The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (46 page)

Trip set his jaw and tried to hold his emotions in check.  A single tear fell down his cheek.  Trip blamed himself for Sam
’
s death.  Chet told Trip it was his fault for not watching out for his best friend
’
s wife.  Jessica said it was her fault for not watching out better for her best friend.  As guilty as they each thought they were, none of them held a candle to the internal grief that John held inside.   For three years,
when they weren
’
t secretly watching John to make sure he didn
’
t self-destruct,
the three of them followed every lead on the Sam Fowler case and they each came up with nothing.  They all said the same thing; the only person who could solve this case was John.  It was during this case that Trip learned something that should have
made him
immediately dismiss one of his agents, but he didn
’
t.  He did something he never did; he covered for them. 

John was right about the Mafia case; there had been a mole.  It wasn
’
t like John thought, but there was one just the same.  When John found out, and Trip knew it was a matter of when, and not if, John could have them all fired.  There wouldn
’
t be a thing the three of them could say in their defense, and they all knew it. 

A knock on the door brought Trip back to reality.  Trip turned and saw John.  John looked a little concerned.  Trip, fearing his voice might crack from the emotion he was trying to hold in check inside, waved John in. 

“
Trip,
”
John began. 
“
Are you ok?
”

Trip waved John off.

John continued,
“
Look, I know I
’
m not the poster boy of how to deal with things, but talking does help
sometimes
, and I don
’
t mean me.  There are people who you can talk to that might help.
”

Trip looked perturbed. 
“
So let me get this straight, one meeting with the good doctor downstairs and you think everyone who
’
s having a bad day needs to see a shrink!?!
”

John nodded slowly, his lips pressed together.  He had obviously broached a sensitive subject.  Wheels began to turn in John
’
s head.  He had NEVER seen Trip like this.  Trip kept his emotions in check better than anyone.  There were several explanations for Trip
’
s reaction.  The most plausible reason being all they had been th
r
ough the past few days stirred up emotions inside of Trip that he wasn
’
t use to dealing with.  It was the other explanations running th
r
ough John
’
s head that worried him.  John knew he needed to proceed carefully.

Look
,
Trip,
”
John said. 
“
It was just a suggestion.  And since I
’
ve obviously overstepped my bounds I
’
m gonna keep going.  If you see someone, see someone outside of the FBI.
”

Trip looked at John sharply. 
“
Let me guess,
t
he
good doctor
didn
’
t reinstate you and
now
you don
’
t like him?
”

“
Wrong,
”
said John as he laid the reinstatement papers on Trip
’
s desk. 
“
I just don
’
t think everything needs to be handled in-house.  Take it from me, this job can make
you
do
things you never thought you would.
”
 
John had a rue smile on his face as he spoke.

Trip barked a laugh and examined the paperwork.  He opened John
’
s file and placed it inside.  Trip pulled out John
’
s new shield and ID and handed it to John.  John placed it in his suit pocket, right back where it belonged.  Trip leaned back in his chair.  He looked at John and tried to decide the best way to proceed.

“
What
’
s your next step?
”
 
Trip asked.

“
Well,
”
John began. 
“
I want to team with Bruce.
”
 
Trip looked stunned. 
“
Hear me out, there are two reasons Bruce didn
’
t tell us about the timeline.  One he
’
s in on the kidnapping, two he actually cares about his dad and this has affected him.  Either way, by keeping him close to me I can figure out the majority of his moves and keep him from doing something stupid.
“
 
Trip nodded.  He picked up a piece of paper.

“
This gives me the authority to let Bruce on the case,
”
Trip said nodding toward the paper. 

“
In my opinion
,
sir,
”
John said. 
“
That is exactly what we need to do.  We also need to do a couple of other things, I need Chet to work on tracking down any electronic leads on Luke, and I
’
d like Bruce
’
s IT guy to do the same thing.
”

Trip sat up very straight in his chair.  He really didn
’
t like where this was going.

“
I
’
m not done yet,
”
John said.  He knew how things sounded, but he had no choice in what he was doing. 
“
I want Jessica and a member of Bruce
’
s team to go over the findings of both Chet and Bruce
’
s IT guys together.  I want Jessica and a member of Bruce
’
s team to go over any paper trail together.  Trip
,
it
’
s real simple
.
I want two sets of eyes, one from my team and one from Bruce
’
s team
,
on each piece of evidence.
”

Trip was on the verge of being furious.  John had Trip believing that John didn
’
t trust his two teammates.  John smiled inwardly.  Trip had Jessica
’
s and Chet
’
s back.  John had to make sure of that.  John knew he was playing a dangerous game
but it was necessary
.  John had a serious hunch on several things at the moment.  The first was Luke had something to do with the Senator
’
s kidnapping.  The second, there was a mole in the FBI.   The third, and the most troubling, was one of the three people John had any chance of calling friends, was in deep trouble.  John thought he could solve the third problem, but he had to test out one small thing before he could be sure.  

“
Trip,
”
John said fiercely. 
“
This isn
’
t the time to sugarcoat things.  We have a Senator that has been missing for 24 hours.  I need as many eyes on this as possible to make sure we don
’
t miss anything.
”

Trip
’
s mind was whirling.  Trip slowly looked up at John, nodding.  Trip was slapping his head mentally.  Did John just bait him to see how he
’
d react!?!  Blast that man!!  He
’
d only been active, well, minutes officially, and it was like he had never missed a beat.  Trip knew he had to calm down and agree to this.  He didn
’
t need John digging into what happened while he was gone.

You
’
re absolutely right
,
John,
”
Trip replied. 
“
I
’
ll get everyone started.  What about you?
”
 

John sighed. 
“
I
’
ve already got Jessica setting up a tail on Luke.  I wanted to clear the partner thing with you before I went forward with my main plan.  I
’
m going to go talk to Chet and Jessica real quick and then Bruce and I are going to go talk to
someone
who know
s
the Staples the best.
”
 
Trip had been dialing the phone, but with that statement by John he slowly hung it up and looked at John.  Trip swallowed, afraid to ask if the pe
rson
John w
as
going to talk to was who Trip thought it was.  John turned and
walked to the door.  He stopped, turned back toward Trip, and spoke.

“
I
’
m going to see my in-laws.
”
 
With that, John walked out of Trip
’
s office.  Trip sat still for a second.  He then began to lightly chuckle.  The chuckle broke out into a roaring laugh.  What he wouldn
’
t give to be a fly on the wall and hear the conversation that would take place between John and the Moores.

             
John knocked on Jessica
’
s door.  Chet was nowhere to be seen in the Foxhole.  He heard Jessica yell to enter so he opened the door.  Jessica smiled when she saw him. 

             
“
Hey
,
Jess,
”
John began. 
“
I was wondering if you had a few minutes.
”
 
Jess offered him a seat and John sat. 
“
I know I
’
ve been gone a while, but  . . . well, do I have to use my office over here, or can I use the desk over by Chet?  You know I like to work out in the open.
”

             
Jessica smiled. 
“
John
,
you can work anywhere you want.  I usually work out there as well.  It
’
s just when I
’
m dealing with this paperwork, I can
’
t handle of all Chet
’
s flashing screens.  Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?
”

             
John shifted in his seat. 
“
Jess, the Senator has been missing for almost 24 hours.
”
 
Jess dropped her pencil. 
“
I need you and one of Bruce
’
s men to go over everything Chet and Bruce
’
s IT guy does.  I want two eyes on everything to make sure we haven
’
t missed anything.
”

             
Jessica tapped her pen on the table.  She looked at John hard. 
“
You want me to go over Chet
’
s findings?
”

             
John shook his head no very slowly.  Jessica
’
s nostrils flared.  She started to speak, but
John
cut her off.

“
Jess,
Bruce is the person
Luke told
that
the Senator has been missing since yesterday . . . I don
’
t know what
’
s going on, but I haven
’
t got time to babysit.  I need everyone crosschecking the other.  That way even if something shady is going on this may deter anyone from messing with evidence in any way.
”

Jessica tapped her pen on the table again.  John knew she wasn
’
t happy.  She nodded. 

“
John, I don
’
t like it, but you
’
re right,
”
Jessica said.