Finding love - 19. Chapter 19

We were ushered down a corridor but I stopped to look at the pictures on the wall of the founding partners of the firm:

Grayson Michaels Sr. – U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Tracy “Trace” Michaels (Nee: Woolery) – U.S. Federal Court Judge

Patrick “Cam” Worthington VI – U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice

Tristan Michaels IV – U.S. Attorney General

I hurried down the hall to catch up and entered the large conference room.

“Tristan, it’s so good to see you,” Mom said giving him a hug.

“It’s been too long Meg,” Tristan replied returning the hug.

A door on the opposite wall opened and in walked two additional folks who were in a deep discussion.

“Meg, it’s so good to see you,” the younger of the two said as he hugged mom.

“Grayson, it’s good to see you as well, thank you for all your help with this case,” mom replied.

“It’s a very disturbing case. We heard about what happened on your way in.” The other man said.

“Word travels fast, Cameron. It’s good to see you,” Mom said.

“Like wise Meg,” Cameron replied. “Should we get started?”

“Everyone, please take a seat,” Grayson said. “Before I begin, I have Black Hawk guarding the floor, so we shouldn’t be interrupted.”

“Ok, so we’ve done some digging into Jonah and the Baker family at your request Meg,” Tristan began. “The long story short, the only good egg in that family is Brandon.”

“What about Carly,” I asked.

“That’s where things get really interesting,” Grayson said. “We are going to start with Jonah. Based on all the information gathered he was holding a grudge against Noah. Jonah was upset that Noah was dating Carly and eventually they added Asher to the fold. Based on the evidence that was done to make Noah jealous but it didn’t work. Jonah wanted to be the third person in the relationship but he was being iced out. It turns out that Jonah is a distant cousin to the Baker family. That fact grossed out Carly but not Mark, which is why they had a relationship. Noah’s rejection of Jonah changed his focus to his brothers, starting with Nathan. He was planning to cycle through all of his brothers but he couldn’t get close to Nick or Matt. This is where it gets sinister, Jonah found out that Noah was going to break up with Carly and pursue a relationship with Asher. Jonah was livid and was seen arguing with Noah at the party. In our review and visit to the time of the argument Jonah made the decision to kill Noah that night. After Noah walked away Jonah grabbed a cup and added something to it and then added some punch and had Carly deliver it to Noah. Noah unknowing drank the contents and pretty much became incoherent. Jonah decided to talk Noah with him and when Carly wanted to go he decided against it. Once Noah got into the car he made sure not to buckle him in and made sure no one was paying attention. He chugged several bottle of alcohol and then got behind the wheel. We know based on witness interviews no one else had alcohol. He purposely speed and crashed the car knowing that Noah wouldn’t survive.”

“Oh my,” Mom replied and started sobbing. I was on the verge of tears and Brody pulled me into a car.

“Son of a bitch,” dad shouted. “Gray you told us it was sinister but I didn’t believe you.”

“Nate that is understandable. No one ever wants to think this way about people. Jonah was a bad apple and he manipulated people.”

“The aftermath of the accident investigation was a cluster fuck,” Tristan said. “Baker showed up and when he saw it was Jonah and Noah he at first was torn up but when he discovered only Jonah was drunk and what it would do to the family he made sure evidence disappeared. Take for example the liquor bottles that Jonah drank from were never found and neither was broken glass.”

“So all this happened and no one lifted a finger?” Grandma asked getting angry.

“Once Baker and Jonah found out Carly was pregnant they did a paternity test to see if it was Asher’s or Noah’s. When they found out Noah was the father they hatched a plan to use the baby to get money from the family,” Tristan said. “A suit was filed and you are due to be served tomorrow.”

“How much,” Grandpa asked pointedly.

Tristan, Grayson and Cameron all looked at each other.

“One billion in lost earning from Noah,” Cameron said.

There was a collective gasp in the room.

“You better file for sole custody,” Dad said angrily.

“We are prepared to fight this,” Tristan replied. “I’ve gotten the paperwork and will move swiftly. They won’t know what hit them.”

“What about Jonah beating charges on killing Noah,” I asked.

“Very good question Matt,” Grayson said. “We found out that Jonah’s family paid off the judge and bribed two members of the jury. We are will bring this up at trial in the suit against Jonah.”

“What’s to say it won’t happen again,” I questioned.

“We have an inside man this time. Judge Morgan who was assigned the case is a very close family friend; his son is married to Cameron’s son. They won’t figure this out since Blake took his husband’s name,” Tristan said.

“What if they do?” I asked. “I just don’t want Jonah out there again.”

“Chief Baker doesn’t know yet but he’s been indicted on conspiracy and murder charges. He’s going to be arrested tomorrow,” Tristan said.

“We’ve also filed suit against the county police department for their incompetence,” Grayson said. “The justice department has a few inside guys and we’ve used our connections to get information and records. Chief Baker has it out for you.”

“We’ve known Paul for years,” Mom said, “Why the sudden change?”

“Greed,” Cameron said, “Once he figured out who you were the greed took over. Take Mark exploiting Matt, Baker said he donated all that money and we have a paper trail that says otherwise.”

“How much did he make?” I asked.

“Around 5 Million dollars,” Cameron replied, “He didn’t hide the money very well.”

“How will we keep everyone safe,” Dad asked.

“Funny you should ask,” Tristan said. “I’ve arranged for round the clock security at your house. If you don’t feel safe there, my brother has agreed to let you stay in Manhattan or in our family home in Stroudsburg.”

“Dad can we go to Manhattan,” I asked eagerly.

“This is not a vacation Matthew.”

“I do want to know more about Carly and her part of this,” Mom asked.

I noticed Nathan get a little uncomfortable.

“What do you know Nathan,” I asked.

“Noah didn’t get her pregnant,” Nathan blurted out.

“That would make sense,” Tristan said. “When we scanned through Noah’s life we couldn’t find them hooking up.”

“When you what?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Mom said rather quickly. “What do you know Nathan?”

“When Jonah told Carly of the impending break-up she went ballistic. She wanted to hold onto Noah anyway possible. One night when he and Asher were out alone, somehow they got them both to pass out. Jonah had his way to Noah and collected his sperm and used a turkey baster to impregnate her.”

“I remember waking up in the car with Noah and we had been out walking through Allan’s Pond Park. We never figured out how we got back to the car,” Asher said.

You could feel the anger rising in the room and I swear my grandpa’s ears turned red several times.

The door abruptly opened and a man stuck his head in:

“Sirs, we have a situation.”