Most likely, they’d been talking about the Greenes. Well, good luck with that. Men mightier and richer than Chad Miller had tried to find saucy material on the couple and come up empty. This feminist agenda, utopia, of Exodus was the most ammunition they had ever given their opponents. Of course, they were doing it at a point where their money and power was almost absolute. She watched the investigator leave with angry strides, slamming the door behind him.
Miller sighed in exasperation. “That generation…wants everything to be handed to them on a silver platter without doing anything for it. Why didn’t they send us someone more experienced?”
“He’s sneaky,” Emily said. “That will pay off. Speaking of which, I talked to Dana Martin yesterday. They are in over their head, trying to open a new branch within Exodus, which Vivien Collins will be heading.”
“Before or after she’ll have that test tube baby?” Miller asked, his voice dripping with disdain.
Emily’s stomach was churning a bit. Maybe her coffee had been too bitter all day, or maybe it was one of the moments she actually felt like siding with those angry women like Collins and Martin.
“I don’t know, but they’re pretty much all over the place at the moment. If you want to bring up your new set of regulations, now would be the moment.”
With satisfaction, he glanced at the file open on his desk. “One signature, and we’ll be this close to shutting down every abortion clinic in the state, wiping out the FPCs as I promised. Thank you, Emily. You did good. Our informant said so as well.”
“Informant?” she repeated. “Wait…Don’t tell me you sent me to the center to have my person and work insulted, when you already planted someone there?”
He shrugged. “It’s important that you maintain the connection and present yourself as a go-between. Besides, we needed someone to get up close without raising suspicion, something you couldn’t have done.”
Emily suppressed a sigh. He did have a point. Dana Martin and her employees had been more than suspicious of her. She wondered which of the women she’d met, was the spy.
“I can’t tell you,” Miller said, reading her mind. “If this ever goes to court, you’ll want to be able to say you never learned the name.”
“I guess.”
She might find out by herself, but that, Emily didn’t tell the governor. She’d stay out of the line of fire best she could. Tonight, when Miller announced a new barrage of regulations for abortion providers in the state, would be interesting.
* * * *
“We welcome the Exodus project and all it entails,” Governor King told the assembled journalists. “Of course we keep the interest of the people in our state in mind, but if we can help shine a spotlight of the ways in which Governor Miller is failing the women in his, we can’t turn them away.”
“Aren’t you at all worried about what might be the endgame in the ideology on which Exodus is based?”
A close-up showed she was looking frustrated. “This ideology, as you call it, is a simple set of rules, based on the idea that men and women are equal. I’m worried about attempts in our country to roll back history, about that blatant ignorance for women’s rights, not just here, but also in other parts of the world. Exodus is a movement that will have a safe space here, but it won’t be limited to California.”
“At this point, how much of California’s economy is owned by Greene Industries? Do you expect any significant effect on the unemployment rate?”
“She’s brave,” Marc commented, turning down the volume of the TV as Hilary came back into the room. “We’re lucky to have her as an ally.”
“Yes.” Hilary thought she was lucky in so many more ways, her throat getting tight once more. She had learned though not to be drawn into worst case scenarios at the drop of a hat anymore. Marc, of course, noticed that she was distracted.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, reaching for her hand, squeezing it gently.
She sat on the side of the bed, wondering if it was better to pretend her conversation with Melodie had never happened. Kicking off her pumps, she lay down beside him carefully.
“We’re still on track. With everything,” she said. “I told Vivien and Kerry to pack up. The realtor is taking care of the rest and—”
“Hilary.”
“Your parents have been great. I don’t know what I would have done without them. We have offered compensation and individual therapy to everyone who has been affected by the…shooting.” She almost choked on the word.
“What else?”
She looked at their joined hands, once more aware of how close they had come to losing everything. “Melodie wants us to meet with Michaels’ ex-wife. On her show.”
“That’s…a surprise,” he said carefully. “I assume she’s not happy with her ex’s actions.”
“It’s not up to us to make her feel better. I’m sorry,” Hilary added when she became aware of the tone of her words.
“She’s not the one who pulled the trigger…” For a moment, the world shifted, and righted itself again, because Marc was right here, still holding her hand. “If Melodie thinks it’s a good idea, it probably is,” he added.
“You value her opinion a lot.” That didn’t come out right either.
“I value your opinion more. If you say no, we won’t do it.”
“It’s too early for you to go out there.” They both stayed silent for a few heartbeats, acknowledging what she had not said. In some way, it would always be too early, but neither of them had the luxury of hiding from the world. People depended on them, and not everyone was out there to harm them. The unthinkable had happened on their own turf.
“Miller is out of control,” Marc argued. “We have to act.”
“You need to get better first.”
“I’m well enough to sit in a chair and answer questions,” Marc said, his frustration audible. “Look at what happened today. We need to come forward.”
“I need you to be okay.”
Basically, Miller had forced their hand once more.
* * * *
Six weeks after the shooting, Marc insisted on coming back to the office for short periods of time each day. Hilary didn’t have the heart to tell him that trying to keep him from working was causing her more work.
William Greene and Aimee turned out to be invaluable accomplices while Arianna helped her out with coordinating the ever growing mountains of paperwork. Organizing the house sale for Kerry and Vivien required little more than a few signatures from her, at least that was one thing working out easily. She’d accompany them to their new home once more, for a couple of days while Vivien would look at the new finished offices for the center and also see a doctor she’d found on the network created for participants of Exodus.
Kerry…Hilary knew she wouldn’t be too happy to help out in places where needed with her own future uncertain, but there was no doubt Exodus would need lots of security, especially after the shooting. Hilary knew she’d need to make sure Kerry knew she’d come into that position because of her experience, not because they were friends, or even because she was one half a team authoring a college paper with consequences.
The story of Susan Wells vanished. There was another story, one that Hilary had needed to tell for a while, but with everyone getting ready for the big moment in the spotlight, she knew it wasn’t the right moment.
She’d wait until after they’d return.
* * * *
“Do you have any more questions?” the doctor asked. Vivien had many more questions about life in general, but she could only shake her head, overcome with gratitude. At some point in this endeavor, she’d thought she might get scared of what lay ahead.
She was more certain than ever, about her relationship with Kerry, about the dreams they had, and would make come true. Whatever the bigots had thrown at them, they had still ended up here, with a friendly competent physician who would help them take their family planning to the next level. In a few weeks, they’d know more
.
They would spend the first few nights in their new home. Tomorrow, she’d be visiting the new offices with Hilary, and Kerry would tag along. Vivien hated the lack of support Kerry had gotten from her superiors when she had risked her life to save the ones of many others. However, she believed firmly that they’d find a solution. They always had so far.
“Thank you so much,” she said. “After our last experience, we just weren’t sure what to expect anymore.
The doctor shook her head. “You should expect me to do my job. I for one feel good about children being born into families who want them. Truth be told, we might be safe here, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to step up. If it can happen in your home, who says it can’t happen anywhere else? Besides, I’m kind of honored that you chose my clinic. We give the best possible care to our patients. Welcome to California.”
Vivien shared a happy smile with Kerry. “We love it so far.”
* * * *
What she wanted most was a safe happy life for her little family in the planning. Something else Kerry had wanted for almost all her life was being a cop. It seemed like she could only have one or the other. No matter how much anyone had assured her that they didn’t buy into Susan’s lies, regardless of the fact the story had been drowned out by the coverage of the shooting at Greene Industries…She had still lost this particular battle. If she was going to complain about it though, she’d also have to go back to the day of her worst nightmare. Part of her had, until now, ignored that she could have died on that day. If she had nightmares, they were about warm, sticky blood on her hands. She woke up with the frantic need to wash them.
Vivien slept better these days, her dreams of a sweeter kind.
Kerry didn’t want to think about missed opportunities or horrible things that had almost happened, anymore. They had a bright, sunny future ahead of them, and even though she was technically jobless at the moment, they had nothing to fear. She could handle a little more paperwork and a job that might be a little less challenging than going after rapists and murderers, could she?
For practical purposes, Hilary hadn’t booked a hotel room, but stayed in one of the guest rooms in Vivien and Kerry’s new home instead. They didn’t have dinner together due to their respective schedules, but that night, Kerry and Hilary met in the living room, both of them sleepless.
They hadn’t had much time to talk between the two of them since they’d embarked on this roller-coaster.
“How are things at home?” Kerry asked. Come to think of it, she had nothing to complain about. Nothing at all.
“Okay, I guess.” This was probably true, since Hilary sounded more frustrated than worried. “Aimee does her best to keep Marc out of the office, but I’ve come to think we would need to tie him to the bed to make that happen.”
Despite herself Kerry had to laugh. “Okay. Too much information.”
Hilary rolled her eyes at her. “Not in that sense of the word, but thanks for making me laugh. We didn’t have a lot of that lately.”
“No,” Kerry agreed, the silence making the question between them even more obvious. Have we taken on more than we can handle? Joanie came to mind. Tasha, at least, would have the treatment she needed. She and Vivien would have the home and the family they’d always dreamed of, but how many would they have to leave behind? “Maybe we should have gone for the moon anyway. Bring every single woman whose life patriarchy is messing with, everywhere in the world.”
“I’m afraid that would cut into the budget a bit too much even for us.”
“What is our budget?” Kerry asked. “I mean…could we do it? Go into another state, even another country and get women out if they are in danger of being raped and beaten? How long before even King would put a hold on it?”
“You are in an uplifting mood tonight. I thought the appointment with the doctor went well.”
“It did. It’s just…”
Hilary sighed. “I know what you’re thinking, and it sucks that you had to give up your job because of a lie, but I need you here. I won’t be giving you a job because I feel sorry for you, which I don’t. You have lots of options, many of which you’re not even aware of at the moment—and I swear I won’t put you behind a desk. I need you because you know like no one else what Exodus is all about, and because I need a friend to come to terms with something that scares the hell out of me.”
Hilary had been unusually quiet and absentminded during this trip. Kerry assumed she knew the reason. “Marc will be fine,” she said.
“God, I hope so. Me, I don’t know.” The tone of her voice startled Kerry.
“What’s going on, Hilary?”
“Nothing. Everything. Now is not the moment.”
Kerry joined her friend at the window, turning her around by the shoulders. “Whatever you need. I’m here.”
“I should have this conversation with my husband instead. I wanted to, on the day…and after what happened, I just didn’t have the courage to bring it up anymore.”
Kerry knew she’d have to choose her words carefully. “They will dig deeper, we know that, and no matter how hard we try to do the right thing, everyone has something in their story they could twist and abuse for their purpose. Don’t be scared for them to go there. It will only show how desperate they are.”
“I don’t want everybody to know before Marc does.”
“About the abortion?”
It wasn’t a guess any longer. Hilary flinched almost imperceptibly, but she held Kerry’s gaze. “About everything. I know I probably won’t be able to keep it a secret in the long run. I realized that when they came up with Susan Wells. I don’t want to talk about this. To anyone. That’s the whole deal, right, that’s what we are fighting for, that you’re not being dragged out there all naked. It’s not fair!”
“No, it’s not,” Kerry agreed. “Whatever you decide, we’ll be here for you, and I know, Marc is too.”
“Maybe I should be grateful no one made a video and used it for revenge porn—or burned down my house.” She didn’t need to give more details. They read the same articles, day by day, appalled by what stereotyping and hate did, even more so with the options of social media. At least, they had those same platforms to fight back.
“He doesn’t deserve to have this dumped on him, especially now.”
“You didn’t deserve what happened in the first place,” Kerry countered. “You know that, right?”
“Yes, I know that. It’s just damn hard.”
Kerry couldn’t argue with that, but the least she could do was offer her friend an embrace. They would go somewhere from there—and everything would be better once they’d be able to settle down here for real.
Chapter Nineteen
“Finally, someone’s doing their job.” Miller’s praise was a somewhat backhanded compliment, and the investigator was well aware of that, judging from his sulking expression. The circus never ceased to entertain, Emily thought. If the people in this office didn’t revel half as much in uncovering potential scandal and conjuring up fake outrage, it would have been too boring to work with them. No matter what someone like Vivien Collins threw at her, she had made her choices and was all right with them. If the women in the state wanted their family planning for free, they should just join the Greenes—they would pay for everything, fare, housing, medical bills and the occasional abortion as it seemed.
“Those are real?” she asked, earning irritated glances from both the governor and the investigator. Miller didn’t seem to think her question deserved any more attention. “The parents are still in town, huh? Make sure they see it first. We’ll give them options.” The two men shared a grin.
Emily already knew her opinion wasn’t valued that much. She couldn’t help but give it anyway. “You really think they’re going to call it all off because of that? They have already heavily invested in the real estate market over there, and ten-thousands of people have signed up if you believe the polls. We have lost this stage. Many of those will come
back crying soon anyway, so why sink to that level?” Ouch. Rhetorical question. There was no bottom, no lowest level to which you could sink, on either side.
“Because I’ve had it with these people, that is why. This stupid idea is going to blow up in their faces, just like the election did, and when that’s done, they hopefully shut up and let us do our jobs.”
That sounded personal. Emily decided she would take a step back from here, maybe not associate herself too much with Miller’s office in the future. The polls were also showing that there was a growing discomfort and dissatisfaction with his policies, and she didn’t want her candidacy associated with a sinking ship.
This newest attempt at stopping Exodus in its tracks might work—or blow up in Miller’s face. If that happened, she would do her best to avoid getting hit by the pieces.
* * * *
“No more calls today. I need the afternoon for a personal matter.”
“No problem, Mrs. LeBlanc. We have it covered here.” Her assistant closed the door softly behind her, but not before giving Annette a long look in which she revealed all the emotions Annette pretended she didn’t see. Concern. Pity. Curiosity.
No amount of make-up had been sufficient to cover up the discoloration around her eye, and everyone in the office knew what that meant. She felt defeated, let down by everyone she’d ever trusted, which wasn’t new. Today might bring something new. Maybe not. She had tried and failed so often, it didn’t seem worth the energy anymore.
Annette unlocked the drawer, opened it and took out the folder she’d assembled this week, between giving speeches and interviews, drafting bills. She’d once thought she had a bright future, a chance to stand out, and stand for the right things. The persona she had developed around this utopia had allowed her to survive…but maybe she wanted more than simply getting by day by day. Maybe she wanted to live without fear for a change. She started writing, but stopped mid-page, crumpled the paper into a ball, and tossed it into the wastepaper basket. Thinking twice about it, she bent, straightened the pages and put them into the shredder. Better be safe than sorry. At least for ten minutes or so, she had made herself believe it could be possible.
The Exodus Strategy Page 22
