Page 55 of Pursuit of Happiness

A dull roar flooded Stevie’s eardrums, and she gripped the table.

“Are you okay?” Emily asked.

Everyone kept asking if she was okay today, like she was somekind of petite flower who couldn’t handle a cluster of reporters or a bombshellpiece of evidence in a case. She’d always been able to hold her own againstanything life tossed her way; when had everyone started thinking she was soweak? Was it when she started being cast in the role of the senator, soon to bepresident’s, girlfriend? Well, it was time to reclaim who she was and do whatshe did best—advocate for her clients. “I’m fine. Lay it out for me.”

Emily pulled out a piece of paper and started drawing a flowchart. She pointed to the boxes. “Here’s what we know. The Mitchell Foundationhired Folsom Enterprises several years ago to handle its IT work, as you know.Folsom also does IT work for several government agencies, which is how yourclient got the information he released about the ongoing FBI investigation ofRussian operatives hacking social media accounts.”

“You say ‘ongoing,’ but I say ‘prematurely closed’investigation,” Stevie said. “The FBI dropped the ball on that case, and myclient was merely exposing their shoddy work and waste of taxpayer dollars.”

Emily looked around. “There’s no jury here, so quitgrandstanding. The upshot is that your client leaked classified information,and we think someone was trying to get him to leak more.”

“I don’t follow.”

“When your client was arrested, his computer was seized, butthere were emails in the pipeline to him, on the Folsom server, that he hadn’tdownloaded yet. Folsom gave us the runaround when we served them with asubpoena, claiming they couldn’t release all of Barkley’s incoming emailsbecause they contained information that pertained to their government clientsand might contain classified material. We fought them on this,ex parte.”

“Why did you feel the need to go around my back?”

Emily had the good sense to look slightly embarrassed. “It justseemed easier. If we found something that pertained to your client, we would’veshared it with you, but if what we found was truly unrelated and alsoclassified, then it was best if you were never exposed to it.”

The reasoning made sense in the abstract, but Stevie was stillconfused about how this all tied together. “Fine, we can argue the finer pointslater. Tell me what happened next.”

Emily nodded. “Someone sent a bunch of encrypted files to yourclient within days of him releasing documents to the press about the abortedFBI investigation.”

“And these are the files that supposedly tie the MitchellFoundation to these Russian hackers?”

“Yes. Of course we just found that out. The files weren’t easy todecrypt, but apparently whoever sent them to your client thought he couldhandle it. They probably weren’t counting on him getting arrested before heeven had a chance to download them and, they hoped, release them to the press.”

“So what do you want from me?”

“I want to talk to Barkley and find out everything he knows.Bottom line, I want to know if the Mitchell Foundation is trying to influencethis election.”

“Whoa, that’s a big leap. Even if the foundation hired thesehackers, you don’t know if it has anything to do with the election. Meredithhadn’t even put her name in the ring when Barkley was arrested.”

“Don’t be naive, Stevie. This entire town was talking about thepossibility of her getting into the race weeks before Connie Armstrong tanked.”

Stevie scrambled for a response, but she had to admit Emily wasright about the timing. For all either of them knew, Connie’s leaked emailscould’ve been the result of a hacker too, since no one had come forward yet toclaim credit. Could the same people be responsible? Was the Mitchell Foundationbehind it?

She shook her head, unable to conceive that the Meredith she knewwould’ve had anything to do with a scheme to influence the election. Steviethought back to Christmas Day at Meredith’s parents’ house. Clearly, Meredith’sentire family was vested in her success, and Jen’s actions to try to get hersister elected were over-the-top. Maybe Meredith wouldn’t do anything nefariousto win, but her family might do it for her.

Suddenly, she was overcome with the desire to reach out toMeredith, share this information, and gauge her response. She was convincedMeredith would tell her she wasn’t involved, and she was confident she’d beable to tell if Meredith was telling the truth.

But going to Meredith wasn’t an option. The information Emily hadgiven her was classified, and Emily had only shared it with her because she’dgiven her word there was no relationship between her and Meredith. Her onlyobligation right now was to her client and the truth, whatever that might be.“Let’s set up a meeting with Barkley, but you better come prepared with areally juicy offer if you want me to persuade him to talk.”

They agreed to meet at the jail in the morning, and Emilypromised she’d make it worth Barkley’s while. As they shook hands to seal thedeal, Stevie couldn’t help but feel like she’d just sold Meredith out, even asshe vowed to do whatever she could to protect her.

* * *

Meredith rolled over in bed and reached for her phone on thenightstand. It was six a.m. She checked the local Miami weather and saw therewas a chance of thunderstorms, which seemed like a perfect reflection of hercurrent mood. It had been three days since she left Stevie at the Hay Adams inDC, and every moment since had been a struggle between putting on a face forthe crowd and curling up in bed in a fit of self-pity.

She’d stopped calling and sending texts to Stevie after a fullday of no response, but she hadn’t stopped thinking about her. Gordon, whothankfully hadn’t said he’d told her so, had commented that she was distracted,but she hadn’t given in to his attempt to fish more information from her aboutwhat was really wrong. Jen was the only one she’d talked to and thatconversation had been short.

“We need toput out a statement or you’ll never get the press to cover any of your talkingpoints,” Jen said. “Is girlfriend too strong a word or would you prefersomething more vague like ‘Stevie Palmer and Senator Mitchell have beendating’?”

“I need youto explain to me what the hell you were thinking? You knew I wanted to keep myrelationship with Stevie under wraps, but you tipped off the press?”

“Come on,Mere. It was inevitable they would find out. Don’t you think it’s best that wecontrol the narrative?”

“Exceptthere is no narrative to control anymore. You thought you were doing me a favorby showing the public I was relatable because I had a steady girlfriend? Well,ironically, your little trick cost me any kind of relationship with Stevie.She’s not returning my calls, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I never hear fromher again.”

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