movie. He was right this minute in Barbados where he had flown the three
highest-ranking politicos for a little business and entertainment
Western style. Sullivan would call. And Sandy’s short but select client
list would grow by one, but what a one it would be.
Lord took note of the young woman in the painfully short skirt and
tiptoe heels strolling across the dining room. , She smiled at him; he
returned the look with slightly elevated eyebrows, a favorite signal of
his because of its ambiguity. She was a congressional liaison for one of
the big 16th Street associations, not that he cared about her
occupation.
She was excellent in bed, that he did care about.
The view brought back a number of pleasant memories.
He would have to call her soon. He jotted a note to that effect in his
electronic notebook. Then he turned his attention, as did most of the
ladies in the room, to the tall, angular figure of Jack Graham striding
across the room, heading straight for him.
Lord rose and extended his hand. Jack didn’t take it.
“What the hell happened to Barry Alvis?”
Lord introduced one of his blank stares to the confrontation and sat
back down. A waiter appeared and then was dismissed by a short wave of
Lord’s hand. Lord eyed Jack, who remained standing.
“You don’t give a person a chance to catch their breath, do you?
Straight out the mouth and into the fire. Sometimes that strategy is
smart, sometimes it isn’t.”
‘I’m not kidding, Sandy, I want to know what is going on.
Barry’s office is empty, his secretary is looking at me like I
personally ordered a hit on him. I want some answers.”
Jack’s voice was rising, and with it the stares increased.
“Whatever you have on your mind, I am sure we can discuss it with a
little more dignity than you’re mustering right now. Why don’t you have
a seat and start acting like a partner at the best damned law firm in
this city.”
Their eyes stayed locked for a full five seconds until Jack slowly sat
down.
“Drink9”
“Beer.”;
The waiter reappeared and went away with an order for beer and Sandy’s
potent gin and tonic. Sandy lit a Raleigh and casually looked out the
window, then back at Jack.
“You know about Barry then.”
“All I know is he’s gone. Why he’s gone is what I want you to tell me.”
“Not much to tell. He was let go, effective today.”
“Why?”
“What’s it to you?”
“Barry and I were working together.”
“But you weren’t friends.”
“We didn’t have a chance to be friends yet.”
“Why on God’s earth would you want to be friends with Barry Alvis? Man
was permanent associate material if ever I saw one, and I’ve seen
plenty.”
“He was a helluva lawyer.”
“No, technically, he was a highly competent attorney, proficient in the
area of corporate transactional matters and tax, with a subspecialty in
health care acquisitions. He’s never generated a dime in business, and
never would. Thus he was not a ‘helluva lawyer.”
”
“Goddammit, you know what I mean. He was a very valuable asset to the
firm. You need somebody to do the friggin’ work.”
“We have roughly two hundred attorneys who are very well suited to do
the friggin’ work. On the other hand, we have only a dozen or so
partners who bring in any material clients. That is not the proportion
one should strive for.
Plenty of soldiers, not enough chiefs. You see Barry Alvis as an asset,
we saw him as a high-priced liability without the talent to leverage
himself. He billed enough to keep himself very highly compensated. That
is not how we, the partners, make the most money. Thus a decision was
made to sever our relationship.”
“And you’re telling me you didn’t get a little nudge from Baldwin?”
Lord’s face contained genuine surprise. A lawyer with over thirty-five
years’ experience blowing smoke inpeople’s faces, he was a consummate
liar. “What the hell do the Baldwins care about Barry Alvis?”
Jack scrutinized the corpulent face for a full minute and then let his
breath out slowly. He looked around the restaurant suddenly feeling