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 73
Judge Broadside had his judicial assistant clear his entire calendar for Anton Romanov’s plea hearing. District Attorney Charles Abbott had assembled a grand jury Tuesday afternoon and easily obtained an indictment against Sergei Ivankov for the murder of U.S. Congressmen Kip Brewer.
Micaden had called to explain the legal process and answer my question why Professor Romanov would agree to aiding. Micaden said that Clarke, with the assistance of the FBI, had secured the services of an international expert in photo recognition. The man was working another case in St. Louis, Missouri and could quickly evaluate the photo provided by Regina. He had no doubt the man was Sergei Ivankov.
Micaden had convinced his client that even though the State’s case against him was weakened by the photo, the State could continue to hold him to pursue their investigation. He could be held for months awaiting Micaden’s successful argument of a motion to dismiss. Professor Romanov was losing his mind sitting in a six by eight jail cell and being away from the most important thing in his life, his teaching and consulting. It was Jeff Sessions, the FBI director himself, who, with the permission of Micaden and the Professor, who ultimately persuaded him to agree. Mr. Sessions told him the U.S. Justice Department was planning on taking him into custody to pursue a federal indictment for treason related to his role in the 2016 election fraud. He convinced the Professor he would become the most hated man in America, to both those for and those against President Kane.
DA Charles Abbott and the FBI had been able to convince the Professor, through Micaden, that his best interest was served by agreeing to become the government’s undercover agent. In this role, American justice had an opportunity to learn what had happened during the 2016 Presidential election, including whether Russia had been involved in manipulating the final votes.
Micaden had told me all this over the phone Sunday afternoon.
He also answered my question about the role I was being asked to play. It seemed Micaden and Pastor Tillman had assembled a pretty good team of investigators. They had not been able to positively confirm yet, but seriously believed, Thaddeus Colburn and his Constitution Foundation were involved in a conspiracy to spark a national crisis. Micaden said he couldn’t divulge any details yet but Colburn had a history of what Micaden called, ‘the double-play.’ He said this was always a strategy that, on its face, left you saying, ‘he wouldn’t do that if his objective was X.’ Micaden said that Colburn had a reputation, through his public interest law firm of creating, albeit on a much smaller stage, situations that created a need for his solution. It was somewhat analogous to Munchhausen’s Syndrome where the mentally ill mother abuses her child for her to become the savior. Micaden cited several cases throughout the Midwest where Colburn had gone so far as to plant a public-school teacher who was a Bible thumper and engaged in clear violations of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition against the establishment of religion.
Both Darden and the FBI, aware of my relationship with Ginger Crumbley and Zel Peterson, believed that if I completed my book and engaged in widespread publication, including some carefully planned national media interviews, that Thaddeus Colburn and his Constitution Foundation might disclose their plan. I told Micaden that I was weeks away from completing the first draft.
The hearing on Thursday was unusual. It really wasn’t a court hearing at all. It was simply a meeting to put the parties, the government and Professor Romanov’s, agreement on the record. Judge Broadside was needed for two things. To make sure he was present in the event the parties were unable to resolve an issue. The parties had agreed the Judge would be this final arbiter. Also, Judge Broadside controlled his courtroom. It was necessary that the meeting be secret, with only Darden Clarke, FBI agent Stanford, the Justice Department’s representative, Micaden, and his client. Of course, I would be present to create a stenographic record of everything that was said.
The morning session was conducted as though it was a criminal trial of sorts. The parties had agreed to create a mock courtroom scene to allow the parties to question each other. The purpose was for the government to reveal the scope of what they were asking Professor Romanov to do. DA Abbott was tasked with the job of asking the Professor, ‘did you not know’ questions. Things like, did you not know that you would be asked to wear a wire in the meeting with your brother? The biggest issue arose over whether the Professor must wear an electronic monitoring device. Finally, Micaden convinced the government the dangerousness of this idea, that the anticipated trip for the Professor to Russia would be too late to deal with such issue. The KGB would discover this and would immediately take the Professor into custody. This session lasted until almost 12:30 p.m.
Judge Broadside’s judicial assistant brought sandwiches and chips for everyone’s lunch. After a short break, the afternoon session began which, for an hour, was off the record with the parties hashing out changes in the written agreement. At 2:00 p.m., Judge Broadside conducted a plea hearing of sorts. He, of course, was not accepting a plea from the Professor to a criminal charge. The Judge just wanted to make sure the Professor understood his Constitutional rights to a trial and that he did not have to enter into this agreement or any other agreement with the State of Alabama, the Federal government, or anyone else. After Judge Broadside was convinced the Professor was acting voluntarily, he supervised the parties entering into and signing off on the agreement.
After the meeting was over the parties wanted me to prepare the actual transcript of the morning and afternoon sessions. I returned to my office. Less than an hour later I delivered copies of both transcripts to Judge Broadside. He thanked me for my timely service and told me to have a good weekend.
I took the elevator to the ground floor and had just exited the courthouse when my phone vibrated in my coat pocket. It was Regina.
“Hello love.”
“Hey babe. Are you coming home anytime soon?” Regina asked.
“I’m leaving the courthouse right now. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to hear your voice and let you know I was already home. Funny, that feels weird saying that.”
“Oh, stop it. We’ve had this discussion. My home is your home.
It is official, you are a permanent resident of Shepherd’s Cove.”
“If you will, drop by Pizza Hut for our favorite pizza. I’ll order it when we get off the phone. Oh, by the way, I just heard that Anton Romanov is being released from jail. Not sure exactly why. Have you heard anything?” Regina asked.
The question froze my mind as I stood there at the curb. I hesitated for just a second. Regina then asked me again, the same question. “Sorry, I lost you for just a minute. Did you say Romanov had escaped from jail?”
“No. No. Delton called me and said he was being released from jail. I asked you if you had heard anything. Why he is being released?”
“No. Nothing. My guess would be Micaden pulled a rabbit trick from his hat. You know he is known for his creativity.” I said.
“Okay, see you soon. Don’t forget to pick up our pizza.”
Richard L. Fricks 