The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (18 page)

As the last member of the congregation left, John stepped through the door.  The preacher reached out his hand and spoke.

“
FBI?
”
Brother Jim asked.  John was taken aback for a second and looked down at his suit.  There was a
certain something about it that screamed
“
G-Man
”
.  John nodded.

“
Sir
,
I have a question about some children that would have lived here over twenty-five years ago,
”
said John.

“
Let
’
s walk outside.  There are some things that don
’
t need to be talked about inside a church. 
While there are many bad things that are discussed in the Bible, what happened in this town
isn
’
t
one of those things I want to talk about in this building.
”
 
Brother Jim led John outside.  John thought he was finally on the right track.  Had he finally stumbled on
,
in this little town
,
what had led to all of these murders?  More importantly,
how
did the preacher fit in?  John followed, anxious for the answers.

It was warm for February.  John and the preacher sat down on the steps of the porch of the church.  John extended his hand to the preacher.  Brother Jim looked a little confused.

             
“
I
’
m John, John Fowler.  If I
’
m going to question someone, you need to know my name.
”
 
Brother Jim smiled and shook John
’
s hand.  Brother Jim stood up and looked out to the wooded areas around the church.

             
“
Agent Fowler,
”
Brother Jim began.  John interrupted him.

             
“
John
. 
J
ust John.
”

             
“
Fair enough, John,
”
Brother Jim said smiling. 
“
Can I ask you specifically why you
’
re here?
”

             
“
I
’
m here about the deaths of five different people
:
Jason Sparks, Tom Bradley, Amy Jensen, Leroy Jenkins, and Colt McCormick.  All of these individuals grew up in this general vicinity.  Excuse me, let me correct myself, four of them may have moved here and then moved away later in their youth.
”
 
John was looking the preacher in his eyes.  The preacher dropped John
’
s gaze and looked down at the ground.  Brother Jim smiled as he looked back at John.

             
“
John, you
’
re wrong.  I
’
ve been waiting for you
,
s
ir.  I
’
ve been waiting fo
r you for over two decades
.
”
 
John was astonished at the preacher
’
s revelation. 

             
“
I
’
m wrong?
”
 
John asked. 
“
Sir, not to be rude, but I have five bodies that say otherwise.
”

             
“
John, if I
’
m right about what happened, you have six bodies, and if this goes the way I think it will, you
’
ll have seven before this is over with.  You
’
ve stumbled onto something that has been brewing for
over twenty five years. 
You
’
ve stumbled onto what some would call a conspiracy.  I wouldn
’
t.  I simply call it like I see it.  You have stumbled upon the biggest spoiled brat getting exactly what she
wanted no matter how many innocent people had to die for her to get it!
”
 
John was confused.  He didn
’
t know what to think, but he wasn
’
t leaving this preacher or town
,
until he
had the answers he wanted.  I
f he had to, he was prepared to arrest Brother Jim and bring him back with him.  The preacher looked very old suddenly.  It was obvious to John that whatever had happened here, it had bothered Brother Jim for a very long time.  The guilt on the preacher
’
s face was heartbreaking.  John wanted to feel for the man, but he couldn
’
t
.  N
ot yet.  Not until he knew what had happened here that caused five deaths.  Brother Jim continued.

             
“
I don
’
t know much
,
s
ir, but I will tell you everything I do know.   All I ask
is you understand something.  I am a man, and a man makes mistakes.  I have regretted the mistake I made all those years ago
and
every day after it.
”
 
Jim felt a burden starting to lift of his chest. 
“
I
’
m sorry
. 
I
’
m speaking in riddles
.  L
et me tell you what I know happened, and then if you
’
re interested I
’
ll tell you what I think happened after that.
”

             
John leaned back against the pillars on the porch and listened.  Brother Jim fought back
the
tears in his eyes.  He sighed and began.

             
“
You have to understand
,
first, the time that we are talking about.  I think the plant came into the community in
’
82 or
’
83.  There wasn
’
t much here
,
John.  Mostly farmers and a few miners were still here.  The majority of the mines had shut down by this time.  There was so little down there and the accidents . . . well, it just wasn
’
t worth it.
”

             
“
When Mr. Staples approach
ed
the town about building here, it was  . . . well it was like answered prayers.  We let him have all sorts of tax breaks.  We just needed to have the jobs.  We understood it was mostly the manual labor jobs
,
at first
,
the townsfolk could apply for.  It didn
’
t matter.  I don
’
t know how much you remember about that time, but people were seeing 18% interest rates on their homes.  It was
a
bad time
,
John, and sometimes in bad times, you don
’
t look too hard when someone offers you a gift.
”

             
Jim looked at John,
“
I don
’
t want to sound like I
’
m not grateful to the man, and no matter how hard we dug, we never would have known about his daughter . . . Veronica.  You know how there are some people out there that think the sun was made to shine on them
?  W
ell
,
whoever they are, they are saints compared to Veronica Staples.
”

             
John was confused about the whole conversation.  The name Veronica was gnawing at him.  It finally dawned on him, the note the killer left,
“
Tell Veronica she
’
s next.
”
 
John
’
s mind was racing trying to put together pieces of the puzzle.  He looked at Brother Jim
;
John
’
s eyes were dancing.  Jim had
paused
his story after noticing John was trying to figure things out. 

             
“
Brother Jim, you
’
ve just mentioned a name that is connected to this case that hasn
’
t been in any of the
papers.
”
 
Jim sighed, and looked at the ground.  When he brought his head back up he looked remorseful.

             
“
I was afraid of that.  Let me continue and you
’
ll understand soon.
”
 
John nodded and Jim continued.

             
“
When Veronica first showed up, she seemed to be the sweetest angel, and then I overheard some kids talking about her one day.  They all said the same thing
;
when no adults were around, she treated everyone like dirt.  Now
,
that
’
s nothing new in that age
of a
child, but when I one day witnessed it . . . John
,
it was like she thought some of these children should worship her.  But I
’
m skipping ahead, let me back up.
”

             
“
Some people were brought in from other plants, and of course they brought their children with them.  These children, Veronica and two of the local children were in the same Sunday school class together.  Tom Bradley, Amy Jensen, Leroy Jenkins, Colt McCormick, Veronica Nichols, local kid Jason Sparks, and another local kid whose name you haven
’
t heard yet if I have my guess, Beth George.
”

             
Now John had two names that he didn
’
t have before this trip.  John felt there was more.  He waited.  Brother Jim wasn
’
t going to quit now
.  N
ot when he had so much guilt welled up inside.  Brother Jim gathered his thoughts and continued.

             
“
For the next oh, five or six years
,
they were inseparable.  Sure they attended different schoo
ls, but in the summer, they went
everywhere together, and they had a tag along, Beth
’
s little brother
,
David George
.  A
nother name I
’
m sure you don
’
t have yet.
”

             
Brother Jim stopped.  John waited.  John saw the tears starting to flow down Jim
’
s cheeks.

             
“
John, it
’
s my fault.  I knew
. 
I knew and I could have stopped it.  It
’
s the same as if I pulled the trigger to kill all of them
myself
.
”
 
John sat on the porch watching the
preacher break down and sob uncontrollably, understanding exactly how the man felt.

             
Brother Jim sobbed for a few minutes.  John sat lost in his thoughts.   Here was a man of God blaming himself for all five deaths, and unless John had completely lost his detective skills, Jim had nothing to do with the actual deaths.  The irony was not lost on John.

             
“
Sorry, John,
”
said the pastor. 

             
“
Think nothing of it.  You know
,
Brother Jim, I lost my wife three years ago.  She was killed when a bomb went off in my apartment that I can only assume was meant for me.
”

             
Brother Jim sat up straight,
“
You
’
re that John Fowler!?! 
The one I saw them talking about on the news for, like, two weeks?
”
 
John nodded. 
“
I should have known there weren
’
t that many agents with that name.  It shouldn
’
t surprise me that you are the one here today asking me questions
.
”
 
Brother Jim paused, and looked at John strangely.  He went ahead with his question, timidly. 
“
Aren
’
t you supposed to be dead?
”