Battling Destiny (The Piper Anderson Series Book 6) (16 page)

He flipped through his papers and dialed her number, hoping she’d still take his call. When it went to voicemail he thumped his palm to his forehead.

“You look like you’re having a hell of a day.” A woman’s voice drew his attention and startled him almost off the edge of his father’s leather chair.

“Can I help you?” he asked with an attitude, as he looked up and down the polished woman. Her pencil skirt and pristine pink button-down blouse looked as though they’d been starched ten times over. Her blond hair was styled high and hair sprayed into submission.

“Well you had me on hold so long I thought I’d better come and do a welfare check to make sure you didn’t pass out or something. Now looking at you, I’m still wondering if I should call a doctor.”

“Clara,” Michael said, shooting to his feet. “I’m very sorry about that. My daughter got sick all of the sudden and I panicked.”

“Is she all right?” Clara asked. Michael took comfort that her concern seemed completely genuine.

“She’ll be fine. Just an ear infection we’re watching closely. It was rude of me to leave you on the line. Thank you for coming in.” Michael gestured for her to sit down in the chair across from his desk. She took a seat and smoothed her skirt, though no wrinkles had formed.

"The rumor is you're in the process of severing all your father's ties with any associates or business partners.” Clara kept her face level and Michael could tell she was trying to read his reaction.

“The rumors are true. I have no intention of staying here in Ohio. There won't be anyone to carry on my father's business, so I'm scaling everything back."

"It sounded more like you are shutting everything down. Your father was incredibly diverse in his partnerships. I'd imagine I'm not the first person at your door with concerns." Clara crossed her legs and rested her chin in her hand as she scrutinized Michael's face some more.

"I do see that my father was a big contributor to your campaign. More than that, it looks as if he was pulling quite a few strings to make sure you got elected. Though I can’t figure out why.”

“Perhaps your father just agreed with my platform. Maybe he believed in what I stand for.” Clara raised an eyebrow, goading him on.

"My father didn't believe in anything except money. The problem is, I can't see any monetary reward for all the work he's done for you. Which means you’re trading with some other kind of currency.” The code talk was for her benefit. Michael had no problem calling his father greedy and criminal. But he knew a politician would need this conversation to be more tactful.

"And if you were taking some guesses what would you come up with?"

"Well it wasn't sex. You certainly weren’t sleeping together."

"And what makes you so sure about that?" Clara had a look of surprise and indignation come over her face.

“I mean this solely as an insult to my father, not toward you. You're too old for him. He likes his mistresses in their twenties. So if this wasn't an affair and it wasn't for monetary gain, why would my father work to get you elected? I've read your platform. You and he are like oil and water. You want to close loopholes he wants to take advantage of them. If anything, you getting elected would be bad for him."

"You’ve put quite a bit of thought into this. I'm interested in what your hypothesis really is. You crossed a lot off the list. What’s left?”

“Blackmail. I'm guessing you came across something on my father and because you’re squeaky clean he had nothing to counter with." Michael tapped his pen against the desk and waited for her reply, but the look on her face told him he guessed correctly.

"I certainly didn't go looking for a way to blackmail your father. He was just the kind of man who makes it easy. So now I'm wondering, what do we do from here?"

"I'm in no position to continue supporting your campaign. I'm severing all ties with anyone my father did business with. I have nothing to offer you. If you choose to leak whatever information you have about my father I can't stop you. And I actually don't care. If he was sleeping with somebody, expose her. If he betrayed somebody then put it out there. I'm not here to fight his battles." Michael had perfected his poker face over the years. It's a prerequisite for a lawyer. Today it was getting good use.

"Are you truly trying to lead people to believe you're walking away from this empire your father has left in your lap?"

"The man didn't leave me an empire. He left me a mess. I don't want the money and I don't want the trouble that comes with it. I am not my father. You can’t blackmail me and you can’t pressure me."

"Why?"

"Do you know where I live? This sleepy little town in North Carolina. Every Wednesday I go to my mother-in-law's house and eat the best dinner in the world. After that I sit on the porch with my wife and best friends and watch the sunset. It is the most incredible calm you've ever experienced in your entire life. I'm a lawyer there. Some days I work on cases about livestock. And that's fine by me. There is nothing my father's money could buy that could make me as happy as I am in North Carolina."

"Do you know what's strange about that?"

"I'd imagine for a politician with built-in narcissism there would be a lot strange about that."

"Actually, what's strange about it is that I believe you. It's been so long since I have believed anyone about anything. I want to get elected so I can stop men like your father. Blackmailing him wasn't my idea, but it worked. I'm well on my way to getting elected now. But I don't have any intention of carrying on through you." Clara pulled a small flash drive from her bag and slid it across the desk toward Michael. "This is everything I have on your father. I'll be honest, it's some pretty ugly stuff. There are no other copies. Just destroy this one and you and I can go our separate ways."

"You are really going to just hand back this enormous bargaining chip? That doesn't seem like something a politician would do.”

“I'm not trying to just be a politician. I'm hoping to be a good person. I don't know when those things stop being synonymous, but that's not the world I want to live in. I hope you get back on that plane to North Carolina sooner rather than later. I know plenty of people who had the intention of walking away from a life like this but never got the chance. Something always gets in the way."

“Thank you, Clara. I hope you win the election. This place needs some change."

As Clara stood, Michael did as well. She headed for the door and, as though she was having second thoughts, she glanced over her shoulder. "There is one more thing, Michael. Your mother—she's a crazy person. Your father was a greedy criminal, but your mother is something else entirely. I find her far more dangerous."

The tap on the office door was followed by it’s abrupt opening. Michael assumed another annoyed business associate would be storming in, but instead it was his mother.

“We need to talk,” she demanded as she closed the door behind her. She didn’t make a move to sit, and Michael didn’t make a move to stand.

“I don’t think we have much to talk about. You asked me to protect Jo. That’s what I’m doing.”

“No, you’re dismantling everything your father and I built, and I’m not going to sit back and let that happen. If you’ve learned anything about me over the years, Michael, I would hope it would be you don’t want a war with me.”

“So I guess I should take that as my answer. You couldn’t care less about Josephine staying out of jail. This is all about money for you. If I had even the slightest doubt you cared about anything or anyone other than yourself I can put that behind me now.  So if there is nothing else . . .” Michael said as he gestured toward the door.

“You’re being a fool. Your father had everything lined up and all you had to do is come in here and find a way to keep it going. You weren’t even supposed to be in the will. Everything was supposed to be left to me, but that’s just one more way your father screwed me over. I’m telling you for the last time, stop what you’re trying to do and find a way to keep everything just how it is or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“Threats? That’s where we’re at in this? You give me the steely look and tell me you’ll destroy me if I don’t bend to your will. The problem with that, Mother, is I don’t need anything from you, so what can you withhold? I don’t have any skeletons in my closet for you to exploit or blackmail me with. I’m filing the rest of the documents in the next two days and launching the restructuring of the manufacturing company. While it won’t be anywhere near the cash flow you’re accustomed to, I do intend to turn it all over to you. I’ll structure it in a way that requires little intervention on your part, but you can continue to reap the benefits of any profits. Between that and the life insurance, along with some lifestyle changes, you could live out the rest of your life very comfortably.”

“You have it all figured out then, don’t you? If you’re foolish enough to believe you have nothing to lose then you’re not nearly the man I thought you were.”

“We’re staying for this party. I’m tying up every loose end here and then we’re leaving. Before this meeting I thought maybe there was a chance that you and I could come to some kind of agreement about managing our relationship so you could be apart of my daughter’s life. Now I’m more confident than ever that leaving here is the best choice I ever made, and making it again is easy.”

“I don’t think you’ve met half of your father’s associates yet, Michael. Maybe you’ve gotten lucky so far, but they won’t all be so willing to walk away.”

“They’ll all walk away, because there won’t be anything left here for them to fight for. You need to come to terms with that. Start looking at your assets and figure out what to liquidate. Don’t put your energy into stopping the inevitable.”

Michael sat a moment in his father’s chair as his mother huffed her way out of the office. He wasn’t being honest with himself. He was acting as though he had no concerns about his mother being able to do anything to stop him. The problem with his mother was she’d do just that,
anything.

Jules closed the door to the nursery gingerly, trying to make sure that a sleeping Frankie stayed that way. Though judging how she’d been acting the last few hours, a marching band could come through and not wake her baby. That was what was so scary. She didn’t want to leave her daughter’s side, but Michael had insisted he take a shift with her too. When he cradled his daughter in his arms, holding her close as they swayed in the rocking chair, Jules knew they’d be fine together for a little while. She was starving and her shoulders were getting sore. Frankie had taken a few ounces of milk twenty minutes ago, so if Jules were going to take a break, now would be the time. It was just about dinnertime and she was ready to stretch her legs.

“I’m sorry, Josephine,” Jules heard Tabitha explain into the phone as she rounded the corner and surprised her. “I have to go.” She hung up abruptly and hiccupped a tiny cry.

“Is everything all right?” Jules asked, touching Tabitha’s shoulder gently. “I know this has been one hell of a day.”

“I’m letting my daughter down, and it’s killing me. The party is in two days and I’m far from ready. Right now I’m supposed to be in Chef Corbin’s kitchen sampling food options. If I miss this appointment he’ll cancel. He’s very fickle like that. I’ll never be able to find someone else on such short notice.”

“Is it too late to make it to the appointment?”

“No, but I’m a mess I can’t go over there alone like this. Every time I think about the state of things I burst into tears. I’m shaking like a leaf. Josephine has worked hard her whole life; she just lost her father not long before her wedding. She’ll have no one to give her away. She deserves the best engagement party I can provide her, but I’m failing her.”

“I guess I could go with you, as long as it will be quick. I’m starving anyway and told Michael I was going to get something to eat. He said not to come back for a couple hours so that I could get a good break. Would that make it easier?”

“You truly are a wonderful person, Jules. I can see why Michael married you. I feel like you’re going to be the key to getting this family back together.” Tabitha smoothed Jules’s crimson locks as she looked at her affectionately.

Jules wondered if the gut-wrenching conflict she was feeling was visible on her face. She had wanted to be the person to help bring Michael and his mother back together. What a hero that would make her. She thought back on all the things Michael had done for her over the years; this would be her way to pay him back. The problem was it had become abundantly clear Michael didn’t want a path back to his mother. He wanted a one-way ticket away from her. Jules’s meddling and cheerleading for a resolution wasn’t helping anything. It had put a wedge between them. Michael had an image of his mother that seemed very different than the impression Jules had gotten. Wasn’t that because it was outdated? They’d gone nearly a decade without interacting very much. His anger was misdirected. Surely his father was the intended target; his mother was just the closest target. She bit at her lip as she thought how to answer Tabitha’s statement.

“I hope things do work out between all of you. You know I’ll do anything I can to help. Look at how wonderful you’ve been, making sure we have everything we need for Frankie since the moment we got here, especially now that she’s not feeling well. Just tell me how to help and I’ll keep trying.” Jules felt like she’d just dug herself a hole she might not want to jump into, but how could she leave all these hurting people in the state they were in? There had to be a solution. She just needed to find it.