The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (64 page)

“
They!?!
”
 
Jessica exclaimed. 

“
Yes,
”
Archibald replied. 
“
Those illegals will do anything to take our hard earned American dollars.  I honestly hate paying them, but they work so hard for so little.
”
 
Jessica was boiling.

“
You know,
”
John began. 
“
I thought Veronica was the biggest piece of slime I ever met.  I was so wrong; she got all her evil honestly.  Archibald, I swear to you if it
’
s the last thing I do I
’
m going to bring you down.
”
  
Archibald drew up and had a look of pure hate on his face.  John leaned in real close. 
“
It
’
s a shame Veronica
’
s ex-husband won the presidency, because if it had been Jeremiah, I would have been your permanent shadow until we stuff you and your pompous daughter in jail.
”
 
John waited for Archibald to respond, but he didn
’
t.  Archibald just turned and left the room.  Jessica looked at John, smiled, and nodded.

“
I noticed you looking around when Archibald was talking,
”
Jessica said. 
“
I also saw that famous John
grin
.
”
 
That statement caused John to smile.  Jessica stepped very close. 
“
What did I miss?
”
 
She asked.

John leaned forward and whispered into Jessica
’
s ear where only she could hear.

“
You mean besides the fact that I
’
m the man of your dreams?
”
 
John asked.  Jessica rolled her eyes. 
“
Archibald
’
s housekeeper can speak English
, and I think from the way she
’
s acting, she knows something
.
”
 
Jessica
’
s eyes went wide, and John leaned back, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“
How in the world can you possibly think that?
”
 
Jessica asked.  She kept glancing at the housekeeper that John had pointed out to her.  John grabbed Jessica by the shoulder and walked her outside as the FBI techs began to file into the house and process it. 

“
Keep your voice down,
”
John whispered. 
“
I don
’
t think Archibald knows. 
Her body is reacting to everything Archibald is saying, if she doesn
’
t understand English, how is that possible? 
We need to get her out of here.  If she does understand English, there is no telling what that egotistical nut said in front of her and what he would do if he figured it out.
”

Jessica nodded. 
“
Let me handle this,
”
she whispered.  She walked through the door and John followed her.  She walked up toward the housekeeper.  John noticed the housekeeper watching Jessica.  John made eye contact with the housekeeper, and winked at her.  For a spit second fear covered Rosa
’
s face and then she saw John
’
s smile.  Relief began to spread across her face.

“
FBI,
”
Jessica said loudly to Rosa.  Jessica pulled out her badge and put it close to Rosa
’
s face where she could see it. 
“
Ma
’
am I have to take you in for questioning.
”
 
Archibald came around the corner and saw what was going on.  John waved at Archibald and smiled.  Archibald waved them off and went back to his office.  Rosa went quietly with Jessica.  She stopped in front of two agents, Jeff and Steve, which were searching the premises.

“
Do you two think you can handle this
search
?
”
 
Jessica asked.  The two nodded. 
“
Remember, guys, this has to be by the book.
”
 
They nodded again. 
They didn
’
t notice John behind them.  As Jessica walked away, John leaned in between them.

“
Just so you know, I read Agent Hammerstein
’
s report, she covered you two,
”
John said.  The two agents
smiled. 
“
If it had been me, I
’
d of hung the both of you out to dry.  Just so you know.
”
 
John walked off as the two agents stood there dumbfound
ed
.  John got in the car after Jessica and Rosa.  The car took off toward the road.

“
Please, you have to let me talk to Agent John Fowler,
”
Rosa pleaded. 

Jessica looked over at John.  John nodded slowly.

“
You know for someone who supposedly can
’
t speak English you do a great job of it,
”
John stated.  Rosa sighed.

“
That idiot,
”
Rosa said.  John and Jessica laughed out loud.  Rosa was a little taken aback, but she continued. 
“
He thinks anyone that has a Spanish or Mexican sounding name can
’
t speak English.  I was born in the US for crying out loud.  Please you must let me talk to John Fowler.
”

“
You know,
”
John began. 
“
There are days I even impress myself.  I have never met you before in my life
,
ma
’
am.
”
 
John reached out his hand. 
“
My name is John Fowler.
”
 
Rosa shook John
’
s hand eagerly.

“
I have to talk to you about my good friend Thelma,
”
Rosa began. 
“
An FBI agent named Bruce killed her.
”

“
Jessica,
”
John said not taking his eyes of Rosa. 
“
Let
’
s get to the Moores pronto.  I
’
ll have Trip meet us there.
”
 
Jessica nodded and floored the accelerator. 

             
Inside Archibald
’
s Mansion

Chapter 77

             
Jeff and Steve were conducting the sweep of Archibald
’
s mansion, but both of them were burning up inside
from what John had said to them
.  Archibald had noticed when John and Jessica had taken away Rosa that words had been exchanged between the two hot shot agents and the two men.  Archibald was happy to finally be rid of the
housekeeper  He
had no idea what her name was.  Archibald had
one of
his lawyers snap pictures of the two men.  The lawyer came back with the pictures, and Archibald had the lawyer forward the pictures to a cell phone number.  A few minutes later Archibald
’
s cell phone rang.

             
“
Hello,
”
Archibald answered.

             
“
Quack,
”
the man on the other end answered.  Archibald laughed.  It was Duck.  Duck had spread terror through the underworld during his rise to power, but he also understood that he had an odd moniker.  He used it to his advantage.  He had the ability of identifying himself without ever saying his name.  Any fool could say quack into a phone, and no one could prove it actually was Robert Duck Mariotti Jr, the alleged head of a Mafia family.

             
“
They
’
re perfect,
”
Duck said. 
“
2 cents each in student loans.
”
 
With that the line went dead.  Archibald smiled and nodded at his lawyer, who hurried out of the room.  Centomila in Italian meant one hundred thousand.  Duck was telling Archibald that each agent owed over two hundred thousand dollars in student loans.  Archibald handed his phone to his most trusted security man and
walked out of the room.  The security man began to destroy the phone.

             
Archibald turned
, went
out of the office and headed outside.  After a few minutes the lawyer who had taken the pictures walked up to him.  The lawyer pulled out the financials for both agents.  Approximately 55 thousand dollars of both men
’
s loans were in the hands of the federal government.  The other 145 thousand were in the hands of private companies, most of which Archibald owned.  The lawyer showed Archibald that the two men owed over 120 thousand between them to companies owned by Archibald.  Archibald handed the sheet back to the lawyer who immediately put it in his briefcase. 

Archibald knew he was being bold, but he knew anything that was even remotely incriminating was in the hands of his lawyers, and Archibald was ready to use attorney/client privilege.  He wasn
’
t 100% sure that would protect him from everything, but Archibald was certain these FBI agents would
n
’
t
know for sure either.  Archibald had gotten away with so much for so long that he was ready for a challenge, and the only way that would happen was for him to give them something.  They wouldn
’
t win.  Archibald always won, sometimes he had to cheat to win, but in the end he always won. 

Archibald walked up to the two men who had been left in charge of the investigation.  He stood between the two and stared straight ahead.

“
It
’
s a shame, you know,
”
Archibald said.  He lit a cigar and took a few puffs. 
“
He
’
s put you two to work to get his glory, and when he doesn
’
t find anything, he
’
s going to have you two fired.
”

The agents didn
’
t say anything, but they exchanged a quick glance.  Archibald continued to talk.

“
I
’
m not the bad man everyone thinks I am.  My daughter had something horrible happen to her, when she was attacked by that girl years ago.  Yes I helped her change her identity.  If I made a mistake it was because I was trying to be a good father.  I won
’
t apologize for that.  I have made a serious mistake, and I would like to rectify it, but I would like to avoid any undo arrests.
”

The two agents looked at each other.  Jeff nodded to Steve.  Steve spoke.

“
We
’
re listening
,
Mr. Staples.
”

Archibald laughed and held out his hand to Steve.

“
Steve McIntosh
,
I believe,
”
Archibald said as he shook Steve
’
s hand. Archibald turned to Jeff. 
“
Jeff Hart?
”
 
Jeff nodded. 
“
Men, Luke called me a few days ago about some outrage
ou
s plan to protect my daughter.  I thought he had been working too many hours and ignored it.  I didn
’
t want to destroy a man
’
s career in the
S
ecret
S
ervice.
”
 
The two agents nodded.  Archibald continued.

“
Then my daughter gets taken hostage, and arrested.  I never thought once about the Senator.  I didn
’
t.
”
 
The two agents nodded, sympathetically.  Archibald
was loving
it.  He was drawing them in. 
“
Then my daughter ge
ts home and tells me about the S
ecret
S
ervice agent that has fallen in love with her.
”
 
Archibald paused and shook his head.  One of the agents put his hand comfortingly on Archibald
’
s
shoulder.  Archibald knew he had them. 
“
I have a tape of him that I need to give to you.
”