The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (54 page)

John was stunned. 
“
Madeline, that
’
s not what I was asking for!
”

Madeline smiled at John. 
“
John, we have more than we
’
ll ever need, but never enough to bring back our daughter.
”
 
Madeline let that sink in. 
“
He
’
s a different man now
,
John.  He lost two people with her death.
”

John stood there for a moment, not trusting his ears with what he had just heard.

“
Madeline,
”
John began softly.

Madeline walked over to John and hugged him. 
“
He loves you too
,
John.  He loves you too,
”
Madeline repeated softly.

John stood there for a moment.  He looked around the house, and noticed it was now very late.  He wasn
’
t sure how long he had been out earlier.

“
Uh, Madeline, where
’
s Bruce?
”
 
John asked.

“
Oh, him,
”
Madeline said with a shudder. 
“
He always looks at me like . . . like he hates me, but you never see it on his face.  Does that make sense?
”
 
Madeline shook her head thinking about Bruce. 
“
We told him you were staying the night here.  He said he needed some rest.  He took the car and headed back to a hotel.  How that boy came from Jeremiah, I
’
ll never know.
”

Arthur walked back into the room smiling. 
“
You were right about the name.  He
’
s way in over his head.  The other two, I
’
ve fixed both of them John.  First thing in the morning, they
’
ll fax me a paid in full sheet that you can take to both of them.
”
 
Arthur looked very sternly at John. 
“
You make sure that boy NEVER gets in bed with him again!  You understand?
”
 
John nodded. 
“
Now what
’
s number three?
”

John shook his head. 
“
That was it. 
I wanted you to fix the two
, the other
name
was three.
”
 
John stuck out his hand to shake.  Arthur looked John up and down. 

“
No deal
,
son,
”
Arthur said.  John was confused. 
“
You said three things, so I need a third.  How about this?  I drop the lawsuit.
”
 
John
’
s mouth dropped and Arthur smiled, quite pleased with himself. 
“
I actually had my lawyer drop the lawsuit when I was making the calls
earlier.
”
             
John didn
’
t know what to say.

“
Oh, come off it
,
son!
”
 
Arthur said. 
“
I don
’
t want that money, and you
’
ve been through enough.  All I ever wanted was the greatest detective I
’
ve ever seen to look into Sam
’
s death.
”
 
John still didn
’
t know what to say.  Tears were beginning to form in his eyes.  John noticed one in Arthur
’
s.  John
’
s slow grin that irritated so many slowly crept across his face. 

“
John,
”
Arthur began, trying to look stern. 
“
Don
’
t start with your know-it-all thing right now!
”
 
John held out his hand for Arthur to shake.  Arthur reached out and took John
’
s hand.  The grin on John
’
s face broke out into a full-fledge smile.  John pulled Arthur in and hugged him.  Madeline rolled her eyes.

“
I
’
m so glad you two Alpha dogs got that out of your system,
”
Madeline said.

Arthur and John broke their hug.  John looked at Arthur.

“
So that
’
s where Sam got it from, I just always assumed it was you
,
Arthur,
”
John said.

“
I get that all the time,
”
replied Arthur. 

Madeline harrumphed, and left the room.  She was smiling broadly, but the two men couldn
’
t see her. 

John and Arthur sat down at the kitchen table.  They began to talk about Archibald Staples.  Arthur told John about every deal that he knew Archibald had been involved in.  Arthur talked for two hours.  John knew most everything that Arthur talked about.  As John listened his hope for finding the Senator began to fade.  Since the incident in Kentucky nearly twenty-five years ago that Archibald
’
s daughter was involved in, there was nothing illegal that could be found on Archibald.  While Archibald was making millions of dollars legally in the United States, there was more income than
there should be
. 

RICO agents and tax lawyers had looked into Archibald, but that was a dead-end.  Archibald was paying taxes on everything.  Whatever Archibald was doing, it was out of the country.  If the Senator was being held captive outside of the country . . . there was nothing John could do about that.

John had just about decided to go to bed when Arthur mentioned something in passing.  John
’
s head snapped up and he stared at Arthur.  Arthur thought about what he said and looked confused.

“
Say that again,
”
John said, excitement beginning to run through him.

“
I said that worst thing is, Archibald got his start from his in-laws and then after his wife died he bought them out,
”
Arthur repeated.  Arthur looked very confused.

“
Arthur, think very carefully,
”
John began. 
“
The business he bought out, what happened to it?
”

Arthur leaned back in his chair. 
“
Well, he closed down the company.  He once told me he left the warehouses empty as a testament to his wife.  I couldn
’
t figure out if he meant his life was empty without her, or they had an empty marriage.
”
 
Arthur stared off into space thinking about what he had just said.

John rolled his eyes at the amateur psychologist hour.  He put his hands on Arthur
’
s shoulders.  Arthur came back to Earth.  John was trying to keep from shaking with excitement.

“
Arthur, the buildings?
  Whose name were they put in?
”
 

“
Oh, that,
”
began Arthur. 
“
He put them in a shell company that Veronica controlled for tax reasons . . .  oh . . . OH
!!
“
 
Arthur
’
s mouth dropped when he realized what he had told John and what it could possibly mean.  He looked at John and understood now what his daughter meant about there were times you could literally see the locks tumbling in John
’
s head.

John was positive where Senator Cosby was being held.  He jumped up ready to go find him.  That
’
s when his cell phone went off, and chaos broke loose.

John looked at his phone.  The first thing he noticed was the time, 2:30 am.  The second thing he noticed was who the call was from, Jess.  John looked at Arthur who nodded and headed out of the room.  John smiled as he answered the phone.

“
So let me guess, you woke up from a dream about me and wondered if there was any way possible I could be as good as the dream. Well
,
the answer is no
,
Jess.  The real
me
is better than any dream you
’
d ever have.
”
 
John was smiling.  He was very proud of himself at that moment.

There was silence at the other end.  John looked at the phone to make sure the call hadn
’
t been disconnected.  He saw it hadn
’
t and put the phone back to his ear.

“
Jess?
”
 
He asked. 
“
Jess, are you there.
”

“
Agent Fowler,
”
Jessica responded.  John
’
s heart leapt into his throat.  The last time he had heard Jessica use that tone . . . Tears rushed to John
’
s eyes.  John started looking for Arthur.  He stepped back and could see through the doorway that both Arthur and Madeline were in the living room.  Apparently Madeline had f
all
e
n
asleep on the couch.  They were both safe and Jessica was on the phone, that only left Chet and Trip.

“
Jess,
”
John began.  He took a deep breath and blurted out. 
“
Who
’
s dead, Trip or Chet?
”

The second of silence was almost unbearable for John. 

“
Neither
,
John,
”
Jessica replied. 
“
John, I
’
m on my way to Dale City with both Chet and Trip.
”
 
John
’
s head was spinning trying to put all the pieces together.  He had a million questions.

“
There
has
been an explosion and a death
of
someone who worked at Quantico,
”
Jessica stated. 
“
Chet built a program that would automatically inform me of cases that were similar to an open case I have.
”

John
’
s mind was reeling.  An open case
of
Jessica
’
s
. . . there was only one case that Jessica had that
John knew
was open . . .

“
Agent Fowler,
”
Jessica began and that
’
s when it hit John.  She had referred to him as Agent Fowler.  The last time she referred to him as Agent Fowler was when he was a suspect in his wife
’
s death . . . the only case that John knew Jessica had open.  John sat down in the chair behind him without even looking.  Did this mean . . .

“
Jess,
”
John began very quietly. 
“
Jess, am I a suspect?
”

“
No,
”
Jessica replied quickly. 

John understood.  Jessica was not alone with just Chet and Trip.  She was trying to tip him that this case might involve someone in his wife
’
s death.  This case might have the same killer.  John
’
s mouth went dry.  His heart began to race.  He took a deep breath.

“
Agent Hammerstein,
”
John began with a smile on his face. 
“
I bet you about dropped the phone when I answered it the way I did.
”
 
John heard a light chuckle on the other end. 

“
Yes
, yes
I did,
”
she replied.

“
You
’
re already in Virginia I take it?
”
 
John asked.