Jack laughed. “Thanks for coming and cheering me up.”
“Hell, I wouldn’t miss it.”
Jack looked at him, his face clouded. “So what happened?”
“Don’t tell me you still haven’t been reading the papers?”
“Not for months. After the gauntlet of reporters, talk show hosts, teams of independent prosecutors, Hollywood producers and your run-of-the-mill curious person I’ve had to deal with I never want to know anything about anything. I changed my phone number a dozen times and the bastards kept finding it. That’s why the last two months have been so sweet. No one knew me from Adam.”
Frank took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Well, let’s see, Collin pled to conspiracy, two counts of second-degree murder, obstruction and a half-dozen assorted lesser included offenses. That was the D.C. stuff. I think the judge felt sorry for him. Collin was a Kansas farm boy, Marine, Secret Service agent. He was just following orders. Been doing that most of his life. I mean the President tells you to do something, you do it. He got twenty to life, which if you ask me was a sweetheart deal, but he gave a full account to the prosecution team. Maybe it was worth it. He’ll probably be out in time for his fiftieth birthday. The commonwealth decided not to prosecute in return for his cooperation against Richmond.”
“What about Russell?”
Frank almost choked on his beer. “Jesus, did that woman spill her guts. They must have spent a fortune on court-reporting fees. She just wouldn’t stop talking. She got the best deal of all. No prison time. Thousand hours of community time. Ten years’ probation. For fucking conspiracy to commit murder. Can you believe that? Between you and me, I think she’s right on the borderline sanity-wise anyway. They brought in a court-appointed shrink. I think she might spend a few years in an institution before she’s ready to come out and play. But I gotta tell you, Richmond brutalized her. Emotionally and physically. If half of what she said was true. Jesus. Mind games from hell.”
“So what about Richmond?”
“You really have been on Mars haven’t you? Trial of the millennium and you slept right through it.”
“Somebody had to.”
“He fought right to the end, I have to admit that. Must’ve spent every dime he had. The guy didn’t do himself any good testifying I can tell you that. He was so damn arrogant, obviously lying out his ass. And they traced the money wire straight back to the White House. Russell had pulled it from a bunch of accounts but made the mistake of assembling the five mil into one account before she wired it. Probably afraid if all of the money didn’t show up at the same time Luther would go to the cops. His plan worked, even if he wasn’t around to see it. Richmond didn’t have an answer for that or a lot of other things. They tore him up on cross. He brought in a Who’s Who of American Greatness and it didn’t help him one little bit, the sonofabitch. One dangerous and sick dude if you ask me.”
“And he had the nuclear codes. Real nice. So what’d he get?”
Frank stared at the ripples in the water for a few moments before answering. “He got the death penalty, Jack.”
Jack stared at him. “Bullshit. How’d they manage that?”
“A little tricky from a legal-technical point of view. They prosecuted him under the murder-for-hire statute. That’s the only one where the trigger man rule doesn’t apply.”
“How the hell did they get murder for hire to stick?”
“They argued that Burton and Collin were paid subordinates whose only job was to do what the President told them to do. He ordered them to kill. Like a Mafia hitman on the payroll. It’s a stretch, but the jury returned the verdict and the sentence and the judge let it stand.”
“Jesus Christ!”
“Hey, just because the guy was President doesn’t mean he should be treated differently than anybody else. Hell, I don’t know why we should be surprised at what happened. You know what kind of person it takes to run for President? Not normal. They could start out okay, but by the time they reach that level they’ve sold their soul to the devil so many times and stomped the guts out of enough people that they are definitely not like you and me, not even close.”
Frank studied the depths of the pool, then finally stirred. “But they’ll never execute him.”
“Why not?”
“His lawyers will appeal, the ACLU will file, along with all the other death penalty opposers; you’re gonna get amicus briefs from all over the planet. The guy took a tidal wave plunge on the popularity scale but he’s still got some powerful friends. They’ll find something wrong on the record. Besides, the country might agree on convicting the scumball. But I’m not sure the United States could actually execute some guy they elected to the presidency. Doesn’t look real good from a global perspective either. Makes me feel kind of queasy too, although the asshole deserves it.”
Jack scooped up handfuls of water and let the warm liquid run down his arms. He stared off into the night.
Frank looked keenly at Jack. “Not that some positives haven’t come out of all this. Hell, Fairfax wants to make yours truly a division head. I’ve gotten offers from about a dozen cities to be their chief of police. The lead prosecutor on the Richmond case, they say, is a shoo-in for the AG slot next election.”
The detective took a sip of beer. “What about you, Jack? You were the one who brought the guy down. Setting up Burton and the President was your idea. Man, when I found my line was tapped, I thought my head was gonna explode. You were right though. So what do you get out of all this?”
Jack looked at his friend and said simply, “I’m alive. I’m not practicing rich-man law at Patton, Shaw and I’m not marrying Jennifer Baldwin. That’s more than enough.”
Frank studied the blue veins on his legs. “You heard from Kate?”
Jack took another swallow of beer before answering. “She’s in Atlanta. At least she was last time she wrote.”
“She gonna stick there?”
Jack shrugged. “She’s not sure. Her letter wasn’t all that clear.” Jack paused. “Luther left her his house in his will.”
“I’m surprised she’d take it. Ill-gotten gains and all that.”
“Luther’s father left it to him, bought and paid for. Luther knew his daughter. I think he wanted her to have... something. A home’s not a bad place to start.”
“Yeah? A home takes two if you ask me. And then some dirty diapers and infant formula to make it complete. Hell, Jack, you two were meant to be together. I’m telling you.”
“I’m not sure that matters, Seth.” He wiped off the thick droplets of water from his arms. “She’s been through a lot. Maybe too much. I’m kind of connected to all the bad stuff. I really can’t blame her for wanting to get away from it all. Wipe the slate clean.”
“You weren’t the problem, Jack. From what I saw everything else was.”
Jack looked across at a helicopter roaring its way across the sky. “I’m a little tired of always being the one to make the first step, Seth, you know what I’m saying?”
“I guess.”
Frank looked at his watch. Jack caught the movement. “Got somewhere to go?”
“I was just thinking we need something a lot stronger than beer. I know this nice little place out by Dulles. Rack of ribs long as my arm, two-pound corn-on-the-cobs and tequila till the sun comes up. And some not-so-bad-looking waitresses if you’re so inclined, although being married I will only watch from a respectful distance while you make a complete fool of yourself. We take a cab home because we’ll both be shit-faced and you crash at my place. What do you say?”
Jack grinned. “Can I get a rain check on that? It sounds good though.”