A Fresh Start
Chapter Two Hundred Thirty One
Jeffrey gets out and walks around the car as Sam gets out. He closes the door behind her and then he takes her hand. "What do you think is going on?" She asks, looking at him.
He glances at her and then he says. "I think your brother was trying to get you alone, either to try and convince you to not testify or to do something else."
"Do something else, you mean like kidnap me?"
"It's possible. Has he not wanted you back with him since you left?"
"He hasn't liked my life but I don't think he would force me back into the church."
"Why wouldn't he? I'm sure he views your leaving as a betrayal. He probably wanted you father to force you to come back." Jeffrey says, as he holds the door for her. She walks inside and he follows her. "I think he may have wanted you back in church but he didn't decide to force you to come back until our wedding."
"May I help you?" The desk sergeant asks without looking up, as they walks up.
"Yes, I need to see Frank." Jeffrey says, as he looks up.
"Of course, Mr. Mayor." The desk sergeant replies, buzzing Frank.
"Frank Cooper." Frank says, holding the button down.
"Sir, the mayor is here to see you."
"I'll be right out."
"Yes sir." The desk sergeant replies, looking at Jeffrey he says. "He'll be right out, Mr. Mayor.
"Thank you." Jeffrey says, turning to Sam.
A few moments later, Franks walks up. "Jeffrey, I wasn't expecting you."
"I know. I… we need to talk to you." Jeffrey says, looking at Sam.
"Alright, come back to my office and we can talk." He says, turning around. They follow him. When they're in his office, Frank asks." What did you need to talk to me about?"
"The Arianna Owens case and how it pertains to Sam's brother. We need to speak with her mother."
"Sam's brother, what does he have to do with this?" Frank asks.
"Arianna's father is a member of group being led by Sam's brother. I think Sam's brother will try to stop Sam's involvement that is why we need to speak to Ms. Owens." Jeffery says, looking at Frank.
"You know the rules. You're not her attorney and you're not a family member."
"I am the doctor treating her daughter." Sam says. "Jeffrey is my attorney." She says, as Frank looks at her.
"That's thin Sam, what would be his involvement through you."
"Malpractice… should Arianna's father try to sue me Ms. Owens's would be a witness to any treatment I gave her daughter, if a suit is brought."
"Has he brought suit?"
"No, but that doesn't mean that he can't or won't. We only want to talk to her."
"Alright, I'll have someone bring her up. You won't have long to talk with her.
"We'll only need a few minutes."
"Okay, wait here." Frank says, getting up. He walks out of his office. He returns a few moments later. "One of the officers is going to get her. Since this isn't an official visit, I'm having her brought in here." He says, closing the door behind him. "Now about your brother…."
"Don't worry about Sam's brother." Jeffrey says. "I'll make sure nothing happens to Sam."
"You can't go after him."
"Did I say anything about going after him?" Jeffrey asks, looking at Frank.
"No. I'm simply forewarning you. He's a private citizen as are you, even with each of your connections to your agency. Let the Justice Department handle her brother." Frank says, as there's a knock at the door. "Come in." He calls.
"Here is the prisoner, you requested Sir." The officer says, bringing Ms. Owens into the room.
"Thank you." Frank says, nodding as Ms. Owens's is shown to a chair and then handcuffed to it. The officer leaves, closing the door behind him.
"Frank, take the cuffs off her." Sam says.
"We can't its procedure."
"You're treating her as a criminal and she's only guilty of protecting her daughter."
"Sam if you want to talk…."
"The cuffs have to stay on." Jeffrey says, as Sam opens her mouth to protest. "It has to be that way." He says, looking at Ms. Owens. She nods. "Do you know who we are?" He asks.
"She's the doctor that helps my Arianna." Ms. Owens says, nodding towards Sam.
"That's correct. I'm her husband and I'm also an attorney. We want to ask you a couple questions."
"Okay?"
"First, do you know of a man named Scott Waterford?" Jeffrey asks. Ms. Owens eyes get big.
"He's a disciple of the Deacon. He….' Ms. Owens's says, swallowing.
"He hands out punishment." Sam says, as she nods.
"Thank you." Jeffrey says. "Can you tell me, have you spoken with your attorney?'
"I did for about ten minutes right after I was arraigned. He is supposes to be contacting you." Ms. Owens's says, nodding at Sam.
"Has he down that?" Frank asks, looking at Sam.
"No, he hasn't. The only contact I've had about this was from Mr. Waterford." Sam replies, looking at Jeffrey.
"Can I ask a question?" Ms. Owens's asks, as they all look at her. "Has anyone seen my Arianna? Is she back with…?"
"Your daughter is safe. She was placed with social services until…."
"They will send…." Ms. Owens's says, becoming very agitated.
"Calm down, Ms. Owens. Your daughter is safe and she will not be returned to her father until this matter is handled." Frank says.
"That's what I was told before." She says, looking at Frank.
"You've made other reports of abuse to the authorities."
"Yes, but not here. I made several reports back home, but nothing was ever done to stop them."
"I'll make sure Arianna's safe." Sam says, looking at her. "Don't worry about her." She says, as Ms. Owens's looks at her.
"You're his sister, why would you help?" She asks.
"I'm helping because I am his sister. Miah will be stopped and Arianna will be safe again."
"You know what he will do to you."
"My brother will not hurt me." Sam says, looking at her as Jeffrey looks at Sam.
"Is that all your questions?" Frank asks, looking at Jeffrey and Sam.
"Yes, but I'm going to speak with a former colleague of mine and I will ask her to look over your case." Jeffrey says.
"I can't afford a…."
"Don't worry about that." Sam says."
"Once I speak to my colleague will you see her?" Jeffrey asks.
"I suppose I can. Will there be any trouble with my current attorney if I do?" Ms. Owens asks, looking at Frank.
"No, you have the right to speak to any attorney you want." Frank says.
"If you believe that I need to speak to this person then I will." Ms. Owens says, looking at Jeffrey."
"Good." Jeffrey says, nodding once.
"If that's all you wanted to ask her, I need to have her returned to her cell." Frank says, getting up. He walks over to the door and opens it. "Officer Davis." He says.
"Yes sir." Officer Davis replies.
"You can take the prisoner back to her cell." He says, stepping back.
Officer Davis comes in, and after refastening the hand cuffs he leads Ms. Owens out of the room, closing the door behind him.
"Thank you for letting us speak with her." Jeffrey says, standing up.
"You're welcome, but remember what I said Jeffrey, you can't go after her brother. Let us handle…."
"I'm not going after him. I will however, defend her and my son." Jeffrey says, turning to help Sam up."
"Frank, watch her." Sam says, looking at him.
"She'll be fine." Franks says, as Jeffrey walks over to the door. Opening it, he and Sam walk out.
"Thank you again." Jeffrey says, looking back over his shoulder as Frank nods. They leave the station a few moments later.
When they get in the car, Jeffrey pulls out to leave as Sam puts her hand on his arm. "What are you thinking?"
He looks at her and then he pulls back into the parking place and puts his car in park. "I think we narrowly escaped your brother trying to kidnap you this afternoon. In which case, I need to stay with you until this is settled with your brother."
"There is nothing to settle with Miah, and I don't…."
"You heard what she said. The man that you were supposes to meet is one of your brother's enforcers. He would've kidnapped you."
'We don't know what Jeremiah was planning."
"You refuse to see…."
"I know who my brother is. I grew up…."
"He's not the boy you grew up with. He proved that at our wedding. He would've physically attacked you then, if I hadn't've been there."
"I know you're right." She says, looking out the window. "But I can't hide from him. If he wants to come after…."
"I will not let him hurt you or our child, that's the end of the discussion."
"Don't dictate…."
"I will dictate when it comes to our son. Jeremiah is a threat to all of us and I will keep you and him safe from your brother." He says, looking at her. "Let's go see Mel and then I'll take you back to the clinic."
"What about my car?" She asks.
"We'll pick it up and then you'll go back to the clinic. After I talk to Mel, I'm taking you home and I want you to stay there until I get home." He says, looking at her.
"Am I going to have yard privileges?" She asks, looking at him.
"Don't be that way."
"How do you want me to be? You're effectively holding me prisoner because of something my brother might do."
"No, because of something he will do. He wants you and he's willing to do anything to accomplish that. Did you ever consider that he hurt Arianna to get to you?"
"Jeremiah is a lot of things, but he wouldn't hurt a child…."
"You don't know that."
"And you don't know that he would."
"I know that he would've hurt you at our wedding if we hadn't've stepped in and stopped him. He would've physically hurt you. He has tried to kidnap once already."
"He wasn't…."
"If Frank and Gus hadn't've been there to stop him from forcing you to leave with him, he would've taken you to stop our wedding. Or have you forgotten that."
"I will go absolutely crazy being tied to that house without being able to do anything else."
"You're not tied to that house. I only want you to stay there until I'm able to go with you when you want to go somewhere."
"If that's the case, then get one of the SFPD officers to guard me or call in an agent from the agency, but I can't be forced to stay in the house twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, I'll go mad." She says, pleading with him.
"I'll think about it, but for the afternoon, please stay at home until I can get home and we'll go from there." He says, as he pulls up to Mel's office and turns the car off.
Sighing, she looks at him. "Alright, I'll stay at home." She says.
Opening the door, he gets out and walks around the car. Opening her door, he helps her out and then slips his arms around her. "I love you. You know that." He says, looking into her eyes as she nods. "I only want you to stay home because I will not lose you or our son."
"Why can't you trust me to protect myself?"
"I do trust you to protect yourself, but there are extenuating circumstance that we have to consider. I know all your training, but all your training didn't factor in the fact that you are pregnant."
"I'm pregnant. That doesn't mean I won't fight for my life or our child's life and that doesn't mean that I'm not capable of fighting for both. I'm not helpless."
"I still won't loose you." He says, closing her door and taking her hand. They walk towards Mel's office. Opening the door, he follows her in.
"Mr. Mayor, it's a pleasure to see you back in the office." Mel's assistant says.
"Thank you Riley." Jeffrey says.
"Mrs. O'Neill." The young woman says, as she holds out her hand. She and Sam shake hands.
"Is Mel in?" Jeffrey asks, as Sam steps back.
"Yes sir, if you'll have a seat I'll let her know that you're here."
"Thank you." Jeffrey says, turning for one of the chairs. Sam follows him as Riley picks up the phone.
"Ma'am." Riley says, after Mel picks up the phone. "Mr. O'Neill and his wife are here to see you?"
"Send them back." Mel says, hanging up the phone.
"You may go back." She says, looking at them.
"Thank you." Jeffrey says, getting up. He turns to help Sam up. Leading the way back to Mel's office, he knocks once and she looks up.
"Come in." She says, standing up and walking around her desk. "How are you Jeffrey?" She asks, as they hug quickly.
"I'm doing good. How are you?"
"I'm getting along, busy."
"I see that it's just you here." He says, mentioning the sign on the door that said she was the only attorney in the office.
"Yes, I decided that I wanted some time to myself after you left. If you're not running for re-election, you could come back." She says, looking at him.
"I haven't decided what I'm going to do after the election." Jeffrey says, as she nods. "If I do decide to practice again, I will let you know.
"Thank you. How are you Sam?" Mel asks, turning to her.
"I'm doing very well."
"I'm glad to hear that. You both look happy." She says, looking at them.
"We are."
"I am a little surprised to see you both in here."
"I wanted you to look at a case that I know about." Jeffrey says, walking over to the couch below the window. Sam and Mel follow him and he helps her sit down as Mel takes the chair across from.
"Are you both in legal trouble. You're not getting a divorce, of course not, because you just…."
"No, this is not about us directly." Sam says, as Jeffrey nods.
"Why don't you start at the beginning?" She says.
"Alright, about a week ago I had a lady bring in a young girl to my clinic. It was obvious that both the mother and the girl were terrified to be there, but it was also obvious that the girl needed medical attention for her arm. It was severely dislocated and she wasn't able to use it at all. While I was examining the girl a man came into the clinic demanding that we turn the girl over to him immediately. I refused and asked him to leave, which he refused and Frank was called to escort him from the building and he was arrested. I treated the girl and she was placed in protective custody because at the time I thought the woman that brought her in was the school nurse for Laurel Falls High. I later found out that she wasn't."
"So, who is this woman?"
"She's the girl's mother. She was arrested on kidnapping charges after it was determined that she kept the girl instead of returning her to her father at the end of her visitation weekend."
"That is standard procedure when parent doesn't return the child to the custodial parent." Mel says, looking Arianna because the she was in obvious danger being in her father care. And I agree with her judgment."
"You may agree with her, but the law…."
"I have personal reason why I agree with her. It has nothing to do with the law."
"You're personally involved in this case, besides being the victim's doctor."
"I am indirectly." Sam says, as Jeffrey reaches for her hand.
"How?"
"Arianna, she… her family are members of a church that I grew up in."
"Is that the only connection?"
"No. The pastor of that church is my brother Jeremiah. It's not really a church. It's more of a cult. Like my father, Jeremiah has totally control and final say about any and everything that goes on within the congregation. He ordered everyone to move up here after he was escorted from my wedding this summer. When I say I have personal reasons on why I agree with Arianna's mother, it's because I've experienced what Arianna experienced, not to that degree but still things were done to me that were as damaging as the damage done to her arm."
"What was the reason for the injury?"
"The only thing that Arianna would tell me was that she was punished because she was caught talking to someone she wasn't supposes to be talking to. I gather it was one of her classmates and they were talking about a class project that they had to work on together, but word got back to my brother or her father and my brother passed judgment and she was punished. Ms. Owens had no other option then to keep her child if she wanted to protect her from further abuse."
"If the father is abusive, how did he get custody?"
"I don't know the exact details, but I have my suspicions on what happened?"
"What do you think happened?"
"My brother used his influence to sway the judgment in the father's favor, either by bribing a court official or through intimidation and slander towards Ms. Owens. The same things were done to my mother after she left my father. That's how he ended up with custody of me and my brother and my mother lost all visitation rights, in my parent's case. He lied about her, which is exactly what was probably done to Arianna's mom."
"You have no proof of that."
"No, I don't. But my brother believes fully in the ways and things taught by our father. I also know that my brother is under investigation by the federal government for various charges."
"How do you know that? Did he tell…?
"No, he didn't tell me. The man that was sent to bring Arianna back came back to the clinic after he was released from jail the next day. He came to apologize and to explain why he behaved the way he did. He told me about the investigation because he's under cover and has been for several months."
"I'm still not clear on what you want me to do?" Mel says, looking at each of them
"That's where I come in. I want you to take over Ms. Owens case and represent her when she goes to trial." Jeffrey says.
"Surely she has and attorney."
"She does. She has a public defender."
"Jonah has several qualified attorneys working for him."
"And he has some that are qualified but they only half ass do their job. We both know that."
"That's true, but I'm sure that Ms. Owens…." Mel looks at Sam and she nods… "I'm sure her attorney…."
"Her court appointed attorney is George Russell." Jeffrey says. Mel looks at him. "That's exactly why I want you to take over her case." Jeffrey says, reading the look on Mel's face. "We both know that if Russell is allowed to continue, Ms. Owens will end up in prison and her daughter will be returned to her father."
"That can't happen and she can't be placed in state custody either." Sam says.
"I can't just take a case from someone."
"She hasn't even spoken with Russell since the day of her arraignment and this happened about a week ago."
"Has a trial date been set?"
"Not that we know of, but even if it has Russell is going to do the bare minimum for representation."
"If he's such a bad attorney, why is he still allowed to practice and be in the public defenders office." Sam asks.
"He's not a bad attorney. He doesn't like working with individuals that need the public defenders office. But he's is under court order to be there, so he does the minimum amount for his clients." Mel says.
"He's court ordered, why?"
"It was proven that he was over billing his clients so the judge ordered him to work within the public defenders office after he served a two year suspension of his license. He returned to law right as I was becoming DA." Jeffrey says, looking at Sam.
"George is a competent attorney." Mel says.
"But will he do everything he can to help Ms. Owens." Sam asks. "Jeffrey doesn't think so." She says, glancing at him.
"I can't simply take the case over."
"You can at least speak with her, can you not. In my profession, if a patient wants a second opinion he's entitled to that." Sam says.
"It's a little different with the law. A client must want to change attorneys before a new one can be brought in."
"I think Ms. Owens would be willing to do that." Jeffrey says.
"How do you know that?"
"We went to see her." Jeffrey says.
"You went to see her, why?"
"I wanted to know if she had spoken with Russell." Jeffrey says.
"And I wanted her to know that I would be behind her and testify at her trial." Sam says.
"Did she specifically say she would speak with me?"
"Yes, she wants to speak with you."
"Alright, if she wants to speak to me then I'll see her." Mel says.
"Thank you." Jeffrey says, relaxing a little bit.
"Is there something else that's wrong here?" She asks, looking at Jeffrey.
"Nothing more than I can handle." He says to her with a small smile.
"Does it pertain to this case?" Mel asks. Sighing, Jeffrey glances at Sam. "If it pertains to…"
"It does indirectly. This afternoon, Sam had a meeting scheduled with a man named Scott Waterford. They were supposes to meet to discuss, Ms. Owens's case and Arianna."
"But?"
"He never showed up. Because Sam's brother is involved with this and because this man passed himself off as Ms. Owens's attorney, I went with Sam to the meeting. When he didn't show up, we were both suspicious so I called Jonah to see if this man worked for him and when he didn't I asked who was assigned to the case. After I spoke with Jonah, we immediately left Company…."
"Without eating." Sam says, looking at him.
"We left without eating, but I did stop and we got something to eat." Jeffrey says, looking at her.
"Why would you leave at all?"
"I wanted to get Sam away from there. It felt like the right thing to do."
"You think this guy was going to harm Sam."
"When we went to see Mrs. Owens, we asked her if she knew who this Waterford guy was, and she told us that he's Jeremiah's enforcer."
"Is your family involved with organized crime?" Mel asks, looking at Sam.
"No, but they do have tremendous influence in Georgia. I don't know if Jeremiah is counting on that to keep him from being arrested here or not." Sam says. "My family dates back to before the Civil War in Georgia. A fact my father was extremely proud of."
She looks at Jeffrey. "You believe that her brother will try to influence the outcome of the trial."
"Yes. I also believe that he will come after Sam. That, however, I will handle." He says, looking at Mel.
"Let me remind you, that you are no longer an agent of the Federal government. You can be prosecuted for murder or kidnapping if you do something to Sam's brother." Mel says, looking at him.
"I'm fully aware of my limitations, Mel. I also know that I will not let anything happen to her or my child. I won't outright attack him, but I will defend her and our child." Jeffrey says, looking at her. Mel nods.
"I'll contact Frank about seeing Ms. Owens." Mel says, standing up.
"Thank you." Sam says, standing up with Jeffrey and Mel."
"You're welcome, Sam. And if you are willing and I do handle this case, I will want your expert medical opinion on Arianna's injuries."
"You have it and anything else I can do to help." Sam says, holding out her hand.
"Thank you." Mel says, showing them to the door. "I'll be in touch." She says, opening the door.
"Thank you again." Sam says, following Jeffrey out of the office.
"Yes, thank you." Jeffrey says, turning to Mel.
"You're welcome." She says. They turn to leave and Mel goes back into her office.
When they reach Jeffrey's car, he opens her door for her and then closes it before he walks around and gets in. Starting the car, he looks at her. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Maybe a little tired." She says with a small smile.
"Why don't you take the afternoon off then?"
"Because I can't, I have patients coming after lunch and I have some dictation I need to do as well."
"Leah can handle the patients and the dictation can wait." He says, reaching for her hand as they pull away from Mel's office.
"Are you gong to come back here after the election?" She asks, looking at him.
"I don't know what I'm going to do after the election and Richard takes the office."
"He hasn't won the office yet." Sam says, with a smile.
"He'll win." Jeffrey says, as they pull up to a light.
"Maybe he will, but the campaign hasn't even started. He hasn't even announced his candidacy."
"He will soon." Jeffrey says, pulling through the light. He slams on the brakes, reaching for Sam as another car runs the red light. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She says, taking a deep breath.
"You're sure?"
"Yes, I'm fine and the baby's fine." She says, as Jeffrey slowly pulls out again. Neither one spoke again until they pull up beside Sam's car.
Turning his car off, he turns to her. "I want you to go directly home. Do not stop anywhere else?"
"He's not going to…."
"Sam, just humor me. Go straight home. And when you close up, make sure all the doors are locked upstairs and in your office. I'll use my key to get in." He says, as she looks at him.
"You really think he wants to hurt me."
"I think he's unstable enough to try anything and I'm not going to loose you or him." He says, reaching out to touch her stomach. "Not if I can help it."
"I'll make sure everything is locked up tight." She says, leaning over to kiss him "We love you too much to chance losing you." She says, sitting back
"I love both of you too much to loose either of you. So straight to the house and make sure all the doors are locked upstairs and downstairs."
"I'll make sure it's taken care of." She says, leaning in to kiss him again. Sitting back, she opens her door as she grabs her purse. Getting out, she opens her car door and gets in while he watches her. When she back out, he starts his car and backs out behind her. He follows her out of the parking lot, but instead of turning towards City hall, he stays behind her. When they get home he parks behind her car, she gets out and walks over to his car as he rolls the window down. "You didn't have to follow me home. I was coming straight here."
"I wanted to see for myself that you were both home and safe."
"I will be perfectly fine here. Nothing is going to happen at the office."
"I only want to make sure you're safe. I'll be home later. Go inside and lock the back door and have one of the ladies go upstairs and check the locks on the house, please."
"Alright." She says, sighing before she leans in and kisses him again.
She turns away and he reaches out to stop her. "I love both of you."
"We love you too." She says, with a small smile.
"Go on, and I'll wait till you're inside." He says, nodding towards the house. She smiles as she turns for the house. He waits till she opens the door and turns to wave before he pulls away.
Richard is in his office after a meeting with several gentlemen from Little Rock. Reaching for the phone, he dials a number and then sits back. After a couple rings, a man picks up. "Hello."
"Yes, is this Miles Jamison?" Richard asks.
"Yes, who is this?" Miles asks.
"This is Richard, Miles." Richard says. For several moments there is silence before Richard says. "Are you there Miles?"
"Yes sir, yes, Your Highness." Miles says, sitting up.
"It's simply Richard now." Richard says, smiling. It felt good to talk to someone that knew him from his time in San Cristobel, someone other than his family.
"Yes sir." Miles says.
"How are you doing?" Richard asks.
"I am well Sir."
"And Ashleigh?"
"She is well too. She is with the children right now on a school trip."
"Of course, how are your boys?"
"They are growing up Sir, Miles the second will be in University in a few years."
"Really!" Richard says, surprised. "I had forgotten he was that old."
"He'll receive his learning permit after he returns from this trip."
"That's is wonderful. I called to ask you a favor." Richard says, coming back to business.
"Of course sir, whatever you need?" Miles says.
"Don't promise that until you've heard what I'm asking for." Richard says.
"It's whatever you need Sir, I would be more than willing to help." Miles says.
"Thank you, but you might want to discuss this with Ashleigh before you say yes. I have decided to run for office here."
"Congratulations, Sir."
"I haven't won yet, Miles." Richard says with a smile.
"But you will Sir. You always win."
"Thank you for the vote. However, I believe that I will have some obstacles to overcome if I am to win. What I need Miles, is for you to come here and be my speech writer. I know that's a lot to ask, but we've always worked well with each other, I believe."
"When do you need an answer Sir?"
"We're making the announcement this Friday. I don't expect an answer by then, but I do need one as soon as possible."
"It would be challenging to write for you again Sir, but I have limited knowledge of the political arena in the US."
"I have people here to help with that. Our communications director was in San Cristobel during Edmund's coup and she's lived in Springfield for many years as has my campaign manager. I want you because you know me and you know my style." Richard says, sitting up. "I would feel more comfortable with you here with me Miles."
"I would need to talk to Ashleigh about this before I gave you an answer."
"You have time to do that." Richard says.
"In the meantime Sir, I could possibly write your announcement speech. At the very least I could give you a rough draft that you and your advisors could work with." Miles says, reaching for a pad.
"Any help you would offer I would appreciate and take." Richard says.
"Let me jot a few ideas down. I will email you a rough draft in a few days and then when Ashleigh comes home with the boys I will speak to her about your offer."
"Thank you Miles." Richard says, relieved that he would at least consider writing for him. "If you decide to do this, I know that Cassie will enjoy seeing you, Ashleigh and the boys again."
"As will we Sir. How is Will and Rj?" Miles asks.
"They are doing well. Both are settling in and Will is playing soccer and Rj is involved with American football. He's the captain of his team and quite a good player. Will is doing quite well as soccer as well. He's becoming a very good forward."
"You knew that Rj would be that athletic type. Will was quite good in the youth polo matches here. Everyone was quite shocked when the announcement came that Will wasn't Prince William's son and even more shocked when it was announced that he was yours and Princess Cassie's son."
"I don't think you could've been more shocked than we were." Richard says, sitting back.
"No, I don't suppose we could." Miles says, with a ruthful laugh. "I'm sure it was a lot to take in after being in the coma."
"It was a lot but Cassie helped me through as she always has. I'm unbelievably happy to have my life and my family back."
"Everyone was also saddened by the death of Lady Tammy. She was everything to you and Cassie and the country knew how much she was loved."
"I do miss Tammy terribly but again, Cassie helps me and I am there for her as well. I regret that I wasn't there when it happened, but I'll do anything to help Cassie cope with Tammy's loss." Richard says, as Amelia buzzes him. "Miles, I'm sorry to do this, but my next meeting is here so I must go."
"Of course sir, I'll make some notes and a rough draft for you and then when Ashleigh gets back I will speak to her about your offer and will be in touch."
"Thank you, Miles. I look forward to speaking with you again."
"You're welcome, sir. We'll speak soon."
"Of course." They hang up as Amelia buzzes him again. Holding down the button, he says. "Yes Amelia?"
"Sir, your brother is here."
"William? Send him in." Richard says, releasing the button as William walks over to the door. William walks in as Richard stands up. "William, I'm surprised to see you."
"I took the afternoon off. I thought maybe we could go get fitted for our tuxes."
"Let me see what my calendar holds." Richard says, sitting down as his desk. Pulling it up, he notices that he doesn't have anything until later that afternoon.
"I'm free until about five and then Will has a soccer game. You should come." He says, standing back up.
"I have to meet Ava, but we'll catch his next game." William says, as Richard walks around his desk.
"Of course." Richard says, walking over to his door. William follows him out of the office. Stopping at Amelia's desk, Richard says. "I'm out of the office for the rest of the day."
"Yes sir." She nods.
"You have the memos I left for you and the other correspondence…."
"I'll have plenty to do Sir." She says, with a smile.
"If you finish early, then please take the rest of the afternoon off."
"Thank you Sir." She says, with a nod and smile. He and William leave.
When they reach the parking lot, Jeffrey is pulling into his space. He gets out as they are walking up to Richard's car. "Richard, William." Jeffrey says, as he locks his car.
"Good afternoon." William says
"Hello." Richard says, looking at him. "Everything alright?" He asks.
"It will be?" Jeffrey says, sighing.
"Is something going on?" William asks.
"I'm just worried about Sam." Jeffrey says, as he walks over to them
"Is the baby…?"
"No the baby's fine, I'm worried about her brother."
"Her brother! Why would you be worried about him?" William asks.
"He's in Georgia." Richard says.
"Actually, he's moved, to Laurel Falls."
"Laurel Falls, why would he move to there?" William asks.
"I think to try and force Sam back into his control. Sam's convinced he won't try, but she's involved with a case that's directly related to him."
"This has to do with the patient she saw?" Richard asks.
"Yes. She's going a head with her testimony on behalf of the mother. I agree with that, however I have a feeling that her brother is going to stop her from doing anything that prevents that girl from being returned to her father. She was supposes to meet with a man that claimed to be the Arianna's mother's attorney."
"And he's not?"
"No, he's not. He never showed up to the meeting."
"Then how do you know he's not the woman's attorney." William asks.
"Because when he didn't show, I called the public defenders office and spoke with the director. I found out the attorney that was assigned Arianna's mother's case. We then went to speak with Arianna's mother and she was able to tell us who the man was. He's tied to Sam's brother. He's Jeremiah's enforcer of sorts."
"His enforcer, I don't understand." William says.
"It's really a lot to go into right now. I'm just worried that Jeremiah is going to try and force Sam back into his control. She's going to refuse and he's going to do something that will hurt her and our baby."
"So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. For this afternoon, she promised to stay home. I want her to stay in our bedroom and not leave it, but she's already balking at staying the house." Jeffrey says, sighing softly.
"Have you considered a bodyguard?"
"She actually suggested that. And I'm probably going to get one, simply because I know how she's going to be if she has to stay at home until this is all settled."
"She won't make life easy." Richard says, looking at Jeffrey.
"No, she will not. Where are you both going?"
"Umm, to get a fitting for my tux really. Yours is probably fine from your wedding." William says, looking at Richard.
"It probably is." Richard says, looking at Jeffrey.
"It's fine if you go with him." Jeffrey says. "William, how's Ava?"
"She's doing very well. She's busy at Lewis and planning the wedding."
"Remind her to call her father, I haven't talked to her in a while." Jeffrey says.
"I'll be sure to do that." William says, with a small smile.
"I need to go." Jeffrey says.
"We'll see you later. And I'm sure everything will work out with Sam and her brother." William says.
"Thank you." Jeffrey says.
"If you need anything, please let us know."
"I will. Thank you." Jeffrey says, before he turns to walk away. Richard and William get into Richard's car and leave as well.