Page 35 of Motion to Dismiss

“I need some air.” It’s all I can say.

“I’ll join you.”

“No.” I step back. “I need to be alone.”

“Oh, come on, Jameson.” He shrugs. “Don’t get all emotional on me now. You’re the one who always told me to have a backup plan for every backup plan.”

“I did tell you that,” I admit, but that’s not what I meant.

“Then don’t take too much time away,” he says. “I want to hear your current defense for the wire fraud. That’s the one they always win, so I need to hear some hope.”

“Right.” I head to the door, then stop and look over my shoulder.

“You really would’ve let her sit in a prison cell for things you’ve done, Lucas?” I ask. “You really mean that?”

“Why would she be any different from my sons when we don’t have as much of a relationship?” He looks dead-ass serious. “Think about it this way…Do you think your father would ever serve time for something you did?”

He already is.

JURY STRESS (N.):

A FORM OF MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL TENSION FOUND TO AFFECT JURIES IN LONG TRIALS DUE TO EXHAUSTION, SEQUESTRATION, THE MOUNTAIN OF EVIDENCE AND THE DESIRE TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

JAMESON

Three Days Later

I’ve ranked Lucas’s charges from hardest to easiest to defend and blocked off a separate room for each one at my firm.

Tonight, I’m circling the “Racketeering” room, studying all the evidence I’ve hung on the walls while the screens flicker with witness testimonies.

“My client may not be the most likable businessman, and his ethics may be somewhat questionable, but he’s not the monster the government is painting him to be.” I read the first draft of my opening statement aloud. “In fact, he’s not a monster at all…”

I set the pages down and let out a deep sigh.

The door across from me slowly opens, and Rachel steps inside.

“You’re back one day early,” I say. “Everything alright?”

“No.” Her face is ghost-pale. “Nothing is okay anymore.”

I pull out a chair for her, but she shakes her head.

“You know,” she says, looking around, “maybe you can just admit that Lucas is a monster and paint him as a friendlier kind. Go with the Godzilla versus Aliens defense.”

“That only works if we go for an insanity plea.”

“Try it, then,” she says. “It works for some murderers.”

“He’s still an alleged murderer, Rachel. Alleged.”

“No, he’s a real one.” She tosses a folder onto the desk. “A serial, bloodthirsty one at that.”

Silence.

“Go ahead and open it,” she says. “You sent me to find something on his estate, and I definitely found something.”

“So, there is an old well on the property?”