Chapter Eight #2
“Cleo’s sister Monique knows about it. She emailed me to say how unfortunate it would be if that got out and how embarrassing it would be to my ‘new’ family, the president and first lady, to find out they have a rapist in their midst, not to mention what Princeton might have to say about it.
She went on to say that we could avoid all that by settling the custody dispute out of court and doing the right thing for the twins, which of course means turning them over to her and her parents.
She’s the last person on earth I’d want raising them. ”
“I knew I fucking hated that woman the first time I met her,” Sam said, feeling as if she could commit murder on behalf of the young man she’d come to love.
“Yeah, she’s a prize,” Eli said. “Cleo never got along with her, so I can’t imagine she told her about it. But Cleo must’ve confided in her mother when it was happening, because they were close, and that’s how Monique knows.”
Nick withdrew his BlackBerry from his pocket and put through a call, putting the phone on speaker.
“Mr. President, to what do I owe the honor?”
“Stuff it, Andy,” Nick said with a small smile. His friends loved to razz him every chance they got about his new title. “We’ve got a problem with the custody case.”
“What’s that?” Andy asked, all signs of amusement gone from his tone.
Nick gave him the condensed version of the story Eli had told them.
“She said this in an email?” Andy asked.
“She did,” Eli confirmed.
“Will you forward that to me?”
“Sure.” Eli pulled out his cell phone and sent the email to Andy, whose address he already had due to the ongoing case.
“Hang on a second,” Andy said. “I’m reading it now.
” After a long moment in which Sam, Nick and Eli existed in painful silence, Andy said, “Wow, what a piece of work. She’s threatening to blackmail a young man whose father and stepmother were recently murdered by revealing the details of a sealed juvenile record to the media.
I think the judge will be interested in seeing this, and I’ll be reaching out to the attorney representing their family to let her know her clients are resorting to some dirty tricks. ”
“Do you think that will help our case?” Eli asked.
“It won’t hurt. Don’t forget… We already have the advantage because your father and Cleo’s wishes were clear.
We have to go through the motions with the court, but I just did a quick check online and found that the California Supreme Court has ruled that the disclosure of the names of minors involved in crimes isn’t considered an invasion of privacy. ”
“Great,” Eli said. “So she could destroy my entire life and get away with it?”
“I’m going to file an injunction with the court to bar the release of that information in relation to the custody case.”
“Will that work?” Nick asked.
“It should. The judge assigned to this case is a no-nonsense type who won’t like that she did this.
She may have helped us by putting her threats in writing.
I’ll send this to opposing counsel and the judge right now and ask for guidance on how to proceed.
I know it’s very stressful to have to wait, but you did the right thing telling us about this, Eli.
It’s better not to have any surprises in a situation like this.
I’ll be in touch as soon as I know more. ”
“Thanks, Andy,” Nick said.
“You got it. Try to get some sleep. We’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you, Andy,” Eli said. After Nick had ended the call, Eli said, “I would’ve told you sooner if I’d thought it was relevant to the custody case, but juvenile records are sealed, and my other lawyers told me there’s no public record of them.
It hadn’t occurred to me that Cleo would’ve told anyone about it, but I know she and her mom talked every day. ”
“I don’t blame you for not telling us about this before now,” Nick said. “Juvenile records are sealed for a reason. The focus is on rehabilitation and not ruining the life of a young person who made a mistake.”
“Candace wasn’t a mistake,” Eli said fiercely. “I didn’t even know it was illegal for a seventeen-year-old to have sex with a fifteen-year-old. The age of consent in California is eighteen. I found that out the hard way.”
“Is this why you don’t see much of your mother these days?” Sam asked.
Eli nodded. “My dad was so mad that she let this happen, but it wasn’t her fault. We were sneaky teenagers. She had no idea what we were doing.”
“How did Candace’s parents find out?” Sam asked.
“She got a UTI that led to an exam, and when the doctor asked if she was sexually active, she said she was. Her mom blew up right in the doctor’s office and demanded the doctor call the police.”
“I haven’t been a mother very long, but I can’t imagine ever doing that. A fifteen-year-old isn’t a baby, and she was in a loving relationship.”
“Candace’s mother was the queen of the overreaction, from what she told me.
She was super strict and wanted to know where she was every second of every day.
I guess after her dad left her mom, she went a little crazy and wasn’t as vigilant with Candace, which was such a relief to her.
I’ll never understand why she had to call the police. ”
“If I had to guess,” Sam said, “it was probably more about sticking it to the dad for leaving and allowing this to happen than it was about you.”
“And yet I’m the one whose life was nearly destroyed by it.”
“We’re not going to let your life be destroyed,” Nick said fiercely. “We’ll do whatever it takes, including play some hard ball of our own, to keep our family together and to protect you from people who’d harm you to get what they want.”
Nick was never sexier to Sam than when he was in protector mode. The family they’d made for themselves with Scotty, the twins and Eli was the most important thing in Nick’s life, and Sam had no doubt he’d do whatever it took to protect them from harm.
“Are you hungry?” Sam asked Eli.
“A little, but I’m not sure I could eat.”
“Let’s try. What do you feel like?”
“Pizza maybe?”
“Coming right up.” Sam picked up the phone that connected them to butlers twenty-four hours a day and asked for a supreme pizza, knowing that was Eli’s favorite, and a Coke.
“We’ll be up shortly,” the butler replied.
“Thank you so much.”
“A pleasure, ma’am.”
“If there’s one thing to love about the White House, it’s the room service,” Sam said.
“There’s only one thing to love about the White House?” Nick asked, amusement dancing in his gorgeous hazel eyes.
“Well, you live here, so there’s that, too.”
“Oh phew, that’s a relief.”
“I want what you guys have,” Eli said wistfully.
“What my dad and Cleo had. I had that with Candace. I miss her so much. I almost flunked out of school my senior year after all this happened. My dad helped me every night with my schoolwork so I wouldn’t screw up my acceptance to Princeton.
He was there for me every step of the way through the nightmare.
” His eyes filled, and he moved quickly to wipe away tears.
“I never would’ve survived it without him.
He was my best friend, and I miss him so much. ”
Sam went to sit next to Eli, putting her arms around him and holding him as he wept for his father. “I know what you mean. My dad was my best friend, too. There’s no replacing them.”
“Sorry,” he said, attempting to rally. “I don’t mean to dump my shit all over you guys. You’ve already done so much for us.”
“Elijah, we love you and the twins,” Nick said. “There’s nothing you could want or need that’d be too much for us. I know it may seem crazy that we feel that way about you all after such a short amount of time, but it was instantaneous for me.”
“Me, too,” Sam said. “I took one look at those precious babies, and I was sunk. And then I found out they had a wonderful older brother, and that was the best kind of bonus.”
“We love you guys, too, and I don’t want to cause any trouble for you after everything you’ve done for us,” Eli said. “I’d hate that.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Nick said. “All that matters is that you guys and Scotty are safe and happy. The rest is just details we’ll figure out as we go along.”
“Thank you for letting me come here and talk this out with you. After I read that email, I almost had a heart attack.”
“That email was egregious, and we’ll make sure she regrets sending it,” Nick said.
For the first time since he arrived, Elijah cracked a grin. “Don’t eff with President Cappuano or his family.”
“Damn straight, my friend,” Nick said.
“I appreciate having you guys on my side.”
“We’ll always be on your side,” Sam said, “and Andy will do his very best to make this go away.”
“If it gets out, it’ll be embarrassing to you.”
“No, it won’t,” Nick said.
Eli gave him a skeptical look.
“Remember, I’m not running for anything, which makes me somewhat untouchable.
Let them say what they will. I don’t care.
I only care about how it affects you, the kids and Sam.
I don’t care about being hurt politically, so please don’t spend one minute worrying about that.
I fully intend to do my very best for the American people over the next three years, but I refuse to be bullied by people like Cleo’s sister. ”
Eli released a deep breath and seemed to relax ever so slightly.
“Do you feel better after talking about it?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, and I’m glad Andy’s fired up about it.”
“He’s fired up because it’s an awful thing to do to a young man who just lost his father and stepmother in the worst way imaginable,” Nick said.
“If anyone is going to come off looking bad in this situation, it’s Monique and the rest of the family who thought it would be a good idea to use that information against you. ”
“In fact,” Sam added, “I think we ought to find a way to let it slip that they tried to blackmail you.”
“After the case is settled, of course,” Nick said, giving her a stern but amused look.
“Of course,” Sam said.
“You guys are funny,” Eli said, perking up when a knock sounded on the door.
“That’ll be your pizza,” Sam said.
“I’ll get it.” Eli jumped up to greet the butler and thanked him profusely for the late-night meal.
“You’re most welcome,” LeRoy Chastain said as he rolled in the cart that contained cutlery and china. “When you’re done, just put the cart outside the door, and we’ll take care of it for you.”
“Thank you so much, LeRoy,” Sam said.
“A pleasure, ma’am.”
Eli walked him to the door, shook the older man’s hand and closed the door behind him. “This place is the bomb.”
“Don’t say the word ‘bomb’ in the White House,” Nick said with a teasing smile.
Eli laughed, and Sam felt herself relax at the sound of his laughter. She hated to see him upset like he’d been when he first arrived, and she hoped Candace would reach out to him as soon as she could.
It sounded as if the two of them belonged together, and Sam found herself rooting for them to find their way back to each other.