The Hellman

Chapter 9

Alexander looked around the room and smiled when his eyes landed on Michele. She blushed, and it made him smile even wider. How strange that only a few days before, he had been denying his attraction to her. Everything about their relationship had changed. They were taking it slow which meant that the dating was all they’d be doing the moment, but he was slowly realizing why everyone seemed so smitten with her. Beside her breath-taking beauty, she was brilliant and funny. He was surprised that he hadn’t taken the time to realize it before but he concluded that he had been thinking about himself and not her.

“Why are we here brother?” Laura asked

He dragged his attention away from Michelle and looked at his sister who was giving him a knowing smile

“I had contact with Dillon today,” he said,

“Dillon?” Theodore asked, “I thought you took him out of the field.”

“I didn’t” Alexander replied, “that’s a good thing too. I sent him to Mexico and he got wind of some major cartel trouble there.”

“What sort of trouble?” Laura asked

“Well, he thinks someone’s planning a major attack stateside.” Alexander replied, “there’s no intel on who or why.”

“So why do you think the intel is correct?” Jamie asked

“Well, I got an update from the CIA this morning that they've been following the shipment of guns to see where it turns up.”

“Oh, what do we do?” Theodore asked

“I need you all to reach out to your contacts in Mexico to find out what’s really happening down there.” He said

Everyone nodded.

“I also need you to be prepared in case they call us in for an assist especially Laura.” He said

“Finally.” She said with a tad too much enthusiasm. “I mean, sure boss.”

“That’s all for today,” he said

He was going to tell them about the information he got on the two dead doctors, but he thought he should keep it to himself. If his father had some explanation to give, he would give him the chance to do so before he told the others.

The others left the room but he stopped Michelle.

“Get your things, I need to drive out to the country to see my parents,” he said, “I may need you to take notes

He saw the look of confusion on her face, but she nodded and walked away. When she had gathered all that she needed they left. The drive to his parents’’ mansion took them no time.

“Wow, this is a really big house.” She said as they drove through the automatic gate.

He looked up at it and nodded,

“They’ve had this house all my life.” He said, “my father raised a big family and he intends on filling it with grandchildren one day.”

She laughed

“They’ll like you.” He said

Instantly he regretted saying that. He hadn’t noticed that this might be misunderstood as, her meeting the parents.

“It’s gonna be alright.” He said, “I don’t need to say anything if you’re not comfortable.”

“That would be for the best.” She replied

“No problem. I got you” he said reaching over and kissing her on the cheek.

They usually refrained from being touchy in the workplace, but he figured he could get away with it this once.

“We should go.” She said

When he moved away he realized she was smiling.

“Let’s go.” He said

They walked up to the door and as he was about to knock, it swung open and an older lady came through the doorway and threw her arms around him. She was so much shorter than Alexander that her hands hardly made it completely around his broad shoulders.

“What took you so long?” the woman asked, “we’ve been expecting you for days.”

She shot Alexander a puzzled look and he shrugged. They were ushered into the house and Alexander looked behind him to make sure Michelle was following.

“Where’s dad?” he asked

“He’s in his study.” She replied, “are you staying for lunch?”

“Maybe something to go mom.” He said planting a kiss on her forehead, “I have to see dad.”

“Fine,” she replied,

“By the way mom, this is Michelle, she’s my assistant.”

“Michell, this is my mother, Laura.”

His mother looked at her from the crown of her head to her toes and then back up. The expression on her face changed when she met Michelle’s eyes but then she looked away and shook her head.

“Michelle,” his mother said extending her had, “nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Michelle replied flashing his mother an innocent smile.

“We should go,” Alexander said beckoning to her.

He led her down the hallways to the secluded part of the house where his parents shared a joint office. When he walked in, his father was seated by the hearth reading a newspaper.

“Dad” Alexander said as he entered

His father looked up and then went back to reading his paper. Alexander ushered Michelle into the room and brought two seats over to the hearth so that they could face his father as they spoke.

“I’ve been expecting you.” His father said without looking up, “although I didn’t expect you and company.”

“I have a new assistant.” He said, “Dad, Michelle, Michelle, Maud.”

His father lowered the newspaper and folded it before looking over at them. His eyes lingered on Michelle for a while and then his brows furrowed.

“I see.” His father said

Alexander was a bit concerned with the way his parents were looking at Michelle and he wondered if his siblings had gotten wind of their relationship and told his parents.

“A friend of mine showed up at my office to give me these.”

He handed his father the document which contained the picture of the two dead bodies. His father looked at them for a long time before looking up. His eyes didn’t meet Alexander’s but lingered on Michelle.

“Interesting.” His father said. “do you know who these people are?”

“No, I was hoping you would tell me,” Alexander said

“Have you shown these to anyone?” his father asked looking over at Michelle.

“No, I wanted to hear your side before I showed it to the others.”

“What about your assistant?” his father asked

“I haven’t shown anyone. Why do you ask?” Alexander asked

He was becoming more suspicious of his father the more e spoke. Without so much as a hesitation, his father turned and threw the document into the fire. Alexander watched with a startled expression as the document went up in flames.

“What!” he shouted in confusion, “why did you do that?”

“Son, you need to get as far away from this case as possible,” his father said

Alexander had never seen that look on his father’s face. He couldn’t imagine why the man he had come to respect so highly suddenly looked so defeated.

“You don’t think we can solve the problem?” he asked, “do you not think us competent enough? Father, we can take on anything that comes our way.”

His father sat back in his chair and began reading his paper once again.

“Son, I have all faith that you can conquer this world if you put your mind to it.” Maud said, “but I don’t think you could stand the cost.”

“What does that mean?” Alexander asked

“If you want to talk about anything else I have the time, otherwise you should leave. Come back on Sunday and bring your assistant, your mother would love if she came.”

Alexander was so confused he had no idea what to say. His father had never kept anything from him and now he had just shut down. Alexander suddenly felt frustrated. He had no copies of the document and he knew Leslie had pulled several strings to get him a few copies but he doubted he could get another. His father had singlehanded destroyed the best evidence they had.

“We should go.” He said turning to Michelle who was looking at them with shock.

“Yeah sure.” She said jumping to her feet.

His father lowered his paper and looked up at her.

“It was nice to meet you, Elaine.” His father said, “I mean Michelle. I pray my son takes good care of you. Good assistants are very hard to find.”

“What, Uh, it’s nice to meet you too,” Michelle said

Alexander looked at Michelle who was so white he wondered if his confrontation with his father had shocked the poor woman half to death.

“We should go,” Alexander said leading her out.

His mother rushed over to them and clutched Michelle’s hand.

“You should come back” his mother insisted

Alexander knew for certain now that his siblings had ratted him out to his parent. When his mother finally released Michelle, he reached out to hug her.

“I love you mom, see you Sunday.” He said

“See you son. You take good care of her okay.”

“Okay, mom.” He replied

As they walked out of the house he couldn’t help feeling embarrassed. He turned to look back at Michelle but she was still looking pale and he wanted to take the who day back.

“Are you alright?” he asked

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.” She replied, “I just need some water.”

“We’ll be back at the office soon” he replied, “you can get some then.”

Alexander knew something as up with his father. He didn’t know why he was acting like this, but he would figure it out. His father wanted him to run and avoid the conflict, but he would never do that; he would stay and fight and he would win.