husband and estranged herself from her father. Regaining her love helps Clay take calmly the final blow to his career: the jury in Arizona has rejected the Maxatil tort suit, and all the millions which Clay invested in Maxatil goes down the drain. Clay is forced to declare bankruptcy, close down his firm, give up his assets, and surrender his license to practice law. The FBI stops pursuing their case against Clay due to the loyalty of an old friend who refuses to provide incriminating evidence. Having nothing more to lose, Clay discloses his involvement in the Tarvan affair to an investigative journalist; a criminal lawyer will attempt to re-open the cases of the Tarvan test subjects, including Watson. Clay and Rebecca fly to London, where they would have a happy life without the opulence Clay no longer misses. It is, however, implied that Clay will still end up with a few million dollars in the end, because Paulette and Rodney—with whom Clay was extremely generous and loyal in distributing his initial lucrative settlements—both promise of their own accord to return some of the money to him, never forgetting that they owe their financial success to him. List of characters Jarrett Clay Carter II - Protagonist of the story Max Pace - a mysterious adviser of Clay Carter Tequila Watson - A victim of the side effects of the mysterious drug, Tarvan Adelfa Pumphrey - Mother of the man murdered by Tequila Watson Rebecca Van Horn - Clay's long-time girlfriend Bennett Van Horn - Rebecca's rich interfering father Barbara Van Horn - Rebecca's pushy mother Jermaine Vance - paralegal for Clay's law firm Miss Glick - Clay's protective executive secretary Oscar Mulrooney - Yale graduate lawyer who becomes Clay's top assistant Paulette Tullos - secretary who came to Clay's firm from the public defenders office Ridley - Clay's model girlfriend, initially employed as an escort at public functions Patton French - The wealthiest tort lawyer in the USA Dale Mooneyham - successful Arizona lawyer who dislikes mass tort lawyers Rodney Albritton - chief paralegal for Clay's firm Jonah - Clay's old roommate who becomes IT man for Clay's firm References 2003 American novels American thriller novels Doubleday (publisher) books Legal thriller novels Novels by John Grisham Novels set in Washington, D.C.