by David Carner
Chapter 77
John walked up to a national news crew. The reporter there recognized him from John’s work years before. John stuck his hand out.
“Hi, I’m John Fowler. I’m about to make you an offer you can’t refuse. I need to borrow one of your cameras. I need you to show me how to use it.”
Sheila Lane had been covering events like this for years, but she had never had this happen before. She extended her hand and shook John’s.
“Sheila Lane. I talked to you before during the Mafia bust.” John blushed.
“I’m sorry. I was probably drunk and said something inappropriate.”
“You probably were and you did. I don’t think what you suggested was humanly possible.” John dropped his head. He sighed and then raised his head. Sheila was smiling at him.
“Your partner spoke to me at length afterwards.” John looked confused. “Jessica, I believe was her name.” John was taken aback; how long had Jess been covering for him? “Anyway, she told me about your wife and the whole deal. I’m really sorry.”
“Thank you,” said John. “Now, I quickly need you to teach me how to use your news camera.” Sheila waived over her cameraman and he gave John an extensive lesson. The last thing he showed John was a switch on the back that activated a red light.
“Now make sure to have the switch off,” said the cameraman. “If the light is off, it records only to the camera. If the switch is on and this light is red, it would send us the feed out here in the truck.”
“Oh really?” said John. John turned toward Sheila with a mischievous grin on his face. “Sheila, as a journalist, what would you do if you were to receive that feed?”
Sheila raised an eyebrow. “Well, John, as a journalist, it would be my duty to send the feed national. In other words, it would be on TV as quick as the signal could hit the relays.”
“Huh,” said John. “I would have thought that Secret Service would cut it off or something.”
“If the feed went out during whatever might be happening, there would be a public outcry. Besides I don’t think anyone would mind seeing the first lady being taken down a peg.”
John nodded. “Well, I’ll just have to make sure that switch doesn’t light up the little red light now won’t I?”
Sheila nodded. John smiled and started toward the command post. John called back.
“Hey, Sheila, do you think you’d get an award for that?”
Sheila smiled, “Oh, yeah.” John smiled and continued on.
Chapter 78
As John headed down the deserted halls of the White House, he had to admit he was a little excited. He was about to solve an “unsolvable case” and solve an over twenty-five year old case that hadn’t even been opened yet! Man it was hard being that good! John chuckled to himself. He deserved many of those names that Jessica liked to call him.
He reached the door to the outer office to the Oval Office. The agent in charge radioed to the command center to let them know John was there. The command center called in to David George. John waited patiently to be told to enter. He didn’t want to do a thing to spook David.
“John Fowler!!” David yelled. “You may come in. If anyone else follows, or if you are armed, I kill the first lady and then you!”
“I’m coming alone, David,” yelled John. John slowly opened the door to the outer office and looked in. He saw no one and slowly walked in. After he stepped in he closed the door behind him. “David, I’m in the outer office, by myself. Please don’t shoot me.” John slowly walked to the inner office. “David, I’m at the door, what would you like me to do?”
“Open the door, very slowly,” said David. “I will kill her if you try anything.”
“David,” said John. “You have nothing to worry about, I’m just gonna open the door. I have only the camera in my hands, and there is no gun anywhere on me.” John opened the door very carefully. He slowly walked through. He saw a man with a gun pointed toward the first lady’s head. John came in, and shut door behind him. John laid the camera on the chair and stepped away from it.
“What are you doing?” David asked.
“I thought you might want to examine the camera and make sure it’s exactly what I said it was.” John held his hands up. David chuckled.
“I trust you, sir. If you do anything what-so-ever, I’m simply going to put a bullet through the first lady here, understand?”
“I sure do, sir,” said John. John slowly walked up to the camera, examined and flipped a switch on the back. The red light came on.
“Whoa,” said David. “What is that light?”
“Sir, this building is very secure; I need to record everything on this camera. The red light means it’s not transmitting but recording to the camera. When this is all over, I take it to the network and the world finds out your story.”
David looked upset. “So you can’t transmit live?”
“No sir, I’m afraid you can’t,” John replied. Lisa smiled, she knew she could say exactly what David wanted to hear, and it would never air. The Secret Service would take care of that. David George would go to jail for murder and she would go on being first lady. The downside was John Fowler would be a hero and Senator Cosby would find a way to use that to his advantage, but her father already had a contingency plan in place for that. It was going to be a great day.
“Ok,” said David. “What do you want me to do?”
“Boss, you’re the one with the gun,” said John. “Last time I checked that meant you got to make all the rules.”
David smiled and nodded. “We’re going to get on just fine,” said David.
John looked back to make sure that the red light was on. He saw Lisa smile when he fed her the line about the camera not being able to transmit. Lisa would now tell the truth, which would keep David from killing her, but would also ensure she would pay for what happened to Beth all those years ago. Bro. Jim, this is for you.
Chapter 79
Outside in the News Truck
Pete was sitting at his spot in the news truck watching the feeds come in. He stared at one monitor and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He ran to the door and shouted out.
“Sheila!!” He yelled. “Who has camera 6!?!’
Trip had wandered outside of command central. He didn’t trust John to do things by the book. He knew that John had another agenda, and John would do whatever it took to get that done. He heard Pete yelling from the news truck, and Trip knew where he could keep tabs on John. He ran over as Sheila approached the truck. Trip pulled out his FBI credentials. Pete stood there like a statue. Trip turned to Sheila.
“Look, that is my agent in there,” began Trip. “Actually he’s not an agent any longer, he’s just a consultant. Either way, he’s my friend and I need to see what he’s up to. It could be he’s trying to send me a message, and if I can’t hear or see what’s going on, I won’t know how to help him. I promise you I have no plans of shutting down anything.”
Sheila didn’t like it, but there was a lot of sense in what Trip said. She wondered how John was going to pull all of this off by himself. She motioned Pete out of the way and they both went inside. Trip smiled when he saw the monitor. John had gone live. He was going to take down Lisa, or Veronica, or whatever the heck her name was. He turned to Sheila.
“Is this feed being broadcast out to the country right now?” Trip asked.
Sheila was stunned. “You’re telling me to broadcast this!?!”
Trip shook his head no. “I’m telling you I won’t shut it down. You might want to bar that door if you decide to do it.”
Sheila turned to Pete, who took off. He locked the door and began to pile stuff in front of it. Sheila got on the phone and began talking. Trip watched the TV broadcast on another monitor. An anchor was on TV talking about the situation in the White House. He looked confused for a split second and then Trip was watching Lisa, John, and the man he could only assume was David George.
“Ok, John,” he said to no
one. “Bring this one home. And make sure you bring yourself home alive.”
Chapter 80
John held the camera where David’s and Lisa’s faces were perfectly framed. “Not bad,” he thought.
“Anytime you’re ready, David, I’m sure Lisa is about ready to end all of this,” said John.
“First of all,” began David. “Her name is Veronica. She came to my home town in Kentucky when I was a young boy. She took an interest in me and my sister, Beth. Our Mom was a drunk and we had no idea who our Dad was, or if we had the same father. Beth took care of me like she was my Mom.”
John had heard the majority of this story, but he wanted to make sure he got every bit of this broadcasted so people would know exactly who and what Lisa was. David continued.
“Anyway. Veronica here used to come around and do things with us. She helped Beth in school and gave her hand-me-down clothes that were much better than anything we owned. To tell you the truth, I didn’t think some of them had ever been worn.” Lisa scoffed.
“They weren’t hand-me-downs you idiot,” Lisa said. “They were new, or clothes I had never worn. I swear you are still the trash I thought you were twenty-five years ago!! You and your sister were, and still are, beneath me!! Why did I ever try and help the two of you? You both ruined my life!” Lisa gasped as the gun was being dug into her ribs. John acted quickly.
“David,” he warned. “Don’t do it man. You are getting exactly what you want out of her. You want everyone to see exactly who she is and what she’s done to you and your sister. You need to let her say whatever it is she’s going to say.”
David nodded. He relaxed his grip. “I apologize, Veronica, feel free to say whatever you feel is appropriate.” Veronica shot David a death look.
“You really are an idiot,” said Veronica. “You do realize that when this is over you will spend the rest of your life in prison.”
“I may,” replied David. “But I will finally have justice for you murdering my sister just because you were afraid someone would think you were gay! You won’t be the first lady anymore, and there is nothing that you or your father can do to fix it!!”
Chapter 81
Lisa was furious. “You have no proof of that!!” She exclaimed. John felt he was about to lose control of the situation . . . if he ever had control to start with.
“Lisa, calm down,” said John. Lisa glared at him. Was it because he didn’t refer to her as the first lady or Mrs. Nichols? John really didn’t care. He really hoped she didn’t push his buttons too far or he was afraid he’d let David shoot her.
“Lisa, why don’t you simply tell what happened in the cave that day.” Lisa nodded.
“I had gone to meet Jason Sparks that day,” Lisa began. “You know, the Captain that was killed in Afghanistan?” John nodded. “The one that just happened to run into David over there and ended up dead?” She asked the question accusingly at David. John started to get a sinking feeling in his gut that Lisa was doing something she hadn’t planned on. David had never responded to any of Lisa’s accusations, but worse than that, there was no actual proof of David killing anyone. Lisa was actually starting the basis for an insanity defense. A lawyer could say that David saw Jason killed in Afghanistan and it triggered all of his memories or some craziness like that. John thought about stopping her, but decided against it. Lisa continued.
“I was there to see Jason when Beth showed up. Jason hadn’t gotten there yet. Beth told me that she was gay, and that she wanted me. She attacked me. She grabbed my breast and put her hand over my mouth so no one could hear.” That was strange, thought John. Why, deep in a cave, would you cover someone’s mouth? No one should hear any shouts down there. That statement was really bothering John, but it was bothering David even more. John realized what was happening but was powerless to stop it; even if he wanted to. John was afraid it was going to come down to physical threats to learn the truth, and it seemed he was right. David shoved the gun back into Lisa’s ribs.
“Do you really think I’m a fool?!?!?” David was furious. “Veronica, tell the truth now, or so help me God I will kill you right here and now!!!”
Chapter 82
John didn’t move. Honestly, there was nothing he could do to stop it. Lisa looked to John for help, but John just kept the camera pointed on her.
“Ok!! OK!!!” Lisa was sobbing. “Beth told me she was gay. I was . . . Don’t make me do this, David.” Lisa was begging now. David moved the gun and Lisa gasped. “Ok, you’ve got to remember this was the late 1980’s. It was Kentucky, and people were homophobic. Many just assumed if you had a friend that was a certain way, then you were as well. I didn’t just want to be the President, I DREAMED of being President. Beth ended my hope that day. I wanted to be the first woman President of the United States and I couldn’t have anything that could be questioned on my record.”
Lisa looked at the ground. John couldn’t decide if she was near tears because of what happened, or because she was sorry she got caught. Lisa looked up and continued.
“So when Beth told me . . . I knew Jason was in the next room.” Lisa paused, and John was pretty sure what happened next. “I yelled out that I was being attacked. I grabbed both of Beth’s hands. I put one on my breast.” John was right . . . he was hoping he was wrong. He was hoping that Lisa wasn’t this despicable of a person, but he was wrong. Lisa continued. “I took my other hand, put it around her wrist and put her hand over my mouth like she was trying to quiet me. That’s when Jason ran in.”
John was barely breathing he was listening so closely. He was positive that Lisa didn’t physically kill Beth, but she was definitely the mastermind behind Beth’s death. Lisa took a deep breath and continued.
“Jason grabbed a rock and hit her in the back of the head with it. I’m pretty sure it killed her instantly. Anyway, Jason took Beth and threw her into the boards that were covering the mine shaft.” David dug the gun into Lisa’s ribs. John started to move, but Lisa put a hand out to stop him. “Jason did it off of my suggestion. It was an accident and we were kids. The truth is I never killed anyone. Jason Sparks killed Beth, and then tried to kill David.” John about dropped the camera with that revelation.
Chapter 83
John regained his composure after that last nugget of information. He looked at David who nodded. Lisa continued her story.
“About that time, David, who was a couple of years younger than us, attacked Jason. It all went crazy then. Our friends showed up. I told them that Beth had tried to rape me and they tried to comfort me. While that was going on, Jason and David fought. I saw Jason shove David. I don’t think Jason knew where David was standing because he pushed him through the opening in the boards and down the hole.” John couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I landed on my sister’s body,” David said softly. “Her neck was at a real weird angle, and I was sure she was dead.” David was quiet for a second. John thought, for just a second, he saw the face of the scared little boy who had just seen his sister die and had almost been killed himself. Then, the softness was gone from David’s face and the sternness of the young man who had grown up with the solemn vow to get vengeance for his sister’s death returned. When he spoke, it was with confidence.
“After making sure nothing was too badly hurt I made my way through some tunnels and came out an opening in the cave that was away from town. I headed up into the hills just wanting to get away from Veronica and the Staples. I knew it would all be covered up. I had dealt with Veronica for the past few years and I knew she always got what she wanted. An old couple raised me until I turned 18 and joined the armed forces. I had basically put it all out of my mind until I saw Jason Sparks in Afghanistan.”
“You mean until you killed him and then killed our other four friends at his funeral!” Lisa was furious. John decided it would be a good time to step in before things got completely out of hand.
“Well, it’s nice to finally see a FBI case have nothing to do with aliens or
UFOs,” said John. Both David and Lisa looked at John like he was crazy. John had to admit it was kinda funny given the circumstances. He just hoped the right person heard what he had just said.
Trip
In the News Truck
Chapter 84
Trip heard what John said and smiled to himself. He had to admit they had one of the strangest code lines, but they both knew exactly what he meant.
“Sheila, thank you for letting me watch this. Remember when I said I might have to help my agent? That time is right now. I need you to let me out of here.” Sheila looked at Trip. She saw the seriousness on his face. She nodded to her partner and he began to move the barriers from the door. Trip got out of the truck and ran over to the command post. He didn’t waste any time going through proper protocols. He noticed that everyone was watching the news feed.
“I don’t know who is in charge in here, but I am John Fowler’s supervisor, and that was our code phrase he just uttered. I need in there now!” Three different people started to object. Trip didn’t play around. “Listen to me very carefully. I know what each code he uses means and we don’t have the time to teach you guys.” That was a lie, but everyone in the room didn’t need to know that. “I’m going in there with or without your help! Now, are you going to help me and my agent?”
Less than a minute later Trip was working his way through the White House. At each checkpoint agents were aware of his coming and showed him where to go next. Trip got to the outer office of the Oval office. The agent in charge there was simply waiting on Trip’s command.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” said Trip. “I’m going in this door and leave it open a crack. When you hear me call out that it is all clear, you come in. The only time you get to disregard that command is if you hear a shot coming from inside of that office. Are we clear, gentlemen?” Trip looked around and the team all nodded in agreement. It didn’t matter what agency or branch of government, most of these agents understood one thing, a command. Trip took a deep breath and opened the door to the outer office. He made his way through until he was right beside the door to the inner office. He waited. It was all up to John now as to when the move was to be made. Trip just hoped no one got hurt.