Authors: David Carner
He was carrying another manila folder, and Lisa groaned internally. She had hoped with all the red tape that had surrounded the murders and the few phone calls her people had made it would make sure this case got passed around until it was so stone cold no one could ever solve it.
“
Ma
’
am,
”
Agent McDonald greeted her.
“
Two things, first, there
’
s good news; secondly we
’
ve had a
request from the soldiers that will be attending the dinner next week.
”
Lisa smiled.
“
Well, what can I do for these men who defend our county,
”
Lisa asked coyly.
“
It seems, some of these men would like a picture with the
f
irst
l
ady in the oval office,
”
Agent McDonald said.
“
Any chance we could
‘
leak
’
these pictures to the press?
”
Lisa asked.
“
Oh we can do better than that, we can have this videotaped and use it as some stock footage,
”
said Agent McDonald, smiling.
“
These men are some members of the Special Forces groups, correct?
”
asked Lisa.
Agent McDonald nodded.
“
Then
, let
’
s let these men come in here one at a time and have their picture made. It will get them what they want and be great publicity for us. Agent McDonald,
”
Lisa added.
“
Let
’
s don
’
t flood this office with Secret Service while they
’
re here. These guys don
’
t need to feel like we don
’
t trust them. They
’
ve protected the country for God
’
s sake.
”
Agent McDonald gave Lisa
a withering look
. Lisa smiled.
“
Does that cover all the dinner plans
,
Agent McDonald?
”
Luke nodded.
“
Then give me the good news Luke.
”
“
The case has made its way to the FBI,
”
Agent McDonald said.
“
We have suggested to our people in Washington to put Bruce Cosby on this case. We have suggested that it would make
Senator Cosby
very happy since this case would be a career maker.
”
Lisa looked concerned.
“
You misunderstand ma
’
am. Bruce Cosby is an abysmal FBI agent.
”
Lisa chuckled.
“
The only reason he has a job is because of who his father is. He should have the case in his hands by the end of the next week at the latest.
”
Lisa frowned.
“
Why so long?
”
She asked.
Agent McDonald flipped through the file.
“
Let
’
s see. It is currently in the hands of a team that hasn
’
t closed a case in three years. Huh.
”
Lisa raised her eyebrow. Agent McDonald smiled and waved off her worry.
“
Oh it gets better. The team hasn
’
t solved a case since John Fowler left them three years ago to deal with his wife
’
s death. Rumor is he became an alcoholic while he was deep undercover, and has become a full-fledge drunk now. The two remaining agents are apparently on the verge of being reassigned. Here
’
s where it gets really interesting. The team has pulled this guy back in as a consultant. Can you believe it??
”
Agent McDonald was smiling as he read off this information to Lisa. As he raised his head and saw her face, he knew trouble was brewing. Lisa looked ready to explode.
“
John Fowler?? The former FBI agent who helped
bring
down some 40
plus
Mafia
members a few years back!?!?
That John Fowler!?!!?!?!?
”
Lisa was livid. Agent McDonald was nodding, but was holding his hand out trying his best to calm her.
“
Ma
’
am, please calm down. This guy hasn
’
t done anything in the past three years. This entire unit is on the verge of being reassigned.
”
Lisa was anything but calm.
“
AGENT MCDONALD . . .
”
Lisa
stopped and composed herself.
“
Agent McDonald, do you realize that
Senator Cosby
has used John Fowler to make himself one of the most popular
senator
s in the United States!?! Every time there is any bust that John is involved with Cosby glues himself to Fowler
’
s side to up his approval rating. He has basically thrown his own son under the bus for this guy. John Fowler is the best there is!!! You do realize if Fowler hadn
’
t left the FBI, Cosby probably would
not
have
pulled out of the
p
resident
al
race? Cosby would have
won the blasted election because of his relationship with
John
Fowler!
Cosby knows he
’
s a winner. Cosby only surrounds himself with winners!!
”
McDonald was looking very uncomfortable and was starting to wish he was anywhere else right that moment.
“
Agent, let me make this very clear. 25% of John Fowler is better than 100% of most agents.
”
Lisa stopped and drew a deep breath. She stood up, looked Agent McDonald in the face and spoke very quietly.
“
Get that case out of John Fowler
’
s hands.
NOW!!!!!!!!!!!
”
Agent McDonald ran from the room.
Lisa sat back down at her desk her head in her hands.
Lisa sat at her desk thinking about the newest development. She was sick to her stomach.
Senator Cosby
would have easily won the last election if John hadn
’
t
left the FBI. Her dreams would have been over with before they even started. The dreams she had since she was a very little girl. She wasn
’
t President of the United States, but she was the
f
irst
l
ady, and as far as issues she cared about, she ran the country. The people didn
’
t need to know all of that, but the fact she knew it was enough.
She had worked so hard
to make her dreams come true
and now this John Fowler could come so close to derailing them; it unnerved her. She stared out the window. She was going to have to do something about Cosby. She had her best people digging into his history and the only thing she could find remotely out of place was his son being so highly r
anked in the FBI. The thing is
Lisa was absolutely sure that
Senator Cosby
had never asked a soul to move Bruce into such a place. It was just one of those things that had been done to make sure the FBI remained in
Senator Cosby
’
s favor. The strangest thing about Cosby was his relationship with John Fowler. Sure Fowler closed cases and the appearances Cosby put in with him popped Cosby
’
s ratings, but how did Cosby find Fowler? That was a mystery for another day.
Lisa
’
s gaze returned to the files. Cold fear gnawed at her stomach. If it was anyone else working the case, she wouldn
’
t worry about the connections that could be made to her. But it wasn
’
t anyone else, it was John Fowler. She shivered. It was like he was some kind of superhero. He wasn
’
t though.
“
Get a grip
,
girl
.
”
Lisa thought to herself.
“
He
’
s just a man. He would have to know exactly where to look to even begin to unravel the web.
”
She got up and walked over to the window. She loved the view, and tried to enjoy
it. It was impossible to however. She glanced back at the files. No, as bad as it was that John Fowler was on the case, it was even worse as to the people that had been murdered. There was the connection, the connection that she feared Fowler would figure out. Maybe it would be best if Fowler could figure it out. If someone had linked everyone else together did that mean her life was in danger
?
. . .
she
couldn
’
t think it. Had someone finally figured out what had happened all those years ago? No, impossible! She noticed she was biting her fingernail. She yanked down her hand angrily. She hadn
’
t done that in years. Not since she had known Beth.
Well there it was. Beth. She hadn
’
t thought of her in years. She really couldn
’
t be surprised that the memories of Beth came back to her now. Here was everyone else
’
s picture in front of her, what could she expect
?
She was the only one missing from the group. Beth George
. . . was this ghost finally coming back to haunt her? Tears came to Lisa
’
s eyes. If someone saw her they would think the tears were ones of sorrow. They weren
’
t. They were tears of fear
s
that her life was about to come tumbling down around her and there wasn
’
t one thing she could do to stop it.
Agent McDonald sat down in his office in the security center. He was looking over all of the files he had gotten for Lisa. As he examined them he could find no connection between any of the mourners or soldier that had died.
He placed his head in his hands and thought about Lisa screaming at him. He had become enamored with
“
Silk
”
. Luke had come up with that codename and the other agents
all
agreed. The
f
irst
l
ady loved the name. Agent McDonald had never felt like this before in his life. Lisa was in his every thought and dream.
Agent McDonald picked up the receiver on the phone and placed a call. He had never met anyone in the group that helped the
f
irst
l
ady with her problems. They always referred to her as Silk so there could be reasonable deniability.
“
Silk would like the case we discussed earlier out of the current agent
’
s hands.
”
He listened to the person on the other end.
“
I do not know why. A
ll I know is that is her wish.
”
He listened for a second and responded.
“
Thank you.
”
He paused.
“
How good a relationship do you have with
Senator Cosby
?
”
He listened for a minute.
“
I see. D
oes anyone we know have a good relationship with the
senator
?
”
McDonald listened and responded.
“
Okay, I will take care of it myself then.
”
Agent McDonald hung up the phone. He got up from his desk and began to pace around his office. He wanted to make Lisa happy, but he wasn
’
t for sure how far she wanted him to go. He walked back to his desk and decided to try the indirect approach first. He dialed the phone and waited for the voice on the other end.