Free The Price of Justice by Marti Green

White House. Whiting despised the man. God help the country if his ambitions are realized, he thought.
    “What rumors would those be, Governor?” Whiting knew just what he was talking about. In fact, it surprised him the governor had waited this long to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. Only Ashton thought it belonged anywhere he wanted.
    “Don’t play coy with me. It’s about Winston Melton.”
    “What about him?”
    “Someone confessed to killing that girl—the one blamed on Winston. And I hear you’re doing nothing about it.”
    “Not nothing. I considered his confession, and it didn’t seem credible.”
    “You two-bit nothing. Don’t you realize his grandma can make or break candidacies?”
    It was the only thing that mattered to this governor—reelection. Whiting wished he could simply hang up on the buffoon, but even he knew that would be going too far. Instead, he pulled a notepad over, picked up a pen, and began doodling. He let Ashton drone on about the wealth of the Melton family, the opportunity this confession afforded them, how it was a win-win all around. Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer.
    “You know, Governor. We’re on different sides of the aisle. The Meltons may have given you a ton of money, but my campaign hasn’t seen a penny from them.”
    “You’re not getting the big picture, son. Maybe they haven’t given you money—so far, that is—but they haven’t funded your opponent either. They don’t care which party you’re in. Those folks just want someone in office who’ll pay attention to them. Play this right, and you’ll come out a winner next election. Fuck them, and it’s a guarantee your opponent will receive the full benefit of their bounty.”
    Whiting wished he could will his assistant to come knocking on his door—give him an excuse to get off the phone. He knew she wouldn’t interrupt him, though, when the high-and-mighty governor was calling. If only she knew what an empty suit he was. Finally, with the notepad page filled with his scribbling, he interrupted the blather.
    “I hear what you’re saying, Governor. But my bottom line is that I was elected to do my job, and that’s to put away criminals. If I look the other way, then I don’t deserve to be reelected.”
    “But that’s just it. Winston isn’t a criminal. You’ve got the wrong guy.”
    “I don’t believe that’s the case. There’s nothing that ties Sanders to the crime other than his confession, and I simply don’t trust it.”
    There was silence on the other end of the phone. Whiting could picture Ashton’s face getting redder as he tried to control his temper. Soon, speaking slowly, enunciating every word, Ashton said, “I am telling you to back off. Now do it.”
    “Sorry, Governor. I don’t work for you. I work for the people of Florida. If you feel so strongly about Melton, then commute his sentence. Knock it down from death to life. Or even pardon him, if you truly believe he’s innocent. You can do any of those without me.”
    Now Ashton exploded. “Dammit, you know I can’t do that! How’s it going to look if I go easy on a big contributor’s grandson?”
    “That’s not my problem. If there’s nothing else, I have a meeting to attend.”
    His voice still booming, Ashton shouted into the phone, “You’ll regret this, Whiting! And that’s a promise I’ll keep.”

C HAPTER
    14
    A s Florida law required, Judge Frederick Hinchey scheduled a case-management conference on Dani’s motion. The purpose was to determine if an evidentiary hearing was necessary. When Dani entered the judge’s chambers, she was surprised to see Ed Whiting already seated, laughing over something with the judge. Although Whiting had tried Winston’s case, he had been chief assistant state attorney then. It was highly unusual for a state attorney to handle cases directly.
    “Come on in, Ms. Trumball,” the justice said as he motioned her inside. “Ed and I are just having a laugh