Mr. Bad Influence

Chapter 14 - Part 1

Kerri met Stephanie at the same parking garage she had left her at.

This time, Stephanie drove. She stepped out of her black sedan in a light gray pantsuit and blue shirt, scanning the area as she made her way toward Kerri's car.

Kerri licked her lips and glanced out the window on the other side. "I'm sorry," she said when Stephanie got into the car. "I shouldn't have left you here yesterday."

"So you're going to help?"

"You don't have anyone else close to Senator Wales, right? I'm the only one who can help you with this."

Stephanie's brows twitched. Besides that, she didn't give any other reaction.

"I want to know what's going on. I want to make sure that Eric doesn't get into any trouble. He has nothing to do with any of this. I'm sure of that. And you can't ever threaten me about Nick's case anymore. That is closed. No matter what happens next, you won't bring any charges against him for the drugs you found in his car."

Stephanie rubbed her index finger against her nose.

"If I find out or even suspect that you're not being honest with me, then I'm done."

"You seem like a different person."

She had gone home and prayed again. She had, in passing, asked God to close this chapter. This time, she asked God for wisdom to deal with things so everything would come to an end. The first thing that came to her mind after that was to find a good lawyer.

It wasn't difficult to find one. A prominent name popped into her mind immediately. "Those are my conditions. Take it or leave it. I can afford plenty of lawyers. If I spill what you made me do over the past few years, I'm sure the public will be on my side. I may not know the law, but I know how to work the media in my favor and get you to lose your job before you can even make it back to your office."

Stephanie laughed. "Did you talk to Nick? Did he teach you to say these things?"

"I didn't tell him anything." She continued staring at Stephanie. "So do we have a deal?"

"I need two things from you."

"Do we have a deal?"

Stephanie studied her for a minute. "Yes."

"I want it in writing. You can send the letter to my lawyer."

"Kerri, we don't have time—"

"I'm sorry, Stephanie, but I don't trust you enough to put Nick's and Eric's lives on the line. I'm doing this for them. So unless I know they will be protected, I won't go any further."

"What if I get it in writing and you bail?"

"What do you need me to do?"

"You know the whole James Bond thing you mentioned?"

Kerri rolled her eyes.

"I'm not joking. I need you to plant a bug in Douglas's phone, and I need you to find a hard drive from the Senator's office."

"You want me to take apart a phone and plant a listening device?" How was she supposed to pull that off?

"It's much easier. We need you to transfer something onto his phone, like a virus. All you need to do is to plug a USB with a cable into his phone."

"Won't he know?"

"There won't be any trace of it on his phone. You won't even need to unlock his phone."

Kerri sighed softly. "And the hard drive. When you say the Senator's office, are—"

"We believe Senator Wales has it in his home office."

"And if I turn the place upside down and can't find it?"

"Then we'll have to find another way."

"We?" Kerri narrowed her eyes. "I hope you're not referring to you and me."

"I'm referring to my team and myself."

Kerri picked up the card she had slotted in the cup holder of her console and handed it to Stephanie.

Stephanie grunted when she looked at the name on the card. "Carlson. You sure know how to pick one."

"He's the best."

"At drumming up drama."

"He knows how to win cases; that's all that matters to me." Kerri looked at the time on the dashboard. She had to head to the gym. "I'll call the dealer tomor—no, the day after. That's if you can get the letter to my lawyer before that."

"Nick's first performance in three years, huh?"

"I need to go."

Stephanie raised her hand with the business card clipped between her index and middle finger, then stepped out of the car and closed the door behind her.

Kerri started the car and drove out of the parking garage. When she could no longer see Stephanie's car in her rear-view mirror, she closed her eyes and sighed. She hadn't been sure if she would be able to pull off this meeting. Carlson had told her to stand her ground regardless of what Stephanie said. He even offered to come to this meeting with her, but she didn't want to attract unnecessary attention.

She called Carlson and told him that Stephanie should be in contact with him soon. Once that was done, she tried calling Eric, but he didn't pick up her call. She tried him at his office, but his secretary said he was in a meeting. So she left a voicemail for Eric to call her back once he was free.

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