by David Carner
Madeline walked over to John and hugged him. “He loves you too, John. He loves you too,” Madeline repeated softly.
John stood there for a moment. He looked around the house, and noticed it was now very late. He wasn’t sure how long he had been out earlier.
“Uh, Madeline, where’s Bruce?” John asked.
“Oh, him,” Madeline said with a shudder. “He always looks at me like . . . like he hates me, but you never see it on his face. Does that make sense?” Madeline shook her head thinking about Bruce. “We told him you were staying the night here. He said he needed some rest. He took the car and headed back to a hotel. How that boy came from Jeremiah, I’ll never know.”
Arthur walked back into the room smiling. “You were right about the name. He’s way in over his head. The other two, I’ve fixed both of them John. First thing in the morning, they’ll fax me a paid in full sheet that you can take to both of them.” Arthur looked very sternly at John. “You make sure that boy NEVER gets in bed with him again! You understand?” John nodded. “Now what’s number three?”
John shook his head. “That was it. I wanted you to fix the two, the other name was three.” John stuck out his hand to shake. Arthur looked John up and down.
“No deal, son,” Arthur said. John was confused. “You said three things, so I need a third. How about this? I drop the lawsuit.” John’s mouth dropped and Arthur smiled, quite pleased with himself. “I actually had my lawyer drop the lawsuit when I was making the calls earlier.”
John didn’t know what to say.
“Oh, come off it, son!” Arthur said. “I don’t want that money, and you’ve been through enough. All I ever wanted was the greatest detective I’ve ever seen to look into Sam’s death.” John still didn’t know what to say. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes. John noticed one in Arthur’s. John’s slow grin that irritated so many slowly crept across his face.
“John,” Arthur began, trying to look stern. “Don’t start with your know-it-all thing right now!” John held out his hand for Arthur to shake. Arthur reached out and took John’s hand. The grin on John’s face broke out into a full-fledge smile. John pulled Arthur in and hugged him. Madeline rolled her eyes.
“I’m so glad you two Alpha dogs got that out of your system,” Madeline said.
Arthur and John broke their hug. John looked at Arthur.
“So that’s where Sam got it from, I just always assumed it was you, Arthur,” John said.
“I get that all the time,” replied Arthur.
Madeline harrumphed, and left the room. She was smiling broadly, but the two men couldn’t see her.
Chapter 50
John and Arthur sat down at the kitchen table. They began to talk about Archibald Staples. Arthur told John about every deal that he knew Archibald had been involved in. Arthur talked for two hours. John knew most everything that Arthur talked about. As John listened his hope for finding the Senator began to fade. Since the incident in Kentucky nearly twenty-five years ago that Archibald’s daughter was involved in, there was nothing illegal that could be found on Archibald. While Archibald was making millions of dollars legally in the United States, there was more income than there should be.
RICO agents and tax lawyers had looked into Archibald, but that was a dead-end. Archibald was paying taxes on everything. Whatever Archibald was doing, it was out of the country. If the Senator was being held captive outside of the country . . . there was nothing John could do about that.
John had just about decided to go to bed when Arthur mentioned something in passing. John’s head snapped up and he stared at Arthur. Arthur thought about what he said and looked confused.
“Say that again,” John said, excitement beginning to run through him.
“I said that worst thing is, Archibald got his start from his in-laws and then after his wife died he bought them out,” Arthur repeated. Arthur looked very confused.
“Arthur, think very carefully,” John began. “The business he bought out, what happened to it?”
Arthur leaned back in his chair. “Well, he closed down the company. He once told me he left the warehouses empty as a testament to his wife. I couldn’t figure out if he meant his life was empty without her, or they had an empty marriage.” Arthur stared off into space thinking about what he had just said.
John rolled his eyes at the amateur psychologist hour. He put his hands on Arthur’s shoulders. Arthur came back to Earth. John was trying to keep from shaking with excitement.
“Arthur, the buildings? Whose name were they put in?”
“Oh, that,” began Arthur. “He put them in a shell company that Veronica controlled for tax reasons . . . oh . . . OH!!“ Arthur’s mouth dropped when he realized what he had told John and what it could possibly mean. He looked at John and understood now what his daughter meant about there were times you could literally see the locks tumbling in John’s head.
John was positive where Senator Cosby was being held. He jumped up ready to go find him. That’s when his cell phone went off, and chaos broke loose.
Chapter 51
John looked at his phone. The first thing he noticed was the time, 2:30 am. The second thing he noticed was who the call was from, Jess. John looked at Arthur who nodded and headed out of the room. John smiled as he answered the phone.
“So let me guess, you woke up from a dream about me and wondered if there was any way possible I could be as good as the dream. Well, the answer is no, Jess. The real me is better than any dream you’d ever have.” John was smiling. He was very proud of himself at that moment.
There was silence at the other end. John looked at the phone to make sure the call hadn’t been disconnected. He saw it hadn’t and put the phone back to his ear.
“Jess?” He asked. “Jess, are you there.”
“Agent Fowler,” Jessica responded. John’s heart leapt into his throat. The last time he had heard Jessica use that tone . . . Tears rushed to John’s eyes. John started looking for Arthur. He stepped back and could see through the doorway that both Arthur and Madeline were in the living room. Apparently Madeline had fallen asleep on the couch. They were both safe and Jessica was on the phone, that only left Chet and Trip.
“Jess,” John began. He took a deep breath and blurted out. “Who’s dead, Trip or Chet?”
The second of silence was almost unbearable for John.
“Neither, John,” Jessica replied. “John, I’m on my way to Dale City with both Chet and Trip.” John’s head was spinning trying to put all the pieces together. He had a million questions.
“There has been an explosion and a death of someone who worked at Quantico,” Jessica stated. “Chet built a program that would automatically inform me of cases that were similar to an open case I have.”
John’s mind was reeling. An open case of Jessica’s . . . there was only one case that Jessica had that John knew was open . . .
“Agent Fowler,” Jessica began and that’s when it hit John. She had referred to him as Agent Fowler. The last time she referred to him as Agent Fowler was when he was a suspect in his wife’s death . . . the only case that John knew Jessica had open. John sat down in the chair behind him without even looking. Did this mean . . .
“Jess,” John began very quietly. “Jess, am I a suspect?”
“No,” Jessica replied quickly.
John understood. Jessica was not alone with just Chet and Trip. She was trying to tip him that this case might involve someone in his wife’s death. This case might have the same killer. John’s mouth went dry. His heart began to race. He took a deep breath.
“Agent Hammerstein,” John began with a smile on his face. “I bet you about dropped the phone when I answered it the way I did.” John heard a light chuckle on the other end.
“Yes, yes I did,” she replied.
“You’re already in Virginia I take it?” John asked.
“Yes I am,” Jessica replied.
“A higher up from Quantico is with you?” John
asked.
“Very observant, Agent Fowler,” Jessica responded.
“Does he know about the link between this murder and my wife’s?” John asked very quietly.
“No,” Jessica replied. John was puzzled. He wasn’t for sure what was going on. “Do you remember Thelma Hanks?” Jessica asked.
John lowered his head. He did remember Thelma. He knew Trip was in love with her, and she was with him. John stood up. “I do. Jess, text me the address, I’m on my way.” John disconnected, told the Moores he had to leave, and asked to borrow a car. Arthur tossed John the keys, and John ran outside to the car. As he was getting in the car, his mind was spinning. He had a lead on the Senator and now, after all this time, he might have a lead on his wife’s killer. A smile spread across John’s face. While he was sad for the death of Thelma and for Trip, he couldn’t help but be excited to finally be on the trail of the one person in the world he wanted to see dead.
Thelma Hank Residence
Dale City, Virginia
Chapter 52
As John pulled up to what was left of the address he was texted, he couldn’t help to think back to the night of Sam’s death. He stared at the burning wreckage that had been Thelma’s house. It reminded him of that night as his apartment burnt in the New York night. He had lain on the ground that night, knocked back by the explosion. He had wanted to get up and run to his apartment, but he had been a FBI agent for too long. He knew Sam was gone. He stared that night at the fire that burned against the clear sky. John shook the memories from his head.
John got out of the car and scanned the area. He saw Jess, Chet and Trip. He examined Trip closely. John wasn’t 100% sure of Trip and Thelma’s relationship, but he knew they loved each other. That was obvious to John by the body movements Trip had at work when she was mentioned, and here, at what remained of her home. John sighed deeply. This was going to be rough. John knew better than anyone what Trip was going through right now. Trip was standing apart from Jessica and Chet. John took a deep breath and started toward him. Jessica saw John and tried to stop him, but John waved her off.
“Chet,” Jessica said to him, not even looking at Chet but watching John head toward Trip. “We’re about to see massive fireworks, one way or another.”
John walked up to Trip and stood there quietly. Trip felt John at his shoulder, but ignored him. Trip gazed into the fire. John counted mentally to 100, and when Trip still hadn’t acknowledged him, John spoke.
“Trip,” John began. “Don’t hold this in.”
Trip turned to John, anger spreading quickly across his face.
“So you go to one counseling session and you think you can help save the world!?” Trip spoke quietly, but very angrily. John didn’t say anything. “You have no idea what I’m going through. You don’t know my relationship with Thelma. I know you think you know. I know you think you know everything with you special ‘abilities.’ For God’s sake man!?!? Why did they even let you in the FBI!?!? You’re not a profiler, you’re not a forensic scientist, and you can’t even tell others how you know the things you know!?!? You can just watch someone and deduce it in your head!?!? Well here’s something you don’t know, Mr. Know-It-All!!!! I killed her!!! I asked her to do something for me and now she’s dead!!!”
Trip began to tremble. John knew what was coming next, and now realized how little he had thought through his plan. Trip was going to need a shoulder to cry on, and John really didn’t think there was any way he was going to get around the awkwardness of this moment. It was at that second Jessica, who had been watching the whole thing and began walking toward them during their exchange, hugged Trip. Trip broke down and began to sob. Chet did his best to stand in a way that shielded others from seeing what was going on. After a minute or so, Trip regained his composure, and Jessica released Trip. Trip nodded his thanks toward Jessica, and looked at John sheepishly. Trip began to speak, but John held up his hand.
“Trip,” John began. “If anyone knows about saying things they regret in these situations, well, you’re looking at him.” Trip nodded. “Now, what do you have facts-wise about what you just told me?”
Trip shook his head. He looked at the remains of Thelma’s house and looked back at John. He looked hopeless. John had seen that look before. It had stared at him in a mirror for three years. John placed his arm on Trip’s shoulder. Trip blew out a breath and tried to hold it together.
“I don’t know anything for sure, John, I just know what I think,” Trip replied. He was on the verge of losing it with each word he spoke, but he managed to hold it together. John nodded, and looked at the burning building. John felt the feelings of loss start to build in him, but instead of fighting them, he let them come. While John was looking toward the building, Jessica moved to where she was looking Trip directly in the face, with a questioning look on her face. Trip shook his head no, quickly, and Jessica let it go. Trip walked over to John and stood beside him, both men looking at the fire.
Chapter 53
Chet and Jessica walked up behind the two men. John spoke, softly.
“Trip, I don’t know what you felt for Thelma, and it’s not my place to judge,” John began. “Tonight you’ve had something ripped away from you. Tonight you’ve been told something is over that you never had a chance to fight for. I’d like to tell you that eventually that feeling goes away. That would be a lie.”
Tears were in Trip’s eyes. John turned toward him. Jessica and Chet stood there silently. Both thought they should be uncomfortable with the situation, but they weren’t. Jessica had the craziest thought that they were becoming a family. Not the Christmas card kind. More like the dysfunctional get Uncle George out of the potato salad at the reunion type of family. Nonetheless they were becoming a family.
“I’m going to tell you what I think,” John began. “I think you two had an arrangement that worked for both of you. I think both of you wanted more, but you were good with where you were.” Trip continued to look at the building, tears streaming down his face. He was barely nodding, but he was confirming everything John said. “Trip, you were both happy. Hold on to that. Remember that, relish it. You hold onto that when you have these moments where you think your world is about to come crashing around you. When it’s late at night and you think you might go crazy from the questions of what more could I have done, remember that you were happy. Remember that Thelma loved life, and lived it. Remember that she wouldn’t want you to stop living your life. Remember that you’re not dead, and if you don’t go on, then that would make Thelma unhappy. Remember to be happy.”
Trip turned to John, nodding as tears streamed down his face. Against his better judgment, John hugged Trip. When they broke the embrace, Jessica put her arm on John’s shoulder. She had read between the lines of what John said. While this was Trip’s moment, and everything should be about him, she knew that John had his walls down. She knew they needed John if they were to solve the cases in front of them. Jessica silently admonished herself, but she did what she knew she needed to do.
“You know you have that too, John,” Jessica said.
John squared his jaw and fought back the tears. He turned to Jessica, with anger in his eyes. Not at her, but at what he had done.
“Do I, Jess?” John asked. “Do I really? I mean the two of you were best friends and I didn’t notice. I am known for my “gift”. I mean right or wrong, what Trip said a few minutes ago was spot on. I am not a forensic scientist, I am not a psychologist, or a profiler, or anything that is glamorous. I’m an old school detective that notices things no one else does. I didn’t even notice you and my wife were best friends. I didn’t even notice that I was too far gone to notice! I was so absorbed in myself and my next drink that I missed the obvious!!”
“That was my fault,” Trip said quietly. Shock hit Chet’s face when he heard those words. He turned toward Trip. The color drained out of Jessica’s face. She looked down at the ground hoping to avoid John’s explosion. John didn’t explode. He slowly turn
ed toward Trip with mild amusement on his face.
“Do you want to run that one by me again, Boss?” John asked.
Chapter 54
“I was concerned about you,” Trip began. “You were so far into the mob, and the drinking . . . “ Trip let the sentence trail off, as he looked back toward the house. He kept looking at the house as he continued.
“I needed to test you, so I asked Jessica to start meeting with Sam,” Trip said. He had a quick laugh and shook his head. He looked at John. “She was just like you, John.” John looked confused. “Sam knew what was up quickly. She came to me and thanked me for caring about you. I put in a request to pull you off the case six months before the bust. It was denied. You were in so deep and the thought was you could bring down so many . . .” Trip looked over at the burning remains of Thelma’s house and shook his head. He collected himself and continued. “The higher ups thought the risk was justified. They only cared about the bottom line. John, you were expendable. It was almost like they were trying to get rid of you.”
Trip blew out a breath. He knew he had to be careful. There were so many things that John didn’t know. All Trip had to do was let the wrong piece of information slip and everything would crumble like a house of cards. The problem was part of him didn’t care. All of these secrets . . . had all of these secrets gotten Sam and Thelma killed? He had it with all the secrecy. Trip turned toward John. It was time to face the music, it was time to tell John everything that had happened and let the chips fall where they may. He started to open his mouth when John held up his hand.
“Listen,” John began. “You’ve been through something very traumatic. I know all three of you are keeping something from me, a lot of somethings.” Trip, Jessica, and Chet looked like they had been hit in the stomach with a baseball bat. The air had been knocked out of them. John smiled to himself. He knew he could get all three of them to tell him everything right here and now, but it wasn’t the time. They had to find the Senator. Then they could deal with Sam, and Thelma.