The Associate by John Grisham Page B

himself in the mirror. Don’t get tired, he told himself. Ignore the fatigue and the fear. Try to anticipate what’s coming. Try to throw him a curve, mess with his timing, knock him off course.
    He sat down across the table from Wright. “Where’d you find the video?” Kyle asked.
    “Kyle, Kyle, such a waste of time.”
    “If the video is used in court, then the owner of the cell phone camera will have to testify. You can’t protect his identity at that point. Does he know this? Did you explain it to him? He’s one of my fraternity brothers, and I’ll bet he’ll refuse to testify at trial.”
    “A trial? You’re willing to go to trial? A trial holds the possibility of a conviction, which means prison, and prison for cute little white boys convicted of rape is not pretty.”
    “I’ll bet she won’t press charges.”
    “You have nothing to bet with. She needs money. If she can squeeze it out of Mr. Tate, and a few bucks from you and the other two, she’ll do it. Trust me.”
    “I wouldn’t trust you with my dirty laundry.”
    “Enough of the insults. We’ll go to her lawyer and show her exactly how to do it. Or, maybe we won’t. Maybe we’ll just release an edited version of the video on the Internet tonight. Cut out the rape and let everyone see the party scene. We’ll e-mail it to all your friends, family, prospective employers, the whole world, Kyle. See how it plays. Then maybe we’ll edit it some more, maybe include some of the rape, post it again. When Elaine sees it, your face is in the newspaper.”
    Kyle’s mouth actually dropped open, and his shoulders slumped. He could think of no quick response, but the one thought that hit him hard was that of being shot. Mr. Wright here was a ruthless little cutthroat who worked for some group with unlimited resources and great determination. They would ruin him. They might even kill him.
    As if reading his mind, Wright leaned in a little closer and said, “Kyle, we’re not Boy Scouts. And I’mtired of this bantering back and forth. I’m not here to negotiate. I’m here to give orders. Either you follow my orders, or I call the office and tell my pals to destroy you.”
    “I despise you.”
    “So be it. I’m just doing my job.”
    “What a miserable job.”
    “Can we talk about your new one?”
    “I didn’t go to law school to become a spy.”
    “Let’s not call it spying, Kyle.”
    “Then give it a name, Bennie.”
    “Transferring information.”
    “Oh, bullshit. It’s nothing but spying.”
    “I really don’t care what you call it.”
    “What kind of information?”
    “Once the lawsuit gets cranked up, there will be a million documents. Maybe ten million, who knows? Lots of documents and lots of secrets. We expect each of the two law firms to commit fifty lawyers to the case—maybe as many as ten partners, the rest associates. You’ll be in the litigation section of Scully & Pershing, so you’ll have access to a lot of material.”
    “Security at these firms is extremely tight.”
    “We know that. Our security experts are better than theirs. We wrote the book, Kyle.”
    “I’m sure you did. May I ask what these two big companies are fighting over?”
    “Secrets. Technology.”
    “Great. Thanks. Do these companies have names?”
    “Fortune 500. I’ll give you more information as we progress.”
    “So you’re going to be part of my life for a while?”
    “I’m your official handler. You and I will spend a lot of time together.”
    “Then I quit. Go ahead and shoot me. I’m not spying and I’m not stealing. The moment I walk out of Scully & Pershing with a document or a disc I’m not supposed to have and give it to you or anybody else, I’ve broken the law and violated half the canons of ethics. I will be disbarred and convicted of something.”
    “Only if you get caught.”
    “I’ll get caught.”
    “No. We’re much too smart, Kyle. We’ve done this before. It’s our business.”
    “Your firm specializes