by Donna Hill
He didn’t comment. The deed was done.
She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her head against his back. “Poor Samantha,” she said softly. “She’s going to have to literally start all over again and rebuild. I’m sure there are documents in those computers that will never be recovered.”
Adam arched his neck and looked farther out across the horizon. “Whoever did it,” he said quietly, “knew exactly who and what to hit.” He turned, clasping her shoulders, a sudden urgency in his eyes and voice as a wave of untenable feelings swept through him with the reality of what could have been. “It might have been you, Simone,” he said with such raw emotion it chilled her. “You could have been alone in your office, like you are so many nights—trapped. We could all be getting ready to talk about…something entirely different.” He swallowed hard, and the acceptance of that dark possibility and all its ramifications suddenly registered, and magnified the scenario in her eyes.
“B-but we aren’t,” she said a bit weakly.
He gently brushed the silky straight hair away from the side of her face and tucked it behind her ear, revealing the tiny gold studs in her lobes. His thumb caressed her cheek. And when she looked up at him, with the same intensity she did after they made love, he could feel his insides shift, his thought patterns change. This was it. All of it. What he’d worked for. And he had no intention of losing it, to anyone or anything.
Suddenly, with an unusual fierceness, he kissed her, deeply, long and hard, pulling her body against the full length and weight of him. She permitted him to engulf her with his strong arms, their shelter offering her a welcome sense of protection and security. His lips covered hers and she broke away from his embrace for a second before coming back to another series of searing kisses which caused her to moan into the side of his neck.
Pam walked down the hallway, carrying her customary clipboard, moving at a brisk pace. Her eyes scanned offices on both sides of the corridor as she sought Adam for a few words about the manner in which to handle their response to the preliminary fire report that would be released later that afternoon. She slowed her gait when the sounds of passionate romance caught her ears. Her hand went nervously to her finely tailored gray business suit, tugging at the lapels.
With the stealth of a leopard stalking prey, she crept closer to the office with the open door, murmurs of soft talk and flickering shadows, hoping not to see what she knew would be there. She halted several steps from the entrance, swallowing hard, fighting for air.
“Adam.” She expelled in a long hot breath of air as she stepped into the office to find Simone and Adam locked in a feverish kiss, their arms wrapped around each other as if their lives depended upon it. Her face grew flushed and finally contorted into a massive scowl while she attempted to blink away the unbearable vision before her.
The lovers heard someone enter and turned toward the open door. It was the anger and madness in her expression that caught them by surprise. They eased back from her slowly—reflexively.
“You bastard! How could you do this to me!” Pam shrieked.
Adam’s eyed tightened in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She walked toward them, her eyes flashing with rage. “You told me you loved me,” she said in a low, dangerous whisper. “You told me. Admit it,” she suddenly screamed, making them both recoil. “Tell her,” she ground out.
“I don’t have anything to tell her, Pam. Whatever it is you thought we had is over. It’s been over. You know that.”
“Liar!” She turned on Simone. “Does he tell you that he loves you in a way that he never has any woman in his life? Does he say that he can’t imagine living without you in his life?” She tossed her head back and laughed maniacally, then slowly sobered, her unfocused gaze singling out Simone. “If you knew what I know, you wouldn’t want a damn thing to do with him.”
Simone glanced at Adam and moved away from him. “What is she talking about, Adam?”
“Simone, believe me, I don’t know what all of this is about. She’s crazy.”
“Crazy! You know what I’m talking about. Don’t even pretend you don’t. Tell her how you’ve been working for the other side, how you’ve been feeding information to McCall’s boys almost from the beginning of the race, how you let them know her daily schedule, how you’re playing the stoolie for the feds. Tell her, you snitch, tell her.”
“I’m calling security.” Simone turned to walk toward the desk, placing it between Adam and her while she reached for the phone. As she dialed, he leaped at her and snatched it from her hands. She struggled briefly, but his strength proved too much for her.
“No, I can’t let you call until you listen to me,” he shouted, glaring at Pam, who was standing in the middle of the room with her arms folded across her chest.
“Ask him, Simone, how did the press know everything before they were officially told,” Pam yelled. “Ask him.”
“I don’t know what she’s talking about, Simone. I swear I don’t. Pam, is this all because our little fling didn’t go any damn where? Is this some sort of twisted payback? Who’s the one really working on the other side? Tell us, Pam.”
Her crazed stare darted back and forth between Simone and Adam. “We are. You and me.” She nearly bent in half spewing her accusations at him. “You seduced me, then used me in your scheme to ruin Simone. I had no idea you’d go this far. Someone could have been killed the other night. You never thought of that, did you, Adam?”
Adam was furious and he quickly closed the distance between him and his accuser.
Simone screamed.
Chad and Samantha heard the scream the minute they alighted on Simone’s office floor from the elevator. Chad took off, with Samantha hot on his heels, and burst into Simone’s office an instant before Adam reached for Pam’s throat.
Chapter 38
Alerted by the chaos of the disturbance, a pair of building security men and a member of the Secret Service rushed into the office. They moved with startling speed to quell the action. Quickly assessing that Simone was not harmed, the security men proceeded to take Adam and a hysterical Pam into custody, while the agent radioed for backup.
A deadly calm settled over Simone as she watched the unbelievable unfold in front of her eyes. It appeared as someone else’s nightmare. This was the man she’d slept with, thought about loving, someone she trusted. And Pam, she was her close friend as well as a trusted employee. She’d hired Pam to apprentice with her so Pam could learn the ropes through practical work experience. And now…. A shudder rippled through her and Samantha held her a bit tighter. The metallic click of the cuffs locking into place made her wince, but she felt no sympathy or compassion for either one of them. They tried to kill her, destroy her campaign, destroy the evidence for the suit. Why? Why? Nothing could adequately explain this betrayal to her. Nothing.
“Don’t do this, Pamela!” Adam shouted as the security guard herded him toward the door, his hands cuffed behind his back. “Simone, listen to me. I didn’t have anything to do with this.”
She didn’t want to hear it, couldn’t hear it.
Adam struggled violently with the guard, who jerked his arms up to use the advantage of intense pain from the manacles to subdue him. He groaned and submitted to the guard’s will. Pamela was also being brought to the door. For a long dramatic moment, they stood facing each other. Adam stared into her eyes, putting the anguish in his heart into his glare. He hoped to find the woman he once thought he knew, hoped to find any remnants of reason within her. Why couldn’t he reach her? What had so hardened her heart and twisted her mind?
“Pamela, please, don’t do this. Don’t. I’ve done nothing to you to deserve this.”
“We could have had everything,” she mumbled distractedly to herself.
“What are you saying?” he asked almost too eagerly, his gaze darting for a moment in Simone’s direction.
“I did it for you,” she whimpered. “For u
s. I found a way. They said if I helped them we could have had all the money we wanted. We could have gone away together. All our dreams could have come true.”
Chad gritted his teeth in disgust and started to lunge at her, snatch the truth out of her. Samantha saw his reaction and clutched his sleeve, rapidly shaking her head no. Adam appeared to be getting through to her. Any distraction now could ruin any hope of finding some measure of truth. Chad reluctantly backed down.
“Help who, Pam?” Adam demanded.
“McCall…and the others…from the government.” Her body heaved and convulsed as sobs consumed her.
“All right. That’s enough,” the Secret Service agent said. “We’ll sort all this out when we get you both down to the precinct. If what you’re saying is true, young lady, you may want to retain the services of a lawyer. But all of that can be resolved downtown.”
At the main entrance, the group was met by three D.C. police officers, who escorted them both out in the parking lot into two cruisers. Samantha and Chad stood with Simone near the doorway and grimly watched the police convoy stop at the intersection, wait for the light to turn green, then turn onto another thoroughfare.
Justin replaced the receiver on its base. He turned to face the shell-shocked occupants in his living room. “Adam was just released. No charges filed. Pamela has been charged with conspiracy, and she’s naming names.”
“I still can’t believe it,” Simone said miserably. “Right under my nose.”
Justin took a seat next to Vaughn. “As the saying goes, keep your enemies close.”
“Right, but even more than that, she was out of her mind. Obsessed.” And for a moment, she saw herself in Pam, a self that could have taken on a different shape had she continued with her own fixation about Chad and his relationship with Samantha. She shuddered at the possibility.
“What do you think they’ll do about McCall?” Samantha asked.
“I’m sure the Board of Elections is launching an investigation even as we speak. He’ll be taken care of.”
“And the fire?”
“We may never know,” interjected Vaughn. “But when Congress reconvenes, I will put a motion on the floor for an independent investigation of any government agency possibly involved in this, then we can determine if any of Pamela’s allegations are true. With her working both sides of the fence, it will take awhile to sort things out. McCall had as much reason as the government to see that the files and the case never saw the light of day. I’m sure once the wheels are in motion, the rats will quickly abandon ship before they’re caught. But at least they’ll have been put on notice.”
“Can I refill any glasses or anything?” Mia asked, playing hostess to the emotionally and physically exhausted group.
“No” was unanimous.
“What we still have to worry about is the case. How are we going to put the material together in time for the court date?” Samantha asked. “It’s impossible. And it’s my fault. It was my responsibility to take care of it. Why didn’t I take the copies?” she berated herself, slapping her palm on the arm of the couch, then pressing her fist to her mouth.
Mia looked from one worried face to the other, confused by their distress. “You mean the records and all the data for the suit?” she asked in a soft voice.
“It’s all gone,” Simone said morosely. “Whoever set the fire made sure of that.”
“At least the briefs are in the safe at my office,” Justin noted. “Those will get us in and heard.”
“But I have all the information,” Mia said, still a bit confused by their mood.
Everyone looked at her at once. “What?”
“I have all the information—the lists, addresses, statements, all the notes.” She turned to Samantha. “You know I like to work from home sometimes. I made a copy of the disks and took them home to finish.”
Samantha’s eyes lit up. Deliriously happy, she jumped up from her seat and wrapped Mia in a bear hug, raining kisses all over her face. “You’re an angel, a lifesaver!” she babbled. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“Amen,” Simone shouted. “Finally something to celebrate.”
With the first ray of sunshine in days, the group took a moment to revel in their victory.
And even as Simone joined in with the plans and relieved laughter, she felt the heavy weight of Adam’s absence.
Chapter 39
The next two days leading up to their day in court was grueling at best. Journalists virtually camped out in front of Simone’s, Samantha’s and the senior Montgomerys’ households. The phones rang incessantly. Chad and Justin sat up until the wee hours going over every inch of information they’d gathered. There wouldn’t be any second chances.
In the midst of it all, Simone began looking for a new chief of staff…and a press secretary. She’d yet to hear from Adam. He hadn’t returned any of the numerous messages she’d left on his machine, and he didn’t answer the door when she’d gone to his house.
Could she blame him? If he’d reacted to her in the same way that she did in the office that fateful morning, she would be doing the same thing. He’d asked her to believe him and she’d shut him out. Always willing to believe the worst. For the past few days she’d repeatedly asked herself why, why was it so easy for her to cast a shadow of doubt on anyone who came close to her? She’d done it with Chad and she’d done the same thing with Adam—shut him out, tuned him out. She knew where part of it stemmed from: her own youthful insecurities, her fears of emotional attachment that could be taken from her at any time without warning. As much as she’d loved her foster parents, the idea that they’d never sought to adopt her all those years had left its mark. Yes, there was a reason: they knew her natural mother, Vaughn, was out there, and her grandmother, Sheila, was paying them not to adopt in the hope that Simone and Vaughn would one day reunite. The reunion finally occurred but the emotional damage had been done. God, she wanted to get past it all. And she’d almost done it. Almost.
The limousine pulled to a stop in front of the district court building where a crowd was already gathered on the steps. Simone could see the photographers massing at the first sight of their car, their flashbulbs popping in erratic bursts that could be viewed even behind the tinted windows. She reached across to the opposite seat and took Samantha and Chad’s hands. “This is it. What we’ve been working for.”
“What happens here today is destined to change the course of civil rights history in this country,” Chad said slowly, solemnly. “None of it would have been possible without the help and support from the both of you.”
Simone looked down for a moment, then at the couple in front of her. “There’s just one thing I want to say before you go in there and kick butt.” She paused. “Be happy…don’t take anything for granted…and just enjoy every minute you have together. You never know when the next one will come.”
Before either could respond, Simone stepped from the car, cut through the gauntlet of press and up the courthouse steps, followed by Chad and Samantha, who were immediately descended upon by the vultures.
Simone reached the top step and looked up. Adam. Her stomach tumbled and she suddenly felt like a pimply high school teen on her first date. She took the last step and stood in front of him.
He looked down at her for a long moment, and then his grim expression slowly softened and the deep lines appeared beneath his eyes. “I was hoping you wouldn’t mind some company in court and maybe I could think of something really clever for you to say to the press while we sat there on those hard wooden benches.”
Simone’s throat constricted. “I—I’d like that… very much.”
He cupped her chin. “I love you, Simone. And I would give anything to take back all that’s happened, any role I’ve played. What happened with me and Pamela was a long time ago.”
“We have all the time in the world to talk about it,” she said. “And I’m ready to listen.”
Justin was already seated when Chad and Samanth
a entered the courtroom. One entire corner of the room was reserved for press. Under normal circumstances, the bulk of those seats would be empty. They were not. This was no normal circumstance.
Justin stood as Chad approached the table and shook his hand. “You ready for this?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He glanced over his shoulder and spotted Samantha seated next to her stepmother, Vaughn, three rows back.
“I love you,” she mouthed.
“Me, too,” he returned, realizing he honestly did, with all his heart. She was planning to visit her mother after everything settled down and try to find a way to bridge the gap between them. He hoped that they could.
The court clerk came through the side door and commanded the members of the room to stand. “Judge Irving Stone, presiding.”
“This is it,” Justin whispered to Chad.
Chad nodded and drew in a breath of resolve, took one last sweeping view of the courtroom, this house of esteemed justice, and silently prayed that the words, the passion that he felt in his heart would reach out and touch everyone present.
Judge Stone had been on the bench for more than twenty years. He was known to be hard but fair. He looked out at the young man before him and across the courtroom to the attorney representing the D.C. police force. He cleared his throat and adjusted his half frames on his nose, his steady gaze honed on to Chad.
“Counselor,” Judge Stone intoned.
Chad straightened. “Chad Rushmore for the people, your honor.”
“Are we ready to begin, counselor?”
“We are, your honor,” Chad replied in a strong, clear voice.
“You may begin.”
Slowly Chad moved from behind the desk to stand at the podium set up in the center of the courtroom.
“Your honor, I stand before you today to ask you to become a part of history, a part of change, by strengthening one of the basic institutions of our American democracy—that of law enforcement. Our goal is not to indict this country’s deeply felt commitment to a political system that guarantees the rights of every citizen regardless of race, religion or creed. Our goal is to bring to bear the might of the victim, seek a legal remedy which can serve as a catalyst for change, as a warning to those who are in the continuation of police misconduct against the very people they are sworn to protect.
