needed to locate
the source of the rumors and put a muzzle on them.
Victoria began typing on her
laptop furiously as she searched for news related to Fassett &
Lews. She’d found that one of their Vice Presidents named Jackson
Hurst had passed away a few months back, but didn’t give any
thought to it. She curiously searched and searched, looking for
information on anything she could find that would bring suit
against their company. She found that Janus Incorporated was in bed
with their rival company and she knew that she had to keep that
part of the drama swept under the rug. She learned from an email
from Mr. Janus himself that Frank Lews owed him a million dollars
over an investment that he was told was guaranteed.
She drew up papers for a lawsuit
to be filed and quickly devised a plan to throw the entire blame on
Fassett & Lews. She would sue them on behalf of Janus
Incorporated and get that million dollars back and in turn, she
would allege that her client had no knowledge of any insider
trading and leave the burden of proof on the opposition’s
attorneys.
She left the document on
Matthew’s desk with a post-it note telling him to fax the papers to
the courts upon his return from Janus Incorporated’s building.
She walked to the break room to
get some coffee and noticed Michelle making her way to her own
office. She walked by and saw Michelle greeting The Governor’s
wife.
‘What could The Governor’s wife
be cooking up?’ She wondered as she passed by. She knew that
Michelle specialized in high profile divorce and custody issues, so
there was some trouble brewing for their family.
Michelle told her client to take
a seat and then walked around to close the office door behind
her.
“Ma’am, here at Briggs &
Trice, we offer a variety of family services. We cater to a
specific sort of clientele, if you catch my drift.”
“That jerk!” Donna McBride
exclaimed, as she looked on the verge of bursting into tears.
“If you tell me everything, we
can help you,” Michelle offered as she extended a tissue to Mrs.
McBride.
“Please, call me Donna,” The
Governor’s wife stated as she begun weaving her tale of romance
between herself and The Governor.
“You see, he and I have loved
each other since high school…and all of the sudden, he gets this
other woman pregnant?!”
“Okay, we are dealing with a
pregnancy and…possibly a divorce?”
“I don’t see that he has left me
any choice.”
Mrs. McBride didn’t mince words
and it appeared that the news of her husband’s infidelity hadn’t
come as a surprise to her whatsoever. The only revelation that
appeared to have stung was “she’s only 24-years-old!”
That statement caused Mrs.
McBride to tear up and wipe away the wetness gently to avoid a
makeup disaster. “And then there’s the custody issue if we are
divorcing. Who gets the kids? What do I do? Where will I live?”
“All of this will be hashed out
in a court of law, Mrs. McBride, but first we must enlist the help
of a private investigator so that we can show the court proof of
your husband’s infidelity. Right now, it’s a matter of your word
against his and without proof, it’s not going to get you
anywhere.”
Michelle sat down on the couch
next to Mrs. McBride and offered her more tissues and a promise.
“If he’s out there cheating on you, we will find out and we will
nail his butt to the wall, don’t you worry. This is my
specialization. Once we get him on the adultery charges, things
will spin out of control for him and he will have no choice but to
give you full custody of the children.”
Michelle was fully poised to
take down The Governor for his misdeeds. She’d voted for him and
stood by everything he put in his campaign to become an elected
official, but no one knew what he was doing behind closed doors.
That needed to change and Michelle was going to make that happen so
that her client had peace of mind in knowing that herself and her
children would be taken
C. J. Cherryh
Learning to Kill: Stories
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