The mood in CJ's office was jubilant. Josh and Donna sat on the
couch, arms wrapped
firmly around each other, finally allowing themselves to believe that
this nightmare might
actually be close to an end. Sam wrapped Ainsley in a big bear hug
and whispered, "We
did it, we really did it," over and over again in her ear while she
giggled gleefully. CJ and
Toby locked eyes across the office and shared a wry smile, each
understanding exactly
what the other was thinking and wanting to savor this moment. This
was what they had
all been working so hard for. This was the moment in which they knew
they had won.
Mandy would not be successful. And not only that, but she would pay,
and pay big for
what she had done to Donna.
Toby wanted the moment to last forever but he knew full well that
there was still a lot of
work to be done. "I'm going to meet with Chad to collect hard copies
of all of the
evidence he dug up." he said, "Then I'm going to call Jack Harmon
back and give him
the news. I think he will be very happy to know that we have located
the money missing
from the Lennox Chase accounts."
"Good idea." CJ said. "As soon as you get your hands on the proof, we
need to get it over
to Mark Wilkins at justice. We also need to get him everything we
have on the
irregularities with Senator Russell's re-election fund. Do you have
printed copies of the
information you dug up this afternoon, Donna?"
When she didn't get a response, CJ glanced over at the couch and saw
that Donna was
still wrapped in Josh's arms. She could tell by the shaking of her
shoulders that Donna
was crying, but for the first time in a long time, CJ was certain
that they were tears of
happiness. Josh was stroking her hair and gently rubbing her back all
of the while cooing
softly in her ear. CJ hated to interrupt but she needed the
information.
"Donna?" she asked again more softly.
"Yes?" Donna said looking up but not removing herself from Josh's
arms.
"Do you have copies of the information that you got on Senator
Russell's campaign funds
this afternoon?"
"Yes, I do." Donna said, picking up the stack of papers lying beside
her on the couch.
"All I need to do is make a few more phone calls to confirm some of
these numbers..."
"Why don't you let me do that?" Sam said gently, reaching out and
taking the papers
from her hand. "I think you need to go home and get a little rest.
It's been a long day."
"No, really. I'm ok..." Donna protested as she wiped the tears from her
face.
"Please," Sam said softly. "I want to do this. I'll make a few calls.
It's not a big deal."
"Thanks, Sam." Donna said, "I really appreciate it."
"No problem," Sam assured her.
"I need to get copies of all of the information you get from Chad
ASAP." Ainsley said
turning to Toby. "If the evidence is as iron clad as he claims it is,
I should be able to use
it to convince the DA to drop all of the charges against Donna."
"Thank God," they all said in unison.
Toby noticed that Josh hadn't said much since entering CJ's office.
"Josh?" he said eyeing his friend warily. "You've been awfully quiet
this evening. Is
anything wrong?"
"Not really," Josh began, pausing momentarily trying to decide the
best way to break the
news. "The fact is I went to see Mandy this afternoon."
"You what?" Five shocked voices asked in unison.
"I went to pay Mandy a visit," he said. "I had a few things I needed
to clear up with her.
A few things I wanted to say to her face to face while I had a
chance." Josh said.
"Is she still alive?" Toby asked with a smile.
"She was when I left." Josh smirked. "Although it sounded as though
she was hurling the
entire contents of her office against the door as I was walking down
the hall."
"What were you hoping to accomplish by seeing her? CJ asked.
"I needed to look her in the eyes and ask her why she did this. I
needed to hear her
answers for myself. And most of all, I needed to see her face when
she realized that she
had failed. That Donna was strong enough to survive and that we would
get through this
together."
Josh tightened his grip on Donna as he continued. "I also told her
that in some twisted
way, I owed her a thank you. She finally forced me to admit how I
really felt. I might
have stayed in denial about my feelings for Donna forever. And heaven
knows she
probably would have given up on me and moved on long before I wised
up."
"I would never have given up on you." Donna said as she planted a
kiss on his cheek.
Josh smiled at her, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was going. It was
kind of a spur of the
moment thing."
"That's ok," Donna said. "I understand."
"So how did she react to the news?" Sam asked.
"Well, like I said," Josh laughed, "She was throwing things when I
left."
Toby couldn't help smiling. He was glad that Josh had gotten his
chance to have his say
with Mandy, but now it was time to put the rest of the plan into
action.
"Okay then," he said. " It's time to finish the job that Josh has so
ably begun for us. Let's
get to work. We have a lot to do before morning. Ainsley, I'm on my
way to meet with
Chad, would you like to join me?"
"Definitely," Ainsley said gathering up her things and following Toby
out of the office.
"Let's go get the evidence we need so I can go to the DA."
Sam rose from the chair "I'll make these calls from my office." he
said, "I'll let you
know what I find out, CJ."
"Thanks." CJ with a mischievous grin "I have a few phone calls of my
own to make."
"Are you up to something?" Sam asked warily.
"Always." CJ said
"Long live the sisterhood" Donna said without lifting her head off of
Josh's shoulder.
Sam rolled his eyes as he left the office mumbling something to
himself about Operation
Porter.
CJ looked at Josh and Donna sitting on the couch. They both looked
exhausted. "Hey,
why don't you two call it a night? I think we have everything under
control here. Go
home and get some rest. I'll let you know was soon as there is
anything to report."
"Excellent idea." Josh said without putting up even the smallest
argument.
"Are you sure?" Donna asked, "Isn't there something I should be
doing? You are all
doing so much for me-I feel like I should be doing more."
"Nonsense, Donna. The only thing we want you to do is to take care of
yourself. So go
home, let Josh buy you a nice dinner, then just relax. Tomorrow is
going to be a big day."
"If you're sure." Donna said, secretly loving the idea of going home
and putting her feet
up.
"I'm sure." CJ said.
"Ok." Donna agreed. "But you promise you'll call if you need
anything?"
"I promise," CJ said "Now go."
Josh went to his office to collect his things and on the way back
through the bullpen he
grabbed Donna's coat and bag. Meanwhile, Donna lingered in the
doorway of CJ's
office.
"Thanks, CJ." she said "And I mean for everything. You've been a real
rock through this
whole ordeal and I will never be able to tell you how much I
appreciate it."
"No problem," CJ said, "Just defending the sisterhood."
"No," Donna said, "It's gone way above and beyond that. I don't know
how I can ever
thank you."
"No thanks needed. Now you go home and get some rest ok?"
"OK. Goodnight."
Josh came up behind Donna and slipped an arm protectively around her
waist. "Ready to
go?" he asked.
"Yep." She said as smiled up at him with a look of absolute adoration.
"Goodnight CJ," they said in unison as they headed across the bullpen
arm in arm.
"Goodnight," CJ said watching them leave with a wistful smile.
Toby and Ainsley spotted Chad sitting in a corner booth as soon as
they entered
Houlihan's. In front of him, on the table, sat a large stack of
computer printouts.
He was so engrossed in what he was reading that he didn't notice them
until they were
standing right beside him.
"Oh, hi," he said
"Hello." Toby answered. "Tell us what you've got."
By now, Chad was used to Toby's habit of getting right to the point.
"Well, I was just sitting here marveling at the absolute brilliance
of it. She almost pulled
it off. It was just simple mistake that brought the entire thing
crashing down."
"It usually always is." Toby said
"True." Chad replied
"Pardon me for being slow," Ainsley said "But which little mistake
was it that tripped her
up?"
"Answering her own phone." Toby said with a smile while Chad laughed
in agreement.
"Let me lay it all out for you." Chad said shifting in his seat and
flipping through the
paperwork in front of him. "Mandy was very familiar with the computer
system at
Lennox Chase from the time she spent working there. She knew that
there was a soft
spot."
"A soft spot?" Ainsley asked.
"Yes," Chad explained. "A portal where she could get in past the
security system. She
used the knowledge she had to get in and to siphon money slowly out
of their so-called
"soft-accounts." Accounts that she knew would draw the least amount
of attention. Then
she entered in a few dummy entries to make it look as though the
money had disappeared
legitimately."
"Wouldn't those dummy entries eventually be discovered?" Ainsley
asked.
"Of course they would," Toby said. "But my guess is that by then, she
intended to be in
the Cayman's keeping her money company."
"You're probably right," Chad said.
"Ok, please continue." Ainsley said.
"All right," Chad went on. "After she had the money out of the Lennox
Chase accounts,
she set up an off shore account in the Cayman's. That wasn't
difficult at all I'm sure. The
reason people choose the Cayman's is because they have a very
liberal "don't ask/don't
tell" policy about where the money came from. Then it was a simple
matter of getting the
money there."
"So that's where Donna comes in." Ainsley said as the whole plan
began to be very clear
to her.
"Exactly." Toby said, "She saw a chance to kill two birds with one
stone. She could get
back at Donna and make herself rich at the same time. She used
Donna's bank account as
a front to move the money off to the Cayman's."
"Right." Chad said, "Except she made a very important mistake. She
ran all of the money
through Ms. Moss's account during a very short period of time. Three
dates to be exact.
And three dates that just happen to coincide with dates on which
large sums of money
disappeared from Lennox Chase accounts. Then she went back and
altered the bank
records to make it look as if the transactions had taken place over a
longer period of time.
She assumed, apparently correctly, that the police and the DA would
simply follow the
flow of money out of the accounts without really looking to closely
at where it came in."
"Was someone at the bank in on it with her?" Ainsley asked
"I don't think so." Chad said. "The bank was a customer of Simmons
and West. I think
she simply used her position there to get a hold of their password
information. She then
broke into their system and used a particular teller's information to
complete the
transactions. She was very careful to use the same teller information
every time. No
doubt she thought that, even if someone did manage to track the
deposits, the police
would simply assume that the teller was Donna's accomplice."
"No doubt." Toby said.
"Once she had the bank misinformation in place," Chad continued, "she
started on the
credit card companies and the landlord. Making it look like the rent
had never been paid
was fairly easy. The landlord only offered online payment as a
convenience. It was a
secure site but far from impenetrable. She simply got into the system
and deleted the
confirmation numbers. She left the money in the landlords account.
She knew that
eventually they would realize that the money was indeed there, but
she figured that by the
time they did, it would be too late."
"Amazing." Ainsley said shaking her head. "Absolutely amazing."
"And don't even get me started on the credit card companies." Chad
said shaking his
head in disgust. "Those computers are an absolute cesspool. They
can't see a mistake if
it's staring them right in the face. She just got in there and
overloaded the system with
fake transactions The credit card providers are notorious for being
easy to hack in to."
"But you managed to get it all tracked right?" Toby asked. "We need
to be able to prove
that every one of these entries is fake."
"Don't worry." Chad said patting the stack of papers in front of
him. "It's all right here.
Every single transaction."
"But I still don't understand how Mandy answering her own phone was
her downfall."
Ainsley asked quizzically.
"Simple," Chad said. "You see, she was very good at covering her
tracks. When we first
followed the evidence back to Simmons and West, we assumed that
someone had used
them as a pass through. As a front. They would have been an obvious
choice because of
the kind of business they are in. Who knows how many blind alleys we
would have gone
down trying to figure out who was behind all this. Searching for this
kind of evidence is
like looking for a needle in a haystack. That's why the damage that
comes from cyber-
crime is so devastating. The shear volume of misinformation that can
be perpetrated in a
few seconds is mind-boggling. Mandy made it much easier on us by
giving us a place to
focus our search. If she hadn't answered her own phone that day, we
might still not even
know she worked there."
"Well then, thank heavens she did." Ainsley said.
"Amen," Toby answered.
"So, here you go" Chad said pushing the files toward Toby. "This
should be everything
you need. I've laid it all out step by step so no one should have any
problem following it.
You're going to take it to the police I assume?"
"Eventually," Toby said. "But first I have a little plan of my own
for Mandy."
"Well, I'm gonna take it to the DA first thing in the morning. It
should be plenty of proof
for him to drop the charges against Donna."
"Good," Chad said, "If anyone has any other questions or if you need
anything else, Toby
knows how to get in contact with me."
"Thanks again," Toby said as Chad stood up to leave. Suddenly he had
an idea, "Would
you like to be there when Mandy goes down?"
"Just let me know where and when," Chad said, smiling as he walked
away.
"Are you headed back to the White House?" Toby asked Ainsley as he
took some money
from his wallet and dropped it on the table.
"Yeah, I need to talk to Sam." She answered.
"Ok then, let's go."
CJ knocked lightly on the door then poked her head into Sam's office.
"How's it going?" she asked.
"Great." Sam said with a broad smile. "I think we have just about
everything we need.
I'm just waiting for one more fax to come in. Then we will have
irrefutable proof that
there are over 4 million dollars missing from Senator Russell's
campaign fund."
"Great" CJ said "Because my friend at justice has been tracking the
influx of money into
Mandy's Cayman's account. All we need to do is match up the dates and
we will be set."
"Well, that's good to hear" Toby said, as a startled CJ jumped
backwards almost falling
into his arms. "Because between that and what we have, I'd say its
time to drop the net."
"So, I take it the two of you had a successful meeting with Chad." CJ
said after she
regained her composure.
"Very much so. I think we're ready to go. I say we close in
tomorrow." Toby said
triumphantly.
"Can't be too soon for me," CJ said.
"Amen," Sam and Ainsley agreed.
"I have to go call Jack Harmon and fill him in. Then I'm going to
talk to your friend over
at justice, CJ. When we have a firm plan in place, I'll let everyone
know."
With that, Toby turned and walked towards his own office.
"Great," CJ said. "And I suggest that we all go home and get some
rest. Tomorrow is
going to be "our day of jubilee" and we should all be awake enough to
enjoy it."
"Good idea." Sam said. "I'll be heading out as soon as my fax comes."
"I'll wait here with you," Ainsley said "Just to make sure I have all
the available facts to
present to the DA."
"OK" CJ said rolling her eyes. "I'll see you both in the morning." As
she turned to leave,
she saw Sam and Ainsley, eyes locked, grinning shyly at each
other. 'Oh great,' she
thought, 'Here we go again.'
"That was yummy." Donna said as she carried the dirty dishes to the
kitchen.
"Yes it was," Josh said "And to think, I ordered it all by myself."
"Oh my," Donna laughed. "You must be worn out from the exhaustion of
it all. Maybe
you should go rest on the couch while I finish cleaning up."
"No, no. I'll help. I just wanted to make sure I got credit for all
my hard work." He
smirked.
"You're a saint." Donna laughed as she set the dishes in the sink. "I
don't deserve you."
When she turned around Josh was standing directly in front of her
with a look that
Donna found impossible to read.
"Don't say that." He said firmly. "Don't ever say that you don't
deserve me. I'm the one
who isn't deserving Donna. I want you to always remember that."
Donna's first instinct was to make a smart remark but the look in
Josh's eyes were so
intense that she didn't dare.
"Why would you say that, Josh? Why would you ever say that you don't
deserve me?"
"Because it's true, Donna. You could do much better than me."
"There is no one better than you, Josh." Donna said sincerely.
The look in Josh's eyes told her everything she needed to know. It
erased any doubts she
might have had about his feelings for her. She leaned in and placed a
sweet gentle kiss on
his lips. She knew that she was ready to take their relationship
farther. She also knew that
Josh was holding back because he didn't want to push her. She decided
that she would
have to take the lead.
"I don't think you need to sleep on the couch tonight," she said
softly.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean are you really sure, Donna. I don't
want to rush you
into anything."
"I'm sure." She said breathlessly.
Slowly, they turned and walked towards the bedroom, turning out
lights as they went.
Josh sat on the bed while Donna went into the bathroom. He knew what
he wanted, he
had no doubts. But he didn't want to rush Donna. He wanted her to be
ready. She was
finally making some real progress and he didn't want to do anything
that would interfere
with that. Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and Donna stepped out.
"What in the hell did you do?" Josh asked staring at Donna's right
hand.
"I took my splints off. I couldn't stand them anymore."
"Put them back on! The Dr. didn't say you could take them off."
"I'm fine, Josh. Look, they can bend and everything." she said
flexing her fingers. "And
they hardly hurt anymore."
"Donna, please" Josh said moving over to stand directly in front of
her. "I want you to
take care of yourself. You shouldn't take the splints off till the
Dr. says it's ok."
"I'm fine, Josh. Besides," she said seductively "I need this hand."
"For what?" he asked unable to control his curiosity.
"For this," she said as she grasped the back of his head and pulled
his lips down to hers.
The kiss started out softly but quickly deepened. When they came up
for air, Donna
began planting a line of kisses across the bridge of his nose and to
his ear.
Josh shuddered when Donna began to nibble on his ear.
"And for this," she whispered as her hand moved down and found its
way under Josh's
shirt.
The feel of her warm hand on his bare chest made Josh moan. His sense
of resolve was
fading quickly.
"Donna," he moaned. "Are you sure?"
Donna didn't answer but simply moved her hand lower yet until she
reached the front of
Josh's pants.
"And for this." She said as she ran her hand over Josh's arousal.
"Oh, God" he said wrapping his arms tightly around Donna and moving
her towards the
bed. "I love you, Donna."
"I love you too, Josh."
"I don't care what he's doing" Mandy screamed into the phone, "You
tell Senator Russell
to call me back right away or he'll be sorry!! Do you understand me?"
She disconnected the phone and hurled it at the wall.
'This isn't happening' she thought. 'There is no way this is going to
fall apart. I will not
be left holding the bag. It won't happen. I had this all planned. How
could it have gone so
wrong? My plan was foolproof. Except for the one thing I never
counted on, the one
variable that I never even considered. It never crossed my mind that
Josh really loved the
little witch. I wasn't even sure that Mr. Wrapped-Up-In-Himself was
capable of those
kinds of feelings. I certainly never dreamed that he would pull out
all the stops to save
her, that he would get so many other people involved.'
She reached for the room's phone book and looked up the number she
wanted.
'Well they aren't going to get me. I've got everything I need waiting
for me in the
Cayman's. All I need is a couple of days to wrap things up here and
then I'm off. I'll
never have to deal with these idiots again. Let Josh live happily
ever after with the bitch.
See if I care. I'll be sitting pretty in the Cayman's with all the
money and well built pool
boys that a girl could ask for.'
The ringing of the phone startled her back to reality. She had to go
to the other room
since she had hurled the phone from the living room against the wall.
"Hello," she barked.
"Hello, Mandy" came Lloyd Russell's tight voice over the phone.
"Well, hello Lloyd," she said sarcastically "How nice of you to get
back to me so
promptly."
"I need to see you," he said wanting to avoid a long dramatic
conversation. "In my office
tomorrow. 1:00 PM.
"I'll be there." She said and hung up the phone.
Lloyd Russell hung up the phone and turned to the man standing across
the desk from
him "It's done. She'll be here," he said.
"Perfect," Toby said. We'll be waiting for her.
Josh and Donna were lying naked and content, wrapped in each other's
arms. Both of
them knew that they had to get up and get going, but neither wanted
to leave the bed.
"Josh?" Donna said without raising her head off of his chest.
"Hmmm??" he said.
"Shouldn't we be getting up?"
"No."
Why not?"
"Because I don't ever want to get out of this bed." He said kissing
the top of her head.
"As much as I like that idea, there is still that pesky matter of a
country to run."
"True."
"So we're getting up?"
"No."
"You're impossible."
"And that's why you love me?"
"No."
"What?"
"I only put up with you being impossible because I love you." Donna
said as she leaned
upward and placed a kiss on Josh's lips. "Now let's get up."
"Ok," Josh said rewarding her with a full dimpled smile. "But only on
one condition."
"What's that?"
"We agree to meet right back here in say...12 hours?"
"Deal."
Josh leaned in to seal the deal with a kiss but was interrupted by
the ringing of the phone.
"Josh Lyman," he growled.
"Josh, it's Toby."
"Hey, what's up?"
"We have a meeting today at Senator Russell's office at 1:00 PM. Can
you and Donna
make it?"
"Oh don't worry, we'll be there. But do you think the Senator's
office is the best place to
do this?"
"It's the perfect place. I'll fill you in on all the details when I
see you."
"Ok, we'll be there in an hour."
Josh leaned over and kissed Donna on the forehead as he disconnected
the phone.
"That was Toby." He said trying carefully to gauge her reaction. "We
have a meeting at
Senator Russell's office at 1:00. Is that ok?"
"If that's what Toby thinks is best," Donna said.
"Are you ok, Donna? Because if you aren't we don't have to go."
"No, I want to be there."
"But if you change your mind, you'll tell me right?" Josh said.
"I promise," she said
"Ok then, we'd better get ready."
"Did you tell Toby we'd be there in an hour?" Donna asked with a
glint in her eye.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, then in the interest of time, I think we better share a
shower." Donna said with a
wicked smile as she dropped the sheet from in front of her naked body
and headed for the
bathroom.
Josh stared at her back for a few seconds before he could will his
legs to move. When he
finally got his breath back, he bounced all of the way to the shower.
"Go right in," Margaret said as Josh entered Leo's outer office. "I
think they've already
started."
Josh entered the office and saw that everyone else was, indeed,
already present.
"Morning, Josh. Glad you could join us." Leo said sternly.
"Sorry." Josh said
"You don't look very sorry." Sam said with a snicker.
"Well," Leo said, "Can we discuss Josh's obvious happiness later. We
have a lot to cover
this morning. Just because the President is out of town doesn't mean
that we have a free
day."
The staff meeting drug on for close to 90 minutes. Just as it seemed
to finally be
wrapping up, Margaret tapped lightly on the door.
"Yes?" Leo asked
"Ainsley Hayes is here."
"Send her in." Leo said.
Ainsley burst through the door grinning from ear to ear.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, sir," she said with barely concealed glee.
"Well, Ainsley. You look nearly as happy as Josh this morning."
"I am very happy, sir. You see I'm starting back to work today, if
that's all right with
you."
"Starting back? So are you telling me that your little problem has
been cleared up?"
"Yes, sir it has"
"Completely cleared up?" Josh asked rising from his seat on the couch.
"Completely cleared up" Ainsley beamed. " I had a breakfast meeting
with the DA
himself this morning. All of the charges have been dropped. Donna is
completely in the
clear."
Josh gathered Ainsley up in a huge hug. "Thank you" he said "Thank
you, thank you
Thank you."
"My pleasure." Ainsley said.
"Does Donna know?" Josh asked anxiously
"I called her as soon as I knew for sure. As a matter of fact, the
technician is here right
now to remove the electronic monitoring device."
Josh looked at the door then back at Leo.
"Meeting dismissed." Leo said with a smile. "Get going."
Josh ran down the hall towards the bullpen with Toby, Sam, Ainsley,
and CJ close
behind. As they approached her cubicle, they saw the technician
leaning down in front of
Donna removing the bracelet. She looked up as she heard them coming.
As soon as the
technician finished Donna jumped up and wrapped her arms around Josh.
"It's really over" she said, "They dropped all the charges. It's
over."
"Well this part is over." Josh whispered into her ear. "But the good
part is just
beginning."
"Well," Toby interrupted. "As much as I'd like to stay and celebrate,
we have a lot to get
done before if we want to get out of here this afternoon"
"Very true," Sam said. Then he turned to Ainsley and held out his
arm. "May I escort you
to the steam pipe distribution center Miss Hayes?"
"I'd be honored." Ainsley giggled.
They could still hear Sam and Ainsley giggling and talking excitedly
as the exited the
bullpen.
"I have a briefing to get ready for. CJ said as she strolled away.
I'm definitely going to
enjoy making the announcement that Donna has been cleared. More than
a few reporters
will be eating crow this afternoon."
"I have some phone calls to make," Josh said as he headed back to his
office.
"Are you coming?" he asked when he realized that Donna wasn't
following him.
"I'll be right there," Donna said.
Josh nodded as Donna followed Toby back the hall towards his office.
"Toby?" she said.
"Yes," he said stopping and turning back to face her.
"I just wanted to say thank you again for everything you've done."
Donna said. "There is
no way I'll ever be able to repay you."
"Donna, its fine," Toby said. "I'm glad I could help. Knowing that
you are in the clear
and on the road to feeling better is all the thanks I need."
Donna impulsively threw her arms around his neck. At first, Toby
froze but then he
awkwardly returned the hug. When they broke apart, Donna said, "Well
I guess I better
get back."
"Me too," Toby said.
He watched her walk back towards the bullpen and smiled. Seeing her
this happy
reminded him of exactly why he had done everything he had done.
'Oh yeah,' he thought 'Making Mandy pay is going to feel good.'
The entire staff, with Chad in tow, arrived at Senator Russell's
office at 12:30. They
wanted to make sure that they were there well before Mandy.
"Are you ok?" Josh asked Donna.
"I'm fine," she said "I just can't believe that it's really
happening."
"Believe it," Josh said squeezing her hand "Mandy is finally going to
pay."
The Senator sent his entire staff out to lunch with orders not to
return until 2:00 PM.
Right on schedule, Mandy entered his outer office. She didn't
immediately react to the
fact that it was deserted. She knocked on the Senator's inner office
door and barged right
in without waiting to be invited.
As she entered the office, she froze. She was shocked to see Josh,
Donna, CJ and Sam
sitting there, along with some scruffy guy she had never seen before
and an attractive
blonde.
"What the hell is going on?" she asked as she began to back towards
the door thinking
about making a quick escape.
"We're all here to see YOU." Toby said stepping into the office
behind Mandy and
blocking her access to the door. "You weren't thinking of leaving
were you? We haven't
had a chance to talk yet."
Mandy's eyes began darting around the room. "What's this all about,
Lloyd?" she said
focusing her attention on the senator.
"Well, Mr. Ziegler and his friends have been filling me in on the
details of a very
interesting story, Mandy. The story of a large amount of money
missing from my
campaign fund. Money that was apparently redirected to an offshore
account in the
Cayman Islands."
Mandy's eyes narrowed with fury as she looked at Lloyd Russell. She
realized in a flash
that he was going to try to deny any involvement. That son of a bitch
was going to hang
her out to dry. After everything she had done for him.
"Don't get cute with me," she spat "You're in this just as deep as I
am."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I had nothing to do with
any of this." The
senator said. "These people have just been filling me in on the
details and frankly I'm
shocked.
Mandy began to panic. There was no direct evidence linking any of
this to the senator.
She had made sure of that. She had decided she couldn't take a chance
on the plan
blowing up too soon due to the diligence of some oversight committee.
She had even put
his name on the account in the Cayman's without his signature. Now it
would come down
to her word against his.
'This isn't happening,' Mandy thought.
"It seems that they have proof, Mandy. It's all here in black and
white. I can't believe you
would do something like this to me."
"You won't get away with this," she screamed. "None of you."
She wheeled and faced Donna, "I hate you," she hissed. "I've hated
you since the first
day I met you. You may think you've won but you haven't. You're still
going to do time
for this."
"That's where you're wrong, Ms. Hampton." Ainsley piped up. "All of
the charges
against Donna have been dropped. The DA knows that she is completely
innocent."
"Look toots," Mandy said derisively, "I don't even know who you are
but I really don't
need to hear your opinion on anything."
"Oh how rude of me," Ainsley said drawling even more than usual. "My
name is Ainsley
Hayes. I'm an associate White House Counsel, who also served as
Donna's lawyer. But
that was when Donna needed a lawyer, which she doesn't anymore." The
glint in
Ainsley's eye was unmistakable.
"White House counsel?" Mandy asked incredulously. "What is blonde
hair a new
requirement for getting employment in the Bartlet administration?"
"Knock it off," Sam jumped in. "This isn't about Ainsley, it's about
you Mandy. We
certainly had our differences through the years, but this is over the
top, even for you. I
was there the whole time Mandy. From the first day Donna started with
the campaign.
You and I both know that whatever problems you had, you brought on
yourself."
"That's not true, Sam" she hissed "Everything was fine until the day
SHE showed up."
Finally CJ couldn't hold her tongue any longer.
"That is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard, Mandy. You and
Josh were never really
happy together and you know it. And as far as your work on the
campaign goes, we
tolerated you because you managed to get the job done. You were never
as close to
power as you thought you were. You were never going to be in the
inner circle. And the
only thing that happened when Donna came to work with us, is that
Josh got a chance to
see what it was like to spend time with someone who was supportive
and caring.
Someone who wanted to build him up as opposed to tearing him down."
"I don't have to stand here and listen to this," Mandy said "You have
absolutely no
proof."
"Oh that's where you're wrong" Toby said still standing in the
doorway. "We can pin
everything on you. All of the money missing from the Senators
reelection fund, all of the
money missing from Lennox Chase, all of the false transactions at
Donna's bank, her
landlord and her credit card companies. It can all be traced directly
back to you."
"You're lying," She spat. "And worse, than that you're lying to
protect this two bit piece
of trash...."
"Shut up.." Toby screamed as something inside him that he had managed
to keep under
control for a very long time snapped.
"You don't get to talk anymore, do you understand me? We have heard
quite enough
from you and we don't intend to hear anymore. I can't even begin to
fathom what you
were thinking, Mandy. How in the world you thought you could get away
with this. You
underestimated Donna and more importantly you underestimated her
friends. She may
not have your breeding Mandy or your education, but she's 100 times
the person you ever
were or ever will be. She is kind and decent and smart and loyal. She
is too strong to
allow herself to be destroyed by the likes of you. She not only fits
in at the White House
but she is an integral part of all we do there. I am proud to call
her my friend. I hope she
feels the same way."
"I do," Donna said, tears coursing down her cheeks. "Thank you, Toby."
"Well that's just fine and dandy," Mandy said. "You can all just hang
around here and
talk about how wonderful Donna is but I have things to do."
With that she turned and stalked out of the office. Toby let her pass
and the entire
assemblage followed her out into the hall. Just as she was leaving,
three DC police
officers stepped into her path.
"Madeline Hampton?" Lt Stoebner said.
"Yes." Mandy hissed
"I have a warrant for your arrest ma'am. Please turn and place your
hands against the
wall and spread your legs shoulder width apart."
"What the hell are you talking about? What are the charges?" Mandy
screamed.
Lt. Stoebner began to tick off the list. "Embezzlement, theft by
deception, money-
laundering, fraud, harassment, and electronic fraud to start with."
All activity in the hallway ceased as everyone turned to stare at
Mandy. As she looked
over the policeman's shoulder, she saw the unmistakable glare of
television cameras.
"What the fuck are they doing here?" she screamed.
CJ looked around triumphantly. "The reporters are here courtesy of
Operation Porter,"
she said. The staff broke out into wide grins.
"Say it," CJ said.
"Long live the sisterhood," they all muttered.
"Damn straight," Donna said as she put her arm around Josh.
"Please step against the wall," Lt Stoebner said again.
Mandy turned around and looked. There was no avenue of escape.
"You did this," she said as she lunged at Donna. Josh stepped
protectively in front of
Donna, as did Toby.
The uniformed officer grabbed Mandy and pushed her against the wall.
She then
proceeded to pat her down as hundreds of people gathered to watch and
the television
cameras whirred.
couch, arms wrapped
firmly around each other, finally allowing themselves to believe that
this nightmare might
actually be close to an end. Sam wrapped Ainsley in a big bear hug
and whispered, "We
did it, we really did it," over and over again in her ear while she
giggled gleefully. CJ and
Toby locked eyes across the office and shared a wry smile, each
understanding exactly
what the other was thinking and wanting to savor this moment. This
was what they had
all been working so hard for. This was the moment in which they knew
they had won.
Mandy would not be successful. And not only that, but she would pay,
and pay big for
what she had done to Donna.
Toby wanted the moment to last forever but he knew full well that
there was still a lot of
work to be done. "I'm going to meet with Chad to collect hard copies
of all of the
evidence he dug up." he said, "Then I'm going to call Jack Harmon
back and give him
the news. I think he will be very happy to know that we have located
the money missing
from the Lennox Chase accounts."
"Good idea." CJ said. "As soon as you get your hands on the proof, we
need to get it over
to Mark Wilkins at justice. We also need to get him everything we
have on the
irregularities with Senator Russell's re-election fund. Do you have
printed copies of the
information you dug up this afternoon, Donna?"
When she didn't get a response, CJ glanced over at the couch and saw
that Donna was
still wrapped in Josh's arms. She could tell by the shaking of her
shoulders that Donna
was crying, but for the first time in a long time, CJ was certain
that they were tears of
happiness. Josh was stroking her hair and gently rubbing her back all
of the while cooing
softly in her ear. CJ hated to interrupt but she needed the
information.
"Donna?" she asked again more softly.
"Yes?" Donna said looking up but not removing herself from Josh's
arms.
"Do you have copies of the information that you got on Senator
Russell's campaign funds
this afternoon?"
"Yes, I do." Donna said, picking up the stack of papers lying beside
her on the couch.
"All I need to do is make a few more phone calls to confirm some of
these numbers..."
"Why don't you let me do that?" Sam said gently, reaching out and
taking the papers
from her hand. "I think you need to go home and get a little rest.
It's been a long day."
"No, really. I'm ok..." Donna protested as she wiped the tears from her
face.
"Please," Sam said softly. "I want to do this. I'll make a few calls.
It's not a big deal."
"Thanks, Sam." Donna said, "I really appreciate it."
"No problem," Sam assured her.
"I need to get copies of all of the information you get from Chad
ASAP." Ainsley said
turning to Toby. "If the evidence is as iron clad as he claims it is,
I should be able to use
it to convince the DA to drop all of the charges against Donna."
"Thank God," they all said in unison.
Toby noticed that Josh hadn't said much since entering CJ's office.
"Josh?" he said eyeing his friend warily. "You've been awfully quiet
this evening. Is
anything wrong?"
"Not really," Josh began, pausing momentarily trying to decide the
best way to break the
news. "The fact is I went to see Mandy this afternoon."
"You what?" Five shocked voices asked in unison.
"I went to pay Mandy a visit," he said. "I had a few things I needed
to clear up with her.
A few things I wanted to say to her face to face while I had a
chance." Josh said.
"Is she still alive?" Toby asked with a smile.
"She was when I left." Josh smirked. "Although it sounded as though
she was hurling the
entire contents of her office against the door as I was walking down
the hall."
"What were you hoping to accomplish by seeing her? CJ asked.
"I needed to look her in the eyes and ask her why she did this. I
needed to hear her
answers for myself. And most of all, I needed to see her face when
she realized that she
had failed. That Donna was strong enough to survive and that we would
get through this
together."
Josh tightened his grip on Donna as he continued. "I also told her
that in some twisted
way, I owed her a thank you. She finally forced me to admit how I
really felt. I might
have stayed in denial about my feelings for Donna forever. And heaven
knows she
probably would have given up on me and moved on long before I wised
up."
"I would never have given up on you." Donna said as she planted a
kiss on his cheek.
Josh smiled at her, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was going. It was
kind of a spur of the
moment thing."
"That's ok," Donna said. "I understand."
"So how did she react to the news?" Sam asked.
"Well, like I said," Josh laughed, "She was throwing things when I
left."
Toby couldn't help smiling. He was glad that Josh had gotten his
chance to have his say
with Mandy, but now it was time to put the rest of the plan into
action.
"Okay then," he said. " It's time to finish the job that Josh has so
ably begun for us. Let's
get to work. We have a lot to do before morning. Ainsley, I'm on my
way to meet with
Chad, would you like to join me?"
"Definitely," Ainsley said gathering up her things and following Toby
out of the office.
"Let's go get the evidence we need so I can go to the DA."
Sam rose from the chair "I'll make these calls from my office." he
said, "I'll let you
know what I find out, CJ."
"Thanks." CJ with a mischievous grin "I have a few phone calls of my
own to make."
"Are you up to something?" Sam asked warily.
"Always." CJ said
"Long live the sisterhood" Donna said without lifting her head off of
Josh's shoulder.
Sam rolled his eyes as he left the office mumbling something to
himself about Operation
Porter.
CJ looked at Josh and Donna sitting on the couch. They both looked
exhausted. "Hey,
why don't you two call it a night? I think we have everything under
control here. Go
home and get some rest. I'll let you know was soon as there is
anything to report."
"Excellent idea." Josh said without putting up even the smallest
argument.
"Are you sure?" Donna asked, "Isn't there something I should be
doing? You are all
doing so much for me-I feel like I should be doing more."
"Nonsense, Donna. The only thing we want you to do is to take care of
yourself. So go
home, let Josh buy you a nice dinner, then just relax. Tomorrow is
going to be a big day."
"If you're sure." Donna said, secretly loving the idea of going home
and putting her feet
up.
"I'm sure." CJ said.
"Ok." Donna agreed. "But you promise you'll call if you need
anything?"
"I promise," CJ said "Now go."
Josh went to his office to collect his things and on the way back
through the bullpen he
grabbed Donna's coat and bag. Meanwhile, Donna lingered in the
doorway of CJ's
office.
"Thanks, CJ." she said "And I mean for everything. You've been a real
rock through this
whole ordeal and I will never be able to tell you how much I
appreciate it."
"No problem," CJ said, "Just defending the sisterhood."
"No," Donna said, "It's gone way above and beyond that. I don't know
how I can ever
thank you."
"No thanks needed. Now you go home and get some rest ok?"
"OK. Goodnight."
Josh came up behind Donna and slipped an arm protectively around her
waist. "Ready to
go?" he asked.
"Yep." She said as smiled up at him with a look of absolute adoration.
"Goodnight CJ," they said in unison as they headed across the bullpen
arm in arm.
"Goodnight," CJ said watching them leave with a wistful smile.
Toby and Ainsley spotted Chad sitting in a corner booth as soon as
they entered
Houlihan's. In front of him, on the table, sat a large stack of
computer printouts.
He was so engrossed in what he was reading that he didn't notice them
until they were
standing right beside him.
"Oh, hi," he said
"Hello." Toby answered. "Tell us what you've got."
By now, Chad was used to Toby's habit of getting right to the point.
"Well, I was just sitting here marveling at the absolute brilliance
of it. She almost pulled
it off. It was just simple mistake that brought the entire thing
crashing down."
"It usually always is." Toby said
"True." Chad replied
"Pardon me for being slow," Ainsley said "But which little mistake
was it that tripped her
up?"
"Answering her own phone." Toby said with a smile while Chad laughed
in agreement.
"Let me lay it all out for you." Chad said shifting in his seat and
flipping through the
paperwork in front of him. "Mandy was very familiar with the computer
system at
Lennox Chase from the time she spent working there. She knew that
there was a soft
spot."
"A soft spot?" Ainsley asked.
"Yes," Chad explained. "A portal where she could get in past the
security system. She
used the knowledge she had to get in and to siphon money slowly out
of their so-called
"soft-accounts." Accounts that she knew would draw the least amount
of attention. Then
she entered in a few dummy entries to make it look as though the
money had disappeared
legitimately."
"Wouldn't those dummy entries eventually be discovered?" Ainsley
asked.
"Of course they would," Toby said. "But my guess is that by then, she
intended to be in
the Cayman's keeping her money company."
"You're probably right," Chad said.
"Ok, please continue." Ainsley said.
"All right," Chad went on. "After she had the money out of the Lennox
Chase accounts,
she set up an off shore account in the Cayman's. That wasn't
difficult at all I'm sure. The
reason people choose the Cayman's is because they have a very
liberal "don't ask/don't
tell" policy about where the money came from. Then it was a simple
matter of getting the
money there."
"So that's where Donna comes in." Ainsley said as the whole plan
began to be very clear
to her.
"Exactly." Toby said, "She saw a chance to kill two birds with one
stone. She could get
back at Donna and make herself rich at the same time. She used
Donna's bank account as
a front to move the money off to the Cayman's."
"Right." Chad said, "Except she made a very important mistake. She
ran all of the money
through Ms. Moss's account during a very short period of time. Three
dates to be exact.
And three dates that just happen to coincide with dates on which
large sums of money
disappeared from Lennox Chase accounts. Then she went back and
altered the bank
records to make it look as if the transactions had taken place over a
longer period of time.
She assumed, apparently correctly, that the police and the DA would
simply follow the
flow of money out of the accounts without really looking to closely
at where it came in."
"Was someone at the bank in on it with her?" Ainsley asked
"I don't think so." Chad said. "The bank was a customer of Simmons
and West. I think
she simply used her position there to get a hold of their password
information. She then
broke into their system and used a particular teller's information to
complete the
transactions. She was very careful to use the same teller information
every time. No
doubt she thought that, even if someone did manage to track the
deposits, the police
would simply assume that the teller was Donna's accomplice."
"No doubt." Toby said.
"Once she had the bank misinformation in place," Chad continued, "she
started on the
credit card companies and the landlord. Making it look like the rent
had never been paid
was fairly easy. The landlord only offered online payment as a
convenience. It was a
secure site but far from impenetrable. She simply got into the system
and deleted the
confirmation numbers. She left the money in the landlords account.
She knew that
eventually they would realize that the money was indeed there, but
she figured that by the
time they did, it would be too late."
"Amazing." Ainsley said shaking her head. "Absolutely amazing."
"And don't even get me started on the credit card companies." Chad
said shaking his
head in disgust. "Those computers are an absolute cesspool. They
can't see a mistake if
it's staring them right in the face. She just got in there and
overloaded the system with
fake transactions The credit card providers are notorious for being
easy to hack in to."
"But you managed to get it all tracked right?" Toby asked. "We need
to be able to prove
that every one of these entries is fake."
"Don't worry." Chad said patting the stack of papers in front of
him. "It's all right here.
Every single transaction."
"But I still don't understand how Mandy answering her own phone was
her downfall."
Ainsley asked quizzically.
"Simple," Chad said. "You see, she was very good at covering her
tracks. When we first
followed the evidence back to Simmons and West, we assumed that
someone had used
them as a pass through. As a front. They would have been an obvious
choice because of
the kind of business they are in. Who knows how many blind alleys we
would have gone
down trying to figure out who was behind all this. Searching for this
kind of evidence is
like looking for a needle in a haystack. That's why the damage that
comes from cyber-
crime is so devastating. The shear volume of misinformation that can
be perpetrated in a
few seconds is mind-boggling. Mandy made it much easier on us by
giving us a place to
focus our search. If she hadn't answered her own phone that day, we
might still not even
know she worked there."
"Well then, thank heavens she did." Ainsley said.
"Amen," Toby answered.
"So, here you go" Chad said pushing the files toward Toby. "This
should be everything
you need. I've laid it all out step by step so no one should have any
problem following it.
You're going to take it to the police I assume?"
"Eventually," Toby said. "But first I have a little plan of my own
for Mandy."
"Well, I'm gonna take it to the DA first thing in the morning. It
should be plenty of proof
for him to drop the charges against Donna."
"Good," Chad said, "If anyone has any other questions or if you need
anything else, Toby
knows how to get in contact with me."
"Thanks again," Toby said as Chad stood up to leave. Suddenly he had
an idea, "Would
you like to be there when Mandy goes down?"
"Just let me know where and when," Chad said, smiling as he walked
away.
"Are you headed back to the White House?" Toby asked Ainsley as he
took some money
from his wallet and dropped it on the table.
"Yeah, I need to talk to Sam." She answered.
"Ok then, let's go."
CJ knocked lightly on the door then poked her head into Sam's office.
"How's it going?" she asked.
"Great." Sam said with a broad smile. "I think we have just about
everything we need.
I'm just waiting for one more fax to come in. Then we will have
irrefutable proof that
there are over 4 million dollars missing from Senator Russell's
campaign fund."
"Great" CJ said "Because my friend at justice has been tracking the
influx of money into
Mandy's Cayman's account. All we need to do is match up the dates and
we will be set."
"Well, that's good to hear" Toby said, as a startled CJ jumped
backwards almost falling
into his arms. "Because between that and what we have, I'd say its
time to drop the net."
"So, I take it the two of you had a successful meeting with Chad." CJ
said after she
regained her composure.
"Very much so. I think we're ready to go. I say we close in
tomorrow." Toby said
triumphantly.
"Can't be too soon for me," CJ said.
"Amen," Sam and Ainsley agreed.
"I have to go call Jack Harmon and fill him in. Then I'm going to
talk to your friend over
at justice, CJ. When we have a firm plan in place, I'll let everyone
know."
With that, Toby turned and walked towards his own office.
"Great," CJ said. "And I suggest that we all go home and get some
rest. Tomorrow is
going to be "our day of jubilee" and we should all be awake enough to
enjoy it."
"Good idea." Sam said. "I'll be heading out as soon as my fax comes."
"I'll wait here with you," Ainsley said "Just to make sure I have all
the available facts to
present to the DA."
"OK" CJ said rolling her eyes. "I'll see you both in the morning." As
she turned to leave,
she saw Sam and Ainsley, eyes locked, grinning shyly at each
other. 'Oh great,' she
thought, 'Here we go again.'
"That was yummy." Donna said as she carried the dirty dishes to the
kitchen.
"Yes it was," Josh said "And to think, I ordered it all by myself."
"Oh my," Donna laughed. "You must be worn out from the exhaustion of
it all. Maybe
you should go rest on the couch while I finish cleaning up."
"No, no. I'll help. I just wanted to make sure I got credit for all
my hard work." He
smirked.
"You're a saint." Donna laughed as she set the dishes in the sink. "I
don't deserve you."
When she turned around Josh was standing directly in front of her
with a look that
Donna found impossible to read.
"Don't say that." He said firmly. "Don't ever say that you don't
deserve me. I'm the one
who isn't deserving Donna. I want you to always remember that."
Donna's first instinct was to make a smart remark but the look in
Josh's eyes were so
intense that she didn't dare.
"Why would you say that, Josh? Why would you ever say that you don't
deserve me?"
"Because it's true, Donna. You could do much better than me."
"There is no one better than you, Josh." Donna said sincerely.
The look in Josh's eyes told her everything she needed to know. It
erased any doubts she
might have had about his feelings for her. She leaned in and placed a
sweet gentle kiss on
his lips. She knew that she was ready to take their relationship
farther. She also knew that
Josh was holding back because he didn't want to push her. She decided
that she would
have to take the lead.
"I don't think you need to sleep on the couch tonight," she said
softly.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean are you really sure, Donna. I don't
want to rush you
into anything."
"I'm sure." She said breathlessly.
Slowly, they turned and walked towards the bedroom, turning out
lights as they went.
Josh sat on the bed while Donna went into the bathroom. He knew what
he wanted, he
had no doubts. But he didn't want to rush Donna. He wanted her to be
ready. She was
finally making some real progress and he didn't want to do anything
that would interfere
with that. Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and Donna stepped out.
"What in the hell did you do?" Josh asked staring at Donna's right
hand.
"I took my splints off. I couldn't stand them anymore."
"Put them back on! The Dr. didn't say you could take them off."
"I'm fine, Josh. Look, they can bend and everything." she said
flexing her fingers. "And
they hardly hurt anymore."
"Donna, please" Josh said moving over to stand directly in front of
her. "I want you to
take care of yourself. You shouldn't take the splints off till the
Dr. says it's ok."
"I'm fine, Josh. Besides," she said seductively "I need this hand."
"For what?" he asked unable to control his curiosity.
"For this," she said as she grasped the back of his head and pulled
his lips down to hers.
The kiss started out softly but quickly deepened. When they came up
for air, Donna
began planting a line of kisses across the bridge of his nose and to
his ear.
Josh shuddered when Donna began to nibble on his ear.
"And for this," she whispered as her hand moved down and found its
way under Josh's
shirt.
The feel of her warm hand on his bare chest made Josh moan. His sense
of resolve was
fading quickly.
"Donna," he moaned. "Are you sure?"
Donna didn't answer but simply moved her hand lower yet until she
reached the front of
Josh's pants.
"And for this." She said as she ran her hand over Josh's arousal.
"Oh, God" he said wrapping his arms tightly around Donna and moving
her towards the
bed. "I love you, Donna."
"I love you too, Josh."
"I don't care what he's doing" Mandy screamed into the phone, "You
tell Senator Russell
to call me back right away or he'll be sorry!! Do you understand me?"
She disconnected the phone and hurled it at the wall.
'This isn't happening' she thought. 'There is no way this is going to
fall apart. I will not
be left holding the bag. It won't happen. I had this all planned. How
could it have gone so
wrong? My plan was foolproof. Except for the one thing I never
counted on, the one
variable that I never even considered. It never crossed my mind that
Josh really loved the
little witch. I wasn't even sure that Mr. Wrapped-Up-In-Himself was
capable of those
kinds of feelings. I certainly never dreamed that he would pull out
all the stops to save
her, that he would get so many other people involved.'
She reached for the room's phone book and looked up the number she
wanted.
'Well they aren't going to get me. I've got everything I need waiting
for me in the
Cayman's. All I need is a couple of days to wrap things up here and
then I'm off. I'll
never have to deal with these idiots again. Let Josh live happily
ever after with the bitch.
See if I care. I'll be sitting pretty in the Cayman's with all the
money and well built pool
boys that a girl could ask for.'
The ringing of the phone startled her back to reality. She had to go
to the other room
since she had hurled the phone from the living room against the wall.
"Hello," she barked.
"Hello, Mandy" came Lloyd Russell's tight voice over the phone.
"Well, hello Lloyd," she said sarcastically "How nice of you to get
back to me so
promptly."
"I need to see you," he said wanting to avoid a long dramatic
conversation. "In my office
tomorrow. 1:00 PM.
"I'll be there." She said and hung up the phone.
Lloyd Russell hung up the phone and turned to the man standing across
the desk from
him "It's done. She'll be here," he said.
"Perfect," Toby said. We'll be waiting for her.
Josh and Donna were lying naked and content, wrapped in each other's
arms. Both of
them knew that they had to get up and get going, but neither wanted
to leave the bed.
"Josh?" Donna said without raising her head off of his chest.
"Hmmm??" he said.
"Shouldn't we be getting up?"
"No."
Why not?"
"Because I don't ever want to get out of this bed." He said kissing
the top of her head.
"As much as I like that idea, there is still that pesky matter of a
country to run."
"True."
"So we're getting up?"
"No."
"You're impossible."
"And that's why you love me?"
"No."
"What?"
"I only put up with you being impossible because I love you." Donna
said as she leaned
upward and placed a kiss on Josh's lips. "Now let's get up."
"Ok," Josh said rewarding her with a full dimpled smile. "But only on
one condition."
"What's that?"
"We agree to meet right back here in say...12 hours?"
"Deal."
Josh leaned in to seal the deal with a kiss but was interrupted by
the ringing of the phone.
"Josh Lyman," he growled.
"Josh, it's Toby."
"Hey, what's up?"
"We have a meeting today at Senator Russell's office at 1:00 PM. Can
you and Donna
make it?"
"Oh don't worry, we'll be there. But do you think the Senator's
office is the best place to
do this?"
"It's the perfect place. I'll fill you in on all the details when I
see you."
"Ok, we'll be there in an hour."
Josh leaned over and kissed Donna on the forehead as he disconnected
the phone.
"That was Toby." He said trying carefully to gauge her reaction. "We
have a meeting at
Senator Russell's office at 1:00. Is that ok?"
"If that's what Toby thinks is best," Donna said.
"Are you ok, Donna? Because if you aren't we don't have to go."
"No, I want to be there."
"But if you change your mind, you'll tell me right?" Josh said.
"I promise," she said
"Ok then, we'd better get ready."
"Did you tell Toby we'd be there in an hour?" Donna asked with a
glint in her eye.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, then in the interest of time, I think we better share a
shower." Donna said with a
wicked smile as she dropped the sheet from in front of her naked body
and headed for the
bathroom.
Josh stared at her back for a few seconds before he could will his
legs to move. When he
finally got his breath back, he bounced all of the way to the shower.
"Go right in," Margaret said as Josh entered Leo's outer office. "I
think they've already
started."
Josh entered the office and saw that everyone else was, indeed,
already present.
"Morning, Josh. Glad you could join us." Leo said sternly.
"Sorry." Josh said
"You don't look very sorry." Sam said with a snicker.
"Well," Leo said, "Can we discuss Josh's obvious happiness later. We
have a lot to cover
this morning. Just because the President is out of town doesn't mean
that we have a free
day."
The staff meeting drug on for close to 90 minutes. Just as it seemed
to finally be
wrapping up, Margaret tapped lightly on the door.
"Yes?" Leo asked
"Ainsley Hayes is here."
"Send her in." Leo said.
Ainsley burst through the door grinning from ear to ear.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, sir," she said with barely concealed glee.
"Well, Ainsley. You look nearly as happy as Josh this morning."
"I am very happy, sir. You see I'm starting back to work today, if
that's all right with
you."
"Starting back? So are you telling me that your little problem has
been cleared up?"
"Yes, sir it has"
"Completely cleared up?" Josh asked rising from his seat on the couch.
"Completely cleared up" Ainsley beamed. " I had a breakfast meeting
with the DA
himself this morning. All of the charges have been dropped. Donna is
completely in the
clear."
Josh gathered Ainsley up in a huge hug. "Thank you" he said "Thank
you, thank you
Thank you."
"My pleasure." Ainsley said.
"Does Donna know?" Josh asked anxiously
"I called her as soon as I knew for sure. As a matter of fact, the
technician is here right
now to remove the electronic monitoring device."
Josh looked at the door then back at Leo.
"Meeting dismissed." Leo said with a smile. "Get going."
Josh ran down the hall towards the bullpen with Toby, Sam, Ainsley,
and CJ close
behind. As they approached her cubicle, they saw the technician
leaning down in front of
Donna removing the bracelet. She looked up as she heard them coming.
As soon as the
technician finished Donna jumped up and wrapped her arms around Josh.
"It's really over" she said, "They dropped all the charges. It's
over."
"Well this part is over." Josh whispered into her ear. "But the good
part is just
beginning."
"Well," Toby interrupted. "As much as I'd like to stay and celebrate,
we have a lot to get
done before if we want to get out of here this afternoon"
"Very true," Sam said. Then he turned to Ainsley and held out his
arm. "May I escort you
to the steam pipe distribution center Miss Hayes?"
"I'd be honored." Ainsley giggled.
They could still hear Sam and Ainsley giggling and talking excitedly
as the exited the
bullpen.
"I have a briefing to get ready for. CJ said as she strolled away.
I'm definitely going to
enjoy making the announcement that Donna has been cleared. More than
a few reporters
will be eating crow this afternoon."
"I have some phone calls to make," Josh said as he headed back to his
office.
"Are you coming?" he asked when he realized that Donna wasn't
following him.
"I'll be right there," Donna said.
Josh nodded as Donna followed Toby back the hall towards his office.
"Toby?" she said.
"Yes," he said stopping and turning back to face her.
"I just wanted to say thank you again for everything you've done."
Donna said. "There is
no way I'll ever be able to repay you."
"Donna, its fine," Toby said. "I'm glad I could help. Knowing that
you are in the clear
and on the road to feeling better is all the thanks I need."
Donna impulsively threw her arms around his neck. At first, Toby
froze but then he
awkwardly returned the hug. When they broke apart, Donna said, "Well
I guess I better
get back."
"Me too," Toby said.
He watched her walk back towards the bullpen and smiled. Seeing her
this happy
reminded him of exactly why he had done everything he had done.
'Oh yeah,' he thought 'Making Mandy pay is going to feel good.'
The entire staff, with Chad in tow, arrived at Senator Russell's
office at 12:30. They
wanted to make sure that they were there well before Mandy.
"Are you ok?" Josh asked Donna.
"I'm fine," she said "I just can't believe that it's really
happening."
"Believe it," Josh said squeezing her hand "Mandy is finally going to
pay."
The Senator sent his entire staff out to lunch with orders not to
return until 2:00 PM.
Right on schedule, Mandy entered his outer office. She didn't
immediately react to the
fact that it was deserted. She knocked on the Senator's inner office
door and barged right
in without waiting to be invited.
As she entered the office, she froze. She was shocked to see Josh,
Donna, CJ and Sam
sitting there, along with some scruffy guy she had never seen before
and an attractive
blonde.
"What the hell is going on?" she asked as she began to back towards
the door thinking
about making a quick escape.
"We're all here to see YOU." Toby said stepping into the office
behind Mandy and
blocking her access to the door. "You weren't thinking of leaving
were you? We haven't
had a chance to talk yet."
Mandy's eyes began darting around the room. "What's this all about,
Lloyd?" she said
focusing her attention on the senator.
"Well, Mr. Ziegler and his friends have been filling me in on the
details of a very
interesting story, Mandy. The story of a large amount of money
missing from my
campaign fund. Money that was apparently redirected to an offshore
account in the
Cayman Islands."
Mandy's eyes narrowed with fury as she looked at Lloyd Russell. She
realized in a flash
that he was going to try to deny any involvement. That son of a bitch
was going to hang
her out to dry. After everything she had done for him.
"Don't get cute with me," she spat "You're in this just as deep as I
am."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I had nothing to do with
any of this." The
senator said. "These people have just been filling me in on the
details and frankly I'm
shocked.
Mandy began to panic. There was no direct evidence linking any of
this to the senator.
She had made sure of that. She had decided she couldn't take a chance
on the plan
blowing up too soon due to the diligence of some oversight committee.
She had even put
his name on the account in the Cayman's without his signature. Now it
would come down
to her word against his.
'This isn't happening,' Mandy thought.
"It seems that they have proof, Mandy. It's all here in black and
white. I can't believe you
would do something like this to me."
"You won't get away with this," she screamed. "None of you."
She wheeled and faced Donna, "I hate you," she hissed. "I've hated
you since the first
day I met you. You may think you've won but you haven't. You're still
going to do time
for this."
"That's where you're wrong, Ms. Hampton." Ainsley piped up. "All of
the charges
against Donna have been dropped. The DA knows that she is completely
innocent."
"Look toots," Mandy said derisively, "I don't even know who you are
but I really don't
need to hear your opinion on anything."
"Oh how rude of me," Ainsley said drawling even more than usual. "My
name is Ainsley
Hayes. I'm an associate White House Counsel, who also served as
Donna's lawyer. But
that was when Donna needed a lawyer, which she doesn't anymore." The
glint in
Ainsley's eye was unmistakable.
"White House counsel?" Mandy asked incredulously. "What is blonde
hair a new
requirement for getting employment in the Bartlet administration?"
"Knock it off," Sam jumped in. "This isn't about Ainsley, it's about
you Mandy. We
certainly had our differences through the years, but this is over the
top, even for you. I
was there the whole time Mandy. From the first day Donna started with
the campaign.
You and I both know that whatever problems you had, you brought on
yourself."
"That's not true, Sam" she hissed "Everything was fine until the day
SHE showed up."
Finally CJ couldn't hold her tongue any longer.
"That is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard, Mandy. You and
Josh were never really
happy together and you know it. And as far as your work on the
campaign goes, we
tolerated you because you managed to get the job done. You were never
as close to
power as you thought you were. You were never going to be in the
inner circle. And the
only thing that happened when Donna came to work with us, is that
Josh got a chance to
see what it was like to spend time with someone who was supportive
and caring.
Someone who wanted to build him up as opposed to tearing him down."
"I don't have to stand here and listen to this," Mandy said "You have
absolutely no
proof."
"Oh that's where you're wrong" Toby said still standing in the
doorway. "We can pin
everything on you. All of the money missing from the Senators
reelection fund, all of the
money missing from Lennox Chase, all of the false transactions at
Donna's bank, her
landlord and her credit card companies. It can all be traced directly
back to you."
"You're lying," She spat. "And worse, than that you're lying to
protect this two bit piece
of trash...."
"Shut up.." Toby screamed as something inside him that he had managed
to keep under
control for a very long time snapped.
"You don't get to talk anymore, do you understand me? We have heard
quite enough
from you and we don't intend to hear anymore. I can't even begin to
fathom what you
were thinking, Mandy. How in the world you thought you could get away
with this. You
underestimated Donna and more importantly you underestimated her
friends. She may
not have your breeding Mandy or your education, but she's 100 times
the person you ever
were or ever will be. She is kind and decent and smart and loyal. She
is too strong to
allow herself to be destroyed by the likes of you. She not only fits
in at the White House
but she is an integral part of all we do there. I am proud to call
her my friend. I hope she
feels the same way."
"I do," Donna said, tears coursing down her cheeks. "Thank you, Toby."
"Well that's just fine and dandy," Mandy said. "You can all just hang
around here and
talk about how wonderful Donna is but I have things to do."
With that she turned and stalked out of the office. Toby let her pass
and the entire
assemblage followed her out into the hall. Just as she was leaving,
three DC police
officers stepped into her path.
"Madeline Hampton?" Lt Stoebner said.
"Yes." Mandy hissed
"I have a warrant for your arrest ma'am. Please turn and place your
hands against the
wall and spread your legs shoulder width apart."
"What the hell are you talking about? What are the charges?" Mandy
screamed.
Lt. Stoebner began to tick off the list. "Embezzlement, theft by
deception, money-
laundering, fraud, harassment, and electronic fraud to start with."
All activity in the hallway ceased as everyone turned to stare at
Mandy. As she looked
over the policeman's shoulder, she saw the unmistakable glare of
television cameras.
"What the fuck are they doing here?" she screamed.
CJ looked around triumphantly. "The reporters are here courtesy of
Operation Porter,"
she said. The staff broke out into wide grins.
"Say it," CJ said.
"Long live the sisterhood," they all muttered.
"Damn straight," Donna said as she put her arm around Josh.
"Please step against the wall," Lt Stoebner said again.
Mandy turned around and looked. There was no avenue of escape.
"You did this," she said as she lunged at Donna. Josh stepped
protectively in front of
Donna, as did Toby.
The uniformed officer grabbed Mandy and pushed her against the wall.
She then
proceeded to pat her down as hundreds of people gathered to watch and
the television
cameras whirred.