“And what will you do about Bowers?”
“I’ll submit the documents I have against him, but it will take some time to filter through the right people. But once the ball is rolling it will be all over the place within a week. The media will have a field day with it.”
“El, be careful please. I want that man gone as much as you do but not at the cost of losing you.”
“I’m watching my back, babe,” he said and ran his hand down his chest. “So, is Ellie asleep?”
“Yes, why?”
26Truth Or Consequences
“How did he sleep last night?” Olivia asked as she and Aaron stepped in the room.
“He woke up once and went back to sleep right away.”
“That’s good,” Olivia gleefully responded as she tapped Madison’s shoulder. “Aaron and I are here so you can go to the hotel and rest up before court.”
“He looks better,” Madison stated, ignoring Olivia’s suggestion that she leave. “I think we should take off the restraints.”
“Why don’t we ask Andrew what he wants,” Aaron suggested.
Madison frowned. She couldn’t stand to see him restrained.
“We have to trust that Andrew knows what he needs, Madison,” Aaron continued. “In fact, we should probably discuss the possibility of him going into treatment.”
“He isn’t using,” Madison gritted out.
“Madison, I know that. But he’s struggling. It would be better to have him get help prior to him relapsing. Especially during the initial few months that are often the most difficult. He...”
“I’m not sending him away,” Madison interjected, cutting him off.
“Madison,” Aaron started again but was halted once more.
“NO! Damn it! You’re acting like I can’t take care of him. That I can’t help him stay clean. You saw what I did yesterday. I helped him. He fought it yesterday and...”
“And what, Madison?” Aaron raised his voice, something he rarely did. “Are you planning on following him around 24/7 to ensure that he doesn’t get a craving and need your assistance? Because that’s not going to work. His cravings are going to be difficult and you won’t be able to just hold him and have it all go away.”
Madison stared at him open mouthed. She had never heard Aaron raise his voice before. He was always the calm one, in spite of anything happening around him. In fact, he was the one that often served as a comforting spirit around everyone. She was in shock at his apparent anger, or perhaps it was just frustration. He shifted his eyes from her and focused them on Andrew. Madison could see the pain and sorrow in his eyes.
“You can’t will it away or love it away. I know, Madison, because I’ve tried,” he stated solemnly before turning to her. “Addiction doesn’t work that way.”
“I can help him.”
“You can’t, Madison,” her mother’s voice said from the open doorway.
Madison looked over at her, surprised that she was there. Jacqueline had come by the hospital the night before but Madison refused to talk to her. She had basically shunned everyone, her sole purpose was Andrew. Aaron had later asked Jacqueline if she could come by in the morning so that they could try again. Jacqueline had then indicated that she would, as she wanted to attend court with Madison.
“I tried with your father and look what happened,” Jacqueline continued as she approached Madison.
Madison’s brows furrowed. “That’s not going to happen with Andrew.”
“Madison, stop being naïve. Of course it can happen. Do you really believe your father wanted to overdose? His addiction was worse than I thought. I thought he had kicked it. That morning I noticed something different about him but ...”
“You didn’t love him enough. You weren’t there for him. THAT'S WHY HE DIED!”
Jacqueline slapped her across the face. Not out of rage and not to punish, but to make her see clearly. Madison stared at her, anger and hurt on her face as she reached up and touched her cheek. Her mother had never hit her before. There were times that she had fought with her, hoping she would. She had always prayed for something to indicate that her mom was still alive inside and capable of expressing true feelings to her daughter. Even if it was only anger, it would have been something.
“Don’t stand there and act like you’re the first woman to experience the pain of addiction. You have no idea what I went through,” Jacqueline finally said, calmer.
“I do know what you went through, Mom. I lived it too.” Madison looked down and shook her head, overcome with sadness. “You left me all alone and then you took me from Grans because she knew how you really felt.”
“How is that?” Jacqueline asked, already exasperated by Madison’s behavior.
“You hated me,” Madison said looking up at her.
Jacqueline showed her first real emotion at the situation, as tears welled in her eyes. “I never hated you, Madison.” She reached for her but Madison stepped back. “When your father died, I couldn’t see past his death. Don’t you understand? I died inside!” She touched her heart. “I couldn’t imagine a life without him. Nothing else mattered to me at that moment. I know it was wrong, but I couldn’t function.” Jacqueline motioned towards Andrew’s sleeping body. “I don’t want you to experience that. To walk in a room one day and see the man you love dead. I don’t want you to beat yourself up every waking moment because you keep running over the last weeks, days and hours of their lives trying to figure out what the hell you missed and why a piece of your soul was suddenly ripped away.”
Madison started crying. It was the longest her mother had ever talked about her father. Usually, she would tell Madison she was being dramatic and would walk away. She never engaged her at all on the topic. And she certainly never allowed her to talk about her father or allowed mementos around the house of him. When they moved to New York, they left her father behind and her mother turned into the ice queen that she was now.
“Your Grans told me he would use again,” she continued solemnly as she looked at Madison. “But I got in a fight with her.” She turned back to Andrew, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest. “I told her she didn’t know John like I did. That she was judging him because of his past. I wouldn’t listen to her.” She turned her gaze back to Madison. There were tears smearing her perfectly put together face. “Two weeks later he was dead.” She breathed in deeply and wiped under her eyes. “Please, Madison. I need you to listen to reason. I couldn’t see past my love for your father to notice that things were out of control for him. There will never be a day that I don’t feel responsible for his death. I don’t want that to be your life as well.”
Jacqueline shook her head and tried to thwart the onslaught of memories, but it was too late, they had already surfaced. Madison no longer hesitated and went to her, holding her close. For the first time since she was a child, Madison wept for her mother and for what she had endured. It was in that moment that Madison understood what her mother had gone through. If she lost Andrew, she would likely do the same. It was a truly sobering thought.
“I don’t think a decision needs to be made right now,” Olivia stated calmly. “He will need to stay in the hospital a little longer anyway. I also don’t think the choice of going into treatment needs to be made without Andrew’s input.”
“I will take Madison and Connor with me and hopefully be back by noon,” Jacqueline stated. “Maybe we can discuss it then.”
“You’re coming to court with me?” Madison asked against her.
“Yes. I am.”
Madison stepped back and looked at her oddly. “Why?”
Jacqueline rolled her eyes. “Because I want to know what’s happening and... I’m curious about something.”
“What?”
“Madison, let’s just focus on getting you there.”
Madison furrowed her brows but then dismissed her mother’s secrecy, figuring she’d tell her eventually. She wiped her eyes before kissing Andrew goodbye. She then glanced
at Aaron and he offered her a smile. She immediately wrapped her arms around him. He had been the voice of reason and she consistently pushed him away. She needed to stop doing that. He loved Andrew and wanted what was best for him. In truth, Andrew spoke to him more often about his addiction than he did her and would be saddened to know she had treated him badly.
“I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I understand, Madison. I don’t want to lose him either. Everything I say and do is out of love for him.”
Madison nodded against his chest.
“Madison, we really should go.”
Aaron released her and then watched as the three of them walked out of the room. His eyes followed Olivia as she sat beside Andrew and picked up the washcloth Madison had been using. Aaron went to the other side of the bed and eyed the restraints. He hated seeing him like that, but Andrew had requested it. He was afraid of himself right now and doing what he thought was best.
“Madison,” Andrew mumbled sleepily.
“She’s already left,” Olivia replied, dabbing his brow.
His eyes opened and he smiled at his aunt before becoming serious. “Is she okay?”
“Yes, she is.”
His brows furrowed. “Was she just here?”
“Yes,” Olivia glanced at Aaron.
“She has court in a few hours. She needed to change clothes.”
He nodded. “Auntie, could I talk to Aaron for a minute?”
“Of course,” she said, rising from her chair and kissing his forehead.
He tugged on his restraints slightly and watched her exit his room. “Aaron, can you remove these for me?”
Aaron did as he asked and then sat next to him. Andrew looked lost in thought. Aaron knew from experience that if he gave Andrew a moment he would say what was on his mind.
“Madison’s not very realistic is she?”
“She loves you.”
“I don’t want to hurt her and I’m afraid,” he turned to him, “that I won’t have the strength to resist. The thought of her walking in and seeing me like her father haunts me.”
“How are your cravings today?”
Andrew shrugged and then closed his eyes. “Bad.” He brought his hand over his left arm but just held it there. “This vein...” His forefinger ran up and down a prominent vein on his arm. “It’s throbbing.” He gently tapped on it and started breathing hard as his eyes zeroed in on what appeared to be movement. “It’s like it knows what it wants.”
Aaron moved Andrew’s hand away from his arm which caused Andrew to turn his head to face him. “That’s normal, Andrew. It will get better.” He placed his hand over Andrew’s forearm. “You are more than this. You have shown that to myself, your aunt, Madison, everyone. Now you have to show that to yourself.”
Andrew pinched his eyes shut. He felt tears threatening and he didn’t like it. It made him feel weak and vulnerable. He felt Aaron lift his arm and place it so that his palm lay over his heart. Aaron rested his hand on top of Andrew’s, holding it in place.
“Do you feel your heart?”
Andrew nodded but didn’t say anything.
“I won’t say it will be easy because it won’t be, but remember the feel of your heart beating. Let it remind you of all those that you hold there. Your friends and family. Madison. You can’t lose sight of that, Andrew.”
Aaron lifted his hand but Andrew didn’t move his. He focused on the steady rhythm of his heart beat. Soon, that sound replaced the thumping in his forearm. He ran though the list of people he cared about. Madison. Olivia. Aaron. Grans. Jayden. Callie. Ellie. Elias. Liam. Connor. Randall. Even Reeves and Jamal made an appearance in his thoughts. He almost laughed when their names popped into his brain, but, in truth, he knew that they had cared about him as well. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw that Aaron was resting his forehead on the railing of his bed with his hands connected behind his head.
“Aaron.” He looked up and Andrew saw the tears in Aaron’s eyes. “You think I should go to treatment, don’t you?”
Aaron sat up but was confused. “I do, why?”
“But Madison doesn’t, does she?”
“She doesn’t, but how could you know that?”
“I...” he sighed. “I don’t know. I thought maybe I was dreaming, and for a moment, I was happy because all my dreams lately have been nightmares. I couldn’t open my eyes, and when I finally did, Madison wasn’t here so I thought maybe I was wrong but now I don’t think I was. She was angry at you for suggesting treatment.”
“We can discuss this more when she gets back from court.”
Andrew ran the heel of his palms over his eyes before looking at Aaron again. “Do you know what’s happening with court?”
“Not much, to be honest. I know Elias came by yesterday. He didn’t look happy and then Jacqueline came by later that night and mentioned that Elias came to talk to her.”
“Why would he go see her?”
“She didn’t say. Only that he wanted an address and that she hoped he knew what he was doing?” He shrugged before adding, “She seemed more curious about our take on him.”
“That’s weird.”
“I thought so too but then she went to try and see Madison and the conversation never came back to that.”
He nodded. He found himself scratching at his arm and brought his arm up again, placing it over his heart. He started thinking again, primarily of Madison. He had asked her briefly about court yesterday but she had told him not to worry about it, that things were okay. He could tell she was minimizing but he wasn’t in the best state of mind to challenge her. He just hoped that Elias could get her out of this mess.
~*~
Elias looked at his watch and glanced at the door. Mr. Lewis was late, that was unusual, but Elias was hoping that meant that Bowers had fulfilled his end of the bargain. If all went as he had imagined, Bowers and his attorney’s would have met with the prosecutor this morning. He assumed that Bowers would cut some deal but he couldn’t worry about that. His primary concern was Madison. His mind drifted to all possibilities.
“Your Honor, I apologize for the delay. I’d like to recall Senator James Bowers to the stand.”
Elias blinked, brought out of his thoughts by Mr. Lewis’s entrance into the courtroom. He looked around and was surprised to see that the senator was now in the courtroom as well. Bowers was walking up the aisle and glanced Elias’s way. He gave him a small smile but Elias wasn’t sure if that was an acknowledgement that he would be doing as agreed or if he had betrayed him. He imagined that he would find out soon enough.
“Senator Bowers, you are aware that you are still under oath.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that.”
“You came to my office early this morning, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And could you tell the courtroom what you spoke to me about.”
Bowers glanced at the judge. “Your Honor, it came to my attention last night that I may not have had all the facts at my disposal related to the STES Program and, as such, things may have happened that I was not aware of.”
“Pease continue, Senator.”
“Senator Martine and I met last night to discuss information that recently came into our possession.”
Mr. Lewis picked up a paper from a stack on the desk and walked over to him. “Is this one of the papers?”
“Yes.”
Mr. Lewis handed the paper to the judge who read it over. Elias sat up straight, watching as Bowers rolled his shoulders.
“Your Honor, we submit the following documents into evidence.”
He then walked over and handed a copy to each of the attorneys present, including Elias. Opening the manila folder, he pulled out several documents. He thumbed through them and then focused on the paper that was on the top. Elias slipped on his reading glasses and looked over what appeared to be a print out of a communication between Nolan and Kurtis.
K: I’m n
ot comfortable altering these documents.
N: Don’t grow a conscience now, Kurtis. It’s too late for that.
K: You know that I can do this without using Madison’s name at all.
N: We need Madison’s name for this to work. We stay the course and become extremely wealthy. That’s what you want, isn’t it?
K: Yes
N: Good, then do as I outlined. That’s your job.
K: What about Bowers?
N: I’m handling this. Do as you’re told or I’ll find someone that will.
Elias looked up and saw that Bowers was watching him. He eyed the Senator. He was planning on shifting all the blame onto Nolan while he slithered away untarnished. The prosecutor continued to ask questions, slowly wrapping the noose around Nolan and Kurtis’s neck, while both senators were portrayed as victims of fraud themselves, the unlucky duo that had put their trust in the wrong people, something that could happen to anyone. Elias was in both shock and awe at the display before him.
“One last question, Senator Bowers. Why are you coming forth with this information?”
“I couldn’t live with the knowledge that someone like, Madison Ellis,” he paused glancing at Elias, “an innocent, had the potential to be charged with a crime she didn’t commit. Therefore, my answer is simple. I felt obliged to do the right thing.”
The senator once again eyed Elias. He was particularly happy he had found a way to use the terms Elias had mentioned the night before. Last night, he and Martine had discussed options and then he met with Nolan afterwards. Nolan was not happy, but he was willing to do what he needed to do, at a cost. They came to an agreement, a hefty agreement, but an agreement nonetheless. Bowers was being blackmailed from all sides, but Nolan he felt he could handle. He would likely serve time but he might even get off all together. The prosecutor was an easy solution. He wanted a victory and Bowers could guarantee that.
“Thank you, Senator. You are relieved.”
Bowers stepped off the stand and straightened his jacket as he started down the aisle. He causally turned to Elias as he passed him, giving him a devious smile before he headed out the door. Madison watched as Senator Bowers exited the courthouse. He looked cocky and sure and Madison wondered what that was about. He had noticed her and stopped. He stared in their direction and Madison thought maybe he was going to come over and talk to them. Instead, he seemed to get a faraway look on his face. But as soon as the look came, it was gone. He rolled his shoulders and ran his hand over his tie before striding down the hallway toward the exit.
Helios Renewed (The Helios Chronicles #3) Page 28
