The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (48 page)

Chet
’
s smile nearly cracked his face. 
“
I try to get my opponent to put in everything he has!  You
’
ve got the odds in your favor.  You have to make the other guy throw the better hand away, or you have two chances to make your hand, either on the turn or on the river!
”

John shook his head,
“
But what if it
’
s your whole bankroll Chet?  I mean what if it
’
s your mortgage and food money . . . I mean what if it
’
s everything you have?
”

Chet looked incredulous. 
“
John, you do realize you
’
re going to win almost 65% of the time, right??
”

John put his hand on Chet
’
s shoulder. 
“
But
,
Chet, your behind in the hand, and that means the other 35% or so of the time, you
’
re gonna lose.
”

Chet
’
s face fell. 
John knew.  In that minute there was no question in his mind, he knew. 
John looked Chet in the eye. 

“
How much
,
Chet?
”
 
Chet looked up sharply at John.   John repeated himself, softly. 
“
How much have you lost?
”
 
John took a deep breath and asked his next question even more softly. 
“
How much do you owe?
”

“
I
’
d rather not talk about it,
”
Chet replied.  John nodded.  John hated himself for what he did, but his suspicions had been confirmed.  John shifted uncomfortably.  Chet started to walk to the door.

“
You know there are meetings for it, right?
”
 
John asked.

“
I
’
m already going,
”
Chet replied continuing for the door.  John took a deep breath.  He had to give something back to Chet. 

“
I spoke last night
,
Chet.  For the first time ever, I spoke.
”
 
Chet stopped in his tracks.  He had already heard about what happened on the tape, but for John to share this with him . . . 

“
Did it help?
”
 
Chet asked, his back still turned.

“
She
’
s still dead Chet,
”
John replied.  Chet spun and walked back to John angrily. 

“
John, she
’
s not coming back, and there is a woman down there that loves you more than she knows what to do about it!!
”
 
John had never seen Chet quite so passionate before. 
“
Do not let this terrible thing that happened kill you, or your life!!  You deserve to live, and you deserve to have a life!!  The person that deserves to pay will!!  Do you understand me!?!?  We
’
ll catch him John, I promise you we
’
ll catch him, and
when we do,
if you can
’
t pull the trigger, I will!!
”

Chet realized what he had just done, and was scared he had gone too far.  John looked Chet in the eye and smiled broadly.

“
You do know you just told a Federal officer you plan on shooting a man, right?
”
 
Chet nodded.  John smiled. 
“
I may just hold you to that promise, sir.
”
 
Chet smiled and headed back to the door. 

John knew what he had to do.  He sighed, turned, and looked back over New York.  Chet and Jessica would
get things
start
ed
here. 
Now a
ll John had to do was take
one
man who hated him, to see another man that hated John more.  John pulled out his new FBI ID and looked at it. 

“
I know how to come back,
”
he said out loud to no one. 

             
John headed back inside and began to look for Bruce.  He looked for a few minutes before someone he had never seen in the office before told him Trip wanted to see John in Trip
’
s office.  John made a beeline for Trip
’
s office.  John opened Trip
’
s door and immediately regretted it.  Trip was sitting in his chair, looking very uncomfortable.  Bruce was in the chair across from Trip.  Bruce was crying with his head buried in his hands.  John tried to leave, but Trip waved John in, insistently.

             
“
John,
”
Trip began. 
“
Bruce and I have been talking
, and it
seems
he
forgot to tell us a few things this morning.
”
 
John had never felt more uncomfortable in his life.  He had no idea Bruce had the ability to cry over anyone, well, except for Bruce.  Trip looked like he
’
d rather be anywhere on the Earth
rather
than where he was right now.  No, scratch that.  Trip looked like he
’
d rather be anywhere in the universe. 

             
“
John,
”
Bruce began to talk through his sobs. 
“
John, I
’
m so sorry.
”
 
Bruce still had his face buried in his hands.  John looked at Trip.  Trip shrugged his shoulders with his hands out in the air and mouthed,
“
I don
’
t know what to do.
”
 
Bruce began to try to speak again.

             
“
John, I know I screwed up.
”
 
With the word
“
up
”
Bruce began to sob.  John motioned to Trip to join him outside.

             
“
Bruce,
”
John said quickly. 
“
We
’
re gonna give you a second to collect yourself, and then you and I are going to go interview some people and see if we can
’
t get a lead on your dad.
”
 
Bruce nodded, hands still covering his face.  John and Trip hurried outside and shut the door. 

             
After the door closed, Bruce lowered his hands.  His eyes were dancing with mischievous evil, and there was a grin about to split Bruce
’
s head in two.  Bruce began to chuckle to himself quietly.

             
“
John, you haven
’
t got a chance against me.
”

John and Trip stood in the hallway outside Trip
’
s office, both were flustered.  As they stood there a second Trip started to chuckle.  John hit Trip on the shoulder, and that just made things worse.  Trip began to laugh out loud.  John grabbed Trip by the arm and led him around the corner, away from Trip
’
s office. 

“
What are you doing?
”
 
John asked.

“
Oh for the love of Pete, John!
”
 
Trip exclaimed. 
“
That guy hasn
’
t shown one ounce of anything for anyone in all the years I
’
ve known him except for himself.  After all the grief he gave you, you
’
re defending him?
”

John looked Trip dead in the eye.

“
Yeah
,
Trip, because I know what losing someone when you
’
re only wrapped up in yourself does to you.
”

Trip stopped laughing immediately.  He became very silent, and obviously a little embarrassed. 

“
Don
’
t get me wrong, Trip,
”
John continued. 
“
That guy is a jerk, but he obviously has some feelings for his father.
”

“
Is that one of the famous John reads telling you that?
”
 
Trip snapped.  Trip regretted what he said as soon as he said it.  John was right; no one deserved to be mocked when they had lost someone.  Trip was still irritated by being called out on it by John.  Trip started to apologize but John waved it off.

“
It
’
s
fine Trip,
”
John said. 
“
Actually, I
’
ll let you in on a little secret.  Bruce is one of the few people I can
’
t get a read on.  It
’
s funny actually.  Sam used to say she felt like every time Bruce looked at her, there was a hate in him that just sent shivers up her spine.  I always tried to see it, but never could.  I really think it was just Sam being upset at how much Jeremiah seemed to care about her and he really had nothing to do with Bruce.
”

“
I thought the only people you really couldn
’
t get a read on were sociopaths?
”
 
Trip asked.

“
Well, yeah,
”
John began. 
“
Since they basically have nothing that tells them the difference inside about right and wrong, you can
’
t decipher their expressions, or some subtle tell from their body.  It
’
s not that there aren
’
t tells, it
’
s just that they don
’
t tell a consistent story.  You might find physical evidence on them, but you can
’
t make any connection with their body language.
”

“
Maybe Bruce is a sociopath,
”
Trip stated.  John looked shocked.

“
Trip, you need to knock it off!
”
 
John exclaimed. 
“
You know full well the evaluations we all go through would have caught that.
”

“
And we all know no one would have fixed things for Bruce if they thought we might get a little something from the Senator, right?
”

John groaned inwardly.  Bruce had been given so many special considerations and job advancements over the years because of
who
he was and who his father was.  The Senator had never asked for any of it; in fact, what promotions Bruce
had received
sickened the Senator.  John and Trip had learned over the years that those in power believed that the Senator would favor the FBI with little perks just because of the station his son held.  John wished he could tell them how far off base they were with that line of thinking. 

“
Trip, I
’
m going to get Bruce and go take care of this case.   He did get permission to work it, right?
”
 
Trip nodded.  John took off, shaking his head.  Trip stood in the hallway listening to John tell Bruce to come with him.  Trip tried to get the thought he had out of his mind.  What he was thinking couldn
’
t be possible.  Trip shook his head and watched John leave, but kept having the same thought,
what if it was
possible
?

Chapter 31

John and Bruce sat on the helicopter that was flying them to Virginia.  John felt very uncomfortable.  He didn
’
t know what to say to Bruce.  John still couldn
’
t believe what Trip had said earlier about Bruce.  John knew better than anyone that Bruce was a jerk, but John also knew about
personal
loss destroying a person.  Bruce kept staring at his hands.