by David Carner
The computer screen flashed up and John turned his attention to it. John scanned the screen, all of the information he already knew. John picked up the file. There was nothing in there. It was time to talk to Luke McDonald. He turned to Jessica.
“Is there any reason we should consider Luke as a suspect?” John didn’t want this investigation to get off on the wrong foot, but he didn’t want to turn Jessica loose on the man when he could be the best chance of leading them to the Senator, if he were the kidnapper. Jessica smiled; she knew exactly where this was leading.
“No, John,” she said simply. “Look I have a little paperwork to finish up over the kidnapping yesterday, so why don’t you go talk to him and I’ll finish this up. You find something you don’t like or question,” Jessica got a sadistic grin on her face; John shuddered. “Then I’ll take a run at him.” John started to go. “John, wait.” John turned back around. “You should probably know, I talked to prosecutors this morning, both Lisa and David will probably not serve any jail time. There is no real evidence to hold Lisa on, and she has the BEST lawyers money can buy. David’s lawyer is already starting to work on a temporary insanity plea.”
John looked very confused. He had expected that Lisa would use the fact she was held at gunpoint to give her “confession”, but David’s activities had been filmed; at least that what John had been told.
“How’s that?” John asked. “Crazy or not, he killed four people in cold blood on camera.” Jessica looked at him like he was crazy. “It was booked into evidence,” John said looking at Jessica like she was crazy. Jessica had no idea what John was talking about. She went through the file and there was no mention of a tape or DVD booked into evidence of the mourners being killed. She looked up from the file, and looked at John. She acted concerned and checked John’s head like he had a fever. She didn’t move her hand as she spoke. “Hmm, you don’t seem warm.” She moved her hand onto his cheek. “You’re heartbeat does seem a bit elevated,” she said coyly.
John realized right then and there that either Jessica didn’t know anything about the evidence he was talking about, or she was lying. Little things had been nagging at John since Jessica and Chet had approached John to return to the FBI. Inconsistencies in their stories, small ones, but inconsistencies none the less, had made John wonder if he wasn’t missing something bigger. Something in John’s head told him to keep all of this to himself. This ran through his mind in less than two seconds. He realized he needed to respond to Jessica’s coy comment.
“I was thinking about getting the meatloaf from the cafeteria,” John said trying to gauge Jessica. “It’s probably the best meatloaf I’ve eaten other than my Mom’s.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “That’s probably what caused my heart rate to spike,” John replied, smiling. “Or it could be the gorgeous lady I see standing in front of me.” Jessica smiled warmly. John looked over Jessica’s shoulder at Chet who was in his own world. He had his ear phones in, working on the computer. “CHET!!” John yelled. Chet turned around and saw the two of them together. He apologized and ran off thinking they wanted some time alone. John thought about going after him, but something was gnawing at the back of his brain. This might be the perfect time to question Jessica without Chet around. Jessica dropped her hand from John’s face.
“What are you thinking, John?” She asked.
“Isn’t there a video or DVD listed in the evidence?” John asked. Jessica rechecked her paperwork twice and shook her head no. John smiled. “You know I may have been dreaming that. I probably was. It was early on when we first started this thing that I thought I heard it. I’m sure I just imagined it.” Jessica nodded and looked at John strangely. “I’m fine Jess; it’s just been a lot the past few weeks.” Jessica smiled warmly at John. He turned to head down to the interview rooms. John’s mind was spinning. Did someone simply not file evidence? As bad as that would be, it would be better than what John was suspecting; there was a mole in the FBI. Worse than that, one of his friends was that mole.
As he was walking toward the conference room where Luke McDonald was, he saw a door open to one of the interview rooms and inside sat David George. John stopped, looked around, and saw no one. John opened the door and stepped inside.
Chapter 8
As John stepped inside the interrogation room, the man who John could only assume was David George’s lawyer, stood up in outrage.
“Who are you and what are you doing here!?” The lawyer exclaimed. David touched the lawyer’s arm to calm him. The lawyer turned to David.
“Relax,” said David. “This here is one of the good guys,” pointing toward John. “John, this is Tom Evans, my lawyer. Tom, this is John Fowler; the man who saved my life.” John did what any good boy raised in Kentucky would do, he extended his hand. Tom took John’s hand and shook it, a little suspicious. After they shook hands, John sat down. Tom remained standing. David laughed at his lawyer.
“David,” began John. “I can use your help. Senator Cosby has been kidnapped and there are a few things that are inconsistent. I’m just trying to find out some facts to save his life. He was one of the ones who helped me find out things about Veronica, David.”
Tom was ready to make a deal, shout “don’t answer that”, and several other things all at once. David motioned for Tom to sit down. David nodded for John to go on.
“Two questions,” said John. John looked at the lawyer for a second and then began. “When you allegedly shot four mourners,” John paused to make sure everyone was ok with the phrasing of the question. The lawyer nodded and David just smiled. John smiled and continued. “Allegedly, a video was sent in by the killer.” David looked very confused. He thought a second before he answered.
“I don’t know what the killer of those four mourners did, but if it was I who committed that act all I would have done was leave the note about Veronica.” David’s answer made John smile. Tom was about to have a conniption fit over what his client had just said. John nodded.
“Second and final question, do you know anything about the kidnapping?” John held his hand up before the lawyer exploded. “The ONLY reason I ask is the short amount of time between you taking Lisa hostage and Senator Cosby being kidnapped. There was roughly 18 hours in between the two events.” David shook his head.
“Mr. Fowler, I know nothing about any kidnapping.” John nodded. He didn’t think he would be that lucky. “That’s funny though, “David continued. “If you were going to kidnap someone, wouldn’t you do it while everyone was distracted with what was going on in the White House?” John looked at David. John’s stomach sank. That was the most logical thing John had heard about this kidnapping yet, and if it were true then that meant that Jeremiah had actually been gone closer to eighteen hours rather than one or two! John thanked the men as he bolted from the room and headed to the conference room where Luke McDonald was.
Chapter 9
John looked through the window at Luke McDonald. He had read the file on Luke, and didn’t like what he had seen. Luke had come up with the handle for the First Lady, Veronica Nichols. Luke had given her the handle “Silk”. There was something that just didn’t sit right with John about the name. Senator Jeremiah Cosby, the man who had been kidnapped, had told John, Trip and the rest of the team that someone in the White House had sent a Secret Service man to meet with him the night before Senator Cosby was kidnapped. When John and the Senator had landed in DC yesterday after their helicopter flight, the man John was staring at, Luke McDonald, was the man who had ran up to the senator. It was time for John to get the full story.
John took a deep breath and opened the door. Luke stood up and offered John his hand. John smiled at Luke and shook his hand. John offered Luke a seat. When both men were sitting, John leaned back. John wanted to make sure Luke was very comfortable.
“Luke, I’m sorry to take so long, I’m just getting up to speed on this case myself.” Luke nodded with a tight smile. John continued. “So let me make sure I understand what happened. Th
e Senator and I landed in DC, and then you two took off to work on another way to end the standoff.” Luke nodded. John pretended to glance back into the file. He looked at Luke and continued. “So what happened next?”
Luke looked very confused as he answered. “I don’t know; that’s when I got knocked out.” John leaned forward. Luke looked nervous. “Do I need a lawyer?”
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 of 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.
Chapter 10
“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.
Chapter 11
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.
Chapter 12
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.
&
nbsp; “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 down paths like this many times. Trip eyed John with suspicion, but nodded.
