"What's this?" Josh asked.
"It is a detailed, sworn affidavit about my involvement in the Grey case," the Judge explained. "I have included, to the best of my recollection, the events that transpired ending with Grey in the prison system. I think it may be useful in corroborating the information in the news broadcast. And there's this," handing Josh a smaller envelope.
Josh gave the Judge a quizzical look.
"My resignation," the Judge said, gazing out into the woods. "I cannot in good conscience continue to sit on the bench in light of the things I did, or failed to do. Please see that Judge Michael Campbell receives this."
"Judge, no. I can't deliver this. It won't change anything," Josh argued. "You're the kind of person we need on the bench. Please reconsider. We may need a sympathetic ear in the court until this is resolved."
Tucker glanced at the envelope in Josh's outstretched hand. Reaching for it, he said, "I will hold onto this, for now. I will not make any promises, but I will give it more thought. Thank you, Josh."
"Josh, I know about a million prosecutors that would want your head for that," Moreira said, chuckling, trying to lighten the moment.
Tucker laughed as well. "I am afraid the Sergeant is right on that one, Josh. If some of my brethren at the bar knew you held my resignation in your hands, and returned it, I dare say your life would be in jeopardy."
"Won't be the first time," Josh said. "Let's go back in and see what havoc the dogs have wrought."
Chapter 36
Tommy drove to the office, parking in the rear of the building. As he got out of the car, he spotted Karen looking out the window watching him. She waved and he returned the gesture. She motioned for him to come to her office.
He grabbed his briefcase, trying to delay a bit until Donahue arrived. Where the hell is he?
Tommy started towards the door.
Donahue drove into the lot and beeped at him. Tommy waited for Donahue to park, glancing to see if Karen was still watching.
"Hey Tim," Tommy said. "Come on into the office," shaking Donahue's hand, putting on a little show for Karen.
Tommy let Donahue into Jennifer's office. "I'll be right back, got to stop at the office down the hall," he said, in the event someone was listening.
Karen was waiting at the door for him.
"I see you have someone in the office," she said. "This can wait."
"Do you have something for me about Anthony?"
"You sure you have time?" Karen asked. "Is Jennifer back in the office with the client?"
"No, she flew down to Baltimore," Tommy said. "We got a lead on some properties just on the market and decided to expand the scope our operations. The guy in the office is a friend of mine from college. He is considering joining the group if we open another office out-of-state. He had some calls to make, so now is good."
Karen smiled and returned to her desk. She logged into the computer, brought up a spreadsheet, and scrolled through the file.
"Well, the good news is Anthony seems to be quite successful as the Senator's aide. I can't find any adverse information on him," Karen said. "I'm not supposed to do this, but I took a brief glance at his financials. Nothing alarming, no bankruptcies, excellent credit, nothing to concern oneself with."
"So you think he's on the up and up? Just not the friendliest of personalities?" Tommy asked.
Karen laughed. "I know he can be a bit abrupt, but as far as his background there's nothing alarming. His connections in DC make it worth tolerating the abrasive personality in exchange for the business he brings in."
Tommy sat for a moment, watching Karen scroll through some more screens. "So what do I owe you?" he said.
"Nothing," she replied. "I was able to do this all through sites where I have unlimited access. No extra charges accrued."
"I appreciate this, Karen. Are you sure I can't compensate you for your time?" Tommy asked.
"You buy the coffee next time," Karen said. “How’s that?"
"Deal," Tommy said. "Thanks again."
Returning to Jennifer's office, he found Tim on the phone.
"Who you talking to?" Tommy asked.
Donahue held up his hand for Tommy to wait.
"Really," Donahue said into the phone, grabbing a notepad and pen. "Tell me again what she said. Lovely, thanks. I'll be sharing that with him momentarily.” Donahue hung up and wrote a few more lines.
"So?" Tommy asked, hands outstretched, palms up.
"The surveillance team updating me on your friend Karen," Donahue said. "Seems as soon as you left the office she called Sorin and filled him in."
"What did she tell him?" Tommy asked.
A broad smile crossed Donahue's face. "I have it here," Donahue said, waving the paper. "I wrote it down so I could do it proper justice."
"Tim, what the fuck are you talking about?" Tommy said, his frustration growing.
"Ahem, ahem," Donahue cleared his throat. "She said, and I quote, 'I just talked to the blockhead Moore. He bought the story. East Providence PD must have some real morons. He is supposed to be a detective. He's not bright enough to be a school crossing guard."
"That fucking bitch," Tommy said. "I should go over there and slap that fake smile right off her face."
"Tommy," Donahue said, his smile growing wider, "is that anyway to talk about someone who is such an intuitive appraiser of her fellow humans."
Tommy laughed. "We'll see how intuitive she is once I lock her ass up."
* * *
Josh and Zach walked into the lobby of the news station. Approaching the receptionist, Josh showed his badge and ID. "We're here to see Mr. Collins. I'm Lieutenant Williams, East Providence Police."
"Just a moment, I'll see if Mr. Collins is available," the receptionist said, smiling at Josh.
"I bet he will be when you tell him who it is," Josh smiled back.
A moment later the receptionist said, "Mr. Collins will be right down. He wanted to know if you would like coffee, tea, or water. I'd be happy to get that for you."
"You know, that would be nice, if it's not too much trouble?" Josh answered. "Coffee for me, cream and sugar. Zach?"
"I'll have coffee as well, the same way."
"I'll be right back," she said, heading off to get the coffees.
Jim Collins appeared in the lobby wearing a dark colored suit, maroon tie, and a headset with microphone boom around his neck.
"Lieutenant Williams, what a surprise," he said, reaching out to shake Josh's hand. "I see you have your secret partner with you, Special Agent Zach Kennedy of the FBI," enjoying the look of surprise in Kennedy's eyes.
"We are not without our own resources," Collins smiled, shaking Kennedy's hand.
"I am sure you are not," Kennedy said. Leaning closer and whispering in Collins's ear, "But I caution you about what you do with the information, Mr. Collins." Squeezing the hand until Collins pulled away.
Rubbing his hand, Collins said, “Now that the pleasantries are over, let's go to my conference room."
Josh looked in the direction of the missing receptionist.
"Not to worry," Collins said. "She'll bring the coffee," gesturing toward the door, “The conference room is this way."
As they settled in around the table, the coffees arrived. "Will there be anything else, Gentlemen?"
"No, thank you Yvonne that will be all. Would you call Candace Ferguson and have her come to the conference room, please?" Collins said.
"Of course, I'll get her right away," closing the door behind her.
"Okay," Collins said, looking around the room. "Before Candace gets here, let's leave out any discussions of our earlier meeting. Leave it that you decided to speak to us in light of new developments and want to provide some more information. Agreed?"
Josh nodded. Kennedy just ignored the remarks, sorting through some documents in his briefcase.
"Mr. Kennedy?" Collins asked, "Are we in agreement?"
Kennedy looked up, "I'm sorry, Mr. Collins is it?
I am terrible with names, particularly when I have just met someone. I apologize, what was the question?"
Josh tried to conceal his smile, but failed. Collins just sat in silence, looking at Kennedy.
The door opened, breaking the quiet, and Candace came into the room.
Collins motioned for her to sit down, "Candace, I assume you know these gentlemen."
"I do indeed. How are you?" Candace said.
"Well, we were just getting acquainted with Mr. Collins, Jim I believe," Kennedy said. "Just a couple of new friends."
The smile on Josh's face grew wider and he looked away for a moment, scratching the back of his head. "When we heard the story got pulled," Josh said. "We wanted to find out why and let you know we've found some more information. That's the reason for our visit."
Candace looked at Collins, "Jim will have to address the reason behind the story getting tanked. I was under the impression it was ready to go. Jim, you want to answer that?"
Collins cleared his throat and put his arms on the table, hands folded. "I held the story based on a request," making the quote sign with his hands, "from corporate. Maurio Bartoletti himself, our CEO, called me and asked me to hold the story."
"Did he say why?" Josh asked.
"Not in so many words. But it was clear it had to do with the pending merger," Collins answered.
"Merger, what merger?" Josh replied, feigning ignorance.
"ANM Media, our parent company, and ZMI News Media are in the midst of negotiations. There is a petition pending before the FCC to approve this merger. Once the vote happens, the process can move forward. Without it," Collins explained, "it is dead in the water."
"What does that have to do with this story? There's no relation to your company," Josh asked, glancing at Kennedy.
"I have no idea, but it was obvious to me he was getting pressure from someone with a great deal of influence,” Collins said. "Your guess is as good as mine who it was."
Josh looked at Kennedy. Kennedy gave him a slight nod.
"Jim, Candace," Josh said, "what I am going to share with you will corroborate the story. You have to assure me you will not reveal the source of this information, agreed?"
Collins glanced at Candace, and then faced Josh. "I am sure I don't have to explain the protections of the First Amendment to you, but I do answer to my corporate office. They may ask where we got the information."
"Then you tell them it came from me. No one else but me," Josh said. "Make sure you understand this before we go any further."
Collins nodded.
"I believed what we had was more than enough," Candace said, shooting a glance at Collins. "But if you have something even bigger we need to move fast before they try to stop it, again."
Josh opened a folder and took out a picture, "Do either of you know this man?"
Collins slid the picture over, looked at it, and then passed it Candace. "I don't know him."
Candace looked it over, "No, me either. Who is he?"
"That, my friends, is your new CEO. Shashenka Dmitriev, current CEO of ZMI News," Josh said, seeing the reaction by Collins.
"You knew? You knew all about the merger. What is this about? What's going on here you're not telling us?" Collins asked, glancing back and forth between Kennedy and Josh.
"Dmitriev is a naturalized American citizen,” Kennedy explained. “He was born in Russia, served in the KGB with Vladimir Putin, and made billions of dollars in gas and oil production."
Collins face blanched.
"That's right Mr. Collins, your company is about to become part of a multi-national conglomerate. One controlled by Russian organized crime," Kennedy said. "The early stuff we fed you might have derailed that, but now? Well, now we need to step up the pressure a bit. So what's it going to be? You gonna show some spine and run with this, or you gonna just hide and hope it goes away?"
Once Collins regained his composure, Josh laid out the interconnections between the Russians, Sorin, and Collucci. He detailed the links between the companies involved in the waterfront projects, the infiltration of the lottery and casinos, and the Cayman Island money laundering.
By the time he finished, Collins appeared stunned by it all.
"I bet if we looked hard enough at this, we'd find Collucci using his influence to squash the story. We know he knows about it. This has his fingerprints all over it. Is that enough for you to move forward on this, Jim?" Josh asked. "Because if not, I'll find someone who will."
Collins looked at Josh, "I think, Lieutenant Williams, I have an obligation to do so. If just half of what you say is true, this is the biggest story of governmental corruption since Watergate."
Josh smiled at Collins, "I have one more thing for you," handing Collins the affidavit from Tucker.
Collins read over the ten-page document. "Holy shit, this is unbelievable. Where'd you get this?" Collins asked, sliding the document to Candace.
"I do not normally reveal sources, but in this case I'll make an exception," Josh said. "The judge gave it to me. Told me to deliver it to whomever I thought could use it. He gave his permission for you to use as you see fit."
Collins took out a notepad and wrote something, "Candace, call this number. Have them meet us at the downtown studio. We're going to redo the original production, add in as much of this new information as we can, and get it on the air tomorrow. We'll do a two-part expose', start with the Grey case and the affidavit from the Judge. Then, do the real damage with the second part when the interest in it is at a peak."
Candace questioned him with her look.
"We can't risk using our production staff. Someone will tip headquarters if we start working on this again," Collins explained. "We're going to use some URI Harrington School Communication students to do the production. They've been working with our equipment for some time now. They can handle this. Once the story breaks, no one will be able to stop it."
Collins rose from his seat and walked to stand next to Kennedy.
Kennedy stood, one hand leaning on the table.
"Mr. Kennedy," Collins said. "I owe you an apology. I hoped my little surprise might annoy or intimidate you. It was childish on my part. I appreciate you bringing this to us."
"Jim, you just make this as good as you can. I'll be happy with that," Kennedy answered, closing his briefcase and hanging the strap over his shoulder.
Candace, Kennedy, and Josh walked out of the office. Candace motioned for them to follow her into a small, backup studio. "Well we got his attention," she said. "How did you convince Tucker to give you the affidavit? It's gold for these kind of stories."
"I didn't," Josh said. "We brought Jennifer to see him and her daughter. We've have them in a safe location. Tucker just gave it to me."
"Can I ask you something, if it's not too much trouble?" Kennedy said, causing Candace and Josh to look at him.
"Ah, sure. What?" Candace said.
"Can I see it?" Kennedy smiled.
Josh looked at Candace then back at Kennedy, "See what?" Josh asked.
"She knows," Kennedy said. "Her husband and I discussed it."
Candace chuckled, "Okay, hang on.” Disappearing for a moment, she returned and said, "Follow me."
The trio walked out to the back lot. Josh spotted the two troopers assigned to the station security detail parked in the lot and waved at them.
Candace opened her car, reached behind the passenger seat, and put the weapon on the front seat, "Don't hurt yourself.” She stepped back as Kennedy sat in the car.
Josh watched while Kennedy examined the Saiga shotgun and the barrel magazine. "Oh man, I’ve got to get one of these," Kennedy said, admiring the weapon.
"Boys and their toys," Candace chuckled. "Would you like to handle it as well, Lieutenant?"
Josh laughed, backing away, hands up. "Nope, I'm good. Not a big gun nut like my friend here."
* * *
The group gathered in the Chief's conference room, awaiting the start of the 6 PM news. Josh,
Tommy Moore, Jennifer Sorin, and Judge Tucker sat at the table. Tim Donahue, Joe Moreira, and Zach Kennedy stood behind them.
Just outside the office, Donna, the Chief's aide, entertained Kelsey Tucker. "You sure you don't mind doing this Donna?” Brennan asked.
"Not at all, working here I have a lot of experience babysitting."
"Good point," Brennan chuckled, leading the way to the conference room, accompanied by Chris, Maggie, Keira, and Loren Grey.
Josh and Tommy got up to let the others have a seat. "Well, aren't you the gentleman?" Chris said, sitting in Tommy's seat.
"Didn't want you to faint from having to stand, old lady," Moore replied.
"Chief, do you have the pictures of my friend here trussed up in the ladies room handy by any chance?" Chris said.
"Okay, okay. Sorry," Moore said, moving to lean against the wall.
"If I'd have known that’s all it took to get you under control I'd have had Hamlin do that years ago," Brennan said.
The opening music for the news broadcast started. Josh hit the remote to turn up the sound….
Tonight, an I-Team exclusive. An investigation into a tragic injustice and corruption in some of the highest offices of government. That comes up following today's headlines….
Josh muted the sound. “Well, this should be interesting. Zach, anything new out of DC on Sorin or Collucci?"
Kennedy smiled, "The usual political doublespeak from Collucci. His office sent out a press release trying to get out in front of it, calling it a politically motivated attack. Sorin has been MIA since the story teasers started. He's gone missing off the grid."
"What do you think that means?" Josh asked.
"Either the Russians see him as a liability and moved to minimize the damage, or he is orchestrating some response. In any case, I'd say our friend Collucci has some big problems."
"It's back on," Chris said, grabbing the remote and turning it up.
…I-Team investigative journalist, Candace Ferguson, has the exclusive story. Candace, what have you uncovered?
The camera view changed to a live feed of Candace standing in front of the Superior Court building on South Main Street.
Silenced Justice: A Josh Williams Novel Page 26
