Chapter 9
Beau Lee, Nellie, and Capes stood in the swanky hotel suite they’d be staying in during their time in Chicago.
It had a view of the city, and the décor didn’t stray much from what they’d encountered in the lobby—red wallpaper, gold accents, and argyle curtains with tinsel, also gold.
The older hotel had an early-nineteenth-century aesthetic with oiled wood panels, hand-painted cathedral ceilings, candelabras, mosaic-tiled floors, and a profusion of red and gold accents.
Out of the many hotels Beau Lee had stayed in over the years, the older ones offered the most charm.
Under other circumstances, he’d tour the historic building, taking pictures and sending them back to Gigi, who had a penchant for old buildings and interior design, but it had been an arduous day.
“Not too bad,” Capes said, admiring the room. “Little old-looking but comfortable.”
Beau Lee’s phone vibrated. “Must be Gigi,” he said, pulling out his Blackberry.
“Tell her I said hi,” Nellie said. “Capes and I are going to grab some drinks from the vending machine.”
“I spoke too soon. It’s a Chicago area code,” Beau Lee mumbled as Nellie and Capes left the room. “Hello?”
“Attorney Cooper. It’s Mrs. Montrose.”
“Evening, Mrs. Montrose. Everything all right?”
“I wanted to apologize for today,” she said. “It was never my intention to overwhelm you.”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
“I spoke to Princess…I mean, Attorney Alvarez. We’ve all agreed you’re the best person to help us.”
“All of you agreed? Including Attorney Alvarez?”
“Yes, that’s if you’re still open to representing my husband…”
Beau Lee took a moment, weighing the circumstances surrounding the case.
“Mr. Cooper?”
“Yes,” he said. “I’ll take your husband as a client.”
“Praise God,” she said. “Thank you.”
“But I must caution you, it won’t be easy.”
“In my experience, nothing ever is,” she said. “Except loving Hollis. He’s a good man, Mr. Cooper, and he deserves justice.”
“I agree.”
“So, tell me, Attorney Cooper. Let me know what you need from me to get started?”
“Well, I’ll need to do my due diligence of course, but without question, I’m going to file a civil lawsuit against the CPD.”
“But they haven’t pressed charges against Hollis yet. Would that not be getting ahead of ourselves? Besides, Princess already has a lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department on Hollis’s behalf for workplace discrimination and a host of other things.”
“This stems from his previous employment?”
“That’s right,” she said. “Hollis was with CPD for over a decade. Passed up for promotions left and right. He always knew it was a race thing. They treated him poorly from the start and never tried to hide it. Always the optimist, he thought things would get better over time, but they just got worse. When he couldn’t take it any longer, he filed a lawsuit, resigned, and, by the grace of God, was hired by Metra. ”
“And the lawsuit? What became of it?”
“Princess tried her best, but it never gained traction. CPD kept saying they were investigating Hollis’s initial complaint, and the lawsuit couldn’t go forward until they concluded their internal investigation.
Last I checked, the investigation was still ongoing.
Hollis hasn’t worked for them since Clinton was in office. ”
“I see,” Beau Lee said.
“It’s no fault of Princess’s. She’s a bulldog when it comes to things. Never gives up, you know? I imagine you two have that in common.”
“So I’ve been told,” he said. “I’ll try to put this delicately, Mrs. Montrose.
Your husband is in critical condition after having had an encounter with the police.
He may very well be innocent of wrongdoing and did nothing to warrant the stop, but the police will find something to justify their actions.
What we have to do, and do it quickly, is file a lawsuit that’ll bring this the media attention it deserves and will force the police to charge Hollis. ”
“You want to back them into a corner?”
“Precisely. Otherwise, each day that goes by allows them to leak information that starts to paint Hollis in a way that suits their case.”
“I see…” Mrs. Montrose went silent.
Beau Lee paced the room. He walked to the large window and looked out at the sprawling city that glimmered under a full moon.
“This city, like many in America, is as beautiful as it is ugly. Your husband encountered its ugliness in great measure, and for that, I’m so sorry.
But our greatest weapon to combat the ugliness is to shine the light of truth onto it. ”
“Yes,” she said, “the truth will set Hollis free.”
“The truth tends to come with a price tag,” he said. “But no matter the cost, I will fight for Hollis and your family.”
Capes and Nellie loudly entered the room after grabbing colas and plopped down on the queen-size beds. Beau Lee stepped into the adjoining room, which had another bed with the same amenities: a wet bar, fridge, and TV.
Mrs. Montrose resumed talking: “And you think people will care when they hear about what happened to my Hollis?”
“Mrs. Montrose, these days, Black men being victims of gun violence is a regular occurrence. There’s no shortage of apathy out there when it comes to our lives, so we have to make people care.”
“And that’s what you do?”
“First I make them understand, then I make them feel. Lastly, I remind them that if it happened to Hollis, it could happen to them and anyone they love. I bring the tragedy to their doorstep, to their dinner tables, into their living rooms. They have to live with it day in and day out until they get so fed up that they have no choice but to act.”
“Act? How do you mean?”
“The power is in the people. We have to harness that power and direct it at the police and the city, but the first step to doing that is filing a lawsuit against the people responsible for what happened to your husband.”
For a couple of seconds, Mrs. Montrose’s heavy breathing was the only thing Beau Lee heard on the line.
He recognized the magnitude of what she was going through, and the notion of filing a lawsuit at the same time her husband was fighting for his life would likely deplete whatever reserve of strength she had left.
“Okay,” she said in a soft voice. “How much?”
“Fifty million.”
“My goodness.”
“It’s a small price to pay considering what Hollis has lost. He’ll spend the rest of his life needing medical treatment and care.
His loss of income could impact your family for generations.
And everything he wanted to do, and the plans he had for the future, were forever altered the moment those guys pulled their triggers.
Yes, fifty million is a drop in the bucket for the devastation they’ve caused your family. ”
“I understand that, but do you think they’ll actually pay?”
“Well, I’ll try my damnedest to make sure they do.”
“You know…” She paused to gather her thoughts.
“I wasn’t sure about you at first. I’d seen you on the news once or twice but didn’t pay much attention to the cases.
When Attorney Alvarez and I spoke after we initially met, she deferred to your firm and recommended that you be our lead counsel.
She said you were good. Maybe even the best at what you do.
Just about called you a genius, and that means a lot coming from her. You know, she was an Oxford Scholar.”
“Attorney Alvarez is an exceptional litigator, but I am surprised by her complimentary assessment of me.”
“Oh, Princess might come off like she can’t stand you, but believe me, she’s got nothing but respect for you.”
“That puts me at ease a little.”
“God’s working through you, Beau Lee Cooper. He’s surrounded you with good and honest people, so use them.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You’ll do right by my husband, about that I have no doubt.”
“I’m going to do the only thing I know how to do—fight for those who can’t fight for themselves.”
“God bless you.”
“Yes, Mrs. Montrose, he has and will. Talk soon.”
Beau Lee turned to see Nellie and Capes looking at him with disbelief. “Weighty promises you’re making before you even know the full story.”
“I know enough to know something isn’t right with that shooting.”
“C’mon, Beau Lee, we can’t help everybody,” Nellie said. “We’re spread thin as it is.”
“If not us, then who?”
“We can recommend someone else. What about Elsworth Butterfield in Indiana? Seems like this could be a good fit for him.”
“He’s got dementia.”
Nellie looked shocked. “Oh, I didn’t know,” he said. “His law firm’s still running?”
“Shut down last year.”
“Damn.”
“I’ve already agreed to help the Montroses. There’s nothing else to discuss.”
“So that’s it? You’re making all the decisions now?”
“I’m telling you, Frat. Our firm is the right one for this case. I can feel it.”
“You’ve always got a feeling, but you shouldn’t have agreed to it without talking to me first, Beau Lee. We’re in this together, remember?”
“I know. I know. I’m sorry.”
“Things are getting sloppy, and I don’t like sloppy. This firm doesn’t run with one person at the helm. It takes all of us.”
“I know and respect that, but I couldn’t let that poor woman think there wasn’t any hope for her husband.”
“Okay, and what about Alvarez? How do you expect to work with her after playing hardball in the mediation?”
“We’ll have to find a way,” Beau Lee said. “She’s a professional, and at the end of the day, I know she just wants to help the family. That’s why she filed a civil suit on Hollis’s behalf years ago.”
“What civil suit?”
“It was for racial discrimination and harassment,” Beau Lee said. “It doesn’t sound like the city’s even entertaining it. Alvarez hasn’t gotten far.”
“You think it’s a possibility Hollis might’ve been targeted for filing against CPD?”
“Either that or it was a horrible coincidence.”
“How long has his suit against the CPD been going?”
“Years,” Beau Lee said. “Seems like if they wanted him silenced, they wouldn’t have waited so long.”
“Look, I get it—I do,” Nellie said. “As long as we’ve been knowing each other, you’ve never been able to turn a blind eye to the suffering of our people.
It’s what I’ve always admired about you.
But this case is big—huge, even, and I don’t think we can take this on without other things falling by the wayside. ”
Capes cleared his throat. “And that’s my cue…I’m going to check out the pool area,” he said, quick to excuse himself. “Room key, boss?”
“Since when do you swim?” Nellie asked.
“I don’t,” he said. “I’m more of a hot tub aficionado.”
“Go ahead.” Beau Lee handed Capes the key card, and he left.
“I don’t think I have any choice but to get involved, Nellie.” Beau Lee worked his temples with his fingers. “This one has a hold on me something fierce, so I’m asking that we find a way to make it work.”
Nellie sighed. “There’s no changing your mind, is there?”
“Afraid not.”
“Even if you file another civil suit on Hollis’s behalf, the city will only move to dismiss it. One suit is bold, but two is audacious.”
“Maybe…”
“It could blow up in your face, Beau Lee, and you’d be taking our firm down with you. Pulling something like that could get you disbarred.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“My Lord, you are a stubborn one.”
Beau Lee gave a small smile. Nellie knew him best. They’d been through thick and thin and he knew that their dynamic—one where Nellie focused on the business element of running a law firm and Beau Lee took the big swings and handled the litigations and legal strategies—was what had allowed their law firm to thrive for as long as it had. “Guilty as charged.”
“All right, then,” Nellie said. “We’ll have to delay opening the new branch for the time being. I’ll do my best to keep things back in Texas afloat and start looking for legal assistants to help with the load.”
“Thank you for having my back on this.”
Nellie hugged Beau Lee. “I’ll always have your back. You know that.” He released him and both men coolly reclaimed their personal space. “The real question is, how are you going to break all this to Gigi? She’s expecting you to be on that plane when it lands in Houston tomorrow.”
“Chocolate and flowers?”
“You’ll have to do better than that.”
“You’re right…. I’ll think of something.”
“And you’re meeting with Alvarez sometime soon?”
“I’ll make some time tomorrow.”
“I guess she wasn’t too far off. You are snagging her client.”
Beau Lee ignored that. “I’ll also need to talk to Hollis’s partner, Finn Doyle. I’m hoping he’ll be able to shine some light on Hollis’s professional life and help me paint a picture of the type of officer he is.”
“You’ve got your work cut out for you, that’s for sure.”
Beau Lee looked at his watch. “It’s getting late, and I need to sleep off that steak.” Beau Lee put his arm around Nellie. “I love you, brother,” he said. “Couldn’t do any of this without you.”
“Oh, you’d be a mess without me.”
The two men laughed as they often did…through pain and in the face of the insurmountable task ahead of them.