The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [38]
“And then what?” Lisa asked. “We’ll run it through our computers in the Batcave?”
“We can send it through Nathan at the State Department.”
“I say we take surveillance pictures of him as he enters the restaurant,” Nathan said. “We’ll have a positive I.D. on this guy in no time.”
“I know the perfect spot for you to wait,” Ben said as his voice raced with excitement. “There’s an outdoor café right across the street from the restaurant.”
“We can go buy a night lens for the camera,” Ober said, rising from the couch.
“And we can wear cool disguises with trench coats and hats and fake mustaches,” Lisa said sarcastically. “You all have to relax. That won’t do you any good.”
“Oh, it won’t?” Ben asked. “And I assume you’ll tell us why.”
“So what if you have a few pictures of him? You’re still in the same position you’re in right now. Even if you have Rick’s real name, you can’t turn him in—unless we want Ben to go to jail too.”
As silence swept through the room, Nathan said, “The woman speaks the truth.”
“We have to somehow get him to proposition you about a new case,” Lisa suggested. “If he does that, then we can get him for bribing a public official.”
“Ben’s not a public official,” Ober said.
“He’s a federal employee,” Lisa said. “By bribing him, Rick will be attempting to interfere with the United States government. That’s a federal offense, and it’ll get him put away for at least a couple of years.”
“Hold on a second,” Nathan said. “What’s to prevent Rick from striking a plea bargain with the authorities? For all we know, he can point to the CMI case and offer up Ben on a silver platter, saying that the Supreme Court clerk is the mastermind behind the whole scheme. Then Rick walks free, and Ben gets indicted—all because of our great plan.”
“Rick would never do that,” Lisa said. “The CMI decision is probably the best thing that ever happened to him. He probably made at least a couple million dollars on that deal. If he turns in Ben, or even attracts any attention toward CMI, the SEC will be all over Charles Maxwell’s ass, even more than they are now. I’m sure Rick understands that it’s better for him to do a few years for bribery on this second decision than to lose all his money and risk the wrath of Maxwell. He’s not playing with small fish. CMI will eat him alive.”
“I’m impressed,” Nathan admitted.
“And you didn’t think she was smart,” Ben said, crossing his arms as he looked at Ober.
“Wait a minute,” Lisa said to Ober. “You didn’t think I was smart?”
“I didn’t—” Ober began.
“You?” Lisa persisted, rising from her chair. “When we were playing Scrabble last week, you tried to use the word ‘duh,’ and you think I’m stupid?”
“‘Duh’ is a word,” Ober said.
“It’s not a word!” Lisa said. “It’s a slang expression used by primates in the late twentieth century. It’s nonsense. Noise. Stupidity. But it’s not a word.”
“It’s a word,” Ober repeated.
“You can fight later,” Ben interrupted. “Right now I want to think about the plan. It sounds like our best bet is to nail him on the bribery charge. It’s not the greatest revenge, but it’s the best we can do. Now how are we going to catch him?”
“What if you wear a wire?” Nathan said. “I might be able to get one from some of my buddies who work in security.”
“Can you definitely get one?” Ben asked.
“If not, you’ll wear a tape recorder,” Lisa said. “Either way, he’s on tape.”
“I still think we should get some pictures of him,” Ober said.
“You just want to wear a disguise,” Lisa said.
“I definitely want to wear a disguise,” Ober admitted. “But I also think it’d be smart to get some physical proof of what Rick looks like.”
“That’s actually not a bad call,” Ben admitted. “Eventually, the authorities are going to have to bring him in. We might as well let them know what he looks like.” When he saw Lisa scrunch up her nose, Ben asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Huh?” she asked. “No, it’s nothing.”
“Don’t give me that,” Ben said. “I know that look. What are you worried about?”
“Well, I can’t help but think—shouldn’t we go directly to the