"Please, please..." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "No." "No." "Please." "Please!" "Ah!" "Uh." "Please." "No." "No, no." "No!" "No!" " Sorry I'm late." " Nine-thirty is "sorry I'm late."" "Ten-thirty is more like "I was abducted by aliens."" " Megan and I were studying." " I don't care if you were curing cancer." "Your curfew is 9:00 on a school night." "Period." "Fine." "Ground me for another month." "Whatever happened to earning my trust back?" " I'm trying." " That's an interesting strategy." "You're right." "It was inconsiderate." "I apologize." "I'll pick you up after school." " Why?" " Someone I want you to meet." " Dad, I'm busy tomorrow..." " I'll be there at 3." "Battered Fathers Anonymous." "Where?" "Who was first on scene?" "Your evening beat the hell out of mine." " Dinner with friends." " In that dress?" "Friends with benefits is more like it." "Who couldn't wait for the elevator?" "Victor Burke." "He's not on the tenant list." "ID says he's 29 years old." "A computer science professor at California University." " Anybody call his family?" " Wife's on her way." "Force of impact plus the angle of the fall indicate he fell from between the 10th and 15th floors." "It's an ugly way to die." "But I don't prosecute suicides, so..." "ME says some bruises and lacerations were inflicted prior to the fall." "Which means Victor probably had help learning how to fly." "Witnesses?" "L.A.P.D.'s knocking on doors, but there's celebrities." " No one wants to talk." " Dead professor trumps coke stashed in the nightstands." "Get warrants if you have to." "Victor." " No." " Oh, God." "You don't wanna see him like this, okay?" " Victor." " Let the ME take him in, okay?" " What happened?" " He fell from one of those balconies." "Are you telling me my husband killed himself?" " We don't think so." " Then somebody did this?" "Victor never hurt anyone." "We have a little girl." "How am I gonna tell her?" " Not here for the view, Romeo." " Sorry, just reminiscing." "Based on my interviews with his students, he was popular." "The other teachers liked him." "Victor started teaching here when he was 26." " A year later, they offered him tenure." " Overachiever." "What was a whiz kid doing in the trendiest high-rise in L. A?" "Cops got into half the units." "Nothing yet." "Forensics found black silk fibers under his nails." " Could be from the killer." " Run a tenant list by the victim's wife." "See if she recognizes any names." "Want me to snoop around, make sure he was on the up and up?" "I love it when you read my mind." "We'll check out Burke's office." "Find Isaac." "Help the cops get into those condos." "I can't prosecute a crime without a crime scene." "Victor wasn't just a gifted teacher." "He was a good person." "Loved his family." "Did he have any personal problems that you're aware of?" "He was brilliant, but he was really hard on himself." "Always worried about money." "Tenured professor makes a decent living." "L.A.'s an expensive place." "Most of us commute from the Valley but Victor insisted on living in Westwood." "We shared this office." "And as you can see, organization wasn't his strong suit." "Get permission to seize his computer." "Good luck accessing Victor's files." "He was a genius with security software." "His teaching assistant said he seemed tired and stressed out." "Like I said, Victor was hard on himself." "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a class waiting." "Thank you." "He was planning a trip to San Francisco." " Tell Raina to ask her about it." " Yeah." "Emerald Cuban cigars." "That's kind of pricy for a struggling professor." "Looks like he could afford it." "Hm." "Natalie, I'm sorry." "Um, I'm gonna have to ask you a few personal questions." "I understand." "Hey, sweetheart, go play with Grandma, okay?" " Okay, here you go." " Come." "Come on, sweetheart." " She's beautiful." " It isn't fair." "She'll barely remember him." "You know, I don't wanna pry but were you and Victor having problems?" "No." "Victor and I were fine." "There were some money problems." "I quit work after Claudia was diagnosed." "Claudia has a congenital heart defect." "Oh, God." "I'm sorry." "Eventually, she'll need a series of operations." "Victor's insurance would only cover half." "We didn't know where we would get the rest." "Here's a list of tenants at the L.A. Towers." "You recognize anyone?" "Victor and I didn't exactly hang around with the jet set." "Wait." "Um..." " Brandon Cole." " How do you know him?" "We dated at Stanford." "Luckily, I came to my senses before it was too late." "What do you mean?" "Brandon went out with my friend Emily after we broke up." "One night, he got drunk and he hit her." "I tried to get her to press charges, but she wouldn't." "Did Victor ever meet Brandon?" "We bumped into him a few times." "Why would Victor go see Brandon?" "So you know this guy Brandon?" "We went to high school together, but we weren't really friends." "We knew the same people, hit the same clubs." "Wow." " Well, he's definitely living large." " It helps when your last name's Cole." "As in Decker Cole Pharmaceuticals." " Loaded." " Oh, thank you." "Something definitely went down here." "How about this?" "Scuff marks on the balcony floor and the railing match Victor's shoes." "This is definitely the crime scene." "Victor knew his wife and Brandon dated." "Think something was going on between them?" "Well, maybe he came over to confront Brandon." "They get into it, one thing leads to another." "Why would Victor send his wife and kid out of town?" "If he knew Brandon had a temper, he was protecting them." "You gotta have a hell of a temper to throw somebody over." " Any security cameras?" " Disconnected." "Celebs in the building are paranoid about pictures of their overnight guests ending up in the tabloids." "Mr. Cole, my name's Casey Woodland." "This is Isaac Wright." "We're from the DA's office." "Thank you for coming down." " Where the hell's my son?" " We were hoping you could tell us." "I haven't seen Brandon in weeks." "Since his last trip to Vegas." "I can always count on a phone call when the markers come due." " Does your son have a gambling problem?" " Ask my accountants." "I understand the police are treating this as a homicide." " Is Brandon a suspect?" " We do need to talk to him." "All he does is hang out in clubs and casinos with that girlfriend of his." "Is this her?" "Yeah." "Nina something." "Look, my son's got problems but he's no murderer." "Dad, this is a prison." "Somebody's ready for their SATs." " Don't I at least get a trial first?" " Relax." "There's somebody I want you to meet." "Eric, thanks for taking the time." "Well, I'm made of time." "This is my daughter, Julie." "Julie, this is Eric Barrow." "Eric is serving three consecutive manslaughter sentences." " How old are you?" " Nineteen." "Tell her how you got here, Eric." "Dad, I've seen Scared Straight!" "I don't..." "Just listen." "It was a couple of weeks before graduation." "I was partying with my friends." "We borrowed my dad's car." "We were just cruising around smoking a joint, drinking a few beers." "No big deal." "Next thing I know, I'm on the sidewalk." "I killed two people." "Another woman died two days later." "Jail sucks." "Do you know what the worst part is?" "Remembering how their families looked at me in court." "I'll get out someday but I'll never get those people's faces out of my head." "We've got APBs out on Cole from San Francisco to San Diego." "Well, how about the girlfriend?" "Nina Lange?" "She's an actress-wannabe club girl." "Let's pass her picture around a few of Brandon's hot spots." " The Standard, the Viceroy..." " You're on your own." " I do not do the tragically-hip scene." " Suit yourself." "But since it's business, I will be expensing all the booze and food and I know how you love your Cristal." "How many clubs have we been to tonight?" "I stopped counting." "I, uh, seem to remember something about expensive champagne." "Business before pleasure." "Excuse me, hi." "Have you ever seen these two?" "My bosses don't want us talking to cops." "Do I look like a cop?" "They were here." "I don't know her name." " Everybody knows Brandon." " Did they hang out with regulars?" "Actually, they spent most of the time over there, with the brothers." "I forgot the Lundys own this place." "Our office has investigated them for loansharking illegal gambling, racketeering." "They're not popular in Vegas either." "But their clubs are hot with the Hollywood crowd." "We're from the district attorney's office." "Mind if we ask you a few questions?" "Our liquor license is up to date." "And we're carding at the door." "We understand you know Brandon Cole and Nina Lange." " Seen either in the last two days?" " No." "Why don't you two just get out of here right now?" "We're investigating a homicide, so you can talk to us here or downtown." " It's your call." " I've got a better idea." " Why don't you talk to our attorney?" " Nicki Ross." "Is there a problem?" "We're with the High Profile Crime Unit." "You work for Sebastian." "My condolences." "Unless you intend to charge my clients they've got nothing to say." "Hello." "Right." "Uh-huh." "Yeah, got it." "Isaac got a heads-up on Brandon's credit card." "Just booked a private plane at the Van Nuys Airport." "Something tells me that flight's about to be canceled." "This is chopper 395." "Since you've got suspect in custody we're heading back to base." "Copy that." "Another five minutes, Brandon would've been chomping peanuts at 20,000 feet." "Brandon Cole, I'm Sebastian Stark with the DA's office." "You're under arrest for the murder of Victor Burke." "I didn't kill anybody." "Got a gun, cash, some phony IDs." "The whole O.J. Simpson travel kit." "You're going down, Brandon and I'm gonna make sure you land just as hard as Victor Burke." "I didn't do anything wrong." "The husband of your college sweetheart takes a dive off your balcony." "Your girlfriend's missing, and you dash for the friendly skies." "You're like a poster boy for a guilty conscience." "Either you killed Victor or you know who did." "Look, I got a problem." " Cards, horses, sports book." " It's not like you need the cash." "It's not about the money." "It's about the juice, right?" "Who do you owe?" "Max and Gavin Lundy." "You travel in dangerous circles." "How did Victor Burke get involved?" "I was in deep to the Lundys, 250 large." "I knew Natalie's husband was some kind of computer genius." "State hired him to hack voting machines, see if they could be rigged." "If he could rig a voting machine, he could do the same with a slot machine?" " What?" "Say video poker?" " Yeah." "Being a genius yourself, you decided to target the Lundys?" "It worked great at first." "I was almost even, Victor was up serious cash." " Then the brothers caught on." " I'm surprised you're still breathing." "I borrowed 100 K from my dad, started paying them back." "These guys, they were still pissed." "They wanted to send a message." "Are you saying the Lundys killed him?" "It had to be them." "Where were you that night?" "Meeting with investors about opening a club." " What happened to your girlfriend?" " Nina was at the condo that night." "She must have let Victor in." "I guess the Lundys got there first." " Where's Nina now?" " I don't know." "I can't get in touch with her." "But if she saw what happened that night..." "Those guys aren't big on witnesses." "You're engaged in a systematic pattern of harassment against Max and Gavin." "We're conducting an investigation." "We've gone out of our way to protect their rights." "Two members of your High Profile Unit rousted my clients at their place of business." " Nicki Ross." "How's tricks?" " I take it you two know each other." "We're old friends." "Miss Ross was one of my associates at Stark Bell." "Well, I'm a partner now." "Fox Bender Dirkin." "Yeah, loved stealing clients from those guys." "So the Lundys, huh?" "Business been slow since they hung Saddam?" "This coming from a man who made murder a relative term." "You look good, Sebastian." "Slave wages are treating you well." "Yeah, I recently changed my diet." "I stopped swallowing my principles." "Madam District Attorney, Sebastian, always a pleasure." "Harass my clients again, our next meeting will be in court." "I'll bring the hors d'oeuvres." "Best associate I ever had." "Totally ruthless, I was so proud." "I've been investigating them for two years." " Search warrants, wiretaps, surveillance..." " For illegal gambling and racketeering." "I'm investigating a murder." "You could have maybe given me a heads up." "Fine." "Can Cole put the brothers at the scene?" "No, we're after the company that runs the Lundys' GPS." "See if we can track their movements." " citywide elections, the latest poll has D A Jessica Devlin holding a narrow 2 percentage point lead over challenger Cutler." "Cutler's numbers have surged in recent weeks despite Devlin 's record high conviction rate." "He's hammering me on the Callison case." "Cutler's the worst trial attorney I've ever seen." "Nobody's gonna vote for him." "According to the polls, he's closing in." " Not after we nail the Lundys." " It's not gonna be easy." "Every time I get them in a corner, they know what's coming." "The difference is, this time, I'm what's coming." "To make a case against the Lundys we need to put them at the condo the night of the murder." "I'll see how long it'll take to examine Victor's computer." "Pull every file we have in this office on the Lundys." " Where are we with Nina Lange?" " None of her friends have seen her." " You guess what I'm thinking?" " lf she's alive, I'll find her." "Didn't you tell me you used to break into cars?" "Yeah, yeah." "So?" "So let's see if you haven't lost your touch." " What?" " Hey." "The thing that I wanted to tell you." "The other night really meant a lot to me." "Uh, yeah." "Yeah, me too." "You know, that you opened up to me like that." "Can we talk about this some other time?" "Why?" "Are you sorry it happened?" "No, I'm kind of in the middle of something right now." "Okay." "Are we still on for dinner?" "Yeah, but I might be a few minutes late." "No problem." "It just really makes me happy that I feel like I can finally trust you." "Good, good." " Bye." " Bye." "You cooked for me?" " Spinach lasagna, nice." " Think of it as the Last Supper." "Did you really think I needed to have a heart-to-heart talk with a prisoner?" "I got a news flash for you." "If you weren't lucky enough to be pulled over you could be that prisoner." " Don't you think I know that?" "Don't you think I feel bad about that?" "I don't know." "It's not like we ever talk." "We do talk, Dad." "The problem is you want me to be the perfect daughter that you hung out with on weekends." "Well, I can't be that, okay?" "I never asked you to be perfect, Julie." "Just honest." "I know." "I should have called you when I got arrested but I didn't wanna let you down." "You didn't." "You just scared the hell out of me, that's all." "You're all I've got in the world, kiddo." "I wanna get past this." "So the lasagna was a little peace offering?" " I'm really sorry about everything." " Mm." "Could we start over?" "I think we already have." "Sorry I'm late." "What about the GPS download?" "Is it done?" "It's time-coded." "So you can see the Lundys' car leaving their club and moving..." "To the Tower." "In time for Victor Burke's murder." "We got them." "In its vendetta against my clients the DA's office has finally crossed the line between obsession and criminality." "Is that an argument or a movie trailer?" "My client's car was broken into." "An illegal search was undertaken by Mr. Stark's team." "My client's private GPS system was hacked into." "That's a very serious charge." "I'll say." "Especially since we have a valid search warrant for the Lundys' vehicle." " Can prosecution produce that?" " I thought you'd never ask." "The warrant was requested during a racketeering investigation against the Lundys." "It's still in full force." " This was obtained over a month ago." " And yet oddly minty fresh." "There is no time limit on the warrant, Your Honor." " Our search was completely valid." " I have to agree." "Then why break into the car?" "Why not just ask?" " Mr. Stark?" " We knocked." "Nobody was home." "It was a time-sensitive matter." "We executed the search." "I respectfully request that Mr. Stark's petition for an arrest warrant be denied." "Sorry." "In light of the prosecution's legally obtained evidence an arrest warrant for Maxwell and Gavin Lundy is hereby granted." "Separate counsel, huh?" "So much for brotherly love." "Let's cut to the chase." "Your case is built on stolen evidence." "You have no witnesses." "Drop the murder charges we may not sue for wrongful arrest or malicious prosecution." "Your clients have one chance to tell us what happened to Victor Burke." "We have no intention of discussing a plea." "Does he talk?" "Or does he sit on your knee with your hand up his ass?" "You may be tough on the Strip, but you get up to Tehachapi they'll pass you around like a box of Girl Scout cookies." " We're done here." " Just remember, gentlemen whoever knocks on my door first gets the deal." "Second place is a jail cell for the rest of your life." "One of those guys better roll over." "Separate counsel works for us." "Divide and conquer." "We go after these guys and lose, Cutler is gonna crucify me." "I'm not gonna let that happen." "Anybody's gonna crucify you, it's gonna be me." " You met Natalie Burke at Stanford?" " We dated for a year." "So you're a bright guy, Brandon, but you were no wunderkind like Victor." "No, Victor was the smartest guy I knew." " How'd you meet?" " Natalie introduced us." "At that point, you owed the defendants somewhere in the neighborhood of a quarter of a million dollars?" " Yes." "And you enlisted Victor Burke's help in a scheme to eliminate that debt?" "I knew that Victor needed money for his daughter so I convinced him to hack into video-poker machines to determine when certain card combinations would hit." "And to whom did those machines belong?" " Max and Gavin Lundy." " Did your plan succeed?" "At first." "Victor and I kept winning big then I got greedy, I pushed it too far." "The defendants figured out you were cheating?" "Yes." "They threatened to kill me." "I borrowed some money." " Paid back part of what I owed." " How about Victor?" "Victor, he wasn't as lucky." "When he couldn't afford to pay the Lundys back, they killed him." " Objection." "Speculation." " Sustained." "No further questions." "Mr. Cole, you conned Victor into working with you." " No, he knew what he was doing." " You knew he had a sick child and you played on that, correct?" " I guess." "Nina Lange was at your condominium the night Victor died." "Do you know where she is now?" " No." " Did you two break up?" "No, she..." "She just disappeared." "I've been worried sick about her." "I see." "Do you have a history of violence towards women, Mr. Cole?" " Objection." "Relevance?" " Overruled." "Did you not strike Emily Chapin at Stanford University in 1997?" "Yes." "But that was just one time." "Things got out of hand." "Did things get out of hand with Victor Burke?" "Did you two argue over money?" "One thing led to another and you pushed him off the balcony?" "No." "I wasn't there that night." "I was at a meeting." " I was going back to the condo..." " To pick up your girlfriend, Nina." "Only she's missing." "Sure hope she's okay." "How the hell did Ross know about his history of abuse?" "She couldn't." "Emily Chapin was the only incident." "And she never filed a complaint." "Victor's wife told me." "I checked Emily out." "She lives in Berlin now." "No way Natalie's feeding information to the guys who killed her husband." "Somebody sure as hell is." "I should've seen this." " We've got a leak?" " I don't know." "Every time I get close, they're a step ahead." "If there's a leak, they're the least of our problems." "It could threaten every case." "Thousands of prosecutions." " Ready for good news?" " Not sure I'd recognize it." "Lewis is monitoring the Lundys' accounts." "Gavin Lundy just got an e-mail from Naughty Nina." "As in Nina Lange." "Ran through a server in Twentynine Palms which is right next to Joshua Tree, where this photo was taken." "So if Lange is alive, and she saw what happened..." "Break out the sunscreen." "You're heading for the desert." "Nina Lange?" " Who's asking?" " We're from the L.A. DA's office." "We've been looking everywhere for you." " Why?" " We're concerned with your well-being." "I know Brandon Cole will be relieved to know you're okay." "Oh, yeah?" "How is he?" "Well, he's a suspect in a murder investigation, so he's been better." "Look, Brandon didn't kill anybody." " How do you know?" " Because I know Brandon, okay?" "What's your relationship to Gavin Lundy?" "Um..." "We just, you know, hang out sometimes." "According to your e-mails, you do a lot more than that." "You know, I don't really feel like talking anymore, so I'm gonna go." " You don't have a choice." " Victor Burke is dead and you're the only one who knows how he got that way." "Please, I don't wanna get in the middle of this." "Sorry, you're already there." "I heard Jimmy Ratcliff really likes you." "Total lacrosse dork." "Pass." "He's really cute." "And his parents have a house in Kauai." "This is what I love about you, Danielle." "You are not shallow." " Sorry I'm late." " Hey." "I just heard the Thermals are at the Kappa House at SC tonight." " Cute guys, beer, we are so there." " Julie?" "I can't." "My dad would have an aneurism." "You're allowed to go to parties, right?" " Yeah." " Did your dad ever specifically say no frat parties?" " No." "Loophole." " Where did you meet Brandon Cole?" " In L.A." "Brandon's a good guy, you know, when he's winning." "Let's drop the "when he's winning" part, okay?" "How long have you and Brandon been together?" "About 14 months." "Living together for like the last six." "What about Gavin Lundy?" "Look, I wanna be an actress, okay?" "And Brandon said he knew a lot of producers but he never actually came through." "Well, Gavin did." "Well, that's mercenary but honest." "What happened the night Victor Burke was killed?" "I was, um, at the condo." "Brandon was out on a meeting." "And then Victor came by, just freaking out, so I let him in and I just told him to wait." "And what did you do then?" "I called Gavin." "I knew that he and Max were looking for Victor." "But I never thought that they were going to kill him." "Tell me exactly what you saw." "Um..." "They started arguing." "I heard Victor say something about going to the police." "Let go." "And that's when they dragged Victor out onto the balcony." "What...?" "What are you doing?" "What happened, Nina?" "Gavin was holding Victor by the throat." "Gavin, stop, please." "Pushing him over the rail." "Victor was just begging Gavin to pull him back in." " But he didn't." " Victor was trying to hang on." "And then Gavin just let him go." "Gavin was wearing a black sweater that night?" "Yeah, and then he gave me some money and he told me to get out of town." "But..." "I mean, I swear to God." "I swear to God nobody was supposed to die." "We have located a witness who was not previously available to us." "We call Nina Lange to the stand." "The defense is concerned Miss Lange's testimony could expose her to criminal liability." "Touching." "Counsel isn't her attorney." "She's been given immunity." "Yeah, but immunity for federal charges?" "My clients are under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office for loansharking and bookmaking." " Have you secured federal immunity?" "I would remind you, this is not a federal prosecution." "I'd like to be sure Mr. Stark has been forthright with his witness." "I assure the court, the witness has been advised of her status." "Better safe than sorry, Mr. Stark." "Miss Lange knowing that the immunity agreement could leave you open to criminal liability in a federal court case, do you still wish to testify?" "Does that mean that I could actually go to jail?" "That's exactly what it means." "There's not a leak in our office?" "We just lost our star witness." "How did Ross get the details of our agreement?" "She didn't know Nina was alive." "Nobody's that good except me and God." "Call Musso  Frank's, make a 9:30 reservation." "Then call Ross' office." "Tell her to be there, my treat." "Uh!" "You always liked the old joints." "Yeah, I only go to the trendy spots to arrest people." "I've got you cold on this one." "Why not dismiss?" " Save yourself further humiliation." " Sounds like a pretty good idea." "You've become a hell of a lawyer, Nicki." " I had a good teacher." " Manny?" "Haven't been here since we celebrated burying those bank documents in the Saltzman case." "Yeah, you left early that night." "I asked you to come with me." " Yeah, I had a wife at home." " Right." "I remedied that situation." "Didn't you have a rule against sleeping with your associates?" "I did." "I did, but not on moral grounds." "It clouds your judgment, I think." "Gets in the way of winning." "To no longer working together." "Yeah." "Prosecution rests." "Round three in the shower?" "You got a defibrillator and some nitroglycerin in there?" "Don't know." " Tech lab." " Yeah, I'm here." " What am I looking for?" " Uh, documents folder." "Files pertaining to your case against the Lundys." "I'll be damned." "She's got my e-mails." "They hacked into our system." "They've been spying on us all along." " Meet me at my place in 20 minutes." " Sebastian." "Better make it an hour." "How the hell did Nicki Ross access the district attorney's database?" " According to Lewis, it wasn't Ross." " It was Victor Burke." "So we're saying the victim helped Ross hack into our files?" "No." "No..." "Well, in a way." "It wasn't Ross." " He was helping the Lundys." " Wait, come again?" "How does a computer wiz pay back two thugs under investigation by the DA?" "Hacks into the DA database so they know exactly what we have on them." "Why didn't Victor just give them the cash we found in his office?" "Because..." "Because he had a sick kid." " Oh, man." " So, what are we supposed to do?" "If opposing counsel wants to hack our files let's give her something really juicy to steal." "You had a late night." "Hope you had fun." "Just work." " I have to tell you something." " Shoot." "I went to a frat party at SC." "Nothing happened." "I didn't even drink." "I just..." "I just wanted you to know." "Full disclosure, right?" "Okay." "That's it?" "I just appreciate your being honest." "Victor may have hacked into the DA's system for the Lundys." "But that doesn't make him an arch criminal." "He was a desperate father trying to save his child." "He realized he was committing a major felony." "Nina said Victor threatened to go to the cops." "Maybe that's why he was sending his family up north." "To protect them." " Question is how do we prove it?" " We don't." "The Lundys do." "Hey, our defendants like to eavesdrop, so..." ""Jessica, heard from Hoffman." "His client, Gavin Lundy, is prepared to testify against his brother." "Meeting is at 4:00 to seal the deal."" "That's enough to convince Max his brother's rolling on him?" "There's no honor among thieves." "I give Ross till, hm, lunch." "Mr. Stark?" "Is everything okay, Natalie?" "I keep hearing awful things about Victor." "People he was involved with." "Is that true?" "Victor made some mistakes." "He got in over his head, yes." "He was a good man and a great father." " I'm sure he was." "If he was doing anything it was because he felt he had to." "I'm sorry." "Yeah." "Got it." "Your husband may have just helped me put away two really bad guys." "So, what's the rush, Nick?" "I was scheduled for 18 at Riviera." "My client has decided to discuss a plea." "Anything change your mind?" "We want full immunity." "Max walks." "We serve Gavin up on a silver platter." "How about this?" "First degree murder, 20 to life." "And he testifies against his brother." " You've got nothing." " I think we both know that's not true." "Well, I guess we'll take our chances in court." "Fine." "Hey, you're a gambler, right, Max?" "How about this?" "How about I bet you your life I can convince 12 people you're a scum-sucking dirtbag?" "Let's just go with it." "Manslaughter." " He does seven to 12." " But only if we put Gavin away for life." " He's my brother." " I'm not asking." "You roll on him or I roll on you." "Take your pick." "All right." "We've got a deal." "Talk." "I wish I'd never met Victor Burke." "I was willing to forget about the video-poker scam but Gavin just wouldn't let it go." "When Victor couldn't pay us back Gavin came up with a different repayment." " What did you ask Victor to do?" " Hack into the DA's computer." "We wanted to know what they had on us." " Victor agreed to do this?" " Gavin didn't give him much choice." "Cut the crap, Max." "One more outburst and I'll have you removed, Mr. Lundy." "Victor was awesome." "Tipped us on a warrant to search the club." " The racketeering investigation." " This settled his debt?" "And then some." "We just started paying him." "Victor needed the money, we needed him, everything was cool." " So, what went wrong?" " Victor got scared." "He knew he'd go away for a long time for what he was doing." "He wanted to be there for his daughter." " He wanted out." " But you wouldn't let him?" "He threatened to close the hole in the firewall, go to the cops." "We couldn't let that happen." "At this point, Victor went to Brandon Cole for help, is that correct?" "We got a call from Brandon's girlfriend, Nina, we headed over there." "What happened when you got there?" "Gavin said we'd just smack him around a little." "Straighten him out." "Next thing, Gavin's got him hanging over the balcony." "I tried pulling him back, but Gavin was pissed." "Victor was hanging over the side begging for his life." "And then Gavin just let go." "No!" "No more questions." "Should I congratulate you or would you rather handle that?" "Admit it, you were worried for just a second." "I wasn't anxious to toss my opponent another big loss to throw in my face." " Our data system has been secured." " Breaking into the DA's computer." "What will they think of next?" "Jealous you never thought of it?" "Who says I didn't?" "Ah, bugging the opposition." "You're playing with fire, Nicki." "Don't know what you're talking about." "I should prosecute you for spying on the DA's office." "You slept with opposing counsel." "And violated my private files." " lf I go down, you go down." " I like the sound of that." " No hard feelings?" " I'll let that one go." "Way too easy." "See you around." "Mr. Stark." "You ever been to Stan's Donuts?" "They've got a chocolate-cheese Danish that ought to be outlawed." "I looked for you after the trial." "I wanted to thank you." " I know it won't bring Victor back." " No." "But at least those animals are paying for what they did." "You might wanna take a look at this." " I don't understand." " They found it in Victor's desk." "There's no link to the Lundys or any illegal activity." "You might wanna shut that." "So as far as the DA's office is concerned its discovery was circumstantial." "Mr. Stark, if this money had anything to do..." "Natalie, this is your money." "Victor wanted you to have this." "Take care of that little girl, huh?"