Chapter Twenty Five:
……. "When did I lose the best thing that has happened to me in such a long time?"…….
John was sitting in his office very irritated with the officer on the other end of the line that he was talking to. "What do you mean you have no new information?" he queried. "How is it even possible that you haven’t found the guy that attacked Evangeline Williamson? How hard can this be?"
The officer was very apologetic, but it gathered him no grace from John. John yelled, "Find him!" as he slammed down the phone. John had never wanted to find anyone more than this criminal. After all, this was the guy that single handedly brought his happy life down around him. If John couldn’t be with Evangeline, he sure as heck was going to get this guy.
As John sat there thinking that there still had to be more to her attack than racism, a junior detective entered his office. The detective said, "There’s been some more sabotage at the Love Center. Your cousin was the last team member seen leaving again."
"What?" John inquired. "Are you sure she was the last team member again?"
"Yes sir," the detective replied. "I brought the Angel Square tape with me though. I knew you’d want to see it right away."
"Thanks," John replied. "Let’s both watch it now."
As they watched the tape, sure enough, Shannon was the last team member to leave the Love Center. "Why doesn’t she listen to me?" he thought. "She’s smart enough to know that she should team up with at least one team member at all times so that she can’t be set up like this."
John and the detective watched the tape again and John realized one strange thing. "Hey," John said. "Look at that. Kramer goes in to the Love Center, but he never comes out. Did you see him come out?"
"No," the detective responded. "I never did see him come out. I was the one that went in right after your cousin left and I found the sabotage. All the PVC pipes in the bathrooms had holes cut in them. It was just enough damage to cause them to have to replace everything. They may not meet their deadline now."
"So where could Kramer have gone?" John wondered aloud. "I think it’s time for me to have a little talk with him."
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Paul Kramer came out of the shower of his Angel Square Hotel room. He was on the brink of being thrown out because he hadn’t paid his rent in 2 months. However, if he got paid for his last job, he would be okay for a while. He smiled to himself as he dried off and dressed. Sabotaging the Love Center for RJ, setting up Shannon McBain and inadvertently sticking it to John McBain felt better than he thought it would. As he entered the Love Center, he felt like someone was watching him, so after his sabotage job, he climbed out of one of the bathroom windows. He had fallen to the ground and gotten all dirty.
As Paul finished getting dressed, he thought about how he couldn’t stand the smug looks he got from McBain now that Natalie had broken up with him. If he could cause McBain even the smallest amount of discomfort, then sabotaging the Love Center was worth it.
There was a knock on the door. "Kramer, open up," was what Paul heard from outside of the door.
"Oh great," Paul thought. "What does McBain want?"
When Paul opened the door, John stepped in to Paul’s room and gave it a cursory once over. "So, where have you been tonight Kramer?"
"Why is that any of your business McBain?" Paul retorted.
"Oh, come on Kramer," John replied. "For old times sakes, tell me where you were about two hours ago."
"I don’t have to answer that," Paul said. "Either tell me what you’re fishing for or get out."
John grinned and said, "What makes you think I’m fishing for something? Is there something to fish for?"
"Get out," Paul replied as he opened the door to escort John out.
As John was walking out, he said, "By the way, there has been some sabotage at the Love Center over the last couple of months. If you’re down in that area, you should watch out for yourself. Oh yeah, tell your buddy RJ to watch out to. Have a nice evening."
Paul slammed the door behind John and thought, "I told RJ that I was being followed. If they bring me in on this charge, I’m taking RJ down with me."
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As John sauntered into Capricorn, he noticed RJ on the phone and he didn’t look that happy. "I bet that’s a call from Kramer," John smirked.
RJ was furious that Kramer once again called him at work. He whispered intently into the phone, "Why are you calling here?"
Paul said, "John McBain was just here. I think he knows that I’ve been sabotaging the Love Center and that I’ve been doing it for you."
"What!" RJ yelled into the phone as he turned his back to the restaurant. This action made him unaware that John was approaching the bar.
RJ said, "We are not talking about this. You do what you’re told and if I get even a speck of this on me, you’ll be sorry." With that statement, he clicked his phone shut and turned around to face the restaurant. To his chagrin, he was looking into the inquisitive face of John McBain.
"Are you having problems Gannon?" John inquired.
"Did someone call for the cops?" RJ replied.
"Can’t a guy come in for a drink and inquire about the well being of one of Llanview’s citizens?" John said.
"Why are you in here drinking, Johnny Boy?" RJ said. "Shouldn’t you be out trying to do your job, or at least trying to seem like you are making an attempt to watch out for the citizens of our fair town? Of course, I hope you do a better job of protecting the rest of the citizens than you did protecting Evangeline."
John shot up off his bar stool and was about to grab RJ in the collar when his cell phone rang. He quickly regained his composure and walked away to answer the phone. "McBain!" he yelled.
"Lieutenant McBain?" a squeaky voice came over the phone. "This is officer Danson," he said nervously. "We need you at the station right away. We think we have the guy who attacked Ms. Williamson."
"I’ll be there in 5 minutes," John replied. He went back up to the bar and got as close in RJ’s face as he could. As he placed an intense gaze on RJ, he said, "I know you had your thugs jump me. I know you have something in cahoots with Kramer and you’re setting up my cousin for the Love Center Sabotage. You’d better enjoy your life now because when I get you and I will, it will be the roughest thing you’ve ever gone through. Just remember that I am very patient." John turned and left.
"You may have been trained at Quantico," RJ thought. "However, I was trained in the streets. You will never get me."
