by Claire Adams
She looked up then, in Alicia’s direction and asked, “Did you read Daddy’s file? The one with Vick’s disgusting sexual exploits?”
I felt bad for her, and I could tell by the look on Alicia’s face that she did, too. Only moments ago, I’d judged her as spoiled and selfish. Alicia nodded and took a sip of her water to lubricate her dry throat. “Yes, I did,” she said.
With a deep breath, Celia went on, “Then you know, they became more than friends. Daddy tried to get me to stop seeing him without telling me why. I wouldn’t accept his advice. I wish I would have listened now. I’d rather not have known. Anyways, my disgusting boyfriend was having a sexual affair with this man, and we have pictures to prove it.”
I could tell that Alicia didn’t know what to say. She finally said, “I’m sorry,” but the words hung in the air hollowly until Hannah came in with the main course and Miles IV broke the silence.
“Now you know why I hated the son of a bitch. There were other things also. Things you can read about in the files, too. For one thing, that whore that he set up at the Plaza was living off of stolen money, money that rat bastard had stolen from me, money that was intended to go towards electing a President.”
Alicia looked at me. I’d already been told all of this by Miles, but it was new and shocking information to her. I reached over and took her hand in her lap and squeezed it.
She looked at Alex then who had sat silently through all of this. I could tell Alicia was wondering why he was here. She was too tactful to ask at the table, but I’m sure she would the second we were alone.
Her eyes scanned the table, and I saw them land on Miles V. I could almost hear the wheels turning in that intelligent brain of hers. He was the only one eating, and he was doing so with a gusto that implied he was completely oblivious to his sister’s pain or his father’s anger. Miles IV had his eyes on his son too and they held a look of disdain. His eyes softened when he looked back at his daughter. He put his hand on hers and said,
“You did a good job, baby. You can go now if you like.”
Celia smiled and jumped up from the table like a child that was excused without eating her vegetables. I could tell by her waif-like appearance that it probably wasn’t the first meal she had missed. The girl planted a kiss on her father’s cheek and said goodnight to everyone, except her brother before bouncing out of the room.
I looked back at the younger Brigham, who seemed to not have missed a bite. I glanced at Alicia and she was looking at me with a look that practically screamed, “What have you gotten me into here?”
We finally all began to eat. Dinner was delicious, and thankfully, the rest of it was spent in pleasant small talk and conversation. I think we had heard enough for now regarding the scandalous nature of the people we worked for and their associations. There would be time later for more.
After dessert, Miles V excused himself and the rest of the party followed the elder Brigham into the sitting room. Hannah had his Bourbon ready, and both Alex and I both accepted a snifter, as well. Alicia chose sparkling cider. She rarely drank, save for the occasional glass of wine with dinner or champagne celebration. I could tell she was impatient as Miles IV talked on and on about his passion: big game hunting. I don’t think he was finished, but he made the mistake of pausing for breath and Alicia interjected,
“Alex, if you don’t mind my asking, what is your connection to all of this?”
Alex looked at me, as if looking for permission to divulge information to her. I saw her bristle at that. If she was going to be the lead defense attorney in this case, she would need to learn how to get past hurt feelings and outright command more respect.
I nodded slightly at Alex. He looked back at her and said, “Miles has been grooming me as Vick’s replacement for a while now. We were going to make the announcement after Vick had been given the news. There was a press conference scheduled for Friday to announce his resignation and my appointment. Now, I assume, it will just announce my appointment in the wake of this, uh…tragedy.”
Miles IV nodded and then drained another shot of Bourbon. Sitting down his glass, he said, “Yes, Alex here is up to speed on all things Brigham and Presidential, so to speak. He’s going to make an excellent campaign manager, as well as a valuable ally for my company.”
“So, there was a plan in the works to fire Vick?” she asked
“Yes, little lady, that was the plan,” Brigham said
“And, you expected him to resign once you told him about it?” she asked, I knew she would put it all together quickly. She’s one of the smartest people I know. The only small area she was lacking was in her confidence.
“That was also the plan,” he said while lighting a cigar,
“Let me ask you all this,” Alicia said, looking at each of the men individually before speaking, “How many other people, besides those of us in this house, knew what was going on with Vick? By that, I mean, the love affairs, the illicit spending sprees of campaign monies, and the fact that he was perilously close to losing it all?”
We all looked at each other and I finally told her, “We don’t know, exactly. The affairs weren’t well disguised by any standards. The stripper was only a plaything to Vick, she was interviewed by our people, and we believe she really didn’t know anything about what Vick was up to. As long as he paid her bills and allowed her shopping sprees, she gave him what he wanted in the sack when he wanted it and didn’t ask any questions. Cindy McGuire is being heavily protected, of course, by her family and refuses to have a conversation with us about Vick. And David; he’s somewhat of a wild card.”
“Meaning what, exactly?” Alicia asked.
“David has disappeared, physically that is. He’s gone pretty deeply underground. He hasn’t been seen since Vick’s death; however, he has made several phone calls to both Celia and her father. He’s looking for money, and thinks he’ll be able to cash in on this in a big way. He uses disposable cell phones and has asked for money to be wired to an offshore account. So far, our investigators, and Miles’, have been unable to find him.”
“Why does David think that Miles or Celia would give him money, considering what we now know to be true?”
Miles sighed and said, “I’ll take that one, son,”
He stood and walked across the room towards the massive stone fireplace. Next to the fireplace stood an enormous blue spruce, all decorated for Christmas with professionally wrapped presents already underneath. Miles stopped next to the tree and seemed to be admiring the twinkling of the lights for several minutes, before finally turning to Alicia.
“He has something on my son that he has threatened to go to the authorities with if I don’t send him the money he wants by midnight on Friday.”
Alicia raised an eyebrow, but didn’t speak. Miles turned towards her and continued, “My son was in the mountains the day my wife died ten years ago. The authorities never had that information, so he was never questioned regarding her death. I don’t want him questioned, and I have gone through great pains to make sure that never happens. My son is weak. He couldn’t stand up to an interrogation. He would crack like an egg in five minutes or less.
“My daughter, she was cursed only by naivety. She was thinking that she could trust this man-whore she was seeing, and she told him some things that she never should have, things that should have remained in the family. That little gay boy wants to use that information now to destroy my family. If I thought he would go away, I would just pay him the damn money. I don’t believe for a second though that he would stop there. That boy would keep this shit up until he bleeds me and my family dry.”
“May I ask why it’s so critical that the authorities not know Miles V was there the day your wife died?”
Brigham looked at her, and with his next words, I think Alicia had begun to understand the disdain he held in his eyes when he looked at his son.
“Because, little lady, my son killed her.”
CHAPTER TWO
ALICIA
/> I looked at Adam and saw that he wasn’t shocked by any of this. He walked over and put his hand on my arm and said,
“It’s alright. When Miles hired us, his son also paid to retain us as his legal counsel. What Miles just told you was disclosed to us after he hired us as counsel.” Adam looked at Miles, and then back at me and said,
“We did, of course, suggest the possibility of Miles V turning himself in. Neither he nor his father here were interested in that suggestion, however. Until now, it had not really become an issue. Our concern at this point is that David will in fact tell the authorities what he knows.”
I dropped down on the plush beige couch that I was standing next to. I watched the lights on the designer tree twinkle while I gathered my thoughts. Looking towards Adam, I said,
“So, my job is to keep Miles IV from getting arrested in relation to Vick’s murder, right?”
Adam said, “Yes, that is a large part of it.”
It suddenly dawned on me why he really wanted my criminal law expertise. “You expect me to defend Miles V also if what David is saying he did ever comes into play.” Adam gave me a nod and I went on, “Okay, then, what else do I need to know?” There was really no going back now.
The men spent the better part of the next hour filling in the blanks for me before I had enough and excused myself to turn in for the night. I had barely made it back to our room when Adam followed me in.
My mood had significantly darkened from earlier in the evening. He tried to touch me, but I told him I was too tired and rolled away from him. I wasn’t really angry with him, but I was pretty annoyed about what he’d gotten me into here. After a while, I felt him snuggle into me and press his hips into my behind. He draped his arm across my waist and pulled me into him tightly. I moved forward and he followed me until I was on the edge of the bed and couldn’t move any further.
I finally rolled over to chastise him, but before I could get any words out he covered my mouth with his. I didn’t resist the kiss and as usual, my entire body responded to it. My stress and fatigue was suddenly replaced by desire, and as he pulled me up on top of him and lifted my nightgown up over my hips, I didn’t protest. Instead, I made love to him and him to me until we were both so truly exhausted that neither of us could stay awake a moment longer.
We woke the next morning to Hannah’s wake-up tap on the door. We were wrapped so tightly in arms and legs that it was almost hard to tell which limbs were whose.
After a quick breakfast with just the two of us that Hannah served on the terrace, we were picked up by one of Miles’ drivers and driven to the airstrip. Hannah had packed up all of the paperwork that I had not had time to finish reading through the day before. She also issued a message from Miles, expressing his regrets at having to leave so early and not being able to see us off properly. There was no sign before we left of neither Celia nor Miles V, and for that I was grateful.
I felt a little guilty, but I actually allowed myself to hope that neither Miles would be arrested and I wouldn’t be forced to defend either of them. I also wasn’t sure that Celia was innocent in all of this, either. The look in her eyes when she spoke about David’s affairs with Vick had been pure hatred. Who’s to say she wasn’t involved, as well?
Nonetheless, I was their lawyer now and regardless of my personal feelings, I would give them the best possible defense…if any of them ended up needing one.
I read through more of Brigham’s files on the flight home while Adam reclined in his seat and took a nap. I stopped what I was doing and looked over at him.
He was probably the most beautiful man that I had ever seen. I sometimes felt that it wasn’t fair that his looks had so much power over me. His looks, of course, were not the only thing I found to love about him, but pushing him away might be much easier if I didn’t have to look into his sexy dark eyes when I did it.
I had enjoyed our time together at Brigham’s estate immensely. But if things didn’t go as Adam hoped they would at his hearing on Monday, I had already resolved to end things once and for all. I couldn’t keep this up. It wasn’t fair to act as if I were having an illicit affair when in fact I wasn’t.
I finally tore my eyes away from him and continued with my reading of the Brigham file. I looked through some of the photos, as well, during the rest of the flight. Whoever these investigators were that Miles IV had hired, had done a fantastic job surveilling Vick.
We had photos of his intimate trysts with Priscilla and David that looked as if they had been taken from inside the apartment. I felt even worse for Celia then as I looked at the photos of Vick and David. I had quickly set aside the ones of them involved in sexual activity, but the ones of them just spending time together, enjoying a glass of wine or just talking were up close and personal enough that you could almost read the love in David’s eyes. Celia had definitely been the beard here and it had to hurt the poor girl to realize it.
As the plane descended back down into La Guardia, I sat the file aside. Adam opened his eyes and smiled that sweet, sleepy, oh so sexy smile that I loved so much.
“Hi, gorgeous,” he said as he sat up and buckled his seatbelt for the landing.
“Hi,” I said simply, but with a smile that let him know what I was thinking.
As I was buckling my seatbelt, he leaned forward and kissed me. “A few more days, and then we’ll be together…forever. Think you can handle that?”
I couldn’t help myself. Just the thought of having Adam to myself at last made me smile broadly. “I can’t wait,” I said, and although I was thinking ahead about what I may have to do if things didn’t go as planned, I didn’t have the heart to bring it up.
We went our separate ways at the airport. Adam was going back to the office, so he took a cab. I took the town car back to my apartment. I was exhausted and all I wanted was to relax in my own home.
After a long hot shower, I listened to my voicemails. I had been so wrapped up in all of the Brigham drama that I hadn’t even answered my phone in almost two days. The first message was from Kyla, wanting to know how mine and Adam’s time together had gone.
The second was from my mother. It reminded me that my parents would be in town in just over a week, and I had better find some time to do some decorating and shopping for Christmas. My mother would be shocked if she knew her daughter had waited this late in the season to get a tree or put out so much as a twig of holly. Mrs. Winston had always begun the decorating on the first day of December, albeit she mostly acted as an orchestrater to her staff.
The third call was from Jack. He wanted to know if I would like to have dinner on Friday night. I would have to give that one some thought. Instead of calling him back, I called Kyla. A little innocent girl talk was what I really needed after the past two days of drama and bizarre confessions.
As it turned out, it was a lot of girl talk. I finally hung up almost two hours later. I told Kyla what a great time Adam and I had, what a bizarre family Miles Brigham IV had, and about Jack and his most recent phone call. Kyla had helped me to decide that there would be no harm in an innocent dinner out with an old friend. I had ultimately agreed, and after hanging up with Kyla, I called Jack and accepted.
I spent the rest of the day getting things done around the apartment and didn’t sit down with the Brigham file again until evening. Over a cup of chamomile tea and some homemade cookies, I set about re-reading all of the documents.
Miles IV had told me that he was out of town the night Vick was murdered. He claimed he had been in Louisiana with a woman he had recently begun seeing. Inside the file were copies of his private pilot’s flight plans for the day in question. I thought that it could be used as a very convincing alibi if need be.
There was no mention in the file of Miles V or Celia’s whereabouts that evening. This concerned me a bit, knowing now what I did about the murder of Brigham’s third wife. There were copies of Miles IV bank records, as well. I assumed that these were to prove he hadn’t paid anyone to kill Vick while h
e was out of town formulating an alibi. I did think, however, that had I been the police or FBI, I would know that the great and powerful Brigham would never be foolish enough to write out a traceable check for a murder for hire scheme.
My eyes were growing weary. I put the file aside at last, and headed to bed. I checked my phone before lying down, somewhat disappointed that Adam hadn’t called to say goodnight. I started to think about him being across town in that plush, Manhattan apartment with Marjorie, but made myself stop. First of all, if I knew Adam, he was probably still at work, and second of all, even if he was home, he was not with Marjorie. I turned off the bedside light and closed my eyes, willing myself to dream of days to come when we could finally be together. Maybe all of Adam’s Marjorie drama will be over before my parents arrived for the holidays, and then it would really be a Merry Christmas.
Adam finally called me the next morning as I was making my coffee.
“Good morning, baby,” he said. “How was the rest of your day yesterday?”
“It was peaceful,” I said. “Much more relaxing than the drama we walked into at the Brigham mansion.”
Adam laughed. “Yes, they are an interesting bunch, aren’t they? I got to spend the rest of my day working on his civil case. We go to trial soon. The press continues to tear him up on a daily basis, baby, and I don’t think things are looking too good for us as far as an untainted jury pool here in New York. I don’t know if you’ve seen the Post yet?”
I said I hadn’t and he went on, “That reporter I met with, Rose, did a piece today that wasn’t just about the oil spill and the effects it had on the environment and the people, it was about Brigham himself. She had some pretty personal things in there, and even hinted that although she didn’t personally believe that Brigham had killed anyone himself, it was a pretty safe bet that his hands weren’t clean. She wasn’t only speaking about Vick’s murder; she was hinting around about his wife, as well.”