Page 27 of Pursuit of Happiness

Jen barely waited until they were out the door before she startedin. “You’ve already hired him, haven’t you?”

“Pending a few details that need to be ironed out. I’ll leavethose to you. Unless you think you can’t work together.” Meredith left silentwhich of them she would choose if Jen refused to accept Gordon onto the team,but she could tell Jen got the message.

“Can we at least revisit the decision to hire Hewitt’s firm? Wehave the resources to handle your campaign on our own.”

Meredith heard the unspoken “without bringing in outsiders”because Jen and Michael had pointed out numerous times over the past two weeksthat they and the rest of the family circle could handle the work on their own.“I’m done talking about it. I’m going to need you for many things. No one is abetter taskmaster, no one is more loyal, and there is no one I trust more thanyou. But I need someone completely objective to make the tough calls and tellme the raw facts when it comes to where things stand in this campaign. Letsomeone else get down and dirty with the campaign politics. Trust me, when weget to the White House, you’ll be much more effective as my chief of staff ifyou don’t have a ton of political fallout to have to make up for. And Gordonpromised me they would consult with Michael for analytical data.”

“I know, but—”

“You have to trust me on this.” Meredith had made up her mind andshe wasn’t changing it. “I love you and I think you can do anything, but I needyou to be my chief of staff and my sister more than I need you to run thiscircus. Got it?”

“Okay,” Jen said. “But Gordon’s going to want direct access.”

“And he’ll get it, but you’ll be included in all the bigdecisions. I promise.” Meredith stared her down until she was satisfied she’dmade her point. She knew juggling Jen’s well-intentioned bossiness combinedwith Gordon Hewitt’s reputation for being a control freak was going to be achallenge, but she was convinced it was necessary to balance her family’spolitical dominance with a fresh voice, someone who would be objective. Gordon hada reputation for speaking truth to power, and he wasn’t one to take on a racehe didn’t think he could win. This would be his first solo presidentialcampaign, and Meredith figured she’d hear an earful from her father at dinnertomorrow about how if she was going to go outside the family, she should atleast pick someone with a higher national profile. She was prepared to tell herfamily that, bottom line, she was the boss, and if Julia Scott thought Gordonwas the guy, she was convinced he was the right choice for her.

On the way to the next stop, Meredith skimmed the newspapers thedriver had left in the back seat, enjoying the tactile feel of the paper in herhands, and the sound of the paper crinkling as she folded pages to access therest of the headline stories—a refreshing break from endlessly scrolling withher thumbs to get to the end. She set aside theNew York Timesand picked up theWashington Post.Yesterday’s vote on the immigration bill was one of the featured stories, andshe devoured the paragraphs above the fold and then turned to the back pages tocatch the rest, but before she could dive back into the immigration story,something else distracted her.

A trialdate has been set for William Barkley, the IT consultant with Folsom Enterpriseswho gave top secret information to several news outlets. Protestors in supportof Barkley gathered outside the Prettyman Courthouse today, chanting about theFirst Amendment and oppressive government. Barkley’s attorney, public defenderStevie Palmer, declined to discuss the case, but did say that her clientappreciated all the people who’d gathered to support him. She said that sheexpected the public to be surprised by what they learned once Mr. Barkleyreceived his day in court.

Meredith read the paragraph several times. She’d heard about thecase when Barkley was arrested—everyone had. Espionage was a hot button issueright now, and her colleagues had all discussed how much they’d like to seeBarkley be made an example. Meredith pulled up the calendar app on her phoneand counted backward. Stevie must’ve drawn this case right around the time shetestified before the Senate committee. Right around the time they’d met. Wasthis why Stevie seemed so leery of the press?

No, that didn’t make sense. Most of the press celebratedBarkley’s actions as patriotic and fully supported by the First Amendment. No,it had been a run-in with a reporter on a different case—the Wallace case—thathad made such a negative impression on Stevie. Meredith had seen the referenceon the report Jen had prepared on Stevie’s background, but she hadn’t dwelledon the details.

Meredith reached for her phone and Googled Stevie’s name alongwith the name Wallace, completely unprepared for the flood of references thatloaded onto the screen.

AssassinDonald Wallace and his sixteen-year-old son were arraigned yesterday in FederalDistrict Judge Reinhardt’s court. The case is reminiscent of the 2002 DC snipercase, and tensions in the community have run high. Wallace’s son’s attorney,public defender Stevie Palmer, vows that evidence will show he was a victim ofhis father’s abuse as well as a developmental disability, and not at allculpable in the deaths of the seven coordinated sniper attacks that haveterrorized the Maryland area for the past six months.

Meredith clicked on another link a bit farther down and read moreabout Stevie’s young client. Phrases like “awkward in school,” “slow,” and“viewed as weird by his classmates and teachers alike.” Ten clicks later,Meredith finally reached the article that told the end of Stevie’s client’sstory.

MarshallWallace was found dead in his cell at the juvenile detention center in SilverSpring, MD. Officials believed he hanged himself, but homicide had not beenruled out as of this publication. The public defender’s office issued nostatement, but Wallace’s attorney Stevie Palmer said, “The system had failed myclient. I sincerely regret that he will never have the opportunity to bevindicated.” She went on to say that the spectacle of coverage surrounding thiscase was directly responsible for his death.

Meredith reread the quote from Stevie several times, andrealization dawned. She remembered the press coverage well. Both the father andson were vilified in the press, and horrible things were said across all mediaabout the son. Instinctively, Meredith reached for her phone and startedpunching numbers, but she stopped before the call could go through. She hadn’tspoken to Stevie since dinner at Ellie’s two weeks ago, and she feared their promiseto be friends had been nothing more than a nicety, one of those things peoplesay when they are parting because the truth—that they never plan to see eachother again—is too harsh. She set the phone down and tapped her fingers on thepapers in her lap.

“Oh, to hell with it,” she muttered and grabbed the phone again,dialing before she could change her mind.

“Hello?”

The voice was female, but she was fairly sure it wasn’t Stevie.Meredith checked the number on the screen to be sure. “I’m trying to reachStevie Palmer.”

“Senator Mitchell?”

Definitely not Stevie. Meredith cleared her throat and plungedahead. “It’s Meredith. Who’s this?”

“Hannah. Hannah Bennett. We met at Stevie’s place and again atQuarry House.”

“I remember.”

“Great speech today. You’ve got my vote.”

“Thanks.” Meredith waited a couple of beats hoping for some intelabout why Hannah was answering Stevie’s cell phone, but there was only silence.“Speaking of Stevie, I was trying to reach her. You wouldn’t happen to knowwhere she is, would you?”

“Uh…hang on a sec.”

Meredith heard the sound of Hannah speaking to someone else, butthe words were too muffled to make out. She was about to give up on thisimpromptu mission when Hannah’s voice came back on the line.

“Sorry about that. We’re having lunch or trying to at least. I’mguarding the last open table in this joint, and she’s at the counter gettingour food, but when I saw your name show up on the screen, well, I just had toanswer.”

Meredith spent a few seconds trying to unravel what Hannah hadjust said and came to only one conclusion. “I get it—she’s busy. No worries andno need to tell her I called. I’ll give her a ring later.” Give her a ring?Damn, she sounded stupid. “Bye.”

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