Chapter 38

“I could get used to this,” Noah said as he rolled over and wrapped Rose in his arms.

“Can you get used to me being unemployed and you paying all the bills? Because I doubt Elaine is going to be okay with me staying on at the firm now that she knows we are dating.”

“Screw her! I’m a partner too, and I deserve to have a life. She’s just going to have to deal with it.”

Noah wasn’t nearly as confident as he was trying to sound, though. Elaine was technically his equal partner, but she was the one in charge, and Noah couldn’t deny it. He hardly knew the inner workings of the firm at all. Elaine had always taken care of everything that had to do with the firm. She would just tell him where and when he needed to be somewhere, and Noah would show up.

“Yeah, screw her!” Rose laughed.

“Actually, no; I don’t know who on this earth would actually screw her.”

They laughed and curled up tight together under the sheets. It was a boring Sunday morning, and there wasn’t a thing for them to do except sleep, eat, and make love. It sounded like the perfect way to spend the weekend, and Rose certainly wasn’t complaining.

“I could sleep all day, I’m exhausted,” Rose whispered as she pulled Noah’s arms around her even tighter.

“Okay.”

The reality of their relationship was growing on Rose. Noah was a good man, they had perfect chemistry, and she enjoyed their conversations. There wasn’t anything about the situation that Rose wanted to run away from, and that was beyond strange for her. Rose hadn’t had a relationship in her adult life that she didn’t want to get away from. The fresh new feeling was enticing, though, and Rose was going to do everything she could not to mess things up.

She had it all planned out; they would stay on their separate floors while at work. Rose would avoid talking with Noah unless it was specifically work-related, and even then she’d try to send an email or call him first. She wasn’t going to let their relationship interfere with her goals as a lawyer. They could spend their evenings and weekends together like regular couples did; Rose didn’t even mind the idea of moving in with each other. But under no circumstances was she going to take any more cases with Noah. As soon as the president’s case was completed, Rose would step away from any other cases and refuse to work with Noah on them.

Working together didn’t have to be horrible. Rose was convinced she and Noah could make it work. They would prove to the office that you could have a relationship and still keep things professional while at work. There were thousands of people who worked with their spouses in the country; certainly, Rose and Noah could work together after a couple dates. Who knew if things would even continue to work out for them.

“Are you meeting with Judge Marking tomorrow?” Rose asked as she thought about what the president had asked Noah to do for him.

“Actually, I left him a voicemail yesterday, and he called back and asked if I wanted to play golf with him later today. I haven’t returned his call yet.”

“That’s perfect. Call him back and say yes.”

“I don’t do golf.”

“Who cares? Golf will take hours, and you two can talk and get to know each other. You need to go golfing with him.”

“I said yes, but I don’t know if I’ll actually ask him about the president’s case. This is so dangerous. I could end up with legal charges if I say or do something that crosses the line.”

“I trust you, Noah. You’re a good man and a great lawyer, you’ll know what to say. And if it doesn’t feel right, then don’t say a damn thing. I’ll be behind you, no matter what.”

Noah leaned over and kissed Rose before he climbed out of bed and found the energy to shower. He didn’t even own a set of golf clubs. If he was going to go golfing, he had to get to a store, buy some clubs, and get out to the country club by three o’clock.

“It scares me to death the kind of power that Matthew Storm has.”

“Me too, but I think if we can keep our end of things legal; he’s a good man to have on our side.”

“Yeah, me too. I just don’t know if having him as a friend is all that much better than having him as an enemy.”

Noah showered and made them a quick lunch before heading out for his day. There was a sense of doom in what he was about to do, and ironically, he liked it. Life was full of changes for him, and he embraced this event and whatever was going to be the outcome. Sure, he was going to do his best to stay on the right side of the law, and hopefully, even do good by his client, but if it all went south, at least, Noah knew that he had Rose.

Judge Marking wasn’t the kind of man Noah would hang out with on a regular basis. His humor was dry, and his personality similarly dry. Judge Marking was in his early sixties, and Noah and his fellow lawyers had always expected he would be retiring soon. Judges didn’t often stay in district court as long as Judge Marking had, they typically moved on to higher levels or just retired and worked as lawyers. But Judge Marking seemed to enjoy the simplicity of the low-level courts and had been there for the better part of thirty years.

“Noah Conley, how the hell are you?” the judge said as he reached for Noah and shook his hand, followed by a hug.

Something strange was going on in Washington D.C. with all the hugs people were handing out. Noah went with it, though, and had a sense of relief from the familiarity that the judge greeted him with; perhaps his task wasn’t going to be all that hard after all.

“Stewart, it’s nice to see you too. How’s the wife and kids?”

“Well, Sandy is doing great, and all four of the girls are in college. I’ve got a freshman all the way up to one who is going after her doctorate. So I basically just sign over all my money each month to the women in my life.”

Noah laughed at the thought. A man with four daughters certainly had to have a little humor about the cost of that lifestyle. Perhaps Judge Marking was just dry in the courtroom, and Stewart Marking was going to be a fun guy to hang out with.

“That sounds expensive.”

“I figure it out once and then throw the paper away. I don’t really mind spending money on my girls or my wife. They make me happy, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“That’s a good way of looking at it.”

“So what do you want to know? And is it illegal that we might talk about it?” Stewart asked as they loaded their golf clubs onto the cart.

Noah stopped and stood still as he looked at the judge. How was he supposed to answer that question? Did the judge really just want him to come right out with it and ask him what he needed? Was it some sort of test to see if Noah would break the law? Noah didn’t know, but he wasn’t a liar, and he wasn’t going to start that day.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Stewart; I’ve got a client that thinks the police are going to be getting a search warrant for his place. He’s high profile and just wants to comply with what they need to avoid a search warrant and the publicity that would cause.”

“What do the police need?” Steward asked nonchalantly.

“I don’t know, and neither does my client.”

Stewart was quiet and didn’t respond as they drove to the first tee. Noah had said what he wanted to say, and he didn’t feel like he had crossed any legal lines, at least not yet. Noah hadn’t specifically asked the judge to give him information; he had only relayed the problem his client was having.

“If I were your client, I’d be worried.”

“You know who my client is?” Noah asked.

“We are in pretty dangerous waters here, Noah, be careful. Let’s play some golf now.”

And just like that, Judge Stewart Marking shut Noah down. For the rest of the two hours that they golfed, Stewart didn’t mention the case or any information at all. Noah tried to think of another way he could approach the situation, but he certainly didn’t want to get on the judge’s bad side. Noah resigned himself to the fact that he might not have any more information to give to the president.

It was actually a fairly decent day of golfing, though, and Noah made a mental note that he needed to spend more time with his friends. The day on the golf course was relaxing, and Noah felt like he had a better bond with the judge; even if he didn’t have any more information to help him with his case.

“Thanks for the golf day,” Noah said to Stewart when they were done. “I’ve never been much of a golfer, but I think I might get into it. This was really relaxing and much better than tennis.”

“Yeah, the last time I played tennis I got nailed in the balls. Not my idea of fun.” Stewart laughed. “By the way, your client needs to get rid of what he’s hiding. Make that clear to him because the search warrant is going to go forward. I’ll put privacy restrictions on it so the press doesn’t get a hold of it. But I can’t protect him.”

“Thank you,” Noah said appreciatively.

“No problem.”

Noah wasn’t sure the conversation they had just had was legal, but he was grateful that Stewart had told him. It was clear the president wasn’t going to be happy, but at least Noah could warn him before they showed up to search the White House.

He had to go back to the president with some sort of information, that was for sure. But Noah wasn’t satisfied with what he knew so far, there had to be more. There had to be more that the judge would be willing to tell him.

“When?” Noah asked as they both got into their cars.

“Early tomorrow morning.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Be careful, Noah, he’s dangerous. I’m saying this as a friend. Be careful.”

“I will.”

The way Stewart looked at Noah made him worry that there was a lot more about the president that Noah didn’t know. But it didn’t matter right then. All that mattered was that Noah had to get hold of Matthew and relay the information he had found out. Whatever Matthew Storm was hiding, wasn’t going to stay hidden for long.

Noah made a phone call and set up a meeting with the president for an hour later. He couldn’t waste a moment of time and needed to tell the president in person. Phones were sketchy and not a reliable source for confidential communication. But Noah wasn’t all that sure that the president was going to be happy with the job he had done so far.

“I hope you have good news,” Matthew said when he entered the room to talk with Noah.

Noah had set up the meeting at an old hotel. He paid cash and parked his car down the street. A hotel room wasn’t ideal, but it was cheap and would offer the relative anonymity that Noah needed to meet with the president.

“I’m sorry sir, I mean Matthew, it’s not great news.”

“What do we know?”

“Judge Marking is going to issue a search warrant in the morning. He seemed sympathetic to your plight, though, and warned me so you could hide whatever it is that they are looking for.”

“What are they looking for?”

“He didn’t say.”

“Fuck, Noah. This isn’t helpful at all. If I knew what they were looking for, I would have hidden it and not hired you.”

The president was up and pacing the room as his hands twisted into his own hair out of frustration. Noah hated that he hadn’t delivered what the president had expected, but Noah also felt like he had gone above and beyond what any other lawyer would have done.

Matthew Storm was a hard man to please, though, and Noah knew it when he accepted working with him. The problem was that Noah didn’t know that the president was going to have so many legal issues that required attention. Noah was starting to feel like he was the personal assistant/lawyer to the president, and he certainly wasn’t getting paid that kind of money.

Noah sat quietly as the president paced and thought to himself. They had less than twelve hours to figure out what the police were looking for and get rid of it. Nothing came to Noah’s mind as he and the president tried to figure out a plan.

“I apologize for not being able to find what you needed,” Noah finally said.

“Where did you meet him?”

“We went golfing and talked about his family. He’s got four daughters in college.”

“Was Rose there?” Matthew asked Noah.

“Where?”

“At your meeting with the judge?”

Noah wasn’t exactly sure why that would matter, but going along with his plan to tell the truth he answered the president. All Noah could do was go along with what the president wanted to know. There was no way Noah was going to lie to the man, so the truth was all that he could give.

“No, she wasn’t.”

“Okay, good. I’m going to call her.”

“Why?”

“Thank you for your help, Noah. I appreciate it very much,” Matthew said as he stood in the doorway. “I think I have a solution.”

Before Noah could ask a question or respond, the president left the room. He made his way downstairs to an unmarked car that had a secret service agent in there, and the two men left the hotel. Noah stood in the doorway totally stunned by what had just happened. The president had left him and was heading to Rose’s house; that didn’t seem like a good idea at all.

Noah quickly called Rose, but the call went straight to voicemail. He hung up and called back again. Then again. And again before she finally answered.

“I know, I know, the president is on his way over,” she said as she finally answered.

“Shit, I didn’t know he was coming over. What does he want?”

“I’m not sure, how did your meeting go?”

“Not great, but not horrible.”

“Should I be afraid?” Rose said as the idea of who Matthew Storm really was started to cross her mind.

Noah thought about it for a moment and then remembered how unsecure the phone lines were. He wasn’t going to risk anything.

“Of course not. Just meet with him and see if you can help him. I’ll be home in a bit,” Noah said calmly.

“Okay, I’ll see you later. Are you staying here again tonight?”

“Of course,” Noah replied as the thought made him smile. “I’m just going to have to move in.”

“I don’t know about all that,” Rose joked. “But I’ll see you in a bit.”

Noah hung up and went straight over to Elaine’s house. He needed to talk to her; he needed legal advice, and she was the only other person on earth that he actually trusted besides Rose.

Sure, Noah and Elaine had had their ups and downs, but Noah trusted what Elaine would tell him about the situation. Since they were partners, Noah could discuss any of his cases with her, and the one he had on his plate with the president sure did need some talking through.