Mine to Protect

by Sarah J. Brooks

  “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?”

&nb
sp; “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.

  Chapter 39

  “Before you come in, I need to tell you something,” Elaine said as she opened her door.

  Noah looked at her confused as he stood outside of her house. Elaine had always welcomed him into her home with open arms. Even when they didn’t agree about things at the firm, they remained fairly friendly outside of the office.

  His stomach tightened at whatever news Elaine was going to tell him. He had seen her with the group of people that made the judge decisions. He had to assume it was something to do with them, but he was still very nervous to hear what it was that Elaine had to say.

  “Okay,” he replied. “What?”

  “I’m leaving the firm. I can’t give you details, but I can’t talk to you about anything that’s going on there.”

  “What do you mean you’re leaving? Like you’re giving notice and going to work on a plan to leave?”

  “No, I mean as of today I no longer work there. I will forfeit my voting privileges with the board for now, but you need to either buy out my half of the business, or I’ll find a buyer.”

  Noah leaned against the house as the shock of the moment set in. Without Elaine, the law firm would crumble. He would be out a job and all the money and hard work he had put in over the years. There was no way for Noah to take over her half of the firm, it would be close to a half of a million dollars, and he wasn’t in any position to put that kind of money up. But even if he had the money, Noah couldn’t exactly run an entire law firm all by himself. Elaine was the backbone of the business; without her, it would certainly fail.

  “Elaine, what am I supposed to do?”

  “Noah, I’m sorry. But I have my own life plan, and running a law firm was just part of it. An opportunity has come up, and I have to take it.”

  No matter what difficult times the two of them had had together, Noah knew that Elaine wouldn’t be leaving their firm in such a hurry unless she had a really good job offer. So whatever it was that Elaine had going on, Noah knew he had to be happy for her; there was no other option that would be safe for his brain to deal with.

  “So I guess I can’t ask your advice on a case I’m struggling with?”

  “No, I think it would be best that we didn’t discuss things.”

  Noah stood in the doorway a little longer as he tried to figure out how everything was crumbling around him. Without his law firm, Noah wasn’t sure what he’d do with himself. He had to make it work. Somehow, he had to figure out how to get someone else into the firm to keep things going.

  He would take on a new partner. Or maybe Noah would find investors. Perhaps he could even hire several new associates and spread out the work that had to be done. But no matter what, Noah knew that he would be alright. When all was said and over, Noah wasn’t going to give in to his concerns about not being able to manage the firms.

  “Okay, well I better go then.”

  “Take care of yourself, Noah. There’re no hard feelings here. I want you to know that. I think very highly of you. This was just an opportunity I couldn’t refuse.”

  “We can catch up sometime down the road,” Noah said as he stood next to his car. “Let me know where you land.”

  “I will. Take care of yourself.”

  As Noah drove toward Rose’s house, he had no idea what he was going to do. But at least he had Rose to discuss things with. At least he could sit down with her and together they would make some decisions. Rose would likely be his new confidant in regards to office cases, and Noah was perfectly fine with that.

  His phone rang just as he was pulling into the parking garage, and Noah couldn’t answer it. By the time he pulled his phone out, the screen showed one missed call from Rose. With only an elevator ride separating them, Noah quickly made his way up to the apartment.

  The hallway seemed unusually noisy as Noah stepped off the elevator. There were about a dozen college-age kids at the opposite end of the hall laughing and joking with each other. Noah couldn’t help feeling envious of that time in their life. His life certainly didn’t have a lot to laugh and joke about.

  Rose’s apartment was unlocked, but Noah decided to knock as a courtesy. They hadn’t exactly discussed if he would actually move in there, and Noah didn’t want to assume he could just walk in. They hadn’t spent that many nights together, and everything was relatively new between them. It would have to be a conversation they would have at some point in the near future though because Noah didn’t plan on spending any nights at his place if Rose would allow him to stay with her.

  When she didn’t answer, Noah finally decided to go in.

  “Rose,” he hollered from the doorway. “Rose, you won’t believe what is going on with Elaine.”

  There was no answer. Only quiet filled the air as he made his way through the apartment to see where she was. Rose never left her front door unlocked, and an eerie feeling started to come over Noah. Throughout all the years of Noah’s life, he never liked to be afraid. That was probably why he had played life so safe, but he was done with all that for the time being. He wouldn’t let the negative thoughts fill his head and make him afraid of the president. There had to be a normal explanation for why Rose was gone and what she was out doing at that hour of the night.

  He reached for his phone to call Rose, but then remembered he had missed a call. He quickly dialed his voicemail and tried not to panic. But the idea that Matthew Storm had wanted to talk to her, and he was in a very difficult position—that all didn’t sit well with him. But what could the president want with Rose? Certainly, she couldn’t have been in danger.

  “I’m with Matthew; I’ll call later,” Rose whispered into the voicemail.

  Her voice didn’t sound strained or fearful, but she certainly wasn’t talking in a normal voice either. It was somewhat reassuring, but Noah still had no idea what was going on or why she had been rushed out of the apartment so quickly that she had to whisper into the phone. But Noah trusted Rose and knew she could handle herself just fine. In fact, she could probably handle herself better than Noah could.

  He changed his clothes, made some dinner for the two of them and then sat and waited for what seemed like forever. No sign of Rose. He sent her text messages and tried to call her a couple of times, but she didn’t answer. Any relief he felt from her initial phone call quickly dissipated as the evening wore on longer.

  By the time the Late Show had finished, Noah was officially worried, again. It was midnight by then, and still no sign of Rose. What kind of business could really be going on that late in the evening?

  It was hard for him to think about anything else except all the horror stories that crossed news headlines about missing women. This was how that sort of thing happened, he told himself. Women make bad decisions and get into vehicles with murderers and other low life. But Rose wasn’t like that. Rose wouldn’t get into a stranger’s car, but she certainly would get into the president’s limousine if it were requested of her.

  Noah hoped that Rose wasn’t at the White House trying to cover up some crime of Matthew’s. That was all he could think of. The president couldn’t manipulate Noah into getting his information for him so he pounced on Rose to trick her into doing something illegal. He closed his eyes and hoped that Rose knew better than to get mixed up in all of that. She had to know better than to trust Matthew Storm; she just had to.

  The night
wore on later and later, and Noah contemplated calling the police. But what would he tell them? ‘My girlfriend was kidnapped by the president?’ That wasn’t likely to go over all that well with the local police station. Noah decided his only option was to wait it out, sooner or later Rose had to return home.

  The jingling of the keys and turning of the doorknob woke Noah from his unintentional sleep. He glanced at his phone to see that it was a little after three in the morning. Instantly, he sat up and went to the door to let Rose in. It was late, but she was finally home and appeared unharmed, although Noah knew that not all harm to women could be physically visible by looking at them.

  “What the hell were you doing?” he blurted out before he even had the door all the way open.

  Rose didn’t look hurt or agitated or anything of the sort. There was a secret service member who had walked with her up to the door and was waiting nearby; he glanced at Rose and then toward Noah before nodding and heading back to the elevator.

  “Sorry I was out so late,” Rose said with a huge grin.

  She stumbled a little as she walked into the apartment. Rose clearly wasn’t herself at all. Maybe she was drugged or just tired, but Noah could tell that she wasn’t able to hold a normal adult conversation about what had happened during her meeting with the president. Not only was Rose not going to be able to talk for awhile, Noah wasn’t going to be able to get the information he needed to help the president.

  It scared Noah to death that he would accidently do something that would disappoint. He desperately wanted to find the information that the president was looking for and rush in at the last minute and prove that he had done everything that was asked of him.

  “Where were you? What happened?”

  “I was helping Matthew. And I did a fantastic job if I might say so myself.” She giggled and then fell onto the couch.

  What had originally started with an evening of worry that Rose had been hurt suddenly felt much different. Rose wasn’t hurt. She was drunk! Rose had been out all night long with Matthew Storm, and she was totally smashed.