The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (16 page)

             
Trip
nodded
. 
“
I knew that.
”
 
Chet was surprised.  Trip pointed his finger at John and Jessica. 
“
So are they . . .
”

             
“
NO
,
SIR!!!
”
 
Trip jumped back. 
“
I
’
m sorry sir!
”
 
Chet stammered. 
“
It
’
s just those two . . . you know I tried to date her.
”
 
Trip nodded. 
“
It was the worst mistake of my life.  She only has eyes for him.  She keeps saying she
’
ll find someone someday.  She
’
s found him sir, and she
’
s not going to let him get away, but she would never do anything inappropriate.
”

             
Trip nodded,
“
I imagine with everything John
’
s gone through with Sam he
’
s got the
‘
game
’
of a 14 year old?
”
 
Chet winced, but nodded.  Trip sighed. 
“
If he comes back, it
’
s going to be weird around here isn
’
t it?
”
 
Chet nodded again. 
“
Are you ok with them  . . . well whatever it is they
’
re doing?
”
 
Once again Chet nodded.  Trip sighed and straightened. 
“
Then I
’
ll guess we
’
ll let them do whatever it is they
’
re going to do.  God knows John can
’
t afford any more setbacks right now.
”
 
Chet nodded. 
“
To tell you the truth
,
Chet, I kind of think they deserve each other.
”

Trip pee
ked back in
to
the foxhole.  Jessica and John were looking on the computer at flights to Kentucky.  They were standing very near each other.  John
’
s left hand was less than an inch from Jessica
’
s right hand.  Several times they brushed each other, but they never touched.  As Trip started to pull away, he noticed Jessica stop looking at the screen and was looking directly at John.  Then Jessica would begin to look at the screen and John would stare at her. 

             
Trip turned and walked away.  This was going to be like a bad romance movie for a long time.  Trip and Chet walked to the elevator and headed upstairs. 

When Jessica heard the elevator doors close, she took her right hand and slid it on top of John
’
s left.  John froze.  He swallowed audibly.  Jessica was trying to keep a straight face but was failing miserably.  John turned and looked at her.  He swallowed and spoke.

“
Jessica, I have a confession to make.  I
’
ve only dated one person in my entire life.
”
 
Jessica
’
s eyes widened with surprise.  She started to speak, stopped, start
ed
again, and then stop
ped
. 

“
Wait . . . wait . . . you, Mr. I know-how-good-I-look, Mr. I-can-solve-any-crime-a
nd-look-good-in-my-hat-doing-it?
”

“
You like my hat?
”
 
John interrupted.

She continued
,
ignoring his comment. 
“
Mr.
I-know-I
’
m-fine-as-wine?
 
YOU???
”
 
Jessica was flabbergasted. 
“
Are you telling me you
’
ve only dated one person in your entire life or are you saying . . .
“

Jessica left the question hanging in the air.  He held up one finger.  His face was beat red.  Jessica held her hands to her face trying to hold back the astonishment. 

“
John, wow, ok, look.  First of all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  In fact, it
’
s rather
honorable, but the
big game you use to talk . . .
”
 
John
kept looking at the floor not saying a word.  She walked over to him, crooked her finger, and used it to raise his chin until he was looking her in the eyes. 
“
John . . . We will take this . . . whatever this is . . . as slow as you need to.  I have no idea where your mind, heart, or anything else is right now.
”

John nodded.  He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.  He brushed the ha
ir out of her face.  Jessica had
forgotten to breathe.  As he turned and walked away she almost gasped.  She steadied herself.  She called after him.

“
John.
”
 
He turned around.  He looked at her, deep in her eyes.  Jessica had never seen him look like that at her before.  Her legs went a little weak and she put out a hand on the desk to steady herself.  She would have run to him, but she really couldn
’
t move.  She lost her words.  He tipped his hat and sauntered out the door, smiling to himself.  It took a second for Jessica to steady herself after he left. 

“
Wow!
”
 
That was all she could say. 

David George

             
Chapter 37

             
David George looked at himself in the mirror.  He was wearing his military dress uniform.  He was proud to serve his country; he only wished those in that office felt the same.  He hated that those that served pretended to be something they weren
’
t.  Actually there was only one person he actually knew that was true of. 

David looked down at the letter he had received.  He and three other soldiers had been cleared to have their picture made with the
f
irst
l
ady in the Oval office.  David had hoped it would not come to this, but he would carry out his mission, no matter what it took.  He owed Beth that.  David shook his head.  Things weren
’
t going the way he planned.

             
He truly believed the note he left on the bodies at the funeral of Jason would have brought out the truth, but it didn
’
t and David only had one choice left.  He wasn
’
t about to just kill Veronica.  No, she had to tell what happened.  She had to tell everything; every gory detail.  She had to tell how it was her fault that Beth was dead and if it had been up to Veronica
,
he would have been as well. 

             
The memories started to come back to him again.  He thought of the small town
where
he grew up in Kentucky.  When Veronica and the other kids showed up, everyone ignored Beth and David, except Veronica.  In fact, it was almost like when Veronica found out how bad he and Beth had it, Veronica became more involved in their lives.  David had to admit, for a while Veronica did ma
ke their liv
e
s
better.

             
David never trusted Veronica.  He was sure it started out mostly because he thought she was trying to steal Beth from him.  There was more than that though.  There was something manipulating and calculating about Veronica.  She always had to have everything her way.  It was bad enough to watch her run over everyone at church, but when David overheard Beth talking to Brother Jim . . . David knew Brother Jim was right, Veronica couldn
’
t be trusted with Beth
’
s secret.  Not because Veronica cared about Beth; no, that wasn
’
t it at all.  The truth was Beth
’
s secret would affect Veronica.  It was all about
Veronica. 
It was always all about Veronica.  

             
David looked down at the invitation to the White House.  It was all about Veronica, and David couldn
’
t wait until she got the justice she deserved.  In three days, David would be in the White House and he would get her to confess everything . . . and if she wouldn
’
t . . . David just smiled.

Kentucky

             
Chapter 38

             
It was Sunday morning, and J
ohn
’
s plane had landed a few hours earlier.  Once again Jessica had rented him a car complete with satellite radio.  The 80
’
s channel was blaring again, and John was singing along at the top of his lungs.  John was trying to keep his mind off the fact he was less than 200 miles away from his parents
’
farm.  He was doing a pretty pitiful job of it, truth
be
told.  He was in Kentucky, and all he could think about was going home.

             
His GPS went off, and John turned off the interstate.  He had about a 45 minute drive in front of him on two lanes, or less, roads.  John looked over the car and thought about how grateful
he was for Jessica providing it
for him.  Then his mind drifted to Jessica.  He shook his head.  What a hot mess he became when she was around.  He knew what he wanted to do, but was that fair?  Was it fair to Sam?  He looked over in the passenger seat and saw Sam.

             
John looked back at the road and then his brain just processed what he saw.  He looked back.  There she was. 
Real.
  She wasn
’
t some
transparent apparition or ghost.  I
t was Sam!  John stopped in midsentence of the song he was singing.

             
“
You know I do not understand why you say this is our song.  You were born in Kentucky.  I just think you liked to sing th
at
song to me any chance you got,
”
she said.  John
’
s mouth was open.  He stared at the road, jerked the wheel and then straightened the car and looked back.

             
“
I
’
m still here,
”
she said.

             
John pinched himself three times and kept looking over at the passenger seat.  Sam waved.

             
“
You know for a world class detective
,
you
’
re an idiot,
”
she said smiling.  Sam was smiling the million watt smile that had won John
’
s heart.  All John could think about was how he missed her.  She was so beautiful. 
“
Now don
’
t start crying or you
’
ll wreck the car and kill
yourself
,
”
she scolded.  John nodded.

             
“
Mister Detective, think.  Is this really me?
”
 
She chided.

             
John looked at her.  She was solid, at least she looked solid.  He reached out to touch her, but stopped.  He was afraid if he went down that road he could be looking at a stay at the funny farm. 

             
“
Ok, if you were a ghost,
”
John began.  Sam gave him a withering look.  Sam was an absolute skeptic, which had some irony given the current situation.  He continued,
“
If you were a ghost, the chances of you being here, solid-looking for this long are
minu
t
e
from everything I
’
ve read.  And besides, you always swore you wouldn
’
t haunt me.
”
 
Sam smiled. 
“
No, this is most likely my subconscious telling me you and I need to have a conversation.
”
 
Sam looked bemused.