Gray Mountain: A Novel(47)

He agreed to think it over, and Donovan promised to come back in a couple weeks. They left Jesse in the shade, the dog once again by his side, and drove away. Nothing was said until Samantha asked, “Okay, how do you prove the company knew its sludge pond was contaminating Mr. McKeever’s water?”

The two in the front seat exchanged a look, and for a few seconds there was no response. Vic reached for a cigarette and Donovan finally said, “The company has internal documents that clearly prove it knew of the contamination and did nothing; in fact it has covered up everything for the past ten years.”

She opened her window again, took a long breath, and asked, “How did you get the documents if you haven’t filed suit yet?”

“I didn’t say we have the documents,” Donovan said a bit defensively.

Vic added, “There have been a few investigations, by the EPA and other regulatory agencies. There’s a lot of paperwork.”

“Did the EPA find these bad documents?” she asked. Both men seemed tentative.

“Not all of them,” Vic replied.

There was a gap in the conversation as she backed off. They turned onto a gravel road and bounced along for a mile or so. “When will you file the lawsuit?” she asked.

“Soon,” Donovan said.

“Well, if I’m going to work in your office, I need to know these things, right?”

Donovan did not respond. They turned in to the front yard of an old trailer and parked behind a dirty car with no hubcaps and a bumper hanging by a wire. “And who is this?” she asked.

“Dolly Swaney,” Donovan said. “Her husband died of liver cancer two years ago, at the age of forty-one.”

“Is she a client?”

“Not yet,” Donovan said as he opened the door. Dolly Swaney appeared on the front porch, a crumbling addition with broken steps. She was huge and wore a large, stained gown that fell almost to her bare feet.

“I think I’ll wait in the truck,” Samantha said.


They had an early lunch at the only diner in downtown Rockville, a hot, stuffy café with the smell of grease heavy in the air. The waitress placed three glasses of ice water on the table; all three glasses went untouched. Instead, they ordered diet sodas to go with their sandwiches. With no one sitting close, Samantha decided to continue the questioning.

“So, if you already have thirty clients, and you’ve been working on the case for three years, why haven’t you filed suit by now?”

Both men glanced around as if someone might be listening. Satisfied, Donovan answered in a low voice, “This is a huge case, Samantha. Dozens of deaths, a defendant with enormously deep pockets, and liability that I think we can make clear at trial. I’ve already spent a hundred thousand bucks on the case, and it’ll take much more than that to get it before a jury. It takes time: time to sign up the clients, time to do the research, time to put together a legal team that can fight the army of lawyers and experts Krull Mining will throw at its defense.”

“It’s also dangerous,” Vic added. “There are a lot of bad actors in the coalfields, and Krull Mining is one of the worst. Not only is it a ruthless strip miner, it’s also a vicious litigator. It’s a beautiful lawsuit, but dealing with Krull Mining has scared away a lot of lawyers, guys who are usually on board in the big environmental cases.”

Donovan said, “That’s why I need some help. If you’re bored and looking for some excitement, then let’s go to work. I have a ton of documents that need to be reviewed.”

She suppressed a laugh and said, “Great, more document review. I spent the first year with the firm buried in a vault doing nothing but document review. In Big Law, it’s the curse of every rookie associate.”

“This will be different, I assure you.”

“Are these the incriminating documents, the good stuff?”

Both men glanced around again. The waitress arrived with the diet sodas and left them. It was doubtful she cared anything about litigation. Samantha leaned in low and hit them hard with “You already have these documents, don’t you?”

Donovan replied, “Let’s just say we have access to them. They went missing. Krull Mining knows they’re missing, but they don’t know who has them. After I file the lawsuit, the company will learn that I have access to them. That’s all I can say.”

As he spoke, Vic stared at her intently, watching for her reaction. His look said, “Can she be trusted?” His look was also skeptical. He wanted to talk about something else.

She asked, “What will Krull Mining do when it knows you have access?”

“Go berserk, but what the hell. We’ll be in federal court, hopefully with a good judge, one who’ll hold their feet to the fire.”

Their platters arrived, scrawny sandwiches beside piles of fries, and they began eating. Vic asked her about New York and her life there. They were intrigued by her work in a firm with a thousand lawyers in the same building, and by her specialty in building skyscrapers. She was tempted to make it sound slightly glamorous, but couldn’t muster the necessary deceit. As she ignored the sandwich and played with the fries, she couldn’t help but wonder where Blythe and her friends were lunching; no doubt some chic restaurant in the Village with cloth napkins, a wine list, and designer cuisine. Another world.