The Associate by John Grisham Page A

I’m sure you’re very sensitive. But it’s blackmail, or extortion, or whatever you’d like to call it. It’s a crime, Bennie. And you’re a thug.”
    “Shut up and stop calling me a thug!”
    “I could go to the cops tomorrow and bust your ass. Impersonating an officer, attempted blackmail.”
    “It won’t happen.”
    “I can make it happen.”
    Wright slowly stood and for one horrible second made a motion as if he were about to throw a nasty punch. Then he casually pointed a finger at Kyle and in a firm and steady voice said, “You’re a kid with a snoot full of law. You want to run to the cops, go ahead. Work up your little textbook theories about who’s right and who’s wrong, and you know what will happen, Kyle? I’ll tell you what will happen. You’ll never see me again. The boys across the hall, the FBI agents, are already gone. No trace whatsoever. Vanished, forever. Before long, I’ll have a visit with the attorney for Elaine Keenan, show her the video, look once again at the net worth of Baxter Tate, provide her with the current addresses and phone numbers and e-mails for you, Alan Strock, and Joey Bernardo, prod her to have a chat with the prosecutor in Pittsburgh, and before you know it things are out of your control. Maybe charges will be filed, maybe not. But, trust me, I will destroy you.”
    “Where’s Elaine? You got her in a bunker somewhere?”
    “It doesn’t matter. We have reason to believe she feels strongly that she was raped in your apartment.”
    “Please.”
    “She’s a ticking bomb, Kyle, and the video would set her off. You have seven more years to worry about it.” With that, Wright returned to his chair and made some notes. Kyle sat on the edge of the bed, facing the mirror.
    “It could get really ugly,” Wright continued. “Think about it, Kyle. Yale Law’s brightest student arrested on rape charges. The women’s groups screaming for all eight testicles. The video leaked onto the Internet. A brutal trial. Chance of conviction, prison. A career ruined.”
    “Shut up!”
    “No. So if you think I’m worried about your two-bit threats, please rest assured that I am not. Let’s talk business. Let’s take the video and lock it away so that no one will ever see it. How does that sound, Kyle?”
    It sounded pretty damned good at the moment. Kyle scratched his stubble as he said, “What do you want?”
    “I want you to take the job at Scully & Pershing.”
    “Why?”
    “Now we’re getting somewhere, Kyle. Now we can talk business. I thought you’d never ask why.”
    “Why? Why? Why?”
    “Because I need information.”
    “Great. That really explains things. Thank you so much.”
    “Bear with me for a few minutes, Kyle. You need a little background here. There are two gigantic corporations who compete with each other. Both are ruthlesscompetitors, both are worth billions, and they really despise each other. There have been lawsuits, nasty ones, big public spectacles with no clear winner or loser. So, over the years, they have tried to avoid the courtroom. Until now. Now they’re about to square off in the mother of all lawsuits. It will be filed in a few weeks in federal court in New York City. At stake is something in the neighborhood of $800 billion, and the loser might not survive. Nasty, vicious litigation. A bonanza for the attorneys. Each uses a huge Wall Street law firm, and guess what? The two law firms hate each other.”
    “I can’t wait to get in the middle of that.”
    “That’s where you’re headed. One firm is Scully & Pershing. The other is Agee, Poe & Epps.”
    “Otherwise known as APE.”
    “Yes.”
    “I interviewed there.”
    “Did they offer a job?”
    “I thought you knew everything.”
    “Only what I need to know.”
    “I didn’t like the firm.”
    “Attaboy. Now you can really dislike them.”
    Kyle walked into the bathroom, ran cold water in the sink, splashed it on his face and down his neck, and for a long time stared at