Rusty said, “And he also listens to Jackal, who’d steal from his grandmother. Bolton’s playing them like a fiddle. He’ll be out before we know it.”
All three took a deep breath and considered that awful scenario. Diantha glanced down at her cell phone. One minute, 52 seconds of a recorded conversation that could roil the state in an unprecedented scandal. What would it mean for her? Should she turn off the recorder? Should she leave the room? Her mind was whirling and her thoughts were muddled.
Kirk cleared his parched throat and said, “We all know what’s at stake here. If Bolton walks he’ll find out immediately that a chunk of his offshore money is missing. We’ll have to confess, there’s no hiding it. He’ll go nuts on us and evict the law firm from this building. Malloy & Malloy will be history. He’ll hire some tough lawyers and come after us with brutal litigation to recover his money. And he’ll likely win in court. And, Bolton being Bolton and a disciple of the scorched-earth theory, he’ll probably go to the U.S. Attorney and demand a criminal investigation.”
“Is that all?” Diantha asked, as a knot the size of a softball clotted in her bowels.
“That’s all I can think of right now. Give me some time.”
Rusty was frowning hard. “I’m not sure he’d go so far as to hound us with criminal charges, but nothing would surprise me.”
“Eviction?” she asked.
“It’s in the lease,” Kirk said. “I reread it an hour ago. He owns the building and he can order his old law firm out in ten days. The rest of the tenants get thirty days and there must be good cause. Not so for Malloy & Malloy.”
Rusty said, “Eviction will be the first step. Then the lawsuits. And it will not be possible to keep it quiet. Front-page news again as the Malloys slug it out.”
Kirk said, “I can see the headline. ‘Malloy Brothers Accused of Fleecing Firm While Father Sits in Prison.’？”
Diantha said, “Hang on. When we all agreed to take some of the money, we felt as though we were entitled to it. Legitimate legal fees, earned by Malloy & Malloy, right? And Bolton is no longer a member of the firm.”
Kirk was shaking his head. “That sounds good in theory, but the truth is that the fees were earned entirely by the old man. We were all opposed to the tobacco litigation, as he has reminded us often enough, and once the tide turned he kept the file to himself. He never talked about it, mainly because he didn’t want Tillie to know.”
Rusty said, “And don’t forget that damned partnership agreement. Signed the day before he left for prison. We agreed not to touch the tobacco money. I’m not sure that section is enforceable, but you can bet he’ll use it like an assault weapon.”
A long, heavy pause ensued as the three tried to absorb the unfathomable. Finally Diantha said, “I’m not so sure he’ll fight over the money. He still has plenty of it and there’s more on the way. A big fight will bring a lot of unwanted attention, and the offshore business could be discovered. Talk about messy. Bolton is in the middle of some serious tax evasion here and it could land him in a slammer where bribes don’t work.”
“Good point,” Kirk said.
Rusty was shaking his head again. “The problem is that we can’t predict the unintended consequences. We don’t know what Bolton will do, and there will be no way to control him. I for one cannot believe that he’ll take this without a big fight.”
“Agreed,” Kirk said. “He’ll come out swinging and then start throwing bombs.”
Diantha said, “Okay, but this is a bribery scheme involving Bolton and Governor Sturgiss, right? We have nothing to do with it. What if we play the role of the good citizen and tip the FBI? It’ll be a huge scandal, a tsunami, but we’ll go untouched. Sturgiss goes down, gets his just rewards. Bolton gets ten more years and dies in prison. The money’s ours.”
Rusty kept frowning. “Sounds good but it won’t work. Any criminal investigation into Bolton Malloy will eventually lead to the offshore money. At that point we’re all screwed.”
Kirk and Diantha exchanged glances with raised eyebrows, as if to say, This guy is quicker than we are. Thinks like a crook. Glad he’s on our side.
Rusty cracked his knuckles and raked his fingers through his hair. They could almost hear him thinking. Then he said, “Here’s an idea that’ll work and everything will be kept quiet. Plus, Bolton will stay where he is. Let’s go to Jackal and tell him we know about the bribery scam with the old man. Since they want a bribe, we’ll give ’em one. We’ll pay two-point-five million to keep Bolton where he is for the rest of his sentence. Sturgiss gets his money plus a little extra. We keep the bulk of ours. Bolton is told the deal is off and he’ll think Sturgiss got cold feet.”