3rd Street this morning,” she said, as she dropped the Saturday morning Freeden Tribune on his desk.
“Figures.” He looked at the paper. He unfolded it and shook out the wrinkles so it would stand tall as he read it. “And Dana?”
“Yeah, you’ll need to let her go after this one I’m afraid.”
“What now?”
“She said she, and I quote, wouldn’t be a part of this money-driven team if we were going to stand for this faggot.”
“Well, she won’t have to I guess,” Ben said as he stood up. “Meet you in the conference room in five minutes.”
Ben read the article, and then moved on the meeting in the conference room.
All five other members of his team were there: Ken Hughes, the in-house private investigator, Liz Webster and Kristen Growe, the two attorneys Ben had hired with the firm, and Tracey Daughtry and Deb Matics, his two paralegals.
Ben walked into the room. “Thank you all for coming, particularly under these circumstances.”
No one said a word. Ben sat down, took his reading glasses off, placed his hand on his forehead, and propped himself up on his elbow. “Everyone knows what has happened here,” Ben started. “And I want to thank you for still being here. We have two team members that you likely won’t see again.”
“Where are they?” Kristen asked.
“Not coming back I’m afraid,” Ben replied. “Look, I appreciate all of you being here. You don’t have to be, I get that.” He sighed, and leaned back in his chair, now resting his arms on the rests. “We have got work to do.”
“Are we intending to enter a not-guilty plea?” Liz asked.
“Yes, unless something has drastically changed since last night when I met with Dwight, we will enter a not-guilty plea.”
“Did he do it, Ben? Do you think he did it?” Ken asked.
“No, I do not believe he did it,” Ben said.
“You know I’m good friends with Dale?” Ken asked. “We play golf together from time to time.”
“Look, I get it if you don’t want to do this, Ken. I know this is hitting home pretty hard.”
“Yeah, it is,” Ken said. “But listen here, I have worked with you for how long now?”
Ben grinned. “A long time. We’ve had some good years.”
“Exactly. If you tell me you think the man is not guilty, I believe you, and that’s where I’ll start.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Ken. I do appreciate it.”
“But let me tell you this,” he quickly spoke again, “I want justice for Dale and his family. And I’m going to make damn sure I do my part to sort through the facts.”
“We are going to need you in order for us to do that,” Ben said. “I need all of you. But that’s why we are here, and that’s what we need to talk about.”
Everyone was paying close attention to what Ben had to say. “I need all of you to realize that this is going to alter your life, potentially forever. You saw the paper this morning, right? Kelly and Dana aren’t here because they are ashamed to be associated with this. And there are a large number of people in town, I’m sure, that won’t look favorably at any of us for defending Dwight. Your peers, friends, family… they will associate you with this case. This case is going to get attention, and you’ll be right in the middle of it. And so will I. But I need you to know all that before we go into this, because I don’t need anyone backing out mid-stream. I know we haven’t tried cases like this before. The risk of public criticism has never been so great, and I expect it to be personal, too. Freeden will be at the heart of a case that is in the spotlight, and you’re going to be smack dab in the middle of it.”
He leaned forward, arms rested on the table. “So, if you’re going to back out, or you don’t want to be a part of this, I need to know today. You don’t have to tell me in this meeting, but I need to know today. Because when we enter a not-guilty plea at the arraignment, it’s going to get even crazier. Can I count on all of you to be on board?”
The team members looked around, moving their eyes from person to person to see what the others would say. Finally, Deb spoke up.
“Ben, I have always trusted you. And yes, I know it is going to tear this town apart. But if you believe the man is innocent, then I do, too. And no matter what, it isn’t right to send that man to jail, not if he didn’t do it.”
“Ben, I’m with you,” Tracey said. “I owe you. You saved my family during our darkest financial strife. Let us stay in your rental house for two years rent free when we didn’t have the money.” She stopped and looked around at the others. “You all know this happened. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. So yeah, I’m here with you. Until the end. You’ve always been good to me, and I trust you.”
“Thank you guys,” Ben replied. “Thank you… this means a lot.”
“Let me ask this, Ben,” Kristen said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity you gave me, too, but let’s be reasonable here, okay? You are very good friends with Dwight and we all know that. How can we be so sure that your friendship isn’t clouding your judgement?”
He leaned back again. “Well, that’s a good question, Kristen. Truth be told, I have no proof that the man is innocent. But I’ve been doing this a while,” he paused, “and I know a guilty man when I see him. We have to research, fact-check, and trust me, we will, and if what we find is damning evidence against Dwight then we need to advise him to plead guilty, or change his plea if by that point we have already entered a not-guilty plea. But like I said, I know a guilty man when I see him. And the man I saw last night at the jail,” he paused again, shaking his head, “that man did not look guilty.”
“That’s a very emotional remark,” Kristen said. “I’d be careful of your emotions getting in the way.”
“I know, and frankly, you’re right,” he replied. “But sometimes, going with your gut is best.”
“I’m trusting you,” Kristen said, still appearing to be skeptical, “you know I am. But I’m not sure I agree that going with your gut is best in our profession.”
“Just promise me this, Kristen,” he said. “Give him the benefit of the doubt until we know otherwise. I’m not sold on anything yet, either, I’m just telling you what I know and how I feel.”
“Fair enough,” Kristen said. “You know I’ll do everything I can regardless.
“I understand if you need time to think about whether or not you want to continue to be a part of this team moving forward,” Ben said. “Please let me know by the end of today.”
“I’m in,” Ken said.
“Me too,” Liz replied.
“Me as well,” Deb followed.
“And me,” said Tracey.
“You know I’m in,” Kristen added in her usual monotone manner.
Ben looked at Brenda. “And you?”
“Sure, what the hell. They don’t like me around here anyway.”
He smirked. “Okay, well we have work to do. I plan to touch base with Dwight today, and meet him tomorrow to get the entire story. Brenda, I need you, Deb, and Tracey to man the office and begin gathering the police report and documents that are already available. Get in touch with the district attorney’s office and get what they already have in place, too. We’re working around the clock until this is done.”
“Are we safe?” Liz asked abruptly.
The place