The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (45 page)

“
Jess, can you get a team together to tail Luke?
”
 
John asked. 

Jessica looked at John, puzzled.

“
I
’
m pretty sure Luke has something to do with this.  He
’
s about to be released and we need to
follow his every move!
  I
’
ve gotta run.  I
’
ll be back in a few.
”
 

With that John was gone.  Jessica started to pick up the phone, but the cold worry came into her stomach.  She knew what she had to do.  She pulled out
her
cell phone.  She swore she would never do this again, but she had to let him know.  He was the only person that could stop John from uncovering the truth.  Jessica typed in a message and paused.  She knew once she sent this message there was no turning back.  Jessica hit send and exhaled.  It was done.  Jessica prayed she could live with the consequences. 
 

Foxhole

Chapter 19

Chet, with his headphones on, sat in front of the huge monitors, working.  He waved at John as he walked by.  Chet kept an eye on a little traffic light that was on the bottom left corner of one of his menu bars.  When the traffic light turned green, Chet hit a few buttons and an image came on the screen.

The screens faced away from the offices in the Foxhole so even if Jessica had her blinds open, she couldn
’
t see what Chet was working on.  Chet also had a kill switch he had programmed that would automatically remove the images he was watching on the monitors in front of him if he were to flip the switch.  He hated to have to be this secretive, but he had his orders and if he didn
’
t follow them . . . well, Chet didn
’
t want to think about that.

In front of him was a recording of John and Stephen.  The recording on the computer had been made from the camera Chet had planted in Stephen
’
s office before Stephen moved in this morning.  Chet had no worry about anyone seeing anything.  He had installed motion detectors in the hallway that would cause this program to close and another innocent program to pop-up if anyone came within fifty feet of the foxhole.

Chet listened as John told Stephen his suspicions about Luke, and then his fears about Chet.  Chet shook his head.  He was afraid this would happen.  He thought back to the meeting he and John had in John
’
s living room when Chet was first trying to recruit John
back into the FBI a few days ago
.  Chet
’
s orders were simple that day.  Get John Fowler on the quadruple homicide case; any means
necessary.   Chet had done exactly what he had been asked to do, but now it was coming back to bite him.  John could sniff out lies and inconsistencies anywhere.  He would dig at them like a dog digging apart a yard looking for a bone.  If John couldn
’
t figure out what was bothering him about a case, then he would get Jessica to take you into the box.  By the time Jessica was done with you, a person would admit to every crime they had ever committed. 

Chet knew he had made a mistake when he first talked to John.  Chet had told John too much about Chet
’
s relationship with Jessica.  Chet pulled up his online poker account and stared at it.  The balance read 0.00.  Chet shook his head disgustedly and pulled out his cell phone.  He typed a message and paused.  Chet looked back at the account and spoke softly to himself.

“
If you do the crime, you gotta do the time.
”

Chet hit send.  He took a deep breath and went to work.  Chet opened up a dummy email account he had made.  He typed in an address and sent a copy of the video he had been watching.  He then erased all proof he had been to the poker site and the camera feed.  He then erased all traces of what he had been doing and shut down the computer.  Only someone who knew exactly what they were looking for and was a world class computer hacker had a chance to find a trace of what he had done.  Chet walked out of the Foxhole.  He needed some air.

At an Undisclosed Location

Chapter 20

Jeremiah knew only two things.  One he had a bag over his head, and two, he had to go to the bathroom really, really bad.  He had no idea how much time had passed since he had been taken yesterday
, well he assumed it was yesterday he was taken
.  All he could remember was talking to Luke and then nothing.  He had awoken in what he thought was a van.  He was bound and already had the bag over his head.
  Jeremiah snapped back to the present.  He was going to go to the bathroom, the question was where.
 

“
Look here now,
”
Jeremiah began. 
“
I understand I
’
m at your mercy, but you have to let a gentleman go to the bathroom.
”

Jeremiah listened and heard nothing.  He then heard a door open.  Jeremiah heard footsteps cross the room and felt his hands unshackled.  He was led across the room.  He heard a door open, a flick of a switch, was pushed in the room, and finally felt the binding around the bag removed.  The door was shut behind him.  He heard someone yell through the door to,
“
holler
when you
’
re done.
”
 
Jeremiah took off the bag and looked around.  It was a simple bathroom with no window, or mirror.  Jeremiah took care of business, and tried to wash his face.  He couldn
’
t tell if he got it clean or not without a mirror.  He put the bag back over his head and then hollered out.  He heard footsteps and the door open.  A chuckle came from in front on him.  He felt the bag get ripped from his face and his heart sank.  If he was able to identify his kidnappers, he knew his life wouldn
’
t be worth much.   Jeremiah kept his eyes closed.

“
What
’
s the matter
,
o
ld
m
an?
”
 
The voice in front of him asked. 
“
Afraid of not seeing tomorrow?
  OPEN YOU EYES!!!
”
 
Jeremiah opened his eyes and gave a sigh of relief.  The man in front of him was wearing a presidential
Halloween
mask. 

“
You alread
y know our boss.  You know the S
ecret
S
ervice guy, Luke?  I just want to make sure you don
’
t know me.
”
 
Jeremiah opened his mouth in astonishment and started to speak.  He couldn
’
t however because the kidnapper in front of him hit him with a stun gun and Jeremiah was knocked out.  The kidnapper dragged Jeremiah back to his chair.  He then shackled and bagged Jeremiah.  The man walked out of the room, closed the door, and made a phone call. 

“
Boss, I did it.  He thinks that Luke is in charge of the kidnapping,
”
said the kidnapper.

Virginia

Chapter 21

             
“
Good,
”
Archibald said into his cell phone. 
“
Stay there until you hear from me.  Once Luke is released from the FBI, you leave and we
’
ll send McDonald there.
”
 
Archibald listened to something on the other end.  He then hung up the phone.

             
Archibald stared out over his estate.  It had been a busy morning.  He had received a text from his mole earlier that simply read,
“
He suspects.
”
 
Archibald knew exactly what this meant.  He turned toward his bodyguard who was outside with him.  Archibald walked over to the bodyguard and talked with a very low voice.

             
“
Did you do what I asked with Duck?
”
 
Archibald asked.  The bodyguard nodded. 
“
Good, we can
’
t be traced to Duck, his person is in place, and we
’
ve tied up the loose end of Luke.  Why on Earth Veronica trusted that idiot I have no idea.  She may have had some master plan, but since I
’
m not privy to it I
’
ll just have to do what
’
s best for me.
”
 
The bodyguard smiled.

             
Archibald watched the lawyers still working in his office.  The lawyers thought they could have Veronica out of jail by
this afternoon;
tomorrow afternoon at the latest.  They also thought she could beat all the charges.  She would lose her marriage and her political aspirations were over, but she would be safe, and most importantly so would Archibald.  Archibald started to walk away and then he paused.  He turned to the bodyguard and asked him a question.

             
“
Did he do the thing?
”
 
Archibald asked.  The bodyguard looked confused. 
“
You know,
‘
If it looks like one and talks like one
’
and then shrug his shoulders?
”
 
The bodyguard grinned broadly.

             
“
Yes he did sir,
”
the bodyguard answered. 
“
I didn
’
t crack a smile, but I really wanted to.  Is it true sir?
”
 
Archibald looked at the bodyguard questioningly. 
“
You know
,
that the last guy that called him the Duck to his face he choked to death?
”
 
Archibald shrugged his shoulders.

             
“
Who knows,
”
Archibald replied. 
“
According to the story no one has ever found the body to find out how he died.
”
 
The bodyguard laughed as Archibald headed back inside.

New York FBI Headquarters
 

Chapter 22

             
Trip was in a tough spot.  He had just received two texts and both were disturbing.  John had a plan, but what it was Trip didn
’
t know.  Trip sighed and turned and looked out the window.  He wondered why he even bothered some
days.  He thought life would have been less complicated with John gone, but he found out the hard way that was not true.  John
’
s team had been through so much when John left that Trip did what he had never done . . . he stuck his neck out.  It was against everything inside of Trip to do that.  Trip was BY THE BOOK.  It was just that simple.  There was nothing Trip could imagine that would change
him.
. . until Sam. 

             
What John didn
’
t know was that time had all but stood still since the day Sam died over three years ago for Chet, Jessica, and himself. 
Trip knew there was going to be a day of reckoning.  He had known that the day
t
he
three of them
decided that John had to come back. 

The biggest secret they held from John was possibly the most damaging.  What
John didn
’
t know
wa
s that Sam had come to Trip, Chet, and Jessica before her death.  She suspected someone was following her.  She wasn
’
t worried about herself as much as she was concern
ed
John had been made and she was being followed to see if John
’
s next move could be determined.  She didn
’
t have concrete proof.  Trip thought she was being paranoid due to all the drinking John had been doing and the hours he kept undercover.  Still, Trip couldn
’
t chance that she was right and had some friends in the NYPD.  After a few phone calls Trip had
someone watching out for John.  John knew nothing about this.  As for Sam, Trip never offered protection in any way.  Trip felt himself start to tremble.