Andy hates dressing up and despises ties and suits. That’s one of the things she likes about him. Monkey suits, he calls them.
“Don’t need socks. I’ll just throw on my back-up shirt, tie and blazer in my office.”
Right, Angie thinks. He keeps the emergency gear in his small office closet – usually. Pressed shirt, a couple ties, and a stand-by blue blazer.
“You’re not dressing like the Tort Prince, more like the court jester.” Angie says as Andy heads toward his office.
At just 35, Andy was crowned the “Prince of Torts” by Capitol Law magazine for his masterful representation in the groundbreaking suit of the families of three Pentagon workers killed in the 9/11 jet crash. Having sued two airport security firms and Hemispheres Airways in D.C Superior Court, he and the families refused to settle, despite being given the option to tap into the victims’ funding set up by Congress. Only crafty pleadings allowed the case to stay in D.C. Superior Court rather than being shifted to federal court like the others.
After five years the case went to trial. Andy tried the victims’ case for a week – just long enough to expose the appalling lack of security by everyone involved – then the families agreed to settle. Getting their day in court is what the families had demanded from day one. Millions were eventually paid to each family, and millions were earned by Andy and his Georgetown personal injury law firm. It was the next to last of all the 9/11 victim cases to settle, according to the cover story in Capitol Law.
He became the youngest of three partners after the case settled. The framed magazine cover hangs over the brown leather couch in the small but cozy reception area of their law firm, Wilson, Hopper & Michaels. The headline reads: “Prince of Torts: How Andy Michaels Made Them Blink.”
The reason he got the case in the first place was Angie. It just so happened that Angie was the cousin of one of the Pentagon victims. Angie told her cousin’s wife, Georgia Jones, that Andy was perfect to handle the case: he worked on Capitol Hill as an aide for a couple years, graduated at the top of his Georgetown law school class, had been a law clerk for a D.C. Superior Judge, and was young and hungry. She pointed out that Wilson, the firm’s managing partner, was a former U.S. prosecuting attorney who had handled many high profile cases, including major white-collar crimes and those involving Hollywood stars. Andy himself was a rising star. As his paralegal, Angie respected his ethics, ability and energy. Two other families signed with Andy after Georgia retained him and the stage was set.
Andy quickly surveys the paper stacks on his desk that only he could decipher, powers up his pc, and hits the voicemail button on his phone. He listens to two messages and forwards them to Myra with a brusque message about how to handle each. He grabs some other files on his desk and shoves them in his leather satchel as he walks quickly toward the door.
“Andy, Mrs. Erwin’s on line two about her Medicare lien,” Myra announces on the speakerphone.
“Not now, I’m walking out. See if Angie can help her.”
Andy bolts out of his office, bounds down the stairway and out the door of the two-level row house, and hails a cab, mentally organizing the points he will cover at the hearing.
In the cab, his phone vibrates. He glances down and reads the text from Angie.
Just got tweet. Hemispheres commuter jet crashed in PA. DC-NY flight.
He ponders a moment. Hmm, maybe a new case?
Where in PA?
Dunno.
Will talk after court.
The cab stops in front of the sprawling courthouse.
“Keep the change,” Andy says, slapping a ten in the cabbie’s palm and sliding out of the cab. He dashes into the courthouse and up the escalator to the third floor.
Pulling his D.C. Bar Association card out of his wallet, he flashes it at the bailiff and bypasses the long line at the screening area. Moments like this make him happy to be a lawyer, but there are other moments he isn’t so proud.
Andy had clerked in this courthouse for a year for Judge Hoffman, a great job. He had soaked up the lawyers’ techniques in court and drafted Judge Hoffman’s legal opinions. Hoffman now had senior status, sort of semi-retired. Andy learned a boatload from him – how to be prepared, never to dodge a judge’s question even if the answer hurt, and answer honestly but in a way that helps your own case.
He stops reminiscing and pushes the heavy doors to the courtroom open, feeling a rush of air and having no clue that this motion hearing would be the least important part of his day.
Chapter 3
Air Disaster
The loud beep on her desk phone startles her.
"Angie, there’s someone with Hemispheres calling for Andy."
Angie wonders why Hemispheres airline would be calling him. Andy was presumably persona non grata to the airline.
"Put them through. I’ll see what they want."
"This is Hemispheres Airline calling for Mr. Andy Michaels. Is he in?"
"This is Angie Tipton, his paralegal. Andy's in court. Can I help you?"
"No, I need to speak directly Mr. Michaels. Do you know how we can get in touch with him right away?"
Angie hears the serious tone in his voice. "I can try to reach him as soon as he’s out of his hearing. Or, do you want to try his cell phone?"
"Yes please, what is his number?"
"Can you tell me what this is about?" Angie asks after giving the caller Andy’s number.
"Unfortunately not, I have to speak with Mr. Michaels himself." After hanging up, Angie has a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
After his hearing, Andy exits the courthouse through the heavy doors. His cell phone rings and he notices an odd area code. As is usual for a lawyer, he decides to take the call since it might be an expert or even a client.
“Hello, Andy Michaels here.”
"Sir, this is Hemispheres Airline calling. I would like to confirm that you are Andy Michaels, an emergency contact for Ron Michaels.”
"Yeah, that's me," Andy replies.
"Ron Michaels is listed as a passenger on Hemispheres Flight 310, which has just crashed in Quarryville, Pennsylvania. We’re contacting every emergency contact listed for each passenger. Are you also related to Rochelle Michaels?"
"She's my sister-in-law, why?" Andy responds.
"And Amanda Michaels? What’s her relationship with you?"
For some reason Andy suddenly feels dizzy and notices the wind blowing along the front of the building. The cabs on the street and the people are all moving in slow motion. He stops and leans against the side of the courthouse.
"Mr. Michaels, are you still there?"
Andy hangs up, then re-dials the same phone number.
"Hemispheres Emergency Response Center. Is this an emergency call?" Andy hangs up again.
Still leaning against the granite blocks of the courthouse, he stares trancelike at the street ahead. Memories of his brother Ron flash through his mind. Wearing the same clothes in elementary school. Playing in the park, on the playground. Playing soccer together. Ski trips, triathlons, celebrating every birthday together. He and his brother – under two years apart in age – were virtually inseparable.
Andy tries to decide whether to call Barbara, his older sister who lives nearby in Reston, Virginia. Instead, Andy waves down the first taxicab he can.
"31st and M Street," Andy barks at the cabbie as he gets in the back. He scrolls through the missed calls on his cell phone and sees that he's missed a call from his sister Barbara Simon and two calls from Angie.
“Hey, I seen you before! You’re that lawyer that sued the airlines over the 9/11 crash. That’s you right? I saw you on TV a bunch a times.” The cabbie is staring at Andy in the rearview mirror, but Andy won’t look up from his cell phone. “Hey, you gonna be in business again. All they’re talkin’ ‘bout is another plane crash on the radio. You goin’ to go after them again?”
“That depends on if I get hired.” Andy finally says.
“Ha! I knew it was
you!” the cabbie says excitedly.
Andy’s mind refuses to focus. After paying the cabbie he trots down the sidewalk and up the stairway to the second floor of his office building. Myra spots him.
"Angie’s looking for you."
"I know." Before Andy can set his briefcase down beside his desk, Angie is there.
"You didn't return my calls. Have you talked to Hemispheres?"
"Yeah. They told me my brother, sister-in-law and niece were on the Hemispheres flight that just crashed. Have you heard anything about survivors?"
Angie ignores Andy’s question. "Oh my God! All of them?" This doesn’t happen to them. It happens to the unlucky strangers, the strangers that then somehow connect the degrees of separation and become their clients. Her eyes travel over to the framed pictures on Andy’s credenza, the one of Andy and Ron at Andy’s Georgetown law school graduation, one of Ron and his family. They aren’t twins but Ron could easily be confused with Andy if you didn’t know them both well. They both attended Georgetown, but Ron went the biology route rather than the law route.
"I didn't even know they were going anywhere. I talked to Ron a couple days ago and he didn’t say anything about going to New York."
Andy stares out the window for a minute. "I'm going to make a couple quick calls. You see what's on CNT and let me know what they’re saying."
Angie turns on the TV and watches footage from a chopper hovering over the rural accident scene.
"This is Natalee Spalding for CNT with breaking news. A Hemispheres commuter jet, Flight 310, departing Reagan National Airport outside Washington D.C., destined for New York City’s Kennedy Airport, has crashed with 23 passengers the crew aboard. The crash occurred in Quarryville, Pennsylvania, which is southeast of Lancaster. We know it’s an Embracer twin engine jet but have no information yet on the cause of this crash. We have helicopter video footage showing fire and rescue squads at the accident scene. As you can see, there is smoke and fire coming from certain parts of what is left of the jet fuselage and some pieces that broke away from the plane. We do not have any reports yet on survivors. We will keep you updated here on CNT."
Angie rushes back to Andy's office and finds him partly turned away from the door, looking at his credenza. He holds one of the pictures of Ron, Rochelle, and Amanda. Unlike his brother, Andy has no kids.
"Andy, they just showed footage of the scene and they aren't saying anything about survivors. Instead they're just showing the jet broken apart, some fires, the whole scene is---"
“Horrible,” he interjects as he dials on his cell phone. "I'm calling my contact at NTSB. Maybe he’ll know something."
After a brief conversation that provides no additional information, Andy ends the call. He is not relishing calling his sister, but he knows he has to do it. To say that she’ll freak out is an understatement.
"Barbara, it’s Andy. Hemispheres just called me about a plane crash. Have you heard about it?"
"No, I'm actually walking out of the grocery store right now. What about it?" Barbara responds.
"There’s no easy way to do this, so here goes. One of their jets crashed in Pennsylvania and their records show that Ron, Rochelle and Amanda were all on it."
"No. Oh God. Oh God! Rochelle texted that she was taking Amanda to New York to shop and see a show for her 18th birthday. Are you sure they were on that flight?"
"The airline called me because I was the emergency contact on Ron’s ticket, so I’m pretty sure. They mentioned Rochelle and Amanda too. No names have been released to the media yet, and there’s no word on survivors either."
"Oh no. Oh no." Barbara stammers.
"I’ll call you when I know more.”
Chapter 4
Middleburg Sadness
Angie and everybody else in the firm are glued to the conference room TV. Andy walks in.
“Are you sure you want to watch this?” Angie asks, noticing the gray color that has crept into his face.
“Yeah, I want to know.”
CNT is reporting live from outside the perimeter of the plane crash site. Natalee Spalding is again reporting from their studio:
"We still cannot get information from Hemispheres or rescue personnel on the number of crash survivors. However, Hemispheres has now contacted all the passengers’ families and released a complete manifest. Among those listed as passengers are Roger Miller, the CEO of software company Omega Computers, and several employees. Also, Ron Michaels, a biologist from Reston, Virginia, his wife Rochelle Michaels, and Amanda Michaels, their daughter who attends Middleburg Academy in Northern Virginia. Greg and Arlene Roberts, and their three-year-old from Gainesville, Virginia…"
Andy loses focus as Spalding reels off more passenger names and details. He walks out of the conference room, back toward his office. He can feel the stares piercing his back like lasers.
The phone rings in the office of Middleburg Academy private school in Loudoun County, Virginia, 35 miles west of Washington, D.C. A reporter with CNT asks to speak with Headmaster Johnson about a senior named Amanda Michaels.
"Mr. Johnson, this is Natalee Spalding with CNT. I don't know if you have heard that a Hemispheres jet originating in DC and bound for New York City has crashed. The passenger manifest has just been released and it shows Ron, Rochelle, and Amanda Michaels as passengers. A quick search shows Amanda is a student at your school. I'm calling for some comments from you about Amanda Michaels.”
“Wait one second now. That’s a lot to digest. And how do I know it’s true?” Johnson asks firmly but politely.
“Well, that’s my job, sir. We have reporters at the Pennsylvania crash site and are covering it live if you want to turn on your TV. Will you allow me to record this conversation?”
"Well, you've caught me completely by surprise. I don’t see any reason why I couldn’t comment, but it’ll have to be on things that are considered public information. Are you sure Amanda was on the flight?" He has watched news reports by Spalding for several years and knows she has a good reputation.
“The info is from the airline directly. She and her parents are on the passenger manifest. We don't have any further information except rescue personnel are on the scene."
Not being able to come up with any privacy issues, Johnson agrees to be recorded.
“I can tell you that Amanda Michaels is an honor student, a member of our soccer team and was, I mean is, one of the starting players on the team. As far as I know she’s well-liked here at school. I better not make any further comment until we know more."
"I understand, and I may get back to you. Thanks for speaking with me," Spalding says and hangs up.
Within minutes, CNT includes clips of the phone conversation on the air, followed by video footage of the school and its grounds. Next there is footage of formally attired men on horseback, preparing for a Middleburg, Virginia fox hunt.
“Middleburg Academy is the oldest private school in America, located just outside the beltway of Washington, D.C. in Loudoun County, Virginia, the wealthiest county in the country. This is upscale horse country, where polo is played and fox hunts remain a storied tradition.”
Headmaster Johnson watches the report and considers making a school-wide announcement, but he just doesn’t know enough yet. He picks up the phone and pages Coach Ricci, who doubles as an upperclass English teacher.
"Coach Ricci, I just got horrible news from a reporter with CNT. Apparently Amanda Michaels and her parents were on the Hemispheres flight that just crashed. Have you heard anything?"
“What? Oh no! I knew Amanda was going to New York with her mom because she asked for the homework she was going to miss. Wait—did they survive?"
"They haven’t said officially, but I just looked online and the rumors are there were no survivors."
"Are you going to make an announcement?” Ricci asks.
"I haven't decided. I’ll let you know."
As Johnson turns to walk away from the administration office he is met by Iris Baile
y, a senior on the girls’ soccer team.
"Headmaster Johnson, I know I'm not supposed to be on my cell phone, but between classes I checked my phone and saw that a Hemispheres jet crashed. Amanda Michaels texted me earlier and said she and her mom were flying Hemispheres to New York. Now I'm totally freaking out because CNT named her as one of the passengers. She told me she was leaving on an earlier flight with her mom, but got delayed. Maybe there’s a mistake and maybe she really wasn’t on that one, because she texted me about the delay. Plus, her dad wasn’t going with them either,” she finally pauses, but nervously shakes her right foot side to side, awaiting his response.
"Iris, we’ve got to try to remain calm. You’re right. I was contacted by a CNT reporter for a statement about Amanda. She said that the passenger list was released and the Michaels were on the flight. I’m going to make an announcement but I want to know more first."
“How are we supposed to do anything in our classes?” Iris has tears welling up in her eyes. Johnson knows and respects Iris, a top student and star athlete on their state champion soccer team.
Johnson pauses before speaking, and glances down the hall. He sees several other girls down the hall watching Iris’ conversation with him as the bells sound for the next classes. Johnson knows the word has spread like wildfire.
"Your teachers will handle things appropriately."
“Alright.” Iris dutifully turns and walks down the hall, but he hears her softly sobbing. That hits Johnson hard. Moments later, Johnson is back in his office. Surfing the internet on his tablet, he sees the headline: "No Survivors on Hemispheres Jet, Per Rescue Personnel."
He turns back to the TV for a live update:
* * *
"This is Natalee Spalding with breaking news on the Hemispheres crash. According to rescue personnel at the Quarryville crash site, no survivors have been found. The jet went down with 27 people aboard, including crew. We do not have any information yet on the cause of this. Rescue personnel are sifting through the wreckage and are looking for the black boxes that will tell them more about what happened. NTSB officials will be analyzing the transcripts of the cockpit communications with air traffic control, and we are advised that Homeland Security is involved. No one is saying that this was a terrorist act. Again, if you have joined us in the last few minutes, rescue personnel at the scene have found no survivors from this crash."
Taming the Telomeres, a Thriller Page 2