“Emerson . . .” Laurina started, and then stopped. I didn’t breathe or move, just waited to see how she’d take it.
“I’m so sorry. I might not know everything about you but I know without a doubt that it couldn’t have been your fault. And the one thing I’ve learned from losing my dad is that wondering about the what if gets you nowhere. I used to ask myself what if I’d stopped him from getting on the plane? What if I’d told him that I didn’t want him to leave? And it changes nothing. The outcome is always the same, he’s gone and I’m still living,” she whispered with tears in her eyes.
I exhaled in relief. She hadn’t kicked me out. I couldn’t believe it.
Lukas looked scared, as if he feared that she was going to fall apart, and I knew that without a doubt, he’d blame me. “Laurina, you don’t need this right now, not when you’re just beginning to get better. She could undo everything. I think she should leave,” he urged like I couldn’t hear him
“No, Emerson needs me right now. I don’t turn my back on my friends,” Laurina replied, wiping the tears from her eyes. Then she closed her eyes. “Lukas, just leave, you aren’t helping,” she bit out.
“Laurina, she isn’t good for you,” Lukas tried again.
“Please, Lukas, just leave. We can have this discussion later. And by discussion, I mean you apologizing for your attitude. I know you care about me but you can’t protect me from everything and everyone. Besides, it’s making you a jackass,” Laurina criticized.
I looked away as Lukas silently got his things and then got out, the door banging in his wake.
“You’re right, he was being a jackass,” I commented drily trying to break the awkward silence.
Laurina looked at me in shock and then burst out laughing, and I joined not long after.
Once we’d both sobered up I decided that I was going to go for full disclosure. I didn’t want to hold things back from her anymore.
“There’s more I have to tell you,” I said.
Laurina held my eyes, not flinching or showing any fear, and without a doubt I knew she would be strong enough to bear my burden. “Tell me everything,” she said, getting comfortable.
And with Lukas gone I told her about what had just happened with Hendrik, even what had happened to me. I told her everything.
After we’d both cried and eventually pulled ourselves back together, Laurina had helped me pack my necessities and was now walking me to Emelius’s car.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Laurina asked again for about the thousandth time.
“No, I’ll be fine, I promise,” I laughed.
I nodded to Emelius to stay in the car knowing Laurina would have a field day if he got out to open the door for me. He shook his head but stayed inside, nonetheless.
I opened my own door and slid inside. Laurina peeked inside and sent me a warm smile. “Look, I’m not going to get all sappy and teary again as there’s no need for goodbyes because I know you’ll be back here after the weekend is up. You’re spooked and you have reason to be, but you’re strong, Emerson. Collect yourself then come back here. And if you need me, let me know, okay?”
“I will. Thanks, Laurina.”
She closed the door and trotted away like she was walking the runway. Right now I was headed in the opposite direction, and I couldn’t wait to get home. I’d run away from it before but now I was running back to it. I just hoped my dad would be welcoming me back with open arms, just like he’d promised.
HENDRIK HAD FILLED me in on who the witness was last night, which left Ethan without much of a leg to stand on. I was standing outside the Justice Department ready to blindside Gabriel Hunter. I wanted to get a feel for him, to see if he was in on it. Did he do what he had to do to make a case, like threaten Felix Ulrich to lie on the stand? Or was he one of the good guys who genuinely believed in Ethan’s guilt?
I went through the security protocol to get access inside and got past the dragon lady at the front desk unharmed, allowing me to maintain the element of surprise only because she’d been my old secretary. And before I dropped in to see Hunter, I just wanted to check and see if someone I had used to work with was still around.
I walked past Barton’s cubicle and saw that, unlike me, he hadn’t tried to make a go of being a lawyer on his own. He was at his desk; head down with his stash of chocolates out in the open, which meant his case wasn’t going well.
“Working hard as always, Barton? Besides me you were the only other good associate,” I opened.
Barton’s head went up and he turned very, very slowly. “Well, well, if it isn’t Alexei Grigoriy! I thought you’d moved onto bigger and better things,” he crowed.
“I have but I like to come back to my roots, it keeps me honest,” I threw back with a smile. Then doing away with formalities I took a step forward and clapped him on the back. “How are you doing, Barton?”
“Good, still in love with my wife, still working here. I haven’t changed a bit. I know you’re not here to see me, though. You want me to be an informant, don’t you? Who are you going up against in the JD? There’s been a lot of changes since you left,” he shared.
“You know me too well. My opposition is Gabriel Hunter. What’s your take on him?” I asked.
Barton gave me a gleaming look. “He’s just as good as you. He hasn’t lost a single case since he’s been here. He does everything by the book and he defends his clients with a passion. And he’s as good as a man can be. One of the men had a gambling problem and he loaned him the money him and his wife needed to stop the loan sharks from going after them. But when it comes to criminals, he shows them no mercy. I don’t envy you. I’m interested to see out of the two of you who comes out on top!”
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” I replied not counting myself out just yet, despite his glowing recommendation of Hunter’s character.
“Barton,” a gravelly male voice intruded from behind me, “I need you to take a look into someone for me, take a look at their assets, outstanding loans, do the works. I want you to see if you can find any financial motive.”
“It looks like Gabriel Hunter found you before you could find him,” Barton whispered to me smugly. Then he replied louder, “Sure, boss, but first, there’s someone waiting to meet you.”
“No introduction needed, I know who he is, Alexei Grigoriy from Grigoriy Chambers,” Hunter said, stepping out from behind me. “To what do I owe this unprecedented meeting?”
I took him in, noting the expensive suit, tie, watch, and shoes. Not a thing was out of place, not even his hair. His eyes were shrewd, assessing, calculating as he sized me up in turn.
“I wanted to talk to you, off the record, regarding Ethan Vasco, my client,” I responded.
“I never would have guessed. I’ve heard about your track record working here defending the innocent, the hurt, the victimized, putting away the bad guys, and now you’re defending one,” Hunter said scathingly.
I took the hit with grace although I would have rather punched him in the face, Hendrik style.
“Would you like to lead the way to a more private place that we can discuss this? If not, I’d be happy to since, like you said, I used to work here and I know my way around very, very well,” I replied diplomatically.
“You’re right, Barton, he does have a sense of humor,” Hunter commented. Noting the questioning look I sent to Barton, Hunter chuckled. “I know what you were doing out here with Barton, you were scoping me out. Did you really think I hadn’t already done the same?” Hunter quipped.
“Working both sides, Barton? Since when did you become a double agent?” I laughed.
“I just wanted to make this a fair fight, but from now on I’m Switzerland, I promise,” Barton swore, putting both hands up.
“Barton’s already had enough of a laugh at both of our expenses. As the injured parties we should both go off and nurse our wounds with some hard liquor but I haven’t got any of that laying around here. The on
ly other alternatives I can offer is coffee that tastes like dishwater or hot tea,” Hunter offered as he led me to a free room.
“No refreshment needed, I had coffee on my way here, thanks,” I rebuffed.
“Wise choice. Now if you’re here to ask about the best deal I can give Ethan Vasco, then I’m afraid you’ve wasted your time because there’s no deal on the table for him,” Hunter opened, going for the cut your opponent at the knees tactic.
I leaned forward in my chair and decided to ask him the hard questions first. “Tell me, Hunter, do you care only about maintaining your track record or about catching the person who really hurt Katia Smith? Because I’m telling you now, Ethan Vasco didn’t do it and that you need to redirect you attention and resources to find out who really did.”
“Is that all you’re giving me? Just your word?” Hunter laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’m sorry, Alexei, but a girl was raped and assaulted. Two months later she committed suicide because of it. I know that Ethan is the guy who did it and I’m not backing down unless you can give me foolproof evidence to the contrary. Your word isn’t going to cut it. Katia Smith isn’t here to get justice for herself, so I intend on getting it for her. And just so you know, I don’t give a damn about my track record, I don’t care how it looks on me. If it came down to it, and Ethan wasn’t the guy, I’d own up to it. I’m not in this profession for the glory I’m in it to put away criminals like Vasco. I’m going to make sure that when he goes back to jail that there’s not a chance in hell that he will ever come out alive. Now, if all you came here to do was to undermine me, then I think we’re done,” Hunter barked out as he stood.
I stood, too. “I did come here to understand your motives, but more importantly, I came here because my client is innocent. I don’t have pride when it comes to defending my clients; I exercise and exhaust every option possible. I came here to level with you, but your mind is already made up. So, yes, I guess we are done here. I’ll see you in court, and don’t worry, I know the way out,” I added.
When I got outside I took a deep breath in, then out. I’d never let Hendrik know that ninety-nine percent of the time I struggled to maintain my control. I was supposed to be the calm and unruffled one. He lit fires and wreaked havoc and I extinguished the flames of suspicion engulfing my clients.
I needed Hendrik to find another way to prove Ethan’s innocence. I could do my part in court, but without physical proof, Hunter was right, all I had were words. And they wouldn’t be enough, especially not when Ethan was a repeat offender. He’d hurt two women, and while I agreed with Hendrik that he was a sad excuse for a human being, in this instance he was innocent. It wasn’t my job to judge, convict, and sentence, only to defend, and I intended on defending Ethan to the best of my abilities.
“MY HOUSE IS the one on the left. Thanks for driving me home, Emelius, I really appreciate it,” I said as I unbuckled my seatbelt.
“We aren’t stationary yet, Miss Monsoon,” Emelius voiced sternly.
“You’re going less than five miles an hour,” I argued. “Alright, fine, I won’t do it again,” I conceded as he clicked the locks, effectively preventing me from exiting the car.
He unlocked the car wordlessly, too easy.
“I’ll be waiting for you here,” Emelius told me as I got out.
“What? No, that won’t be necessary,” I said, while I got my bag.
“Mr. Vasgård told me to stay with you and drive you wherever you need. That means to your home and back to your dorm room, Miss Monsoon,” he stressed.
Dammit! Hendrik had assigned him to also spy on me to ensure that I came back to him. He was smooth as hell, I had to give him that, and technically he was giving me space so I couldn’t be too angry with him.
“Fine, but I might be awhile, and by awhile I mean you might not see me for the rest of the weekend,” I warned.
“That’s fine. I can wait,” Emelius said calmly, making me frustrated.
“There’s a hotel a couple blocks over,” I said, caving in. As much as I didn’t want him tailing me, I couldn’t let him sleep in his car.
“Oh, I know, but I’m good here,” Emelius said, flashing me a smug smile. He had totally played me! My mouth opened and closed but instead of replying I chose silence. I couldn’t beat him at his own game…he was just too good with words. Like Hendrik!
I closed the door very gently so he wouldn’t think I was annoyed, even though I was, and made my way to my front door. My dad’s car was in the driveway, which meant the chances of him being home were pretty high.
I rang the doorbell and waited very impatiently for the door to open, but when it did it wasn’t my dad who let me in. It was Marie.
“You must be Emerson,” she said with a lovely smile. I tried to return it but whatever semblance of a smile I’d conjured up vanished as I saw she was sporting a ring on her engagement finger. No way!
“Oh, God, you weren’t supposed to find out like this!” she cried out, seeing the reason why I’d turned to stone. “Please, come in, I mean, you don’t need me to tell you to do that, this is your home,” she corrected worriedly. “Henry, I mean your dad’s at the stove cooking some eggs and bacon,” she directed.
I swallowed and made my way there without a moment’s hesitation. My dad had promised me that there wouldn’t be any more secrets between us. His failure to notify me of his commitment of impending marriage to Marie felt like a betrayal of epic proportions.
“Marie, who is it?” my dad asked, his back turned to me while he was busy working at the stove.
“It’s your daughter, you know the one you kept in the dark about your engagement,” I spat out poisonously.
The spatula he was holding fell to the floor as he turned to face me, his face ash white.
“Honey, you should sit down,” Marie suggested from behind me.
I didn’t know whom she was talking to, my Dad or me, but I didn’t care because this was between the two of us.
“Emerson,” my dad said weakly, ignoring Marie.
“Why didn’t you tell me about it?” I asked shakily, the anger fading away and all that was left was disappointment and hurt.
When he didn’t respond, Marie stepped in. “Your father was worried about your health.” She took his hand in hers and clutched it hard. “He said you were doing so well he didn’t want you to relapse, that when the time was right that we would let you know together.”
“You told her about what happened to me?” I gasped out painfully. I felt for the bench behind me and when I found it I fell back against it. “How could you?”
“She’s pregnant with my child,” my dad whispered like it was an answer to my questions.
I looked down at Marie’s stomach but didn’t see any roundness.
“I’m only eleven weeks along. We were waiting another week to be in the clear before we started telling people,” Marie responded, cradling her belly.
“I . . . uh . . . I just came here to pick up some clothes, I . . . uh, didn’t take enough with me to college,” I covered up. My throat was closing up and my hands were beginning to shake. “Excuse me,” I whispered as I pushed past them both and ran to my room.
“Shit!” I swore. “Crap. Shit. Crap,” I muttered on repeat as I kept on dropping things in my haste to pretend that I’d come back for more stuff. I was shoving things in my bag but they weren’t fitting in.
And then my dad was there; helping me put the things in, bent down on the floor beside me.
“I’m sorry, Emerson, I didn’t mean to lie to you,” he whispered.
“That’s bullshit!” I swore.
“Excuse me?” my dad threw back at me in shock.
“The last time you lied to me, I understood. I was a mess and you didn’t want to introduce me to Marie because you were worried I’d ask you to give her up. But I didn’t. I supported you. I told you I wanted you to be happy. You let me go so I could be free and I did the same for you. But when I did that I never relieved you
from the duty of being my dad or the promises you’d made to me as my dad. We had a breakthrough and you promised we’d be good no matter what. I come back and you’ve made this whole new life without me, but it’s not just that you haven’t even made space for me in it,” I cried. “You lied because you didn’t want me to know, not because of my sickness. So don’t you dare use that as an excuse,” I said as I wiped at my tears.
“It all happened so fast. I didn’t know how to tell you!” he replied with panic. “How can you think that I don’t want you in my life?”
“No, don’t you make this about me being crazy and psychotic. I’m not, dammit! I wouldn’t have cared about any of this if you had just been honest with me. I would have been happy for you!” Instead, I felt the lie like a knife to my chest, and inside I was bleeding, and the pain was much worse than when I’d woken up in the hospital, bruised and bloody.
“I don’t understand why you would lie. I’m getting better, I promise,” I yelled. “I’m doing so much better. I’m going to college trying to become a social worker so I can help people who have been hurt like me, but it seems like no matter what I do it isn’t good enough. What am I doing wrong, Dad?”
“Nothing, Emerson, you aren’t doing anything wrong. I’m not lying I swear. You have to believe me,” he begged.
“How can I trust that what you’re saying is true?” I asked. I wanted to believe him but how could I?
“Stop, please, you’re tearing each other apart,” Marie pleaded, stepping into the room. The temptation to tell her to get out, that our fight wasn’t any of her business, was strong but I held back. Just.
“Marie, it’s okay, I’ve got this,” my dad said firmly.
“No, this is all my fault. Emerson, I lied just now, when you came in. I told your father not to say anything to you until I was ready. He’s just protecting me because that’s what your father does. He does anything for the people he loves, and I used that very trait against him. I felt threatened by you, Emerson,” she admitted.
The Leverager Page 18
