The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (53 page)

“
You
’
re pregnant,
”
John said softly.  Sam smiled the biggest smile he had ever seen.  She came toward him
to hug him; to celebrate.  As she walked toward him the whole scene dissolved around him.  This wasn
’
t what had happened. 

What really happened that morning was John was thinking about the pending Mafia busts.  He did take a swig from his flask to dull the pain.  He gave Sam a kiss on the cheek, promising they would go shopping this weekend.  He had sensed the disappointment in her as he left, but as he looked back, she was smiling at him.  She told him good luck.  That was the last time he ever saw her alive. 

             
Dale City, Virginia

Chapter 46

Thelma was humming to herself.  She was quite happy with herself.  Next week Trip was coming to Quantico for a visit.  After all of the important meetings, he was hers for the weekend.  Thelma was checking her gear for laser tag.  It was so nice to find someone else who enjoyed the complexities of the game
. . .
and Trip wasn
’
t bad looking either!

Thelma laughed to herself.  After the match, or matches, they would go out for a nice dinner at a little jazz place they knew.  They would have steak, a few drinks, and dance for hours.  She wondered what
Trip
’
s subordinates
would think if they knew how good of a dancer he was.  Thelma pulled her head out of the closet quickly.  She looked around, thinking she had heard something.  After a minute she shrugged.  The old house was always creaking and making strange noises. 

Suddenly she felt a knee in her
back,
and something against her throat.  Something was cutting into her throat.  She tried to scream but no noise would come out.  The room was spinning.  Blackness began to creep in from the outside of her eyesight.  Thelma panicked, knowing she only had seconds.  She tried to shift her weight to toss her assailant over her.  She felt the weight come off her back and heard a thud as her assailant hit the ground.  She was stunned as oxygen flooded her lungs.  She was gasping as a fist struck her.  She fell to the ground and felt hands wrap around her neck.  As she began to lose consciousness, she looked up at the face of her attacker. 

Bruce stared down at Thelma as she tried to speak.

“
Shh,
”
he whispered.  Thelma was helpless. 
“
Shh,
”
Bruce whispered again. 
“
We don
’
t want anyone hearing you, do we?  Why do they always want to say something at the end?
”
 
Thelma
’
s eyes shut, and Bruce let go.  He rolled her over on her stomach, and straddled her from behind.  He hugged her head close to his body.

“
I would tell you this is going to hurt me more than it would hurt you, but I
’
m going to break your neck.  That would be lying, and lying is bad.
”
 
With that he quickly twisted his arms and a sickening crack made Bruce grin from ear to ear. 
“
Why
,
Thelma?  Why did you have to get involved with my business?
”

Bruce
drug
the body down the stairs. 
He went into her kitchen, looked around and smiled.  Good, he thought, a gas stove.  Bruce
disabled the pilot light on the stove, and turned on the burners.  He placed a small, homemade contraption on the floor.  He had made an igniter using fireworks and a radio control
led
car.  Bruce chuckled.  You can learn anything on the internet.  He went outside and sat in the car that was parked a block away.  After about
30
minutes he turned on the remote.  He started his car, drove to the stop sign, and pressed the drive stick on the remote.  The house exploded.  Bruce drove the car back towards his hotel.  When he got a few blocks away from the hotel, he pulled into an underground parking lot.  He parked the car, reached in the glove box and pulled out a license plate.  Bruce went to the back of the car and switched
the
license plate
in his hand with the one that was currently on the car
.  He put the one he just took off back in the glove box.  He pulled off the clothes he was
wearing
and the gloves that were on his hands and placed them in a bag.  He quickly put on the running suit he had been wearing when he left the hotel earlier.  He threw the bag into a nearby garbage bin.  He locked up the car and poured water all over his outfit, which was a running suit.  He jogged back to the
hotel, and the doorman who had seen him leave an hour ago waived at him.

“
Good run
,
sir?
”
 
The doorman asked.

“
Yeah,
”
replied Bruce, gasping for air. 
“
Sitting in a car all day, or behind a desk dulls the senses.  There
’
s nothing like
a good run for
getting me ready for bed.
”
 
Bruce headed upstairs chuckling to himself.  He had just established an alibi if anyone ever came close to IDing the car.   The smile fell from Bruce
’
s face as he thought about having to deal with Trip and John
’
s team soon if they got much closer to the truth.

Virginia

Chapter 47

John opened his eyes and looked up at Arthur.  Arthur had tears in his eyes.  John composed himself and spoke.

“
Arthur,
”
John said.

“
Yes
,
John?
”
 
Arthur replied.

“
If you tell me
you
love me and try to kiss me I
’
ll shoot you.  I do have my gun on me!
”
 
Arthur shut his eyes for a minute and a slow smile crossed his face.  He opened his eyes and spoke.

“
I deserve that
,
John,
”
Arthur said.  Arthur helped John up and into a chair.  Madeline was fussing over John.  Arthur sat down in a chair from the nearby table. 
“
John . . .
”
 
John
held up his hand.

“
Arthur, I did you wrong at the funeral, and for the past three years.
”
 
John looked at Madeline. 
“
That goes for you too, Madeline.
“
 
John looked at Arthur and took a deep breath. 
“
Arthur, I haven
’
t touched Sam
’
s case because I didn
’
t think I could work it and not start drinking again.
”
 
John stood and Madeline reached quickly to make sure he would not fall.  John smiled at her and got his bearings. 

“
Arthur, I need your help, and I come with my hat in my hand.
”
 
Arthur didn
’
t say a word, he just stared at John. 
“
I will tell you everything I know about what happened with the Mafia bust and Sam
’
s death.  I
’
ll see if I can get Chet and Jessica to fill in any blanks that I don
’
t know yet.
”
 
Arthur remained quiet and kept staring at John.  Madeline looked at Arthur, picked up the folded newspaper
nearby, and then slapped him on the shoulder with it.  Arthur jumped, startled.

“
No, Madeline,
”
John said, holding up his hand. 
“
I have one more thing to offer; the golden goose.
”
 
Both Madeline and Arthur turned their heads slowly toward John in anticipation of what he was going to say.  Tears were forming in Madeline
’
s eyes.  John nodded at Madeline, and Madeline took Arthur
’
s hands in hers.

“
Spit it out
,
boy,
”
Arthur demanded. 
“
I
’
m not getting any younger!
”

John looked down at the floor and spoke very softly. 
“
I
’
ll open Sam
’
s case, and I
’
ll stay on it until it
’
s solved.  If it
’
s the last thing I do, I
’
ll find Sam
’
s killer.
”

Arthur stepped up to John and stuck out his hand.  Madeline let out a deep breath.  John held up one finger.

“
Uh, not yet
,
Arthur
,
I
’
ll do all of this on three conditions,
”
John said.

Arthur raised an eyebrow.  He nodded for John to continue.

John held up one finger. 
“
First off, I need to find the Senator.
”
 
Arthur nodded. 
“
I
’
ll start Sam
’
s case as soon as I finish finding the Senator, to do that I need you to tell me everything you can about Archibald.
”

“
Done!
”
Arthur exclaimed.

John reached into his coat and pulled out three folded pieces of paper and handed them to Arthur.  Arthur took a look at them.  He reached into his pocket to get his reading glasses.  He took the papers over to the table and looked them over.

“
Do you know who owns these loans?
”
Arthur asked, looking up from the papers.

“
I have a pretty good idea,
”
replied John. 
“
See, Arthur, two friends of mine, and of Sam
’
s, owe that money.  The third one, just the name, I h
ave a hunch also owes.
I need it verified.
”
 
Arthur frowned. 
“
I could have taken care of the problem, but I can
’
t touch any of Sam
’
s money.
”
 
Arthur looked at John. 
“
I
’
m not asking you to lift the lawsuit, just take the money out of Sam
’
s trust and fix it.
”

Arthur looked over the papers again and shook his head.  He picked up one of the sheets and looked at it and then at John.  John shrugged.

“
Would it help you to know he
’
s in a program?
”
 
Arthur slowly nodded his head.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. 
“
I have a counter offer,
”
he said to John.  He got up and walked out of the room for a minute.  Madeline walked over to the table and looked at the papers.  She gasped and looked at John.

“
What is he doing
,
Madeline?
”
 
John asked.

“
Well
,
John Fowler, you should know Arthur well enough to know that he
’
s going to make sure they can
’
t be used
, or used any more if that
’
s what
’
s going on
.
”
 
She shook her head and looked directly at John. 
“
He
’
s going to fix it.
”
 
John looked confused. 
“
He will buy a group of loans with this one in it,
”
gesturing with one of the papers. 
“
The other loan,
”
Madeline continued looking over the paper. 
“
Arthur has a few deals he
’
s been holding on to that would benefit the owner of this loan,
”
Madeline said with a smile on her face. 
“
He
’
ll make the loan part of the deal and Arthur will make it go away.  Arthur will also have the other loan forgiven.
”