A Tale of Two Snakes
Disclaimer: I do not own any Riverdale and Cobra kai characters. This story is purely written for fun, not for any kind of profit.
Hello everybody. I am back with another chapter. Please read and review.
Chapter 23: Calculations
"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Miguel was astonished beyond limit.
Jughead was sitting in front of him, his shoulders were dropped.
"Today morning, the sheriff arrested my dad. I went to the police station. He refused to meet me. The sheriff told me that they found the gun which was used to kill Jason in my dad's trailer."
Miguel's head was literally spinning now. Yesterday night, they had attended the baby shower of Polly Cooper. Now, this morning, they got such a bad news.
Miguel was deeply in thought. Both the kids were sitting in the small veranda of Miguel's house.
"Diaz?"
"Hmm..." Miguel suddenly came back to his senses," What?
"What should we do now?" Jughead's voice was broken. Miguel felt like the boy was losing all his hope.
"Defeat does not exists, Jughead. Do not lose your hope. We will figure..."Miguel looked at the gate and saw Archie, Betty and Veronica entering his house. The three of them had a pissed off look on their faces.
"I can't believe the sheriff did that." Archie said. Betty did not say anything, just came to Jughead and hugged him. Miguel looked at them with the corner of his eye.
"Well, now we are all here, so we can figure out what to do next. But first, let me call sensei. Sensei!" Miguel called.
After a moment, Johnny Lawrence came to the veranda. He was getting ready for work, when he heard Miguel calling him. He came to the veranda and saw Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica were there, along with Miguel.
"Good morning, kids." He greeted them with a smile, but astonished that no one smiled.
"There is nothing good in this morning, Mr Lawrence.", Betty said in a hard tone.
Johnny curiously looked at Miguel.
"The sheriff arrested FP, today morning. The searched his trailer and found the gun that was used to kill Jason." Miguel said.
Johnny was shocked. He looked at Jughead. That kid was sitting on a chair, both hands buried on his face. Betty was standing beside him; her one hand was on his shoulder.
Archie looked at Miguel, who was in deep thought. Suddenly he looked at him, both kid's eyes met.
"Jughead?" Miguel said. His voice was hard.
"I want to ask forgiveness from you. We all kept something secret from you. But now it's time. Sensei, can you please tell us what you said to Archie and Veronica?"
Now Jughead was curious. He looked at his best friend, who was silent. Then he looked at Johnny, who was silently thinking.
"Tell me, please, Mr Lawrence."
Johnny heaved a deep sigh and told about the jacket he saw in FP's trailer. Jughead was literally astonished, so was Betty. Then Archie and Veronica told them about how they broke into FP's trailer and searched that for the jacket.
Now even Johnny was astonished too.
"Andrews, do you know how much of a risk you took? You took Veronica with you. What if somebody caught you?"
"Don't worry sensei; I gave him that lecture yesterday night. But I don't think that it could change him. The main point is that they could not find a single thing. Not even the jacket or the gun."
An eerie silence clouded over them. It was Veronica who first broke the silence.
"Both of us did not find a single thing. So how did the police found that gun? Someone must have planted it and then called the police."
Everyone was silent again. But all of them were thinking the same thing in their mind. What Veronica said had hardcore logic inside it. But who did that?
"We need to go to the police station." Miguel said.
Johnny helped Miguel in the black challenger. The other three came in Veronica's car. While Johnny was crossing the last turn before the police station, they saw the car of Clifford Blossom. Clifford's car was coming from the direction of the police station.
Both the cars stopped in front of the police station. Archie, Veronica, Betty and Jughead literally ran inside the station, followed by Johnny and Miguel. But when they had met Sheriff Keller, they got shocking news.
FP confessed all about being him the killer of Jason. He told the sheriff that how Jason came to him for some quick cash and he told him to deal some stuffs. But Jason ran away with their stash. So he searched him and killed him in a fit of rage. Then he stashed the body into the river.
Jughead's face was getting paler and paler with each word the sheriff said. Silent tears were flowing from his eyes.
"Can I meet him sheriff, please?" His voice was chocking.
The sheriff nodded her head. His expression was sad.
"I am sorry, Jughead. He does not want to meet anyone."
Jughead buried his head into his hand. The whole police station was full of silence.
Suddenly Veronica spoke," Cliff Blossom met with FP, right sheriff?"
Sheriff Keller was startled a bit.
"Yes. He met with Cliff. But after his leaving, FP again requested me that he did not want to meet anybody." He said in a low voice.
Now, for the first time, Johnny spoke.
"Sir, I know that FP does not meet anybody. But please, can you just allow Jughead to meet him? Please, just for once."
There was something in Johnny's voice that literally touched Tom Keller's heart. He stood up from his chair.
"Come with me, Jughead."
Jughead looked at Johnny and nodded. Johnny nodded at him too. Then he walked with the sheriff.
"That was very nice of you, Mr Lawrence.", Betty spoke softly.
"I know the pain of losing a son, Betty. I am not an ideal father, actually far away from that. But I love my son, and I miss him so much. I saw blood of my own flowing in front of me. Both of them, but there was blood..." He suddenly stopped speaking, remembering where he was.
Then he saw Miguel, who was in front of him on his wheelchair.
"We will find him, sensei. Pain does not exist, just remember that." He said in a soft voice.
Johnny wiped his tears, and nodded.
Archie, Betty and Veronica were looking at them. They felt the pain inside the man. The man in front of him was deeply hurt. They were literally feeling his pain.
But they did not know that there was one other man behind them.
Sheriff Tom Keller was silently watching at them. With each passing day, Johnny Lawrence was becoming more curious to him. Suddenly he saw Miguel's head turning towards his direction.
Both the old and young eyes met each other.
The sheriff did not say anything. He silently walked towards them and sat on his chair. His expression was thoughtful.
"Every single evidence was pointing at FP. I think he is the killer. He confessed that too. We got that gun from his trailer. I feel sorry for poor Jughead." He said.
Everyone was silent. Archie was trying to say something but Veronica stopped him.
Suddenly Miguel spoke," Tell me sir, FP confessed his crime before or after meeting Clifford Blossom?"
"After. FP called me after Mr. Blossom left and gave his statement. But why did you ask?" Sheriff said.
Miguel did not reply. There was a smirk in his lips.
"Last question, sir. Did Mr. Jones make his phone call?"
"Yes. He called his friend, what's the name?" Keller thought a bit, then said," Yes. He called Joaquin DeSantos."
"Joaquin, eh?" Miguel muttered under his breath. Then he saw Jughead coming in the room. He had a sad and angry expression.
"Well, thank you sir for your help. We will not waste your precious time any more. Let's go guys. Come, sensei. Good bye sheriff." Miguel said and turned his wheelchair. The others accompanied him silently.
Sheriff Keller was sitting on his chair, a little bit dumbfounded. He felt in his bones that Miguel's smirk had some inner meaning. Something he could not really get at. The question about FP's confession time was another thing he found mysterious.
What is the relation between FP's confession and his meeting with Clifford Blossom? Was he missing something which Miguel noticed?
No, what could be there? He got all the evidence he need. F. is the culprit, undoubtedly.
"FP did not kill Jason. He stashed his dead body, but he did not kill him." Miguel said.
All of them came back from the police station to Miguel's house. They were sitting at the veranda. Jughead was silently sobbing. Betty was hugging him, giving him comfort. Archie and Veronica were sitting side by side. Johnny was standing beside Miguel's wheelchair. All of them were silent, when Miguel spoke the above sentence.
The reaction after he finished the line was literally the same.
Every single eye was literally popping from the sockets. Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, even Johnny had the same expression.
It was Veronica who first composed herself.
"What do you mean, Diaz?"
"The sheriff is just looking at the evidences, but not beyond them. A lot of things are there, behind the obvious. They do not make any sense." Miguel said.
"What are you talking about?" Jughead, who got hold of himself, asked.
"The first thing is, why does your father confess after meeting with Cliff Blossom? He can confess when the cops arrested him, or he could keep his mouth shut. But why he confessed at that time?" Miguel's eyes were closed. His voice seemed like coming from a long distance.
"The next thing is the gun. Where did it come from? If we assume that FP is the killer, then no killer in his right mind keep that weapon with him. Archie and Veronica did not find it yesterday night, but the cops find it in the morning. Also, the one thing that is poking in my brain is the phone call."
Jughead's eyes were literally glowing now.
"I got your point, Diaz."
"Hey, someone please tell us something." Archie said.
"My father got only one phone call. He could call a lawyer, or me. But why did he call Joaquin?" Jughead said.
"Only one man could give us that answer. That man is Joaquin himself." Betty said.
Archie stood up," We need Kevin, now."
Miguel opened his eyes.
"We must act quickly now. I think Joaquin has something or knows something. We find that thing, we solve the case. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy."
Johnny looked at his student. He heard the Cobra Kai motto from Kreese, from himself. But hearing them in Miguel's voice was completely different experience. Miguel's voice had no trace of bullying or oppression, but it had hardcore determination. He felt his heart filled with joy and pride for Miguel.
"Fear does not exists; pain does not exists; defeat does not exists.", He muttered. In his blood, he felt excitement. He felt like the same when he was in a fight. Now this time, he felt like in the arena again, in front of an opponent, like Vidal or Tommy or...Larusso.
"Let's go kids. I may not win always but I do not back out from a fight, ever, never. Let's do it kids.", He said in a determined voice.
Miguel saw his sensei's glowing face and eyes. He saw the same glow when Johnny taught in the dojo. He smiled to himself.
Now, they just have to wait for Kevin Keller, whom Archie just sent a message.