The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (38 page)

“
Bruce!!!  He
’
s got a freaking bomb!!!  You have no idea what the payload is!!
”

“
John
,
stay down,
”
said Bruce.  Bruce stood and took aim at the bomb. 

“
Don
’
t
,
Bruce!!  I won
’
t tell!!
”
 
Luke yelled.

“
You
’
re right.  Y
ou won
’
t,
”
said Bruce quietly where John couldn
’
t hear him.  Bruce fired and John thought to himself,
“
Sam
,
I
’
m coming to see you a lot sooner than I planned.
”

The bomb exploded. 

New York FBI Office

Chapter 2

John walked into the New York FBI building.  He was glad Trip hadn
’
t taken away his FBI visitor credentials.  John had to make a decision soon about what he was going to do.  He currently was not a member of the FBI.  He had been offered his old job back after assisting his former two partners Chet and Jessica.  Trip, the Director of the New York office, had offered the position and the file on John
’
s wife
’
s
murder after the last case was over.  John snickered.  After the last case was over . . . that was yesterday. 

He headed down the elevator to the foxhole.  The name had always amused John.  He had given the basement the name since most of the agents that had been stationed in the basement had dug
in like they were in a foxhole;
fighting for their careers.  Not 24 hours ago, Chet and Jessica had been doing just that. 
Now,
John had requested to have the three of them stationed there permanently.  There were a couple of reasons for that.  The first was to try and stop the pressure that built up on the agents that were stationed in the basement when their careers were on the line.  The other, well, it was simply to annoy Bruce.  John knew by not only going into the foxhole and solving an unsolvable crime, but by also embracing the foxhole would just drive Bruce insane
.  I
f there was anything John went out of his way to do, it was to drive Bruce insane.
  John thought about the situation that he was about to step into.  He smiled as he appreciated the irony.
  The elevator door opened and John stepped out.

As he headed down the hall he thought about his team.  Well, they weren
’
t his team anymore
since he wasn
’
t
in the FBI
.  Chet was the computer guru.  He could get information that John had no way of obtaining online.  Truth be told, John could barely turn on a computer.  There was also Jessica Hammerstein,
“
The Hammer.
”
 
Jessica could get a confession out of anyone in interrogation.  Then there was John.  John had a way of finding a lead, or making a connection out of information that no one else seemed to be able to.  Together the three of them were an almost unstoppable force; that was until John left the FBI over three years ago and became a private investigator. 

John had been undercover for over a year within the Mafia.  Dur
ing that time he had succumbed to the lifestyle of the men he associated with
and bec
a
me an alcoholic.  The night of a huge bust of alleged Mafia members by the FBI, John was heading home to tell his wife, Sam, that he was join
ing AA and would leave the FBI a
s she wanted him to.  John had been thinking about how he was going to tell Sam his decision during his walk.  He was yanked out of his thoughts as he got within three blocks of his apartment.  The apartment exploded with Sam inside and John looking up at it after being knocked back by the explosion. 

John had been a wreck since then.  He barely remembered the funeral, or his interrogation ran by Jessica at the insistence of the FBI.  What little he remembered about any of it was being drunk, and yelling at people.  He yelled at his family and Sam
’
s.  He had only within the last week apologized to his family.  He suspected Sam
’
s family was still mad at him; he had just been served
legal papers
by them less than an hour ago.  Sam
’
s parents, Arthur and Madeline Moore, had filed suit against John in civil court for Sam
’
s death.  They were suing him for the trust Sam
’
s grandparents had left t
o Sam which had been left to John
after her death.  John had no clue how much was in there.  He just knew he had nothing to worry about moneywise for the rest of his life.

John came to the door of the foxhole and looked inside.  There was Jessica.  John smiled when he saw her and his heart jumped into his throat.  It was strange; three years ago after John was interrogated by Jessica
,
he left the FBI letting her know that he hated her.  For the next three years Jessica and Chet did all they could to solve the case of Sam
’
s
death.
  Jessica also kept John
’
s parents and Sam
’
s mother in the loop as to what was happening.  Jessica ran interference for John after he blessed out a reporter when the reporter asked John about his late wife
’
s death.  In the past week John and Jessica had started to admit the romantic feelings they had for each other. 

Jessica turned, saw John and smiled at him.  She motioned him in and John walked into the room.  Inside the room were Chet, Trip, and Bruce Cosby.   John and Bruce had a special hate-hate relationship.  Bruce
’
s father, Senator Jeremiah Cosby, had actually met John at Sam
’
s house when John and Sam had first started dating.  Jeremiah thought of Sam and John as the children he didn
’
t have that he always wanted.  Apparently Jeremiah, and Sam
’
s mother, Madeline, had dated for a time before Madeline married her husband, Arthur. 

Bruce and John
’
s confrontations in the FBI had been legendary; with John coming out on top every single time.  Bruce had actually asked for John on this case.  This showed John exactly how serious the case actually was, and how serious Bruce was taking it.  Jeremiah had been reported kidnapped a little over an hour ago.   John walked up to Bruce and the room went quiet as Bruce turned to face him.
 

“
Agent Fowler,
”
said Bruce, extending his hand.  John reached out and shook Bruce
’
s hand.  It seemed like everyone in the room took a collective breath.

“
I
’
m not an agent
,
Bruce,
”
John replied with a slight grin. 
“
I haven
’
t made up my mind yet
about what I
’
m going to do.
”

Bruce looked like he had be
en slapped in the face with John
’
s
statement.  He turned quickly to the others and seemed to be about to begin talking to them, when John put his hand on Bruce
’
s shoulder.  Bruce spun with anger in his eyes.  He looked loathingly at John
’
s hand on his shoulder.

“
Bruce
,
have I done something to upset you?
”
 
John asked.

“
Have you done something to upset me?  Have you done something to upset me!?!?  I need an agent on this
,
John!! No! Let me correct that!!  I need the best the FBI has to offer, and you are not FBI.  You
’
re a consultant!  I want someone who is dedicated to this!  If you can
’
t even dedicate yourself to the FBI th
en
how can I know you will dedicate yourself to finding my father!??  Huh??  How JOHN???? 
HOW!?!?!?
”
 

Bruce turned; his face furious.  Trip looked at John, shrugged and turned his back on John to help Bruce.   Jessica mouthed the word,
“
sorry,
”
and went back to helping Bruce.  Chet looked at John very uncomfortably.  John nodded to his friend and Chet turned to help Bruce as well.  John stood there for a second letting it all sink in.

John was the outsider here.  There was no denying it.  He knew he had to make up his mind right then.  It was time to make the decision he had been avoiding.  Did he walk away and let the FBI find Sam
’
s killer and Senator Cosby
’
s kidnapper, or did John cowboy-up and do what he was put on Earth to do?  John knew he was the best chance
they had
of solving both cases, and he also knew he was the
man with the best chance of finding Senator Cosby alive.  He spoke very softly, barely above a whisper.

“
Give me the papers to sign
,
Trip,
”
John said.  Trip froze.  Bruce turned around very slowly.  Anger was dying in his eyes. 

“
This isn
’
t the time for one of our little games
,
John,
”
replied Bruce.  John shook his head.

“
I
’
m not playing Bruce
.  T
his is too important.  I
’
m not ready for this yet, but your father
’
s situation doesn
’
t allow me that luxury right now.
”
 
John turned to Trip. 
“
Get
me the papers
to sign
. . . I
’
m back.
”
 

John noticed Chet breathe a sigh of relief.  Jessica
’
s eyes sparkled mischievously.  Trip had a tight lipped smile, which for him was the equivalent of a NFL wide receiver doing an end zone dance.  Bruce offered his hand again.  John shook it.

“
Welcome back
,
John, and thank you,
”
Bruce said.  John nodded. 
“
You have some papers to sign John.  I
’
ve left the entire file on my father with Jessica and Chet.  The b
est I can tell, Secret Service A
gent Luke McDonald is the last person to see my father.  I
’
m going to leave now before my presence causes any problems.  I have contacted Quantico asking for special permission to work this case, but I
’
m not expecting them to allow me any access.  I don
’
t know why not.  John and my father are closer than the
S
enator and I are.
”
 
John internally winced with the last statement Bruce made. 
Everyone was a little uncomfortable, and n
o one had any words of comfort for Bruce.  He had spoken the truth and everyone knew it.  Bruce left the foxhole and got on the elevator; as soon as the doors shut
,
the biggest grin in the world broke out over Bruce
’
s face.

Bruce walked upstairs to his offices.  His team saw him and tried to console him. 
Bruce internally shuddered at the thought of having to be around this group of people. 
He stayed for just a minute and then began to choke up.  Bruce told everyone he needed some air and left.  Bruce was trying to hurry out of the building, but not appear that way.  What John and company were not aware of yet, was Senator Cosby had been missing for over 18 hours at this point.  Bruce made it to his car without being stopped.  He left the FBI building and pulled out into traffic.  He drove a bit and pulled into a parking garage.  Bruce drove up to the top of the garage.  He parked the car.  From where he was, he was within a stone
’
s throw of the river, and he could look out over the city.  Bruce reached into his coat, pulled out a pair of gloves and put them on.  After he made sure there was no skin exposed, he reached into the glove box and pulled out a cell phone.  There was one number preprogrammed into the phone
. 
Bruce dialed it.