Chapter Eleven

Phillip reviewed the newest data. Despite all the baby kissing and handshaking Ted had done over the past couple of weeks, his numbers were not moving. They’d already spent a small fortune on television commercials and billboard ads. He had teams of Smith supporters out knocking on doors and putting up signs in every town and city across the Bay state. None of those efforts were paying off either. Like Phillip had feared it would, Ted’s ultimate successes hinged on his plan to uncover something they could use against the golden boy, Brett Sherbrooke. And when Ted arrived in a few minutes, he’d want an update on Phillip’s progress.

Up until several hours ago, he had feared they’d hit a brick wall on that front. It seemed everyone known to associate with Brett had just as disgustingly clean a background as he did. They couldn’t even find a jilted woman or one-night stand in the man’s past they could exploit to their own end. The man was like a super Boy Scout.

Today’s edition of the Boston Times had given him a tiny hint of hope though.

A knock on his office door had him looking up from his computer screen.

“Mr. Smith is here to see you,” his secretary said, poking her head inside the room.

“Send him in.” Phillip finished typing the web address in and waited for the Star Report’s website to pop up. He never checked the site out. It contained only celebrity news and gossip, none of which he concerned himself with. Hollywood actors and reality stars didn’t put money in his bank accounts. Politicians did. However, tonight he hoped to find something he could to use to his client’s advantage. Sherbrooke might not be a movie star, but the media treated his family like celebrities. Hopefully, the national media was capitalizing on the same story the Boston Times, the Worcester Daily News, and the Providence Gazette had put out there today.

“Good to see you again, Phillip.” Ted walked inside the room, his full swagger back in place. The momentary defeat Phillip had witnessed during their last private meeting at Ted’s house was gone and thankfully it hadn’t made a repeat appearance since. Phillip hoped it stayed that way until after the election. Once Ted was in Washington, he didn’t care what happened to him or how he portrayed himself.

“Help yourself to a drink if you want before we begin.” Phillip pointed toward the well-stocked wet bar across the room. Today’s meeting would only be the two of them. The rest of the campaign staff didn’t even know it was taking place. So if they decided to be more casual than usual, no one would know or care.

While Ted poured himself something, Phillip turned his attention to the popular magazine’s website landing page. What he saw brought an immediate smile.

Ted set a drink down near Phillip’s keyboard and sat across from him. “I reviewed the latest numbers,” he said as he raised his glass toward his lips. “They haven’t budged, and we’re running out of time.”

Phillip was aware of exactly how much time they had left. He didn’t need Ted to remind him.

“Have you found anything we can use against Sherbrooke? No one can be as perfect as he seems,” Ted said with disgust.

When it came to most people, Phillip would agree. Much to his annoyance, Brett Sherbrooke did seem above reproach. “I’m not sure. I was about to give up on that angle and focus on another. A new development came up recently.”

A look of satisfaction crossed Ted’s face. “Excellent. I had my doubts you’d find anything on him. The whole family acts like they’re better than the rest of the world. Regardless of the outcome of this election, I’d be happy to see a member brought down a peg or two.”

As much as he shared Ted’s sentiments, he needed to set the record straight before Ted got too excited. “My contacts haven’t uncovered anything useful on him.” Phillip swiveled his chair and picked up the top newspaper on the back credenza. “Did you see this today?”

He passed a copy of the Boston Times, open to the society section, across the desk. A black-and-white photo of Brett Sherbrooke kissing a woman in a parking garage occupied a large portion of the page. A smaller one of them holding hands and walking down a sidewalk was also there, along with a short article by a reporter he wasn’t familiar with.

“Similar pictures showed up in at least two other papers this morning.” Phillip turned the computer screen so Ted could see the Star Report’s website and the almost identical picture featured there. “The Star Report picked up on the story too.”

Ted studied the picture in the newspaper and then set it aside. “No, I haven’t seen these. This morning was move-in day for my oldest son at Deerfield Academy. I promised him I’d be there. I went straight from there to my engagement at the VFW in Grafton.” His eyes moved across the computer screen. “Who is she?”

“The article says her name is Jennifer Wallace, and she works in Providence.” The article hadn’t given him anything useful except her name. He’d started with less information though. If she had any skeletons in her closet, he’d find them.

“What do we know about her?” Ted asked.

Phillip looked at the picture again. None of his contacts had uncovered Brett was in a romantic relationship. These pictures told a different story. He was involved with someone. Either it was a recent development or Sherbrooke had a reason for keeping it under the rug.

“Nothing useful yet. But my people are on it.” Soon he’d know everything from when her birthday was to her favorite place to shop. “If she’s got any secrets, we’ll know about them. Don’t worry. My best people are on it.”

Ted’s expression grew grim. “I won’t get my hopes up. Judging by what we know of Sherbrooke, he wouldn’t get himself involved with a woman who has something to hide.” He tapped the newspaper on the desk. “Uncover what you can. But I don’t want you wasting all my money on this. Your people have two weeks. After that we’re ditching this strategy altogether.”

His contacts were good. Two weeks should be more than enough time for them to uncover some useful dirt, assuming there was some out there.

“In the meantime, I want to revisit my upcoming events. Make sure the topic is given ample time at our meeting.”

Bright and early Wednesday they had a strategy meeting with Ted’s entire inner circle. Following it the former lieutenant governor had a town hall forum at one of the state’s community colleges. “I’ll make certain we address it,” Phillip said.