Chapter 2: The Deal

First thing I did when I arrived home was take a cold shower. Then I called the office. I told my staff to plan on working late tonight. We had lots to do to prepare for tomorrow.

At 8am the next morning I was in the District Attorney’s office as he walked in.

“Buck, good to see you, but if you are hear looking for a deal for that pedophile teacher forget it. You know I am running for the U.S. Congress in the next election and slamming her will put me over the top. People hate pedophile teachers!”

“Tommy you need to listen to what I have discovered before you start looking for an apartment in D.C.”

“I don’t like the sound of this. Come into my office.”

As I walked into his office I could not help but notice the American flag along with the Marine Corps flag next to it.

Tommy Thompson was a Jag officer in the Corps for 20 years before he was elected D. A. This was going to help. He offered me a seat and I sat.

“What you got Buck?”

“What I ‘got’ is a young married woman who is being blackmailed for sex by a black 15 year old honor student.”

Tommy slap his desk and said, “Over what? Naked pictures of her he found in the cloud?”

“Worse than that. Seems she had a one night stand with a certain Lance Corporal Anthony Cannon. That hero who is up for the Medal of Honor! He hid a cell phone and took a video of their liaison. He transferred it to a flash drive and when he was killed his step-brother, the honor student, found it. He recognized the woman in the video as a teacher at his school and made her a copy. He told her after ten ‘fuck sessions’ he would give her the original. They were on number 7 when they were discovered.”

“Fuck! But this has already made the news. I don’t see how I can make a deal I mean...”

“Let’s talk about what will happen if you don’t make a deal.

We will go to trial. I subpoena every Marine in his company. How many people saw that video? Did he sell copies or make them pay to watch it? I’m sure the Marine Corps will not want it made public that one of their finest was guilty of committing sex crimes. I can think of 3 right off the top of my head. That would kill any Medal of Honor talks. I will demand that the honor student be indicted on blackmail charges. I will even ask he be tried as an adult. He and his family can give up any thoughts of him going to some fancy Ivory League school. He is a tall skinny introverted boy. In prison you and I both know he will be passed around for a pack of smokes.”

Again Tommy slapped the desk and screamed, “Fuck!”

“I have an idea that can make this all go away.”

“How?”

“The ‘student’ was never named am I correct?”

“Right. Protecting a minor and all that shit.”

“This is a case of mistaken identity. The husband did catch his wife in bed with a black man. A 19 year black man who is also married. This man ran out of the house before the police arrived. The teacher, my client, had found a book bag in the parking lot and had brought it home and planned on returning it to the student the next day. The police over reacted since so many of these types of cases have been in the news lately. They made the wrong assumptions. The teacher did not say a word not wanting to wreck the marriage of her lover. But when this young man saw the story on the news he came forward. You had to drop all charges against my client.”

“How the hell am I going to sell this to the kid’s parents?”

“Take me with you. Let me do the explaining about what will happen to their kid if they don’t agree. You explain what the Marine Corps position will be.

“That’s a good idea. A black man threatening to put their son in prison should make it easier for them to accept the deal.”

(What? Have I not mentioned that I am black? I just thought with my name and being called ‘Buck’ you would have figured it out. Oh well.)

We called and arranged a meeting with the mother and father later that morning. Suzy Jones was brought over to the D. A.’s office and we explained exactly what was going to happen. Tommy had one ‘request’. She would have to give up teaching. She started to protest but I took her hand and winked at her.

“I am sure I can find something for you to do.” She smiled and never said another word. I had my secretary pick her up and drive her to her apartment. She packed two suitcases with most of her clothes, a carry-on bag and, most importantly, retrieved the flash drive. Then she was driven to my office to wait for me. The Private Investigator that works in my office was making sure her husband was at work while all this was going on.

After I finished talking with Jacob and his family, we had a deal. I also had the original flash drive. Jacob had assured everyone that he only made one copy. I reminded him what would happen if I found out differently. I shook Tommy’s hand as I got in my car and drove back to my office. Now all I had to do was tell Suzy about the new life I have planned for her.

It was just after 5pm when I arrived at the office. Most of my staff had left and I dismissed the rest. I invited Suzy into my private office and had started to tell her about the position I had open when the phone rang. It was my P.I. He began explaining what was going on with her husband so I put him on speaker phone.