by David Carner
Chet’s smile nearly cracked his face. “I try to get my opponent to put in everything he has! You’ve got the odds in your favor. You have to make the other guy throw the better hand away, or you have two chances to make your hand, either on the turn or on the river!”
John shook his head, “But what if it’s your whole bankroll Chet? I mean what if it’s your mortgage and food money . . . I mean what if it’s everything you have?”
Chet looked incredulous. “John, you do realize you’re going to win almost 65% of the time, right??”
John put his hand on Chet’s shoulder. “But, Chet, your behind in the hand, and that means the other 35% or so of the time, you’re gonna lose.”
Chet’s face fell. John knew. In that minute there was no question in his mind, he knew. John looked Chet in the eye.
“How much, Chet?” Chet looked up sharply at John. John repeated himself, softly. “How much have you lost?” John took a deep breath and asked his next question even more softly. “How much do you owe?”
“I’d rather not talk about it,” Chet replied. John nodded. John hated himself for what he did, but his suspicions had been confirmed. John shifted uncomfortably. Chet started to walk to the door.
“You know there are meetings for it, right?” John asked.
“I’m already going,” Chet replied continuing for the door. John took a deep breath. He had to give something back to Chet.
“I spoke last night, Chet. For the first time ever, I spoke.” Chet stopped in his tracks. He had already heard about what happened on the tape, but for John to share this with him . . .
“Did it help?” Chet asked, his back still turned.
“She’s still dead Chet,” John replied. Chet spun and walked back to John angrily.
“John, she’s not coming back, and there is a woman down there that loves you more than she knows what to do about it!!” John had never seen Chet quite so passionate before. “Do not let this terrible thing that happened kill you, or your life!! You deserve to live, and you deserve to have a life!! The person that deserves to pay will!! Do you understand me!?!? We’ll catch him John, I promise you we’ll catch him, and when we do, if you can’t pull the trigger, I will!!”
Chet realized what he had just done, and was scared he had gone too far. John looked Chet in the eye and smiled broadly.
“You do know you just told a Federal officer you plan on shooting a man, right?” Chet nodded. John smiled. “I may just hold you to that promise, sir.” Chet smiled and headed back to the door.
John knew what he had to do. He sighed, turned, and looked back over New York. Chet and Jessica would get things started here. Now all John had to do was take one man who hated him, to see another man that hated John more. John pulled out his new FBI ID and looked at it.
“I know how to come back,” he said out loud to no one.
Chapter 29
John headed back inside and began to look for Bruce. He looked for a few minutes before someone he had never seen in the office before told him Trip wanted to see John in Trip’s office. John made a beeline for Trip’s office. John opened Trip’s door and immediately regretted it. Trip was sitting in his chair, looking very uncomfortable. Bruce was in the chair across from Trip. Bruce was crying with his head buried in his hands. John tried to leave, but Trip waved John in, insistently.
“John,” Trip began. “Bruce and I have been talking, and it seems he forgot to tell us a few things this morning.” John had never felt more uncomfortable in his life. He had no idea Bruce had the ability to cry over anyone, well, except for Bruce. Trip looked like he’d rather be anywhere on the Earth rather than where he was right now. No, scratch that. Trip looked like he’d rather be anywhere in the universe.
“John,” Bruce began to talk through his sobs. “John, I’m so sorry.” Bruce still had his face buried in his hands. John looked at Trip. Trip shrugged his shoulders with his hands out in the air and mouthed, “I don’t know what to do.” Bruce began to try to speak again.
“John, I know I screwed up.” With the word “up” Bruce began to sob. John motioned to Trip to join him outside.
“Bruce,” John said quickly. “We’re gonna give you a second to collect yourself, and then you and I are going to go interview some people and see if we can’t get a lead on your dad.” Bruce nodded, hands still covering his face. John and Trip hurried outside and shut the door.
After the door closed, Bruce lowered his hands. His eyes were dancing with mischievous evil, and there was a grin about to split Bruce’s head in two. Bruce began to chuckle to himself quietly.
“John, you haven’t got a chance against me.”
Chapter 30
John and Trip stood in the hallway outside Trip’s office, both were flustered. As they stood there a second Trip started to chuckle. John hit Trip on the shoulder, and that just made things worse. Trip began to laugh out loud. John grabbed Trip by the arm and led him around the corner, away from Trip’s office.
“What are you doing?” John asked.
“Oh for the love of Pete, John!” Trip exclaimed. “That guy hasn’t shown one ounce of anything for anyone in all the years I’ve known him except for himself. After all the grief he gave you, you’re defending him?”
John looked Trip dead in the eye.
“Yeah, Trip, because I know what losing someone when you’re only wrapped up in yourself does to you.”
Trip stopped laughing immediately. He became very silent, and obviously a little embarrassed.
“Don’t get me wrong, Trip,” John continued. “That guy is a jerk, but he obviously has some feelings for his father.”
“Is that one of the famous John reads telling you that?” Trip snapped. Trip regretted what he said as soon as he said it. John was right; no one deserved to be mocked when they had lost someone. Trip was still irritated by being called out on it by John. Trip started to apologize but John waved it off.
“It’s fine Trip,” John said. “Actually, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Bruce is one of the few people I can’t get a read on. It’s funny actually. Sam used to say she felt like every time Bruce looked at her, there was a hate in him that just sent shivers up her spine. I always tried to see it, but never could. I really think it was just Sam being upset at how much Jeremiah seemed to care about her and he really had nothing to do with Bruce.”
“I thought the only people you really couldn’t get a read on were sociopaths?” Trip asked.
“Well, yeah,” John began. “Since they basically have nothing that tells them the difference inside about right and wrong, you can’t decipher their expressions, or some subtle tell from their body. It’s not that there aren’t tells, it’s just that they don’t tell a consistent story. You might find physical evidence on them, but you can’t make any connection with their body language.”
“Maybe Bruce is a sociopath,” Trip stated. John looked shocked.
“Trip, you need to knock it off!” John exclaimed. “You know full well the evaluations we all go through would have caught that.”
“And we all know no one would have fixed things for Bruce if they thought we might get a little something from the Senator, right?”
John groaned inwardly. Bruce had been given so many special considerations and job advancements over the years because of who he was and who his father was. The Senator had never asked for any of it; in fact, what promotions Bruce had received sickened the Senator. John and Trip had learned over the years that those in power believed that the Senator would favor the FBI with little perks just because of the station his son held. John wished he could tell them how far off base they were with that line of thinking.
“Trip, I’m going to get Bruce and go take care of this case. He did get permission to work it, right?” Trip nodded. John took off, shaking his head. Trip stood in the hallway listening to John tell Bruce to come with him. Trip tried to get the thought he had out of his mind. What he was thinking couldn’t be possible. Trip shook his
head and watched John leave, but kept having the same thought, what if it was possible?
Chapter 31
John and Bruce sat on the helicopter that was flying them to Virginia. John felt very uncomfortable. He didn’t know what to say to Bruce. John still couldn’t believe what Trip had said earlier about Bruce. John knew better than anyone that Bruce was a jerk, but John also knew about personal loss destroying a person. Bruce kept staring at his hands.
“John,” Bruce began. “Have you ever felt the life slip out of someone you were holding in your hands?”
John was more than a little bothered by that question. John knew Bruce had lost his mother at a young age. He really wasn’t sure what to say.
“Well, I did have a suspect once bleed out on me, and I watched a good man die and couldn’t do anything about it,” John offered.
Bruce just kept looking at his hands. John was more than a little creeped out by the conversation.
“I held her, John,” Bruce began. “I held her and felt the life drain from her. The feeling John . . . the feeling is incredible, and horrible, all at the same time. She looked me in the eyes as she left this world. She tried to speak John . . . she tried.” John didn’t know how to react. If this was how his mother died, this could explain many things about Bruce.
“I always wondered what she was trying to say,” Bruce continued. “Was it important? Was she trying to get me to pass a message to someone?” Bruce looked John in the eyes. “It was the strangest feeling, John. I was the last person she saw as she slipped away. To hold someone in your hands as they died . . .”
John put his hand on Bruce’s shoulder. He somewhat expected Bruce to flinch, but Bruce stayed still just staring into John’s eyes.
“We’ll find your father,” John said softly. “We’ll find him, Bruce. We’ll find him alive.”
“He doesn’t know, John,” Bruce began. “He doesn’t know what I’ve done for him. It was just us for so long. I did so much for him, and he doesn’t even know. He needs to know John. I have to tell him.”
John didn’t know what to do. Bruce appeared to be in shock. John had never seen Bruce so . . . human. John just patted Bruce on the shoulder, and then squeezed it. John turned back and looked out over the countryside and wished they would land quickly. Bruce turned and looked out his window.
Bruce smiled quickly to himself. “The fool,” Bruce thought. “I just told him everything. I just answered the biggest question in his life, and he thought I was talking about dear old Mom.” Bruce turned back to John, the sadness back on his face.
“John, will you please keep what I talked to you about between us?” Bruce asked. “The Senator doesn’t need to know until I’m ready to talk to him.” John gave Bruce a tight lipped smile and nodded. All John could think was how sad it was that Bruce couldn’t call his own father, “Dad.” All Bruce could think about was how John was just sad.
Trip
New York FBI Building
Chapter 32
Jessica knocked on Trip’s door. Trip was staring out the window with his back toward the open door. He spun around in his chair when he heard the knock. He motioned Jessica in. Jessica came in and sat down. Trip got up and shut his door. He looked at Jessica, and then silently locked it. Jessica gave Trip a strange look. Trip walked around the desk, but stopped at the desk and looked out the window again. When he turned back toward Jessica, tears were in his eyes.
“Thanks for coming so quick, I know you’re working on the Senator’s case, but . . .” Trip couldn’t finish the sentence. If what he thought was true . . . Trip tried to set his jaw and get control of himself. Tears dropped from his face.
Jessica was completely stunned. She had never seen Trip like this.
“Sir . . .Trip?” She began. “What is it?”
“John said something today,” Trip replied. “He said he couldn’t read Bruce. We talked for a bit, and John said the only people he normally couldn’t get a read on were sociopaths, and Bruce.” Trip turned toward Jessica. Jessica’s mind was racing with that information.
“Trip, are you suggesting . . . “Jessica couldn’t finish the question.
Trip threw down Bruce’s file on his desk.
“There’s no psychiatric evaluation in here, and I checked in the database. “
For a minute neither said a word. Twice Jessica started to say something, but stopped. The look on Trip’s face said volumes.
“Trip, are you saying . . . Trip, are you saying that Bruce is a sociopath?” Jessica finally managed to ask. Trip looked annoyed.
“A sociopath? That’s it?” Trip asked. “That’s what you’re going with? I give you the keys to the house and you don’t go past the foyer?” Trip was getting very worked up. “Jessica, John can’t read him. John told me Sam was uncomfortable with Bruce.”
Jessica put her hands in front of Trip to signal him to stop. This was too much too fast.
“Trip,” Jessica began, choosing her words very carefully. “Before you say the words that are about to come out of your mouth, you need to think about what will happen if YOU say them. It’s one thing for me or Chet or John to say this, but you are the director of this office. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Once this is out, you’ll have to suspend him. If you suspend him how can we do a proper investigation?”
Trip rubbed his palm against his head, knowing Jessica was right. For three years whoever had killed Sam had evaded the three of them. They had to move carefully.
“We can’t tell John, can we?” Trip was asking this question to no one, he already knew the answer.
“No,” answered Jessica. “We can’t tell him until we are sure.” A thought crossed Jessica’s mind that she prayed wasn’t true. “Trip, does John suspect?”
Trip shook his head as he answered. “No. Heck he defended Bruce earlier when I implied he was a sociopath. And before you even ask, no I don’t think Bruce is planning on killing John.” Trip stared at his desk for a second. “Of course I never thought he would . . .” Trip let the sentence trail off, knowing he had to let Jessica and Chet investigate.
“Why?” Jessica simply asked. Trip looked amused.
“If he is a sociopath, does he really need a reason?” Trip walked back over to the window and stared out of it. Jessica was searching for answers in her mind but could come up with nothing.
“Is there any evidence that you know of that would link him to Sam’s murder?” Jessica asked.
Trip never turned from the window. He just kept starring out the window as he shook his head no. It all fit into place for Trip. John was always getting the best of Bruce and how better for Bruce to get John back than to take away the most important thing in John’s life. The worst part of all of this, if Trip was wrong, which he doubted he was, Trip could never trust Bruce again.
Chapter 33
“How would you like me to precede, sir?” Jessica asked.
Trip finally turned from the window. He looked at Jessica. She looked like Trip felt. She looked like she had been ambushed, emotionally. She looked like everything she knew in life was now wrong. If Bruce had done this . . . it meant one of their own had killed a spouse of one of theirs. Trip was sick inside.
“You’re going to Quantico, and you’re going to get his file,” Trip answered.
“Uh, sir, you do remember Senator Cosby?” Trip grimaced. No, he had forgotten it for a moment. This couldn’t get much worse. Well, now that he thought about it, it could. Trip knew who could get the file. Jessica had a slow smile crawling across her face. Everyone in the New York office knew about Thelma, but for the sake of their jobs, they pretended they didn’t.
Trip took a deep breath and prepared to call Thelma. Thelma had a thing for Trip. Trip definitely did not have a thing for Thelma, at least not one he wanted to admit to anyone. Thelma worked in records at Quantico and could get anything for Trip, at a price. Trip sighed. Jessica was studying Trip. Trip rolled his eyes, sat down in his chair, and picked up the phone.
He hesitated and looked at Jessica.
“For Sam,” Jessica mouthed, and began to snicker.
Trip dialed the phone. The other end connected. Trip tried to take control of the phone call, but quickly failed.
“Thelma? I’m fine. Yes, it has been a while . . . uh-huh . . . uh-huh . . . I hear that’s a nice place to eat . . . uh-huh . . . uh-huh . . .” Trip looked at the ceiling. “Listen, Thelma, I need a favor.” As Trip listened his eyes started to close and a look of pain crossed his face. Jessica had her hand clamped over her mouth so as not to laugh out loud. Trip looked at Jessica and scowled. Jessica had to hold her hand tighter over her mouth. Trip tried to wrestle back control of the conversation.
“Thelma, I need a copy of Bruce Cosby’s file. All of his evaluations, even his application to the Bureau,” Trip interjected. Thelma spoke and Trip straightened in his chair, surprised. “Really . . . and why’s that?” He listened for a few more seconds. “Can you get that copy?” Trip shut his eyes with the answer and shuddered. “Of course I will, Thelma; I’ll be there next week.” Trip looked physically pained at the next thing Thelma said. He looked at Jessica and tried to lower his voice where she couldn’t see him. “You know I’ve got a bad back . . . “ Jessica almost lost her mind with laughter. She grabbed a throw pillow from another chair and pushed it over her mouth. Trip looked very annoyed. “Ok, as soon as you can get it to me. Would you send it to my private fax?” Trip smiled with the response. “Thanks, I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.” Trip hung up the phone and looked very pleased with himself.
Chapter 34
Jessica lowered the pillow that had been covering her face and began to laugh loudly.
“Will you stop that!?!” Trip exclaimed. Jessica just continued to laugh.
“Seriously, we have important things to discuss,” Trip said, mildly annoyed.
