“And we wanted to catch Carl Lungen,” Burke added.

Nathan stared coldly at Burke. He then turned back to Ben. “Did you know he was a marshal?”

“Not at all,” Ben explained. “That’s why I smashed him in the face. I didn’t know he was on our side until he saved Lisa.”

“What about Ober getting fired?” Nathan asked. “Did anyone know-”

“We didn’t know Rick was going to get Ober fired,” DeRosa said.

“And if it makes you feel any better,” Burke added, “I didn’t know Rick was going to kidnap you. He decided that at the last minute when he thought Ben was turning himself in. Remember, we were counting on Ben handing over the decision early yesterday morning.”

“The kidnapping thing really messed us up,” DeRosa said. “We didn’t think-”

“No, you didn’t think,” Nathan interrupted. “The moment Rick grabbed us, you should’ve blown the whistle. Instead I got my face kicked in for no reason.”

“There was nothing I could do,” Burke said.

“That’s bullshit,” Nathan said. “You could’ve revealed who you were. That would’ve forced everyone to rush in the room and save us all.”

“I couldn’t do that,” Burke said. “It would’ve jeopardized all of our lives. I didn’t know where the backup was hiding. I just knew they would be there if things got out of control.”

“You don’t call this out of control?” Nathan yelled, pointing to his black eye. “And what about when Rick put a gun in Lisa’s mouth? That wasn’t out of control enough for you?”

Ben put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Nathan, calm down,” he said. “If everyone came charging in at that moment Rick would’ve blown Lisa’s head off. As it is, we should consider ourselves lucky nothing else happened.”

Nathan pulled away from Ben and stood up. “What else could possibly happen? This was the worst weekend of my life!” Ben reached over to calm him, but Nathan continued to pull away. Eventually, Nathan was standing in the middle of DeRosa’s office. “When Ober lost his job, they already had Rick in their hands! And you didn’t say a word! You could’ve blown the whistle on all of this! You could’ve-”

“I did what I thought was best for everyone,” Ben said. “If I had blown the whistle early, Rick would’ve disappeared. The only way to deal with Rick permanently was to catch him.”

As his fists tightened, Nathan could no longer contain his rage. “YOU SELF-CENTERED SON OF A BITCH! THE ONLY THING YOU DEALT WITH PERMANENTLY WAS OBER! BY KEEPING YOUR MOUTH SHUT, YOU KILLED HIM!” Blindly, Nathan threw his ice pack across the room, sending it flying toward DeRosa’s neatly organized desk. As it landed on the desk, the ice bag sent a stack of papers crashing to the floor.

“I understand you’re upset,” Burke said, “but you have to look at the big picture-”

“Screw the big picture,” Nathan yelled. “My life isn’t there for you guys to play with! You used us! And Ober paid the price for it!”

“That’s enough,” DeRosa interrupted, his voice booming through the office. “Ober acted on his own. And if suicide was his best solution, he had more problems than the ones Ben gave him. As for you, you should be thrilled you’re alive. If you’re not, you can drop a note in the suggestion box on your way out.”

Silent as DeRosa picked up his papers, Nathan remained motionless in the center of the room.

“Nathan, I’m so sorry,” Ben said. “I tried my best to-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Nathan interrupted. Walking over to DeRosa, he added, “I guess you knew about the blackmail letters Rick sent us.”

“All about them,” DeRosa said. “Don’t worry. We’ll let your office know that your participation in this case was invaluable. There’s no way they’ll fire you after I’m done with them.”

“Great. Fine,” Nathan said, walking to the door of DeRosa’s office.

Burke followed Nathan to the door. “You’re not going anywhere,” Burke growled. “We still have questions for you to-”

Nathan opened the door and stormed out.

“Let him go,” DeRosa said. “It’s been a long day.” When the door closed, DeRosa turned to Ben, who looked exhausted. “Well, that’s one battle lost-you ready for Hollis?”

Sitting outside of Hollis’s private office, Ben anxiously waited for the door to open. What’s taking so long? he wondered. Restlessly, he fidgeted with the sling on his left arm. Not since his first day on the job had he been this nervous about an encounter with Hollis. Twenty minutes later, the thick mahogany door opened, and Lisa walked out.

“How’d it go?” Ben asked. “What’d he say?”

“He’s ready to see you,” Lisa said.

“But how’d-”

“Go in and talk to him,” Lisa said. “He’s the boss. Not me.”

Uneasy as he stepped inside, Ben forced a smile and took his usual seat in front of Hollis’s desk. “Nice to see you,” Ben said.

With eyes that had watched the evolution of the law for more than thirty years, Justice Mason Hollis was the most accessible of the nine. The oldest of seven children and the father of five, he radiated a paternal presence. As a college baseball player at Yale, he was rumored to strike out on purpose when he felt the other team was losing by too wide a margin, and as a judge on the D.C. Circuit, he’d once granted an extension so that counsel could “get some sleep.” According to the employees of the Court, Hollis was the one justice no one feared. At this moment, however, Ben Addison was terrified.

“How are you doing?” Hollis asked. As his hand slid over his sparse white hair, his fingers brushed against the numerous liver spots that dotted his head.

“I’m fine,” Ben said, unable to look his boss in the face.

“Sounds like you’re lucky to be alive, yes?”

“I suppose.”

Hollis picked up a pencil and started nibbling on the eraser. “Don’t be so downcast,” he said. “You should be proud of yourself-quick thinking and all that.” Getting no reaction, he added, “A lesser person would’ve been beaten by this.”

“I’m just glad it’s finally over.”

Hollis smiled at Ben. “I have to tell you-when I hired you and Lisa, I knew you’d be a lively team. I didn’t expect you to be this lively, but that’s neither here nor there.”

Tapping his foot against the thick burgundy carpet, Ben wished Hollis would get to the point. He wanted to know Hollis’s decision. “Can I ask you a question?” he blurted. “Do I get to keep my job?”

“Ben-”

“Since I helped catch Rick, I’m not going to be criminally charged,” Ben said, his voice shaking. “The marshals said my record would stay completely clean, and they want to give me a commendation for helping them catch Lungen. They arrested him early this morning.”

“Ben, I’m sorry…”

“They said I could-”

“Ben, listen to me,” Hollis demanded. “Theoretically, you may be innocent, but you still violated the Code of Ethics of this Court. I have no choice but to let you go.”

At eight-thirty that evening, Ben returned home. Eric was in the dining room, hunched over a small canvas. Flicking drops of red, blue, yellow, and green paint from his fingers, Eric was trying to re-create the splatter painting that he had done directly on the wall. It was Eric’s fourth attempt to duplicate his earlier work; only a close match would be suitable to go in Ober’s coffin. Seeing Ben walk through the door, Eric rubbed his fingers with a turpentine-covered rag and headed toward the living room, rattling off questions: “What happened? Are you okay? How’s your shoulder? What’d they say? What took so long?”

Ben took off his coat and put it in the closet. He then turned toward Eric and gave a single answer. “I was fired.”

“What?” Eric asked as Ben moved into the kitchen. “I don’t believe it. Tell me what happened.”

Ben poured himself a tall glass of water. “There’s nothing to tell. They fired me. I told my story to Hollis. He listened. He tried to soften the blow. He fired me. Then he took me to see Osterman. After a long lecture, they let me leave. That’s it. I no longer work at the Supreme Court.”