Separation of Power

The photographers sitting on the floor between the witness table and the dais continued snapping photos. As Senator Clark looked down from on high, Ke

Senator Clark gaveled the room to order and greeted Ke

Wolf Trap Park, Virginia, Friday evening

Steve Ken WAS freezing his ass off. If he'd been thinking, he would have worn his long underwear; but he hadn't been, of course. It was the first really cold night of the season and he'd been caught off guard. Without gloves he kept his hands shoved into the pockets of his trench coat. At least he'd zipped the winter liner into the jacket the day before. The temperature was already down into the thirties and was supposed to get below freezing. It was really dark out, much darker than the night before. Steveken had been at the park for almost thirty minutes, not so patiently waiting for the judge to arrive. Since his meeting with Brown the night before, he'd done some digging, and it wasn't into Irene Ke

Some of his old friends at the Bureau were more than willing to talk. Not wanting to lie, Steveken told his contacts that Brown was being considered for a job and the prospective employer wanted a simple background check done. A picture formed pretty early in his calls, and it wasn't far from what he remembered hearing about Brown. He was not well liked by the FBI. He was considered a very liberal judge who'd been known to throw entire cases out on minor technicalities. Steveken had even been turned on to one former federal prosecutor who said Judge Brown was the most self-righteous and pontificating judge he'd ever tried a case in front of. There hadn't been a lot of positive things said about the man, but Steveken had to admit his sample was biased with people from law enforcement, the exact type of people you would expect to hate a liberal judge. There was one person though, of the nine people he'd talked to, who had surprised him--a retired judge who had worked with Brown on the court of appeals, a judge who had a reputation for being every bit the liberal. The man had told Steveken that Brown would sell his soul to advance his career.

Steveken had yet to decide what to do with that information. If Senator Clark asked he would probably give it to him, but he doubted he would pass it on to Rudin. The congressman from Co

Conversely, he'd watched a little bit of Ke

Steveken wasn't quite sure what to make of the things Rudin had told him about Stansfield and Ke

Thanks to Rudin's irritating personality, Steveken found himself in the awkward position of feeling empathy for Ke

Something caught Steveken's eye. He looked off into, the distance and saw a red orb glow bright and then disappear. A moment later it was back, like a firefly picking its way through the darkness. It kept getting closer. Steveken heard the tapping of a dog's feet on the asphalt right about the time he smelled tobacco. It was a pipe, he realized. Brown had been smoking a pipe the night before.

Brown stopped several feet away, and in the glow of his pipe, Steveken thought he noticed a hint of smugness on the mans face. "Good evening, Judge."

"How are you tonight, Mr. Steveken?"

Cold. You ru

"I had to gather some things for you."

Steveken resisted the urge to put his hand out. "So what do you have?"

Brown hesitated for a moment and then said, "Let me give you some advice." He reached into his jacket and extracted a large manila envelope. "Don't open this. Just hand it to Congressman Rudin, and tell him you have no idea what's in it." Brown gave the envelope to Steveken and added with emphasis, "Under no circumstances are you to tell him where you got this." Brown looked him hard in the eye. "The man who gave me this information just up and disappeared two weeks ago. I'm assuming he's dead."

Brown didn't give Steveken a chance to reply. He started back down the path and said, "Do yourself a favor and get rid of that package as quickly as possible. Congressman Rudin will know what to do with it."

With his mouth slightly agape, the normally talkative Steveken found himself at a loss for words. He just stood there with the envelope in hand watching as Brown disappeared into the darkness. When the judge was too far away to hear, Steveken mumbled, "Thanks for nothing." He had the distinct feeling that he was being played, but he owed Clark too much to do anything about it.