13.
Sam handed Emily a spare helmet before giving her instruction on how to ride pillion on the back of her bike. She looked back at the pretty Brit and momentarily felt bad for Miranda's eldest daughter. She'd hate to try to climb on the back of her bike wearing that skirt. Sam, ever the gentlewoman, averted her eyes as Emily hiked her skirt to a dangerous level as she mounted the Harley.
When she felt Emily's arm secure around her waist, she pulled smoothly into traffic.
Sam spoke into the built-in microphone in her helmet to get Emily's attention.
"Let me know if I'm going to fast."
Emily flinched a little then held on even tighter.
"Are you trying to give me a bloody heart attack," the other woman complained.
"Sorry but there was no other way for me to let you know about the comms in your helmet. Anyway, I thought we'd head to my place so I can pick up a few things first."
When Emily agreed, Sam pointed her bike in the direction of home.
The ride back to her apartment went fairly quickly even with Sam keeping her speed well below her normal frenetic pace. As they moved through the light traffic, Sam did her best to ignore the feel of Emily's curves as the older woman molded herself to Sam's back. Under other circumstances, she would have Emily naked about ten seconds after entering her flat.
There had been an instant and immediate attraction between the two of them from the moment she'd held the redhead against the wall. Emily's willing submission had been an intoxicating turn-on but, that would be as far as things could go for them because of Mia.
Sam's recent separation from the older woman had only served to prove the aphorism that absence makes the heart grow fonder. She missed Mia fiercely and felt certain the older woman felt the same. There were still obstacles for them, but they fell away when compared to the thought of being with her Queen. The smile that played out on her face remained in place until she remembered the woman behind her. She needed to let Emily down easy, and she wasn't looking forward to that.
She pulled the motorcycle into her garage then maneuvered them directly into the large elevator, taking them directly into her loft.
"That was bloody horrifying," Emily said, climbing off of Sam's bike.
"It wasn't bad red," Sam said then chastised herself for still flirting with the pretty redhead.
It was just a part of her nature, though she also knew it wasn't fair to the other woman. She gave Emily a quick tour of her place, making sure to point out the location of the loo. When Emily excused herself, Sam walked over to her closet and grabbed a change of clothing. She slipped out of her leather pants and was in the process of shimming into a pair of Lucky Brand jeans when she heard an audible sigh from her companion. She pulled the denim up and over her hips under Emily's constant gaze.
Sam cleared her throat, pulling Emily out of her trance-like state.
"If you want to get out of that skirt, I can probably find you something to wear," Sam offered.
Sam could not tell if Emily's blush had more to do with seeing her in her undies or from her poorly worded turn of phrase.
Shaking off her evident embarrassment, Emily said, "I don't think you, and I are the same size."
Sam let out a musical laugh before responding, "I think that is the nicest way anyone has ever told me that I have a big ass."
Emily sputtered for a moment before realizing that Sam was merely teasing her.
The glare the PR professional gave sent Sam into a fresh round of laughter.
She walked over to her closet and came back with a pair of true-religion jeans and a cashmere sweater and dropped them on the bed.
"Those should fit you," She told Emily.
When the other woman gave her a questioning look, Sam responded to the unspoken question.
"Those belong to Andy, but they're clean. I promise."
Sam walked over to her kitchen, giving Emily some privacy to change. She sent a quick text to Mia, letting her know that they did need her help and that she would call her in the morning with the details.
Since it was still the middle of the night in Genovia, Sam slipped her phone back into her pocket not waiting for a return text.
"I have to admit you have a good eye," Emily said as she strolled into the kitchen. Sam nodded her head, having already concluded that Andy was only about a size larger than the petite Emily.
She also managed to fight back the flirty response that had been on the tip of her tongue.
"So Andy keeps clothes at your apartment?" Emily questioned.
Sam thought now was a good of a time as any to have this conversation.
"Back when we were a couple, she spent enough time in my apartment that it made sense to keep a few things here."
"So my mother displaced you in Andy's life."
Sam had to laugh again at Emily's ability to tiptoe around a subject.
"We were engaged, but that ended a while ago."
Sam thought it prudent not to bring up the fact that She and Andy had continued to sleep together long after the engagement ended.
"It hurt like hell for a while.
Looking back at it now, things worked out for the best," Sam surmised
"Because of Mia?" Emily asked.
The smile that graced Sam's face was all the answer that was needed.
"So we should probably get going," Sam said eager to change the subject.
"Where are we headed?" Emily asked in a tone that suggested that she too was anxious to move past this awkward moment.
As the duo climbed back on the bike, Sam noted that Emily's grip around her middle was far looser than before.
"I just need to make a quick stop then there's a coffee shop downtown that has great scones,"
"And killer wi-fi," she didn't add.
The quick stop turned out to be a 24-hour shipping service that allowed Sam to accept deliveries anonymously. Minutes later they were back on the bike with her package secured in a saddlebag.
"Oh, this is so good," Sam said after taking a bite of her chocolate scone.
Emily rolled her eyes before taking a sip of her still piping hot coffee.
"OK, where do we start?" Sam asked between bites.
"We start with what we already know," Emily said before pulling a pad and a pen form her oversized purse.
An hour later and they'd sketched out everything they knew about Miranda's life over the past few years. In her neet script, Emily established a rough timeline for the story they were going to spin as the truth.
"OK, now it's your turn. How do we convince the world that Miranda spent the last few years in Genovia and not slumming it in Hell's Kitchen?" Emily asked.
Sam gave the redhead and almost cocky grin before she put one of the packages they'd picked up on the table.
"That's my specialty."
After taking a few minutes to swap the hard drive, she booted up the new computer. She used her face and her long password to unlock the new machine.
"Computer security is a bit of a myth. The only way to make a computer unhackable is to unplug it from the internet then drop it into a hundred feet of water.
There are just degrees of how difficult you can make it for someone like me to get in.
Fortunately for us, most companies do a shit job of guarding their information," Sam said.
"So who are we going to hack?" Emly asked a little too gleefully.
"Slow down there, Snowden.
This isn't a game.
What I'm about to do isn't exactly legal," Sam said that last part just above a whisper.
" I meant what I said, I understand the risk, and I want to help," Emily countered.
"I get that," Sam began but was cut off by the other woman.
"No you don't, I almost lost her and I didn't lift a finger to help."
Both women were quiet for a long moment before Sam spoke, "You're wrong, I get exactly what you're going through.
I was still pretty young when both of my parents died, and I would have done anything to bring them back. Anything to have prevented their deaths in the first place."
Sam was surprised to find tears streaking down her cheeks. Emily allowed Sam a moment to compose herself before placing a hand over stricken woman's.
"I'm sorry," Emily said.
"You are not responsible for what happened to Miranda.
She didn't want anyone's help. Besides, you weren't the one who sacked her or put that fucking box in her apartment," Sam said, regaining her composure.
Sam didn't take Emily's words personally. She really did get it. In so many ways, she and Miranda were a lot alike. That included a need for self-reliance that it bordered on masochistic. Only Andy and Mia made Sam feel safe enough to be vulnerable. She hoped that Miranda would let her guard down enough to let Andy in. She knew from experience that Andy could be trusted and would never let her down. Even when Andy had broken Sam's heart, she'd done it for the right reasons.
She realized that Emily fit into that same category. She needed someone like Mia or Andy, or me to protect her heart.
She had to grin when she realized that she knew the perfect person to introduce to her headstrong new friend.
"What?" Emily asked.
Not ready to have this conversation until she could ask Mia if her first cousin was still single, she moved back to the conversation at hand.
"We start with scrubbing social media of any references to Miranda since the end of the custody hearing."
Sam pulled up program she'd written some time ago to help a friend who had some intimate pictures leaked by her ex. The program was her take on a seek and destroy routine that would go after and eviscerate data that met her chosen parameters.
"All the social sites make it this easy with the way they tag references to known persons," Sam said as she continued typing.
"This little program will identify all reference to Miranda including pictures taken after that date then poof it never existed," she said after hitting enter.
"Just like that?" Emily questioned.
"No, not just like that. It'll take fifteen minutes or so."
Emilly had to laugh at Sam's need for precision.
"What do you want to do in the meantime?" Emily asked.
Sam thought back to her last hacking session and the unanswered questions she had about Gregg Brant's company.
"How much do you know about the twins' father?"
"A little, but I do know someone who knows him a lot better."
Sam took a moment to pull up some of the email's she'd tagged as interesting when she'd hacked into The Brant Companie's system.
"As I said before, Gregg's company was in real financial trouble until they correctly guessed that the Elias Clark stock would tank after Miranda was ousted.
He had to have known that Miranda was going to be fired before it happened.
I've checked his phone records, his meeting schedule, and his emails, but so far the only thing unusual I found were these emails from an anonymous account."
Sam showed Emily the emails in question.
"The emails just contained times and places and were all signed NIC.
Do you know anyone connected to Gregg with those initials?"
Emily looked thoughtful for a long moment then she pulled out her phone and sent a quick text.
"Who are you texting?" Sam inquired.
"My sources," Emily responded cryptically.
Moments later, Emily's phone lit with an incoming FactTime call.
She answered the phone and instantly got an earful.
"Where have you been?
We text.
We call, and nothing."
"You had us worried," a near-identical voice added.
"Sorry Girls, I've," Emily began but was quickly cut off.
"Nevermind. Have you talked to Mom?
She called us, but now her phone isn't working."
Sam grimaced before taking Emily's phone, "that may have been my fault."
"Who the hell are you?" the angrier of the two girls asked.
"Girls be nice, this is Sam.
Sam the foul mouth one is Cassidy and the slightly less vulgar one is Caroline."
"She's pretty," Cassidy said.
"Yeah, Is she your new girlfriend?" Caroline asked.
Before Emily could formulate a response, Cassidy added, "Yeah it's about time you got over Serena. She's a real cu..."
"Language, You girls are worst than I was as a teenager," Sam interrupted.
"Thanks, I guess. Now seriously who the fuck are you."
Sam couldn't help but laugh at the girls blunt questioning.
"Like Emily said, I'm Sam. I'm a friend who's trying to help your mom."
When both girls looked at Emily for confirmation, the other woman confirmed Sam's declaration.
"OK, how can we help?" the girls asked in unison.
"Does your dad have any friends with the initials NIC?" Sam asked.
The girls looked at each other for a long moment before they responded.
"There not initials. Nic is short for Nichole or Nikki as Dad calls her. She's his girlfriend, but we're not supposed to know that."
Emily and Sam gave each other a meaningful look knowing that this piece of information was important.
"How do you know she's his girlfriend if you aren't supposed to know?" Emily asked.
"She's noisy," Caroline answered.
When both adults made a face, the girl clarified, "On the stairs. You two are gross."
They spent a few more minutes grilling the girls on everything they knew about the secret girlfriend.
Which wasn't much beyond a basic description, blonde, pretty, big boobs, bad attitude.
They also added that she had some kind of European accent.
Sam promised that there Mom's phone would be working by tomorrow and Emily promised to let them know if there was any other way for them to help.
"Thanks for trying to help our Mom," Caroline said.
"Yeah and thank Andy for us too," Cassidy added.
"Sure girls," Sam said.
"Is Andy Mom's secret girlfriend?" Caroline asked.
"Damn, girls you really know how to cut to the chase.
"Talk to your mom about it. I'm sure she'll answer all of your questions," Sam added.
They said their goodbyes before Emily ended the call.
"Nikki," they both echoed.
Forty minutes later, Sam had exhausted all of the publicly available sources of information but came up with little that could further identify Nichole / Nikki.
"I'm going to have to look elsewhere to identify her," Sam explained.
When Emily asked how, Sam pulled up an internal website meant for State Department employees.
"Last chance to back out," Sam offered.
Emily rolled her eyes.
"OK, I get it, you're a badass," Sam laughed.
"I'll need to do this again later to alter Miranda's passport records, but this would be a good dry run," Sam thought to herself.
She started to launch her standard password hacking program before deciding to try something first. She'd gone to college with the guy who was now responsible for keeping the State Department's data safe. The thing about Herbie Trent was that he singularly the laziest person she'd ever come across. In college, he would always build a backdoor into all of his programs, which was not unusual for good programmers. The difference, in his case, was his tendency to use the same password over and over again.
Working on a hunch, she typed the username and password he'd used in college.
Username: Herbie53
Password: HerbieTHELOVEBUG
"No fucking way," Sam said as the password was instantly accepted.
She shook her head in disbelief and made a note to herself to delete this backdoor account once she was done using it. She was patriotic-ish after all.
An hour later, Emily texted the girls screenshots of the seven Nichole's that fit the description, plausible age range, and location. The response was just as quick this time as the girls identified the mystery woman as Nichole Devereaux.
Sam said the name a couple of times, thinking that it sounded familiar to her. A little bit of digging into her past and all of Sam's warning lights were now flashing red.
Nichole Devereaux was the niece to one Viscount Maybrey, Mia's chief adversary in the Genovian Parliament. There had even been a brief conflict when the Viscount attempted to assert Nichole's legitimacy for the crown. The claim was absurd given Mia's father had been king and Nichole was a more distant Renaldi.
"This is bad," Sam said, then explained the connections to Emily.
"What do you think all this means?" Emily asked.
Thinking out loud Sam asked, "How does Gregg fit into all of this?"
"I think it has something to do with money," Emily speculated.
Sam stayed silent for a moment as her mind quickly ran through several potential scenarios.
"I think you're right. Gregg's company deals with billions of dollars a year. The judges that got paid off all had ties to industries that are ripe with money laundering.
I always wondered why they were so interested in Elias Clark.
More importantly, why was it so crucial to their plan that Miranda be fired."
"Do you have a guess," Emily prompted.
In answer, Sam stood and took a few steps then turned and took a few more.
"Runway has been keeping Elias Clark afloat for years now.
With Miranda out, that came to a screaming halt causing the stock to dive.
Gregg, Stephen, and Irv took advantage of their inside knowledge to profit from the stock dive by selling the stock before the dive in one case and betting the stock would fall in the other.
Now they are buying back the severely damaged stock.
The question is why," Sam concluded.
Emily raised an eyebrow but did nothing to impede Sam's flow of consciousness.
"They know something."
Sam sat down and pulled her laptop close and began typing furiously.
"Elias Clark is currently trading at $17 a share down from a high of $145 a share during Miranda's last year at EC.
Next week the company is set to release quarterly earnings.
Given the past few earnings reports, it should be dreadful, causing the stock to tank even further.
"But"
"But, What?" Emily questioned.
"But, what if next week's report said the opposite.
What if they showed a significant uptick in sales and a return to profitability."
"Have you seen the latest issues of Runway?
There's no way they are flying off the shelf," Emily countered.
"That's just it, Emily.
That's the common denominator.
Gregg's company, Elias Clark, hell even the two corrupt judges' side business."
When Emily remained silent, Sam said, "This is about money laundering,"
Who's Money? Emily asked.
"Mia's, Sam said gravely.
AN: One more piece of the puzzle revealed. Poor Emily met the right girl but at the wrong time. Never fear Emily will find her Princess Charming before we're done. Sam's going to be on the warpath because you do not fuck with Sam's Queen. I really like the foul-mouthed Priestly twins. For some unknown reason, It is easy for me to find their voice. We'll see more Miranda and Andy in the next chapter along with two more familiar faces as I do my best to reference every relationship I enjoy reading. Anyways let me know what you think.