possible avenues of competition. It set my mental gears turning, but they didn’t get far because Sterling came down the path next.
“If you cancel the meeting, it will be a show of strength,” I said.
Hands in his pockets. It had become his defensive gesture. “It’s too late for that. They’re already on their way here.”
“I saw you and Andrea from the window. Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine. She’s afraid if we lose this, she’ll be laid off.”
I frowned. “Really. What did she have to say about that?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He continued back toward the house.
I followed. “Yes it does. This case is none of her business. What exactly did she have to say?”
“She just wanted me to reassure her everything was fine.”
“And did you?”
“No, June, I didn’t. I told her there’s a chance we go to trial and the bad PR sinks me. Doesn’t she have a right to know if her job is in jeopardy?”
“But it’s not.” That face she’d given me wouldn’t go away. It made sense if she was afraid I was steering Victor in the wrong direction and costing her her job. But how could she possibly know my advice was ostensibly making things risky?
“How much have you confided in her?”
“Are you asking me that as my lawyer?”
“What else am I? Yes, I’m asking as your lawyer.”
He stopped walking and looked at the ground for a second, then said, “She’s been in on everything from the beginning. I needed someone besides my lawyers to vent to.”
“So she’s been aware of all your doubts, all your uncertainties from the beginning?”
“Isn’t that what I just said?”
Pieces started to fall into place in my head. “You do realize that makes her a liability. If any of the opposition has any kind of access to her, they could potentially know your weaknesses.”
He looked at me now. “Are you accusing her of something?” His expression warned me to pick my words carefully, as if accusing her meant accusing him, too. It was a delicate moment, requiring diplomatic tact.
I said, “I’m not necessarily accusing anyone. I’m just saying, every time these people come in, it does feel like they know how to make you sweat. Like they know you personally.”
He put his hands on his hips. “They’ve seen a lot of me by this point.”
“Even so. What gave them the confidence to bring this absurd claim forward? What chance could they have possibly expected to have without knowing you’d seek to settle out of court, that you’d be so afraid of bad PR that you’d entertain a completely nonsense money play? Do you know any of them personally?”
“No.”
“Well somehow, I don’t know how, I think they got the idea that you could be manipulated. And I find it very suspicious just how precisely on the mark they’ve been. I didn’t see it before, but now that I realize it’s possible, I’m betting you have a leak, whether it’s Andrea or someone else.”
“You think someone’s feeding them information about how nervous I am.”
“I do. Or at least, I think that someone was a leak at the beginning, or possible even before they came forward. Who would stand to gain the most from it? It could be gain by having a share in the settlement or gain by your stock plummeting from the bad press.”
Sterling looked away as if I were inventing some wild flight of fancy. “The only ones who know me well enough are the executive board, my lawyers, and Andrea. Nobody else who works for me has ever seen me in doubt.”
“And if I’m not mistaken, your lawyers and executive board have been unanimous in their support of this case being quickly ended before bad PR without a penny paid to these people.”
“They have.”
“What about people who don’t work for you?”
“I keep my doubts private.”
That certainly narrowed the field. Narrowed it to one prime suspect, as I thought. “Has Andrea ever encouraged you to pay out and settle with them?”
“You can’t blame her for
“If you cancel the meeting, it will be a show of strength,” I said.
Hands in his pockets. It had become his defensive gesture. “It’s too late for that. They’re already on their way here.”
“I saw you and Andrea from the window. Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine. She’s afraid if we lose this, she’ll be laid off.”
I frowned. “Really. What did she have to say about that?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He continued back toward the house.
I followed. “Yes it does. This case is none of her business. What exactly did she have to say?”
“She just wanted me to reassure her everything was fine.”
“And did you?”
“No, June, I didn’t. I told her there’s a chance we go to trial and the bad PR sinks me. Doesn’t she have a right to know if her job is in jeopardy?”
“But it’s not.” That face she’d given me wouldn’t go away. It made sense if she was afraid I was steering Victor in the wrong direction and costing her her job. But how could she possibly know my advice was ostensibly making things risky?
“How much have you confided in her?”
“Are you asking me that as my lawyer?”
“What else am I? Yes, I’m asking as your lawyer.”
He stopped walking and looked at the ground for a second, then said, “She’s been in on everything from the beginning. I needed someone besides my lawyers to vent to.”
“So she’s been aware of all your doubts, all your uncertainties from the beginning?”
“Isn’t that what I just said?”
Pieces started to fall into place in my head. “You do realize that makes her a liability. If any of the opposition has any kind of access to her, they could potentially know your weaknesses.”
He looked at me now. “Are you accusing her of something?” His expression warned me to pick my words carefully, as if accusing her meant accusing him, too. It was a delicate moment, requiring diplomatic tact.
I said, “I’m not necessarily accusing anyone. I’m just saying, every time these people come in, it does feel like they know how to make you sweat. Like they know you personally.”
He put his hands on his hips. “They’ve seen a lot of me by this point.”
“Even so. What gave them the confidence to bring this absurd claim forward? What chance could they have possibly expected to have without knowing you’d seek to settle out of court, that you’d be so afraid of bad PR that you’d entertain a completely nonsense money play? Do you know any of them personally?”
“No.”
“Well somehow, I don’t know how, I think they got the idea that you could be manipulated. And I find it very suspicious just how precisely on the mark they’ve been. I didn’t see it before, but now that I realize it’s possible, I’m betting you have a leak, whether it’s Andrea or someone else.”
“You think someone’s feeding them information about how nervous I am.”
“I do. Or at least, I think that someone was a leak at the beginning, or possible even before they came forward. Who would stand to gain the most from it? It could be gain by having a share in the settlement or gain by your stock plummeting from the bad press.”
Sterling looked away as if I were inventing some wild flight of fancy. “The only ones who know me well enough are the executive board, my lawyers, and Andrea. Nobody else who works for me has ever seen me in doubt.”
“And if I’m not mistaken, your lawyers and executive board have been unanimous in their support of this case being quickly ended before bad PR without a penny paid to these people.”
“They have.”
“What about people who don’t work for you?”
“I keep my doubts private.”
That certainly narrowed the field. Narrowed it to one prime suspect, as I thought. “Has Andrea ever encouraged you to pay out and settle with them?”
“You can’t blame her for
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