The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (57 page)

“
Well,
”
John stammered.  He was in new territory.  When Jessica had interrogated him last time he had been drunk.  As bad as the interrogation was before, he never realized how intimidating she could be when she was in the zone, and right now, Jessica
“
The Hammer
”
Hammerstein was in the zone, and John Fowler was right in the center of her crosshairs.  John swallowed, and tried to regain his composure.

“
I didn
’
t kill her if that
’
s what you
’
re asking
,
Jessica,
”
John replied.

“
Who did?
”
Jessica fired back quickly.

“
I don
’
t know,
”
John said, extending his hands and shrugging.

“
Why not?
”
 
Jessica asked.

“
Because I haven
’
t investigated the crime?
”
 
John responded, almost answering the question with a question.

“
Why not?
”
 
Jessica was rapid firing questions at John.  John looked extremely confused.

“
Answer her!!
”
 
Trip demanded.

“
Because, I haven
’
t been an FBI agent.
”
 
John responded, angrily.

“
Why not?
”
 
Jessica asked this question a little slower, slightly emphasizing each word.

“
Because I quit!
”
 
John spat.

“
Why?
”
 
Jessica asked quietly.

“
Because I couldn
’
t save her!
  Is that what you want to hear!?!  Some nut killed her and I couldn
’
t save her!
”
 
John screamed.  Tears were in his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that evening.  John lowered his head and nodded slowly. 
“
Because I couldn
’
t save her,
”
John said, barely above a whisper.  Chet raised his hand, smiling, and Jessica gave him five without even looking at him.  Trip nodded
,
jaw clenched. 

“
Do I have this to look forward to?
”
 
Trip asked John very softy but directly.

John couldn
’
t help himself and barked out a laugh.

“
No
,
Trip, not if you let people into your life and you deal with your emotions like a grown-up,
”
John said, chuckling.

“
So that
’
s what the problem was,
”
Jessica deadpanned.  She had never broke eye contact with John and still had the grin on her face she had during the entire interrogation session. 
“
You
’
re still not a grown-up, so you never had a chance.
”

John smiled a fake
“
ha-ha
”
smile at her. 
“
What do you want me to say?
”
 
John asked. 
“
You were right and I was wrong?
”

Jessica crossed her arms. 
“
That would be a start,
”
she replied.  Chet reached over and tapped Trip
’
s shoulder behind Jessica
’
s back.  Trip looked over at Chet and saw Chet
’
s head gesture for them to walk away.  They strolled away together, neither Jessica nor John noticing them leaving. 

“
You should probably get to searching on that building John was talking about,
”
Trip said.

“
Will do
,
boss,
”
Chet replied. 
“
Boss, did you catch what John said about a mole.
”
 

Trip nodded, never breaking his stride.

“
I did
,
Chet,
”
Trip replied. 
“
Let
’
s find the Senator an
d then we go full bore after Sam
and Thelma
’
s killer.  I have a feeling Jessica
’
s right and they are the same person, but not a word to John; not yet.  I need to be sure before I tell him what I suspect.  He didn
’
t like that I earlier implied that Bruce was a sociopath, and he won
’
t like it at all that I think he might have had something to do with these killings.
”

Chet nodded as he walked.  The two men came to a FBI van and Chet started to get in to find the building Trip had mentioned.  Chet stopped and looked back at Trip.

“
I
’
m sorry
,
Trip,
”
Chet said, and climbed into the van.  Trip turned back and looked at the house.

“
Me too
,
Chet,
”
he said barely above a whisper. 
“
Me too.
  I love you
,
Thelma; rest in peace.  I promise you, we
’
ll get him Thelma.  We
’
ll get him, and he
’
ll pay!
’

John and Jessica were still standing there facing each other.  Jessica
’
s smile was turning into a smirk, and it was causing John to laugh.

“
I don
’
t think you should be so proud that you broke down a fellow agent who was under orders to give you all the answers that you wanted,
”
John said.

“
Did you tell the truth?
”
 
Jessica asked.

“
Yeah,
”
John replied looking at the ground.  He looked back up at Jessica. 
“
Yeah, I did.  I want you to know I
’
m not mad
about you not telling me about Sam
.
”
 
Jessica
’
s expression changed to concern. 

“
What happened exactly?
”
Jessica asked.

“
Madeline kinda let it slip.  Arthur and I were arguing like four year olds.  I said I lost my wife, he yelled back that he had lost his child, and that
’
s when Madeline blurted out
, so did he, or something like that.
  I think she was tired of me not knowing.  I don
’
t think Arthur knew from the way he reacted.  I didn
’
t have time to question him about it.  See, you might say I,
”
John paused looking a little sheepish.  He glanced around to make sure no one was close and leaned in. 
“
Passed out.
”
 
Jessica
’
s eyebrows shot up in surprise.  The hint of a smile played on the corners of her mouth.  John smiled and continued.

“
I guess I had an episode or something.  I remembered the last morning I saw her before I went to work.
”
 
Jessica crossed her arms and listened intently. John continued. 
“
I noticed, i
n the dream, or episode, or whatever it was, I noticed that she was pregnant.  But that
’
s not what really happened.  The morning I left she was trying to drop hints, and Jess,
”
he paused.  Emotions were running through him again, but each time they came, they were less and less powerful.  He shook his head and then looked Jessica right in the eye. 
“
Jessica, I missed them.  I was so drunk, hung-over, or self-absorbed, I missed it.
”

John let out a deep breath and asked the question that had haunted him for three years. 

“
Jess,
”
he asked. 
“
Did I miss something about her death?  Did I see something and not catch it
.  Did
she die because of it?
”
 
Jessica brought up her finger quickly to John
’
s face.  She had the most serious look John had ever seen on her face.

“
John Edward Fowler!
”
 
She admonished him. 
“
You do not get to reopen that door!  You do not get to undo all the progress you made!  Do you understand me?  If you missed something, yes, it
’
s tragic, but how do you think we feel?
”
 
John looked at her, confused. 
“
John, the three of us cared about Sam as well.  She was part of the family.  Here
’
s the thing, if you missed it, then so did the three of us!!
”
 
She waved her arm around at the two men she thought were standing behind her.  It was then she noticed that they were alone. 
“
Where
’
d they go?
”

“
I
’
ve noticed that they do that quite often,
”
John began. 
“
T
hey leave when they think you and
I are about to have a moment.
”
 
Jessica raised her left eyebrow and smiled slyly. 

“
Are we about to have a moment, Mr. Fowler?
”
 
Jessica asked walking towards him.  John swallowed and looked around at his surroundings.

“
While I think the fire is a nice romantic backdrop, it might be a little tasteless to have a moment here,
”
John replied.

Jessica stopped midstride.  The smile fell from her face and she pursed her lips together, looking a bit sheepish.  She pointed with her thumbs over her shoulder as she spoke.

“
So I guess we should probably go and try to find Chet.  We should probably see if he found the building, and make sure Trip is ok,
”
Jessica said, trying to recover from
the embarrassing moment.  John nodded and Jessica started to turn to walk away.  John followed her.

“
I
’
m not sure whether that
’
s hot, or scary,
”
John said.  Jessica turned midstride on the balls of her feet.  She had an inquisitive look on her face.  She raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“
You know,
”
John began,
“
the fact you
’
re hot and bothered at
a
murder scene as the house behind us burns to the ground.
”
 
John pointed toward the house burning with his thumb as he spoke.  Jessica pursed her lips, shrugged with her thumbs in the pockets of her jeans.  She tilted her head and spoke quietly.

“
Maybe it
’
s scary hot,
”
Jessica said.  She spun around and headed toward the van.  John watched her walk away, replaying the words in his head.  He started to speak several times, gesturing each time he started.  He stopped, knowing he looked like he was having a fit.  He smiled as he watched her walk away.  He was pretty sure he was falling in love.  Surprisingly the thought didn
’
t bother him.  John looked toward the burning house.  The sight of it did bother him.  He sighed and headed toward the van.

Chet was working furiously in the van as Jessica and John approached.  Jessica started to speak, but Trip shook his head quickly.  Chet was grinning as his fingers were flying.  After a minute he spun around in the chair he was sitting in as a printer was beginning to print.  Chet pulled the page off the printer and handed it to John.