The Last Election (24 page)

“Yes, yes. Send them in,” he said. He then looked over at Robinson and said, “I’ll bet that they request our assistance in their investigations of the riots.”

The secretary opened the door and motioned to the visitors indicating they could now enter the office. Special Agent Gibson walked in first with Detective Delaney right behind. Schoenberg got up from the couch and approached Gibson with his hand extended. “Welcome gentlemen. I am Marty Schoenberg, President of DMBC. How may I assist you?”

Gibson took Schoenberg’s hand and gave it a nice firm handshake. “Actually Mr. Schoenberg, we’re here to see Mr. Robinson, or should I say, ‘Lion One.’”

Delaney stepped toward Robinson and said, “Mr. Robinson I have a warrant for your arrest. You are being charged as an accessory to the murder of Joseph Franklin, Jr.”

Delaney motioned for Robinson to stand up. When he did, Delaney stepped behind him and pulled his arms around his back. As he placed handcuffs on Robinson’s wrists, he began to read him his rights. “You have the right to remain silent…”

Schoenberg looked on in disbelief. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Come on down to Police Headquarters with us Mr. Schoenberg, we’ll tell you all about it,” said Gibson.

Chapter 60

Clark and Martineau joined Chief Hill, who was standing at the window of the interrogation room where Darius Robinson sat alone. “He is one cool customer,” said Hill as he looked in. “But we’ll see just how cool he is after Delaney and Gibson are through with him.”

“Thanks, Chief,” Clark replied. He looked at Martineau and said, “I hope this interrogation will reveal who else was involved in this plot.”

“I hope it verifies whether Clay’s accusations that the president was somehow involved are true or not,” replied Martineau.

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt,” said the chief. “They are about to begin.”

Robinson remained calm as Delaney and Gibson entered the room. He sat at the table with his legs stretched out and his hands folded across his stomach.

As Delaney and Gibson pulled their chairs up to the table, Delaney said to Robinson, “Comfortable?”

“Very,” replied Robinson.

“Okay, let’s get right to business,” said Gibson. “You ever heard of a man named Jorge Delgado?” He slid a picture of Delgado, one that had been taken by the CSI team when they first discovered his corpse, across the table to Robinson.

Robinson casually glanced at the picture, and then he looked up and shook his head no. Inside, his heart raced again.
They killed Delgado!

 
“Recognize these guys?” asked Delaney as he slid four mug shots of the men accused of murdering Joe Franklin across the table. “Because this one here,” he said as he tapped on the picture of Erik Torgersen, “sure seems to know a lot about DMBC. He hasn’t stopped talking about it since he was arrested.”

 
Gibson’s turn. “And how was it that a mobile DMBC news team arrived so quickly at the scene of Joseph Franklin’s murder?”

Over to Delaney. “DMBC was first on the scene at several murders that night.”

“Right. Remember the Kaczmarek murders?”

“Yes, how horrific.”

“Boy, whoever was involved in these murders will be going to jail for the rest of his life.”

“You know, I hope they don’t lock him up in one of those federal country clubs you call a prison,” Delaney said as he looked over at Gibson. “I say put him in the Detroit Jail.”

“I heard it was getting really crowded in there.”
 
 

“Oh, the place is jam packed with the dregs of Detroit.”

“And how’s that been working out?”

 
“Well, the violence between inmates has been unbelievable. I’m not sure if they just didn’t get enough of their frustrations out while they were tearing up Detroit or if they are dissatisfied with having eight men to a cell.”

“You think any of those violent inmates might be from the Cass Corridor?”

“Oh, most definitely. We even locked up a number of gang members who were from Joe Franklin’s neighborhood.”

Gibson leaned forward. “You could be roommates with them, Lion One!”

“Oh, and by the way, the Detroit PD is currently out rounding up Lions Two through Six. Amazing just how many of them are reporters from DMBC. Can’t wait to hear what they have to say.”

There was a long pause as Gibson and Delaney stared at Robinson. Robinson lifted his hands from his stomach and clapped slowly. “Nice try guys, but you don’t intimidate me. You got nothing and I have the best lawyer in town. By the time he is through with you, you’ll be working parking lot security for the rest of your careers.”

There was another long pause. Gibson then leaned back away from the table. He took out his notebook and opened it so that Delaney could see it. He used his pen to point to an item inside. “Hey, look at this, Detective. When we looked into Mr. Robinson’s background, we discovered that he graduated from high school in the same class as President Bonsam.”

“Now there’s an interesting little
coinkidink
,” Delaney replied.

Robinson’s feet flew back and he sat up straight. He knew that if Bonsam found out that the FBI had linked them together, friends or not, it would mean certain death for him and his wife, his children, and probably his pets as well.

“What do you say we give the president a call, see what he thinks of all this.”

“Yeah, he could be a character witness for you when you go to trial.”

Gibson and Delaney pushed their chairs away from the table and stood up.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Robinson cried out. “I’ll tell you what you want to know.” He then looked at Special Agent Gibson and said, “But first, you need to tell me about the Witness Protection Program.”

Gibson and Delaney exited the interrogation room and joined the group at the window. “Did you see his reaction when we mentioned Bonsam?” said Gibson. “He cracked like an egg.”

“He sang like a canary,” added Detective Delaney.

“He squealed like a pig,” stated Chief Hill.

Clark wanted in on the fun. “He croaked like a frog,” he said with a big grin on his face.

Gibson, Delaney and Hill looked at Clark, then at one another, without saying a word. Finally, Martineau said, “Sam, that makes absolutely no sense.”
 

After an uncomfortable pause, Chief Hill turned to Detective Delaney and said, “Let’s get him before the Grand Jury. He’s going to be indicted on a whole slew of counts, including accessory to murder.” Then he turned to Clark and said, “We got it from here, Governor.”

As Hill and Delaney walked off, Gibson said to Clark. “Oh, and in case you forgot, the presidential election is in four days. I think you might want to throw in a little campaigning between now and then. Chief Hill is right, we got it from here.” Gibson’s tone became serious. “Sam, you need to stay out of this. This is a criminal matter. If you focus on beating Bonsam in the election, we’ll focus on bringing him to justice.”

“Just be careful, Ken,” replied Clark. “There is no way of knowing who else is working for Bonsam, and there is no way of knowing what else he has up his sleeve,” said Clark.

“No worries, Sam,” said Gibson. “Now you two run along. Back to Lansing, now,” he said as he waved them away.
 

Clark gave him a handshake and then he and Martineau walked off toward the Secret Service agents who were waiting for them in the next room. “Croaked like a frog?” said Martineau as she slowly shook her head.

Once they were gone, Gibson walked down the hall and made his way to the office that the Mayor had allowed him to use. As he entered, Marty Schoenberg quickly got up from his seat. “Please, keep your seat, Mr. Schoenberg,” said Gibson as he walked around his desk and took a seat.

Schoenberg was much too distraught to stay seated. “Where is Darius Robinson?”

Gibson paused for a second. “Right now I’d say he’s either getting fingerprinted or having his mug shot taken, Mr. Schoenberg. He is under arrest for multiple charges, some of them very serious.”

Schoenberg could not believe what he was hearing. “What has he been charged with?”

“As a newsman you must realize that I cannot discuss the matter with you at this time,” said Gibson. “However, I can tell you that the investigation into his alleged crimes will begin at DMBC. He has DMBC so wrapped up in this mess that I’m afraid your network may never recover from the negative publicity. Even if he is proven innocent, which is extremely unlikely, the damage will be done. I’m sorry.”

“No, this can’t be happening!” Schoenberg began pacing back and forth. He kept running his hand from his forehead back through his hair. “DMBC has been my whole life. Has he incriminated DMCB?”

“As I said, Mr. Schoenberg, I can’t go into details at this time,” replied Gibson calmly.
Now for the big set up.
 
He leaned forward and said, “The only way DMBC will survive is if you come out with the whole story, Mr. Schoenberg. Robinson isn’t the only one in your organization who’s going down. It is up to you to make DMBC come clean and you need to do it fast, before the news of Robinson’s arrest gets out.”

“Come clean with what?
 
I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Tell you what Mr. Schoenberg. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you the scoop of a lifetime and it will save DMBC,” said Gibson. He paused for a second. “As long as I remain an unnamed source.”

Schoenberg knew a good deal when he saw one.
 
“Agreed.”

Chapter 61

The next morning Clark and Martineau traveled back to Lansing. A little before noon, Martineau joined Clark in his office for a quick lunch. “You know what gets me the most about this whole assassination attempt fiasco,” said Clark as he munched on a ham and cheese sandwich.

“No I don’t, Sam,” replied Martineau, “and stop talking with your mouth full. For heaven’s sake you’re about to become president. Please tell me you’ll display a little more etiquette during state dinners.” She then tossed a napkin across the desk to Clark.

“Sorry,” he replied as he wiped his mouth with the napkin. He cleared his throat and continued. “What gets me is the brutality of Bonsam’s henchmen. We lost four Secret Service agents that night, and one of them was from the QRF team. He was a young guy, newly married.” Clark shook his head in disgust. “Security officers, state troopers, you name it. All had members killed or wounded. And it wasn’t random gunfire that got ‘
em
, they were specifically targeted.”

“I know what you mean,” she replied. “These shadow agents, whoever they may be, are modern day barbarians. To murder men that had sworn to protect the life of the U.S. President! It’s incomprehensible.”

“You’re right,” said Clark. “Even the reports on the deaths of the three militia members are horrendous. The two bubbas were shot over a dozen times each, and poor old Lane had nearly every bone in his body broken when he hit the arena floor. I mean the coroner said they had to scoop him up with a snow shovel. There was blood and brains and that cartilaginous goo covering a circle eight feet in diameter.” Clark then slurped the remainder of his soft drink through a straw.

Martineau stopped what she was doing and looked down at the sandwich in her hands. She let it plop onto the wrapper in front of her and pushed it toward Clark. “Thanks, Sam,” she said. “There goes my appetite.”

Clark and Martineau looked up as they heard two quick knocks on the office door. Mason stuck his head in the room and asked, “May I come in?” and proceeded to enter the room before Clark had the opportunity to say no. “Good afternoon, ma’am, good afternoon, Gov.
 
Glad to be back in Lansing?”