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Back The House Party
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. April 2008
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. Author’s Note
  55. Acknowledgments
  56. About the Author
  57. About the Publisher

Hal gave Jake an appraising look. “It just so happens I have a friend up in New York. We went to law school together, back in the day. He’s at the SEC now, pretty high up. It turns out they’re going begging for good trial attorneys right now. All of this fuss with the bank bailouts and the subprime mortgage market. What they’ve got on staff is a bunch of egghead analyst types. They’re going to need real bulldogs to prosecute these cases. He asked me if I knew anyone who might be looking.”

He handed the card to Jake. “Why don’t you give him a call?” he suggested. “There’s a lot of interesting work going on up there. It could be a good place for a man to make a name for himself. Of course, I’d hate to lose you here. But if you were set on leaving, I’d be happy to put in a good word for you.”

Jake looked at the card. So this was the deal on the table: If Jake offered up his resignation, Hal would fix him up with a job in New York City, out of Hal’s way. Jake had to admire the man. It was a shrewd offer.

Jake hesitated for only a moment. “Make that word to your friend pretty good,” Jake said, “and I’ll give him a call.” Jake was just as eager as Hal to put all of this behind him. Leaving the DA’s office would mean starting over, but it seemed like a new start was exactly what he needed. “Hal,” he said, “working with you—it’s been a real education. I’ll get you my letter of resignation this afternoon.”

“We’ll miss you, Jake,” Hal said, continuing their pantomime of good humor. He got up and walked Jake to the door. “Come visit anytime. It’s a wonderful place to spend a weekend. When you’re not knee-deep in police reports and unreliable witnesses, you can really see what a nice town we have here.”

Jake slipped the business card into his pocket, only half paying attention to Hal. His thoughts were already on the future. Moving to New York seemed like exactly the right play. He couldn’t even remember at this moment what had attracted him to small-town life in the first place. “Maybe I’ll see you around, Hal,” he said. “But not too soon.”

48

The helicopter touched down at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, and Hunter followed Dom onto the tarmac and into a waiting town car. It was a quick ride over the Williamsburg Bridge to the construction site in Brooklyn.