Unconscionable, A Rich Coleman Novel Vol 3, Page 3

  Chapter 2

  Intervention

  On Monday Ryan went to Richardson Medical Center to see Matt. He found him asleep in the waiting room. He sat down beside him and shook his shoulder gently. Matt woke up with a start.

  “What the—?” Matt exclaimed.

  “Hey, big brother. Sorry to wake you, but I heard about your friend’s accident. I was worried about you.”

  Matt sat up, rubbed his eyes, and looked at Ryan warily. “It’s okay. It’s almost visiting hour, so I had to wake up anyway.”

  “How is she? What’s her name?”

  “She’s going to be okay. And you know her name is Candy Kane.”

  “Right. Candy Kane?” Ryan snickered.

  Matt smiled. “It’s not her real name. She keeps that a secret. It was her stage name when she was a stripper. She runs an escort service now—but there’s no sex involved in her business.”

  “Except for you?”

  “I’m not a client anymore and, yes, if we feel like it we have sex. So what? I’m not going to marry her.”

  “Does she know that?”

  “Yes. We’ve had that conversation. She understands. She can’t get married anyway. It would ruin her business.”

  Ryan nodded. “Okay, so Dad told me you quit the ministry. What’s up with that?”

  Matt shrugged. “I’m burned out. It was just bullshit. I wasn’t accomplishing anything—other than raising money for the church coffers.”

  “So . . . The church does good work, doesn’t it?”

  “I guess, but being a fund-raiser for the church isn’t my idea of a career.”

  “Good. I never liked your ministry, no offense. It just wasn’t you.”

  “Right. It was a good cover for a while and I even started believing myself for a while, but I just don’t have my heart in it anymore.”

  “So, what now?” Ryan asked.

  Matt shrugged and looked away. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, Dad and I have an idea.”

  Matt looked back at Ryan. “I figured that’s why you came by.”

  “Well, we’re all worried about you.”

  Matt sighed. “You don’t need to be. I’ll figure things out.”

  “Uh-huh. Like you did last night?”

  Matt sucked in a deep breath. “That was an accident.”

  “Right. But Candy may have died had Dad not come by.”

  “Okay!” Matt spat. “Just spit it out. What’s your great plan for my life? I’d like to hear it, ’cause right now my life pretty much sucks.”

  Ryan hesitated. “Well. How about coming back to Dad’s firm? It will be great—Coleman & Sons PC, Attorneys at Law. That was always Dad’s dream, but he never told us. He wanted it to happen but he didn’t want to force it on us.”

  Matt laughed. “That’s your great idea? Give me a fucking break! You know that can’t happen,” he said angrily, tears welling in his eyes. His voice softened. “It would be nice but, as you know, I don’t have a license anymore.”

  “Dad’s talking to your lawyer today about getting an appeal started. He thinks it may be possible to set aside the conviction. If it is set aside, you’ll be able to reapply for your license.”

  Matt sighed. “What about the credit card fraud? I’ve been waiting for that hammer to fall for a long time.”

  “Well, if it was going to happen don’t you think it would have already? I doubt any of the prisoners will rat you out.”

  “Some won’t, but there will be at least one of them who will want to cut a deal to escape prosecution. You can bet on that.”

  “If the DA was anxious to indict you, that may be true. But I think they all feel sorry for you since you lost Lynn. I don’t think they will ever come after you.”

  Matt took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I hope you’re right.”

  “So, are you on board with this?” Ryan asked hopefully.

  Matt shrugged. “I guess. It’s a waste of time, though. I’ll never get my license back.”

  “Maybe not, but you should at least try. Dad said to report for work tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? Is he a magician or something?”

  “No, he’ll hire you on as a paralegal until you get licensed again.”

  “A paralegal.” Matt chuckled. “Isn’t that a kick in the nuts.”

  “Well, it’s better than drinking yourself into oblivion,” Ryan replied. “Anyway, Dad has some big crusade he wants to put you on. Apparently there will be a lot of research and investigation to do before you can start suing people. So, that will keep you busy for a while.”

  Matt chuckled. “What do you know about this crusade?”

  “Not much. Something about mortgage servicing companies or some shit. I don’t know.”

  “Yeah, he brought it up to me already. I’ll check my calendar and see if I’m free tomorrow.”

  Ryan laughed. “Yeah, why don’t you do that.” He stood up to leave. “See you tomorrow, then?”

  “Right . . . You want to meet Candy before you go?” Matt asked.

  Ryan nodded. “Sure, that’s really why I came. You don’t think I came to see your ugly face, did you?”

  Matt grinned, stood up, and pushed Ryan toward the door, causing him to stumble. “Hey, watch it!”

  “Clumsy?” Matt chided, putting his arm around his brother. “Thanks for coming by, you little turd.”

  Inside Candy’s room they found her eating lunch. Obviously in a good mood, she smiled when she saw them enter.

  “Hey, there you are, and you brought the graduate,” Candy said.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Matt agreed. “Another attorney has been unleashed on the world. God forbid.”

  “Sorry I missed the graduation,” Candy said. “A client held me up.”

  Ryan shrugged. “Well, you should have come to dinner with us anyway. My mom would have loved to meet you.”

  “She wanted to,” Matt said. “I was the one who wanted to bail. I just didn’t feel like facing Mom. You know how she can be.”

  “Right. Well, she knows everything now, so you won’t have to explain anything to her.”

  “Good,” Matt replied.

  “So, tell Candy the good news,” Ryan suggested.

  Matt smiled. “Well, it appears I’m going to work for my father. He’s got some big crusade he wants me to start working on. Mortgage servicing or something.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Candy said. “But I thought you couldn’t practice law anymore?”

  “I’ll start out as a paralegal. You don’t have to have a license for that.”

  “And we’re looking into getting his conviction overturned,” Ryan interjected.

  Candy raised her eyebrows. “Wow. That would be wonderful.”

  “It’s a long shot, believe me,” Matt said dejectedly, “but it can’t hurt to try. It will keep me busy.”

  “That’s good. . . . So, what kind of law will you be practicing, Ryan?” Candy asked.

  “Criminal defense.”

  “Really? Huh. Well, I may need your services.”

  Ryan frowned. “How’s that?”

  “I run a dozen or so girls in the escort business, and every week it seems like one of them is getting picked up for prostitution. It’s a bullshit charge. None of my girls have sex with their clients, but the police like to harass us anyway. I’ve got an attorney who usually gets the girls off without much trouble, but he’s an asshole and I wouldn’t mind dealing with someone I liked.”

  Ryan shrugged. “Works for me. I haven’t passed the bar yet, but as soon as I do, I’d be happy to handle your cases for you.”

  “Excellent. Looking forward to working with you.”

  “Of course, Amanda won’t like it,” Matt interjected.

  “Why not?” Ryan asked.

  “Being around all those pretty girls all the time.”

  Ryan shrugged. “They’re just escorts, I thought.”

  “But they’ll be grateful escorts,”
Matt explained. “You’ll be their hero. It will be quite a temptation.”

  Candy gave Matt a wry smile. Ryan raised his eyebrows. “Huh . . .Well, that’s the kind of problem a man likes to have, right?”

  Matt laughed. “Yeah, right.”

  When visiting hours were over Ryan said good-bye and left to go back to the office. He was in a good mood and couldn’t wait to tell his father that Matt had accepted his offer. Not only had he convinced Matt to come back to work, he’d lined up his first client. Not a bad day’s work.