Chapter Six
ADAM
I had the worst day that I remembered having in a very long time. I stayed late at the office not because I had so much work to do, but because I hated the idea of being alone with Marjorie. When I finally forced myself out of the building, I was assaulted right outside on the sidewalk by the bright flash of a camera and a microphone in my face.
“Mr. Hanson, do you have any statements regarding the death of the President’s campaign manager and his link to Miles Brigham IV?”
My breath caught in my throat – Vick Landon dead? I had no idea what the reporter was talking about. Vick couldn’t be dead. He’s young and healthy…unless there was an accident. Why would he be asking me, anyways? Vick was more Alex’s friend from the start. Or maybe it was more about our common associates. It suddenly dawned on me that he was asking me because of my association with Brigham Oil and their association with Vick and this political campaign. Shit.
Realizing that I was surrounded by reporters and they were all yelling questions at once, I held up a palm to silence them. I saw Alicia leave the building out of the corner of my eye. She stopped at the edge of the crowd. I wanted to go to her and make her understand this bullshit with Marjorie, but that would have to wait until later. I addressed the reporters as soon as they were quiet.
“I’m afraid, first of all, that you are talking to the wrong person here. Yes, I am the attorney of record for the Oil Company, and yes, we are connected to the President’s campaign financially. However, I didn’t know Vick very well and I’m not sure how I can help you here. I didn’t even know he had died, and so I have no idea how it happened.”
“He was murdered,” one of them called out.
“He was bludgeoned to death,” another one said.
Before I opened my mouth again Mac, my partner and my personal attorney, stepped out of the building. He leaned in close to my ear and said, “You know better than to talk to these vultures. Miles is here, let’s go.”
Before I even knew what was happening, I was ushered into Miles Brigham’s smoke gray limousine, the door was slammed shut, and we were pulling away from the curb. The last thing I saw outside the building was Alicia still standing there and looking confused. I didn’t blame her. I was confused myself.
********
I asked my assistant Mary to send Alicia into my office as soon as Alicia got in the next morning. I was working on a brief when I heard a tap on the door and it was pushed open. “Mary said you wanted to see me,” Alicia said. I could tell by the red in her eyes that she hadn’t had much rest. The look on her face also told me I was probably the last person she wanted to see this morning. I knew I was dangling precariously close to losing her; I just wasn’t sure I knew how to fix it.
“Yes, thanks for coming,” I said, trying to go into boss mode and forget for a few minutes how much I loved her and how badly I wanted her. “Please, sit.” I stood and motioned at a chair, and instead of sitting back down behind my desk I sat in the other wing-backed chair opposite her.
“I suppose you heard what happened last night?”
“Yes, I couldn’t miss it. It’s all over the news, and there are reporters all over outside. It’s still hard to believe.”
“There are also federal agents here, unfortunately,” I told her.
“FBI?” she asked.
“Yes. They are with Mac right now. They believe that Brigham had something to do with Vick’s murder. Mac is trying to get out of them exactly what we have, but I don’t think he’ll have much luck. Our only goal in being here is to make sure his attorneys are aware he is a person of interest, so our case doesn’t fall apart somewhere along the line for not following the letter of the law.”
“Adam, do you think Brigham had anything to do with it?”
I hesitated as I decided how to phrase my answer. I wasn’t trying to keep things from Alicia. I didn’t want to alarm her needlessly, either. Finally, I said, “He denies it, and we are his attorneys, so it really doesn’t matter anyways, does it?”
“What do you need from me?” Alicia asked, knowing that I was leading somewhere by telling her this. I felt an ache in my chest. I wanted to tell her what I needed from her, on all levels. Instead, I made myself focus on the task at hand and said,
“I need you to hand all of your open cases over to Kyla and Nico, and I need you to take on the criminal portion of this case. Mac and I will continue to represent the oil company, but I need you to represent Brigham, whether or not he ends up being arrested. There are going to be a lot of interviews with police and FBI, not to mention the press conferences. I need you on that; you can have as many of the junior associates and paralegals as you need to help.” Alicia looked dumbfounded. She knew how good I thought she was at her job, but she was also still new. I just hoped I wasn’t putting too much on her.
“Why me?”
“You have the most criminal experience of us all, Alicia. Our forte here was corporate and domestic before you, Nico, and Kyla came on board. You are all good, but I believe you are the best we have. Brigham is our number one client. We can’t afford to hand him over to someone that doesn’t know what they’re doing. Also,” I hesitated again before going on to say, “the authorities are bound to turn up some things in our investigation of Brigham that we would prefer the public and even some of our firm not know about. I believe I can trust you to do what needs to be done to keep certain things out of the press.”
She nodded. I could tell that she wasn’t absolutely convinced that she was experienced enough to handle a case of this magnitude, but my mind was made up that she was the one I wanted. She finally said, “Okay, where do I start?”
“You’re having breakfast with Miles Brigham IV in about two hours at his home. He can tell you what he knows, and you, as his attorney can tell him what, if anything he can tell the authorities.”
“Okay,” Alicia said as we both stood up. “I’ll get familiar with his file in the meantime.”
“No, there’s no time for that now. Brigham’s estate is upstate. You will be going straight to the airport from here. His private jet will pick you up in about forty-five minutes, and you will be driven from the landing strip to his estate.”
“My head is spinning a little bit here, Adam.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in all at once, and I’m sorry. We have to be proactive here and get ahead of the press and the FBI, if possible.”
She nodded. Her auburn hair shone underneath the fluorescent lights of my office, and I wanted to just bury my face in it and forget about everything. I knew there was no time for that – and there was also the chance that she might not want me to touch her right now.
“Alicia.” She turned to look at me and the desire to touch her practically overwhelmed me. She locked those gorgeous hazel eyes into mine and waited. At last I said, “Marjorie and I go to court on Monday. Hopefully, that part of my life will be over soon. Please, don’t give up on me just yet.”
She only nodded again. I was hoping for more than that, but the truth was, I knew it was more than I deserved after all I had put her through. She was much more patient than most women would have been and much more patient than myself. She closed the door behind her as she left, and I could only hope that she wouldn’t close the door on us just yet.