Month: April 2024

The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.

The Boaz Stenographer, written in 2018, is my fourth novel. I'll post a chapter a day over the next few weeks.

Book Blurb

Walt Shepherd, a 35 year veteran of the White House’s stenographic team, is fired by President Andrew Kane for refusing to lie.

Walt returns to his hometown of Boaz, Alabama and renews his relationship with Regina Gillan, his high school sweetheart, who he had ditched right before graduation to marry the daughter of a prominent local businessman.  Regina has recently moved back to Boaz after forty years in Chicago working at the Tribune.  She is now editor of the Sand Mountain Reporter, a local newspaper.

Walt and Regina’s relationship transforms into a once in life love at the same time they are being immersed in a growing local and national divide between Democrats and traditional Republicans, and extremist Republicans (known as Kanites) who are becoming more dogmatic about the revolution that began during President Kanes campaign.

Walt accepts two part-time jobs.  One as a stenography instructor at Snead State Community College in Boaz, and one as an itinerant stenographer with Rains & Associates out of Birmingham.

Walt later learns the owner of Rains & Associates  is also one of five men who created the Constitution Foundation and is involved in a sinister plot to destroy President Kane, but is using an unorthodox method to achieve its objective.  The Foundation is doing everything it can to prevent President Kane from being reelected in 2020, and is scheming to initiate a civil war that will hopefully restore allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

While Walt is writing a book, The Coming Civil War, he is, unwittingly, gathering key information for the Constitution Foundation.

Will Walt discover a connection between the Foundation  and the deaths of three U.S. Congressmen in time to save his relationship with Regina, prevent President Kane from being reelected as the defacto head of a Christian theocracy, and the eruption of a civil war that could destroy the Nation ?

Chapter 60

I started working as Judge Broadside’s court reporter the Monday after Ginger made her request.  For the past three weeks I had fallen into somewhat of a routine.  Monday’s were reserved for a criminal motions docket.  Things like hearings on a defendant’s motion to either set bond or reduce a bond.  Also, I was surprised by the number of motions to suppress.  These too were filed by criminal defendants who were attempting to persuade the Judge that law enforcement had illegally obtained evidence.  I found the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections to be not only interesting but refreshing.  It was good to know that America’s Founding Fathers believed in protecting citizens freedom.  Tuesdays, for me, were devoted to cleaning up Monday’s transcripts, reviewing for errors and making corrections, and an occasional court appearance to record a criminal plea that, for some reason, couldn’t wait until the next criminal docket week.  My few mistakes allowed me the luxury of leaving by early afternoon.

Wednesdays were for civil case motions.  Sometimes these spilled over into Thursdays.  By end of day on Thursday I was always caught up with my civil transcript review.  I was off on Friday’s unless the Judge had a trial.  Every two weeks was a trial week, either for a civil case or a criminal case.  Sometimes there were several trials per week.  This was my favorite part of the job.  Every trial told a story.  Often, the story was tragic, more than any fiction author could ever imagine.  

I guess routines are made to be broken.  Today, Judge Broadside agreed to hold the preliminary hearing for Anton Romanov.  Normally, a District Court Judge hears these matters.  But, both judges were in New Orleans at a Judge’s conference and the twenty-day deadline for Romanov’s preliminary hearing was today.  Every criminal defendant has a legal right to a preliminary hearing within twenty days of arrest.  If not, he must be released.  District Attorney Charles Abbott certainly couldn’t allow that to happen.  Judge Broadside reluctantly agreed. 

Romanov was represented by Boaz attorney Micaden Tanner, a high school classmate of mine.  All the time I was driving home after the Hearing I couldn’t help but think about what all he had gone through since we graduated in 1972.  He endured as a criminal defendant in a trial in the same courtroom I now worked.  Micaden had been falsely accused of kidnapping and murdering two girls from Douglas.  His court ordeal ended in a mistrial.  And if that weren’t enough trauma for one life, just recently he had been exonerated in the kidnapping and murder case of Gina Tillman.  Since I had moved back to Boaz last December I had seen Micaden a few times around town.  We had just chit-chatted.  We had never been close friends but seemed to always share a mutual respect.  After watching him in court today I felt I wanted to get to know him better.  Anyone who had suffered as he had no doubt had a few interesting stories to tell.

Romanov’s hearing was straight-forward.  I guess my ignorance shown through as I believed that the Prosecutor would ask all types of questions about Romanov’s relationship to Russian President Putin and how the two of them were involved in manipulating the 2016 Presidential election.  I’m learning that court is a lot different than life, or the type of life where people are sitting around for a friendly, or not so friendly, chat.  The Alabama Rules of Evidence were something I was learning a little about and a subject I intended to pursue.  

District Attorney Abbott called Frankie Olinger to testify about what happened at Club Eden the weekend before Kip Brewer was shot and killed.  Frankie acknowledged that Romanov was there, that he participated in their across-the-lake shooting practice, and that he had shot Frankie’s own 30-06 rifle.  He also testified that his rifle had gone missing for over a week but suddenly and surprisingly reappeared, but he admitted that he was rather forgetful and could have simply forgotten how he had handled the rifle.  Frankie’s examination ended with him sharing how Romanov talked about looking forward to seeing and hearing Kip Brewer at his upcoming Town Hall meeting in Boaz.

Regina had testified how she discovered Romanov’s photograph, or what she believed to be a photo of him.  The security camera at the Quik-Mart in Aurora had caught Romanov around 8:30 a.m. on the morning Brewer was murdered.  The store’s clerk also testified to authenticate the photo.  He said he could not be sure that the man he saw in the store that morning was the same man sitting in the courtroom beside Micaden.

DA Abbot concluded his case presentation with a flurry of witnesses that all had only one or two points to make.  Sean Miller, Kip Brewer’s lead Secret Service agent, testified about hearing a gunshot and finding Brewer dead on the back deck of his home.  Angela Peterson with the Department of Forensic Sciences testified about Brewers autopsy and that he was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head.  Her counterpart, Eric Tomlinson, from the ballistics office, testified the bullet that killed Brewer was from a 30-06 Springfield rifle.  In fact, it was from the rifle seized during a search from the home of Frankie Olinger.

The prosecutor seemed to easily meet his burden, which was low.  This wasn’t a trial.  The purpose of a preliminary hearing is to determine if there is probable cause the defendant committed the alleged crime.  It commanded only a low threshold of evidence.  To me, of course I’m no lawyer, the burden is like a civil case where the term is ‘by the preponderance of the evidence.’  Many legal scholars called it the ‘more likely than not’ rule.  It certainly seemed to me, given these things that were racing through my mind as I traveled Highway 431 South towards Boaz, more likely than not, Anton Romanov murdered Kip Brewer.

But, Micaden Tanner saw things totally different.  He homed in on the issue of the photograph.  His questioning, his cross-examining, was clear and direct.  First, he attacked the photograph itself.  After the hearing, I viewed the photo, since I am responsible for transferring Exhibits back to the Clerk’s office.  I saw what Micaden was arguing about.  Even though the photo was a little cloudy, I could see where a reasonable person could argue the man there on the Quik-Mart security camera was not Anton Romanov.  His nose, to me, was all wrong.  Micaden, argued to Judge Broadside, that DA Abbott had wholly failed to prove that the man in the photo was Anton Romanov, and even if it was, how did that lend any credibility to the accusation he had shot and killed Kip Brewer.  Micaden’s other line of questioning dealt with the 3006 rifle itself.  Micaden was almost sarcastic when he asked Eric Tomlinson to repeat whose fingerprints had been found on the rifle.  He repeated, “Frankie Olinger.”  

I learned a valuable lesson at court today.  The prosecution’s power to pursue a criminal conviction against a defendant is enormous.  If I had been the Judge in this case I truly believe I would have ruled against the State.  I would have ruled that it failed to prove probable cause.  But, that’s not what happened.  Judge Broadside’s full statement before he slammed down his gavel was, “I find probable cause in the case of State of Alabama vs. Anton Romanov.”

Turning into my driveway I once again was alarmed that I didn’t remember anything about my drive from Guntersville.  It was like I had been in a fog and someone else had transported me all the way.  The thought that I had better start paying more attention to my driving left me as soon as I rounded the curve towards the back of my house.  There, I was greeted with two beauties, Regina and Sandi, both sitting on the big wooden swing on the far end of the porch.  I so loved them both and was a lucky man to have them in my life.

 

The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.

The Boaz Stenographer, written in 2018, is my fourth novel. I'll post a chapter a day over the next few weeks.

Book Blurb

Walt Shepherd, a 35 year veteran of the White House’s stenographic team, is fired by President Andrew Kane for refusing to lie.

Walt returns to his hometown of Boaz, Alabama and renews his relationship with Regina Gillan, his high school sweetheart, who he had ditched right before graduation to marry the daughter of a prominent local businessman.  Regina has recently moved back to Boaz after forty years in Chicago working at the Tribune.  She is now editor of the Sand Mountain Reporter, a local newspaper.

Walt and Regina’s relationship transforms into a once in life love at the same time they are being immersed in a growing local and national divide between Democrats and traditional Republicans, and extremist Republicans (known as Kanites) who are becoming more dogmatic about the revolution that began during President Kanes campaign.

Walt accepts two part-time jobs.  One as a stenography instructor at Snead State Community College in Boaz, and one as an itinerant stenographer with Rains & Associates out of Birmingham.

Walt later learns the owner of Rains & Associates  is also one of five men who created the Constitution Foundation and is involved in a sinister plot to destroy President Kane, but is using an unorthodox method to achieve its objective.  The Foundation is doing everything it can to prevent President Kane from being reelected in 2020, and is scheming to initiate a civil war that will hopefully restore allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

While Walt is writing a book, The Coming Civil War, he is, unwittingly, gathering key information for the Constitution Foundation.

Will Walt discover a connection between the Foundation  and the deaths of three U.S. Congressmen in time to save his relationship with Regina, prevent President Kane from being reelected as the defacto head of a Christian theocracy, and the eruption of a civil war that could destroy the Nation ?

Chapter 59

Freddie’s next target was Brett Silvers.  His ignorance had reached epic proportions just a couple of days ago when he posted to Facebook another one of his childish statements.  Two weeks earlier Brett had posted a photo of Obama and called him a buffoon.  Two days ago, his post referenced Obama’s Foundation.  Here, Brett contended that it was time for Obama to basically, go stick his head in the sand and never ever again show his head to the American public.

Freddie had tolerated Brett for years.  He pretty much had to.  Brett was the service manager at Freddie and Frankie’s business, Sand Mountain Tire & Muffler, in Boaz.  It was not until Brett’s hatred of Obama surfaced during his eight-year administration that seeds of elimination and destruction started to sprout in Freddie’s mind.  He had often thought that he wouldn’t feel this way if Brett was an openly evil and stupid asshole, but no, he couldn’t be real.  That would be faithful to the truth.  No, Brett’s act was secured by the umbrella of faith, the Christian faith that is.  Freddie wasn’t exactly sure how involved Brett was in the country church he attended every Sunday but to hear him talk at work, it couldn’t survive without him.

Freddie had learned from his expansive reading that folks like Brett, folks that can easily express hate and love, virtually in the same sentence, hold one thing in common.  They are childish.  They are normally always uneducated.  Even though Freddie hadn’t gone to college, he was self-taught from all his reading and the extensive logic and philosophy courses he had taken online.  Freddie knew that folks like Brett were diseased.  They believed their thoughts had to be accurate.  They were experts in self-deception.  What they didn’t realize, because they had never been exposed to truly enlightened reasoning and discussions, was that most every issue is highly complicated.  For someone like Brett to call Obama a buffoon (Definition: “a ludicrous figure (like a clown), or a gross and usually ill-educated or stupid person.”) was about much more than an inability to reason and to allow for the shallowness of one’s argument.  No, Freddie knew this type statement was born from a mind and heart that was evil.  No doubt, Brett was a racist, a stupid racist at that.

Today was the day.  Freddie’s plan arose from one of Brett’s routines.  He had two boys and two girls.  All of them and their families lived locally.  Every six months for years Brett stayed over after work and changed the oil in all four of their vehicles.  Sometimes he would have six or eight cars and trucks to work on, depending on whether their spouses brought theirs by.  Brett’s kids would drop their vehicles off from mid to late afternoon and leave.  At 5:30, closing time for Sand Mountain Tire & Muffler, Brett would pull on coveralls and drive the first car onto a hydraulic lift inside one of the shop’s bays.  

Frankie was always gone by 5:00 p.m. sharp, leaving Freddie, Brett, and four technicians in the shop.  Business was slow because of heavy rain so Freddie told the techs to go on home around 5:15 p.m.  Brett pulled on his coveralls and ran out to drive in a 2015 Ford Cruzer. Freddie dropped eight cyanide pills into the pot of coffee Brett had made right after Frankie left.  Brett would easily consume all ten cups in the two hours it would take to change the oil in the awaiting five vehicles.  Freddie had been careful to watch the coffee pot to make sure neither one of the technicians poured a cup.

As Brett was standing under the Ford and maneuvering the drain stand Freddie hollered, “Brett, you want a cup of coffee before I leave?” “Yea, that would be great.  Use my big cup.  It’s on my desk.”  Brett responded.

Freddie poured coffee to within an inch of the brim of the giant coffee mug.  “Hey Brett, I assume you want your creamer?”

“Won’t drink it without it.  You know that.”  Brett hollered back, standing by the outside door pressing the button to lower it to block out the wave of blowing rain coming into the shop. 

Freddie reached in the refrigerator and pulled out the last bottle of almond milk.  Everyone knew that Brett bought this himself and it was for his use only.  It was not a problem.  No one else could stand the smell or the taste.  Freddie was pleased that Brett’s taste buds enjoyed almond, since cyanide was known to put off an almond smell.

Freddie knew the next few minutes were going to be rough for the man who had devoted his life to Sand Mountain Tire & Muffler.  Brett and Frankie were high school classmates.  Freddie, although Frankie’s twin, had failed the sixth grade and therefore had graduated in 1973, a year behind Brett and Frankie.  After Brett spent a semester at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa he returned to Boaz to marry Brenda Lester, a sweet but homely woman who made Brett feel like he was the King of England.  Brett had taken a job as an oil-changer with Freddie and Frankie’s father who had started Sand Mountain Tire & Muffler.  

Freddie handed Brett his mug of coffee just as he was about to change the oil filter.  The two men stood and talked about college football.  Of course, Brett knew who was going to win and who was going to lose come Saturday.  Freddie watched Brett as he walked to the long work table six feet or so in front of the Ford.  He reached for the oil filter and then fell to the ground.  Freddie knew what was happening.  The literature he had read called it ‘internal asphyxia.’  Brett’s breathing was fast, sounding like a make-believe freight train.  Although Freddie couldn’t tell for sure, but according to his research, Brett was now dizzy, nauseated.  Less than a minute later, Brett was having convulsions.  

Even though he was not yet dead, Freddie pulled Brett over under the Ford, directly under the steel racks so they would crush his body when they were lowered.  Freddie walked to the closed front door and pressed the button.  By now, Brett was totally helpless, still and silent.  Freddie walked to the work table for Brett’s coffee mug, walked to the coffee pot, and poured the remaining coffee down the drain.  He then scalded and washed the pot several times, before drying it off.  Freddie turned off the coffee maker and placed the pot in its cradle.

Two minutes later, with drying towel and Brett’s coffee mug on the seat beside him, Freddie drove away from Sand Mountain Tire & Muffler.  He stopped by Little Caesars for a pizza and headed home.  He was anxious to relax with Patrick Hurley’s, A Concise Introduction to Logic.  Freddie loved it for its clarity and comprehensiveness, even though, now, it seemed rather elementary given Freddie’s more advanced predicate logic textbooks that lined his shelves.  No doubt they were much more of a challenge but Freddie never tired of reviewing the basic, simple examples the text included, wondering why and how men like Brett Silvers failed to grasp their truthfulness. 

 

The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.

The Boaz Stenographer, written in 2018, is my fourth novel. I'll post a chapter a day over the next few weeks.

Book Blurb

Walt Shepherd, a 35 year veteran of the White House’s stenographic team, is fired by President Andrew Kane for refusing to lie.

Walt returns to his hometown of Boaz, Alabama and renews his relationship with Regina Gillan, his high school sweetheart, who he had ditched right before graduation to marry the daughter of a prominent local businessman.  Regina has recently moved back to Boaz after forty years in Chicago working at the Tribune.  She is now editor of the Sand Mountain Reporter, a local newspaper.

Walt and Regina’s relationship transforms into a once in life love at the same time they are being immersed in a growing local and national divide between Democrats and traditional Republicans, and extremist Republicans (known as Kanites) who are becoming more dogmatic about the revolution that began during President Kanes campaign.

Walt accepts two part-time jobs.  One as a stenography instructor at Snead State Community College in Boaz, and one as an itinerant stenographer with Rains & Associates out of Birmingham.

Walt later learns the owner of Rains & Associates  is also one of five men who created the Constitution Foundation and is involved in a sinister plot to destroy President Kane, but is using an unorthodox method to achieve its objective.  The Foundation is doing everything it can to prevent President Kane from being reelected in 2020, and is scheming to initiate a civil war that will hopefully restore allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

While Walt is writing a book, The Coming Civil War, he is, unwittingly, gathering key information for the Constitution Foundation.

Will Walt discover a connection between the Foundation  and the deaths of three U.S. Congressmen in time to save his relationship with Regina, prevent President Kane from being reelected as the defacto head of a Christian theocracy, and the eruption of a civil war that could destroy the Nation ?

Chapter 58

The murder of Sandra Donaldson was the most exhilarating moment in Freddie’s life as a 63-year-old bachelor.  It was the first time he had ever acted independently of his twin brother Frankie, other than in the privacy of his home, and those times were just in his mind.  ‘The Olinger brothers can’t be blood brothers.’  That was what Freddie had heard all his life.  Frankie, according to a close circle of friends since high school, a group of fawning idiots as bright as a shot bulb, was always considered ‘the hog.’  By this, they meant he was smart.  One thing these imbeciles got right was hogs are smart, but they were seriously wrong to believe Frankie had real intelligence.  On the other hand, Freddie was known as ‘the sheep,’ dumb as a bah bah.

No one, not even Frankie, the man and brother Freddie worked beside every day at Sand Mountain Tire & Muffler for going on half a century, knew the real Freddie.  It was what he wanted.  He lived alone, in the same little house on Fern Dale Drive that his long-deceased parents had left him in their joint will.  Secretly, Freddie was a reader and a thinker—not that the two activities could be separated.  Unlike what he always told his brother, Freddie spent almost every waking moment outside his day job in a book instead of watching television.  Frankie would be amazed to see nearly twenty thousand books standing alphabetically erect along book shelfs lining every wall in the house.

Other than reading, there was one other activity that Freddie loved.  And hated.  It too, according to Freddie, was a book of another sort.  The public knew it as Facebook.  To Freddie, it was Heartbook because through this internet social media phenomenon, one can learn the inner most character of a person.  It was not until Barack Obama was elected President that Freddie got really interested in Facebook.  During the campaign, he had read everything published on the bright young man from the windy city of Chicago.  Freddie, if he had believed in God, would have ascribed Obama’s coming as the most cherished gift God could have bestowed on America since Thomas Jefferson.  Obama was intelligent, compassionate, articulate, and possessed the type of strength that wasn’t on display, but humble and controlled.  His coming was the best thing that could happen to America, especially after eight years of idiot George.

But Facebook changed Freddie’s mind.  Not at all concerning President Obama.  He was everything and more a United States President should be.  What changed for Freddie was his belief that Southern Baptists were as dumb and harmless as sheep.  During the eight years Obama was in the White House, Freddie became infected with a rage he had never known.  It was a rage against racism.  As a rule, Southern Baptists hated Obama.  This flew in the face of Freddie.  Although he hadn’t been to church in four decades, he knew this was pure hypocrisy.  Freddie’s library had been the protective wall that held his rage at bay.  As the days of Obama’s administration ended, Freddie became hopeful that things would change when Hillary was elected.  Surely, since she was white, Americans would receive and welcome her as President with open arms.  When Andrew Kane came on the scene, Freddie’s knowledge made another leap of progress.  He learned Southern Baptists just loved to hate.  They had become so political that anyone who didn’t subscribe to loathing the homosexual was a liberal akin to a Hitler.  Perfect timing is rare in life, especially in American political life.  But it happens.  And, it happened with President Andrew Kane.  According to all of Freddie’s reading, it was impossible. 

Impossible for a man so poorly qualified in every way to be elected as President of the United States.  But, it happened.  And, only because evangelicals decided it was better to get in bed with the devil himself than to try to understand and support a woman who was open to gays and lesbians.

If the Facebook praising of President Kane was sickening enough, what bothered Freddie the most, what got his rage bubbling over the wisdom of his library, was the unwillingness to leave Barack Obama alone.  Freddie learned through his Facebook reading that there was an entire clan of local folks, all faithful, diehard, Southern Baptists, whose hatred for the black man, the man they referred to as a buffoon, was relentless.  This was the clearest evidence Freddie needed to start ridding the neighborhood of a few of these walking and talking idiots.  Did they not know that a buffoon is a ‘a ludicrous figure, a clown, a gross and usually ill-educated or stupid person’?  Someone who was so retarded he couldn’t come within a million light-years of associating Barack Obama with a buffoon.  Then, a week before Freddie murdered Sandra Donaldson, he realized it wasn’t that these Southern Baptists were retards, it was because they were racists.  Deep in their hearts they housed the worst type of hatred.  This blinded them to the truth.  This was dangerous, especially with a man like Andrew Kane as President.  Freddie, feeling an exhilaration, one he had never felt, knew, finally knew, his life purpose.  It was to protect America from those like his brother Frankie, those who are hellbent on destroying the decency and respect embodied in the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.’  Freddie knew he couldn’t change the mind of every idiot in America who still hated Barack Obama, but he could be a shepherd to lead a few local haters over the edge and into the abyss. 

 

The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.

The Boaz Stenographer, written in 2018, is my fourth novel. I'll post a chapter a day over the next few weeks.

Book Blurb

Walt Shepherd, a 35 year veteran of the White House’s stenographic team, is fired by President Andrew Kane for refusing to lie.

Walt returns to his hometown of Boaz, Alabama and renews his relationship with Regina Gillan, his high school sweetheart, who he had ditched right before graduation to marry the daughter of a prominent local businessman.  Regina has recently moved back to Boaz after forty years in Chicago working at the Tribune.  She is now editor of the Sand Mountain Reporter, a local newspaper.

Walt and Regina’s relationship transforms into a once in life love at the same time they are being immersed in a growing local and national divide between Democrats and traditional Republicans, and extremist Republicans (known as Kanites) who are becoming more dogmatic about the revolution that began during President Kanes campaign.

Walt accepts two part-time jobs.  One as a stenography instructor at Snead State Community College in Boaz, and one as an itinerant stenographer with Rains & Associates out of Birmingham.

Walt later learns the owner of Rains & Associates  is also one of five men who created the Constitution Foundation and is involved in a sinister plot to destroy President Kane, but is using an unorthodox method to achieve its objective.  The Foundation is doing everything it can to prevent President Kane from being reelected in 2020, and is scheming to initiate a civil war that will hopefully restore allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

While Walt is writing a book, The Coming Civil War, he is, unwittingly, gathering key information for the Constitution Foundation.

Will Walt discover a connection between the Foundation  and the deaths of three U.S. Congressmen in time to save his relationship with Regina, prevent President Kane from being reelected as the defacto head of a Christian theocracy, and the eruption of a civil war that could destroy the Nation ?

Chapter 57

As had become our custom, Felicia and I stayed after class and talked a while.  I shared with her what I had learned about transgenderism in children, that it was not as rare as we had thought, and that the American Academy of Pediatrics, the leading voice on the wellbeing of all children in the U.S., said the number one thing was for the child’s family and community to support, nurture, and care for the child.  I told Felicia that the absolute wrong thing to do was to shame the child based on their gender identity or expression.  This was harmful to the child’s emotional health and would likely have lifelong consequences.  I warned her that the Academy’s position was directly opposite of most conservatives including the Christian church.  Felicia seemed pleased that I had remembered to research this for her.

After I left the College, I pulled through MacDonald’s drive through for a cup of coffee.  As I was waiting in line my phone vibrated.  It was Ginger Crumbley.

“Hello Ginger.”

“Hey Walt.  Did I catch you at a bad time?” “No, not at all.”  I said.

“I have a job for you.  If you will take it.  It’s a little different than what you’ve been doing.”

“Okay.  I’m all ears.”

“It’s what we call a semi-permanent assignment.  It’s with the Marshall County court system, court reporter for Judge Broadside.”

“I don’t really like the sound of that.  Sounds too, permanent, too, day-by-day.”  I said reminding myself that I took the position with Rains & Associates to have some extra income, and to keep my stenographic skills sharp, but not to be tied down to an 8:00 to 5:00 routine.

“I knew you would say that but to be fully open, this is truly necessary as part of your undercover work.  Zell and I need you in this position.”  Ginger said.

“You’ve lost me.  I don’t see what you’re getting at.”

“We certainly didn’t see this opportunity coming but the happening of two things has opened this door.”

“Okay, I’m still listening and still confused.”  I said paying for my coffee and pulling to the pick-up window.

“Vickie Harbison was killed yesterday morning in an auto accident.  She was Judge Broadside’s long-time court reporter.  This alone triggered the emergency need for someone to fill her position.  But, and this will no doubt shock you, the arrest of Professor Anton Romanov for the murder of Kip Brewer has given the Foundation a big opportunity to advance our mission.”  

“I hate that about Vickie.  She was such a sweet lady and a talented stenographer.”  I said reaching for my cup of coffee. 

“She was about to retire.  I think she had scheduled her last day to be a week before Christmas.  I had already been working on her replacement, someone to fill her position permanently.”

“I suspect you think I will learn some inside scoop about the Professor’s case if I am in the courtroom during his legal proceedings.  Correct?”  I said pulling into a parking spot not wanting to risk spilling hot coffee on me while trying to talk with Ginger.

“That’s exactly right.  There is no other way that the Foundation can effectively learn these things.  We understand that a lot of hearings and meetings are recorded but are not added to the court file until the case is over.”

“Is this job a five day per week affair?”  I said.

“Not necessarily.  Since it is such short notice I think we can work out with Judge Broadside that you be there when he needs you, mainly on preset days for court.  But, I cannot promise exactly how much you will work.”

“Couldn’t you get someone else to do this?”  I said.

“We could but it is too risky.  Bringing someone in that we don’t know could backfire and expose us to the public.  This would be catastrophic.  The bottom line is, we know you are the perfect man for the job.  You share the same motivation we do.” “Which is what?”  I ask.

“To destroy President Kane, at least to keep him from being reelected.”

“And you think the Professor can help us do that?”

“We’re hoping a capital murder charge is going to be powerful enough motivation for him to chirp like a bird.  Hopefully, he will disclose things that incriminate the President, at least enough evidence for millions of voters to doubt whether Kane is trust-worthy.”

“They should already know that he is as dishonest as they come.”  I said.

“Add a little Russian love into the mix and it tends to wake people up to the potential danger from the man in the White House.  At least, this is what we are hoping.”  

“Alright.  I’ll give it a shot.  But, I’m not promising I will do this for an extended period.”

“By the way, we are going to match the salary you receive from the State of Alabama.”

“Thanks a bunch.  Money in the bank since I won’t have time to spend it.”

“Walt, be patient.  All of this is on a strict timetable.  Come November 3, 2020, the game is over.”

“That’s nearly two years.  Please hear me.  I do not intend to keep your ‘semi-permanent’ job that long.”  I said.

“I hear you loud and clear.  I’m sure that won’t be a problem.  Sorry to keep you this long.  I’ll call you tomorrow with the details.  I suspect you will be needed soon.  Bye for now.”  Ginger said.

The call ended, and I just sat sipping my coffee and feeling my life had just taken a major turn for the worse.

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 Help a starving artist.

 

The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.

The Boaz Stenographer, written in 2018, is my fourth novel. I'll post a chapter a day over the next few weeks.

Book Blurb

Walt Shepherd, a 35 year veteran of the White House’s stenographic team, is fired by President Andrew Kane for refusing to lie.

Walt returns to his hometown of Boaz, Alabama and renews his relationship with Regina Gillan, his high school sweetheart, who he had ditched right before graduation to marry the daughter of a prominent local businessman.  Regina has recently moved back to Boaz after forty years in Chicago working at the Tribune.  She is now editor of the Sand Mountain Reporter, a local newspaper.

Walt and Regina’s relationship transforms into a once in life love at the same time they are being immersed in a growing local and national divide between Democrats and traditional Republicans, and extremist Republicans (known as Kanites) who are becoming more dogmatic about the revolution that began during President Kanes campaign.

Walt accepts two part-time jobs.  One as a stenography instructor at Snead State Community College in Boaz, and one as an itinerant stenographer with Rains & Associates out of Birmingham.

Walt later learns the owner of Rains & Associates  is also one of five men who created the Constitution Foundation and is involved in a sinister plot to destroy President Kane, but is using an unorthodox method to achieve its objective.  The Foundation is doing everything it can to prevent President Kane from being reelected in 2020, and is scheming to initiate a civil war that will hopefully restore allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

While Walt is writing a book, The Coming Civil War, he is, unwittingly, gathering key information for the Constitution Foundation.

Will Walt discover a connection between the Foundation  and the deaths of three U.S. Congressmen in time to save his relationship with Regina, prevent President Kane from being reelected as the defacto head of a Christian theocracy, and the eruption of a civil war that could destroy the Nation ?

Chapter 56

It had rained all day Thursday.  I was thankful it had slowed down to a mist as I got out of my truck and walked toward the back door of the Snead College Administration Building.  I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket.  It was Regina.

“Hello sweet love.”

“Walt, where are you?”

“I’m just about to go in to my class.”

“Really quick, but I have to tell you this.  It’s bad news. 

Professor Anton Romanov has been arrested for the murder of Kip Brewer.”

“What?  You have to be kidding.”  I said standing beside the door under the stoop.

“I’m serious.  Delton just called.  You know he hears about arrests faster than anyone.  He’s tied in pretty tight with the Sheriff’s Office.”  Regina said.  I could tell she was surprised from the tone of her voice.

“How is this possible?  He wasn’t even here.  He came to Boaz the week after we got back from Tifton.  Right?”

“Apparently the cops believe he is the man in the photograph I found.  Also, Frankie has identified him as the same man, the man who was at Club Eden and did the target shooting.”  Regina said.  I could hear Mitzi saying something in the background.

“From my viewpoint it just doesn’t fit.  I cannot see the Professor being a sharpshooter.  Of course, I am often wrong.”

“I’ll let you go.  Is it okay if I drop by later tonight?”  Regina said as though she was one of my students and needed to drop by for an instructional meeting.

“Sounds good.  See you after class.”  I said stepping aside as Felicia and Michael pulled open the door and stepped inside the building.

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 Help a starving artist.