Book 1 - Active Trust (6 page)

The burly man approached Alyssa
and showed her the door. To her right, she saw Lorraine standing
around waiting.

“How did it go?”

“She said I’ll get my first
assignment next week – from you.”

“You’re gonna do great, I know
it.”

They trod off to Lorraine’s
Taurus and Alyssa endured the ride with a new purpose. She wouldn’t
have to go back to Vixen ever again. She wouldn’t have to see
Lorraine and the woman called “Andrea.”

They arrived back at Vixen’s
parking lot when Alyssa exited the stinky, rusted up car. She
pulled her tips out of her pocket and handed them over to
Lorraine.

“What’s this? Did you hit the
lottery or somethin’?”

“No, but take it. Listen, I
changed my mind. I can’t do this. I’m going back home to my rich
daddy in Memphis, Tennessee. Sorry.”

Lorraine smiled, looked at the
wad of cash which had amounted to two hundred dollars and sped
away.

Alyssa walked to her car,
thankful that she could close the chapter on the worst three weeks
of her life. She sent a text message to Chase: “I’ve got the goods.
Meet tomorrow at Frank’s – 11am.”

“K,” he responded, knowing how
much it miffed her to receive one letter replies.

Night turned to day and Alyssa
rolled up to Frank’s to meet with her boss. He was there waiting
and looked her up and down and said, “You look like you could use a
cheeseburger, three nights of sleep in succession and a dye
job.”

“And it’s good to see you,
too.”

“What do you have for me?”

“The club was running a
prostitution ring right inside the back room. That’s where they all
meet, but that’s not the good part. I met up with this woman the
girl called Andrea. She was skeevy looking and she was the madam.
She felt me up and then told me I could make five to six hundred a
night turning tricks. Aside from that, she confirmed that the girl
who goes by Reese is the one who is pregnant by The Governor.”

“Wait, she felt you up?”

“Is that all you took from that
entire conversation?”

“Just kidding. Listen, it sounds
like you have earned every penny of this.”

He gave her a check in an
envelope for six thousand dollars. Part of it was for what she had
to go through in order to obtain the information while the other
part was to keep it quiet.

“It was a pleasure doing
business with you, Chase.”

“As always.”

He turned to leave and she
disappeared.

Upon reaching his car, Chase sat
down, got out his phone and messaged Michelle to meet him as soon
as possible. She responded back quickly that she had a free moment
and Chase was turning the key to his car with Mugs as his
destination.

He arrived there first and sat
down at a booth. As he turned over his cup for the waitress to fill
with the delicious caffeinated beverage, Michelle walked in and sat
opposite him.

“Coffee, honey?”

“Yes, please,” she said, turning
over her coffee cup.

Once the waitress disappeared
from view, Chase began to spill his guts.

“We now have confirmation from
my assistant Alyssa that Reese is the mother and the target is the
father.”

“Wow, okay. We just need to find
Reese now.”

“With the party coming up soon,
it shouldn’t be hard to spot her if she’s there.”

“You’ve got a point. Victoria
said she got us on the list.”

“Great. Alyssa’s services have
been paid out of my account, but my company flows that charge
directly to you.”

“Certainly, was it six thousand
for her undercover work?”

“Yes.”

She pulled an expensive silver
pen from her inside suit pocket and signed a personal check to
Chase for the amount specified.

“Just tell her that we’re going
to need her services once again at the party on the 24th.”

“Of course.”

The newfound information weighed
heavily on Michelle’s mind. She concerned herself mostly with how
she was going to break the news to Mrs. McBride that after so many
years with her husband he’d decided to get some prostitute
pregnant. Even worse, was he continuing to give her money and treat
her like a princess? All of these questions needed answering, but
Michelle knew that the first step was taking care of Mrs.
McBride.

She pulled out her phone, dialed
her client’s number and said, “Mrs. McBride. Hi, this is Michelle
Mayor from Briggs and Trice. I’ve got an update on your case if you
have time to come in.”

Michelle looked down at her
pocket calendar in case The Governor’s wife’s schedule was booked
and she needed a different day or time.

“Yes, Ms. Mayor. I have time
tomorrow at noon if that works for you.”

“Of course, ma’am.”

Michelle hit “end” on her cell
phone and marked down next to 11-16: “McBride @ 12pm”.

Michelle decided that Mrs.
McBride could use the information any way that she wanted to. She
would support her client’s decision to sue for divorce if she
wanted that and it appeared that the case was a lock for half of
his wealth in addition to custody in Mrs. McBride’s favor.

Meanwhile, back at Briggs &
Trice, Victoria was putting her new people skills to work for her.
Her client list was growing and through word of mouth, the news
about her lawsuit against Fassett & Lews being settled out of
court for quite the lofty sum was getting around.

The partners were very pleased
that Victoria was coming into her own. Mason Janus also felt the
need to send over some champagne, a Cross pen and pencil set
engraved with Victoria Strauss’ name and an expensive box of
chocolates.

Victoria had scored an eight
million dollar settlement for Mr. Janus and it was something that
Victoria considered it her best case to date. She found that the
man who died was actually covering for some higher-ups in the
company, so now the entire place is being looked at by the SEC in a
huge investigation.

Nathan Trice sent word
downstairs that a big celebration was being had for Victoria’s
victory and for all of the associates to be in attendance. He’d
secured a hall that was big enough for the entire firm to take part
in the festivities.

Trice took control of the room
with a grasp of the microphone and raised his champagne glass.

“Cheers to Ms. Victoria Strauss
for her efforts in bringing a conclusion to Janus v. Fassett &
Lews.”

Everyone raised their glasses to
her and she finally felt that she’d inched closer to that top floor
office that she’d been wanting for the longest time. All of her
dreams were going to be a reality.

Michelle had broken the news to
Mrs. McBride in the easiest possible way, directly and honestly.
She told Donna that her husband had been fooling around with a girl
that goes by the name of Reese who is pregnant with his baby. She
advised the older woman of her legal options, but Mrs. McBride
pressed for more information on the woman’s identity.

“We are in the middle of finding
that out for you,” Michelle told Donna McBride, adding, “There is a
fundraiser on the 24th that my colleagues and I are all
attending.”

“I know the one of which you
speak.”

“It’s best if you’re ‘sick’ that
evening so that we may conclude the investigation.”

“Yes, of course.”

Michelle wasn’t raking in
millions of dollars for the firm, but her main clients were
certainly happy with her work.

At the party, Michelle had
nothing but kind words for her competitor.

“Good going,” said she as she
raised a glass to Victoria.

“Thank you.”

Victoria was clearly pleased
with herself and she acted as if her celebration was a victory in
itself and that she was already made a partner at the firm. She
passed herself around at the party like she was working a crowd at
a wedding. She made it a point to stop by each table and rub noses
with the entire staff and some possible clients that were in
attendance.

One person’s presence at the
celebration hit her completely off guard. A certain hush fell over
the crowded room when Victoria noticed that Fassett & Lews’ own
head honcho Drake Fassett was there. She moved to intercept him and
asked, “What are you doing here?”

He skimmed the room with his
perfect salt and pepper hair and said, “The same as everyone else,
I imagine. I’m here to congratulate you on your win.”

“Ummm, thank you.”

It was the first time in her
career that she was visibly shaken. She hadn’t expected Drake’s
appearance whatsoever. His cologne arrived before he did and his
skin was a darker tone due to his numerous hours at the tanning
salon.

“That is just business, Ms.
Strauss.”

He gave her a dapper smile and
slid out of her view until he passed through the door and his
silvery suit was gone.

She drew a sigh of relief at his
departure.

“What was that?” Michelle asked,
already aware that her question was rhetorical.

“Drake Fassett. Interestingly
enough, he said he was here to congratulate me on the win.”

“That’s weird.”

“Indeed. Oh well, he’s gone now,
so let’s get this party started.”

Michelle’s curiosity seemed to
get the best of her because she investigated the appearance of Mr.
Fassett in her own mind. Why was he there, firstly, and more
importantly, how did he know about the party in the first
place?

She was quickly pulled into the
party madness and continued celebrating for the huge company
win.

She cut herself short from
enjoying too many beverages and made her way home shortly before
everyone else began dispersing. The following day, Michelle and her
hired employees would be flies on the wall at the gala where The
Governor was having a fundraiser. Michelle, Chase and Alyssa were
all there at the invitation of the Strauss family.

Michelle wore a black cocktail
dress, a gold necklace and smaller gold hoop earrings. To complete
her look, she put her hair in an updo and wore black high heels
with a black Michael Kors bag. Light makeup helped her look the
part of a lawyer that had deep pockets in order to donate money for
The Governor’s cause.

Michelle met Chase and Alyssa at
the event, but they all arrived separately. Chase approached the
doorman and said, “Michelle Mayor, Chuck Mills and Rebecca Porter.
My lovely lady friends and I are all on the list.”

After a cursory glance, the door
man allowed them entry into the fantastic estate of which the party
was being held. It was a gala event and no expense was spared for
the good people of the city’s elite to reach deeply into their
pockets and give to the poor.

Michelle told Chase, “I’ve never
understood the necessity for fundraisers like this. Rich people
holding parties to benefit poor folks. Growing up, my mother worked
two jobs and helped put me through college. When we were in dire
straits, no one said ‘Here, let’s throw a party.’”

Chase got closer to Michelle’s
ear and said in response, “The people here don’t know any better
and probably think that these soirees are helping others out.
Little do they know that their money is probably lining the pockets
of The Governor himself.”

Alyssa gave an “ahem” to focus
the group’s efforts back onto the task at hand. They needed to
figure out who The Governor’s girlfriend was and fast. Mrs. McBride
was saddened by the revelation that her husband would cheat on her,
but if she considered staying with him, she would need to know
every last detail of this pregnancy kerfuffle.

Alyssa and Chase dispersed and
began working the room while Michelle gravitated around the ladies’
bathroom. By ten o’clock, she’d noticed that there were four
pregnant ladies in attendance. One of the ladies looked like she
was super young, while the other was bolder and a touch older.
Unfortunately, they both seemed to hover around The Governor,
making Michelle wonder if Reese was either of them.

She opted for the bolder, brazen
approach and took the bull by the horns. Michelle approached The
Governor and said, “Governor McBride, good to meet you, I’m
Michelle Mayor from Briggs and Trice.”

He turned to give her his full
attention as she said, “I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, I
just wanted to say what a brilliant event this is.”

“Why thank you, ma’am. Briggs
and Trice you say?”

“Yes, sir. I work there as an
associate, but I’m on the path to become partner soon, fingers
crossed.”

Their conversation was
interrupted by his younger pregnant friend who offered up a simple
“Excuse me” before leaving for the bathroom.

“I apologize, that was my
sister, Elise. Pregnancy is making her moody and sick. Now where
were we?”

“Oh yes, I was just commending
you on this fine party.”

“Thank you. Say, are you here
all by yourself?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I am, as well. The dear wife
Donna is sick today and opted to stay home in order to nurse her
illness.”

“I am sorry to hear that, would
you give her my best?”

“Certainly. Listen, would you
like to get a drink some time?”

Michelle couldn’t believe her
ears. Was The Governor and her client’s cheating husband really
trying to hit on her? In this of all places; was he for real? His
wife was out of the picture for one night and he’s trying to get
laid. He was a real winner.

“Governor McBride, if I didn’t
know any better, I would think that you are trying to pick me
up.”

Just as the words left her
mouth, she hoped they weren’t true, for her client’s sake.

Without skipping a beat, he
cockily said in response, “What if I was? A man has needs, you
know.”

His statement wasn’t a question,
but a fact to The Governor. The older silver fox in front of her
hadn’t considered his wife’s feelings in his statement. He was
selfish in thinking that he was the only one whose needs weren’t
being met.