Page 59 of Pursuit of Happiness

“I looked at the source of the encrypted files and compared themto the designation information for the email addresses in the documents Ileaked that got me in this mess to begin with.” He paused to let that sink in.“There were several matches. Whoever sent me these files was one of the hackersthat the government decided not to prosecute.”

Stevie let the concepts rock around in her head for a minute.“So, you’re saying that these hackers, who were peddling influence on socialmedia with impunity, are the same ones who sent you information that supposedlyconnects them with the Mitchell Foundation?” When he nodded, she shrugged. “Isthat really a revelation? I mean, it sounds like maybe they had it out for theMitchells.”

“Exactly. Why would they have it out for the Mitchells if theMitchells were paying them to exert influence? It doesn’t make any sense. Theonly motivation I can see for this ‘anonymous’ source to send me thisinformation is to hope that I would release it and it would do damage toMitchell’s chances at the presidency.”

“Well, here’s another problem. They sent you this informationabout Meredith before she even entered the race. Seems like if their goal wasto smear her campaign, they didn’t do a good job of timing.”

“Or did they? I follow the news even though I’m not dating thesenator, and there was plenty of talk about Meredith getting into the race inthe weeks before Armstrong’s campaign went up in smoke. Maybe someone offeredthese people more money to release this information in the hope it would keepher from running at all. In any event, the revelations are doing damage now, soit was a win for whoever was behind this either way.”

Stevie nodded. “Good point. I guess it doesn’t really matter. Ifit’s true the Mitchells hired these losers to do their bidding, then theyshould’ve been prepared for them to sell out to a higher bidder.”

“But here’s the thing. I’m not absolutely convinced therevelations are true.” He pointed to another section of code that looked likegobbledygook. “I don’t have the tools I need on this computer to properlyanalyze this, but someone should verify that these documents are authentic,because from what I can see, it looks like there are issues with the metadata.It’s possible whoever the prosecutor used to do the analysis was in too big ahurry and didn’t bother looking deeper when they spotted the info about thepossible connection to the Mitchell Foundation.”

“Wait a minute,” Stevie said. “What do you mean, ‘possibleconnection’?”

“I’m just saying this could fall under the category of fake news,and it’s possible someone cooked this up to keep Mitchell out of the race ordamage her chances. Like you said, if these hackers were hired by theMitchells, why would they want to damage her chances unless someone came alongwilling to bid more money for their services to get a different result?” Heshrugged. “Maybe all of it is a lie and the Mitchells didn’t hire the hackersto begin with.”

Fake news. Stevie hated the term, but she couldn’t deny the joltof excitement she got at the idea the Mitchells might not have done anythingwrong, leaving Meredith in the clear. She’d certainly acted like an innocentperson. Ever since someone had leaked the news just days after her initialmeeting with Emily at Hannah’s house, Meredith had fully cooperated withauthorities, giving them full access to her personal and official emailaccounts, and publicly encouraging her family to do the same with theFoundation’s records. Stevie couldn’t help but notice that Jen seemed to havereceded into a background role in Meredith’s campaign. More than a few timessince Super Tuesday II, she’d considered reaching out to Meredith to ask howshe was doing, but this case and the residual pain of the rift between themkept her from reaching for the phone.

Barkley’s voice broke through her thoughts. “How is this going toaffect my plea deal?”

Legitimate question. This investigation had already netted bigheadlines, and there were plenty of people who expected Emily to deliver a bigconviction of a high profile family, but the truth was the truth, and Barkleyhad done what was expected of him, no matter how the cards fell. “You let meworry about that. We have a deal and I’ll make sure the government keeps theirend of the bargain.” If the Mitchells hadn’t done anything wrong, someone hadtried to set them up, and it was up to her to convince Emily to point herresources in a different direction. She told herself she wasn’t doing it forMeredith’s sake, but she couldn’t help but feel relieved to be able to helpher, even if Meredith could never know.

* * *

Day Four ofthe Democratic National Convention

Meredith sat across from Jed Lankin in one of the conferencerooms at the convention center, neither one of them saying a word. They wereeach flanked by their campaign managers, and Meredith was grateful for Gordon’scalming presence, because she wanted to launch across the table and chokeLankin for all the hateful things he’d let his campaign say about her over thepast few weeks.

In a couple of hours, the delegates were set to begin their thirdround of voting, and there was no indication the breakdown would be any moredecisive than the rounds before. The White House had summoned them to thismeeting, hoping for some kind of agreement to bring the party together, andthey were waiting for someone from President Garrett’s office to show up. WhenJulia Scott, the president’s chief of staff, walked through the door, Meredithsighed with relief and shot a look at Gordon who raised his eyebrows.

Julia didn’t waste any time. “Are we having fun yet? Because I’mhere to tell you this is becoming a spectacle. Neither one of you are gaininganything by continuing to fight it out on national TV. Whoever walks out ofthis convention with the nomination is going to have to immediately start doingbattle against Bosley,” she said, referring to the Republican nominee, “and theless wounded you are, the better you’ll be able to fight.” She paused andlooked back and forth between them. “Have you discussed merging yourcampaigns?”

The question was a nonstarter for Meredith. She and Lankin hadway too many ideological differences for her to consider asking Lankin to beher running mate, and she’d rather drop out entirely than run as his VP.

“I’m open to the idea of having Ms. Mitchell on the ticket, butthere would have to be certain concessions,” Lankin said.

Meredith’s temper flared. “Like walk ten steps behind you andnever mention that I’m a lesbian?” She turned to Julia. “I know you came hereto get us to work something out, but unless it involves Jed dropping out, thenit’s not going to happen.” She pointed to the door. “This vote belongs to thedelegates, and it’s not up to us to take it out of their hands. Let them keepvoting. Eventually, the tide will turn one way or another, but then we can allbe sure that the process stayed democratic.”

“If you think it’s going to turn your way, you’re wrong,” Lankinspit out the words, no longer even trying to appear congenial. “Any day nowthere’s going to be an indictment against your family’s so-called nonprofit,and if you wind up getting the nomination before that happens, then we’re alldoomed. You should do us all a favor and pull out now.”

Meredith seethed and started to fire off an icy retort, but Juliabeat her too it.

“Actually, I have some news on that front. The attorney generaljust spoke with the prosecutor on the case, and it appears there have been somedevelopments in the last couple of days. They’ve suspended their grand juryhearing and are now focusing their resources on other suspects.”

Lankin’s jaw dropped, and he engaged in a whispered conversationwith his campaign manager. Meredith watched them for a second, and then stood.“It looks like we’re headed for another round of voting. I, for one, am reallylooking forward to the outcome.”

During primetime that evening, Meredith stood in the wings withJulia, watching the results of the latest round of voting being broadcast onthe JumboTron hanging high above. Earlier, the evening news had run with thestory that the federal prosecution against the Mitchell Foundation had beendropped, and the good news was reflected in the climbing delegate counts in hercolumn. Gordon was in the press room, spinning talking points that would formthe headlines for all the major news outlets if, as was expected, there was aMitchell landslide tonight.

Julia leaned over and said, “Addison wishes she could be herewith you for this.”

“Tell her I said thanks, but I totally get it. Not good form fora supreme court justice to be picking sides.”

“I think you know whose side she’s on.”

“I’m just grateful to still be in this race at all.” Meredithwatched the chair of the Texas delegation wave a Stetson in the air, and thencast all their votes in the Mitchell column. “Who do you think tried to smearme?”

“I don’t know, but they’re looking in several directions, includingBosley’s campaign. He never wanted to come up against you. Hopefully, he wasn’tthat stupid, but if it wasn’t him, then it might have been one of the PACs thatsupports him.” She gave Meredith a knowing smile. “The AG’s office is on thisnow. I’m confident they’ll figure out who was responsible.”

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