Chapter 14
Huck was trailing Mellie Grant… but, he wasn't the only one.
He had noticed the amateur following the soon to be Ex Mrs. Grant a week before. It was obvious that whoever the guy was he wasn't a professional.
He was surprised the woman hadn't noticed the beat up pick up truck following her through all the fancy places she travelled as the Governor's wife.
It hadn't taken long for him to find out who the guy was. He was driving his own car, registered in his own name.; if that wasn't an amateur move, he didn't know what was.
Ricky Wayne Crawford Jr.
A little more digging and he had found the connection between Ricky Wayne Sr. and Mellie Grants mother.
Her online biography stated that she was born in Georgia and that both her parents had died young. That was a lie. Her father had run off on her mother when she was 10 and her mother was an alcoholic who lived in a backwoods county somewhere in Georgia.
A dig into her financial records had revealed the mother. Mellie had a standing order at a little know bank and sent the woman three grand a month. The money was probably sent to silence the mother…and to kill her. There was no quicker way to send an alcoholic into the goods lords' arms then providing them with enough money to drink themselves to death.
Mellie's mother had a strong constitution though. She had been drinking hard for twenty years and was still alive. She looked like death warmed over, but the old broad was still going. That had to be driving the Governor's wife crazy.
The discovery of her mother and connection to Ricky Wayne Jr. was enough to forward along to his boss Stephen Finch to use as ammunition during the divorce; but he hesitated. Something told him that there was more to this story. Instincts honed over years told him to stay on her; and so, he did.
Cyrus couldn't believe he had been so blind. They were sleeping together. Fitz and Olivia were sleeping together!
They were at the La Guardia waiting to catch a flight from New York back to California when he saw it.
He had fallen asleep the night before talking to James and hadn't had a chance to charge his cell phone before they left the hotel and headed to the airport.
After they checked through security, he had left his luggage with Fitz and Olivia and headed to the far wall to charge his cell phone at one of the many available work stations.
He had been leaning against the wall people watching, when he had looked over at them and seen…it. Fitz's lips were moving as he spoke to Olivia and she was leaning forward to catch what he was saying and as he watched them he just knew.
They were sleeping together.
Shell-shocked he had stayed at the charging station until the announcement that their plane was boarding. Thankfully the three of them were seated in different seats and they all spent the flight working in their individual seats.
They landed in California at around 11 am and decided to take the rest of the day off to recover from the grueling trip and get back to HQ tomorrow.
Cyrus was glad for it. He needed to get his thoughts together. Whom should he confront first, Fitz or Liv? How long had it been going on? And the most important question of them all; why the hell hadn't they told him!
Cy got to HQ early. He was the first in the building.
He hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. The anger he felt at Fitz and Olivia had gone from a simmer to a full-on boil! The steam was practically pouring out of his skin.
James had tried to calm him down but it hadn't worked
"Maybe its none of your business" James had said after he finally tired of hearing Cy complain
"Not my business! Not my business! I am trying to get that asshole into the fucking White House James. Everything he does is my business!"
"Don't speak to me like that Cy!"
So, on top of everything else he had ended up fighting with James. As if he had need another reason to be angry with the two love birds. If it was even love…
He heard the front door of HQ beep indicating that someone had come in to the office. He peeped out his office and was disappointed to see Jeannine heading towards her desk
"Hey Jeannine" he said compelled to follow social norms despite his anger
"Good morning, Cy" she responded perkily
"Could you let me know when the governor gets here?"
"Sure Cy" she said
That was another decision he had made during his late-night rage fest. He was going to confront Fitz first. Fitz got to go in front of the firing squad first; then he would go after Liv
His office phone buzzed and he quickly picked it up
"The Governor is here Cy" Jeannine said
"Thanks Kiddo" Cy responded and quickly hang up the phone. He stood up walked out of his office towards Fitz's office
Fitz was hanging up his coat on the rack located at the back of his office when Cy walked in and shut the door.
Fitz turned at the sound of his door closing and looked at Cy.
Uh oh, he thought when he saw his campaign managers red face.
"I know" Cyrus hissed out
Fitz paused confused for a minute and then caught on. Ah, so Cy new about him and Olivia.
"Who told?" Fitz asked calmly
"No one. I finally stopped wearing blinders and saw it" he gritted out
"Cy you need to calm down…" Fitz started in an attempt to soothe Cy, but he was having none of it.
"What in the hell are you two thinking! Do you know the shit storm this would cause if it got out? I have enough to worry about Fitz without having to deal with a slutty candidate. Couldn't you keep it in your pants until the divorce was final…of all the stupid, idiotic….
"Shut up Cy!" Fitz yelled halting the lecture. "I'm still your fucking boss and you will treat me with some goddamn respect or get the fuck out of my office, understood" Fitz said angrily.
Cyrus had a lot more to say but he heeded the warning and kept his mouth shut. Both men were silent as they stared at each other.
Fitz broke the silence
"Its not an affair Cy. I'm in love with her…I love her" Fitz told him "As soon as the ink dries on my divorce, I am putting a ring on her finger and making her mine. Olivia is going to be my First Lady, Cy"
Cyrus remained silent processing what Fitz had said to him.
"How long has it been going on?" he asked
"A while…couple of months. Don't blame Liv, Cy. I initiated it…I pursued her" Fitz said
Cyrus felt his rage cooling down. He walked over to the nearest chair and sat down.
Fitz followed his cue and walked over from the coat rack to his chair taking a seat.
"I'm getting married" Cyrus suddenly said "I asked James to marry me"
Fitz was stunned. He had no idea things had gotten so serious with James. Guess me and Liv are not the only one keeping secrets.
"Congratulations Cy, I am happy for you"
"Thank you, Governor, I am scared out of mind. He is high maintenance, high strung and completely opposite of me…but I love him" Cyrus said letting out a humorless chuckle
"Then you should be with him Cy" Fitz responded reassuringly.
"Fitz…I know I can be tough on you, but you need to start keeping me in the loop. First the divorce, now this thing with you and Liv…I would have understood. I would have helped…whatever, I don't know" he stopped talking his thoughts jumbled as he tried to explain what he needed to say to Fitz.
"I would have understood…" he repeated softly.
Fitz suddenly felt guilty. Cy was right. He should have told him about Liv. Cyrus Beene had been nothing but supportive and a good friend and he had repaid him by keeping knowledge from him that would help him do his job effectively
"Cy, I am sorry. You're right I should have told you. No more secrets, from now my cards are on the table" Fitz said sincerely
Cy smiled. He believed the Governor
"Thank you Fitz. You're not hiding some illegitimate child somewhere that's going to spring up and bite me in the ass, are you?" Cy joked
"God no! The children are all legitimate, scouts honor" Fitz responded smiling
"Well thank god for that!"
Both men laughed. A soft knock sounded on the door and they both turned as Liv came walking in.
"What's up?" she said smiling. She looked at both men and her smile slipped
"Shit, is something wrong? Is it Sally?" she asked jumping to conclusions
Cyrus stood up smiled walked over to Liv and pulled her into a hug.
Liv stood frozen in place, confused. Why was Cyrus hugging her? Cyrus was not a hugger…
He pulled back looked her in the eye "I'm happy for you Liv, for both of you"
He turned and walked out of the room leaving Liv confused
"What…?" she asked turning to Fitz
"He knows"
"How…Oh, my god who told him?"
"Nobody told him Livvie, he figured it out"
Liv stood silent her thoughts racing a mile a minute. If Cyrus could figure it out without anyone telling him that means that anyone could. She felt panic set in.
Fitz reading her mind stood up, walked over to the door and shut it. He walked over and pulled her into his arms.
"It's okay Livvie, I don't want you to worry about it, remember we are in this together…right?"
She sunk into his arms and nodded into his shoulders, but she couldn't help but worry.