The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (2 page)

John realized he had to do something soon.  Chet was a member of the FBI, so
John was pretty sure Chet
could actually kick in the door and get away with it. 
“
JOHN!!!!!!
”
 
John sighed and opened the door to face
his friend.  Chet barged past
him and straight into John
’
s bedroom.  John knew an explosion was seconds away.  John counted down from three on his fingers.  When his fingers reached zero, he heard,
“
WHAT THE . . . .!?!?!?  Why does it say Mommy on your cell phone!?!?  That
’
s how you list me in your phone!?!?
”
 

John sat down on the couch and smiled. 
“
Good to see you too
,
Chet.  W
hat can I do for you this morning?
”

       
“
Why!!?!?!?
 
Why do I bother!?!?
”
 
Chet stormed around the living room while John tried to suppress a smirk.
“
My last girlfriend told me that the best thing I could do is to let you fall into whatever deep depression filled hole it is that you want to!!  She told me that all you want
to do is join Sam.  I told her that she was wrong.  I told her that you were just going through a rough spot and you would get through it.  I broke up with this girl because of the things she said about you!!  Do you realize that John!?!?  I left her because of YOU!!!!!  DO YOU KNOW HOW HOT SHE WAS!?!?!?!?"

       
John had been trying to hold back the laughter, but the last statement by Chet had pushed him over the edge.  John roared with laughter.  He laughed until his sides hurt.  As he looked through the tears that were rolling out of his eyes he noticed Chet was sitting on the chair laughing as hard as he was. 

             
After several minutes
of
laughter, and when t
he chuckles d
ied
down
,
John spoke. 
“
You
’
re the only person that cares about me
,
Chet, that
’
s w
hy I named your cell
phone number Mommy.
”
 
John tried to keep a straight face but he burst into laughter and Chet did the same.  As the laughter finally subsided, John noticed a folder Chet was holding. 

             
“
Bring me a present
,
Chet?
”
John asked.  Chet would sometimes throw things John
’
s way that the FBI couldn
’
t, or didn
’
t want to
,
touch.  Chet hesitated.  In that instant John read Chet
’
s face and knew what was in his hand.  Oh crap, thought John. 
“
No!  No!!  I am done with the FBI!!!
”
 
John was furious. 

             
“
Now
,
John, calm down.  You are being brought on as a consultant only.
”

             
“
Chet, I have no interest
.
”
John replied.

             
“
John, look, I know you don
’
t need the money
. . .
 
Oh crap, I
’
m so sorry.
”
 
John looked away.  Sam had a trust that was left to her by her grandparents.  Her grandparents were the only members of Sam
’
s family that John
believed liked him
.  Honestly, her grandparen
ts were stinking, filthy, rich. 
John had
no idea how much money they had; h
e honestly thought it was billions.  All of Sam
’
s trust had
been left to John.  He didn
’
t know how much was exactly in the trust, but he knew it was enough for him to live five lives on. 

             
Chet opened the folder in front of John.  He laid out four pictures of people that had been shot perfectly in the head.  John tried to ignore the pictures but the shots were right in the center of each
fore
head.  The pictures had John
’
s interest.  Chet let John look.  The case would sell itself and Chet knew that.  Chet just had to wait and John would hook himself.  As John leaned back, seeming to lose interest, Chet reeled him in with one little sentence. 

“
They were all shot by the same person, wi
thin five seconds of each other.
”
 
Chet said casually.  John
’
s eyebrow shot up, and Chet knew he had his best friend back on the hunt wi
th him.

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington DC.

Chapter 3

Agent Luke McDonald tried to steady himself as he stood at the
f
irst
l
ady
’
s door. 
“
Get ahold of yourself man
.  S
he
’
s
not going to go off on you
. . .
I hope.
”

Luke knocked on the door and waited for the First Lady, Lisa Nichols, to answer.  The door opened and Agent McDonald handed a manila envelope to her. 
“
Mrs. Nichols, this has to do with
one of those names you asked me to flag in the system.
”
 
Confusion spread across Mrs. Nichols face. 
“
Those special five names you asked me to flag ma
’
am?
”

Mrs. Nichols smiled her best campaign smile and took the envelope.  Agent McDonald spoke,
“
I
’
ll double check on the other four names you asked me to keep an eye on.
”
 
The agent looked down and then back at her. 
“
Mrs. Nichols
. . .
   Lisa
. . .
 
I don
’
t know what to say.  I
’
m sorry.
”
 
For a second Lisa
’
s smile faltered and she looked down at the envelope, confused.  Understanding began to spread over her face.  She looked sharply at the agent, pursed her lips, and nodded her head in acceptance.  The agent nodded and walked away.

As he walked down the hallway and heard the door to Lisa
’
s office close, Agent McDonald thought to himself,
“
There
’
s a reason I suggested they give her the codename Silk.  She
’
s as smooth as they come.
”

The
f
irst
l
ady, or Lisa as she is known to her friends, walked into her private office. 
“
Steady girl.
”
s
he said to herself.

She opened the
envelope and her worst fears were
confirmed.  The hea
dline to the paper that was
photocop
ied read
,
Captain Jason Sparks Dies in Overseas Operation in Afghanistan.
  Memories ca
me rushing back to Lisa.  Feelings she
had repressed for so long
. . .
they came rushing back as well.  She shook her head as if trying to remove them from her mind. 
“
Get a grip
.
”
she said to herself.   She gripped the sides of her desk. 
She told herself t
here was no way anyone could connect the dots on what happened all those years ago.

The fears that she thought she had mastered welled up in her stomach.  Her mouth filled with the bitter taste of bile.  Tears came to Lisa
’
s eyes but she fought them away.  She got up and walked downstairs to find Agent McDonald.  Lisa found him in the intelligence center. 
“
Agent McDonald, can you do me a favor?
”
s
he asked.

“
Of course
.
”
he said.

“
I need you to check the incoming mail fo
r any of those last four names. 
I need you to make sure as few people see anything that
is sent
in
from them as possible. 
Do you understand?
”

“
Of course
,
ma
’
am.
  A
re you expecting something from them?
”
 
Luke asked.  Lisa shrugged.  Luke nodded. 
“
As usual, we will keep this to ourselves?
”
h
e asked.

The
f
irst
l
ady nodded, smiling.

“
Lisa, shall I destroy anything I might find?
”

“
Agent McDonald,
”
the
f
irst
l
ady said smiling. 
“
That is why you are my

favorite
.
”

Cemetery just outside of Fort Dunn, New York

Chapter 4

Leroy looked across the cemetery and shook his head.   Four people he never thought he would see again were present.  The first one he saw was Colt.  Colt had his tan from all those years working in Florida at a huge theme park.  Every now and then Leroy received letters from Colt.  Colt always seemed fine.

Leroy looked back to scan the crowd and saw another familiar face.  There was Amy.  He thinks her last name is Jensen now.  Leroy chucked to himself.  Amy sent him a Christmas card every year.  The card is always a picture of her, her husband, and two dogs.  Leroy thinks she
’
s a second grade school teacher in Illinois. 

Of course there was Doctor Tom Bradley of Vermont, the genius of the group.  Leroy was always inviting him down for the summer, but Tom never took him up on the offer.  Truth
be
told, he never responded to any of the letters Leroy sent.  Leroy wondered if any of them would respond to the invitation now with Jason
’
s death.

Lastly,
there was the quarterback . . .
in the casket.  He was the reason they were there.  Jason Sparks, 2
nd
Lieutenant, US Army.  Leroy looked at the coffin and felt the sadness sweep through him.  Lieutenant Sparks was killed in Afghanistan during a hush-hush mission. 

Leroy remembered all of the times Jason had protected him in middle school.  He real
ly was one of the good guys
. . .
well except for that little secret that all of them shared.  As the funeral went on, he looked around to see if the last member of the group was there. 

Veronica Staples was nowhere to be seen.  He knew she wasn
’
t there, of course.  How could she be?  Veronica couldn
’
t be here.  S
he couldn
’
t take the chance that someone might figure it all out
;
that someone might connect t
he dots
Leroy knew were unconnectable.  That
’
s all he had heard from the other three all week.  He wasn
’
t surprised.  He wondered how many of them secretly were happy she hadn
’
t come.

There were plenty of ways for Veronica to be at the funeral and no one would ever figur
e out the connection, but
. . .
no
. . .
no she couldn
’
t.   She couldn
’
t risk the secret they all shared coming out.  He understood; he just didn
’
t like it.  Of course
,
with Jason dead, maybe it was time.  Maybe the truth could finally come out and he could get a decent night
’
s sleep for the first time in over twenty-five years.