The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [123]
“Can you believe it?” Ben asked as he rushed toward his roommate.
“Congratulations!” Eric embraced Ben.
“You, too,” Ben said. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
Eric hugged Lisa. “Thanks for all the help.”
“Did you have any trouble getting in downstairs?” Ben asked.
“Not at all,” Eric said. “I told them I was Nathan, just like you said.”
“Wait a minute,” Ober said, his eyes darting to everyone in the room. “What the hell is going on here? Yesterday, everyone hated each other, and today you’re having a love-in?”
“Take a seat, Sherlock.” Ben pointed to the sofa. “This is where it gets good.”
Looking at Eric, Ober asked, “So you’ve been—”
“Just listen,” Ben interrupted, sitting on the edge of Lisa’s desk. “If you remember, Rick and I were supposed to meet—so I could give him the Grinnell decision. Apparently, Rick was worried that I’d try to trap him, which I would’ve, so he started looking for other sources that could get him a decision.”
“And since he knew Ben and I were on the outs, he approached me,” Eric said, sitting down next to Ober. “I guess he figured that if I wrote the CMI story so I could get a promotion, I’d definitely steal some documents for one and a half million.”
“He offered you over a million bucks?” Ober asked. “He should’ve come to me.”
“Funny,” Eric said. “So a few days before Thanksgiving, I’m sitting at my desk, and I get a call from Rick. He tells me that he wants to speak to me about our mutual friend Ben, and he asks me to meet him at this hotel. When I get there, he offers me over a million and a half to keep an eye on Ben and to somehow snag the decision.”
“Are you kidding me?” Ober asked. “What’d you say?”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell him to screw off right there,” Lisa said.
“No way,” Ben said. “Eric’s way too opportunistic to do that.” Turning to Ober, Ben continued, “That night, Eric slipped a note under my door telling me the whole story. He said he was sorry about what happened between us, and he wanted to make it up to me. We were so afraid that the house and all of our phones were bugged, we started communicating through notes, until we eventually worked out this plan.”
“That’s what I was looking for when you caught me rummaging through Ben’s garbage,” Eric said to Ober.
“So you knew all along that you were giving Rick the wrong decision?” Ober asked.
“Yes,” Eric said.
“And Rick believed you since he thought you hated Ben.”
“Exactly.”
“And all of you were in on it?”
“Yep.”
“And now you’ve basically screwed Rick to the wall since he bet on the wrong decision?”
“You got it.”
“THIS IS THE GREATEST PLAN OF ALL TIME!” Ober screamed, throwing his hands in the air. “You guys are geniuses!”
“We try,” Lisa said.
Ober jumped from the sofa. “We have to celebrate! This is the best ever!”
“So you’re not mad we didn’t tell you?” Eric asked, knowing the answer.
“Yeah,” Ober said, calming down. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We just wanted to keep you safe,” Ben said.
“That’s not it,” Ober said.
“He didn’t tell you because you’re a bonehead who can’t act, and you probably would’ve screwed up the whole plan,” Lisa said.
“Oh, give me a break,” Ober said. “I’m a great actor.”
“I’m sure you are,” Ben said. “But there was too much at stake to fool around. For the past month, Eric and I had to act like we were still at each other’s throats. We couldn’t risk involving everyone.”
“Did Nathan know?” Ober asked.
“No,” Ben said, looking at Lisa.
“You can say it,” Lisa said. She turned to Ober and explained, “That part was my idea. I’m the one who said not to trust Nathan. There, it’s out. Are you happy now?”
Ben looked back at Ober. “Believe me, I was dying to tell him. But in the end, I felt the fewer people who knew, the better. And when we found out about that briefcase mike—well, that sealed it. We were convinced that Rick had contacted Nathan as well.”
“So you really did suspect him,” Ober said.
“Absolutely,” Ben said. “Especially when Eric told me that he never told Rick about the yearbook