“So that’s when you use your limited power and resort to blackmailing them? You do know that blackmailing the President of Adoxia is a serious offense in itself?”
Frank Mooney said, “Whoa, that’s a serious allegation.” He looked at his lawyer, who closed his eyes and reluctantly nodded his head. “The blackmail story is ludicrous. I’ll tell you what I know, alright. The President was behind everything. I told him I didn’t want any part in that disgusting mess. He should have fucking known better, that dunce cap.”
“Allow me the chance to remind you that lying to an agent from the Bureau of Investigation of Adoxia is a felony charge that carries a possible sentence of up to ten years in jail. I should also let you know that we have already interviewed forty-one people about this and a very common theme has developed. So I’ll give you one more chance to amend your story.”
The Vice President shook his head. “I don’t need to amend anything. It was all President Alan Gergen the entire time. He said he would fire me if I said anything to anyone. He’s the monster you should be going after. I’m the victim here.”
Trent asked, “Have you ever heard of drones, sir?”
Frank Mooney quickly responded, “Of course. We’re developing an entire air fleet of them right now for defense.”
Trent said, “Sure, but not those types of drones. I’m talking about much smaller ones that fly around and take pictures. And let me tell you, they are really good at it. They can take pictures of meetings on tarmacs with leaders from other countries like Olodomo. They can take pictures of meetings at a place called the Rose Ridge Club and a house a few blocks away. New ones even have audio if you can believe it. Maybe you should have known about these kinds of drones.”
Frank Mooney whispered something into his lawyer’s ear. He asked, “Can my attorney and I have the room for a few minutes?”
“Certainly. I’d send in some catered food if we had it.”
Whitney and Trent exited the room and stood outside the closed door.
“He can feel the vise being turned a few more times.”
Trent said, “He’s close, but we’ll see. He seems pretty comfortable throwing around lies so far. We need to make sure he knows that all the testimony has shown him to be the organizer of this entire operation.”
The door opened again and the married couple sat back down at the table.
“I hope you guys had a nice little chat.” Whitney looked at his lawyer. “Did you warn him about lying to federal investigators? I really hope so.”
The Vice President said, “I’ve already told you the President was behind everything and he kept me so far away that I didn’t even realize how dirty the man was. I wish I had known about the severity so I could have said something.”
Trent yelled, “Alright, cut the bullshit. We’ve interviewed a lot of your cohorts and one story has emerged. They all say that you were in control of everything including the blackmailing of our President. Why would nearly every single person say that?”
Frank Mooney answered calmly, “You should relax with all that stress. Do you know what a politician is? A liar, plain and simple. When you get a group of them together and they see someone with honor that might go against them, they gang up on that person. They tell the most erroneous lies about that person to save themselves. I can’t believe the President got them all to spread these utter lies about me.”
“The funny thing about these conversations is that no one disputes that these historic crimes have been committed. That is a fact now. If you were in charge, which you were, you are in more trouble than any citizen from Adoxia has ever been in. You are looking at never seeing the sun rise again unless it’s for a visit to a firing squad. What do you say about the tarmac meeting with Olodomo?”
The Vice President said, “Show me these pictures you say you have.”
Trent laughed. “Yeah, that’s not at all how it works. At this point it doesn’t really matter, does it? I could show you the seven pictures of King Raddman getting on and off the plane and my favorite one, which is the picture of that briefcase full of diamonds.”
Whitney saw the shade of the Vice President’s face start to get darker and she thought he might be about to come clean.
Frank Mooney said, “I can make pictures too. I can show you pictures of my body with a lion’s head. I can show you lots of pictures that have been doctored up to look like anything. Look, you two, I’ve got a lot of political opponents out there. I never would have thought they would come from my own party, but I’m the real victim here. I was just trying to represent the people of this country. I was just trying to do my job for all the citizens.”
“I am going to give you one more chance. I would remind you about the laws you are breaking, but that seems to be a futile exercise. Are you sticking with your story that it was only the President conspiring with the rest of the Bull Party to make you look like the bad guy?”
Frank Mooney shook his head. “It’s not a story. It’s fact. Not the delusional world you two live in where you rely on fake intelligence reports and stories from politicians. Now someone sent you fake pictures with me superimposed into them. There haven’t even been any crimes committed that I’ve seen any real evidence of.”
Trent said, “Now wait a minute. Just a few moments ago you were saying that these other people were framing you for these crimes that haven’t been disputed by anyone yet. So which is it?”
Frank Mooney started to get angry. “That’s what I just said. I wouldn’t know if there were crimes committed because I wasn’t involved. Are you two even listening to what I am saying? This whole interview has been a huge waste of time.”
“Okay, now we finally have something we agree on. This was a huge waste of time for you and it is going to cost you big time. As you said, those other crimes are going to be hard to convict, but there is a sure fire way to make sure you go to jail. And that’s to lie to a Bureau agent.”
Frank Mooney shouted, “I will not sit here and be called a liar. I plead the Fifth on any and all remaining questions you animals might have. If you’ll excuse me, I have a country to run for your benefit. Let’s go.”
His lawyer grabbed his briefcase, gave Whitney a scowling look and followed the Vice President out the door.
“Well, it’s a really bad thing that he thinks he can still get away with it. However, it’s a good thing that everyone else realizes the game is over. I’m in awe of his brazen attempt to blame the President. Not one other person even said the President was involved on the original deals.”
Trent said, “From dealing with organized crime, most of them think they are going to get away with it until the gavel comes slamming down. I thought we brought some pretty hard facts to get him to own up to his misdeeds. He’s the scariest kind of criminal out there, constantly thinking he’s the victim and everyone else is out to get him.”
“All these people are pretty bad, but Frank Mooney takes the cake. Even Raymund Ellerbee finally admitted to all his wrongdoings and stepped down as Chief of the Bureau. For a while there, I thought he was the worst, until our Vice President emerged covered in slime. How long is the rest of this going to take?”
Trent answered, “Hard to say on either side of this. From the criminal side it will take a while to get the high court ready for the case. From the political side, these guys will slowly start dropping like flies. They’ll come up with excuses like they want to spend more time with their families or for medical conditions, but they all know their time is up.”
“We circle back to this. How long can you walk around knowing you’re a fraudster? I’m sure some will hold on as long as they can like our Vice President. I really think that clown thinks he is going to inherit the Presidency. It’s going to go way down the line.”
Trent said, “It looks like the Admiral of Defense is going to end up being our supreme leader. He’s fourth in line, but he is the first one that is clean and would take over as President.”
“Strange tim
es we are living in. Now we can really start to make hard plans about our honeymoon. We can actually set a real date for it. I wonder what our next case is going to bring?”
Trent answered, “I still have a vested interest in seeing how this one shakes out. I want to wait to see what he is going to do. I really hope he doesn’t pardon those traitors, but my level of hope on that is pretty low.”
15
Whitney and Trent pushed their way through the overcrowded press hall of the President. They made it to their seats and waited for the statement from the President of Adoxia. Alan Gergen emerged from the blue curtain behind the podium. A nervous-looking President adjusted the microphone as everyone quieted down.
The President looked around the room and took a deep breath. “Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Adoxia, a country can only be as strong as its laws and leaders. Those two elements forge a cohesive bond and are the reason this country is great. Unfortunately, there can be times when the bond can be broken. I won’t go into great detail right now, but that strong bond has been broken. I stand before you today as a man who let the pressure of being President force me to look the other way on matters I knew to be improper.”
Alan Gergen started coughing and took a drink of water. “I have no excuse for my behavior and the citizens of Adoxia deserve better than this. I swore an oath to this country and the people that I would uphold the laws of our great land. I have failed you as citizens and as a united country. I will finish out the work day, but effective as of six o’clock today, I will be stepping down as President of Adoxia. It pains me to have to do this, but this step is what’s best for our great country.”
The President paused and looked at Whitney with a hollow smile. “I won’t go into any detail of my actions here today as they are part of an ongoing investigation. A President always reserves his right to pardon whoever he deems to deserve the honor. I can pardon anyone for any reason I see fit.”
Are you kidding me? You’re going to pardon the whole lot of them, huh? That’s why you aren’t stepping down until later today. I thought you might be a good one. Wrong again.
The President continued, “I had to look my son in the eye recently and tell him some very uncomfortable things. I told him this not realizing that I was giving my son a lesson in accountability. That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but it showed me that everyone needs to be held accountable for their actions. I’m sure everyone knows about the looming scandal involving the Bull Party.”
Come on, hold all those people accountable. Don’t let them off the hook.
Alan Gergen had sweat collecting and trickling from the tip of his chin. His shaking hand adjusted the microphone again. “As of right now, sixty-one people have been indicted. I could use my pardon power on each and every one of these people as a pre-emptive pardon before guilt. I’ve given this thought and realized, how could I face my son and try to enforce the principle of accountability if I let all these people go? Therefore, in my final few hours as President of Adoxia, I will not be exercising my presidential pardon powers on anyone involved in this mess.”
I knew you could do it.
She pinched Trent’s thigh and smiled at him. This was exactly what they wanted the President to do.
Alan Gergen continued, “In normal circumstances, the Vice President would immediately be sworn in; however, these aren’t normal circumstances. A person can be under investigation before they take the office of the Presidency after winning an election, but that doesn’t hold true if that person is inheriting the office. Any person under federal investigation is ineligible to be President. Therefore, I will be taking the rest of the day to figure out who is going to be your next President.”
A collective gasp went over the crowd, followed by quiet murmuring. Whitney watched a defeated President drop his head at the podium in disgrace.
The President continued, “My team and I will make certain, the incoming President will not be distracted on his mission as a servant for the citizens of Adoxia by being under federal investigation. One final note, I know most of you are somewhat familiar with Presidential privilege and how it buffers a sitting President from facing any criminal legal jeopardy. Whatever I’ve done that is deemed to be criminal, I need to be held accountable. I am waiving my Presidential privilege to anything that happened during my tenure to show my son what being responsible for your acts really means.” Alan Gergen was nearly in tears by the end of the speech.
The President of Adoxia looked around the room turned suddenly and tried to get through the curtain. He couldn’t find the open area and struggled with the fabric until someone emerged from the other side and helped the President get through.
Trent looked at Whitney and said, “That had everything we wanted. Not only did he not pardon himself or his buddies, but he made sure we wouldn’t have to suffer Frank Mooney as President, even if it would only be for one day.”
“I think that was very honorable of him to do all that. He’ll always be the President that didn’t even survive his first year in office, but his legacy could have been a lot worse. Plus, this will be the last thing from his Presidential biography, so hopefully it won’t get overlooked.”
Trent said, “He’s going to be looked at a whole lot better than the Vice President will.”
They left the hall and went back to their house. As they pulled up in the driveway, Whitney noticed someone sitting on their front steps. Darominius was in human form and looked at the couple with a jagged-tooth smile.
“What are you doing here?”
Darominius yawned and said, “I’m bored. Helping humanity does have some downtime. It appears this case is almost at its end.”
Trent said, “With a lot of help from you, of course. I’m still wondering what’s going to be next.”
The dragon shifter said, “The next case will come to you. There’s no need to search around for it. I’ve been told you two will be busy for about the next decade in this world and beyond.”
“Wait, we’re going to go into outer space. I’m not sure I’m suited for outer space.”
Darominius laughed. “Oh, Whitney Powers, you have no idea what lies ahead of you. You’ll leave this world and travel further than humans believe is possible right now. In fact, you already have.”
“I’m confused about so much right now. I still don’t really know anything about you. Were you born a human or dragon?”
The golden dragon shifter played with his long silver whiskers and said, “I was born a dragon more than one thousand years ago. The species thrived and I lived amongst thousands and thousands of fellow dragons. We were always noble in our actions and tried to help as many people or animals as we could. We decided to split up into smaller packs and went off into different directions.”
Whitney noticed he looked sad and his golden lips trembled as he continued, “It was around this same time that dragons got the horrible reputation they are still known for today. We were looked at as the scariest of animals and humans reacted accordingly. No matter how many centuries I’ve been around, one thing about human nature holds true, people attack things they don’t understand and fear. That’s always the first instinct.”
Whitney felt bad for her friend and she had to fight back the tears.
Darominius said, “Had we remained together, nobody would have ever attacked us. Splitting up made us vulnerable to the humans. We forged on as long as we could until we were almost extinct. My parents were also well versed in magic.”
“Holy smokes, a dragon that knows magic,” Trent remarked.
Darominius continued, “If only that would have saved them. They taught me about elemental magic. I inherently harnessed the element of fire from birth. You’ve seen me use air to take you back in time. The spirits of the Originals rest within the earth, and rise up to help the desperate. That just leaves water. This element is tricky because it doesn’t mean water in a literal sense.”
The dragon shifter thought for a moment befor
e continuing. “This means water in the sense of fluidity. The Originals gave me the power of fluidity. That power helped me transform from a dragon into a human. I didn’t realize it when my parents forced me to learn this, but it was their way of saving me.”
Darominius let a fear tears fall down his golden cheeks. “The final days for the dragons soon followed. My parents could have learned how to harness the magic properties of water before me. They could have saved themselves. I’ll never forget when my father looked at me and said, ‘You are the final dragon. You need to disguise yourself as a human until the time comes when you can resurrect the dragons’.”
Whitney went over and put a sympathetic hand on Darominius’ strong shoulder. She could feel his emotions as he continued, “As you can see, I’ve never been able to fulfill that prophecy. I could never find a female dragon and I’ve spent most of my years in human form.”
“That’s not your fault. You help humans out all the time now though.”
Darominius said, “Probably due to my oversized heart. I was lucky to find the people of Soro Exxo on a good will mission to earth.”
Trent asked, “Where is Soro Exxo?”
Darominius smiled and said, “Some might say, it’s just behind a bookshelf. Both of you have visited before and you will certainly visit again.”
“I guess I never asked what the name of the place was when I visited. So you just randomly came across them and started helping out the people of earth?”
Darominius said, “Essentially, yes. You see, earth is vastly behind all the other planets. Earth is like a testing ground for allowing beings to exercise free will. However, this planet is thousands of years behind from a technological standpoint.”
“Well then how are we supposed to keep up with obviously more advanced beings in space?”
Roam Around The Earth: Whitney Powers Paranormal Adventure #2 (Whitney Powers Paranormal Adventures) Page 10