Chapter 51

Phil was in the parking garage when his phone buzzed. He figured Hailey had come up with a retort and he felt he owed it to her to let her unload. He pulled the phone out and saw she had called in the big gun – his mother.

“Yes?” Phil answered, readying himself for the verbal onslaught that he was sure to come.

“Philip?” Beth asked, wondering about his tone of voice.

“Yes,” he agreed.

“Uh, is everything all right?” Beth wondered.

“It’s fine,” Phil said. “We just had a little discussion and gave each other our true opinions. I figured one of them had drawn you into the fray.”

“Uh, no,” Beth said. “And be careful not to say something you can’t take back.”

“I’ll try not to,” Phil said. “If I can’t take it back I probably don’t need to. So what’s up?”

He had plugged the phone into the console and listened to his mother over the Bluetooth connection.

“I got a call from Joe Pepper this morning,” Beth said.

“I’m sure it was an absolute joy,” Phil deadpanned.

“It wasn’t bad,” Beth told him. “There is a press conference in a few minutes. I’m sure the Mayor will make sure it’s on TV. Channel 3 does anything she asks them to. The others will probably follow suit. I thought you might want to watch.”

“Where is it being held?” Phil asked.

“Memorial Park,” Beth asked. “Why? Are you out?”

“I’m out,” Phil admitted. “I’m also about three blocks from the park. I think I’ll just swing by. Should I tell him you said hello?”

Beth chuckled.

“No, I don’t think so,” Beth told him. “This is your fight. Phil, remember what I told you: Don’t do something you can’t undo.”

“He is the one who needs to make reparations,” Phil insisted. “He’s hidden a predator on his staff for too long. He’s no different than the Catholic Church in that regard. It should have never reached this point but it has. He needs to step up or you need to find someone else to back.”

Beth sighed. The reality of the situation was that Joe Pepper was the best of a bad lot. He wasn’t a bad guy but he was a politician all the same.

“I’m not going to tell you what to think,” Beth said. “I’ll just tell you that I’ve met hundreds of politicians and he is about the only one I think tells the truth most of the time.”

“Let’s just hope he decides this is one of those times,” Phil answered. He rang off as he pulled into the park. He followed the news vans to where a crowd had assembled. Phil eased around the onlookers and stood at the side of the newscasters.

A few minutes later, Joe ascended the steps, accompanied by his wife and a man Phil didn’t know. It wasn’t Josh Carter. Phil would have recognized the snarky bastard anywhere.

Joe Pepper stepped to the hastily assembled lectern and asked for silence. The rest of the throng stopped their chattering. It was evident that none of the reporters knew what was going on. There had been rumors that the deputy mayor was going to have to resign for some unknown reason.

“Ladies and gentleman,” Joe began, “thank you for coming on short notice. I will read a brief statement and then take a few questions.”

He took in the assembled group. They were practically salivating at the prospect of tearing down a guy they hadn’t been able to touch in 10 years.

“I was alerted last night of a gross act of misconduct from a senior member of my staff,” Joe said. Phil realized he wasn’t reading from prepared notes. “Josh Carter, who many of you know was my chief of staff during the most recent election, was accused of sexually harassing a college student working this summer for my exploration committee.

“As soon as I learned of the accusation, I confronted Josh. He confirmed his inappropriate actions and I fired him. I am ashamed to admit that it is not the first time this has happened. – or even the second. I am aware of at least two other indiscretions of the same nature. I do want to stress that all the young women were at least 18 years of age. They were, however, young people who worked directly for Josh and that is inexcusable.

“I wanted to confirm this directly rather than have the rumor mill start. Although I know it is fruitless, I ask that you give Josh and his family privacy. I think it goes without saying that the young woman is a victim and deserves her privacy as well.

“Because of my position, the city is potentially liable for Josh’s actions. I will either refund the money to the city from my campaign or I will work for $1 a year and return the rest of my salary to the city until the settlement is retired if the young woman files a lawsuit. I don’t want the city on the hook for something that is entirely my responsibility. I will now turn the floor over to questions.”

The questions all revolved around Joe Pepper’s perceived run for the mayor’s post in three years. Phil listened as the newscasters asked the same question time after time, trying to pull Pepper into an ill-advised comment by asking a variation of the same question time and again. Phil finally had enough and pushed through the reporters to the front.

“I have a question, Mr. Pepper,” he said. Joe Pepper’s face didn’t flicker but Phil saw Annette’s expression change for only a moment.

“Who are you?” one of the newscasters asked, pushing a camera and a microphone into Phil’s face.

“Let’s just call me an interested citizen,” he said flatly. “Now get those things away from me.”

He pushed the camera out of his way and stepped in front of the group again. Any view of his question would have to be from the back.

“Go ahead,” Joe said.

“What happened to the other victims?” Phil asked. “I noticed that you didn’t mention them and the idiots behind me don’t appear to care.”

“They received financial settlements prior to filing harassment charges,” Joe answered. “You’re right, Sir, I should have included that information. They were affiliated with my campaign so it didn’t involve the city. My apologies.”

“May I assume those settlements also included a non-disclosure clause?” Phil pressed.

Joe blinked and turned to the man beside him.

“I, I honestly don’t know,” Joe admitted. “That was handled by the campaign attorneys. Richard, please find that out for me as quickly as you can. If I can find the answer before we end here, I will tell you. I can’t imagine they didn’t, though. Almost all documents prepared include non-disclosure clauses. I think I can safely answer that the agreements included a non-disclosure clause.”

“Of course,” Phil answered.

“I will waive it if they wish,” Joe said. “I didn’t ask for a non-disclosure clause and I’m not sure it’s there. It is just my assumption that it is.”

“Did they complete their internships?” Phil asked.

Joe let out a sigh.

“The accusations came to light after Josh abruptly terminated their internships,” he admitted.

“So you admit that you knew Josh Carter had a history of preying on young female interns who worked for him and yet you permitted him to work in a position where he had access to new victims,” Phil asked incredulously. “I guess the only other question I have for you is, ‘Are you an idiot or do you just not care about the young women you employ?’”

“That’s unfair,” the man beside Joe Pepper cut in.

“I think it’s unfair that he allowed any intern – man, woman or canine – to cross paths with a predator without even a warning!” Phil countered loudly. “Mr. Pepper, you preach transparency in government. Let’s see if you practice it. Why in the hell would you keep Josh Carter employed knowing what you knew about him?”

Pepper stared at Phil for a long moment.

“We’ve been friends since elementary school,” Pepper admitted with a sigh. “I trusted that he had learned his lesson.”

“The first lesson or the second?” Phil shot back.

“The first,” Joe said. “I kept him employed after the second allegation because I didn’t want the scandal to detract from the campaign. It’s been four years since that incident and I thought he had changed. I was wrong. Maybe you’re right, Philip. Maybe people don’t change. I hope you’re wrong. I hope to hell that there is a chance that I will be a better man tomorrow than I was yesterday.”

“I hope that too,” Phil said. “Not just for me but for you as well. It’s just a God damned shame it took a young woman being subjected to Mr. Carter’s advances for you to learn.”

The reporters gathered around Phil as he made his way out of the park. He pushed them out of the way as they stepped in front of him and shouted questions. He simply ignored them. He didn’t want them to have his license number so he walked to the edge of the park. They finally gave up and dwindled away.

Phil waited until the last news van pulled away before he stepped out the vestibule and headed for the Mercedes. Annette Pepper intercepted him and she didn’t look pleased.

“You got your pound of flesh,” she said angrily. “Did you have to humiliate him?”

“No,” Phil said. “I just wanted to. I wanted him to feel the same way as my friend felt this morning – used and debased. He wanted to tap dance around what he’d done and I wasn’t going to let it happen. Blame his speechwriter if you want but if you take a run at me or my friends I’ll knock you both on your asses.”

Annette recoiled as if slapped.

“Your mother put a lot of money into making him a viable candidate for mayor,” she said.

“It won’t be the first time Mom pissed money down a rat hole,” Phil replied blithely. “He’s the one who fucked up and got caught. And you might want to discuss this with my mother before you speak for her. I spoke to her on the way over here. I wouldn’t count on any further funds from my family if this is the sort of man Joe’s going to be. Excuse me. I need to get to the grocery store.”

Annette’s face had aged 10 years since he’d seen her a few weeks earlier. She glanced at the ground.

“He was my friend,” she told him as he walked past. “Josh, I mean. He was my friend and I asked Joe to keep him on – and to keep it quiet from Josh’s wife. He did it because I asked him to.”

“Then I guess you and he both fucked up,” Phil said. “I compared your husband to the heads of the Catholic churches that just kept shifting the pedophiles from parish to parish so no one could catch up to them. You should have learned from that fiasco that the bill always comes due, Annette. It’s time for you and Joe to pay up.”

“So she will sue the city?” Annette asked.

“I don’t think so,” Phil said. “I intervened before he could consummate the affair. You’re lucky I did. If I had found out after he’d taken her dignity from her and then fired her, I would have ruined your family – and made sure she sued you into the poorhouse.”

“I hope you know that Joe had no idea of what Josh was doing,” Annette said. “He’s made sure to keep an eye on your friend.”

“Because you suspected he would make a run at her?” Phil asked incredulously. “That isn’t really helping your case.”

“No!” Annette said. “No. We were keeping an eye on her because she’s bright and talented. Everyone has been impressed with her contributions about getting young voters to think for themselves. He also kept an eye on her because she was your friend.”