The Road to Justice/Sins of the Son combo pack - A John Fowler Novel (John Fowler (Books 1 & 2)) (59 page)

“
Bruce,
”
John began. 
“
How about you and I try to act like real human beings and put this rivalry behind us?  I mean it
’
s really gotten out of hand.
”

Bruce made a laughing noise in his throat.  He smiled and nodded, never looking in John
’
s direction. 
Bruce was secretly celebrating inside.  He had gotten John to feel sorry for him.  If only he knew . . .

“
I think that is an excellent idea
,
John,
”
Bruce replied.

John started to say something but the GPS interrupted them.  John navigated his way through the city streets to arrive at their destination.  John looked around, thinking SWAT would already be at the scene.  He picked up his phone to call Jessica to see where they were, when he noticed Bruce checking his gun.  Bruce nodded at John and opened the car door.  Bruce got out and headed toward the warehouse.  John quickly opened his door and ran after Bruce.

John finally caught up with Bruce inside the
large
warehouse.  It was going to take some time to clear.

“
Bruce,
”
John hissed. 
“
What are you doing!?!
”

“
My father is in there
,
John,
”
Bruce replied in the same whispered tone. 
“
What would you do if it was your Dad??  Would you wait for backup?
”

John nodded, frustrated.  He knew exactly what he would do.
  They were going to have to do this alone.

“
Ok,
”
John relented. 
“
But we do this slowly, clearing each room before we enter the next one.
”

Bruce nodded.  They began to work their way through the warehouse, checking each room thoroughly before moving to the next one.  Suddenly John grabbed Bruce
’
s arm
,
stopping him.  Bruce imagined pulling out a machete and chopping John
’
s arm off for dare touching him, but he pushed the thought from his mind.

“
Did you hear that?
”
 
John asked.  Bruce hadn
’
t heard anything.  He listened carefully.  There, he heard it.  It sounded like someone shouting.  They headed forward, carefully, but quickly.  They heard noises from the door in front of them, and Bruce slowly opened the door.  It creaked loudly.  They heard a voice from inside.

“
If you kill me,
”
Jeremiah began. 
“
You should know that my good friend, Agent John Fowler
,
will hunt you down.
”
 

John slowly closed his eyes.  He knew Bruce was going to be livid over that one.  He opened his eyes to see Bruce staring right at him. 

“
Well, at least his hero is here to save him,
”
Bruce said.  He gestured for John to go through the door first.  John shook his head no.  Bruce walked through the door as John heard the Senator.

“
Please don
’
t kill me,
”
Jeremiah sobbed. 
“
I want to live.
”
 
Jeremiah was crying freely. 
“
I want to live.
”

“
Dad,
”
Bruce called out. 
“
It
’
s me.  Is anyone else here?
”

“
Bruce?  Bruce
,
is that really you?
”
 
The Senator couldn
’
t believe his ears. 
“
No, S
on.  No, I don
’
t think anyone else is here.
”

Bruce rushed over to his dad and started to untie him.  John kept them covered.  He reached for his cell phone and called Jessica.

“
Jessica,
”
John said. 
“
We found him.  Send an ambulance, but he looks ok.
”
 

John quickly hung up.  The Senator was hugging Bruce, and Bruce was looking very uncomfortable.  The Senator broke the hug and began to hurry across the room.

“
Senator?
”
John asked. 
“
Senator
,
where are you going?
”

The Senator never broke stride.

“
John, good to see you
,
ole boy,
”
the Senator answered. 
“
I have to go visit the water closet for a few moments.  I do hope you
’
ll excuse me.
”

As the Senator closed the door to the bathroom, John looked at Bruce.  John was softly chuckling.  Bruce was looking at the bathroom door, shaking his head.  As they were standing there, they heard loud noises coming from the rooms outside.  They both crouched and aimed their guns at the open doorway.  They both heard the unmistakable shout of Jessica.

“
FBI!!!
”
 
She yelled.

“
We
’
re in here
,
Jessica, it
’
s just us,
”
replied John.  Agents began to swarm the room, securing it.  Trip and Jessica walked in, and looked around, confused.

“
Bruce, John . . .
”
Trip began. 
“
Where
’
s the Senator?
”

John looked over at Bruce.  Bruce extended his arm toward John as if to say, go ahead.

“
Well
,
m
’
boy,
”
John said in his best imitation of the Senator. 
“
I say, the good Senator had to visit the water closet and asked us if we would extend his regrets in missing you.
”

“
That
’
s good
,
John,
”
Bruce said.
“
You should have worked an,
‘
I declare
’
in there somewhere, but that
’
s good.
”

Jessica began to chuckle.  Trip looked from Bruce to John and back.  Trip looked at the ground and shook his head.  At this moment the Senator opened the bathroom door.

“
Did I miss something?
”
 
The Senator asked.

“
Not a thing
,
Dad,
”
Bruce replied walking away. 
“
Not a thing.
”

Paramedics arrived at the warehouse along with FBI techs.  The techs began to slowly process the entire scene.  John, sitting on a desk, watched them from a distance.  Right now he was really enjoying the war of words taking place between the Senator and
the
EMTS.  The EMTs were insisting Jeremiah go to the hospital.  Jeremiah was insisting that he was fine.  John was a little surprised when Bruce walked up and s
a
t down beside him.

“
Is there any chance of him actually going to the hospital?
”
 
John asked.

Bruce shook his head.  He leaned forward and gripped the side of the desk with his hands. 

“
Actually, I think he will,
”
Bruce replied. 
“
This one scared him.  I think he knows how close he came to dying and it
’
s taken something out of him.
”
 
John looked a bit surprised and then slowly nodded.  Bruce turned toward John. 
“
Thank you
,
John.  You
’
ve found my father.  You don
’
t know what that means to me.  There are things the Senator needs to know that I
’
ve never had the courage to tell him.  When all of this settles down, he and I are going to have a long talk.
”

Bruce was very proud of himself.  He had told John the truth . . . he just hadn
’
t told John what he and the Senator would be talking about.  John smiled and clapped Bruce on the shoulder.  Bruce saw himself grabbing John
’
s arm and twisting it out of the socket.  Bruce pushed the me
n
tal image aside.  John removed his hand from Bruce
’
s shoulder and looked back over at the EMTs continuing to argue with the Senator. John shook his head, smiled, and looked back at Bruce.

“
We
’
re not done yet you know,
”
John replied. 
“
We need to talk to him, and soon
,
Bruce.
”

“
I know we do, but we both know who was behind the kidnapping,
”
Bruce stated. 
“
That little weasel Luke did it for the former
F
irst
L
ady
’
s affections.
”

“
That may be true
,
Bruce, but we have to prove it first,
”
John said. 
“
I would love to hear that Archibald had something to do with it.
”

John slid off the desk.  His cell phone buzzed and John looked down at it.  He had just received a text from an unknown number.  David George, the man who had tried to kill the former
F
irst
L
ady, had texted him.

             
“
John,
it
’
s
David George.  I just wanted to let you know that I have agreed to go into a psychiatric hospital.  Charges are not going to be pressed against me.  Please find something on the Staples family soon.  I don
’
t know if I can handle the nightmares they cause me.  I keep having dreams of getting my own brand of justice, and I need to have peace.
”

             
John showed Bruce the text.  Bruce whistled.

             
“
John,
”
Bruce said. 
“
That guy
may be a special kind of crazy.  He
isn
’
t done with them yet.
”

“
I know,
”
John replied. 
“
I hope they keep him locked up for a while.  I
’
m not convinced he won
’
t try to kill Veronica or Archibald.
”
 

“
Would that be a bad thing?
”
 
Bruce asked. 

John shot Bruce a look and Bruce smiled broadly.  John shook his head and chuckled.  He looked down at the text again and re
-
read it.  John had a sinking feeling that things were getting worse instead of better.

Psychiatric Hospital

Chapter 66

Tom Evans, David George
’
s lawyer, looked quite upset.  That was nothing new for Tom.  He was always upset.  He couldn
’
t understand why he kept getting clients that wouldn
’
t listen to his legal advice.  Tom had just sent Special Agent John Fowler a text.  It was from his current client, against Tom
’
s advice.  Tom normally wouldn
’
t do something like that, but David didn
’
t have access to a cell phone, and Tom had learned that David could be quite persuasive when he wanted to be.  Quite honestly
,
David scared Tom.