Alexander
Alexander
A lex ran out of his office, waving the papers in his hand around like a madman. “We’ve got him, honey,” he said. He had been combing the thumb drive that Evie had given them for weeks now, and every night that he took Nova home with no new information, it broke his heart.
Every Saturday, when they picked up Jack, Nova lit up. And when they had to drop him back off on Sunday afternoon, he held her while she cried and told him that it wasn’t fair that they had to give him back to Simon. He agreed it wasn’t fair, but he just wasn’t finding the information that he needed on the drive that Evie stole from his firm—until today.
“We’ve got who?” Nova asked.
“Simon,” he said, “we've got the evidence that we need to put him behind bars for a damn long time. He bribed the lawyer who worked with you to do a shitty job, and he bribed the judge, just for good measure. He’s bribed half the judges in the county—Evie was right, it’s all right here. It was just encrypted on the drive and took a bit of digging to get to it,” he admitted.
“That’s fantastic,” she said. “Does that mean that I’m going to get Jack back for good?” she asked.
“I’m guessing that’s the case,” he said. “If your ex is in prison, the court will have no choice but to give him back to you.”
“What do we do next?” she asked.
“Next, I need you to trust me,” he breathed, pulling her into his arms. “Can you do that?” he asked.
“Already done,” she promised.
“Good,” he said. “I have a plan. I’m going to set up an appointment with the judge from your custody case. I think that I’ll be able to convince him to give me an arrest warrant for Simon. Then, I’ll show him the evidence I have for him accepting a bribe, and hopefully, he’ll reverse his decision in your case.”
“It’s that easy?” Nova asked.
“It can be,” he said. “Just depends on how the judge takes the news that he’s been caught with his pants down. If this works, Jack will be back home tonight,” he said.
“I don’t want to get my hopes up,” Nova said. “I’ve been disappointed before and I can’t take that again. Just get my son back, Alex,” he said, “and put my scumbag ex away for a damn long time.” He nodded and grabbed his car keys. He was going to do his damn best to bring Jack back to her tonight, just as he promised, but first, he was going to need a meeting with the judge. He’d head over to the courthouse and demand to see him. If his secretary refused, he’d just sit in his office until he showed up. One way or another, he’d get his meeting tonight.
Judge Reinhold was avoiding him, he knew it, but sooner or later he’d have to come back to his chambers to grab his stuff to head home for the night. He sat across from the judge’s secretary, staring her down, and he could tell that he wasn’t phasing the woman at all. This probably wasn’t the first time she had an angry lawyer staring her down, and she handled the pressure like a champ.
“I’d really love to tell you that he’ll be back, but you staring me down isn’t going to make that happen, Mr. McTavish. How about you leave your information and I’ll give him the message,” she promised.
“I’d rather hang out and wait for him,” he said. “I’m betting he’ll need to change out of his robes before heading home for the night and what I need to discuss with him can’t wait,” he said.
“Suit yourself,” she said.
“You know, if you ever find yourself in need of a job, please stop by my office,” he said.
“Thanks, but I’m happy here,” she said. He decided against telling her that she might not have a job to be happy at for much longer. Once he got the judge to sign off on Nova’s custody case, he planned on turning in the evidence he had incriminating all of the judges that Simon and his firm paid off. He’d clean out the whole damn courthouse if he had to.
“Noted,” he said. He sat back in his seat as the door flew open to Judge Reinhold’s chambers. Alex stood and the guy looked about ready to turn around to leave. Smart man, but Alex wouldn’t allow him to do that.
“I think you’re going to want to talk to me, Judge,” he said. “It’s about Simon Meyers and his financial issues. I think that you’ll want to hear my proposition before I head next door to the precinct.”
“Hold my calls,” he said to his secretary. “In fact, you should just head home for the night. It’s almost quitting time.” She nodded, stood, and gathered her stuff.
“Thank you,” she said, leaving the room through the big double doors.
“What’s this all about McTavish?” he asked.
“Well, it’s actually about the Meyers custody case,” he admitted. “I’m here on Nova Ray’s behalf. You see, I’ve found evidence that you might have received a monetary benefit to rule in Simon Meyer’s favor. I also have evidence that he paid off Ms. Ray’s lawyer to do a bad job representing her. Furthermore, I have found evidence that Mr. Meyers and his firm have been paying off judges for a long time now.”
“What do you want from me, McTavish?” Judge Reinhold asked.
“I’d like for you to do the right thing and issue a warrant for Mr. Meyer’s arrest. I’d also like for you to reopen the custody case and grant full custody to Ms. Ray since her ex-husband will be spending a very long time in prison for bribing a federal officer of the law.”
The judge nodded, “And what will happen to me?” he asked.
“I have no idea, Your Honor,” he lied. He honestly couldn’t tell the man his future, but he planned on turning over the thumb drive and letting the local authorities decide what to do with him. “I have no plans on doing anything to you.” That part was true. Whatever happened to the judge from here on out was on the arresting officer and court who issued his verdict.
“All right,” he said. “I’m assuming that you’ve brought all of the paperwork with you.” Alex handed him the two documents that he needed to be signed. Once he was done, Alex would head over to the police station to give them the warrant for arrest and ask for backup when he picked up Jack. He had a feeling that the little guy would be pretty upset if he had to watch his father being arrested. Alex would have to get him out of the house before that happened and he was sure that Simon would put up quite a fight.
Judge Reinhold signed the papers and handed them back to Alex. “Thank you,” he said.
“What happens now?” he asked.
“Now, I head over to the police station and give them these. Then, I’m going to take Nova Ray’s son back to her. You tore apart a good woman from her little boy and that’s something that you’ll have to live with, judge. For now, I’m going to enjoy making sure that no dishonest judge sits on the bench again,” he said.
“But you said that you didn’t have plans for me,” the judge said. He could see the panic in the man’s eyes, and he almost felt bad for the guy.
“Right,” Alex said. “I don’t know what the police will have planned for you once I turn over the evidence against you. That’s between you and them.” He stood and turned to walk out of the judge’s chamber.
“Wait—isn’t there anything that I can do to change your mind?” he shouted after Alex.
“No,” Alex said, not bothering to look back at the guy. There would be no changing his mind. Nova suffered for so long now without her little boy and this was one small way he could help her seek justice for what happened to her. There would be no changing his mind at all.
Nova met him in the entryway and gasped when she saw that he had little Jack in tow. She pulled her son into his arms and kissed him all over his face, making him giggle. “Is he here to stay?” she asked.
“He is,” Alex said. “For good.” He could see how emotional Nova was and he needed to talk to her without Jack’s little ears listening in.
“How?” Nova asked.
“Hey buddy,” Alex said, messing up his hair. Her son smiled up at him and he couldn’t help but smile back. He was so much like Nova; he instantly fell in love with the kid. “How about you watch some television, buddy, while I talk to your mommy?” he asked.
Jack smiled, nodding his little head. “Can I?” he asked his mom.
“Sure, honey,” she agreed. “But just one show and then, you can help me make dinner.”
“Yay,” Jack shouted, pumping his fist in the air. He ran off to the family room and as soon as Nova heard the television turn on, she turned to Alex.
“Spill it,” she ordered.
“I missed you,” he said, pulling her into his arms and covering her mouth with his own.
“I missed you too,” she admitted when he broke the kiss. “But I’ve been dying to find out how your meeting went.”
“Well, I met with the judge, and he was willing to help me. He’s issued a warrant for Simon’s arrest from the evidence that I presented him, and I think that the charges will stick.”
“Evie’s research and evidence worked,” she said. “I just hate that she lost her job because she helped me.”
“It did help. In fact, if it wasn’t for her evidence, we’d have no case against Simon at all. Evie saved Jack,” he said. “You know, I offered her a job at my firm, and she refused.”
“She did?” Nova asked.
“Yep,” Alex said, “she said that she doesn’t want to be a charity case. I tried to tell her that there was no way that she could be a charity case, but she refused to listen to reason.”
“I’ll talk to her,” Nova insisted.
“Actually, I think I have a better idea,” he said.
“You look like you’re hatching a plan, Alex,” she breathed. “I love it when you have a plan.”
“I am,” he admitted. “My brother is single and he’s starting with the firm in a month. He’ll need a paralegal and well, that’s where Evie will come in.”
“Wait, I’m confused,” Nova said. “Are you saying that we should fix Evie and Rod up or we should get him to hire her?”
“Both,” Alex said. “Why can’t we do both? We’ll just have to be a little bit sneaky, crafty, and conniving,” he said.
“All my favorite things to be,” Nova teased. “When do we make this plan happen?” she asked.
“Well, I just got the call from the courthouse that full custody of Jack has been returned to you,” he said.
“The judge has agreed to do that?” Nova asked.
“He has, but it will take a week or so before the paperwork is legally filed. First, Simon has to be arrested, then we can petition the court to show that he’s an incompetent parent and not a good role model for his young son. The judge has already signed off on your paperwork, granting you full custody of Jack.”
“How did you get him to agree to all of that?” she asked.
“I assured him that his name would be left off the list of judges who were paid off by Simon’s firm,” he admitted.
“You blackmailed him?” she asked.
He shrugged, “I did,” he said. “But it’s only blackmail if I follow through, honey. I lied to him. There’s no way that I will let him get away with what he did to you and Jack. In fact, I’ve already turned in his name with the list of other judges who accepted bribes from Simon’s firm.”
She giggled, “Of course. So, we’ll put our secret plan in motion, to put your brother and Evie together, in a week or so, after the paperwork is filed”
“Not quite,” he breathed. “We’ll hook Rod and Evie up after we get back from our honeymoon.” She looked up at him, tears already pooling in her blue eyes.
“Honeymoon?” she whispered.
“Yep, I figured we’d be able to go someplace kid-friendly—maybe Disneyland or someplace that Jack would love to visit. After all, if I’m marrying his mom, I’m going to have to convince him that I’m worthy, right?”
“Marrying his mom?” she questioned.
“Yes, honey,” Alex said. He got down on one knee in front of her and took her hands into his own. “Marry me, Nova,” he said. He wasn’t sure if he was asking or demanding, but she didn’t seem to care.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I’d love to marry you, Alex.” He stood and pulled her into his arms, spinning around his foyer with her. Alex loved the way she squealed and giggled as he spun around.
“You think Jack will like Disney?” he asked, putting her down.
She quickly nodded, “I think that Jack will love Disney, and I would too. I’ve never been before.”
“Me either,” Alex admitted.
“You’ve never been to Disney?” she asked.
“Nope,” he said. “I guess life just got in the way. Plus, my grandfather would have never been caught dead in Disney. He took us to Europe when he wanted to get away. It was nice but stuffy, you know?”
“I have no idea,” she admitted. “I’ve never been to Europe either.”
“Well, we can rectify that soon enough,” he promised. “As long as you say you’ll marry me, I’ll take you wherever you want to go, baby,” he promised.
“I’ll marry you, Alex,” she said again. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but he had found the missing piece of his life. He’d found his heart in the form of one beautiful, naughty assistant and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
The End