Page 38 of Rekindled

The fact nothing came up relieved Molly, but then she reminded herself that he was really good at keeping secrets.

Molly made her way into Spencer’s office and placed the last two items on his desk. She glanced up and noticed the blinds were drawn. Good, she could quietly inspect his desk.

She rummaged through the papers, making sure to put everything back in its place. Nothing. Where else could she look? His computer might have information, but she wasn’t sure if it was password protected.

A quick touch of the mouse revealed it was indeed locked. She tried several passwords including his favorite band, his team name and number, and also the street he grew up on. None of them worked. Then a thought crossed her mind. She typed her name into the screen and the screen opened to his home page.

Just as she was getting familiar with the setup, she heard the door open and Spencer question, “What are you doing?”

* * *

Spencer could tellMolly was not doing something she was proud of. She froze, her eyes darting up to meet his with a shocked look on her face.

“I was just wanting to send an email. I thought I could use your computer really quick.” She let go of the mouse, then added, “But it’s locked.”

“That’s because most of what is on there is confidential.” He glanced at her hand and asked, “Couldn’t you use your cell phone to send an email?”

Molly averted her eyes and came around the desk. She picked up the coffee and muffin and pushed them out towards him. “I brought you a treat.”

“You can’t dodge the question like that. I’m a lawyer, remember.” He reached out, took the items, and placed them back on the desk.

Spencer didn’t like how it made him feel to find Molly poking around in his office. “Just tell me what is going on,” he urged.

Molly sat down in the chair, leaned back in it and shook her head. “I can’t keep this up anymore.”

“What’s that?” he asked, sitting down in the chair next to her. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“Not in this case. Not this time,” Molly whispered. “You’re going to hate me if I tell you.”

“I’ve known for a while something was going on that you were keeping quiet about. The reunion has been over for a couple of days and you’re still in town. Plus, I’ve had a couple of people tell me you’ve been asking really weird questions about me and my job. I think you’re investigating me, but I’m not sure why.”

Molly’s face scrunched up as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. “There’s been an allegation of corruption tied to your name.”

“What are you talking about?” Spencer asked, confused.

“My boss received an email stating that your high success rate of acquittals is due to you working in secret with the district attorney to cut deals on certain cases to gain wins on others. He assigned me the case because he knew I was from here, and hoped I could use my connections to validate the email.”

Spencer’s face turned white as a look of hurt settled on it. “I can’t believe someone would say that. I’ve never done anything that would cause someone to make false accusations like that.”

“I’ll be honest, when I first came here, I was set on proving you did it. I was coming from a place of revenge for what you did to me back in high school. Since I’ve gotten to know you and watched you with others, I know what you care about and stand for. I know the accusation isn’t true.”

“I’m grateful for that at least, but I hate that anyone else would think that of me.”

“What I’m worried about is if anyone else finds out about this, it could ruin your reputation, not to mention cause a criminal investigation to be opened. I can do my best to keep our news outlet from publishing, but I can’t say that others won’t find out and do it instead.”

“What are my options?”

“I’m not sure. I have my tech guy looking into the original email. If I can figure out who sent it, maybe their motivation will become clear.”

“I agree. Will you let me know when you hear back from your tech guy?”

“I will.” She reached out and placed her hand on his knee. “I need to say one more thing. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. It wasn’t right for me to keep it from you, but the longer it went, the more difficult it became to tell you.”

“That’s okay. I can understand why you did what you did. I forgive you. After all, you forgave me. The least I can do is return the favor.”

“Thank you,” she said, leaning forward and placing a peck on his cheek. “I’m glad this is finally all out in the open. I hated keeping the truth from you.”

“Well, you don’t have to anymore. We’re in this together,” Spencer said, squeezing her hand. “I think we should pray.” She nodded her head as he started. “Dear Lord, we come to You now and ask You to guide us through this difficult situation. We need Your wisdom to make the right decisions, Your strength to persevere, and Your peace to keep us calm. Show us how to handle this, and what we need to do to help the truth to come out. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”

Spencer opened his eyes and looked at Molly. Though the situation was froth with obstacles, he couldn’t help but acknowledge it was going to bring Molly and him closer together.

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