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John set his glass down with aclunk. “So you know?”
“We all do.”
John grimaced. “Mom and Dad? They know, too?”
“Yes.”
“Shit.” John sighed heavily. “Pass me the bottle.” I slid it over, and John poured himself another drink.
“You closed your joint account with Nancy?”
John’s swollen eyes flared, as much as they could. “You talked to her, too?”
“I’m an investigator, remember?”Sinecure, my ass.
“What did she tell you?”
“That you guys broke up. Why aren’t you supporting Connor? Why are you giving her such a hard time?”
John pursed his lips. “Look, it’s leverage. I need her to play ball. I want Dad to retire.”
“John, really?” I could see he was desperate, and that it was the-end-justifies-the-means time. Addicts and drunks were horribly selfish: God knows I’d been. “How can you do that? You love Connor.”
“Of course I do. Connor’s fine.”
I let that go, since it was moot now. “You’re screwing up your family and mine.”
“Listen, TJ, everything is going to be fine after the acquisition. The fee gets me out of the hole, and the deal establishes me as a player in mergers and acquisitions in Philly.” John’s eyes lit up, newly animated. “Every single deal will be as big as Runstan, even bigger, with an upsidethrough theroof—”
“You’re chasing the high, John. You’ll never get out of the hole.”
“Yes, I will. I have a cash flow issue but it’s temporary. I have money in Berwyn Trust but I didn’t want to take it out in a down market. That’s why I liquidated my joint checking with Nancy. It’s non-interest bearing.”
“You’re robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
“I know what I’m doing. I can handle it. Enough with the lecture.” John poured another whiskey. “What happens now?”
“We go to the office and tell them everything.”
John groaned. “They’re at the office?”
“Yes, they’ve been there all night. Mom’s been calling you. They’re trying to get you out of this. They’re lawyering up. They want to make the clients whole. They were going to use their money, butyou’d better use yours first. You better say you’re sorry for what you’re putting them through. You’d bettergrovel.”
“Dad’s still on track to retire, isn’t he?”
“No, of course not.” I could see he wasn’t getting it. “They’re going to keep working. They’re not going to hand you the reins now.”
“But Dadhasto retire.” John shifted forward in the chair. “This doesn’t change anything. This is nothing. I’m going to buy the firm.”
I sensed he was in magical-thinking territory. “John, wake up. You cheated our clients. You got the firm in major legal trouble. Mom and Dad can’t even use the same lawyer as you. You’ve got to go to rehab.”
“Hell no!” John smacked the table. “I don’t need rehab.”
“I’m not going to fight with you. Tell me what you told the cops about me.”
John hesitated. “Oh man.”
“Just say it. What did you tell the cops?”
