The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (30 page)

John thought it might be time to reply, but something in his mind from his married days told him to just shut up and listen.  It was probably the right call
,
as Jessica continued on with her diatribe. 
             

“
You.
”
 
Jessica stopped.  She walked right up to him until there was barely room for sunlight between them.  She pointed her finger and poked it in his chest. 
“
You
,
are supposed to be helping me save my career, not help
ing
me destroy it
.  Y
ou arrogant, self-important, narcissistic . . .
”

John knew what was coming next.  There would be a bunch of adjectives used to describe him that John really didn
’
t care for.  John couldn
’
t help thinking how hot she looked when she was angry.  In one motion
,
right in the midst of her calling him names
,
he grabbed her by the head and kissed her. 

Jessica was taken aback by the kiss, but she quickly responded by kissing him back.  The kiss caused her to curl her toes to the point she heard them crack.  John broke the kiss. 

Jessica was left breathless.  She thought about grabbing him and throwing him on the desk but decided that would probably not be appropriate given the whole hostage situation going on right now.  She couldn
’
t let him think he had won though.  She gathered herself, and spoke quietly.

“
So I say all of those nasty things about you,
”
she began.  She was considering just kissing him again, but she knew she shouldn
’
t.  She took a deep breath. 
“
I say all of those things about you, and your response is to kiss me?
”

John had shocked himself with what he had just done. He knew he should be on a helicopter or plane to DC right now, but that was the furthest thing on his mind.  Right now the only thing on his mind was Jessica, and he really was considering telling her.

“
It seemed like the thing to do,
”
replied John.  His eyes were dancing and she was losing herself in them.  Jessica wondered what he might do if she called him worse.  For a second she let her mind get carried away.  She shook her head to bring her back to the moment before she did something that would get them both fired.

“
Well, it
was
a response I wasn
’
t suspecting,
”
she said. 

John smiled.  He kissed the end of her nose and tried to turn to leave.  It was then he noticed that she had both her hands gripping his jacket.  John looked at her and Jessica smiled sheepishly. 

“
The
senator said you should not
leave one moment before you needed to,
”
Jessica reminded him coyly.

“
Jessica
,
if I don
’
t leave right now, I
’
m not going to leave and the
firs
t
l
ady will die,
”
John said. 
“
That
’
s not the
kind of pressure most relationships can handle.
”
 
Jessica was taken aback with this revelation about them.

“
We have a relationship?
”
Jessica asked.  John took her hands in his.

“
Don
’
t we?
”
He asked softly.  Jessica thought she might start calling him names; then she thought about throwing
him
on the desk.  Jessica was getting lost in her thoughts when John cupped his index finger under her chin and lift
ed
her head until she was looking straight into his eyes.  Jessica felt her knees buckle.  John put his finger on her lips and slowly backed away.  When he had backed away as far as he could without breaking contact, he turned and started to leave the room.  He stopped at the doorway and turned to face her.

“
I
’
ll be back in a little while,
”
he said.  Jessica didn
’
t dare open her mouth for fear of what she might say.  She held onto the desk with one hand so she wouldn
’
t chase after him.  She waved to him.  John tipped his hat and walked out of the foxhole.  Jessica stood there for a minute not sure what to do.  She finally let out a long sigh.

“
Sam, you were right, he
’
s something else . . . and worst
of all, he knows it!
”
 
She said out loud. 
“
I hope
it
’
s
ok Sam.  I hope
it
’
s
ok, whatever he and I have.
”
 
Jessica could swear she felt the arm of her friend around her in support.

John headed up the elevator
;
his hearting beating so hard he thought it would burst.  He had to do something about Jessica.  Good grief could she push all of his buttons.  He thought to himself for a minute that it might not be such a bad thing.  He almost bolted back to the foxhole.  He shook his head to clear it.  He needed to concentrate on what was going on.  He had been alone for three years; another day wasn
’
t going to kill him.  The elevator stopped at Trip
’
s floor and the doors opened.  Trip and
Senator Cosby
were waiting on him.  They joined him in the elevator as it headed toward the roof.

There was very little to talk about in the elevator.  Trip looked very uncomfortable.  John was whistling an eighties tune.  When he came to
a
line that Trip recognized, Trip groaned. 

“
Really!?
”
 
Trip asked, with a pained expression on his face. 
“
Don
’
t you know anything from this decade or even last??
”
 
Jeremiah chuckled.

“
Don
’
t be too hard on him
, S
on,
”
said Jeremiah. 
“
If I were him with that pretty young thing
,
I
’
d be singing something by Ole Blue Eyes himself.  Loudly, and badly out of tune!
”

John chuckled.  Trip turned to Jeremiah.

“
And you
’
re ok with those two?
”
 
Trip asked. 
“
I mean
,
Jeremiah, Sam seemed to be like a daughter to you.  I would say she probably mean
t
more to you than your actual son.
”

Jeremiah drew himself up. 
“
Lionel Pennyworth Smothers III
,
I will have you know that girl still means more to me than my own son!!  He was born with the belief he deserved everything that was ever given to him and that ever could be given to him!”  Jeremiah turned to John.  “Son, did you have any idea how wealthy
that girl was when you met her?
”  John shook his head no.  Jeremiah’s
eyes were fierce.  He spoke very angrily.  “I wish my boy was a tenth of the person Samantha was.  And that’s another thing!!  When this is over, you two owe that girl some justice!!  You hear me!?!”  Jeremiah was very worked up.  John filed this outburst in his head for the future.  Something was up here, but now was not the time to deal with it.  Trip turned to Jeremiah.  He looked rather irate. Trip spoke very softly.

“You’re exactly right.”  Both Jeremiah and John could have fallen over.  “We have done Samantha Fowler a huge disservice by not finding her killer.  When this is over
,
s
ir, we will rectify that situation.”  Jeremiah was a little taken aback.

“Well,” Jeremiah was a little unsure of his words.  “Good.  As for Jessica, Samantha loved her like a sister.  Did you know
,
John
,
that young lady kept me abreast of what was going on in Sam’s investigation for the last three years?”  The look on John’s face answered that question.  “That girl deserves happiness, and if it’s with this fine
,
young man . . . by God, that’s alright with me!”

The elevator stopped at the roof.  The door opened
. 
Jeremiah and Trip exited the elevator
.  T
hey both turned to see what was holding up John.  John knew.   It finally all fit together.  He looked Trip dead in the eye.  Trip gulped.

“That’s what has Jessica and Chet in trouble isn’t it?”  Trip tried to make like he didn’t understand.  John ignored Trip.  H
e walked out of the elevator
past Trip and Jeremiah.  It was clear by the look on Jeremiah’s face that he also knew what John had just put together.  That made complete sense.

“My little explosion at Arthur at the funeral. . .”  John looked at Trip and knew he was right on the money.  “Arth
ur demanded to find out
who
Sam’s killer
was
.  They couldn’t solve the case; for whatever reason.  That’s why getting me back for this case could save their careers.  If I
could solve this, everyone thought that I would jump on Sam’s case and that would make Arthur back off.”

Both Jeremiah and Trip looked sheepish.  Jeremiah began to chuckle.  Trip looked at him and began to laugh.   Jeremiah spoke.

“Arthur was right; he is the best detective I’ve ever seen.  He’s almost right on this.”  John was confused.  “I went to Arthur to get him to lay off of Washington about Jessica and Chet.  He agreed
to
if you would come back for one more case and we offered you Sam’s case.  If you don’t take it
,
Sam and Chet are ok.  Arthur believes whoever killed Sam want
s you dead.  I
f you were in the open and publicly working again
,
it would draw out Sam’s killer.  That hasn’t happened.  Trip and I have already gotten Arthur to promise that he will not approach the people at Washington again.  John, I honestly think Arthur would have been happy if the killer had just shown up and shot you.”  John laughed.

“Gone three years,” Trip said shaking his head.  “Gone three years and you figured this and the quadruple homicide out in less than a week.  John . . . John
,
I’ve missed you and the FBI has missed you.”

John looked out over the city from the top of the building.  He had to admit he missed this.  He was good at what he did.  Not only was he good, he enjoyed it.  That’s why Sam never had a problem with the danger involved in his job.  John loved cracking cases and puzzles.  John knew however this ended it would be hard for him not to come back.  Trip came up beside him and gestured to the helicopter.  They boarded the helicopter and took off. 

“Can we make it
in time?”  John asked.

“It’s about 250 miles to DC and we can go around 130 mph
.  W
e should have time to spare,” answered Trip.  John sat back and wondered what he would do once inside the room with David George.

1600 Pennsylvania Ave

Chapter 74

Things had gone from bad to worse in Luke
’
s opinion.  There was a
command post set-up outside
the White House with hostage negotiators talking to David George.  News vans were on one side of the command center.  The men that Luke had been sent were sitting in a van away from all the chaos.  It was actually the perfect spot to take
Senator Cosby
, but there was no sense doing so now.  Lisa was going down and there was nothing he could do to help her.  Luke
’
s phone rang. 

“
This is Luke.
”

“
You know who this is.  I have it confirmed that
Senator Cosby
is approaching your site via helicopter.  He will be arriving with agents John Fowler and Trip.  You need to separate Cosby from them.
”

Luke was stunned. 
“
Begging your pardon, S
ir, but what is the point?  Lisa has been taken and whatever secret she was trying to keep hidden is about to be exposed.
”