“You want me to help?”
“No. Go relax. I’ve got everything under control.”
Everything under control. A defense lawyer never had everything under control. The concept was foreign to him. About all you could do was anticipate the thrusts and jabs of the prosecution and attempt to parry them. And have a few surprises of your own up your sleeve. The name of the game was damage control.
How could he control the damage the government witnesses would do? And the client, Aldana? Could he be controlled? Would he listen to good advice? Liarakos snorted. He already knew the answer to that. Oh well, it was Aldana’s ass on the line, not his. Still, he hated to lose. He never fought gracefully in a losing cause, which was why his defense team was bringing in two million dollars a year in fees to the firm.
He snapped the television on in the living room and stood watching it as Elizabeth set the last of the hors d’oeuvres on the table.
Aldana’s press conference was the lead story. “Come watch this, Elizabeth.”
The anchor said Aldana’s statement spoke for itself. He fell silent and looked off to one side, at the monitor no doubt, waiting. Aldana came on the screen. As his voice filled the living room—“To me has been given the key …”—Liarakos heard his wife’s sharp intake of breath. “My God!”
“He has an effect, doesn’t he?”
After the questions, the network replayed the statement three times. The consensus of the “experts”—a lawyer, a psychiatrist, and a college instructor in South American voodoo culture — was that Aldana was a criminal megalomaniac.
The phone rang and at the same time the door chimes sounded. As Elizabeth went to the front door to admit the guests, Liarakos went to the study to take the call. The firm’s senior partner was on the line:
“I just saw our newest, most famous client on the news.”
“Yeah, I watched it too.”
“Thanos, you’ve got to figure out a way to shut him up. In one performance he managed to convince half the people in America that he’s guilty as hell. And that was the half that was undecided.”
“I strongly urged him not—”
“Thanos, he’s one man. Our firm has fifty-two partners and one hundred twelve associates who represent over a dozen Fortune five hundred companies and about a hundred fifty smaller ones. The heart of our business is regulatory matters and commercial litigation. Now it’s one thing, represent run-of-the-mill criminal defendants, but it’s quite another to represent a man who’s out to prove he’s the Antichrist, beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“He’s innocent until proven guilty.”
“You know that and I know that, but the general public may not. I’m laying it right on the line, Thanos. We have never told you whom you could or couldn’t represent. But this firm is not going to bankrupt itself for the privilege of representing the most notorious criminal since Al Capone. Now you shut that man up or tell him he’ll have to get another lawyer. Have I made myself clear?”
“You have, Harvey.”
“Stop by my office tomorrow.” The connection broke.
Thanos Liarakos sat for a moment with the telephone receiver in his hand, then slowly lowered it onto its cradle.
Harvey Brewster was something of an ass. If he thought the firm could get rid of Chano Aldana by just throwing his file at him and filing a notice with the clerk of the court, he was in for a rude surprise. The judge would not let Liarakos or the firm out of the case unless and until another competent, experienced attorney had agreed to represent Aldana and not delay the proceedings. The pressure on the judge to proceed expeditiously would be excruciating, and the judge had the tools to transfer that pressure squarely onto counsel for both sides.
Liarakos knew the judge would not hesitate to use his authority. Liarakos knew the judge. Gardner Snyder was in his early seventies and had been on the bench for over thirty years. He was the frostiest curmudgeon wearing a judicial robe that Liarakos had ever run into. No doubt that was why the Justice Department had maneuvered so adroitly to ensure that this case went onto Snyder’s calendar.
Perhaps tomorrow the prosecutor would move for an order gagging both sides. Liarakos suspected that just now the prosecutor’s phone was also ringing. Perhaps he should make the motion himself. It was indisputable that Aldana would have to be silenced one way or the other or the man wouldn’t get a fair trial.
The door opened. Elizabeth’s head appeared. “Thanos, come visit with our guests.”
The guests were buzzing about Aldana’s news conference. Those who hadn’t seen the news show were being briefed by those who had. Liarakos was bombarded with questions, all of which he shrugged off with a smile. The smile was an effort.
He had finished his third drink of the evening and was telling himself he didn’t need and probably couldn’t handle a fourth, when he saw Elizabeth motioning to him from the kitchen.
“Your mother’s on the phone. She’s really revved.”
“I’ll take it in the study.”
Jefferson Brody and a woman Liarakos knew only vaguely were in a serious discussion in the study, but he made his excuses and closed the door firmly behind them.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Thanos, Thanos, what have you done?”
“Well, I—”
She wasn’t interested in his answer. She steamrollered on: “I saw that horrible man—your client—on the news this evening. I meant to call you immediately but my friends have been on the phone for over an hour. I called you as soon as I had a chance.”
“Mom, I’m a lawyer. I—”
“You don’t have to make a living representing dope-peddling scum like that! My God, your father and I scrimped and saved and did without to put you through college and law school so you could represent filth like Alda … Alda-something. Have you no honor? Have you no morals? What kind of man are you, Thanos?”
“Mom, I’m a lawyer — no, let me finish! I’m a lawyer and this man is entitled to be represented by a lawyer no matter what crimes he is accused of.”
“But he is guilty!”
“He isn’t guilty until a jury says he is. And guilty or not, he must have a lawyer.”
“I hope to God you lose and this man pays for his crimes, Thanos. He has murdered and assassinated and bribed and done God knows what-all and he must be put somewhere so he can’t keep hurting innocent people. Thousands of innocent people. Thanos, you pervert your talents and your religion by helping such a man.”
“Mom, I’m not going to keep arguing this.”
“He says he has the key to hell. And he does. You are helping this scum stay in business. You are helping him murder innocent people. How in the name of your dead father do you sleep nights?”
“I’ve heard all of this I’m going to listen to.”
“No, you haven’t! You are going to listen to your mother who loves you and wants to save your soul. You are going to stop helping these people. Thanos! My Thanos. You are breaking my heart.”
“Mom, we have a houseful of guests. I’m not going to insult them by staying here in the study listening to you rant about something you don’t understand. Don’t you have any faith in me?”
“Faith in you? When you prostitute yourself for criminals such as Aldana? You make me nauseous.” She slammed her phone down.
Is there anybody who didn’t watch the news tonight?
His baseball glove was lying on the table. He picked it up and kneaded the soft leather. He smacked the pocket with his fist. Damn! Damn, damn, damn.
He turned off the lights and sat in the darkness. After a moment he loosened his tie and stretched out on the couch. The hum of voices through the door, the gentle background of the furnace fans, the noises reached him and he listened for a while, then didn’t listen. The noises became background, like an evening crowd in the grandstand at Tinker Field in Orlando, buzzing and sighing in rhythm with the game.