Millennium - 64. Chapter 64

 

“It’s really early,” Cal whined as I started the meeting at 7am.

“I think you’ll find it was worth getting up for. I have to fly to DC right after this, so we had to get an early start.” I could sympathize with him. I wasn’t an early riser either. “I acquired a video this weekend that I want to play for you.” I looked at Cal. “Try not to get too turned on.” I played the video while my team stared, shocked and amazed, at the monitor.

“My goodness,” Grace said when it was over. “That certainly is an interesting way to enjoy yourself.” That made us all chuckle.

“So what are you going to do with it?” Rashid asked.

“We have that hearing tomorrow. I’m going to use this to get Senator Danfield to support us. ABC has been holding some things over his head, and this ought to free his hands to vote with us. I’m going to stay in DC for that, then come home.”

“Excellent!” Ethan said.

“I need your help on something, though,” I told them. They didn’t say anything. They’d do what I asked them to do. “I want to pin this video on Brian Parnell. I want ABC to think he’s the one who gave it to me.”

“How are you going to accomplish that?” Randi asked.

“I need to have $500,000 wired into his bank account today. I’ve gotten the numbers and routing information.” I’d checked to see that the account was still open; it was the same one he’d had when he worked for Stef and his checks had been direct-deposited into it. “I want you two to figure out a way to leave a record of the transfer out, and to have a talk about it in front of Jerry.”

“Moles can be useful,” Rashid observed.

“They can. Grace can coordinate that, and work with you all to figure out a plan.”

“We’ll get it done,” she said.

“I gotta say,” Cal observed, “that this was worth getting up early for.”

I smiled. “I’m glad you think so. I’m off to DC. I’m hoping that we can shift our focus away from bringing Omega down to focusing on how to build Triton into a powerhouse.”

“That would be great!” Randi said enthusiastically.

Rafael drove me to the airport where the plane was waiting for me, only in this case, the plane wasn’t Stef’s Falcon, it was a Gulfstream V I’d chartered for this expedition. I was determined to fit jet shopping into my busy schedule, and chartering planes and trying them out seemed to be the best way to do it. The pilots were nice, and so was the plane, but it was kind of a waste as an evaluation flight, since I slept during almost the whole trip.

The limousine took me to the Danfields’ residence, what Matt and Wade referred to as “the compound”. They made it sound ominous, and as we drove up and through the massive gates, the description seemed to match. There was one, large, central building, clearly the main house, that looked like a big southern plantation house. There were other buildings surrounding it. I assumed they were the garage and stables, but it was difficult to tell from the outside. The car pulled up under the front portico and I waited for the driver to open the door; I didn’t want to seem anxious in this land of contrived appearances.

I strode confidently up the steps, preparing to ring the bell, but it was unnecessary. A formally dressed man opened the door just as I approached it. “Welcome, Mr. Schluter,” he said, with an English accent. “Won’t you follow me?” He led me into the foyer, which was a large round room faced on either side by twin staircases which met at the upstairs landing. “One moment please.” He went off, presumably to alert Mrs. Danfield before he showed me in. I took that second to put my appearance to rights. I brushed some lint off my dark blue suit, straightened my tie, and briefly flashed my tanzanite cufflinks in the mirror. They reminded me of Robbie. I’d only been gone for a day, and I already missed him terribly.

“Mrs. Danfield will see you now,” the butler said. He led me through a room similar to what JP had in his Claremont mansion, a drawing room. It was furnished in beautiful antiques, which suited it perfectly. Beyond that was an office, furnished in similar fashion, and that was where I found Elizabeth Danfield. She rose from her desk to greet me.

“Why Brad, how wonderful to see you,” she said, giving me a faux kiss on the cheek. “Can I offer you something to drink?”

“No thank you,” I told her politely.

“Baxter, please see that we are not disturbed,” she told the butler.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and backed out of the room, pulling the doors shut as he left.

“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Mrs. Danfield,” I said politely.

“My door is always open to you, and you must call me Elizabeth,” she admonished. She motioned me to sit down at the small sofa in the room, while she sat on a Louis XV chair. “I am curious as to the purpose of your visit. Wade made it seem urgent.”

“It is both urgent and important,” I agreed. “I want to talk to you about Alexandra Carmichael, and this hold she has over you.”

That clearly annoyed her. “Ah yes. Jeff told me that he felt it necessary to reveal details about my personal life to you and Wade. He has been staying downtown since then, far from my clutches. Coward.” The malice in her voice was scary.

“I’m glad he did, and I think you will be too,” I told her.

“I hardly think so. As it is, I can barely look at you; I’m so embarrassed, knowing that you’ve seen those pictures of me doing those horrible things.” She took a drink from her glass.

“Elizabeth, you have nothing to be embarrassed about,” I told her soothingly. “My partner likes to get off by having me stick my whole hand up his posterior. We can hardly judge you.”

She smiled at me to thank me for trying to make this easier. “That would seem to be a challenge.”

“Not with a little practice,” I joked. She looked at me then, willing me to get to the point. “I spent a substantial amount of money to acquire a DVD that I think you will find very interesting. I’d like to give it to you, in exchange for your commitment to destroy Alexandra Carmichael.”

“Bradley, I have been planning and scheming to do just that for years, but with those photos she has, I am fighting with both hands tied behind my back and my legs manacled.”

I pulled out the DVD and handed it to her. “This will set you free.”

She looked at me dubiously, took the DVD, and put it in her player. It was funny to watch her fiddling with buttons to get it to work, just like Stef had. In the end, I took the controls and did it for her. I wondered playfully if women and effeminate men were incapable of controlling DVD players and televisions.

She sat back in her chair, crossed her ankles, and prepared to watch nothing of great importance. The opening scene changed all that. I watched her expression as she watched the video, as it alternated between shock and glee. When it was over, I found myself looking at a new Elizabeth Danfield. She got up, walked over to the bar, picked up a glass, looked at it, and then put it down and walked back over to me. I stood up to face her as she took both of my hands in hers. “Thank you,” she said.

“We are natural allies in this,” I told her. “And we are practically in-laws as well.”

“Yes we are,” she agreed. “I am going to destroy that woman and spit on her remains. I have dreamed of this day for years now, dreamed of the time when I could make her pay for the years of enslavement and insults, the unreasonable demands that have so hampered Jeff’s career and my position. I wasn’t sure that day would ever come.”

“That day is today,” I told her.

“I suppose I will be indebted to you now. I think that will be preferable,” she said, smiling at me.

“I want two things. I want you to take her down, and I want you to help us with Triton, as we try to get contracts away from Omega. If you have objections to supporting us, I am more than open to listening. I don’t want you in the same position you were in before. I’m proposing a quid pro quo.”

She and I both knew that she’d owe me forever, and what I asked for was so cheap in exchange it was almost insulting, but it gave her the way out of this mentally; it gave her a way to not feel enslaved by a new master. “I think I will enjoy our partnership.” She looked around for a second, and then continued. “Will you humor me? I want to take care of something.”

“Certainly.” She walked over to her desk and pushed a button. In a few seconds, no more, Baxter appeared. She asked him to find someone named Anthony. While he was being summoned, she scrawled some notes on a paper.

The doors opened and a big man walked in. He looked to be of Italian ancestry, and looked like a goon you’d see working for the mob. “You sent for me, ma’am?”

“Yes Anthony. I’m terminating Felix immediately. Please see that he is escorted from the compound with all of his things at once,” she instructed.

“You’re firing Felix?” he asked, surprised.

“Those are my instructions. Do you have a problem carrying them out?”

He smiled. “Not at all, Mrs. Danfield.”

He left, and she turned back to me. “You may not know this, but Felix is the man in those pictures. He works for Alexandra, and is here to spy on me. This will start the ball rolling. I should be hearing from that bitch shortly.”

“I need your help on one other thing, if you don’t mind. One of the key players behind this whole plan to ruin my life is Brian Parnell, David Carmichael’s boyfriend.”

“The short young man with blond hair who was at my party?” I nodded. “Oh, he was in Alexandra’s pornographic video too. How can I help you?”

“I want Alexandra to think that he was the one who sold me the DVD. I’ve arranged to have $500,000 wired to his bank account, and I’ve also arranged for a mole she has working for us to find out that we got the information from him. If you have a chance to intimate it came from him, that may further help convince her.”

“You are very good at this,” she said, almost with pride. “I will see what I can do.”

“Your husband told me of your relationship with my biological father,” I told her. I swallowed hard before going on. “Can you tell me about that, about him?”

She’d gotten irritated when I’d mentioned her relationship with him, but when I finished, she understood where I was coming from. “He was older when I met him, but so dashing and so gallant. I was a spoiled little rich girl, and he knew just how to handle me. He could move through high society with the same ease he could move among drunken sailors.” She got up and came over to sit next to me. “He was refined and handsome, just like you are. Your similarities, the way you look, the way you talk, even your voices, are striking.”

“I never got to know him. All I can do is try and piece together what he was like by talking to people who knew him.”

“I decided that he was the man I would lose my virginity to. I knew I wouldn’t marry him; he was already married. He had been with so many women, and had a reputation for it. He was married to a complete bitch, so sleeping with her husband offered that benefit as well. But most of all, he had a way about him that told me I would be in good hands. I had to lie about my age, but then again, he didn’t press too hard. He found me attractive; I wrote it off to the beauty of youth.”

“You are not a stupid woman; you cannot possibly ignore your own beauty,” I told her, almost flirting, but certainly propping up her ego.

“You are like him,” she said, laughing. “Thank you. I was mistaken about one thing, though.” She got a mischievous look in her eyes. “When we actually got to the point of doing it, he was a much bigger challenge than I expected. He was quite well endowed.”

So my bio-dad did have a big dick. “I wondered where I got that from,” I observed playfully, making her laugh. We were enjoying ourselves until there was a knock at the door. It turned out to be Anthony.

“Felix is gone, Mrs. Danfield, but he wasn’t very happy about it. He kept demanding to see you.”

“Thank you for taking care of that, Anthony. Now you can run your garage without interference from him. I know this hasn’t been easy for you. There will be a bonus in your next check, my way of apologizing for what you’ve had to deal with.”

“Thank you Mrs. Danfield,” he said with a big smile. As soon as he left, the phone rang.

She looked at the caller-ID display and smiled, then motioned me over to her desk and hit the speaker button on the phone. “Elizabeth Danfield,” she said crisply.

“Elizabeth, Felix just told me that you terminated him and evicted him from his quarters,” Alexandra said, her voice coming through crisply on the speakerphone. “That’s certainly not what I wanted.”

“Alexandra, how interesting that you should call. I’m sitting here talking to Brad Schluter. He flew all the way back to Washington to bring me a present.”

“I hope it’s a gift certificate redeemable at a scandal control firm,” she said nastily. “You’ll need it when I release those pictures.”

“Actually, it was much more valuable than that. It was a videotape.”

“A videotape? You’re getting early releases from California? You think that will save you?” I could hear her sneer on the other line.

“No, this tape was definitely pornographic, and you’ll never believe who the star was,” Elizabeth said. She allowed a pregnant pause. “You were.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Whatever this thing is that he gave you, it must be doctored somehow,” she said, but we could both hear the nervousness in her voice.

“It seems legitimate to me, especially since it’s been verified by one of the participants in your little tryst. I guess submitting to having sex with your son finally brought him to the breaking point.” What a terrific way to implicate Brian! It was hard not to snicker.

“Nonsense,” she replied.

“Anally penetrating your own son with a sex toy, Alexandra. Now that is certainly enough to keep the wags talking for quite some time. I wonder how your board will react to that.”

“Don’t think this is enough to get you off the hook,” she said, almost shouted.

“We both know it is, and we both know that you have a big problem, because I’ve just gone from being your enslaved ally to being your worst enemy. I am going to bury you.”

“We’ll see who buries whom,” Alexandra replied, trying to sound cocky.

“Yes we will,” Elizabeth said, then switched off the phone. “Now that was truly enjoyable.”

“I think that the part where you mentioned that she anally penetrated her son with a sex toy will be the part she’ll remember best,” I joked, making both of us laugh.

“You’re staying for the hearings tomorrow?” she asked.

“I am.”

“You must stay here with us,” she said.

“Actually, I’ve already gotten a suite downtown. Please don’t be offended,” I added hastily. “I wouldn’t want there to be any appearance of impropriety before the vote.”

“That is a good point,” she told me. “When you decide to stop being a mogul, you must move to Washington. You are good at this.”

“I bring you a present, and you offer me that kind of death sentence?” I joked, making her laugh.

“You’re going to see Jeff,” she said. Of course she would know. “Would you do me a favor and let him know I would like it if he would come home.”

“I’d be happy to,” I told her. I got ready to leave, but it seemed as if she had more to say.

“This has been an unhappy home for a long time now. After Beau was born, Jeff and I moved in different directions. He began having affairs, and I found my solace elsewhere. It seemed that the more distant he became, the more exotic my fantasies were. That’s when they landed me in this nightmare, the one you’ve just ended for me.”

“But now it’s over,” I said soothingly.

“Only it’s not. I have three children who have suffered miserably because of this. If it weren’t for boarding schools, I can’t say what they may have become.”

“I’ve only met one of your children, but he’s an amazing young man. Wade is a son to be proud of,” I told her sincerely.

“He most certainly is. I have some work to do there. Wade has always been the inquisitive one, the one who needs to know everything. Hiding something from him is almost impossible. Beau is just the opposite. Beau prefers to keep his head in the sand, and ignore what happens around him unless he is forced to deal with it.” She sighed as she thought about her sons. “That’s why Beau and I have been so close. He never threatened me with unpleasant questions, never probed too far, so I never had to keep my guard up like I did with Wade.”

“You also have a daughter?” I asked.

She nodded. “Mary Ellen. She is the one I perhaps cannot save from herself. She has all of my bad traits, and none of the positive traits the boys managed to get from Jeff.” She clearly thought very highly of her husband, which surprised me for some reason.

“I hope you won’t sell her short,” I said, nothing more than a platitude.

“She will do whatever she likes no matter what I say or do, so I have little control over her at this point.” She paused, as if reflecting for a moment. “I think back to how upset I was when Wade brought Matt back here for Christmas back in 1998. I didn’t know Wade was gay, or bisexual, until then, and I blamed Matt for turning him.”

“They were that obvious?”

She smiled. “There are some things a mother knows. When her son is in love, well, a mother knows.” She got up and walked over to the television and ran her hand across the top of it. “When he came out like he did, and I flew out to see him, he told me how Jeff had molested him for years. I was horrified, even though I wasn’t surprised. That family of his had their share of skeletons. I thought that we were both so twisted, there really was no hope for us. That’s really the only time in my life I ever seriously contemplated suicide.”

“I’m so glad you didn’t,” I told her. “My mother did that. I never regretted her death, never mourned for her, and to this day I’m glad she did it. Your children wouldn’t have had that luxury.”

“So you say,” she told me, smiling anyway to thank me for the compliment. “I used all the old political arguments on Wade about why he shouldn’t have done that, why he shouldn’t have come out, but in the end, they’re nonsense. I’ve never seen him so happy, so grounded. After that big deal, I wondered how I would ever be able to forgive Jeff, or whether I’d be able to forgive myself.”

“But you did,” I said.

“No, Wade did. Jeff went into counseling, and worked really hard to change himself, to understand what he did and how awful it was. He and Wade are really so much alike. Neither one of them ever loses. Jeff recognized that the key to his own sanity was Wade, and having Wade forgive him. He fought like a tiger to get Wade to do that. It wasn’t always easy. For Wade, it’s been a hard sell.” She got a little choked up, and then regained control. “I remember when it really happened, when Jeff finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. It was on Father’s Day, when Wade called him. It was such a thoughtful gesture. I think Wade knew Jeff was drowning in this, and he exerted himself as much as he possibly could, doing everything within his power to help Jeff through it while still retaining his own sanity.”

“My own father is a lot like Wade. He remains calm and unruffled in all but the most horrible of crises, and even then, all you might see is a crack in his façade. His logical mind is so sharp that not much escapes him. He and Wade are like twins from different generations. They’ve developed quite a bond, and JP has all but adopted him. Relationships don’t always last, even though Matt and Wade seem destined to be together, but regardless of that, Wade will always have a place in our family.”

“Thank you. That is good to know.” She seemed to realize that she’d opened up more than she’d planned, than she’d wanted to. She glanced at her watch and I took that as a signal.

“I really should get going. I’m supposed to meet with your husband, and he’ll need to finish up soon if he’s going to make it home.”

She got up and approached me. I prepared myself for one of those faux hugs, but instead, she moved in close and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in tight. I was surprised for a minute, but then I returned her hug enthusiastically. She pulled away, and I wiped her tears away with my fingers. “Thank you,” she said.

“It’s my pleasure, really,” I said. I strode out of the house and to the waiting limo, and then sat back for the ride into DC. It was rush hour, and there was traffic, but I lived in LA so I was used to that. I was in an introspective mood, happy but a little unsettled, and I didn’t have my rock with me. He was 3000 miles away, in Malibu.

My phone rang and I grabbed it excitedly, hoping it was Robbie. Instead, I was greeted by an officious voice. “Mr. Schluter, can you please hold for Senator Danfield?”

“Certainly,” I said.

A few clicks later and Wade’s father was on the line. “Brad? It’s Jeff. Listen, I was wondering if we could postpone our meeting until tomorrow morning. I was thinking we could meet at 9:00, which is well before the hearing. Elizabeth called and we’re going to meet for dinner here in town.” I smiled at his tone, one that was happy and excited. It was hard to see the love in their relationship, but maybe it was there.

“That’s just fine,” I told him. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 9.”

“Fantastic!” he said, and hung up. I redirected my driver and then relaxed back into the leather seat of the limo, thinking about what awaited me at the end of my ride: A beautiful suite in one of the best hotels in Washington, with a nice dinner and an early night, a chance to catch up on my rest. Most people would probably be excited about such an evening, but to me it just sounded lonely.

I called Robbie’s cell phone, but he didn’t answer. I smiled when that didn’t bother me at all. A month ago, I’d have visions of him running off to his apartment with a twink like Carson or a stud like Justin Blalock, but that didn’t even seem like a possibility now. No, he’d be working late; trying to get things done, then he’d go home and spend time with the kids and Jeanine. If he was horny, he’d either track Cody down, or he’d go up into our room and play with some of the toys Stef got us. I smiled, secure in the knowledge that I could trust him again, trust him more than I’d ever trusted him. I could trust him completely.

I got to the hotel and checked in. They were expecting me, and treated me like royalty. A signature was all it took and I was on the elevator with a bellboy and my luggage. The bellboy took the key and opened the door for me, then put the bags right inside the door. He handed me my key, and then made to leave. That was odd. Usually they put the bags near the closet and showed me the room, how to work all the stuff.

“Wait a minute,” I said, as I pulled out my wallet to tip him anyway.

“It’s already been handled, sir,” he said with a grin. I shrugged and walked through the entry, into the living room, and over to the windows. There was a spectacular view of the Capitol, all lit up now that it was nighttime. I sighed, feeling alone in this city of millions, and headed to the bedroom to just collapse for a few minutes.

“Hey baby,” a voice said as I walked into the bedroom, scaring the shit out of me. I saw Robbie in bed, the covers pulled up so they were just above his navel and no more.

“Robbie!” I said, and jumped on top of him.

“You missed me?” he asked coquettishly.

“You missed me,” I teased. “You’re the one who flew out to see me.”

“So you didn’t miss me?”

“It’s only been one night,” I said, pretending that I didn’t. “I mean, I’ve only been gone for 32 and a half hours.”

He grinned. “That’s 32 and three quarters of an hour, to be exact.”

“You’re better at math than me,” I joked. Then I looked at him and got serious. “It hurts when you’re not around.”

He pulled my head down to his and kissed me, one of those passionate kisses that ignite me, my entire body. “I missed you too,” he said.