The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [36]
“Do you really think he has someone following you?”
“How should I know? How else would he know my fake name for the P.O. box?”
“Are you going to meet with him?”
“Of course,” Ben said. “This guy is all mine. I’m gonna nail his ass to the wall.”
“You sound like a bad TV movie,” Lisa said. “I think you should come up with a serious plan first.”
“Definitely,” Ben agreed. Sitting at his desk, he pulled out a sheet of paper. “I’d like to get everyone together for a little brainstorming session. Can we do it at your place?”
“Why my place?”
“Because I think he might have my house bugged.”
“Listen, you have to calm down,” Lisa said. “This isn’t The Firm.”
“This guy has the resources to reach Charles Maxwell, he pulls off one of the greatest insider information scams of the decade, and you’re telling me he doesn’t have the resources to bug my crappy house with its nonexistent alarm system?”
“Fine,” Lisa said. “We’ll meet at my apartment.” Rising from her seat, she walked over to Ben and leaned on his desk. “Meanwhile, want to hear some fresh gossip?”
“I’m not in the mood.”
“Okay. Fine. Then I won’t tell you that Justice Blake is stepping down.”
“That’s nothing new,” Ben said. “People have been saying that for years.”
“But now it’s official,” Lisa said. “He gave his notice today to Osterman.”
“Are you serious?” Ben asked as his raised eyebrows creased his forehead.
“Scout’s honor.”
“Is this confirmed, or is it just what you heard?”
“Let’s put it this way—when you were at lunch, Hollis came down here and told me Blake just gave notice of his resignation. He’s calling the president this afternoon and the press will be notified within the next week or two. You think that source is trustworthy enough for you?”
“If Hollis said it, it’s the gospel.”
“The thing is, I don’t think most of the justices have told their clerks, so keep it a secret. Hollis said it was just for our information.”
“What else did he say?” Ben asked.
“He said that Grinnell won’t be decided until the end of the week. Justice Veidt still hasn’t responded, and all the conservatives have pushed it back so they can work on getting him aboard.”
“Excellent gossip,” Ben admitted. “Sounds like Hollis was running at the mouth today.”
“You know how he is,” Lisa said. “Sometimes he won’t say a word, and other times he won’t shut up. Today was just a good day.”
“So I guess that means we won’t be working on Grinnell this week.”
“That’s what I wanted to tell you,” Lisa said, slapping Ben’s desk. “Since Blake is stepping down, he’s going to be lightening his workload. So he’s no longer writing the Pacheco v. Rhode Island decision.”
“And I suppose we are?” Ben asked. Lisa nodded. “Why do we have to do it? That’s a solid bankruptcy issue. It’s a good case.”
“It’s a good case, but it’s not a great case. Hollis said that when a justice steps down, he gets the pick of the litter when it comes to cases. All the other justices defer to him so he can make his last great pronouncements on the law.”
“So that means he’ll get all the best cases this session?”
“Pretty much,” Lisa said. “He can’t write all of them, but I’m sure he’ll get a good number.”
“That’s great,” Ben said sarcastically. “Did Hollis say when Blake’s office would send us the materials?”
“The Clerk’s Office will transfer them later today.”
Turning on his computer, Ben said, “And Hollis still hasn’t looked over our Oshinsky opinion.”
“Actually, he did,” Lisa said, passing Ben a stack of paper.
“And still not satisfied,” Ben said, unable to avoid the bright red marks covering the front page of the document. “What is this, draft six?”
“Seven if you count our original outline.”
“He’s never going to be happy with this decision,” Ben said. “I think we should just realize that and move on.”
“You have to stop complaining,” Lisa said. “It’s not that bad.”
“Are you kidding? We get here at seven every morning, we have four pending cases that we’re simultaneously working on, a fifth that a retiring justice just passed off on us, and now a sixth case arriving just as soon as Veidt caves