The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (41 page)

John waved his hand. 
“
Now why would you want that
,
Luke, I
’
m just asking what happened.  This is all new to me.
”
 
Luke looked a little perturbed.

“
You realize you
’
re wasting precious time questioning me!?
”
 
Luke was mad. 
“
It
’
s been nearly 20 hours since I last saw the senator.  I
’
m going to assume no one has seen him since me!!
”
 
John
’
s stomach sunk. 

“
Why wasn
’
t that notated in the file
,
Luke?
”
 
John asked.

“
How would I know what Bruce did?
”
 
Luke retorted.  John didn
’
t move a muscle but inside it felt like he
’
d been slapped in the face.  Bruce
had questioned Luke and he
knew.  Bruce knew his father had been gone that long.  One o
f
two things
were
going on here.  Either Bruce was in on this, or Bruce was in more grief than John knew existed inside of Bruce.  Luke was waving his hand in front of John
’
s face.  John snapped back to the present.

“
Ok
,
Luke,
”
John said. 
“
Let
’
s do this from the top so I understand this.  I know you
’
ve talked to Bruce, but apparently the grief has caused him not to properly notate the file.
”
 
Luke nodded, but John caught the slightest hint of relief in Luke
’
s face.  John was absolutely positive that Luke had something to do with what was going on . . . proving it might be a little more difficult.

             
“
You and the senator landed,
”
Luke began. 
“
I was hit with a stun device after the senator and I walked over to the other parking lot so we could talk in private.
”

             
“
Why were you and the senator talking to begin with Agent McDonald, that
’
s the part I don
’
t understand?
”
 
John asked.  Luke nodded.  He scratched his face and looked around.  He leaned forward like he was about to tell John a huge secret.  John prepared himself so he wouldn
’
t scoff in Luke
’
s face.  John was certain a two-ton pack of cow manure was about to come out of Luke
’
s mouth.

             
“
Archibald,
”
Luke paused. 
“
I mean Mr. Staples,
”
 
John
nodded. 
“
Well, you see, he was worried about his daughter.  All of those old friends of hers had been in the news the last few days.  Mr. Staples was concerned about was someone trying to hurt her, or even blackmail her.  He was afraid someone would look into her past and the terrible things that happened to her.  And yeah, I was supposed to see if I could get Bruce on the case instead of you.  Not because of anything wrong that had happened, but because Bruce understands.
”
 
John raised an eyebrow.  Luke thought for a second, searching for the right words.

             
“
John, let
’
s be honest, you didn
’
t exactly come from the same stock of Bruce and Lisa,
”
Luke paused a second. 
“
I guess it
’
s Lisa now,
”
Luke said.  John nodded begrudgingly, and smiled.  Luke smiled, thinking he had given John enough information to back off looking in his direction.  Luke continued. 
“
I mean, come on, let
’
s
be
honest.  You married way out of your league.  Those families are the upper echelon of society John, and they all keep secrets.  Heck if anyone understood the need for secrecy it
’
s your late wife.  Her old man, the senator, and Mr. Staples all ran in the same circles and they knew how to keep secrets.
”

             
John leaned forward,
looking
angry.  He wasn
’
t angry; he knew exactly what was being implied.  John was smiling inside and slapping his head inside at the same time.  Luke had screwed up and reminded John of something he had forgotten.  The Moores knew more about the Staples than anyone else.  Why John hadn
’
t put two and two together he wasn
’
t for sure.  John knew what he had to do here to make Luke think he was off the hook.  He took a deep breath.

             
“
Luke, I follow 90% of what you are saying.  However, there
’
s about 10% I
’
m not sure I
’
m interpreting correctly.  If I understand what you
’
re trying to say, I
’
m currently looking for not only the Senator, but
you
’
re implying he
’
s my father-in-law?
”
 
Luke was looking very, very uncomfortable. 

             
John continued. 
“
I know there are many more similarities between my late wife and the senator than between Arthur and Sam, but if for a second I thought you were trying to insinuate that Madeline Moore, one of the finest women I have ever had the privilege of knowing!
”
 
John
’
s voice continued to rise as he spoke.  Luke
’
s back was straight up against his chair.  John
’
s face was growing redder by the minute.  John continued.

             
“
Had an illicit affair with one of the finest GENTLEMEN this country has ever seen . .
.
“
 
A knife could have cut the air.  John sat down, rubbed his hand against his head, and then straightened his shirt.  He had a very tight smile on his face.  He spoke very softly. 
“
I have no idea what I might do to someone.
”
 
Luke gulped and nodded.  John nodded and left the room.  Luke exhaled as the door closed.  As John stood outside the door he smiled.  He wasn
’
t The Hammer, but he got exactly what he needed out of Luke.  John walked down the hall whistling. 
 

             
John was trying to go over everything in his mind, but too many things were running together.  This bothered John.  Not three years ago he could have separated everything into the exact compartment it need to be in, but that skill had apparently accumulated some rust.  John would normally turn to his team to help him, but part of the problem was he thought that one or more of them was possibly involved. 

             
John never had a lot of friends.  Sam probably was his only true friend in life.  Chet had become the closest thing John had to a friend that he wasn
’
t romantically involved with.  And then . . . then there was Jessica.

             
He could hear Sam telling him how he was looking for an excuse to not be hurt again.  John stopped walking.  He was in one of the hallways that were rarely used.  He had come here many times in the past to pace and think.  This time was different.  He leaned against the wall and exhaled deeply.  This was hard for John.  He had only had one true romantic relationship in his life until now, and that was Sam.  He and Jessica had always talked to one another, and John was always going on about how Jessica needed a man in her life.  Jessica would always barb back with him, but neither of them would have ever have made a move on the other.  It was always lighthearted and in good fun.  Sam always used to warn John he was either going to get fired for harassment, or get beat up by Jessica.  John would never dream of cheating on Sam.  He honestly didn
’
t even know he had feelings for Jessica until a few weeks ago. 

John had heard the whispers his entire life about Sam being Jeremiah
’
s daughter and John had promised himself he would never do anything to put Sam in the situation she found herself growing up in.  Sometimes he wondered if the rumors and innuendo wasn
’
t what killed Jeremiah
’
s wife.  Yes she died of cancer, but in the end she didn
’
t seem to have the will to live.  That was the time the
whispers were the loudest.  John hadn
’
t been in Sam
’
s life when all of that had happened, heck he wasn
’
t even out of high school then.  John wondered if that was why Jeremiah was truly the southern gentleman he seemed to be.  Did all of those things that had happened in the past drive him to try and root out and destroy any traces of corruption?

John shook his head.  He was getting off track, but in a way, all of this was related.  He had a bad feeling building in his stomach.  He wasn
’
t sure if it was because he was afraid a member of his team was a mole, or that this case might lead him to have to talk to his in-laws, Madeline and Arthur Moore.  John subconsciously touched the pocket where the summons rested.  John had to talk to someone and straighten out all of the thoughts that were bouncing around in his head.  He was afraid of what might happen if he did with the wrong person.  John straightened himself and headed to Trip
’
s office.  This was not going to be pleasant but John had to figure things out, now.

John knocked on Trip
’
s door.  Trip was on the phone, arguing about something.  Apparently Trip was being given marching orders, and he didn
’
t look very happy about it.  John scribbled a note and dropped it on Trip
’
s desk.  Trip hung up and looked at John.  Trip set his jaw.  John braced himself, it was about to be bad. 

“
There
’
s been a development with your reinstatement,
”
Trip said.  John looked at the floor.  This day just went from bad to worse.  Trip continued.

“
Apparently Quantico thinks that you need a psychiatric evaluation and they think it might help if there was someone on staff here to take care of that.  He
’
s been in my office most of the morning.  I
’
ve been trying to get clearance for this case, and then you have the evaluation, but the good doctor has gone over my head.  I had Chet clear out things in one of the unoccupied offices downstairs.
”
 

Trip was holding something back, John could feel it.  He was pretty sure what it was, so John decided to throw it out there.

“
They want me to have regularly scheduled visits to make sure I don
’
t eat a bullet?
”
 
John asked.  Trip flinched at the words.  John knew he could have said it much nicer, but why
bother
?  John knew he would have to pass an evaluation at some point.  To be honest, John didn
’
t know if he would pass it or not, and frankly until today he didn
’
t care.   Trip looked John in the eyes.  There was a steely glint in Trip
’
s eyes.  He spoke.

“
John, no one here thinks you are suicidal.  Prove me wrong and I
’
ll kill you myself; understand!?!?
”
 
Trip barked.  John choked back a laugh.

“
Why
,
Trip
,
I didn
’
t know you cared,
”
John said.   Trip waved away the comment, disgusted. 
“
So when I go to these sessions, what I say there is confidential and I talk
about things, right?
”
 
Trip repeated back John
’
s question to himself; knowing that John was up to something.  They had been do
w
n paths like this many times.  Trip eyed John with suspicion, but nodded.