The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [54]
“Oh, shit,” Nathan said.
“Oh, shit is right,” Ben repeated. Pointing his finger in Eric’s face, he continued, “And since it’s obvious you didn’t take a single moment to anticipate the consequences of writing that story, you should also know that every paper in the country called the Court today to find out if it was true. At this point, they won’t turn me in, but they say it’s only a matter of time before the press finds a source who’ll talk. And I don’t think it will take long before someone puts the story together with the fact that you and I are roommates.”
“All I did was write about a possibility,” Eric said.
“No. All you did was plant a seed in everyone’s mind. Since that rag you write for doesn’t give a crap about reality, they ran it. The result screws no one but me.”
“But I didn’t even give a source,” Eric said.
“IT DOESN’T MATTER!” Ben yelled. “Get your head out of your ass. Not giving a source just means it takes longer for them to investigate.”
“Listen, don’t get mad at me,” Eric said, getting up from the couch.
“Then who the hell should I be mad at?” Ben asked, throwing his hands in the air.
“Well, I’m not the one who leaked information from the Court. I hate to burst your bubble, but what you did was illegal. I didn’t make it up.”
Ben shoved Eric in the chest. “You selfish son of a—”
Nathan jumped up, knocking over the coffee table, and wedged himself between the two friends. “This is not turning into a rumble. Both of you, relax.”
Clenching his fists, Ben stepped back from Nathan. “You really are a lowlife,” he said to Eric.
“Don’t pull that with me,” Eric said, his voice racing. “You have no idea what I was going through. You always have everything handed to you. You have no idea what it’s like to struggle on your own. My editor was breathing down my ass for a source. I didn’t care, though. I never once named you! Never!”
“Then how did the Marshals Office know that I was the source for your story about Blake’s resignation?”
Eric was silent.
“What’s the matter? You don’t have an answer for that one?”
“The Blake story was different and you know it,” Eric shot back. “For CMI, I didn’t say a word. No matter what they said, I wouldn’t give them a source. My editor told me people would call me a hack. But I kept quiet.”
“Well, you’re just the best friend a guy could have. Maybe next week you can do me a real favor and slice my throat. That’ll be the greatest.”
“I’m serious,” Eric said. “I was flooded with calls today. I got calls from Newsweek, Time, USA Today, The New York Times. You name it, I got a call from it. And I could have blown your story to any one of them. I could ride this one to fame and fortune. I could write a book about the whole thing. I’d have movie deals, a syndicated column, the whole world if I blew the lid off this one. You know it’s true—”
Before Eric could finish his sentence, Ben rushed toward him and pushed him against the back wall of the room, holding him by the front of his shirt. “You say one word, and I swear I’ll rip your fucking heart out!”
“Ben, let go!” Nathan demanded as he and Ober pried him off of Eric.
Straightening his shirt, Eric said, “Listen, I understand you’re pissed, but that was good journalism. The point is, I protected your ass, and I wrote a page five story my first time out.”
“If you killed your mother, you’d make page one,” Ben screamed. “Does that mean you should do it? You didn’t blow this story open. You would’ve been clueless unless I told