‘Are you still the leader of the Liberty Empire Alliance?’ Cab asked.

‘I still have a voice,’ Brock said in the same quiet, determined tone he had used from the beginning. ‘They can lock me up, but they can’t silence me until they put a gun to my head and pull the trigger. They can’t change the truth of what I say. Did you know that in less than thirty years the founding race of this country will be in the minority? The takers are outbreeding us. This will no longer be America. It will be Hispanica.’

‘I guess I better be nice to my girlfriend,’ Cab replied. ‘She’s Cuban.’

Brock tensed. For the first time, Cab saw a flash of anger, as if rage bubbled under the man’s skin.

‘More jokes,’ Brock said. ‘Do you think this is funny? Millions of people feel the way we do. We have allies and converts everywhere. More and more people are hearing our message. Workers. Mothers. Fathers. Even police officers, Detective. And prison guards.’

Cab ignored the diatribe. Instead, he held up the newspaper photograph again. ‘Let me ask you again. Who sent this?’

‘I have no idea.’

‘Is Diane Fairmont in danger?’

‘If she is in danger, she has no one to blame but herself. People who try to stage a coup always the run the risk of the guillotine.’

‘A coup?’

‘That’s what the Common Way Party is planning,’ Brock said. ‘That’s what this campaign is about. She has been systematically erasing the obstacles on her way to power. If you don’t think it’s a conspiracy, you’re naïve.’

‘Ramona Cortes is the GOP candidate this year. She led your defense team nine years ago, didn’t she?’

‘Yes, she did. Real Americans all over this country contributed money for our defense. Ms Cortes was the best. However, it doesn’t matter who represents you when the system is rigged to assure your guilt.’

‘Are you still in touch with Ramona?’

‘No.’

‘But you share her politics,’ Cab said. ‘If it were a two-person race, if Diane were out of it, Ramona would be winning. You’d like that.’

Brock stood up. ‘You’re wasting your time. This election isn’t about me or the Alliance. We’re simply pawns. Just like last time. If we didn’t exist, the Common Way Party would have had to invent us.’

‘One more question,’ Cab said. ‘If you wanted Diane killed, could you arrange it? Could you make it happen from here?’

Brock smiled. ‘Do you believe that if I wanted you dead, I could make sure you never walked out of this prison?’

The threat was so calm, so casual, and so real that Cab felt a chill. He didn’t reply. He reached for a joke and didn’t find one.

‘Actually, I do believe that,’ Cab admitted.

‘See, that should tell you something,’ Brock said, enjoying Cab’s discomfort.