The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (19 page)

             
John laughed. 
“
Well, we let the
M
afia think that.  My Mom told me something after the funeral it has taken me three years to even begin to get through my head.  She basically said it wasn
’
t my fault someone did something evil, it wasn
’
t God
’
s fault that he allowed something evil to happen, it
’
s the person
’
s fault that committed the act.
”

             
Brother Jim smiled. 
“
You have a very wise mother John.  It
’
s always easier to give that advice than to accept it
,
I have found over the years.
”
 
He paused. 
“
I
’
m ready to tell you the rest, if you
’
re ready to listen.
”
 
John nodded.

             
“
Veronica took to Beth and David George immediately.  When I look back at it now, it was almost like she was practicing to help out those less fortunate and putting it on her resume.  John, I promise you, this girl has been practicing to be the most powerful woman in the United States since birth.  And have no fear; she will do
whatever it takes to be that person.  Do you understand what I am saying?  Whatever it takes!  Veronica did the right things for all the wrong reason
s
.  She wanted the glory and notice when she did something.  Do you understand what I mean?
”

             
John nodded but didn
’
t quite understand what the preacher was getting at.  Something still didn
’
t sit right with John
.
  If this girl was out to be the most powerful woman in the US, then why hadn
’
t John ever heard of her?  Brother Jim was smiling like he knew what John was thinking.  Brother Jim stood up.

             
“
Come with me,
”
Brother Jim motioned for John to follow him back into the church.  They walked into Jim
’
s office.  He pulled out a church directory and turned to the Sunday
School
pages.  He began to point.

             
“
Here is Tom, Amy, Leroy, Colt, David, Jason, and here
,
in the middle
,
is Veronica.  Recognize her?
”
 

             
John
’
s mouth dropped. 

             
“
Brother Jim
,
that
’
s . . .
”
John couldn
’
t finish the sentence.  Brother Jim nodded with a tight smile.  Gears seemed to fall into place in John
’
s mind.  Things that made no sense
,
suddenly
,
were falling into place. 
The attempt to move B
ruce into the lead on this case
;
now that move by Washington really made sense.
  The note that said
“
tell Veronica I know who she
is
”
. . .
then that meant
. . . now John had a problem.  He sat down in a chair in the preacher
’
s office and began to think.

             
If he rushed back to New York, that would throw up too many red flags if he was being watched.  With this level of involvement
,
he had to think he was.  If John was to solve this case, he had to believe the men paid to prote
ct Veronica would do their job. 
He didn
’
t like it, but it was all he could do.  He looked up at Brother Jim.

             
“
John,
”
began Brother Jim.
“
You have managed to stumble upon the one man who has put this all together,
simply because I have information no one else has and what happened next in the story has kept me awake at night for over
two decades
.  John
,
everyone in this town owes the Staples.  Archibald saved this town.  They won
’
t look closely at what happened here.  Some may know the truth, but they
’
ll never tell.  They don
’
t know what happened, and if they did, I think they would be too scared something might happen to them
to say anything
.  Honestly, I don
’
t know for sure what happened, but I have a very good idea.
”

             
“
You have more to tell me.
”
 
It wasn
’
t a question.  John was sure there was more Jim knew, and even more Jim suspected.

             
Brother Jim nodded,
“
Let
’
s go back outside, because
,
my friend, you ain
’
t heard
no
thing
yet.
”

They walked back outside, but instead of stopping at the porch
,
Brother Jim pointed to a path across the road.  John had a feeling
;
if they were going to be walking down a trail that was grown over with trees, shrubs, and grass
,
there was a very good reason.  John stopped Brother Jim for a minute and ran back to the car.  He pulled a small pouch out
of his luggage
that the for
ensics team had made up for him
.  It was the chemicals and a light pen
used
to test for human blood.  He also grabbed two powerful flashlights.  John had a bad feeling he was about to need it.  He returned to Brother Jim and they resumed their walk
. 
Jim resumed his story.

“
John
,
I
’
ve told you all of this so that you can understand what I
’
m about to tell you.  Beth and David George were good kids, but they were raised by a mother who only cared about herself.  She was an alcoholic and who knows what
other
type
s
of drugs she used.  I
’
m honestly surprised she didn
’
t contract some
kind of
STD with the amount of men she seemed to be with.  Maybe that part isn
’
t true
;
I can only go off of what the children told me.
”

Jim stopped.  John waited; he was sure he was about to be hit with a bomb.  The preacher looked so uncomfortable. When he started
,
he spoke very softly.  There were tears in his eyes as he talked.

“
John
,
you have to understand
. 
Veronica saw the George
’
s as her pets to parade
around. 
She was making them out to be Americans who had overcome the odds of rural Kentucky.  By this time, I knew not to cross Veronica,
and so did most of the people in
the town.  The problem was Beth never saw that side of Veronica for all Veronica did for Beth and David.
”
 
Tears began to flow freely down Jim
’
s face.

“
Beth.
”
 
Jim
’
s voice broke, he swallowed and continued. 
“
Beth came to me.
”
 
Jim looked away.  When he turned to face John, John
saw many, many
years of regret in Jim
’
s eyes. 
“
John
,
she told me she was gay.
”
 
John wasn
’
t sure what he was expecting to hear, but it wasn
’
t that. 
“
I know what you
’
re thinking, but hear me out,
”
said Jim.

“
The first thing I thought of was Beth
’
s safety.  It was
the
late 1980
’
s, and kids had been killed before for th
e
i
r sexuality
.  But it wasn
’
t the town I worried about.  It was Veronica.  Do you see
,
John
? 
Beth was supposed to be her project.  Beth was supposed to be the girl and David the boy, which overcame the odds.  At that time in America
,
gays were not looked upon well.  Do you understand John?
”

John was trying to remember that time in his life.  If Veronica was what Jim had described her to be, and John, so far, had no evidence that Jim was lying, Veronica would snap.  Now other things were starting to fall into place.  Why had John never heard the names of Beth and David George?  Were they alive?  John turned toward Jim and by the look on Jim
’
s face he finally understood why they were walking in the woods.

“
Jim
?
”
John asked very calmly. 
“
Where are David and Beth George?
”

“
John, no one knows.
”
 

John had stumbled onto one of the most politically radioactive cases since Nixon, and now
realized that
there may be a body count of seven. 

“
Jim, did Veronica kill Beth and David?
”
 
John asked the question he wasn
’
t for sure he could handle the answer to.  If the answer was yes . . . John couldn
’
t even begin to fathom what kind of fallout would follow.  All John knew for sure was
he
wanted a drink.

“
John,
”
said Brother Jim.
“
I
’
ll tell you the rest of what I know and then we can go from there.  Beth insisted to me that she had to tell Veronica the truth.  I tried to talk Beth out of it, but she wouldn
’
t hear of it.  She told me she didn
’
t love Veronica, and she wasn
’
t attracted to her.  I tried to explain to her that didn
’
t matter to Veronica, but Beth was sure Veronica would understand.  I tried and I tried to stop her, but she refused.  That was the last time I saw Beth or David.
”

“
A few days later I went to their home.  Mrs. George said that David and Beth had gone to live with their father
s
,
out of state.  I went to the local sheriff and he went to talk to Mrs. George.  Once again
,
she told him the same thing.  Within the next two weeks
,
the parents of Tom, Amy, Leroy, and Colt all moved away
;
back to the state
s
they came from
,
with promotions.  Two weeks after that, Mr. Staples moved his family back to Virginia.  There
was
never another mention of Veronica
that I could
find
.  In fact, I couldn
’
t
even find a birth certificate for her.  Trust me I searched.
”

John was sick to his stomach.  He couldn
’
t believe what he was hearing.  Two children disappear
ed
, and it was
,
essentially
,
covered up.  In fact, if someone hadn
’
t murdered Tom, Amy, Leroy, and Colt, no one might have ever uncovered this mess. One last fact was tickling John
’
s brain.  He turned to Brother Jim, but Jim apparently was reading John
’
s mind again.

“
In the coming months,
”
began Brother Jim,
“
any time anything was mentioned about the family of Mr.
Staples, they would talk about his daughter being Lisa Staples, who of course grew up and got married . . .
”