Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales Read Online Free PDF Page A

his right hand. “Can we run that tape again?” he asked.
    After Landon, Kerri, and Henderson took their seats, the committee watched the tape one more time.
    “Hold it! Right there,” Landon said. “Just before I let go of the ball, you can see that the defender and my receiver are step for step. Now watch—I’ll throw it to his back shoulder, and the defender’s head turns right when I do. He makes a break on the ball while my receiver keeps going.”
    Henderson rolled the tape forward, and it unfolded just like Landon said. McNaughten stuck out his lip as if he might be considering the matter. After a few beats of silence, he moved on to other areas of questioning. They grilled Landon for another thirty minutes and then asked if he had any closing remarks.
    Landon thought about it for a moment and almost passed on the opportunity. What else was there to say? But he had worked so hard these past three years, and Kerri was sitting on the edge of her seat, waiting for him to pull a rabbit out of his hat. He couldn’t just stay silent.
    “I appreciate the chance to come in here and answer your questions. And I want you to know that I totally trust whatever this committee decides. When I went to law school, I knew that I might never actually get a chance to practice law. If you decide that I’m too much of a risk, I’ll understand. My actions have consequences, and I’m prepared to accept whatever you say those consequences should be.
    “But I can promise you this. If you recommend me, I won’t let you down. Other lawyers might take their license for granted. But every day I go to work, I’ll remember that I’m fortunate to even have a license. I’ll remember that you were willing to take a risk on me and give me a second chance. And I’ll remember what happens if I’m ever disloyal to the people who trust me. I know how much I hurt my teammates and my coaches and my family. There’s no amount of money that could ever make me do that again.”
    Landon looked down at the floor, satisfied that he had said everything he wanted to say.
    “Thank you,” Henderson said. “We’ll be in touch with you in a few weeks.”
    ///
    It was a long and quiet ride home from Richmond to Virginia Beach. Landon spent the first fifteen minutes beating himself up about the answers he had given and the answers he should have given, second-guessing just about everything he had said. It was typical windshield wisdom, the clever things you think up on the drive home. Kerri tried to cheer him up by telling him how proud she was of the way he had handled the hearing. If she was ever in trouble, she said, she wanted him to be her lawyer.
    “In fact, I want to sign a contract right now. If we ever get a divorce, I’m hiring you to handle my side.”
    But Landon continued to sulk. So Kerri took another approach.
    “You’re right—you were terrible. They’ve probably sent an e-mail out already denying you admission to the bar, if not for being a cheat, then for being a terrible lawyer.”
    “Probably,” Landon said.
    “Nothing like a good pity party,” Kerri replied.
    Silence took over until they crossed the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and Landon reached over to hold Kerri’s hand. “I just can’t stand the thought of what I put you and Maddie through if I’m never going to be able to practice law,” he said softly. “I’m not very good at being Mr. Mom.”
    “It’s all going to work out,” Kerri said with her usual self-assurance. “Besides, you make a great mom.”
    “Thanks for being there today.”
    Kerri laced her fingers through his. “You really are going to be an awesome lawyer,” she said.
    “If I only get the chance.”

4
    AS A BOY, LANDON REED had always loved the holiday season. His mother, a single mom raising two kids, never had much money for presents. But Christmas still meant time off from school and a few toys under the tree. When Landon reached high school, December was filled with state