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