Couples
Chapter 57
"Sonofabitch!" Bucker snarls at a posting on his fansite. His lips move as he reads. "September 16, 1995. It's all coming out."
The post is only signed S.F., but he knows who it is. Sam Fitzsimmons is the best muckraking P.R. wizard in the industry, and that's saying something. Bucker's been busy covering Barron's fat ass, but now he has to protect his own. The beauty queen was nice to look at, but she was nothing in bed anyway. When he gets past this, he'll stick to hookers. They know how to give a man a good time and when they're not on the job, they keep their mouths shut. Bucker posts a one-word response. "Meet."
Bucker's been in plenty of radio stations. He knows how sound-proof booths work. He's never, however, been in one at a classical records store. Sam Fitzsimmons is already waiting when he enters. Bucker glances out through the glass. "I hope no one here recognizes me."
"No need to worry about that, Carlin. These people have better taste than to watch your show," Sam smirks, "or they wouldn't be here. Have a seat, and let's get down to business."
"You can't release anything about that incident," Bucker warns. "I'll sue the hell out of you for libel."
"The truth is a defense against libel, Carlin," Sam reminds him. "After spending a fortune on lawyers, you'd lose, and the judge would also make you pay my legal costs. That particular piece of your sordid past can stay in the past, and I can give you an explosive story, more than one, in fact. All you have to do is put them on the air. You'll have a whole new audience and look as clean as the driven snow – unless you try to cross one of my clients or me."
"What stories?" Bucker demands.
Sam hands him an accordion file. Everything is here, including audiotapes and video. And don't even think about trying to destroy any of it. I have multiple backups. I have multiple backups of everything if you take my meaning."
"I understand you fine," Bucker spits back.
"The first one airs tonight," Sam instructs.
Bucker stomps toward the heavy glass door. "Tonight."
"What do you mean Bucker's canceling my appearance on his show?" Barron yells into his phone at a hapless associate producer. "I'm his biggest ratings draw. He can't cancel me."
She holds her phone further away. "I'm afraid he did, Mr. Barron. He has a special show tonight. But I don't know any more about it. The program is being kept under wraps from most of us until it airs."
"You're a useless t**t," Barron growls. "This has to be a mistake. I'll talk to him myself."
Bucker checks the caller I.D. on his personal cell phone. It's Victor again. Even if he wasn't scared to death of talking to the mogul, he has no idea what he'd say. He can hold out until broadcast time.
Sinking onto the couch, Kate slips off her shoes and wiggles her toes. "According to Captain Mahoney of the B.D.U., it was a good thing we were able to trace down where Michael Stickley lived. They found bomb makings and two complete devices at his place. Almost anything could have set them off at any time, in an apartment building full of people."
"What about Stickley? What's going to happen to him?" Rick asks.
"The courts can figure that out. Right now, he's at Bellevue. He can't hurt himself or anyone else. Ryan rode with him to keep him calm. He feels some sympathy for the guy."
"Did Stickley know any more of Barron's faithful who might be planning murderous mischief ?"
Kate sighs, leaning back against the cushions. "According to what he told Ryan, he was led to act on his own by listening to Barron on Bucker Carlin. Unfortunately, Stickley has no idea of the plans of other members of Barron's flock. We have Tech checking social media, forums, and message boards for communications, but they're looking for a few fish in a big ocean."
"Some of those fish may soon be searching for a new principal for their school," Rick asserts.
"What do you mean, Babe?"
Without a word, Rick retrieves a printout of the Barron dossier and hands it to her.
Kate sits up as she takes in the details of Barron's decades of sexual assaults. "This is from Sam Fitzsimmons. How is he planning to reach Barron's followers with this? More to the point, how is he going to make them believe it?"
Rick's lips twitch upward. "Check the last two pages."
Kate flips through. "These are on Bucker Carlin."
Rick flutters his eyelashes. "Who, in a previous incarnation, was a very bad boy."
"Are you really planning on sitting through Bucker Carlin?" Kate asks, placing her glass of wine next to the dessert grapes and cheese on the coffee table.
Rick points at the large screen. "It should be quite a show. And if Victor Barron is watching, he isn't going to like it. He might even be checking out foreign retreats with no extradition treaties."
"He's out on bail." Kate reminds him. "The court would have taken his passport."
"Courts may soon be taking a lot more," Rick speculates. "If I recall from my research, there's no statute of limitations for first-degree rape in New York, and patterns and practice help to establish a case."
"Right on both counts," Kate agrees. "So what do you think we're going to hear?"
"Something that will make you forget the grapes and cheese and want something stronger than wine."
Bucker can feel the sweat under the rim of his signature hat as the countdown reaches his cue. "It's always difficult for a man to admit he's wrong, but when you discover that's the case, it's the only honest thing to do. Tonight, I'm acknowledging that I was dead wrong in my choice of heroes and friends. Ever since Victor Barron's arrest, along with E.C. Burrell at the Gaetz mansion, I've believed that action was the result of a conspiracy on the part of the N.Y.P.D., Eli Douglas, and the whole district attorney's office. I was mistaken. That conspiracy was a lie made up by Victor Barron to cover the evil life he's lived and continues to live.
"I have a lot to make up for. That starts tonight with a very special show. I will be introducing you to some of Victor Barron's victims, the victims of us all, because we failed to put the blame where it belonged. My first guest is Ellen Bishop. Those of you who watched Victor Barron's Miss Teen Beauty Pageant might remember her as a runner-up who played one heck of a guitar. But there is a dark story behind that pageant. Victor Barron victimized Ellen Bishop as he has, you'll see, many others. But I will let Ellen tell her own story. Ellen, these good people want to hear what you have to say."
A determined and beautiful woman emerges from backstage to take the chair next to Bucker's desk. "Whenever you're ready," he encourages.
Ellen gazes defiantly into the camera. "Victor Barron raped me, he threatened me, and he tried to shut me up. He and his friends schemed to keep me quiet, but I won't be quiet anymore. Victor Barron is a criminal and a liar who should be in jail. And I have proof."
Bucker nods at his producer, and the rough crackle of an aging recording sounds.