About forty minutes after Russell and Xander entered the office the door opened, both men quickly emerged from the room, and started to walk back towards the lobby. Russell could feel all the eyes that were watching him and Xander as they walked by but he let it go and tried at least look calm, cool and collected. He walked his new client back the elevator, and waited for it with him.

“So, you’re serious?” Xander asked him, “You want me to go back to work?”

“As serious as Rush Limbaugh at a buffet,” Russell answered, “If anyone asks, tell them you just needed a little air to clear your head, but you’re feeling better and ready to get back to work. The last thing you need is your stocks to take a dip because of what happened this morning.”

“Alright,” Xander said, “But I already had my secretary cancel my appointments for the day.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Russell said, “It doesn’t matter what you do; play solitaire or read a good book for all I care. Just do it calmly, and let people see you back at your post and cool as cucumber. We clear?”

“Yes, we are.” Xander said as he shook Russell’s hand again. “Thank you for your time and your help.”

“I’ll contact you when I learn anything,” Russell said, as the elevator door finally opened. “But chances are you probably won’t hear from me until tomorrow at the earliest. It’s going to take some time to get in touch with our sources and get a pulse of what’s going on.”

“Fair enough,” Xander said, entering the elevator. “I’ll do my best to stay out of trouble.”

“That’s all I ask,” Russell said, “Just make an effort and watch your step!”

Russell watched the doors closed, and then turns to see a lot of people were standing in the lobby watching the tail end of their conversation. Margaret was back behind her desk but Shaw and Allister were standing in the middle a small crowd that had gathered as word of Xander’s visit had spread. Russell knew he needed to nip this in the bud.

“I get it,” He called out to the people watching, “He’s a popular guy, but we need to keep it very quiet that he was here. As of right now we all work for him, he’s our client. That means leaking anything about this visit is a breach of client-attorney privilege. A breach that could result in a firing. We clear on that people?”

Most of the crowd that had gathered nodded and seemed to give Russell the impression that they understood.

“Good,” Russell said, “No get back to work!”

As the crowd started to disburst and go back from whence they came, another man slowly strolled into the lobby. It was Willie Garrison, one of the senior partners.

“Willie,” Russell called out, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Yes,” the man said, as he walked over. “I was told that a young man named Xander Hopkins was here.”

“You just missed him,” Russell said, gesturing to the elevator. “He’s on his way back to work to restore confidence in his workers.”

“I see,” Wille said, “And what was Junior Hopkins doing here?”

“This is not the right place for this,” Russell said, pointing to one of the conference rooms. “Let’s continue this powwow over there.”

As Russell and Willie started to walk away, Russell stopped and looked back at Shaw and Allister.

“What are you two standing there for?” Russell called out to them, motioning to the door. “I want you both in here too. Let’s go!”

Once the other three me were in the conference room, Russell locked the door and closed the blinds.

“What the hell is going on, Benson?” Allister asked.

“As of early this morning,” Russell started, “Jefferson Jones and his firm were dismissed by Xander Hopkins. He was in need a new lawyer, and now he has one.”

“Holy shit,” Shaw said, as he was still surprised. “I heard you in the hallway but I still can’t believe that he hired you!”

“He hired us,” Russell corrected him. “Xander doesn’t want just one lawyer, he wants an army to do battle to clear his good name.”

“Oh crap,” Allister said as the word army caught his attention, “What kind of trouble is he in, criminal or civil?”

“Both,” Russell answered, “We could have a grand jury working on it as early as next week.”

“Wait a second,” Allister said, as his head was quickly working things out. “He’s being shaken down, isn’t he? Is the alleged victim trying to settle before she’s called before the grand jury, right?”

“Why would they do something like that?” Willie asked.

“I could give you billions of reasons,” Russell answered, quoting what his client said earlier in his office. “Our client insists that the allegations are false, and that he is completely innocent. That also means he’s not interested in making any kind of deal. Their previous lawyers recommended he take the offer, and that’s the reason why they were dismissed.”

“How soon does he want us to start?” Shaw asked.

“Immediately,” Russell answered, “That kid just gave me the biggest damn retainer I’ve ever seen. We need to start earning it right now. As of this moment, this case is our firm’s number one priority.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Willie asked.

Russell took a small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it over to senior partner. “That’s our retainer.”

Willie’s face went a little pale. “Oh my.”

Allister walked over and looked over the man’s shoulder. “Son-of-a-bitch! He gave you ten million dollars?”

“This isn’t just a retainer,” Russell added, “It’s a war chest. He’s ready to pay a lot more if we need it, but I think we can make do with this for a while.”

“What do you need?” Allister asked without hesitation.

Russell smiled at him as that was exactly what he wanted to hear. Allister usually got on his nerves, but when one of his people was about to get into a scuffle he was usually the first to step up. Russell knew this was exactly the kind of attitude Xander wanted on his legal team; people who were ready to roll up their sleeves and duke it out at the drop of a hat.

“I need you to contact your source at the courthouse,” Russell started, “We need to find out who is handling Xander’s case and maybe get an estimate to how soon this might be in front of the grand jury.”

“That’s a big ask,” Allister confessed, “I will have to seriously wine and dine him if we want to get that kind of Intel.”

“All our client cares about is progress,” Russell said, “As long as you get the information I need, you guys can have surf and turf and the best bubbly money can buy. As long as you have something to show for it, Xander’s buying.”

“Understood,” Allister said, already backing to the door. “I’ll call him right now and set something up.”

“What about me?” Shaw asked, eager to jump in. “What can I do?”

“Nothing right now,” Russell said, “Because you’ve got your own case to take care of. As of right now, you’re lead chair for the Simmons case.”

Shaw’s eye went a little wide, as he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I won’t let you down!”

“Jesus, kid.” Willie called out, “Never say that!”

“It’s alright, he meant well.” Russell said in Shaw’s defense, “But I’ll still look over your shoulder every now and then, just to make sure everything’s kosher. I’ll be delegating more than a few of my cases to lower staff, the ones that are lower priority to clear more time for our new, and now biggest client.”

“What else do you need?” Willie asked, as he handed the cheque back to him.

“I need our top libel and slander litigator.” Russell replied.

“Counter suit?” Shaw asked.

“Possibly,” Russell confirmed, “But I’d like this person to be the defender of Xander’s name. I want this person to threaten legal action if any networks go a little too far with their speculation. We have to be ruthless when protecting Xander’s reputation so there’s some of it left over after this shit storm passes.”

“Tonya Adams is the one you want,” Rogers informed him, “I’ll have her assigned to your office by mid-afternoon. Anything else?”

“One more thing,” Russell said, pausing. “It’s not a small ask.”

“As of this moment, he’s our richest client.” Willie reminded him, “Anything he asks for will never be considered a small ask.”

“Fair enough,” Russell said, taking a deep breath. “I need Mac. I know what you’re going to say, but I don’t care what case she’s working on. Replace her with someone else and give her to me. We need our top private investigator all over this as soon as humanly possible.”

“You know how much Mac hates being taken off a case before its done,” Willie said, with a tone that suggest he was uneasy about it himself. “Are you sure you want to reassign her and risk being the recipient of her wrath?”

“I can handle it,” Russell said, as he didn’t seem concerned, “She also works better when she’s angry, and we could use that kind of commitment right now.”

“Consider it done,” Willie said, “I’ll have Margaret call her back in right now. I’ll inform the other partners about this development.”

“Sounds good to me, thank you.” Russell said, as he took out his cell phone, “I have a rather interesting call to make.”

Russell was all smiles as he strolled out of the board room. He scrolled over to a specific number in his contact list and dialed the number. The line rang a few times before someone finally picked up the other line.

“Jefferson Jones’ office, how may I help you?” the lady asked.

“This is Russell Benson,” Russell said, as he was walking back to his office, “I need to speak with Mr. Jones.”

“I’m afraid he’s in a meeting,” the lady replied.

“I’m pretty confident Mr. Jones wants to take this call,” Russell insisted, “Tell him it’s about former client, Xander Hopkins.”

“One moment,” the lady said as she put him on hold. About twenty second later, someone else picked up the phone.

“Russell?” the man on the other side started.

“Jefferson,” Russell said, as he strolled back into his office and closed the door behind him. “Thanks for taking my call.”

“You said this was about Xander?” Jefferson asked.

“This is a courtesy call, as I wanted to inform you that Xander has retained new council.” Russell said, enjoying every second of it as he just informed a rival that he just poached one of his biggest clients.

“He hired you?” Jefferson said, “How did you even know he was looking for new council?”

“I didn’t,” Russell honestly answered, “The young man just strolled into our lobby and asked to speak with me. Junior sought me out, not the other way around.”

“So what do you want?” Jefferson asked, “Or are you just calling to gloat?”

“Considering what Xander’s being accused of, this isn’t the time for gloating.” Russell said, “I want all the relevant paper work on this case, and a copy of that offer he rejected sent over to my office as soon as possible.”

“Alright, I’ll have it sent over in a few hours.” Jefferson conceded, “Is there anything else you need?”

“Yes,” Russell said, “We need to talk.”

“We are talking,” Jefferson replied, rather confused.

“I mean in person,” Russell said, “Have you eaten lunch yet?”

“No,” Jefferson said, “Where and when?”

“Our usual place,” Russell said, “In an hour.”

“I’ll be there,” Jefferson responded, “And I’ll bring the offer sheet with me. We can chew over it and do a post mortem over cocktails.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Russell said, “I’ll see you in thirty.”

He disconnected before Jefferson had a chance to reply.

Russell walked back to his office, and Shaw was already in there pacing the room and looking rather excited.

“This is unbelievable,” Shaw said, “He gave you ten million dollars!”

“He gave the firm ten million,” Russell corrected him, “And we need to earn it. That means you’ll take care of the Simmons case and maybe whatever case I deem necessary to trim from my now hectic schedule.”

“Thank you for that, by the way.” Shaw added.

“Try to relax,” Russell said, “We’ve got a lot of work to do. You’ll be involved, but you need to make sure our other clients are well taken care of as well. Everyone around here is going to be involved in this case one way or another, so trust me when I say you’ll get a chance too.”

“Alright, sounds good.” Shaw said, “What the hell is he being shaken down for?”

“Something terrible,” Russell answered, “If this gets out, it’s going to be like trying to put out a towering inferno with a super soaker. Right now we need to get ahead of this. Allister is getting in touch with his people, but I’m going to call mine too. Close the door and get to work on the Simmons request for bond.”

“Yes, Sir.” Shaw said still excited as he left and closed the door as ordered.

Russell took a deep breath as he sat down on the couch, and tried to relax. The morning had spun out of control and he needed to take a moment to calm his mind. He had a few moments before lunch with Jefferson to relax as he sat there and stared at the million dollar cheque that was recently given to him. It represented more than just how wealthy his new client was, but how chaotic things were about to get.