Category:

Tom could be as quick to terminate a case as he was to initiate one. They got into his cream-colored Cadillac.

"Who is it you want me to meet?" Ryan asked as he buckled his seat belt. 

"You'll find out when we get there. Enjoy the suspense as much as you will the buffet served at the country club on Monday. The prime rib is outstanding."

Ryan loved beef. He wasn't picky. It could be prime rib, steak, or a well- seasoned hamburger.

"The other time you took me to the country club they served a seafood medley," he said. "I liked it."

"You needed a nice meal after they let you go at Summers, Donovan, and Rangel."

Upon graduating in the middle of his law school class at Chapel Hill, Ryan landed a job with a big firm in Raleigh. That job lasted nine months. A research memo he prepared failed to identify a judicial precedent in California adverse to their client's position. The issue was crucial to the case even though the lawsuit was filed in North Carolina. As a result, the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice by the judge. The client suffered a loss of five million dollars in potential revenue, and the law firm faced a legal malpractice claim. If he'd been at the firm longer, Ryan might have survived. But he was little more than a glorified summer clerk and the damage was too great. Firing him made the law firm's management appear proactive. The managing partner, a gruff man in his late fifties, stood over Ryan while he cleaned out his desk. Ryan then endured a walk of shame to the parking deck. Fortunately, his wife, Paige, had a steady job working remotely for a government contractor based in Reston, Virginia, but her income was barely enough to pay basic bills.

After being out of work for six months, Ryan was hired by Summers, Donovan, and Rangel, a smaller law firm in Durham that specialized in commercial real estate law. One of the senior partners was a woman who wasn't actively involved in the interview process. For reasons unclear to Ryan, she immediately started criticizing his work to his face and behind his back. He applied himself diligently in an effort to overcome her negative opinion. Things seemed to get better, but a week after he celebrated a year at the firm, the woman fired him. He later learned that she wanted to hire the daughter of a friend to replace him. A six-month period of unemployment marked by multiple rejections followed. Two job terminations so close in time produced a barrier that seemed impossible to overcome. Ryan considered trying to find a corporate job other than with a law firm. As a last resort he contacted Tom. When his cousin offered him a job at half the salary of the associate position with the law firm in Durham, Ryan accepted immediately.

They reached the entrance to the Western Hills Country Club. The club boasted an eighteen-hole golf course and six composite-surface tennis courts. Ryan hadn't played tennis since arriving in town and wasn't sure he wanted word to get out that he was a good player. After competing at a high level, he wasn't interested in hitting the ball back and forth with a novice.

"Didn't you play tennis in college?" Tom asked as they passed the courts. "There was something about it on your resume."

Ryan suddenly wished he'd scrubbed that information. "Yes, but not much during law school."

"Maybe Daniel Milton from the district attorney's office will be in the dining room. He's always looking for a tennis partner. If he's there, I'll introduce you. It never hurts to have a friendly face at the courthouse."

Tom drove down a tree-lined avenue and turned into the parking lot. The clubhouse was a stone-and-wood structure with large Palladian windows on the front. They walked up three steps to the double front doors. The entrance to the dining room was directly in front of them. Tom signed in at the host station.

"I'm almost maxed out on my food allowance for the month," Tom muttered as they made their way into the room filled with tables covered with white cloths. "When you calculate the monthly membership fee, it's not a very good deal. We're at table twelve."

The carving station for the prime rib was to their right. There were four chairs at table twelve. No one was sitting there.

"He should be here by now," Tom said, glancing around. "He's never late and gives me a hard time when I am."

A waiter wearing a white shirt, black pants, and a straight black tie took their drink orders.

"I'm not going to wait," Tom said after the waiter left. "I'm starving and want to get a cut of meat from the center."

They made their way to the prime rib table. Tom looked toward the entrance to the dining room.

"There he is," he said.

A short, slightly built man with dark hair and a friendly smile on his face approached. He was wearing an open-collared shirt and cream-colored pants. He shook Tom's hand.

"Ryan," Tom announced, "this is Charlie Drummond. He's the law firm's biggest and best client!"