After rescuing Jon from a heap of bodies splayed over his room like the after effect of some sort of pheromone bomb. Then grabbing breakfast at a place that served up amazing pancakes and Fox news we got on the road.
Jon was behind the wheel this time as Kat begged off due to a headache and the desire not to be seen as a cliche as the female driver/assistant. "But you are my assistant." I said as we settled in.
"Yes but avoiding cliches is something I'm trying on to see how it feels." She replied.
"Well you could do the interviews and write the story. I am so not feeling this." I said as John pointed the car south.
"No thanks this story has no appeal to me in any way." She said looking over something on her pad computer.
"Me neither." I replied.
"So why do it?" Jon asked.
"Not everything in this world is the fun part of the Earth's seedy under belly. Sometimes you have to cover the parts that are sunk deeper in the cesspool." I replied.
"And collect a huge check in the process." Kat said.
"Are you suggesting I'm doing this for mercenary reasons?"
"Not exactly, my big fear is that writing about this will feed the desire for people to get their vicarious thrills from reading about someones legalized murder." She said.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." I said. "This whole thing strikes me as being about as civilized as a lynching party."
Looking up I saw a bill board featuring the states governor. I had a feeling that the states desire to kill as many death row inmates had something to do with his upcoming re election campaign. So far in three years and change he'd killed 250 people. Now he was up to an execution a week. A cycle that if viewed by a psychologist might be viewed as a psychopath devolving into violent mental chaos.
So far this year he'd killed a man with acute Down's syndrome, a mother who had been the getaway driver in a bank heist gone bad, and a 17 year old young man who had killed a young girl back when he was in grade school. When he brought his dads gun for show and tell not knowing it was loaded.
For this he had received record approval ratings for his methods of handling crime. He seemed a shoe in for the next election. And he had real chances at a presidential run. It was agreed amongst pundits that his dropping puppies on spikes act during the last presidential primary debate had wowed the voters in his parties base.
Now his latest victim was a young man named Richard Cole. A young man who had shot at a gang member who was attacking a friend of his and missed. The round had gone through a wall and struck an 8 year old girl in her bedroom as she was playing with Barbies.
At the trial his lawyer who was obviously hung over or drunk depending on the time of day. Had not bothered to try and plead the case down from first degree murder to something more in line with the facts of the situation. This led the prosecution to decide to swing for the bleachers and the judges instructions had pretty much sealed his fate.
His appeals had so far gone pretty much no where on the state level. As institutional inertia had made sure that the judges on the appeals court didn't want to admit that the state had many errors in this instance. Like for example appointing a raging alcoholic to handle Cole's defense.
Meanwhile the state governor was urging citizens to carry more firearms. Somehow I had a feeling Mr Cole wouldn't be the last one to take this ride.
"That's a pretty clear miscarriage of justice." Jon said. "Where is the case now?"
"The ACLU has taken it to the supreme court." I replied. "But the chief justice might not want to hear it at all. Apparently he and the governor are friends."
"So this guy might die to possibly earn a sitting governor more votes in an election." Jon said. "That's insane."
"Yeah, yeah it is." I said. Part of me knew how this was all going to end. Not that it would stop me from doing my best. "Kat better be ready to set up the mother of all twitter feeds." I said.
"Two steps ahead of you, I'm writing up the background for the story for people to see on the column." She said.
"How much do I pay you again?"
"The correct answer is not nearly enough." She said.
"I agree, keep up the good work."
We crossed into the county where the prison was. Long flattened fields did nothing to hide the dark edifice on the edge of the horizon. Taking a calming breath I got focused.
"Ahead warp factor 6 Mr Jon."
"Aye aye captain."
Off we sailed into what could only be called probable disaster.
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