Twenty: A Jack Swyteck Novel by James Grippando

Author:James Grippando [Grippando, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Thrillers, Crime, Legal
ISBN: 9780062915085
Google: fJGAzQEACAAJ
Amazon: B088FRL51H
Goodreads: 53327863
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2021-01-05T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 29

Andie didn’t want her husband in the room with her.

It was Tuesday morning, and Andie’s deposition in the school’s lawsuit against her was scheduled for nine a.m. at the law offices of Cool Cash. Jack had assured her that he was fully on board with President Lincoln’s view, as amended by Theo Knight, as cleaned up by Jack Swyteck, that “the lawyer who represents his wife is an effing lunatic.” But on the morning of the deposition, before they left the house, he seemed to be wavering.

“Hannah will appear as the attorney of record,” said Jack. “I’ll attend strictly as an interested observer.”

“You won’t just observe,” said Andie.

“Only Hannah will speak on your behalf. I promise.”

“You lie, Jack.”

“Come on, Andie. What can it hurt if I’m there?”

“You said it yourself when we agreed you were not going. All I need to do is tell the truth. The only way for me to get into trouble is if I start worrying how you might react to my answers to Fitz’s questions.”

Andie had him there. His own words. Jack went to his office like any other workday. It was Andie and Hannah at the deposition—unlike any day Andie had ever experienced.

“Agent Henning, have you ever been deposed before?” asked Fitz.

Duncan Fitz, lead lawyer for the plaintiff, was seated across the conference table from Andie and Hannah, his back to the floor-to-ceiling windows and the view of Biscayne Bay. With him on his side of the needlessly long table were a Cool Cash junior partner, a Cool Cash senior associate, a Cool Cash junior associate, and two Cool Cash paralegals. Andie wondered if the deposition of President Clinton had been this overstaffed.

“I have not,” said Andie.

Fitz launched into a five-minute explanation of the rules of a deposition, which included everything she’d already heard from Hannah in their prep session the day before. Hannah had also told her that background questions would come next—education, employment history, current employment, and the like. But Fitz surprised her—as Jack had warned her he might—by going straight to the heart of the matter.

“Agent Henning, you are familiar with the ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ protocol in response to an active shooter in schools, correct?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Let’s focus on step one, ‘run,’” said Fitz. “I’m reading from the Riverside safety pamphlet that is part of the school information package given to all parents. ‘If there is considerable distance between you and the gunfire/armed person, quickly move away from the sound of the gunfire/armed person. If the gunfire/armed person is in your building and it is safe to do so, run out of the building and move far away until you are in a secure place to hide.’”

Fitz handed the pamphlet to Andie and her counsel. “Does that comport with your understanding of ‘run,’ in the ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ protocol?”

Andie read it to herself, then answered. “It does.”

“The protocol dictates that you run away from the sound of gunfire, correct?”

“That is what it says here.”

“And that if the shooter is inside the building you run out of the building, correct?”

“Yes.

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