by David Carner
“BOY!!” Senator Cosby was shaking him now. “Trip!!” Trip waived his hand that he was alright. “Good gracious man, you’re supposed to be in charge here. Act like a man!” John was trying very hard not to crack up at everything that was going on. He had no idea what had happened at the White House, but this was a scene like he had never seen.
Trip turned to John. “They need you in Washington, D.C.”
John was confused. “What are you talking about Trip? What is going on?”
“Someone has managed to take Veronica Staples hostage,” said Trip. “The perpetrator has said he wants a cameraman.” Trip looked directly at John. “John, you are the only one he will let run the camera.”
“No!” Jessica exclaimed. The whole group turned as one to look at her. Jessica looked more shocked than any of them. She covered her mouth with her hands. Trip groaned and rolled his eyes. Chet looked very uncomfortable. senator patted John on the back, knowingly. As for John . . . John rocked back on his heels. He straightened his tie. John’s eyes were dancing and he had the self-assured half cocked grin on his face that Jessica didn’t know if she wanted to smack off or kiss off.
“Let’s give these two a moment,” said the senator.
“A moment!?” Trip exclaimed. “senator, do you realize the First Lady of the United States of America is currently a hostage?!?”
Senator Cosby drew himself up. “Son, I sure do. And do I have a shock for you . . . I DON’T CARE!!!! Do you realize what these two kids have been through over the years!?!?” Jeremiah was in rare form. “I don’t really care if David George blows that Staples girl’s brains all over the Oval Office!!!! These two have something they need to do or say, or whatever!! I’m sure John here understands the urgency and won’t take one second more than needed, but I’m also sure he won’t leave one second earlier than he needs to!!”
John didn’t know what to say. Trip looked at John and Jessica, squared his jaw, and nodded.
“C’mon, Chet!!” Trip barked. Chet hightailed it out of the room with Trip following. Senator Cosby walked to the door and gave John the thumbs up. John smiled and turned toward Jessica. His face met her hand and a smack rang out through the foxhole. John thought his jaw had become unhinged. He looked at Jessica, saw the anger on her face, and realized this was going to take a few more minutes than he originally thought.
Chapter 72
“What have you done to me!?!” Jessica screamed at John. John was beyond confused.
In John’s defense, he didn’t have a lot of experience in the world of women and being single. His relationship with Sam was different than most. The two of them had hit it off immediately and didn’t play a lot of the games men and women play. John was thinking about answering that he didn’t move his face in time for her hand to hit it, but thought better of it. Jessica started up again.
“I used to be in control of my feelings. I use to be stoic and able to hide any feeling I had for anything on this job!! For crying out loud John, I haven’t seen you in three years!! The last time I saw you I knew you hated me, and it didn’t make me blink. You don’t get to make me feel this way!! You don’t!!!” She was pacing now and John stood back letting her get it all out. “I told my boss . . . no, wait, no. I SCREAMED at my boss. NO!!! Why!??! Because of you!?!? The man who has made it his life’s personal mission to drive me crazy!?!?”
John thought it might be time to reply, but something in his mind from his married days told him to just shut up and listen. It was probably the right call, as Jessica continued on with her diatribe.
“You.” Jessica stopped. She walked right up to him until there was barely room for sunlight between them. She pointed her finger and poked it in his chest. “You, are supposed to be helping me save my career, not helping me destroy it. You arrogant, self-important, narcissistic . . .”
John knew what was coming next. There would be a bunch of adjectives used to describe him that John really didn’t care for. John couldn’t help thinking how hot she looked when she was angry. In one motion, right in the midst of her calling him names, he grabbed her by the head and kissed her.
Jessica was taken aback by the kiss, but she quickly responded by kissing him back. The kiss caused her to curl her toes to the point she heard them crack. John broke the kiss.
Jessica was left breathless. She thought about grabbing him and throwing him on the desk but decided that would probably not be appropriate given the whole hostage situation going on right now. She couldn’t let him think he had won though. She gathered herself, and spoke quietly.
“So I say all of those nasty things about you,” she began. She was considering just kissing him again, but she knew she shouldn’t. She took a deep breath. “I say all of those things about you, and your response is to kiss me?”
John had shocked himself with what he had just done. He knew he should be on a helicopter or plane to DC right now, but that was the furthest thing on his mind. Right now the only thing on his mind was Jessica, and he really was considering telling her.
“It seemed like the thing to do,” replied John. His eyes were dancing and she was losing herself in them. Jessica wondered what he might do if she called him worse. For a second she let her mind get carried away. She shook her head to bring her back to the moment before she did something that would get them both fired.
“Well, it was a response I wasn’t suspecting,” she said.
John smiled. He kissed the end of her nose and tried to turn to leave. It was then he noticed that she had both her hands gripping his jacket. John looked at her and Jessica smiled sheepishly.
“The senator said you should not leave one moment before you needed to,” Jessica reminded him coyly.
“Jessica, if I don’t leave right now, I’m not going to leave and the first lady will die,” John said. “That’s not the kind of pressure most relationships can handle.” Jessica was taken aback with this revelation about them.
“We have a relationship?” Jessica asked. John took her hands in his.
“Don’t we?” He asked softly. Jessica thought she might start calling him names; then she thought about throwing him on the desk. Jessica was getting lost in her thoughts when John cupped his index finger under her chin and lifted her head until she was looking straight into his eyes. Jessica felt her knees buckle. John put his finger on her lips and slowly backed away. When he had backed away as far as he could without breaking contact, he turned and started to leave the room. He stopped at the doorway and turned to face her.
“I’ll be back in a little while,” he said. Jessica didn’t dare open her mouth for fear of what she might say. She held onto the desk with one hand so she wouldn’t chase after him. She waved to him. John tipped his hat and walked out of the foxhole. Jessica stood there for a minute not sure what to do. She finally let out a long sigh.
“Sam, you were right, he’s something else . . . and worst of all, he knows it!” She said out loud. “I hope it’s ok Sam. I hope it’s ok, whatever he and I have.” Jessica could swear she felt the arm of her friend around her in support.
Chapter 73
John headed up the elevator; his hearting beating so hard he thought it would burst. He had to do something about Jessica. Good grief could she push all of his buttons. He thought to himself for a minute that it might not be such a bad thing. He almost bolted back to the foxhole. He shook his head to clear it. He needed to concentrate on what was going on. He had been alone for three years; another day wasn’t going to kill him. The elevator stopped at Trip’s floor and the doors opened. Trip and Senator Cosby were waiting on him. They joined him in the elevator as it headed toward the roof.
There was very little to talk about in the elevator. Trip looked very uncomfortable. John was whistling an eighties tune. When he came to a line that Trip recognized, Trip groaned.
“Really!?” Trip asked, with a pained expression on his face. “Don’t you know anything from this decade or even last??” Jeremiah chuckled.
“Don’t be too hard on him, Son,” said Jeremiah. “If I were him with that pretty young thing, I’d be singing something by Ole Blue Eyes himself. Loudly, and badly out of tune!”
John chuckled. Trip turned to Jeremiah.
“And you’re ok with those two?” Trip asked. “I mean, Jeremiah, Sam seemed to be like a daughter to you. I would say she probably meant more to you than your actual son.”
Jeremiah drew himself up. “Lionel Pennyworth Smothers III, I will have you know that girl still means more to me than my own son!! He was born with the belief he deserved everything that was ever given to him and that ever could be given to him!” Jeremiah turned to John. “Son, did you have any idea how wealthy that girl was when you met her?” John shook his head no. Jeremiah’s eyes were fierce. He spoke very angrily. “I wish my boy was a tenth of the person Samantha was. And that’s another thing!! When this is over, you two owe that girl some justice!! You hear me!?!” Jeremiah was very worked up. John filed this outburst in his head for the future. Something was up here, but now was not the time to deal with it. Trip turned to Jeremiah. He looked rather irate. Trip spoke very softly.
“You’re exactly right.” Both Jeremiah and John could have fallen over. “We have done Samantha Fowler a huge disservice by not finding her killer. When this is over, sir, we will rectify that situation.” Jeremiah was a little taken aback.
“Well,” Jeremiah was a little unsure of his words. “Good. As for Jessica, Samantha loved her like a sister. Did you know, John, that young lady kept me abreast of what was going on in Sam’s investigation for the last three years?” The look on John’s face answered that question. “That girl deserves happiness, and if it’s with this fine, young man . . . by God, that’s alright with me!”
The elevator stopped at the roof. The door opened. Jeremiah and Trip exited the elevator. They both turned to see what was holding up John. John knew. It finally all fit together. He looked Trip dead in the eye. Trip gulped.
“That’s what has Jessica and Chet in trouble isn’t it?” Trip tried to make like he didn’t understand. John ignored Trip. He walked out of the elevator past Trip and Jeremiah. It was clear by the look on Jeremiah’s face that he also knew what John had just put together. That made complete sense.
“My little explosion at Arthur at the funeral. . .” John looked at Trip and knew he was right on the money. “Arthur demanded to find out who Sam’s killer was. They couldn’t solve the case; for whatever reason. That’s why getting me back for this case could save their careers. If I could solve this, everyone thought that I would jump on Sam’s case and that would make Arthur back off.”
Both Jeremiah and Trip looked sheepish. Jeremiah began to chuckle. Trip looked at him and began to laugh. Jeremiah spoke.
“Arthur was right; he is the best detective I’ve ever seen. He’s almost right on this.” John was confused. “I went to Arthur to get him to lay off of Washington about Jessica and Chet. He agreed to if you would come back for one more case and we offered you Sam’s case. If you don’t take it, Sam and Chet are ok. Arthur believes whoever killed Sam wants you dead. If you were in the open and publicly working again, it would draw out Sam’s killer. That hasn’t happened. Trip and I have already gotten Arthur to promise that he will not approach the people at Washington again. John, I honestly think Arthur would have been happy if the killer had just shown up and shot you.” John laughed.
“Gone three years,” Trip said shaking his head. “Gone three years and you figured this and the quadruple homicide out in less than a week. John . . . John, I’ve missed you and the FBI has missed you.”
John looked out over the city from the top of the building. He had to admit he missed this. He was good at what he did. Not only was he good, he enjoyed it. That’s why Sam never had a problem with the danger involved in his job. John loved cracking cases and puzzles. John knew however this ended it would be hard for him not to come back. Trip came up beside him and gestured to the helicopter. They boarded the helicopter and took off.
“Can we make it in time?” John asked.
“It’s about 250 miles to DC and we can go around 130 mph. We should have time to spare,” answered Trip. John sat back and wondered what he would do once inside the room with David George.
Luke McDonald
1600 Pennsylvania Ave
Chapter 74
Things had gone from bad to worse in Luke’s opinion. There was a command post set-up outside the White House with hostage negotiators talking to David George. News vans were on one side of the command center. The men that Luke had been sent were sitting in a van away from all the chaos. It was actually the perfect spot to take Senator Cosby, but there was no sense doing so now. Lisa was going down and there was nothing he could do to help her. Luke’s phone rang.
“This is Luke.”
“You know who this is. I have it confirmed that Senator Cosby is approaching your site via helicopter. He will be arriving with agents John Fowler and Trip. You need to separate Cosby from them.”
Luke was stunned. “Begging your pardon, Sir, but what is the point? Lisa has been taken and whatever secret she was trying to keep hidden is about to be exposed.”
“Listen to me,” said the voice on the other end of the line. “We can use the senator as leverage. Right now I need every advantage I can get to help her. We can use the senator to blackmail his son if we need to. A FBI agent on my side would go a long way toward helping me. Keep in mind that Senator Cosby could possibly win a Presidential election and that would be bad for me. This is my chance to help myself and my family. Remember, Son, I have a lot of influence over her and if I decided that you are best for her, she will listen to me. You would like that wouldn’t you?”
Luke was smiling broadly. “Yes. Yes, sir, I would. I’ll take care of everything.”
Luke could hear the chopper beginning to land.
“They are on their way now sir. Is there anything else?”
“No. Take care of this for me, and I won’t forget it.” Luke hung up and smiled. In a little while, he would get what he had always wanted.
Chapter 75
The helicopter landed and John, Trip and Senator Cosby disembarked. Luke ran up to the group. Senator Cosby looked on in disdain.
“senator, I know we’ve had our disagreements, but there is a life at stake. Someone would like to see you. He has a few ideas.” Jeremiah snorted but nodded.
“Give me and John a minute,” Jeremiah said. Luke nodded and moved away. Cosby grabbed John’s arm.
“Son, if you get a chance to make her story public, you need to. You cannot let that girl get away with what she has done. Do you understand?” John nodded. Jeremiah was very insistent. “I blame myself. If I had run for President, I would have beaten that fool, but I didn’t want to get into it with Lisa’s father. That man is dangerous son. Don’t forget that. He probably has fourteen contingency plans. I’m sure that is who wants to see me right now. Take care of yourself, My Boy. That woman is not worth you getting killed over.”
Senator Cosby clapped John on the shoulder and followed Luke. Secret Service hurried John over to the command post. Luke and Senator Cosby walked over to the far parking lot that was deserted except for the black van. They walked up beside it, and Luke stopped. Cosby was beside the van with Luke standing beside him. The van door slid opened and Cosby was grabbed. A cloth was pressed against his face. Cosby struggled for a second and went limp. Luke looked around to see if anyone was watching. No one had looked in their direction. The four men in the van were wearing masks. One held up a stun gun in one hand and the cloth in the other.
“Oh come on,” said Luke. “Please give me the cloth!” The man in the mask shook his head no and hit Luke with the stun gun. Luke flopped like a fish out of water. After he was out, the man in the mask drug Luke behind some shrubbery and left him. The man climbed back into the van, shut the door, and the van took off away from the grounds.
Chapter 76
The Secret
Service pulled John into the command post. They were barking orders at him. Apparently they had cut the time a little close. Different agents were screaming at him. “NO HEROICS!!” “DO WHAT HE SAYS!!” “PROTECT THE FIRST LADY!!”
John’s head was spinning. He had about had it with all of these orders. Trip saw the look in John’s eyes and tried to cross the room quickly to stop him. John picked up the red phone that connected directly to David George. Everyone in the room froze. John smiled.
“David, this is John Fowler. Look, I just got here. I am going to go get a quick lesson in how to use this video camera and I’m going to come in there. Is there any food or anything I can bring you?” John listened to the voice on the other end. “Well, David, we can use the camera in there, but are you sure it’s not broken? Because I’m not. I don’t know how to fix one if it is, so may I please bring in this camera? It’s not a trick, David; I’m trying to do exactly as you ask. If I do as you ask, you’ll do what you promised, right?” There was a pause. Everyone in the room held their breath. John gave a big smile, and the room exhaled. “I’ll see you very soon, David, and we’ll end this.”
John hung up. Before he could turn around, there was someone in his face getting ready to yell. John beat him to it.
“BACK OFF!!” Everyone was silent. “Now I don’t know what has been said about me before I got here, so let me hit all the highlights. Yes, I am a recovering alcoholic. I have been sober for three years. No, I do not have a death wish. No, I’m not going to do what you tell me to do. I’ll handle this my way. That is, I will walk out of there with both the first lady and David George alive. Any other option is non-negotiable. Are we all clear?” Trip smiled a tight-lipped smile. There was grumbling, but no one disagreed. “Now, where is a news crew so I can learn how to be the world’s greatest cameraman in less than five minutes?”
