Zombie Rules | Book 8 | Who The Hell Is That? Achord, David (most popular novels of all time .txt) 📖

“Well, sir, I don’t know the Freitag brothers personally. I’ve heard about their characters, as I’m sure you have, but I don’t know them. What I do know is I have physical evidence to support everything I have testified to, including pictures. My brilliant but often misunderstood brother took numerous photographs of the van and of each corpse during the stages of the autopsy. They show the lack of bullet holes in the van. They also show the injuries of each victim, including the lack of gunshot injuries to one particular corpse. This, I believe, would lend credence to my testimony and impeach the testimony of this so-called eyewitness.”

Bob stood quickly. “Your honor, I move that the pictures in question be presented as evidence to the court.”

Although it was a procedural error on Bob’s behalf, Seth allowed Liam to introduce the pictures. Another hour was spent while Liam went over each photograph. With each photograph and Liam’s explanation, Connie’s gusto kept diminishing.

“I now would like to call Grace Anderson to the stand,” Bob announced.

After the swearing in and Grace was seated, Bob dove right in.

“Grace, do you know the whereabouts of Zach Gunderson and his family?”

“Yes, I do,” she answered.

A lot of eyes widened in surprise, including the president, the vice president, and the acting prosecutor.

“Where is he?” Bob asked.

“He is currently in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. As everyone knows, he and his family left Mount Weather the day after the election. They arrived at Oak Ridge approximately nine hours later. If necessary, I can verify it through the encrypted radio transmission, which has the coordinates embedded in each radio transmission. There is no possible way Zach Gunderson was at the scene of the murders. Therefore, there is no possible way Zach committed the murders.”

Bob turned to Connie. “Your witness.”

“Miss Grace, who have you told about these radio communications?” he asked.

“My brother.”

“Who else?” he asked.

“Nobody.”

“Not even the president?”

“No. There is no law requiring me to inform the president of my personal communications,” she said and faced the jury. “I don’t know about you guys, but my personal life is not subject to scrutiny by anyone.”

Connie was undeterred. “But Mister Gunderson is the subject of a criminal investigation and had a warrant out for his arrest. Your actions were tantamount to harboring a fugitive.”

“You have applied an incorrect definition to the law of harboring a fugitive. I have researched this extensively. Would you like me to recite it to you? I know it by memory.”

Connie paused and gave her a slight smile before sitting. Bob took his cue and stood.

“Your honor, in light of this recently discovered evidence, it is profoundly clear that this trial is motivated from personal bias and has no foundation in the criminal investigation process. I therefore move for a dismissal of all charges.”

Seth had been steepling his fingers but now rested his hands on the desk in front of him and gave President VanAllen a long hard stare before speaking.

“The processes of the judicial system and the pursuit of criminal justice can be complex, but there are some aspects that are clear. Absence of probable cause, a person cannot be arrested nor can they be denied due process, which has clearly been done here. Quite frankly, I have never seen a more blatant misuse of power and abuse of the judicial system in my life. This behavior borders on criminal, which members of the senate should investigate forthwith. I would encourage our two detectives to continue in their investigation of these heinous murders, but as for the immediate issue at hand, in the case of the United States of America versus Zachariah Gunderson, I am dismissing all charges.”

When he banged his gavel, it was like he shot a starter pistol. The courtroom erupted into a cacophony of shouts and applause. Seth stood and cast one final disapproving stare at the president before walking out.

As the other members of the jury began exiting the courtroom, Ruby and D-Day rushed over to the president.

“Can he do that?” Ruby asked.

The president was fuming and red faced, but he did not respond. Instead, he turned and stormed off, walking back to his office with the stride of a man who felt he had been betrayed.

Chapter 50 – Secession

There was a steady, insistent knock on the door. The person would knock, wait precisely three seconds, and knock again. President VanAllen tried to ignore it. He had taken his shoes off and was splayed out on an overstuffed leather couch, drinking homemade wine in large swallows. Finally, he had enough.

“I told you, Ruby, no fucking visitors,” he growled toward the closed door.

His rebuke seemed to have the opposite effect. The door opened and Senator Bob Duckworth walked in. He stood in the middle of the room and stared at the man in thinly veiled disdain. The president sat up and stared in surprise, which quickly turned to annoyance.

“What the hell are you doing in here? Get out.” He peered through the open door. “Ruby!”

“I do not know where your two bodyguards are, Mister President. Perhaps they are otherwise occupied.”

The president huffed, stood, and walked over to his desk. He refilled his glass and took another swallow before responding. “Alright, say your piece and get the hell out.”

“There are some things that have recently occurred in which you should be aware of.”

Bob waited for a response. Gil’s only reaction was a sideways glare before taking another swallow, followed by an annoyed stare. Bob continued.

“I received a formal notice from Roscoe Sidebottom two days ago. He asked that I wait until this morning to make the notice public.”

“What notice?” Gil asked. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“The community of Marcus Hook has formally announced they are seceding from the union. And, they had a specific message for you.”

Gil was scowling at Bob. Bob stared back without any emotion. He lifted his glass and took a swallow before answering. “What would that message be?”

Bob kept a passive face. “Roscoe said to kiss his