Mickey Haller 4 - The Fifth Witness

Lisa, that you have the best defense possible and try to defy the odds and win this case, or that you have a book or movie deal?”
    Lisa put a pouting look on her face, and then promptly deflected the question.
    “But you don’t understand. I’m innocent. I didn’t—”
    “No, you don’t understand. Whether you’re innocent or not has nothing to do with this equation. It’s what we can prove or disprove in court. And when I say ‘we’ I really mean ‘me,’ Lisa. Me. I’m your hero, not Herb Dahl out there in the leather jacket and Hollywood piece sign. And I mean that as in piece of the pie.”
    She paused for a long moment before responding.
    “I can’t, Mickey. He just bailed me out. It cost him two hundred thousand dollars. He has to make that back.”
    “While your defense team goes hungry.”
    “No, you’re going to get paid, Mickey. I promise. I get half of everything. I’ll pay you.”
    “After he gets his two hundred grand back, plus expenses. Expenses that could be anything, it sounds like.”
    “He said he got a half a million for one of Michael Jackson’s doctors. And that was just for a tabloid story. We might get a movie!”
    I was on the verge of losing it with her. Lorna had a stress-release squeeze toy on the desk. It was a small judge’s gavel, a sample of a giveaway she was considering for marketing and promotional purposes. The name and number of the firm could be printed on the side. I grabbed it and squeezed hard on the barrel, thinking of it as Herb Dahl’s windpipe. After a few moments the anger eased. The thing actually worked. I made a mental note to tell Lorna to go ahead with the purchase. We’d give them out at bail bond offices and street fairs.
    “Okay,” I said. “We’ll talk about this later. We’re going to go back out there now. You are still going to send Herb home because we are going to talk about your case and we do not do that in front of people who are not in the circle of privilege. Later, you are going to call him and tell him he is not to make any deal or move without my approval. Do you understand, Lisa?”
    “Yes.”
    She sounded chastised and meek.
    “Do you want me to tell him to leave or do you want to handle it?”
    “Can you handle it, Mickey?”
    “No problem. I think we’re done here.”
    We stepped back into the living room and caught Dahl as he was finishing a story.
    “… and that was before he made Titanic!”
    He laughed at the kicker but the others in the room failed to show the same sense of Hollywood humor.
    “Okay, Herb, we’re going to get back to work on the case and we need to talk with Lisa,” I said. “I’m going to walk you out now.”
    “But how will she get home?”
    “I have a driver. We can handle that.”
    He hesitated and looked to Lisa to save him.
    “It’s okay, Herb,” she said. “We need to talk about the case. I’ll call you as soon as I get home.”
    “Promise?”
    “Promise.”
    “Mick, I can walk him out,” Lorna offered.
    “No, that’s okay. I have to go to the car anyway.”
    Everyone said goodbye to the man with the peace sign, and Dahl and I left the condo. Each unit in the building had an exterior exit. We walked down a pathway to the front gate on Kings Road. I saw a delivery of phone books underneath the mailbox and used one stack to prop the gate open so I could get back in.
    We walked out to my car, which was parked against a red curb in front. Rojas was leaning on the front fender, smoking a cigarette. I had left my remote in the cup holder, so I called to him.
    “Rojas, the trunk.”
    He pulled his keys and popped the rear lid. I told Dahl there was something I wanted to give him and he followed me over.
    “You’re not going to stuff me in there, are you?”
    “Not quite, Herb. I just want to give you something.”
    We went behind the car and I pushed the trunk all the way open.
    “Jeez, you got it all set up back here,” he said when he saw the file boxes.
    I didn’t respond. I grabbed the contracts file and pulled out the agreements Lisa had signed the day before. I moved around the car and copied it on the multipurpose machine on the front seat. I handed the copies to Dahl and kept the originals.
    “There, read that stuff when you have a few minutes.”
    “What is it?”
    “It is my representation contract with Lisa. Standard boilerplate. There’s also a power of attorney and a lien on any and all income derived from her case. You’ll notice that she