The Will: A Novel by Reed Arvin

Author:Reed Arvin
Format: epub

“You’ve already stated that Orion’s stock is in the toilet. I assume you own a calculator. The math for someone aware of the . . . let’s say the circumstances, is compelling.”

Henry was surprised by how calm he felt, how clear things looked to him. Falling in space, he found, was more comfortable than trying to balance the life he had been leading. He had pushed with Parker from day one, taking risk after risk. Staying in Council Grove so long in the first place showed that. But this line was terminal, and he recognized it as such at once. The clear-cut nature of what had happened made his choice remarkably easy. He was his father’s son, and that meant that he would not work another day for Sheldon Parker. There was no mistaking what that meant for his future with the firm: it was over. He had crossed a lot of lines to be a success, little compromises not with the law but with his nature. To compensate, he had developed the nervous tic of outrageous banter with Parker, pushing him, almost daring him to unload. But this line he would never cross. There was no reason to extend the conversation a minute longer, no reason to see Sheldon embarrass himself further. “I won’t do it, Sheldon,” he said simply. “You can forget it.”

Parker eyed him warily. When he spoke, his voice was calm, but there was venom just below the surface.

“We’re clear that I have admitted nothing to you.”

Henry suddenly felt tired. “Yes, Sheldon. Nothing at all.”

Parker regarded him for a moment, and his face softened slightly. “Let me explain something. Every year over six thousand people graduate from law school. They come rooting around for jobs like little hogs. We don’t bother interviewing anybody but the top one percent. You know why?”

Henry said nothing; he was already detached, listening to Sheldon only in objective fascination. He was watching the way a man morally deconstructs himself. He was seeing what, perhaps, in time he would have become.

“We don’t waste our time with second best because we know it’s a damn tough world out there. What the hell do you think business is? It’s Darwinian, Preacher. It’s kill or be killed. This firm is made up of survivors.” He finished off his second tumbler. “We eat the weak, Henry. From the day I entered law school I knew one thing: I’ll never be the weak.”

Henry watched, feeling something he had never felt for the man before: simple pity. “I won’t do it, Sheldon.”

“Take twenty-four hours, Preacher. This is a big decision. It’s hard to get back on the fast track when you’ve been bumped off.”

“It won’t matter, Sheldon. I won’t do it.”

“Go to your party, Henry. Talk to Elaine.”

Elaine. He hadn’t thought about her in the tension of the moment. It was miserable timing, coming on the night of her triumph.

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