Carver wrote.”
Oscar frowned and thought a moment. Finally he looked back at Damon. “Dr. Kasim also has concerns about Mr. Grey’s partner, as you know. But you don’t?”
“Means nothing,” Damon said. “I have a few white attorneys on staff as well. It’s good for business and keeps up appearances.”
“It’s their friendship that mostly concerns the doctor.”
“Of course. To be thorough I had Mr. Grossman surveilled for the last few days, physically and digitally. No red flags. Beyond their business relationship there’s no substantial ties between the two. At least nothing compared to what we offer.”
Oscar nodded. “That’s good.”
“He’s young, smart, conscious, and his future, financially speaking, is limitless. Martin Grey is the strongest prospect that we’ve seen in a while. He’s exactly the kind of man we need to keep what we have alive.”
Oscar’s video visage just watched Damon a moment, as if he were able to peer into Damon’s soul from two thousand miles away. “Dr. Kasim trusts your instincts,” Oscar finally said. “Feel free to move forward.”
“Thank you.”
“But I caution you, brother. Dr. Kasim does not want any mistakes. Not like the last prospect.”
Damon nodded. “I understand.”
“Use the best people. Double-check everything, then check a third time.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Dr. Kasim looks forward to meeting your Mr. Grey,” Oscar said without even a hint of emotion. Then the encrypted teleconferencing connection winked out.
CHAPTER 16
O kay, how was it?” Glen asked, breezing into Martin’s office and plopping down in a chair. “I want to hear everything that happened.”
Martin set aside the trial transcript that he was reviewing. “It was fun. A lot of fun.”
Glen frowned. “Come on, you can do better than that. I’ve been waiting all morning to hear this.”
After Damon’s party Friday night the rest of Martin’s weekend was uneventful. When he returned to the office Monday morning, there was a significant uptick in new consultation requests, a direct result of the firm’s recent victory.
Their two paralegals, Akiko and Meg, fielded the extra calls with ease, allowing Martin and Glen to get back to business as usual. They rarely took lunch breaks, but around noon there was usually a lull. That was when Glen found the opportunity to grill Martin about the party.
Martin threw up his hands. “What do you want me to tell you? Damon’s house was amazing. The food was unbelievable.”
“No, no, no. Who was there? Any possible future clients with bottomless pockets?”
Martin ran down the list of guests. With each name Glen’s eyes grew wider and wider. “Solomon Aarons too? What was he like?”
“Brilliant,” Martin replied. “You can sense it. Like an old wise man.”
Glen nodded, then, struck with a thought, he said, with a huge grin, “Ooh, now I get it.”
“Get what?”
“All the guests at Damon’s party were African American. Come on, you had to notice that.”
“I did. So?”
“So, don’t you get it? That’s probably the real reason Damon didn’t invite me. Lisa and I would’ve been the only white couple there.”
Martin was about to deny it, but he couldn’t. Up until that moment Martin hadn’t made the connection between the power chat in Damon’s game room and Glen’s exclusion from the party—not explicitly, but now, hearing it aloud, Martin saw it clearly.
Glen shrugged it off. “Hey, I don’t think Damon did it maliciously or anything. He probably just didn’t want us to feel awkward. Know what I mean?”
Martin felt a twinge of guilt as he nodded in agreement. “Sure. I guess that’s possible.”
“So what did all you big shots talk about?” Glen asked.
Martin tensed. It wasn’t that he feared that anything discussed would upset Glen—in fact Martin was pretty sure that Glen would agree with most of what was said. What kept Martin silent was his promise. He gave his
Oscar frowned and thought a moment. Finally he looked back at Damon. “Dr. Kasim also has concerns about Mr. Grey’s partner, as you know. But you don’t?”
“Means nothing,” Damon said. “I have a few white attorneys on staff as well. It’s good for business and keeps up appearances.”
“It’s their friendship that mostly concerns the doctor.”
“Of course. To be thorough I had Mr. Grossman surveilled for the last few days, physically and digitally. No red flags. Beyond their business relationship there’s no substantial ties between the two. At least nothing compared to what we offer.”
Oscar nodded. “That’s good.”
“He’s young, smart, conscious, and his future, financially speaking, is limitless. Martin Grey is the strongest prospect that we’ve seen in a while. He’s exactly the kind of man we need to keep what we have alive.”
Oscar’s video visage just watched Damon a moment, as if he were able to peer into Damon’s soul from two thousand miles away. “Dr. Kasim trusts your instincts,” Oscar finally said. “Feel free to move forward.”
“Thank you.”
“But I caution you, brother. Dr. Kasim does not want any mistakes. Not like the last prospect.”
Damon nodded. “I understand.”
“Use the best people. Double-check everything, then check a third time.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Dr. Kasim looks forward to meeting your Mr. Grey,” Oscar said without even a hint of emotion. Then the encrypted teleconferencing connection winked out.
CHAPTER 16
O kay, how was it?” Glen asked, breezing into Martin’s office and plopping down in a chair. “I want to hear everything that happened.”
Martin set aside the trial transcript that he was reviewing. “It was fun. A lot of fun.”
Glen frowned. “Come on, you can do better than that. I’ve been waiting all morning to hear this.”
After Damon’s party Friday night the rest of Martin’s weekend was uneventful. When he returned to the office Monday morning, there was a significant uptick in new consultation requests, a direct result of the firm’s recent victory.
Their two paralegals, Akiko and Meg, fielded the extra calls with ease, allowing Martin and Glen to get back to business as usual. They rarely took lunch breaks, but around noon there was usually a lull. That was when Glen found the opportunity to grill Martin about the party.
Martin threw up his hands. “What do you want me to tell you? Damon’s house was amazing. The food was unbelievable.”
“No, no, no. Who was there? Any possible future clients with bottomless pockets?”
Martin ran down the list of guests. With each name Glen’s eyes grew wider and wider. “Solomon Aarons too? What was he like?”
“Brilliant,” Martin replied. “You can sense it. Like an old wise man.”
Glen nodded, then, struck with a thought, he said, with a huge grin, “Ooh, now I get it.”
“Get what?”
“All the guests at Damon’s party were African American. Come on, you had to notice that.”
“I did. So?”
“So, don’t you get it? That’s probably the real reason Damon didn’t invite me. Lisa and I would’ve been the only white couple there.”
Martin was about to deny it, but he couldn’t. Up until that moment Martin hadn’t made the connection between the power chat in Damon’s game room and Glen’s exclusion from the party—not explicitly, but now, hearing it aloud, Martin saw it clearly.
Glen shrugged it off. “Hey, I don’t think Damon did it maliciously or anything. He probably just didn’t want us to feel awkward. Know what I mean?”
Martin felt a twinge of guilt as he nodded in agreement. “Sure. I guess that’s possible.”
“So what did all you big shots talk about?” Glen asked.
Martin tensed. It wasn’t that he feared that anything discussed would upset Glen—in fact Martin was pretty sure that Glen would agree with most of what was said. What kept Martin silent was his promise. He gave his
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