The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (40 page)

             
“
Is there any reason we should consider Luke as a suspect?
”
 
John didn
’
t want this investigation to get off on the wrong foot, but he didn
’
t want to turn Jessica loose on the man when he could be the best chance of leading them to the Senator, if he were the kidnapper.  Jessica smiled; she knew exactly where this was leading. 

             
“
No
,
John,
”
she said simply. 
“
Look I have a little paperwork to finish up over the kidnapping yesterday, so why don
’
t you go talk to him and I
’
ll finish this up.  You find something you don
’
t like or question,
”
Jessica got a sadistic grin on her face; John shuddered. 
“
Then I
’
ll take a run at him.
”
 
John started to go. 
“
John
,
wait.
”
 
John turned back around. 
“
You should probably know, I talked to prosecutors this morning, both Lisa and David will probably not serve any jail time.  There is no real evidence to hold Lisa on, and she has the BEST lawyers money can buy.  David
’
s lawyer is already starting to work on a temporary insanity plea.
”

             
John looked very confused.  He had expected that Lisa would use the fact she was held at gunpoint to give her
“
confession
”
, but David
’
s activities had been filmed; at least that what John had been told.

“
How
’
s that?
”
 
John asked. 
“
Crazy or not, he killed four people in cold blood on camera.
”
 
Jessica looked at him like he was crazy. 
“
It was booked into evidence,
”
John said looking at Jessica like she was crazy.
  Jessica had no idea what John was talking about.  She went through
t
he file and there was no mention of a tape or DVD booked into evidence of the mourners being killed.  She looked up from the file, and looked at John.  She acted concerned and checked John
’
s head like he had a fever.  She didn
’
t move her hand as she spoke. 
“
Hmm, you don
’
t seem warm.
”
 
She moved her hand onto his cheek. 
“
You
’
re heartbeat does seem a bit elevated,
”
she said coyly.

             
John realized right then and there that either Jessica didn
’
t know anything about the evidence he was talking about, or she was lying.  Little things had been nagging at John since Jessica and Chet had approached John to return to the FBI.  Inconsistencies in their stories, small ones, but inconsistencies none the less, had made John wonder if he wasn
’
t missing something bigger.  Something in John
’
s head told him to keep all of this to himself.  This ran through his mind in less than two seconds.
  He realized he needed to respond to Jessica
’
s coy comment. 

“
I was thinking about getting the meatloaf from the cafeteria,
”
John said trying to ga
u
ge Jessica. 
“
It
’
s probably the best meatloaf I
’
ve eaten other than my Mom
’
s.
”
 
Jessica rolled her eyes. 
“
That
’
s probably what caused my heart rate to spike,
”
John replied, smiling. 
“
Or it could be the gorgeous lady I see standing in front of me.
”
 
Jessica smiled warmly.  John looked over Jessica
’
s shoulder at Chet who was in his own world.  He had his ear phones in, working on the computer. 
“
CHET!!
”
 
John yelled.  Chet
turned around and saw the two of them together.  He apologized and ran off thinking they wanted some time alone.  John thought about going after him, but something was gnawing at the back of his brain. This might be the perfect time to question Jessica without Chet around.  Jessica dropped her hand from John
’
s face.

             
“
What are you thinking
,
John?
”
 
She asked.

             
“
Isn
’
t there a video or DVD listed in the evidence?
”
 
John asked.  Jessica rechecked her paperwork twice and shook her head no.  John smiled. 
“
You know I may have been dreaming that.  I probably was.  It was early on when we first started this thing that I thought I heard it.  I
’
m sure I just imagined it.
”
 
Jessica nodded and looked at John strangely. 
“
I
’
m fine Jess; it
’
s just been a lot the past few weeks.
”
 
Jessica smiled warmly at John.  He turned to head down to the interview rooms.  John
’
s mind was spinning.  Did someone simply not file evidence?  As bad as that would be, it would be better than what John was suspecting; there was a mole in the FBI.  Worse than that, one of his friends was that mole.

As he was walking toward the conference room where Luke McDonald was, he saw a door open to one of the interview rooms and inside sat D
avid George.  John stopped,
looked around
,
and saw no one.  John opened the door and stepped inside. 

             
As John stepped inside the interrogation room, the man who John could only assume was David George
’
s lawyer, stood up in outrage.

             
“
Who are you and what are you doing here!?
”
The lawyer exclaimed.  David touched the lawyer
’
s arm to calm him.  The lawyer turned to David.

             
“
Relax,
”
said David. 
“
This here is one of the good guys,
”
pointing toward John. 
“
John
,
this is Tom Evans, my lawyer.  Tom, this is John Fowler; the man who saved my life.
”
 
John did what any good boy raised in Kentucky would do, he extended his hand.  Tom took John
’
s hand and shook it, a little suspicious.  After they shook hands, John sat down.  Tom remained standing.  David laughed at his lawyer.

             
“
David,
”
began John. 
“
I can use your help.  Senator Cosby has been kidnapped and there are a few things that are inconsistent.  I
’
m just trying to find out some facts to save his life.  He was one of the ones who helped me find out things about V
eronica
, David.
”
 

Tom was ready to make a deal, shout
“
don
’
t answer that
”
, and several other things all at once.  David motioned for Tom to sit down.  David nodded for John to go on.

             
“
Two questions,
”
said John.  John looked at the lawyer for a second and then began. 
“
When you allegedly shot four mourners,
”
John paused to make sure everyone was ok with the phrasing of the question.  The lawyer nodded and David just smiled.  John smiled and continued. 
“
Allegedly, a video was sent in by the killer.
”
 
David looked very confused.  He thought a second
before he
answered.

             
“
I don
’
t know what the killer of those four mourners did, but if it was I who
committed that
act
all I would have done was leave the note about Veronica.
”
 
David
’
s answer
made
John smile.  Tom was about to have a conniption fit
over what his client had just said
.
 
John nodded.  

             
“
Second and final question, do you know anything about the kidnapping?
”
 
John held his hand up before the lawyer exploded. 
“
The ONLY reason I ask is the short amount of time between you taking Lisa hostage and Senator Cosby being kidnapped.  There was roughly
18
hours in between the two
events
.
”
 
David shook his head.

             
“
Mr. Fowler, I know nothing about
any kidnapping
.
”
 
John nodded.  He didn
’
t think he would be that lucky. 
“
That
’
s funny though,
“
David continued. 
“
If you were going to kidnap someone, wouldn
’
t you do it while everyone was distracted with what was going on in the White House?
”
 
John looked at David.  John
’
s stomach sank.  That was the most logical thing John had heard about this kidnapp
ing yet, and if it were true the
n that meant that Jeremiah had actually been gone closer to eighteen hours rather than one or two!  John thanked the men as he bolted from the room and headed to the conference room where Luke McDonald was.

             
John looked through the window at Luke McDonald.  He had read the file on Luke, and didn
’
t like what he had seen.  Luke had come up with the handle for the First Lady, Veronica Nichols.  Luke had given her the handle
“
Silk
”
.  There was something that just didn
’
t sit right with John about the name.  Senator Jeremiah Cosby, the man who had been kidnapped, had told John, Trip and the rest of the team that someone in the
White House had sent a Secret S
ervice man to meet with him the night before Senator Cosby was kidnapped.  When John and the Senator had landed in DC yesterday after their helicopter flight, the man John was staring at, Luke McDonald, was the man who had ran up to the senator.  It was time for John to get the full story. 

John took a deep breath and opened the door.  Luke stood up and offered John his hand.  John smiled at Luke and shook his hand.  John offered Luke a seat.  When both men were sitting, John leaned back.  John wanted to make sure Luke was very comfortable.

“
Luke, I
’
m sorry to take so long, I
’
m just getting up to speed on this case myself.
”
 
Luke nodded with a tight smile.  John continued. 
“
So let me make sure I understand what happened.  The Senator and I landed in DC, and then you two took off to work on another way to end the standoff.
”
 
Luke nodded.  John pretended to glance back into the file.  He looked at Luke and continued. 
“
So what happened next?
”

Luke looked very confused as he answered. 
“
I don
’
t know; that
’
s when I got knocked out.
”
 
John leaned forward.  Luke looked nervous. 
“
Do I need a lawyer?
”