Gray Mountain: A Novel(84)

Her new cell phone was on the passenger seat, and she glanced at it and wondered what Jeff was doing. For an hour she thought about calling him just to see if it worked, but she knew it did. And when, exactly, was she supposed to use the damned thing? And for what purpose?

On the main highway south of town she found the meeting place—the Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Church. She had explained to her clients that they needed to talk, in private, and not at the gas station where Buddy drank his morning coffee and everyone felt free to participate in every conversation. The Ryzers suggested their church, and Samantha speculated it was because they did not want her to see their home. They were sitting in Buddy’s truck in the parking lot, watching the occasional car go by, seemingly without a care in the world. Mavis hugged Samantha as if she were family, and they walked to the fellowship hall behind the small chapel. The door was unlocked; the large room was empty. They pulled folding chairs around a card table and talked about the weather and Christmas plans.

Finally, Samantha got around to business. “I assume you received the letter from Donovan’s office with the tragic news.”

Both nodded sadly. Buddy mumbled, “Such a good man.” Mavis asked, “What does it mean, you know, for us and the case?”

“That’s why I’m here. To explain and answer questions. The black lung claim will continue at full speed. It was filed last month and, as you know, we’re waiting for the medical exam. But I’m afraid the big lawsuit is dead, for now anyway. When Donovan filed the case over in Lexington, he was acting alone. Usually, in these big cases, especially ones that take years and eat up a lot of cash, Donovan would put together a litigation team of several other lawyers and firms. They would split the labor and expenses. But in your case, he was still trying to convince some of his lawyer buddies to hop on board. Frankly, they were reluctant. Taking on Lonerock Coal and its law firm and trying to prove behavior that’s criminal is a huge job.”

“Y’all explained all this before,” Buddy said bluntly.

“Donovan explained it. I was in the room, but, as I made clear, I was not joining the big case as a lawyer.”

“So we have no one?” Mavis asked.

“That’s correct. As of now, there’s no one to handle the case, and it has to be dismissed. I’m sorry.”

Buddy’s breathing was labored enough when he was perfectly content, but the slightest bit of stress or unpleasantness made him gasp. “This ain’t right,” he said, his mouth wide open as he sucked in air. Mavis stared at her in disbelief, then wiped a tear from her cheek.

“No, it’s not right,” Samantha said. “But what happened to Donovan was not right either. He was only thirty-nine years old and was doing great work as a lawyer. His death was a senseless tragedy that has left all of his clients out in the cold. You’re not the only ones who are looking for answers.”

“Y’all suspect foul play?” Buddy asked.

“It’s still under investigation and so far there’s no evidence of wrongdoing. A lot of unanswered questions, but no real proof.”

“Looks kinda fishy to me,” he said. “We catch them sumbitches red-handed hiding documents and screwing people, then Donovan files a billion-dollar lawsuit, and then his airplane crashes under mysterious circumstances.”

“Buddy, your language,” Mavis scolded. “You are in church.”

“I’m in the fellowship hall. The church is right over there.”

“It’s still the church. Watch your language.”

Chastised, Buddy shrugged and said, “I’ll bet they find something.”

Mavis said, “They’re harassing him at work. It started right after we filed the big lawsuit over in Lexington. Tell her about it, Buddy. Don’t you think it’s important, Samantha? Don’t you need to know?”

“It ain’t nothing I can’t handle,” Buddy said. “Just a little nuisance treatment. They put me back driving a haul truck, which is a little rougher than the track loader, but it ain’t no big deal. And they put me to working nights three times last week. My schedule was set for months, and now they’re jacking me around with different shifts. I can take it. I still got a job at a good wage. Hell, the way it is now with no union protection, they could walk in tomorrow and fire me on the spot. I couldn’t do nothing about it. They busted our union twenty years ago and we’ve been fair game ever since. I’m lucky to have a job.”

Mavis said, “True, but you can’t work much longer. He has to climb up these steps to get in the haul truck, and he can barely make it. They watch him too, just waiting for him to collapse or something so they can say he’s disabled and therefore a danger, then they can fire him.”

“They can fire me anyway. I just said that.”

Mavis bit her tongue as Buddy inhaled noisily. Samantha removed some papers from her briefcase and placed them on the table. She said, “This is a motion to dismiss, and I need you to sign it.”

“Dismiss what?” Buddy asked, though he knew the answer. He refused to look at the papers.

“The federal lawsuit against Lonerock Coal and Casper Slate.”

“Who files it?”

“You met Mattie, my boss at the clinic. She is Donovan’s aunt and she’s also the attorney for his estate. The court will give her the authority to wind up his business.”