TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16
This is Andy Gomez, legislative aide for Senator Wesley.”
Jaime frowned at her phone and held it away from her face before pulling it back to her ear. “Yes?”
“Senator Wesley would like to schedule your testimony for the subcommittee.”
Hold up. She had not signed on for this. All she’d wanted was a chance to talk to the senator privately. “What do you mean?”
“The senator always prefers for witnesses to cooperate without a subpoena, but we can send one if necessary.”
“I still don’t understand. Testify for what?” Jaime leaned back against the chair, all the fight leaving her.
“The senator believes you may have important information on Dane Nichols, and he wants the subcommittee to hear it from you.”
Jaime closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “When would I testify?”
“You’ll appear next Tuesday at noon in the Russell Senate Office Building.”
In the quick pause, Jaime’s legs began to shake. Her heart raced until she wondered if this was the beginnings of a cardiac event. “Testify about Dane?”
“Yes. Someone passed along your lawsuit. Said you wanted to talk to the senator.”
Jaime tried to focus, to breathe, but she just couldn’t. “A subcommittee is more than one senator.”
“That is true.” He chuckled. “You’ll check in with me, and then I’ll escort you to the hearing room. Because you’re an attorney, think of this as testifying under oath in a court.”
“That’s it?” Her thoughts raced. She wasn’t prepared. Not for this. “Will Dane be there?”
“Possibly, but not required.”
“What if I don’t want to? I can’t do this.”
“Ma’am, I hate to be this blunt, but you don’t have a choice.”
She slumped over her knees and reminded herself this was what she wanted. The moment she mentioned the lawsuit to Hayden, this was a real risk. In fact, she’d asked Hayden to start this in motion. She should be thrilled. Shoulds didn’t make it real though. “Will media be present?”
“Possibly. It depends on how interested they are in what’s happening. Right now there hasn’t been much because the hearings have been routine. Anything could happen though.”
What could she do? A congressional subpoena had great authority she couldn’t ignore. “I’ll meet you then.” She repeated the information and then hung up.
Hayden slipped back into her office. “Everything okay?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. Your future father-in-law is subpoenaing my testimony for my uncle’s hearing.”
“Really? That’s great.” Hayden walked behind her desk and sat. “This means those making the decision will hear your side of the story. Know more of who he is.”
Jaime put her head in her hands as she leaned over. “Now the entire world will know what he did to me. Then they’ll choose who they believe.” She felt deflated and ready to crawl into bed, but that wasn’t who she was becoming.
“They could also hear your story and realize this man does not have the character we expect in our generals.”
“What if I black out during my testimony?”
Hayden studied her. “Then it further reinforces that this is not a minor issue. Only harsh trauma causes that kind of ongoing reaction.”
Jaime looked at her fisted hands. She’d opened the door for all of this when she filed the criminal charges. She knew that. Now she must live with the results, but she didn’t have to live through them alone. “Then you’re my attorney.”
“Absolutely. Let’s get you a few minutes with the senator.” She winked at Jaime. “He owes me one.”
That afternoon Jaime followed Hayden through the Capitol Visitors Center. There was something about her heels clicking on the white marble that founding fathers had trod upon that made her knees tremble. She lived in the nation’s capital. Some days she could pretend it was just another city. One moment in these halls of power brought the reality crashing over her. Decisions that impacted the course of her country happened here.
“We’ll take the tunnel to Russell.” Hayden led her beneath the senate chambers to the bowels of the Capitol, where they boarded a monorail. “This is a fun way to get between buildings. Normally you’d have a staffer with you, but I’ve got a pass.”
“Thanks.” Jaime didn’t even try to grin as her stomach clenched at the upcoming meeting and what it represented.
“You’ll be fine. Senator Wesley is a nice guy underneath the suit. You’re a friend of mine, so that should help.”
Senator Wesley sat on the powerful Armed Services Committee, and his office location near the standing committee’s room reflected that stature.
“Did you know that Russell is three stories on the side that faces the Capitol and Constitution Avenue, but from C Street there are five stories above ground?”
Jaime shook her head. “Hayden, Washington trivia isn’t going to distract me from what this meeting means.”
The car jerked to a halt, and Hayden squeezed her shoulder and then stood. “This is our stop.”
The Russell Building was as impressive on the inside as it was from without. While the façade outside was Doric columns and marble overlays, inside a checkerboard pattern covered the floor, and carvings covered most surfaces around doorways and soaring to the ceiling. Even the knobs indicating which floor the elevators were at had an Old World elegance.
Hayden led her through the warren of halls and stairs toward the senator’s offices. “You can text as soon as your meeting is finished, and I’ll come lead you back out.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m meeting Andrew for coffee. He happened to be spending today with his dad.”
Jaime nodded, but her thoughts were already back on the hearing. The Armed Services Committee considered fifty thousand nominations for armed services positions each year.
Could her voice make a difference in such a pressured environment?
The familiar cold sweat slicked her hands. She took a deep breath, held it a moment, then another moment, then hissed it out slowly. Then she repeated the action until she felt her heart rate slow. She could beat this panic . . . and eventually her uncle.
She’d left nothing to chance on this road, except for the timing.
Clean, simple, direct.
Now that she had launched the first volley, she felt as she had each time her mother had taken her to Uncle Dane’s house. The marbles rolled freely through her stomach until nausea loomed strong enough that no amount of controlled breathing would send them away.
Hayden led her to a heavy wooden door that had a United States and a Virginia flag standing next to it. “This is it.”
A minute later, Hayden introduced her to the receptionist, a solemn woman somewhere in her late forties. “Please have a seat. The senator will be with you shortly.”
Jaime nodded and ran slick palms along her pants. Thank God she’d dressed for work when she met with Savannah that morning. “I can’t breathe.”
“You’ll do great. Scott just wants to hear your story. Learn the truth.”
“He may be Scott to you, but to me he’s an intimidating US senator.”
“He won’t be after you meet him.” Any further words of comfort Hayden might have shared were cut off when the door to the senator’s private office opened.
Jaime’s heart took off in a gallop, trying to outrace the dance in her gut.
The silver-haired senator looked every bit as noble as his pictures portrayed, the man Andrew Wesley would become evident in the strong posture and rugged Cary Grant look. Jaime tried to see the hints of teddy bear softness that Hayden promised lurked beneath his surface, but all she saw was the iron focus and will of a man who was sure of who he was and what he could accomplish. Somehow she must direct that focus to the issue of her uncle.
A studied but focused smile revealed his perfect teeth. He walked toward her, and she rose from the couch, forcing her legs to lock rather than wobble.
“Miss Nichols, it’s a pleasure.” He shook her hand with the firmness of someone who knew his place in the world, and it was making important things happen. Then he turned to Hayden. “Thanks for bringing her here and making me aware of her story.”
“A pleasure, sir.”
“Now Hayden, we’ve talked about this ‘sir’ business.”
There was a genuineness to him that made Jaime trust him.
“Yes, sir, Scott. It’s just you’re a senator.”
“And you’re an important family friend.”
“More than that, Dad.” The younger Wesley exited his father’s private office. He leaned in to kiss Hayden’s cheek. “Ready for our coffee?”
“Especially if there’s more of those included.” Hayden winked at him.
Jaime smiled at the playful, flirtatious side Andrew brought out in her friend. “Thanks for the escort.”
“My pleasure.” Hayden turned to the senator. “Be nice to Jaime. She’s one of my best friends.”
The words warmed Jaime as she watched Andrew take Hayden’s arm and guide her to the door. Then she let out a breath and turned back to the senator. “Sir?”
“Why don’t you come into my office?” He motioned her to proceed him.
“Thank you for making the time to meet with me.”
“Hayden told me you had some concerns about testifying. Your testimony will be important.” Instead of moving behind his broad, dark wood desk that looked large enough to serve as a mission control station, he sat on an antique, uncomfortable-looking couch. “Please have a seat.”
She sank onto one of the upholstered wingback chairs that sat across from the couch. A row of flags was posted behind the couch, providing a patriotic backdrop as if he felt the need to remind her of his role. Her gaze ran over the prints on the red walls, one an antique, detailed map of the counties in Virginia. Another had Life magazine WWII covers. The iconic cover images told the story of strength, resolve, and patriotism. She hoped they communicated something about the man.
“Now how can I ease your mind?” His gaze was steady, and he adjusted his cuffs beneath his suit coat, only revealing the edges of his watch, but Jaime got the message. His time was valuable, and she’d been given a gift she shouldn’t waste.
“I was subpoenaed today for my uncle Dane Nichols’s advice and consent hearings.”
“Yes, he is scheduled for a week from now.”
That didn’t give her much time to make things happen in the court case. The wheels of justice turned too slowly for that to impact this hearing. Her uncle would be confirmed long before he spent a full day in court. “I’ve never been asked to testify before Congress. Why now? Have you met my uncle?”
“Once. He’s hard to forget.”
“So I’ve been told.” She forced herself to look up and hoped he could see her heart. “I’m not here because I don’t want him to be a general, though I’ll admit the thought makes me nauseous. Will my testimony matter?”
“I believe it will.”
“Is it possible to close the hearing to media?”
“I don’t believe so. We have all these open meeting laws. Don’t you want people to hear what he’s done?”
“Yes, if it can protect even one person.”
“Do you have reason to believe he’s abused other girls?” The senator looked suitably concerned.
“No, sir. Only research that shows many times abusers attack more than one person.” She sighed and glanced back down, his direct focus difficult to meet for long. “The military is having enough challenges in the sexual abuse area. You don’t want to add my uncle to a position of authority.”
They spoke for a few more minutes as he asked probing questions, and she answered as honestly as she could.
“Your testimony will be timely.” He stood, and a moment later she was shaking his hand and then being ushered out of his inner sanctum so quickly she wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened. After meeting with his assistant, she walked the hallway of the Senate Office Building, then around a corner where she sank on the first bench she found, her legs collapsing under her.
Had she just told a powerful stranger her darkest secrets? Her hands trembled as she opened her purse and dug through it for a mint or some gum.
Important people walked past in herds. A senator with support staff, followed by lobbyists and aides. The tourists were easy to spot as they moved through the hallowed halls with wonder and a look of bewilderment. This was where decisions were made that affected their daily lives.
And here she sat, with no driving direction other than to finish the path she had started.
She wanted to weep because she’d started the path convinced it was the only way to closure.
Instead, she’d created a trajectory laced with pain and fear. Nightmares chased her sleep, and she wanted to stuff this genie back in the bottle. Even if she could, she sensed her uncle would continue until she was pulverized. She’d taken on evil without tools to combat it.
Whatever her next step was, remaining on that bench was not it. Hayden had texted during the meeting an apology that she had to return to the office for an emergency, so Jaime would have to wind her way back via the Metro.
Her phone vibrated and she tugged it from her purse to find a text from Caroline.
RU done? Meet me at Ebenezer’s? I can grab a late lunch
Jaime texted back. Be there in 30
Perfect
If anyone could ease her from this funk, Caroline could.
Jaime slipped her coat on and then walked to the eclectic Coffee with a Cause next to the Securities and Exchange Commission. As she waited inside the heavy brick interior, Caroline walked in.
“Thanks for meeting me.” Caroline’s honeyed words were a balm.
“I needed the break.”
“I figured. That had to be intense.”
Jaime nodded but kept her focus on the menu board. “Any recommendations?”
“Try the honey lavender latte. You won’t be disappointed.”
“Okay.” Jaime lengthened the word because it didn’t sound good, but a minute later when they sat in a nook with long windows warming the space, she took a sip and decided it was a good experiment. She filled Caroline in about the meeting. “I thought you were getting lunch.”
“I’ll grab something at my desk. It’s an excuse to hear about the meeting. Spill.”
“The senator was nice, but the thought of testifying scares me. It’s my word against an almost general.”
Caroline held on to her mug, a sky-blue scarf wrapped loosely around her neck and bringing color to her cheeks. “Maybe this is exactly how everything is supposed to unfold.”
“What do you mean?”
“What if God wants to bring you to a place of healing with help from a senator?”
Jaime bit back a snort. “I don’t know.”
The hurts felt so raw, the questions still so deep. She wanted an outlet to ask them and be heard. The testimony didn’t feel like that forum.
“He cares most where our hurts are deepest. This is a crater in your soul. What better way to prove His existence to you than to force the issue of healing?”
“Wait. I’m the one who filed the charges and got called to testify.”
“By a senator who just happens to be the future father-in-law of one of your closest friends and happens to sit on the perfect subcommittee?” Caroline cocked an eyebrow and pointed a perfectly manicured finger at Jaime. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“And I struggle to believe in a God who allowed Dane to abuse me.”
“Yet.”
“What?” Jaime could feel a fire rising in her bones.
“You don’t believe yet.” Caroline shrugged. “I’m not giving up on you.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Absolutely.” Caroline took a sip and then smiled. “I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I didn’t fight for you.”