The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (44 page)

             
“
Let me be frank here
,
John,
”
Stephen said. 
“
Doesn
’
t Arthur hate your guts?
”

             
“
EXACTLY!!!
”
 
John exclaimed. 
“
Why would Arthur want me?  I messed up and asked the Senator and Trip if that is what happened.  Now it may have been what they wanted, but how do I know someone didn
’
t encourage Arthur to do it.  I can make loose connections to one person in every one of these scenarios except the one involving Duck, and I haven
’
t looked into that one.
”
 
Stephen looked very confused.  While John had been talking alarms were going off in his head.  John was 90% certain he knew what was going on in the FBI. 

             
“
Archibald Staples,
”
John said.  Stephen looked at John like he was mentally sizing John for a straightjacket. 

             
“
Arthur, the Senator, and Archibald come from the same circle,
”
John began.

             
“
So that
’
s how you tie Arthur into wanting you back?
”
 
Stephen asked.

             
“
Right, now if there is a mole,
”
John began. 
“
Which I have to wonder with the Duck thing, did Archibald use the mole to get me to come back to the FBI to protect his daughter
’
s life?
”
 
Stephen looked at John sharply.

             
“
Ok, let
’
s say for a minute you
’
re right about this,
”
Stephen began. 
“
How do you explain the inconsistency in Jessica and Chet dating?
”

             
“
One of them was trying to keep tabs on me and finding out what the other knew about me.  My guess is they were trying to find out if I had connected Archibald to the Duck.  From the best I can tell they broke up about the time the original quadruple homicide happened.  If Jason Sparks; the first person allegedly murdered by David George in Afghanistan, if
his murder was in the paper, the
n Archibald probably sent one of his men to the funeral.  He may have hid from some distance away
from
the service
and taped it.  He then either showed it to Chet
,
if Chet was the mole, or made sure Chet knew where to see it on the internet if someone else was the mole.
”
 
John paused for a second. 
“
You can do that on the internet, right?
”
 
Stephen nodded.  He sat for a second thinking,
tapping the pencil against his lip and nodding his head.

             
“
So Archibald, knowing the Senator from days gone by and knowing Arthur knew of your reputation, figured the one person who could figure everything out, save his daughter, and give him time to assemble a world class law team was you?  You realize that
’
s very thin?
”
 
Stephen asked.  John nodded.

Stephen leaned back in his chair.  
“
Of course if Archibald is the lynchpin behind all of this, it doesn
’
t have to make sense,
”
Stephen said.  John smiled at Stephen.  Stephen was nodding. 
“
We both know that the
people
who do these things, tend to do things that make sense to them.  What we think of as making sense really doesn
’
t apply.  So then why was the Senator kidnapped?
”

             
John grimaced,
“
I
’
m glad you said that part about making sense to me and you, because I could be going out on a limb on this one.
”
 
Stephen raised his eyebrows.  John looked a little sheepish.

             
“
This ought to be good,
”
Stephen said.

“
Stay with me,
”
John said. 
“
Luke is in love with the First Lady.  That seems to be confirmed
by every member of the Secret S
ervice.  I know he met with the Senator the night before last.  Luke says he was trying to get Bruce on the case because Archibald said Bruce understood that type of society and the secrets they held.
”

Stephen gaffed. 
“
Bruce Cosby is one of the most incompetent agents around!!
”

John smiled, he really like
d
Stephen. 
“
My guess is he was trying to get Bruce on the case but when that didn
’
t work he planned to kidnap the Senator
.  He wanted to use the kidnapping as leverage
to get Bruce to offer to take the case.
”
 
Stephen looked confused again. 
“
Sorry, I forget you weren
’
t there, Bruce turned down the case because he thought it was too cold and it could never be solved.
”

“
Ok
,
John, I can buy all of that, but why?
”
 
Stephen asked. 
“
Isn
’
t that going against what Archibald had in mind?  He got you on the case to start with and now he
’
s helping Luke?
”

“
I admit this is where I think it
’
s very, very thin,
”
John replied. 
“
My gut says this idiot was so in love with Lisa he called Archibald and told him his crazy plan.  We
’
ve seen men become infatuated with women before and do things that you or I would not call normal.
”
 

Stephen was nodding and playing back John
’
s last statement in his head. 
“
So you think Luke took his infatuation to the next level.
”
 
John nodded, and he continued his explanation.

“
Now remember
,
the Senator has tried for years to nail Archibald.  How many hearing
s
have there been involving Archibald Industries?
”
 
Stephen thought for a moment.

“
More than I care to count,
”
Stephen replied. 
“
So basically you think Archibald went along with the plan to
mess with the Senator and it got away from him?
”
 
John nodded grimly.  Stephen shook his head. 
“
Wow.  Sadly that would all work.
”
 
Stephen looked at John with a quizzical look. 
“
You mentioned Bruce earlier, how does he fit in, John?
”

“
I was getting to that,
”
John replied. 
“
Bruce didn
’
t put down in the file the Senator has been missing since last night.  Not only that, he never told anyone!  We all thought this case was a few hours old.
”
 
Stephen about dropped his pencil in disbelief.  That changed this case from being a few hours old to almost a day old.  Everyone has heard the saying the first
48
hours are the most important.  For Bruce to not report that detail . . . Stephen was stunned.  John continued. 
“
You know it could be grief.
”

“
It could,
”
Stephen said. 
“
Or it could be blackmail!  John, you have to report this and the part about Chet.  If Chet is fabricating, or even worse, destroying evidence, Trip needs to know.
”
 
Stephen was very firm.  John felt a knot in his stomach.  John was 100% convinced internally now, he just needed proof.

“
I already have reported Bruce; as for Chet, I have no proof.
”
 
John looked at Stephen directly in the eye and spoke his next statement very softly. 
“
I
’
m worried that
the
man I wanted to call my friend is not who I thought he was.
”
 
Stephen begrudgingly nodded.  John looked tired.  It had been a trying couple of days.  It was times like this he hated his deduction skills.  John waited for Stephen.  Stephen spoke softly.

“
What
’
s your plan
,
John?
”

“
I
’
m going to see if I can pair up with Bruce.  I
’
m going to use the excuse that I
’
m going to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn
’
t snap or do something foolish.  I
’
m going to have both Chet and Bruce
’
s IT guys do a check on phone calls to Archibald, and I
’
m going to go talk
to the one person that knows the Senator and his archenemy, Archibald, better than anyone.
”

Stephen stood up and walked over to John.  He looked John right in the eye.

“
Are you ready to face Arthur, John?
”
 
Stephen asked.

“
No, but I have to and I have the one thing that I know will make him talk.
”
 
Stephen raised an eyebrow questioningly. 
“
I have the information he wants on his daughter
’
s death.  I can also promise him when this is over I will do everything in my power to bring that person to justice.
”
 

Stephen nodded.  John turned to leave.  As he reached the door Stephen asked him one final question.

“
John, what is justice in your book?
”

“
Let
’
s pretend you didn
’
t ask
me
that
question
,
”
John replied. 
“
If I tell you the answer to that you
’
ll take away my reinstatement.
”
 
John opened the door and walked out.  As the door closed, Stephen sat down his pad and pulled out a cell phone.  He typed out a text, and paused for a second.  He didn
’
t want to send the message but he knew what would happen if he didn
’
t.  Stephen sighed and hit send.

New York FBI Office

Chapter 18

             
Jessica sat in her office, deep in the foxhole.  Past all of Chet
’
s computer equipment, there were three offices.  The offices all had glass window
s
looking out into the foxhole, with blinds that could be drawn.  Jessica had drawn the blinds and had shut the door so she could work on paperwork.

Jessica stretched in her chair.  She had been working on what she thought would be simple paperwork.  She should have known that anything involving the first lady and kidnapping would be anything but simple.  Her mind kept returning to what John had asked her about a recording of the quadruple homicide. 

             
She had known John for a long, long time, and she knew John didn
’
t make mistakes like that.  John could have been three sheets to the wind, but if he said someone had mentioned a recording, then someone had mentioned a recording.

             
Jessica thought back to the beginning of the last case when the three of them had met in John
’
s Private Investigator office.  John had quickly seen that Chet
’
s and Jessica
’
s story of who asked who out had inconsistencies.  This didn
’
t sit well with Jessica at all.  If John started digging, then everything could come out.  Jessica didn
’
t think John would understand.  He wasn
’
t there those three years and didn
’
t understand what had happened.  A sick worry started in Jessica
’
s stomach.  There was a knock on her door.  She looked up and saw John.