by David Carner
Jessica sat there for a minute staring at her desk. Thinking of Sam had made her think of the Moores. She remembered that John and Bruce were going to visit Arthur and his wife. Jessica wondered if World War III had broken out yet.
The Moore Residence
Virginia
Chapter 41
John was trying to decide which was worse; the ride with Bruce, or going inside to listen to Arthur run him down. John felt the gun in the holster on his hip. He was thinking that maybe he should leave the gun in the car. John didn’t think he’d be pushed to the point where he’d shoot Arthur, but he wasn’t 100% sure Arthur wouldn’t try to go for John’s gun and shoot him.
Bruce was watching John and chuckling.
“You know, John,” Bruce began. “In kidnapping cases, time is supposed to be of the essence.”
John snapped back to reality with that statement. He looked at Bruce, guiltily. John knew he needed to get going on the interview with the Moores, whether he wanted to or not. John reached for the door handle and opened it. He got out of the car and looked back at Bruce, questioningly. Bruce laughed.
“Sorry, buddy,” said Bruce. “It’s one thing for me to take some verbal shots at you. I really have no want to hear your in-laws rip you a new one.”
“I could be a while,” replied John.
“I have some games on my cellphone,” said Bruce, waving in the air.
John headed towards the door of the house. Bruce watched John disappear inside. Bruce sat in the car laughing. His phone buzzed and he looked at it. He had received a text. Bruce read it thoroughly, and tsked.
“How come I always have to take care of the loose ends?” He asked out loud to no one.
Chapter 42
John walked through the Moore’s home. It had been well over three years since he had been there. John didn’t necessarily have a bad relationship with his in-laws, he just always felt like they thought Sam could have done better than him; secretly he agreed with the idea.
Madeline walked up to John and looked at him. John started to speak five different times and didn’t know what to say. Madeline smiled at him, opened her arms and hugged him. John was stunned. Emotions flowed through him and he began to sob.
“Madeline . . .” He couldn’t say anything else.
“Shh,” Madeline answered. “It wasn’t your fault son. I know it wasn’t your fault.” After a minute he gathered himself and broke the hug. Madeline had her hands on John’s shoulders.
“You know,” Madeline began. “We lost a daughter; we didn’t have to lose a son as well.”
John looked down at the ground. After everything he had put them through after Sam’s death . . . John didn’t believe he deserved some of the people in his life. Between his parents, Jessica, Chet, Trip, and Madeline . . . A voice interrupted his thoughts
“So you finally decide to show your face. If I’d have known all I had to do was sue you, I’d have done it three years ago.” John knew the voice even before he saw Madeline’s face. John turned to face Arthur, Sam’s father; the man who blamed John for everything that had happened over the past three years in his life. This wasn’t going to be pleasant.
Chapter 43
“Madeline,” John said, never taking his eyes off of Arthur. “You might want to leave the room. I believe there may be some things said that shouldn’t be said in the presence of a lady.”
“John, don’t you worry,” Arthur responded. “She’s heard me call you every name in the book.”
“Arthur,” John began.
“Save it, John!” Arthur was furious. “You think you can crawl up in a bottle, get my daughter killed, wallow in self-pity, and not have to suffer any consequences!?! I think it’s time you came back to reality, you self-absorbed prima-donna!!”
“Prima-donna?? You live here in this mansion like you’re a member of the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and I’m a prima-donna!?!?” Madeline had been watching the whole exchange and buried her head in her hands with the last remarks. She knew this day had been coming, and so far it hadn’t spiraled out of control. She also knew these two alpha dogs would eventually go for each other’s throats.
“Here we go,” Madeline muttered to herself.
“You got my daughter killed and never a phone call or anything?” Arthur asked. Madeline looked up from her hands. She tried to signal for Arthur to stop, but he ignored her and kept on going. “Oh, my mistake, you did manage to speak to me at the funeral, or do you remember that, Alchy?”
Madeline winched with that last remark.
“I was drunk,” John said as calmly as he could. “I was drunk because I had lost my wife.” Madeline came up beside John and put her hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him. John patted it. “I was drunk because I was an alcoholic, and I had lost my rock. That was my lowest day, Arthur, and I haven’t drank since.”
Arthur began to slowly clap; mocking John. “Well whoopty-doo! I lost a daughter and I didn’t climb into a bottle!!” Madeline cut Arthur a sharp look. “What is it with you, Madeline!?! It’s not like you’ve never heard me say this before.”
“I thought you would get it all out of your system ranting at me, Arthur!” Madeline retorted. “The man had a disease. Excuse me, he HAS a disease. You wouldn’t chew out a cancer patient for having cancer.”
“A cancer patient didn’t kill my daughter!” Arthur was near tears.
Madeline pointed at John as she spoke. “Neither has he!! You old fool, he lost his wife!!”
“I lost my little girl!!!” Arthur had tears freely falling down his face. John was close to tears. “He has never lost a child!!”
Madeline stared at the floor. She spoke very softly. “He did that day, Arthur. He did that day.”
Chapter 44
It took Arthur a second to comprehend what Madeline had just said. He looked at John, then back at Madeline. A look of slow comprehension came over his face.
For John, the world slowed down to a crawl. He saw Arthur’s mouth moving, but couldn’t understand the words, they were so slow. John noticed Arthur was growing taller. No, that wasn’t quite right. John realized he was on the floor. Arthur was bending over him, trying to help him up. Madeline had her hands curled up in fists with her first fingers on her lips. She looked very worried. John tried to ask her what was wrong and realized he couldn’t talk.
Sam had been pregnant; that thought kept running through his mind. John thought back to the last morning he saw Sam. He closed his eyes, and suddenly he was in his old New York Apartment.
Chapter 45
John opened his eyes. It was his apartment in New York; the one that had exploded. He was standing in the bathroom in front of the sink. His head . . . hurt. He couldn’t think straight. He hadn’t felt like this since he quit drinking. John had a hangover. He looked into the mirror in front of him. The John that looked back was one he had not seen in a long, long time. John reached hesitantly to the medicine cabinet and opened it. He looked and saw a small flask. He kept his “emergency wake-up” drink in it. John looked down at the sink, and with all of his strength shut the medicine cabinet door. As he shut the door, he saw Sam in the reflection of the mirror.
“Did you hear me, John?” Sam asked. “Do you think I can go clothes shopping this weekend?” John just stared into the mirror, looking at her. She was so beautiful. He turned around slowly, tears were in his eyes. Sam had a concerned look on her face. “John, tell me you haven’t touched your stash in that cabinet!”
John threw his hands up in surrender. “Sam, I swear I haven’t touched it.” The look of anger and concern left her face and a smile replaced it. John looked very closely. There was something about her. The clothes fit just a bit tighter, there were little signs on her face, but mostly she was so happy. Sam and John had been told by doctors that Sam could never have a child.
John silently berated himself for not noticing when this was actually going on. For days Sam had been talking about shopping for new clothes, somet
hing she only did when she needed something for work. John had been so distracted by the job . . . no. It was time to quit lying to himself. John’s senses had been dulled by the alcohol. He was constantly drunk these days.
“You’re pregnant,” John said softly. Sam smiled the biggest smile he had ever seen. She came toward him to hug him; to celebrate. As she walked toward him the whole scene dissolved around him. This wasn’t what had happened.
What really happened that morning was John was thinking about the pending Mafia busts. He did take a swig from his flask to dull the pain. He gave Sam a kiss on the cheek, promising they would go shopping this weekend. He had sensed the disappointment in her as he left, but as he looked back, she was smiling at him. She told him good luck. That was the last time he ever saw her alive.
Thelma Hank’s Residence
Dale City, Virginia
Chapter 46
Thelma was humming to herself. She was quite happy with herself. Next week Trip was coming to Quantico for a visit. After all of the important meetings, he was hers for the weekend. Thelma was checking her gear for laser tag. It was so nice to find someone else who enjoyed the complexities of the game . . . and Trip wasn’t bad looking either!
Thelma laughed to herself. After the match, or matches, they would go out for a nice dinner at a little jazz place they knew. They would have steak, a few drinks, and dance for hours. She wondered what Trip’s subordinates would think if they knew how good of a dancer he was. Thelma pulled her head out of the closet quickly. She looked around, thinking she had heard something. After a minute she shrugged. The old house was always creaking and making strange noises.
Suddenly she felt a knee in her back, and something against her throat. Something was cutting into her throat. She tried to scream but no noise would come out. The room was spinning. Blackness began to creep in from the outside of her eyesight. Thelma panicked, knowing she only had seconds. She tried to shift her weight to toss her assailant over her. She felt the weight come off her back and heard a thud as her assailant hit the ground. She was stunned as oxygen flooded her lungs. She was gasping as a fist struck her. She fell to the ground and felt hands wrap around her neck. As she began to lose consciousness, she looked up at the face of her attacker.
Bruce stared down at Thelma as she tried to speak.
“Shh,” he whispered. Thelma was helpless. “Shh,” Bruce whispered again. “We don’t want anyone hearing you, do we? Why do they always want to say something at the end?” Thelma’s eyes shut, and Bruce let go. He rolled her over on her stomach, and straddled her from behind. He hugged her head close to his body.
“I would tell you this is going to hurt me more than it would hurt you, but I’m going to break your neck. That would be lying, and lying is bad.” With that he quickly twisted his arms and a sickening crack made Bruce grin from ear to ear. “Why, Thelma? Why did you have to get involved with my business?”
Bruce drug the body down the stairs. He went into her kitchen, looked around and smiled. Good, he thought, a gas stove. Bruce disabled the pilot light on the stove, and turned on the burners. He placed a small, homemade contraption on the floor. He had made an igniter using fireworks and a radio controlled car. Bruce chuckled. You can learn anything on the internet. He went outside and sat in the car that was parked a block away. After about 30 minutes he turned on the remote. He started his car, drove to the stop sign, and pressed the drive stick on the remote. The house exploded. Bruce drove the car back towards his hotel. When he got a few blocks away from the hotel, he pulled into an underground parking lot. He parked the car, reached in the glove box and pulled out a license plate. Bruce went to the back of the car and switched the license plate in his hand with the one that was currently on the car. He put the one he just took off back in the glove box. He pulled off the clothes he was wearing and the gloves that were on his hands and placed them in a bag. He quickly put on the running suit he had been wearing when he left the hotel earlier. He threw the bag into a nearby garbage bin. He locked up the car and poured water all over his outfit, which was a running suit. He jogged back to the hotel, and the doorman who had seen him leave an hour ago waived at him.
“Good run, sir?” The doorman asked.
“Yeah,” replied Bruce, gasping for air. “Sitting in a car all day, or behind a desk dulls the senses. There’s nothing like a good run for getting me ready for bed.” Bruce headed upstairs chuckling to himself. He had just established an alibi if anyone ever came close to IDing the car. The smile fell from Bruce’s face as he thought about having to deal with Trip and John’s team soon if they got much closer to the truth.
Moore’s Residence
Virginia
Chapter 47
John opened his eyes and looked up at Arthur. Arthur had tears in his eyes. John composed himself and spoke.
“Arthur,” John said.
“Yes, John?” Arthur replied.
“If you tell me you love me and try to kiss me I’ll shoot you. I do have my gun on me!” Arthur shut his eyes for a minute and a slow smile crossed his face. He opened his eyes and spoke.
“I deserve that, John,” Arthur said. Arthur helped John up and into a chair. Madeline was fussing over John. Arthur sat down in a chair from the nearby table. “John . . .” John held up his hand.
“Arthur, I did you wrong at the funeral, and for the past three years.” John looked at Madeline. “That goes for you too, Madeline. “ John looked at Arthur and took a deep breath. “Arthur, I haven’t touched Sam’s case because I didn’t think I could work it and not start drinking again.” John stood and Madeline reached quickly to make sure he would not fall. John smiled at her and got his bearings.
“Arthur, I need your help, and I come with my hat in my hand.” Arthur didn’t say a word, he just stared at John. “I will tell you everything I know about what happened with the Mafia bust and Sam’s death. I’ll see if I can get Chet and Jessica to fill in any blanks that I don’t know yet.” Arthur remained quiet and kept staring at John. Madeline looked at Arthur, picked up the folded newspaper nearby, and then slapped him on the shoulder with it. Arthur jumped, startled.
“No, Madeline,” John said, holding up his hand. “I have one more thing to offer; the golden goose.” Both Madeline and Arthur turned their heads slowly toward John in anticipation of what he was going to say. Tears were forming in Madeline’s eyes. John nodded at Madeline, and Madeline took Arthur’s hands in hers.
“Spit it out, boy,” Arthur demanded. “I’m not getting any younger!”
John looked down at the floor and spoke very softly. “I’ll open Sam’s case, and I’ll stay on it until it’s solved. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll find Sam’s killer.”
Chapter 48
Arthur stepped up to John and stuck out his hand. Madeline let out a deep breath. John held up one finger.
“Uh, not yet, Arthur, I’ll do all of this on three conditions,” John said.
Arthur raised an eyebrow. He nodded for John to continue.
John held up one finger. “First off, I need to find the Senator.” Arthur nodded. “I’ll start Sam’s case as soon as I finish finding the Senator, to do that I need you to tell me everything you can about Archibald.”
“Done!” Arthur exclaimed.
John reached into his coat and pulled out three folded pieces of paper and handed them to Arthur. Arthur took a look at them. He reached into his pocket to get his reading glasses. He took the papers over to the table and looked them over.
“Do you know who owns these loans?” Arthur asked, looking up from the papers.
“I have a pretty good idea,” replied John. “See, Arthur, two friends of mine, and of Sam’s, owe that money. The third one, just the name, I have a hunch also owes. I need it verified.” Arthur frowned. “I could have taken care of the problem, but I can’t touch any of Sam’s money.” Arthur looked at John. “I’m not asking you to lift the lawsuit, just take the money out of Sam’s trust and fix it.”
Arthur looked over the papers again and shook his head. He picked up one of the sheets and looked at it and then at John. John shrugged.
“Would it help you to know he’s in a program?” Arthur slowly nodded his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “I have a counter offer,” he said to John. He got up and walked out of the room for a minute. Madeline walked over to the table and looked at the papers. She gasped and looked at John.
“What is he doing, Madeline?” John asked.
“Well, John Fowler, you should know Arthur well enough to know that he’s going to make sure they can’t be used, or used any more if that’s what’s going on.” She shook her head and looked directly at John. “He’s going to fix it.” John looked confused. “He will buy a group of loans with this one in it,” gesturing with one of the papers. “The other loan,” Madeline continued looking over the paper. “Arthur has a few deals he’s been holding on to that would benefit the owner of this loan,” Madeline said with a smile on her face. “He’ll make the loan part of the deal and Arthur will make it go away. Arthur will also have the other loan forgiven.”
John was stunned. “Madeline, that’s not what I was asking for!”
Madeline smiled at John. “John, we have more than we’ll ever need, but never enough to bring back our daughter.” Madeline let that sink in. “He’s a different man now, John. He lost two people with her death.”
Chapter 49
John stood there for a moment, not trusting his ears with what he had just heard.
“Madeline,” John began softly.
