by Donna Hill
What’s done is done, she thought decisively. Never again would she give anyone the opportunity to touch her heart. It was her lot, as her father would say. She had a career to think about.
Her bedside phone rang, shattering the stillness of her room. Slowly she reached for the intrusive instrument. “Hello?”
“You were brilliant today, sweetheart,” her father said.
“Thank you,” she replied, without conviction.
“You showed everyone what you’re truly made of. I’m very proud of you. Why don’t you come out to the house this weekend? I know your mother would love to see you.”
“I don’t think so. I have too much to do.”
“You’re not brooding over Montgomery, are you? Because I tried to warn you. I…”
“I know, Daddy. And…you were right. But that’s behind me now,” she added, her voice growing in strength. “I have a campaign to concentrate on.”
“Now that’s what I wanted to hear. We need to plan another event. Soon.”
She didn’t want to contemplate another major function. Just the thought of it made her spirits sink. It would only remind her of when she and Justin first met. But she realized that she could no longer let the past paralyze her. “We will,” she said finally. “You and Crystal work out the details.”
“Good. I’ll give her a call next week. Think about coming out for the weekend. You sound like you could use a change of pace.”
“I’ll think about it. But no promises.”
They said their good-byes and Vaughn went to take a shower.
As the water rushed over her, she replayed the conversation with her father over in her head. Thinking back, she noted that he was uncharacteristically benevolent. She’d expected his cynicism, a string of “I told you so’s.” Her heart began to race. Why was he acting so differently now?
She turned off the shower and stepped out. As she padded back into her bedroom, her thoughts continued to turn to her father’s odd behavior. Was it possible that he’d already known what was going to happen? A wave of nausea hit her. She shook her head, trying to push back the dark thoughts that were taking shape in her mind.
Chapter 25
Everyone had left the offices of Child-Link hours ago. Melissa was alone. She stared at her computer screen. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but it wasn’t this. The name flashed incessantly in front of her. Sheila Rivers-Hamilton. Simone Rivers was her granddaughter and Vaughn Hamilton was her mother.
It all made sense. Vaughn must have been eighteen or nineteen at the time. She’d been sent to the midwife to have her baby. The only name the infant had been left with was Rivers. Sheila’s maiden name.
Melissa sat back and took a deep, shaky breath. What should she do? Simone had every right to know who her natural parents were. But how would the information effect the mother who’d apparently gone on with her life without looking back? Something like this could ruin Vaughn Hamilton professionally.
Melissa pressed the print key and waited until all of the information that she’d gathered printed. She tore off the sheets and stuck them in her purse. For several long moment she stared at the screen. She pressed the escape key and the computer asked if she wanted to save the information. She took a deep breath and pressed no.
David flipped through the files in his office and pulled out the folder on Lucus Stone. He tapped it thoughtfully against his palm. He’d been doing a lot of thinking since he’d left Stone’s office. It seemed pretty clear that Stone had nothing to do with Montgomery entering the race. Which only left the people in her own party. He wasn’t sure who and he really didn’t want to know. The whole business was getting ugly, even for him.
He sat down on the edge of his desk and thought back to the days when he’d first met Vaughn. She was fabulous even then. They’d both come a long way since, albeit pursuing different avenues. He’d let his resentment eat away at him like a cancer over the years, never realizing that these feelings stemmed not from his loss of his law pursuits, but from Vaughn seeing him through tainted eyes. That he’d done himself. He was the only one to blame. And his twisted thinking had poisoned every facet of his life, until he was reduced to this—accepting payment for ruining another human being.
Maybe it was finally time that he take stock of himself and try to rectify some of his wrongs.
Vaughn searched through her phone book and found Paul Lawrence’s home phone number. She knew that Paul and her father were still close. It never seemed to matter to her father that Paul had used her to reach his position as D.A. All her father saw was a competent, charismatic man that he’d help get into office. The rest be damned.
Paul had said he would help her. She just wondered how far he was willing to go. With her heart in her throat, she dialed his number.
The phone rang four times and she was certain that his machine was coming on. She had no intention of leaving a message and was just about to hang up when he answered. “Hello?”
“Paul. This is Vaughn.”
Paul sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. A slow sense of dread creeped through his veins as he came fully awake.
“Vaughn you’re the last person I expected to hear from.”
“Paul I need your help,” she stated quickly, sidestepping the small talk. “We need to talk and I need you to be honest with me.”
“What is it?” he asked cautiously.
“I need to know if my father is involved with Justin Montgomery entering the race.”
Paul shut his eyes and fell back against the pillows. What could he possibly tell her? How could he tell her? He hadn’t felt good about this whole mess from the beginning. He wanted no part of it, but Elliott had played his trump card. He knew he owed Elliott a big favor for getting him elected, and he’d repaid him by making that call to Vaughn. He had pretty much known what Elliott was up to all along and he had sat back and done nothing.
“Paul? Did you hear me?”
Paul sighed heavily. “This isn’t something to discuss over the phone,” he said.
Vaughn’s heart began to thunder. “Then where?” she asked as calmly as she could.
“I’ll call your office in the morning. We’ll arrange a meeting place.”
“I’ll be in by nine.”
As soon as she hung up the phone, it rang. It was Crystal.
“Vaughn, it’s me. David was just here.”
“What?”
“He left me a folder full of incriminating information about Lucus Stone.”
“How…I don’t understand. When did he get an attack of conscience? And where did he get the information?”
“Apparently he’s been getting inside information from Stone’s housekeeper, along with sitting in on some under-the-table negotiations. From the little that I’ve read, Stone is up to his eyeballs in dirt.”
Vaughn shook her head. “This certainly puts a new spin on things,” she said, still trying to switch her focus from her conversation with Paul to the one at hand.
“What do you want to do?” Crystal asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I don’t want to reduce myself to the same level as Stone by throwing more mud in the water.” She thought for a minute. “Bring the file to the office tomorrow. I’m meeting with Paul. I’ll let him handle it.”
“Did you say Paul? You’re kidding. Why?”
“I’d rather not talk about it right now.”
Crystal pursed her lips and frowned. “Are you sure.”
“Positive. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night.”
Justin had tried to reach Elaine Carlyle for the better part of the morning. He’d been unsuccessful. After talking with Simone the previous evening, he was more determined than ever to help her establish her parentage. His beliefs were strong, but he needed irrefutable proof. Elaine could help him.
The more he thought about the situation, the more enraged he became. His whole perception of Vaughn was distorted. He, of all people, knew the pain of not having one’s child
, and how important it was for children to know their parents. Vaughn and her family had gone against every principal that he held sacred.
Maybe Vaughn had been young at the time. Maybe her parents did force her to give her child away. But what had she ever done to try to find Simone—to make sure that her child was well taken care of, that Simone was loved? She’d done nothing. She’d hidden behind her father’s judicial robes and her guilt for 19 years and never said a word. Her damned career was more important.
The knock on his door roused him out of his dark thoughts.
“Yes. Come in.”
“Mr. Montgomery,” Simone peeked her head around the door.
“Come in Simone.”
“I was just getting ready to leave. Rush—Chad said he’d take me to the Amtrak station.”
Justin got up and came around the desk. “When you get to Virginia, take a cab to the county clerk’s office. They’ll give you a file number for the case and…”
“I know,” she grinned. “I have everything written down.”
He smiled in return at the hint of dimples so reflective of her mother. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry there’s no one around to drive you, but we’re swamped.”
“I understand. This will be an adventure anyway.” She paused. “About the campaign. Will I be working for you here or are you going to set up your headquarters someplace else?”
“Well,” he said slowly, “for the time being it’ll be easier for me to coordinate everything from here until I can settle a few of these outstanding cases.”
She nodded, silently relieved that she would still be able to see Rush every day. “Well, I’d better get going. I still have a few things to take care of before I leave.”
“You can just go on home when you’re finished. There’s no reason to come all the way back to the office.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you on Monday.”
Simone returned to her desk just in time to snatch up her ringing phone.
“Montgomery, Phillips and Michaels,” she said cheerfully. “Simone speaking.”
“Ms. Rivers? Simone Rivers?”
“Yes,” she answered hesitantly.
Melissa breathed in relief “This is Melissa Overton, from Child-Link.”
Simone sat down. Her pulse pounded in her ears. “Yes. Have you found out anything?”
“I’m sorry to call you at work, but the only number I had was for your dorm in Atlanta. Your roommate gave me this number.”
“That’s fine, Melissa. What is it?” she asked in a rush.
“This is going against all of our policies, Simone. I shouldn’t be handling it this way. But it’s a lot bigger than I anticipated.”
“You’re scaring me,” Simone said in a strained voice.
“I’m sorry. Listen, I’ve taken the day off. Is there any way that we could meet?”
“What? Why can’t you tell me over the phone?”
“It really would be better if we met so that we could talk.”
Simone tried to think. “I have to go into Virginia today. I’m getting ready to leave now.”
“I can be there in three hours.”
“Where should I meet you?”
Chapter 26
Vaughn scanned the typed pages of the file that Crystal had given her. Lucus Stone was involved in everything from ballot-tampering to extortion.
She closed the folder and slowly shook her head. It was still hard to believe. Well, she sighed, now she’d see how seriously Paul took his job as District Attorney.
She tucked the folder in her briefcase and prepared to leave. Her stomach seemed to tumble in slow motion every time she thought about her impending meeting with Paul. As much as she wanted him to confirm her suspicions about her father, a part of her didn’t want to know that Lucus was capable of going to such lengths. Yet confirmation of her suspicions would vindicate Justin, something she desperately wanted. These past days of living with the thought of his betrayal, being alienated from him and pretending to be strong and indifferent to it all had been an endless trip to hell.
Now, what Paul would say would change the future course of her relationships with the two most important men in her life.
Paul was already seated at the restaurant when she arrived. He stood when he saw her enter, and waved her to his table. As she zig-zagged around the circular tables, she felt her heart thud and her pulse escalate. For an instant she had the juvenile notion to turn around and run. But her legs kept going until she was at the table and Paul was standing behind her, helping her to her seat.
“Do you want to order anything? I just ordered a salad,” he said casually, in what Vaughn knew was his attempt to ease the tension.
“Umm, I guess I’ll just have iced tea,” she said evenly.
Paul signaled the waiter and gave him Vaughn’s order. Once the waiter was gone, Paul looked down once at his folded hands and then across at Vaughn. Immediately, the look of regret in his eyes slammed into her. She felt her throat tighten.
She took a breath and tried to smile. “Why don’t you just tell me, Paul—everything. I have to know.”
He nodded. Then, in a steady, even voice, Paul outlined how her father had coerced Justin into running against her, and how Elliott made Justin believe that if he didn’t, damaging information about Vaughn would be released.
“Why? Why?” Her face was tight with incredulity. “What purpose would it serve for Justin to run against me? My father wanted me to win the election.”
Paul breathed heavily. He stretched his hand across the table and placed it atop both of hers. Her hands felt like blocks of ice and he tightened his hold. He looked steadily into her eyes and knew that Vaughn could handle anything he told her.
“Vaughn, your father is a man whose power and influence has—has twisted him. Your father intended to control you, always. He wanted you to be so hurt and enraged by Justin’s defection that you would throw yourself entirely into the campaign.” And that’s exactly what she had done, she thought morosely. Paul continued, “He believed that Justin was a distraction to his plans for you.”
Her eyes were on fire, but she wouldn’t cry. “Is that the same thing that happened to us?” she asked quietly. Paul nodded.
She chuckled—a hollow, tortured sound. “What if Justin won the run-off? What would dear daddy have done then?”
“Justin would have been forced to pull out,” Paul said slowly. “He never would have been allowed to get that far. And by that time your relationship would have been destroyed.”
“Allowed? Destroyed? Dear God what kind of monster is my father?” She pressed her fist to her mouth to keep from screaming. “Vaughn, I…”
“No.” She shook her head vehemently. “I’m fine.” She leaned over and took the folder from her briefcase. “Here.” She slapped it on the tabletop. “I’m sure there’s something in there of interest,” she said woodenly. She stood and straightened her shoulders. “Thank you, Paul, for being honest with me. And as D.A. for the state, I believe that you should begin a thorough investigation into the activities of Judge Elliott Hamilton.” She picked up her briefcase and purse, gave Paul a parting look, and walked out of the restaurant.
If she didn’t have a late afternoon meeting she would just keep driving. Her chest heaved in and out as she fought to control the wrenching sobs that shook her body. Her eyes blurred with tears and she swiped them away with the back of her hand.
Justin. Oh, God, Justin. What he’d done for her was something that only a person who truly loved another would do. She had to talk with him. She had to tell him how they’d both been used. She had to tell him how much she loved him and how wrong she was, and beg him to forgive her.
There was a gas station up ahead and she pulled in to use the phone. She dialed Justin’s office.
“Montgomery, Phillips and Michaels,” Barbara answered crisply.
“Good afternoon. This is Vaughn Hamilton. Is Mr. Montgomery available?”
“No, he isn
’t,” Barbara replied tersely. “He’s in court.”
“Oh, I see.” She took a breath. “Is he expected back at the office?” she plowed on, ignoring the chill that seeped through the phone lines.
“That’s hard to say.”
Vaughn contained her annoyance. She understood that, under the circumstances, Barbara’s distance was deserved. “Thank you,” she said finally and hung up the phone. She returned to her car and headed back to her office. She’d see Justin and they’d talk; she was determined.
Elaine had debated long and hard about what she should do. She’d given Melissa specific instructions; all of the information on the Simone Rivers’ case was to be channeled to her. This was a situation that she should handle. She’d gathered all of the data that she needed and her suspicions had been confirmed. Vaughn Hamilton was Simone’s mother.
She’d wanted to discuss with Melissa a plan of action on how they would proceed, but Melissa had called in sick.
Elaine reached for her phone and dialed Richmond information.
Vaughn returned to work, hoping that she could catch Crystal before she left for the weekend.
“Has Crystal left yet?” Vaughn asked Tess, as she briskly walked down the hall to her office.
“About ten minutes ago. She had that meeting at City Hall.”
“Right, I’d completely forgotten.” Vaughn opened the door to her office and stepped inside. Moments later her intercom buzzed.
“Yes, Tess,” she responded, leaning over the phone.
“There’s an Elaine Carlyle on line two.”
Vaughn frowned. “Who is she? If it’s some committee meeting, tell her she needs to be put on the schedule.”
“She says she’s from Child-Link and that it’s important.”
Vaughn’s frown deepened and her heart started to race. “Put her through.”
