‘This is a without prejudice negotiation, in relation to the matter of Levy, Bernard and Groff, a firm, versus Kate Brooks. Do we have any questions before we commence?’ said Levy.
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Could I get a fork? This hotdog is a lot messier than I thought.’
Levy looked at my lunch, then me, and said, ‘We’ve been waiting for you for ten minutes. We couldn’t start the negotiation without the defendant’s attorney. I’d hoped you’d be bringing more than cheap junk food to the table.’
‘Oh, I’m not the attorney for Kate,’ I said.
‘What?’
‘Nah, she’s doing just fine on her own. She doesn’t need me,’ I said and I took a bite from the hotdog. It was hot, and delicious.
‘Then why are you here, Mr. Flynn?’ asked Bernard. He had a voice that sounded like it was coming from the back of a deep, oak wardrobe.
‘I’m just here to watch. I wouldn’t miss this for the world,’ I said.
‘Alright, for the record we can ignore Mr. Flynn. Miss Brooks, I’ve spoken to my partners, and we have arrived at the figure of two-point-three million dollars. That’s our bottom line. You stole our client. That means you stole our fees. We want that money, and your law license. Final offer.’
Kate produced the black plastic card I’d taken out of Levy’s wallet, and placed it on the table.
‘I have a counter offer,’ she said.
Levy’s face took on a strange look. It was like he’d seen a ghost pull down its pants and shit on his lawn.
Kate picked up the card and pressed one side of it. A small, metallic connection point flipped out of the side. It looked like a micro-USB.
‘This card belongs to Mr. Levy,’ she said as she slotted it into her laptop.
‘No,’ said Levy. It didn’t sound like a denial. It was a plea. A cry for mercy.
‘The card acts as a kind of digital portal to a site on the dark web,’ she said.
As she turned the laptop screen around, I caught a glimpse of the site. I didn’t read the name, but I saw the bank of pictures. One of them looked a little like Kate. And she was bending over. The photo was taken from behind, probably on a camera phone. There were other pictures, even worse. Some were photographs taken under tables, with the camera angled up a woman’s skirt. There were more graphic photographs of Kate changing, or on the john. Levy must’ve had cameras hidden all over the office, beneath desks, in the female bathroom, and God knows where else. Suddenly I’d lost my appetite.
‘These are photographs of me, which Mr. Levy took, surreptitiously, and uploaded onto this site – Co-workers I’d Like To Rape.’
‘Jesus, Theo!’ said Bernard.
Theo Levy put his head down as it started to turn bright red.
‘For what I’m sure is a substantial annual fee, Mr. Levy can look at other pictures taken by powerful men of their female employees, some are even naked, and engaged in what looks like non-consensual sex. The users can even rate the women, and the pictures. I see that my home address was also put on the site. I will withdraw my counter-suit for sexual harassment, you will withdraw your suit for breach of contract and—’
‘Kate,’ said Bernard, interrupting her. ‘You don’t need to say any more. We’ll withdraw our lawsuit. You do likewise and sign a non-disclosure agreement. We’ll pay one million dollars in compensation and that will be an end to it. Okay? Can you turn that computer off now?’
‘I’m sorry, Mr. Bernard, I hadn’t finished. There will be no non-disclosure agreements. This is a one-time offer. We withdraw our respective lawsuits, Mr. Levy resigns from the firm and you put out a press statement to say that sexual harassment has been a problem at Levy, Bernard and Groff, but that you’re calling in expert human resources teams to address the issue. That’s it.’
‘Look, Miss Brooks, you’re clearly a talented lawyer, but you’d be a fool to turn down a million dollars—’
‘No non-disclosure agreements. I think I said that already. This shit has gone on too long behind closed doors. It will continue to go on unless you deal with the problem,’ said Kate.
‘Two million,’ said Groff.
Kate shook her head.
‘One time offer,’ said Kate again. ‘If you don’t take it, the offer is walking out of this room with me. And I’m going straight to the New Yorker with this card.’
‘Goddamn it,’ said Bernard. ‘Just do it. Just give her whatever she wants.’
‘You can’t—’ said Levy, but Bernard cut him off.
‘You don’t get a vote in this, Theo. I have a feeling your ass is going to be thrown out the door before the end of the day.’
‘You have a deal. The case is settled,’ said Groff.
‘Wait,’ said Levy, but they ignored him.
‘Thank you,’ said Kate.
Bernard and Groff both turned on Levy and began to berate him. Not for being a creepy pervert, but for getting caught. He was trying to speak but they weren’t listening.
‘Oh, one more thing,’ said Kate.
Reaching down, Bloch grabbed the cardboard box at her feet, and put it on the table.
‘What’s this?’ said Bernard.
Kate opened the box, and started bringing out bundles of legal documents.
‘These are lawsuits on behalf of fourteen Levy, Bernard and Groff associates and secretaries. They’re all female. They’ve all had their picture taken by Mr. Levy, and we have screenshots of them. When you calculate the salaries owed to these women, because they weren’t getting paid anywhere near their male counterparts, and you figure in damages for sexual harassment, I’ll recommend two million dollars to settle.’
‘Two million? We can do that,’ said Groff.
‘Two million each,’ said Kate.
Through gritted teeth, Bernard said, ‘How many of them did you say?’
‘Fourteen.’
‘We need to check the paperwork and interrogate these claims. We’ll get back to you before the end of the week on those,’ said Bernard.
‘No problem. If I don’t hear from you by Friday, the price goes up.’
‘Wait a second,’ said Levy, no longer willing to be shouted down. His career was over, and he was desperate to try and save himself. ‘I’m not going anywhere. We can win these suits. She stole that card from me. She can’t use it in court!’
‘Actually, I stole it, Theo,’ I said. ‘Do you want to report the theft of your pervert passport to the police?’
Levy’s mouth opened and shut like a fish.
‘I didn’t think so.’
Within an hour the paperwork was done on Kate’s case, and she was pretty sure she could collect at least twenty percent on each of the new claims from the associates. This was a nice payday for her.
Outside the building, Harry waited with Clarence on a leash. It was a gorgeous day. Bright, sunny and cold.
‘Why do I have a feeling that once those cases are settled and the damages are paid that the card will somehow find its way to the NYPD?’ I said.
‘I have no idea,’ said Kate. ‘These things happen all the time. Bloch definitely wouldn’t put it in an unmarked envelope and send it to the sex crimes unit.’