Theo closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the seat. “I want my lawyer.”
“Sure, you can call Martin as soon as we get to the station.”
33
“Charleston District Attorney’s Office.”
“Judy, is Chad in?”
“Hey, Rachel. Yeah, hang on.”
Brief silence came through the phone while Rachel’s call was transferred. “Chad Morrison.”
“Chad, it’s Rachel. How are you?”
“I’m doing well. How about you?”
“I’m getting there. Listen, I need to meet with you.”
“About the person who tried to run you over?”
“I think that’s part of what I’m working on, but I won’t know for sure until tonight. How soon can I meet with you?”
“My calendar is clear the next couple of days.”
“How about ten in the morning? Ben Stevens will be with me. I want to move on this quickly, and I’ll need warrants by the end of the day.”
“Okay, I’ll have Judy put it in my calendar.”
“Thanks, Chad.”
Rachel walked back into the workroom and pulled out her notes. From everything she had, Martin had paid off two people, maybe three, and sabotaged another. She crinkled her brow and placed a call.
“Hey, Deborah, I’m coming in to meet with Chad tomorrow. We may call you into the meeting.”
“Okay. I’ll be prepared.”
“Sounds good. Listen, did we ever get that Donna girl’s last name from when Matthew was in high school?”
“There were only two Donnas in his class. A Clark and a Bickley. Donna Clark is dead. Committed suicide a year after she graduated.”
“Have we found her family?”
“Her mother is still alive. I was going to call her today. Donna Bickley moved away to college and never moved back.”
“Either could be our girl. Do you have a lead on Donna Bickley?”
“Yeah, but I had to go around my elbow if you know what I mean.”
Rachel giggled. “Why don’t you follow that lead and I’ll take the mother. Will you text me her number?”
“You got it.” Deborah cleared her throat. “Do you know if they found the person who tried to run you over?”
“We’ve found him. I’ll know sometime today if he’s been apprehended.”
“Let me know.”
“I will. See you tomorrow.”
Rachel ended the call and waited for her phone to ping with an incoming text. This would be so much better in person.
She walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water when she heard a car pull into the driveway. Very few people knew where she was working from, and no one in Riverton Crossing knew so she moved out of sight. Matthew stepped out of the car, and Rachel’s heart beat faster. He rang the doorbell, but she didn’t move. Frozen in place, it seemed like an eternity before he turned to leave. She waited until he’d pulled out of the driveway before she walked toward the workroom.
When she picked up her phone, there were two unread text messages. The first was from Deborah with Mrs. Clark’s phone number, and the other from an unknown number. “I know you’re at Ben’s. I stopped by because we need to talk. Call me. Matthew.” Her fingers covered her mouth. Oh no. Does he know what I’m looking into? Shit.
With her notepad and pen ready, she called Mrs. Clark. On the third ring, a lady’s voice answered.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Mrs. Clark?”
“Speaking.”
“Mrs. Clark, my name is Rachel Davis, and I’m an assistant district attorney. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“I thought attorneys met with you in person.”
Rachel smiled. “Normally, I would, but I was involved in an accident and can’t get up to Rock Hill.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you’re all right.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rachel took a deep breath. “Mrs. Clark, I’m looking for a girl who went to high school with Matthew Hightower. I understand your daughter Donna did. Is that correct?”
“That good for nothing but trouble piece of … of …”
Rachel smiled. “I get your point.”
“He’s the reason my Donna isn’t with us anymore.”
Rachel furrowed her brows. “What do you mean, Mrs. Clark?”
“When they were seniors in high school, Matthew cornered my Donna in the gym, and he … he touched her.”
Rachel closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“She never got over the humiliation. Then that senator paid my husband a thousand dollars for Donna to change her story and claim it was an accident. Donna was crushed. He taunted her to the point we had to get an officer to speak with his mother to leave her alone. She just never got past it. She took her own life before her nineteenth birthday.”
“Mrs. Clark, are you sure it was a senator?”
“Yes. My husband kept a copy of the check with our important papers. He said we might need it one day.”
A broad smile crossed Rachel’s face. “Would it be possible for me to get a copy of that check?”
“I can email you a copy if that’s fine with you.”
“That would be perfect.”
“Is he finally getting in trouble for this?”
“I don’t know, Mrs. Clark, but I’m definitely looking into it.”
“Thank you, Ms. Davis.”
Rachel gave the woman her email address and disconnected the call. If Martin’s name is on that check, she could tie him to bribery charges. Just how far are these men willing to go to protect each other?
34
Ben barreled through the back door. “Rachel!”
She came out from the workroom. “I’ve got so much to tell you,” they both said at the same time.
He laughed. “You want to go first?”
She shook her head. “No, because I’m hoping what you tell me will affect what I found out.”
He took her hand and led them to the sofa in the living room. “We got Theo, and he’s on his way to Charleston. Sam and I took him from Matthew’s to the station with time for a talk. I told him we’ve put two and two together and know he’s both Matthew and Chloe’s father. Rach, his reaction was priceless, but he said we couldn’t prove it.”
Rachel shrugged. “There’s no reason to ask for a paternity test, so he’s right on that one. How did he get from Martin’s house to Matthew’s?”
He rolled his eyes. “Posing as Matthew’s driver. My guys didn’t stop them.”
“Well, guess who stopped by here.”
He furrowed his brow. “Who?”
“Matthew, and I’ll show you the text he sent me.”
“Hmm, I wonder if it had to do with the argument he had with Theo before he brought him out to Sam.”
“What argument?”
“He told Theo that he didn’t ask for anything to happen to you.”
“So if he didn’t order it, Martin did?”
Ben’s head tilted back and forth. “That’s what I’m thinking. Rachel, all we need is one of them to roll, and we’ve got them all for obstruction.”
“Matthew wants to talk to me. He may be our link to getting the others. Do you think Sam and Carrie will hate me if he doesn’t do jail time?”
“What are you thinking?”
“I—” Rachel’s phone rang in the other room. “Let me catch that.”
Ben toed off his shoes and stretched out until Rachel returned. He’d just closed his eyes when he heard her voice. “I’m putting you on speaker, Deborah.” He opened his eyes. “Repeat everything from the beginning so Ben can hear.”
“You know how y’all said that Mr. Nobles hid Matthew’s mother away upstate?”
Ben sat up and looked at Rachel. “Yes.”
“Apparently, the nut didn’t fall far from the tree.”
“What are you saying, Deborah? I spoke with Mrs. Clark, and it was her daughter who Matthew harassed. She couldn’t
deal with her father treating her like a whore because of it.”
Ben looked at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I haven’t gotten to fill you in on my day.”
Deborah’s voice came through the phone. “Then he must have had a thing for Donnas. According to Ms. Bickley, she and Matthew dated during their senior year. He’d been pressuring her to have sex, then when all the stuff happened with Donna Clark, I assume, Ms. Bickley felt that she needed to sleep with Matthew to keep him from cheating.”
Rachel shook her head as Ben rubbed her back. “Go ahead, Deborah.”
“Anyway, not only did he guilt her into letting him in her panties, but to prove her love for him, she needed to let him in … with no condom.”
Rachel jumped to her feet. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Oh no, and it gets better. She got pregnant.”
“Of course she did.”
“And Senator Martin Pickens paid for her to move to Colorado and never contact Matthew or return to Rock Hill.”
“He can’t keep her from returning home. What if something happened to her family?”
“This is small-town South Carolina, so I know this sounds familiar …when she told her parents, they kicked her out. She hasn’t spoken to them since.”
Rachel rubbed the back of her neck as she paced across the room. “God bless America! This is Carrie’s and Gloria’s stories all over again.”
“That’s exactly what I thought. These two aren’t original, that’s for sure.”
“Will she testify?”
“No, she’s met a man who loves her and her daughter. She refuses to let her past wreck her present.”
Rachel sighed. “I can understand that.” She plopped beside Ben. “Thanks, Deborah. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Good night.”
Rachel disconnected the call and looked at Ben. Her shoulders sagged as he wrapped his arms around her. “Sounds like you’ve been busy today.”
“I have. I found the Donna girl that Matthew harassed in high school. She committed suicide.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Yeah, her mother wants Matthew to pay. Now, with what Deborah just told us, all of these women need closure.”
“I agree, but that’s not where you were going earlier.”
She shook her head. “No, I wanted to use Matthew to get Theo and Martin. I thought they were the most dangerous, but now … now I want to string Matthew up by his—”
Ben cupped himself. “Don’t finish that.”
Rachel smiled. “By the way, we’re meeting with Chad at ten in the morning.”
“What do you think he’ll do?”
“I don’t know. He’s going to want me to cut a deal with someone, and unfortunately, I think Matthew is the weakest of the three.”
“I agree.”
“I need to talk to Sam and Carrie. They aren’t going to like this, Ben.”
“I know. Do you have a bargaining chip with Matthew?”
“Sexual harassment in the workplace—quid pro quo, sexual harassment in the workplace—hostile work environment, even though they were students at the time. The biggest one is sexual misconduct while in office. He’ll lose his job for that regardless, but that may be all he loses if he gives us what we need on Theo and Martin.”
“I’ll call Sam.”
“Let’s wait until after we meet with Chad.”
35
The following morning Ben and Rachel drove to Charleston. She looked at Ben and took a deep breath before she placed a call. “Here goes nothing.” The voice picked up immediately.
“Assistant District Attorney Davis.”
“Matthew, I received your text yesterday but didn’t have time to respond. You said we needed to talk.”
“Are you alone?”
“No, I’m in a car on the way back to Charleston. What do you want to talk about?”
“The charges against the man in Charleston.”
“Theodore Nobles.”
“Yes.”
“I see. We should be back from Charleston late this afternoon. Where would you like to meet?”
“We?”
“Yes, Sheriff Stevens and myself.”
“I don’t remember inviting him.”
“Either he comes with me, or we don’t meet.”
“My office, but this doesn’t have anything to do with him.”
“All the same, Matthew, I don’t feel comfortable speaking with you alone.”
“Fine. What time?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ve got some meetings today. I’ll call you when we leave.”
“I should be free any time after three.”
“We’ll talk this afternoon.”
She disconnected the call, and her excitement for what laid ahead increased.
“You look like a kid going to the candy store.”
“Ben, I want this so badly. I just hope I’m this excited when we leave Chad’s office.”
He reached over and squeezed her hand. “Me too, sweetheart.”
She spent the rest of the drive going over the facts. She knew Deborah would need to join them in the meeting, so she quickly sent her a text:
“Be ready to join us in Chad’s office. We’re pulling into the parking lot now.”
Ben squeezed her hand once more before they exited the car.
Judy greeted Rachel and Ben with hesitant eyes. Rachel walked closer to her desk so Judy could tell her what was happening. She held Rachel’s stare and whispered, “Chad just had a visitor.”
Rachel furrowed her brows. “In regards to me?” Judy nodded. “Thanks for the heads up.” Rachel smiled as she and Ben walked toward Deborah’s desk. “Are you ready to join us? Chad should be expecting us now.”
Deborah gathered her folders and followed them down the hall. Rachel tapped on the door when they stood in front of the door to the corner office on the right. “Come in,” Chad said from inside the room.
Rachel walked in and stretched out her hand to greet her boss. “Chad, do you remember Ben Stevens? He used to be with the state police, but he’s now Sheriff of Cloverville County.”
“Yes, good to see you again,” Chad said as he shook Ben’s hand.
“I asked Deborah to join us since she’s been working with me on this case.”
Chad nodded toward Deborah. He cleared his throat and turned back toward Rachel. “I just had an unexpected visitor.”
Rachel cocked her brow. “Anyone I need to know about?”
“Senator Martin Pickens.”
“Really? And what did the senator have to say?”
“You don’t sound surprised.”
She smiled. “Let’s just say it’s par for the course, Chad. You’ll understand when we present everything to you. May I ask what he wanted?”
“For you to drop this case against Theodore Nobles. He said you stepped in front of Mr. Nobles. He agreed that Mr. Nobles was probably exceeding the speed limit, but that in no way were you targeted. He’d like Mr. Nobles to just get a traffic ticket and community service.”
“You have got to be kidding me. Chad, two of the witnesses are standing in front of you. Ask them what happened, please. Don’t take my word for it.”
Chad looked at Deborah. “Tell me what happened.”
“I was with Rachel. We had been waiting for a clear time to cross, and there were no cars when we started on the street. I heard someone yell for Rachel to get out of the way.”
Ben held up a finger. “That would’ve been me.”
“When Rachel looked back at the car, it sped up and didn’t deviate from its path. Had Ben not yelled for Rachel to move, she would have been hit. That’s all in the report I gave the police.”
Chad looked at Ben. “I was about a block away. I initially yelled so Rachel would know I was there for our meeting, but the car was heading straight for her. There was no mistake in the intent of the driver. I’m grateful Deborah was a quick thinker
and took the picture of the license plate.”
Chad raised his eyebrow. “You’re both positive about this.”
“Yes,” they both said at once.
Ben slid his hands into his pant pockets. “There were other witnesses, but I don’t know if they spoke with the police. I took Rachel to the hospital.”
Rachel exhaled a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “Once we show you all the evidence we have, I think you’ll agree that this incident shouldn’t just be swept under the rug, and not because it happened to me.”
Chad motioned for them to sit at the small conference table in his office. For the next three hours, they laid out their case. Finally, Chad looked at all the papers spread out over the table then at Rachel. “What do you want?”
“Well, Matthew Hightower wants to speak with me. I think he’s the weakest link because we’ve got him with the women willing to testify against him. One is on the fence, but if we don’t go to court, I think she’ll give a written statement. I don’t want to give him names unless I have to. If he goes to court, he’ll lose a lot more than just his job, especially if we add obstruction charges to the list.”
Chad tapped a pen against his notepad. “You think he’ll roll on the other two?”
“That’s my hope.”
“That’s a big hope, Rachel. One man is his father and the other his benefactor. I think it’ll be a hard sell.”
“Maybe.”
Ben cleared his throat. “I heard Matthew and Theo arguing just before we arrested Mr. Nobles. Matthew was adamant that he didn’t ask Theo to do anything to Rachel.” He shrugged. “He may be wanting to separate himself from them.”
“Will the Baxters drop their complaint if he’s removed from office? I don’t want to cut a deal then have it blow up in our faces.”
Rachel and Ben looked at each other before Rachel said, “We’ll talk to them. I think their biggest wish is for Matthew to leave them alone and let them live their lives in peace.”
Uncovered Secrets: A Riverton Crossing Novel - Book 7 Page 16
