Chapter 6 - The Fall of the First Partner
The headquarters of Mercer, Vale and Knox occupied the top three floors of a gleaming glass skyscraper in Tysons Corner, a monument to corporate wealth and political influence.
Inside the corner office of the senior partner, Arthur Mercer—Daniel’s father—the air was thick with the scent of expensive cigars and cold panic. Arthur Mercer was a man of sixty-five with silver hair, a predatory jawline, and the cold, calculative gaze of a man who had spent forty years buying and selling influence in the state capital.
Daniel sat across from him, his charcoal suit wrinkled, his hair disheveled, looking like a little boy who had been caught stealing from the collection plate. On the massive glass desk between them lay the federal injunction and a formal grand jury subpoena from the Department of Justice, delivered to the firm's reception desk twenty minutes prior.
"You idiot," Arthur Mercer said, his voice a low, vibrating rumble that made the crystal decanters on the sideboard ring. "You miserable, arrogant little idiot."
"Father, I didn't know!" Daniel stammered, his fingers twitching against his knees. "Clara never told me her mother was Evelyn Hart! She always went by Evelyn Cross in her personal life! I thought she was just a lonely widow living on a pension in Virginia! If I had known she had a federal seat—"
"If you had known, you wouldn't have beaten your wife?" Arthur sneered, leaning forward, his eyes burning with an ancient, furious light. "Do you think I care about your domestic disgusting habits, Daniel? I care about the firm! I care about the thirty million dollars in municipal bond contracts we have sitting with the state treasury! Do you know what happens to those contracts the minute the U.S. Attorney unseals a federal indictment for conspiracy and judicial bribery against a senior partner’s son?"
"It... it was just a few phone calls to Harrison," Daniel muttered, looking down at his shoes. "We’ve done it a dozen times for corporate clients. Harrison always signs the ex parte motions if we handle his son’s bonuses at the end of the year."
Arthur Mercer closed his eyes, a deep, shuddering sigh escaping his lips. "And now the federal marshals have the tower data. They have the server logs from our private PAC account. They know about the LLCs in Delaware. Evelyn Hart didn't just file an injunction to protect her daughter, Daniel. She used your stupidity to open the vault."
The door to the office opened without a knock.
A tall man in a dark trench coat stepped inside, carrying a heavy leather briefcase. It was Richard Knox, the firm’s lead criminal defense partner—a man who had spent fifteen years in the Justice Department before selling his skills to the highest bidder. His face was entirely devoid of emotion.
"Arthur," Knox said, setting the briefcase on the table. "I just got off the phone with the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney’s office. They aren't offering a deal for Daniel. They have the forensic photos of the daughter’s back. They have a statement from the forensic nurse at the hospital. They have the recorded phone call where Daniel threatened her after the protective order was served."
He looked down at Daniel with an expression of profound professional contempt. "The U.S. Attorney is making this an exemplary case for the Violence Against Women Act and federal judicial obstruction. They are going to indict you by Friday, Daniel. And if your father tries to use his lines into the Commonwealth Attorney's office to slow this down, they are going to loop the entire firm into a federal racketeering charge."
Daniel felt the air completely leave his lungs. The golden world he had inhabited since birth—the world where every mistake could be erased with a check or a private dinner—was dissolving into a cold, gray reality of steel bars and green jumpsuits.
"Father..." Daniel whispered, his voice cracking. "Help me. You know the governor. You know the senators. Call them."
Arthur Mercer slowly stood up, turning his back on his son to look out the massive glass window at the sprawling, indifferent city below.
"The governor has already issued a press release suspending all state legal contracts with this firm pending the federal investigation," Arthur said, his voice cold as a winter stone. "You are no longer a partner at this firm, Daniel. As of five minutes ago, the executive committee has terminated your employment and revoked your shares. You will retain private counsel outside of this office. Do not call me again."
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"Father!" Daniel cried, standing up, his hands shaking. "You can't do this! I am your son!"
"And you have ruined my life’s work," Arthur Mercer said, not turning around. "Get out of my office before I have security throw you into the street."
