The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [160]
When Ben and Claremont entered the room, Rick got up from his seat on the sofa. “Well, well, the gang’s all here,” he said. “Lisa, Nathan, I believe you know Ben. Ben, this is Lisa and Nathan.”
Ben was surprised to see Nathan and Lisa sitting calmly at the large glass dining-room table. Looking through the glass tabletop, he noticed that they were both handcuffed to their chairs. A swollen black eye colored the left side of Nathan’s face.
“Are you okay?” Ben asked.
“Fuck off,” Nathan said, turning away.
“Children,” Rick scolded. “No fighting.”
“You didn’t have to hit him,” Ben said.
“Yes, we did,” Rick said glibly. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have come with us.”
Looking at Lisa, Ben asked, “They didn’t hit you, did they?”
“Are you kidding?” Rick interjected, showing off the scratch marks on the side of his neck. “She did more damage than you.” When he approached the small mahogany desk in the corner of the room, Rick reached into his briefcase, pulled out two sets of handcuffs, and threw them to Claremont.
Claremont pushed Ben toward the large wooden chair next to Nathan. “Take a seat.”
“Let them go first,” Ben demanded.
“And let them run to the police?” Rick laughed. “Take a seat, Ben. You’re in no position to argue.”
When Ben sat down, Claremont used both sets of handcuffs to fasten Ben’s arms to the chair.
“And if you’re thinking about screaming,” Rick said, “you can save your lungs the wear and tear. We have most of this floor, and the manager promised us complete privacy. You can buy just about anything these days.”
“I don’t know why you’re so smug,” Ben said. “Eric’s still out there. When we don’t come home tonight, he’ll head straight to the police.”
“No, he won’t,” Rick said coldly.
Lisa looked at Ben. “Nathan called Eric and told him that he was working late tonight. And then I called him and told him that we were both okay—that the phone call from Rick was just a fake threat.” Seeing the bewildered look on Ben’s face, she added, “Rick said he would kill you if we didn’t make the calls.”
Surprised by the gravity of Rick’s threat, Ben looked up at his captor.
“Satisfied?” Rick asked.
“Are you going to stop the decision?” Fisk asked, sitting impatiently in Lungen’s office.
“I don’t see how,” Lungen said. “We have no more proof than we did on Friday. Ben and Lisa haven’t been in all weekend.”
“I knew we should’ve staked out his house,” Fisk said, pointing at Lungen. “Now we have no idea where he is.”
“For all we know, he’s out shopping.”
“I still say we pull the plug on the decision. Tell the justices we don’t want it announced until we find Ben.”
“Will you listen to what you’re saying,” Lungen demanded. “You want me to hold up the Supreme Court of the United States because one of their clerks didn’t work this weekend? Do you know how fast we’ll be standing on the unemployment line?”
“What if he doesn’t show up tomorrow?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Lungen said. “Until we have all the facts—and I mean every last detail—we cannot bring this Court to a screeching halt. Believe me, when we have the information, Ben Addison’s ass is mine. But until that point, we just sit and wait.”
“And listen,” Fisk said, turning up the speaker on Lungen’s desk.
Ben’s arms were growing stiff from being restrained. “You made a mistake taking only three of us.”
“Oh, we did?” Rick sat on the plush sofa and flipped through the paperwork laid out on the coffee table.
“I mean it,” Ben said. “Eric won’t believe those stories. I bet he’s talking to the police right now.”
“That’s a pretty crappy theory,” Rick said, his eyes still focused on his paperwork.
“And why’s that?”
“You expect Eric to run to the police?” Rick asked, looking up at his captives. “Is this the same Eric who told you to avoid the authorities at all cost? The same Eric who said you could catch me all by yourself? This is the person who’s going to blow this wide open? Even Ober was more resourceful.” Ben’s jaw tightened. “Hit a raw nerve, huh?”
“If it wasn