Tristan's High School Life - 54. Chapter 54

"An Aircraft carrying Senator Marshall Caruthers exploded over the Atlantic Ocean this afternoon. The FBI and the NTSB are on the scene investigating the cause. The plane's manifest shows there were twenty other people on the plane with the Senator," Wyatt Anderson said.

"President Bennett has lowered all U.S. Flags to half staff. He and the First Gentlemen are offering their prayers to Caruthers family and all those on board. We are expecting the President to speak later this evening," Michael Holt said.

Tristan's POV

Clicked the TV off, and all the eyes in the room went to Hunter.

"You made the plane explode?" TJ said, eyes narrowing.
"Dad, you know I had to. He wouldn't have stopped, and he took my brother and your friends," Hunter protested.
"Twenty-one people, dead," TJ said and took a seat.
"TJ, we have to respect this was the best way to handle the situation. You said yourself that this was going to get way worse, and they were already playing dirty," Jackson said, surprising everyone.
"They wanted to stop you," I said, causing TJ to turn and look at me.
"Stop me?" He said, shocked.
"Yes, don't you get how powerful you are? You have billions of dollars and are well-liked by many people on both sides of the political spectrum. When you aren't being an asshat and actually doing good things, you command respect, and people listen to you. The Senator knew you had the backing of Baron Trump and a few others and were using it to unseat him with Ben's candidacy. He wasn't going to let you TJ," I said. "He knew Rory was your weakest link and used it to manipulate him. I only figured it out when we were bound and on a plane, and not to mention they were more interested in Xander."
"They had everything they needed, Dad, and you couldn't have easily stopped him. He knows everything that has happened in our family, and I had the darndest time destroying records of it," Hunter said.
"What records?" TJ asked, mystified.
"They knew Kat ordered the hit on Brayden. They knew Brayden had your dad killed in an attempt at a coup and that your mother was a willing participant in it all. They knew about Richard, Sebastian, Dylan, Jeff, Kevin, and Uncle Bob. There was no way to hide it," Hunter said.

TJ sat down and absorbed that last statement. He hadn't thought about what people knew and how it would come back to bite them all.

"I made sure that it went all away, dad," Hunter said as Jackson clicked the TV on after receiving a text.

"In a strange twist of events unfolding, both homes of Former Senator Caruthers of New York are fully engulfed. Fire officials have already told us that the houses are total losses," Wyatt said.

"Fire Officials have also confirmed that the Senator's wife was not at home during the blaze of their home in Washington D.C. The local fire marshall and the FBI are involved as arson is suspected," Michael said.

They had a few live shots and reporters in the neighborhoods with coverage of the fires. They even speculated that someone was covering their tracks by committing arson.

"Who burned down the houses," TJ demanded, and no one answered. "You know I can figure it out."

"Breaking news, the home of a man believed to be on Senator Caruthers aircraft was found ablaze this afternoon, in Short Hills, New Jersey. Professor Thomas Greenly taught at Columbia Journalism School for the past forty years before retiring. We have reached out to the school for comment and are awaiting their response." Michael said, and then TJ turned the TV off.

"For the last time, who is committing arson," TJ fumed.

"I did both the Senator homes and the Professor's," I said.
"You?" TJ gasped.
"Yes, it had to be done but not before packages were mailed to the FBI and sent to every media outlet," I said.
"What did you mail?" Jackson said.
"All the proof of what these evil men did. The Senator had some detailed records that I was able to copy before I mailed them," I said.
"I wish you would have talked to us first," TJ said.
"What so someone could come in and destroy it all?" Jackson said.
"Fair point," TJ said. " Did you at least save a copy?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Could we see it?" Jackson asked.
"Yes, but fair warning, it's alarming," I said.