by Claire Adams
Alex took another break. He started to open the car door to get out, but I stopped him by saying, “What about Marjorie? What did she do to get involved in this mess?”
Alex looked surprised, and by the look on his face I thought he was going to deny knowing anything about that. Instead, his denial seemed to turn into resignation and he said,
“They went there looking for you. I swear, Adam, I didn’t know about it beforehand or I would have stopped them somehow. Jack is obsessed with Alicia, Adam. You have to keep him away from her. I was there when he heard the news about Marjorie. He was livid. He said the fools were supposed to have ‘gotten rid of the buffoon who thinks he’s going to marry his girl’. They were supposed to have gone in and made it look like a robbery. Kill you, and leave Alicia grieving. Jack believed that would be enough to push her right back into his arms.
“Instead, they found Marjorie alone. She was never one to do things the easy way; I don’t have to tell you that. They said she gave them hell, scratching and clawing at them like a wild-cat. She wouldn’t shut-up and the men, afraid someone would come up to the apartment to find out what was happening, had killed her. They tried to make it look like a suicide, but she had fought them too hard, and the murder was apparent. They weren’t worried, though. They knew you would be the primary suspect, and Jack paid that journalist, Rose Dugan, a pretty penny to skew everything she wrote against you. He even fed her information that he had gotten from a bug he’d planted in your offices.”
I was trying to process all of this information. The attorney part of me was already going over in my head what kind of charges Alex was apt to face over all of this. I had one more question,
“Was that all the break-in was for at the office? Just to plant the bugs?”
“Partly, but remember, they still wanted to ruin Brigham, as well. Stealing his files was all part of their end game. They took the others, just to try and make it all look random.”
“And what about tonight? The detective said the driver heard their accents, and they were English. Was that Grant?”
“Tonight was about making me pay for trying to stand up to them. I tried to tell them I didn’t want to be a part of this anymore. They didn’t take it too well. This was why I didn’t want my parents staying at the house. I was afraid they would try to get to them when I wasn’t at home. I should have done more to protect them.”
Alex opened the door the rest of the way then and said, “I don’t know what you’ll do with all of this information, but I know that you’re too honest of a guy to let it go. I’m okay with that. I’m tired. I want it all to be over. Right now, though, I need to see my parents and make sure they’re okay. I’ll be expecting the authorities when I get home.”
He stepped out of the car and without allowing me to say anything else he closed the door and headed up the walk towards the front entrance. I watched him go, all the while trying to figure out in my head what kind of deal I would ask for after Alex agreed to testify against all of these people and I became his attorney.
I drove back to the city, home to Alicia. Tonight, I just wanted to lie in her arms and think only about her and how happy she makes me. Tomorrow with a clear head, I would think over all of what Alex had told me before calling David.
I wanted to offer my services to Alex, and convince him to tell David what he had told me tonight himself. I was still angry at my friend for allowing himself to become involved with these people, but I could see the anguish in his eyes and hear it in his voice.
Alex was in over his head. He wasn’t a murderer. He wasn’t a bad guy. He had gotten drunk on power and allowed it all to go to his head and cloud his judgment. I would have to give some thought to the bad press that representing the man who had been somewhat involved in the murder of my ex-wife, but I honestly believed that deep inside Alex was still the person I had grown so close to over the years. He was the friend that had stood up for me at my first wedding, and sat up with me at night through the bad times with Marjorie.
I would have to convince everyone else that the true bad guys here were the ones who would kill a man, and frame someone else for it, and kill a woman who just happened to be in the right place at the wrong time.
I thought about how glad I was for Alicia’s good judgment in not waiting to talk to Kyla about Jack; he was a lot more dangerous than either of us had thought. Alicia had been getting a bad feeling from him from the start, but I had mostly written my dislike of the man off to simple jealousy. I hadn’t wanted this man who was so obviously still in love with my fiancé to keep popping up in our lives. I shuddered when I thought about how many times Alicia had been alone with the man. I pressed harder on the accelerator, aching to get back and hold her in my arms.
Kyla had gone home by the time I got there, but Alicia was waiting up for me. She could see in my eyes and the sag of my shoulders how tired I was. She didn’t ask me to talk about it. She simply took me by the hand and led me to bed. After helping me strip out of my clothes she curled her soft, warm body up next to mine and just let me hold her.
Somehow, she was always able to sense exactly what I needed, and when I needed it. My last conscious thoughts that night were that I had never felt so emotionally connected to anyone in my life, and to remember to thank God for giving her to him, and keeping her safe.
EPILOGUE
2 YEARS LATER
ALICIA
“What are you doing here?” Kyla was staring at me as I got off the elevator in front of my office like I had two heads. She was also glancing nervously up and down the hallway.
“I work here, or did you forget? And, nice to see you, too, by the way.”
She snorted out a laugh. “No, I didn’t forget you work here but are you supposed to be out driving yourself around? You look like you’re going to pop. And, nice to see you, too,” she added with a little smile.
“I feel like I’m going to pop. I almost wish I would. I’m ready for him to come out. No, I didn’t drive I got a ride with the service.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I have an appointment at two and it was already noon and Adam hadn’t had time to pick me up yet. It also seems silly for him to drive all the way out to pick me up when he’s already in the city. I just took the car service.”
“Does Adam know you’re here?”
“Adam is not my…shit! Okay fine, he is my boss, but he’s not the boss of me. He won’t be mad so stop looking so nervous. I’m pregnant, I’m not an invalid.” I walked toward my office and noticed two things. Carla was not at her desk and there was no activity or noise in the hallway, at all.
“Where is Carla?”
“Um…she was running an errand. She’ll be right back.”
“An errand in the middle of the work day?” That didn’t sound like Carla to me. As a matter of fact, the whole floor seemed eerily quiet. “Where is everyone else?”
“Busy, busy,” Kyla said. I rolled my eyes and waddled on into my office. Kyla followed me. She was acting all weird and nervous.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
I went over and pushed my chair back about two feet from my desk so I could sit down and there would be room for my belly. I loved this baby growing inside of me from the moment I knew he was there, but I’m ready for him to come out. The doctor says two more weeks. My parents will fly out in one week. I’m hoping if I do a lot of walking, we can compromise.
“Where’s Nico?”
“Alex is appearing in front of the grand jury this week… I’m sure Adam told you.” Adam had told me.
Alex ultimately agreed to testify against everyone involved in the misappropriation of the campaign funds and the murders of Vick and Marjorie. Jack tried to flee back to the U.K. when he heard but the Marshalls had picked him up at La Guardia. The FBI had been working on having his father extradited since he was the ringleader of the whole group but so far they haven’t had any luck. Jack’s father was going to leave his son to
take the fall for all of it. It took me some time to come to terms with the fact that my childhood friend had resorted to extortion, theft, and maybe even murder over money that he never really needed. He’s a brilliant man. He’s an attorney. All he ever had to do was work for it.
“Yeah, he told me.”
“Nico is in with him right now going over his testimony because Adam couldn’t get out of this EPA thing.”
“When is Jack’s next court date?”
“His new lawyer has drawn up a motion to dismiss. He says that the only evidence the state and the feds have against Jack is Alex’s testimony and they want the case dismissed.”
“Who is his new attorney?”
“Hal Rogers.”
I had just opened a bottle of water and taken a drink. I choked on it. “You’re kidding me? Hal is representing one of the men responsible for Marjorie’s death and Adam the other? She has to be rolling in her grave.”
As it turned out, Jack and his father were more involved in the murders than anyone else. Jack hadn’t actually committed them, but he’d paid people to do it. I shudder every time I think about how close I came to losing Adam because of Jack’s simple jealousy and need for instant gratification. It makes me sick.
“Poor Adam mumbled something this morning about not being able to get rid of the guy,” Kyla said. She reached up to touch her face and something sparkly caught my eye.
“What is that on your finger?”
Kyla looked down at the ring and her whole face glowed. “Nico proposed last night.”
“Oh my God!” I tried to get up. I was struggling and she saw me so she came to me. She took my hands and helped me stand up and I embraced her as much as I could in my condition. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was going to. This morning has just been crazy…”
“Kyla!” The sound of Adam’s voice wafted down the hall. Kyla looked nervous again. What the heck is going on? “I should go see what he wants,” she said.
“Adam! She’s in here with me.”
Kyla gave me a tight-lipped stare. When Adam walked into the office she relaxed her stare and said, “I’m going to go have some lunch with Nico. Call if you need me.” Adam’s eyes were focused on me.
“Okay, call me later?” I asked Kyla.
“I will try,” she said with a smile before she left.
“I thought you promised to wait for me to come and get you.”
“I didn’t see that it made a difference. I wasn’t driving. I was going stir crazy.”
He gave me a sympathetic look and came over around behind the desk and took my hands in his and pulled me to my feet. He kissed my lips and then he bent down and gave my belly a soft kiss. I loved when he did that, it was so sweet. “How is my baby boy today?”
“He is active,” I said. “How is his big daddy?” I asked with a smile.
“He’s the luckiest man in the world. I have a wife that is gorgeous, sexy, smart, funny…and I know that you’re going to be the best mom ever to my son that I get to meet very soon. If everything else in my life was taken away at this moment, that would all still be more than enough.” He kissed me softly on the forehead. I reached up and put my hand on the side of his face and asked,
“Things are going okay with the EPA?”
“The EPA?”
“Didn’t you and Mac just have a meeting with them?
“Oh…yeah, we did.” It wasn’t like Adam to be absent-minded, just like it wasn’t like Carla to run errands during the day. Something was definitely up.
“Why is everyone acting so weird?”
“I didn’t notice anyone acting weird.”
“Why is it so quiet in here?”
“Everyone is hard at work.”
“Why is Nico in there prepping Alex instead of you?”
“You and I had an appointment. I thought I was leaving early to pick you up, so I asked Nico to do it.” As he talked, he was walking us through my office and out into the hall.
“I’m sorry you had to miss it because of the appointment. I could have handled that. I just want the doctor to ask this child if he’s ever coming out.”
“Think about it, he’s in his warm, beautiful Mommy’s tummy getting everything he needs, why would he want to come out. It’s cold out here.”
“Well, I’m ready to see him, and I promise to bundle him up.”
Adam chuckled and continued to propel me out into the hall way. He was leading me down where the conference room was. I still didn’t see another living soul. Surely everyone hadn’t gone out to run an errand or interview a client all at once. It was never this quiet in here.
“Adam…” He pushed open the conference room door and reached around to flip on the light. The room came alive with noise and people and color. There was a big blue banner that said, “Welcome to the world Little Lord Hanson.” That’s what our colleagues had taken to calling the baby growing in my belly. All of our colleagues were packed into the room. There were baby decorations and a three-tier cake and a table filled with gifts.
I rubbed my belly and said, “Look how loved you are little man. Look how many lawyers set aside their billable hours for you. Do you know how huge that is?”
Adam laughed. I felt him lean down and kiss the side of my neck. “When the boss says put aside your billable hours and go to a baby shower employees jump.”
“I see that. This is amazing.” I hugged him. “Thank you, baby. I’m going to go in and say hello to everyone.”
“There’s one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Turn around Alicia and let me see my grandson.”
I turned toward my mother’s voice. I talk to her nearly every day on the phone, but it had been over a year since I’d seen them. First she was sick and then Dad was sick and then I was too pregnant to fly. I’d had a few crying spells over it recently and as usual, Adam had found a way to make it right.
This is what love is. It’s not about a business or money. It’s not about being from the same background or believing in all of the same things. It’s simply about caring so deeply about another human being that you will take time out of your day to make sure theirs is special. Love is something that you’re willing to keep fighting for because you know that in the end it’s going to be worth it. It’s always looking forward and not judging the one you love by what’s happened in the past.
I felt Adam’s arms encircle my waist and he stroked his fingers gently across my swollen belly and buried his face in my hair. This is love. Adam is love and I’m the luckiest girl in the world.
The End
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Claire Adams
