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I shrugged. “It’s a particularly… interesting request the client has made.”
“Interesting?” she asked with a quirked eyebrow. “The woman is about to be found guilty of child-trafficking in a grand jury court of law.”
“We’ve dealt with worse.”
“No,” she said as she shook her head, “we really haven’t.”
I crossed my ankle over my knee. “I’ve never hit a point in my career where I questioned whether or not I should be helping someone. Cheating scandals among the elite are a dime a dozen, and I’ve never had an issue taking their money in exchange for whatever second chance they feel they deserve.”
“But, this feels different?”
I licked my lips. “She’s fucking selling children, Shonda.”
“You really want to know what I think?”
I nodded. “For once, yes.”
She scoffed. “Well, for what it’s worth? I think that if there’s any moral line to be drawn, it’s here. Do you really want to be known as the man who took a convicted child trafficker and turned her into a positive force in the media? Do you really want your company to be seen like that?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “I could charge her a fuckton of money to do it.”
“Money that she obtained by selling children that her goons snatched out of city parks.”
So, I didn’t hesitate. “Send her one of our automated and formal emails stating that we’ve reviewed her case and we regret to inform her that we won’t be taking it on.”
Shonda’s smile told me everything I needed to know. “With pleasure. But I do have one last question.”
“What’s that?”
“Jackson Drueyers?”
“The serial cheater?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
I shrugged. “What about him?”
“I haven’t forwarded the email to you yet, but he’s requesting our services for a third time.”
I groaned. “You’re fucking kidding me. Who the hell did he get caught fucking now?”
Her face fell flat. “An underaged Spanish girl he found while traveling abroad.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “God damn it, I really hate people.”
“Me, too.”
I drew in a deep breath. “You let him know that the only way we’re going to help him this time is if he pays us four times what he paid us last time, with half of that money going into a fund for the girl he accosted. He’s not getting off scot-free this time. Not with something like this.”
“Will do, sir.”
“Is there anything else you haven’t forwarded to me?”
She shook her head. “No, that’s it. I wanted to discuss it with you before I slapped you with it since he’s one of our few recurring clients that seems to… not learn his lesson.”
I leaned forward, focusing my gaze on hers. “Draw up a contract with a four-times mark-up of my usual prices, outline basic terms for half of that to go into an account for that girl and her family, and then let him know that the only thing we’re going to do is help him craft an apology that may or may not garner him some sort of favor with the public. But, at this point? I’ve done all I can for the man, and maybe it’s time he answers for his idiocy.”
She typed furiously on the other side of the camera. “For what it’s worth? I think we should put one more stipulation in here. Though, I know it isn’t my place.”
