about it. “He’s an extremely ambitious guy who had a very bright future in front of him a month ago,” he replied. “I would think he wants his old life back.”