“You’re right again. But it’s been my experience to treat them all as if they are lying sacks of shit, until they prove otherwise.” For the first time in the conversation, I was speaking to myself, more than I was advising her.
Austin still had not called, and I refused to chase him. Despite what Claire said, I didn’t understand why he had so quickly changed his mind about me. Parts run or not, you could take a minute to call or text the girl you claim to have an interest in. Claire and Austin thought I was this computer geek, constantly absorbed in graphics and code. But what I’ve never shared with either of them, was that the summer I lost my virginity to Justin, was also the time I spent covered in grease and sweat, as he showed me how to change the cylinders on his bike. He had called them jugs, and I’d smacked him good, when I thought he was talking about my chest instead of the part. Surely Austin was familiar with the same reference, using the play on words to his advantage. Lainie Faith Perry may have been born at night, but it wasn’t last night.
“Well, I’m not even divorced yet, and trust me, it will be a long while before I even consider bringing a man into my life.” She closed her book and collected her notes. She had been using the student center on campus, just because she could. I couldn’t fault her. If a man had basically imprisoned me, I would want to get out, and see the world too.
“Ginger is giving me a ride home later. Do you mind if she comes up?”
“I’ve told you before, this is your home too. Feel free to have friends over, just keep the guy friends to a minimum.” I tapped my hip against hers, sending her into a fit of giggles, as she left the house.
With Heidi gone for a few hours, a bottle of wine, and a hot bath were calling my name. My neck and shoulders throbbed from all the recent tension I’ve allowed in. All unnecessary stress I didn’t need, or desire. Maybe by the time the water was cold and the bottom of the bottle was in sight, this week will have magically fast-forwarded. Something told me I had yet to hear the end of Kennedy Fraser. He didn’t give up in college, and challenged me at nearly every turn. I seriously doubted he would give up now.
When Heidi first moved in, she had an abundance of free time. She took some of that time, and re-organized my kitchen. Pulling open drawer after drawer, I searched for the key to open my bottle of good dreams. Just as I lay my hand on the silver slice of heaven, the buzzer sounded. It had to be Heidi, as it’s not the sound from the security door downstairs.
“Did you forget your key?” I twisted the knob, the corkscrew still in my left hand, and expecting to see my blushing sister on the other side. Instead, with sheepish looks on each of their faces, stood Claire, Austin, and Dylan.
“Nope, never had a key.” Claire stepped forward first, kissing my cheek, as she passed. Her face was still shining with the happiness she’d found with Dylan, which don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for her. But I’m trying not to be angry with her, as I have no proof or justification for those feelings I had planned to drink away.
Dylan and Austin both wore forced smiles and exhaustion, in copious amounts.
“Mr. Morgan.” It’s the nicest thing I could say to them. When I wanted to scream at them about how disgusted I was with these two sacks of shit liars. How even though my dealing with Austin has been in small doses, his betrayal weighed heavily on my heart. I opened the door just a smidgen wider, hoping they could take the hint their welcome had been extinguished. I looked at the wall behind Austin, refusing to meet those blue eyes of deception.
“Lainie, we need to talk with you. Please, just listen, and if you’re still mad, we will all leave you alone.” Claire’s voice was the same as when she was trying to rationalize with Priscilla. Reaching out with her left hand, she asked me to join her on the couch, while Austin and Dylan remained standing near the door.
“When we talked the other day, about where these two had taken off to, I could tell you didn’t believe me.” I remained still, having agreed to listen to what she had to say. I’d always known Claire to be such a confident person, seeming to always have the right words to say.
“It wasn’t that long ago, I stood in the very same shoes you’re in now. Angry at what I thought I saw. Avoiding asking any questions, for fear the truth would send me into a place I didn’t want to be. Broken in half by a man I felt so foolish for giving that kind of power to.” I bit the skin of my bottom lip, afraid to show how the truth of what she was saying was affecting me. I swallowed hard to fight down the tremors in my chest. Scared as hell the pain would trigger tears to form behind my eyes.
Claire rose from her seat, sliding in beside me, and engulfing me in her slender arms. “Do you remember how you felt when the judge sentenced Greyson to such a short time in jail?”
How could I forget? Sitting in that courtroom, listening to all the people I knew having their character examined, as if under a microscope by a poor excuse for a human. Believing for a moment, the judge would see past the deceit and lies coming from Greyson’s mouth. Thirty days for stealing away the confidence I’d worked so hard to build for myself. Planting fear inside of me, causing me to be too frightened to walk between two buildings, and for a man to touch me, offering a hand as gentleman often do. Compounding it by meeting a man I could accept simple, kind gestures from, only to find he too has his own brand of deceit.
“I’m sorry to drag this up, however in order to explain what happened—is happening—we need to dig up some old graves.” I had no issue talking about what happened, with help from my counselor. I’d been able to dissect the attack, label it into separate files. I’ve been working on the final stage of putting the entire situation to rest, although what I’d assumed to be the easiest, has actually been the most difficult.
“When the verdict was read aloud, we sat together with our hands clenched, waiting for the Judge to return to the bench saying he was only kidding, and then give Greyson a life sentence.” My eyes closed without my permission. My throat seemed to tighten, and panic rose in my chest just, as it had in the days, which followed.
“Want to know what I remember?” Just like the moments spent sitting on that hard bench, anticipating the whole thing was a big joke, she held my hand tightly in hers. “I remember getting a call early one morning from my best friend, demanding I turn on the television.”
I had been woken a few hours before from a sound sleep. The first one I’d had in many months. Not by a nightmare or anything like that, but from a strange feeling of calm. Unable to fall back to sleep, I got up, and started doing some work on the computer. Turning the television on for white noise. Calling Claire was done on autopilot, wanting to share the news that my nightmares could stop, the devil had returned to hell.
“The relief was so full in your voice, it caused me to hurry to the television, and marvel at the news the man who had hurt so many, was now dead.” Knuckles cracking across the room, reminded me he was still here. Remaining silent, as if he has been read his Miranda rights, choosing to keep his guilty words to himself.
“Lainie, I know you felt relief when the news was announced. Who wouldn’t?” Her features turned serious. Her reassuring smile fading into something far less pleasant. A warning of bad news on the horizon. “I bet in all the excitement, you never questioned a few details surrounding Greyson’s sudden jump off the bridge. Missing information even the police didn’t search for.” I could feel Austin move closer. My breathing quickening at his nearness. He was the first man to make me feel so incredibly safe, and yet set my heart into a rhythm, which makes me sweat.
“Did you ever ask yourself why the security cameras never showed Greyson walking up the pedestrian path? Or the lack of any cars traveling up the bridge, but none coming down? How the Coast Guard cameras showed the bridge still as a stone? Nothing, not even a piece of lint, falling off the side?”
Claire was wrong, I did question those things, but not enough to release them into reality. I didn’t care why he’d died, and as selfish as that sounds, he was brimming with evil and noth
ing, except for death, would change that.
“And why, if the police knew about this yet had no answers, why would they not open an investigation?”
“Claire, you forget there was a report of a power surge, causing the cameras to fail. My guys were all talking about it. How they had run diagnostic tests on our equipment to rule out any damage to our system. ”
Austin came into my peripheral vision, his hands in his pockets again, something a few of my guys did when they couldn’t find something to do with their fingers. “You’ve run that path with me. It’s over a mile from the parking area, to the center of the bridge. The surge would have lasted a few minutes, tops.” First time Claire called me to run with her, she was so excited about the pedestrian path; I told her it was going to kill us both. By the time we’d made it to the cement benches at the halfway point, nearly thirty minutes had passed.
“Lainie, you know computers.”
Third year securities class, Professor Logan who owned the cool-as-fuck teacher title, known for showing up in jeans and a band t-shirt, ball cap always on his head, consistently told us; computers are just like a running engine, it needs a constant fuel source. Take away the juice and it won’t work. Another kid beat me to the punch and asked about battery power, saving the earth with solar energy. “Dude, it’s a computer, not your girlfriend’s vibrator. You can use a battery backup, but batteries lose power by the second. Anything over about ten minutes, and your computer will start dropping features, recording ability is most commonly dropped first.” Later that year, he showed us how to break a video feed, when a popular movie featured an override of a government system. “The issue is breaking a firewall. Once you get past the gatekeeper, you can do anything you want. Most companies have them, some of you may even work as code writers for security companies.”
A cold chill ran down my spine. Having a single malfunction within a company is normal. Multiple events at separate locations, separate organizations; you had a better chance at seeing the two branches of government agreeing on something, than that happening.
Unless…
“You blindfolded the gatekeeper.” My accusing words hung in the air like the fog in the morning after a heavy rain. Austin was the only person I knew who could break that many firewalls, and maintain a dummy feed. It was much like juggling knives and bowling balls, while watching a two year old who is reaching for the flames of a roaring fire.
“You fed a dummy to the server, making the system appear to have a surge.” My eyes squinted, looking at Austin in confusion. Why would he do this? Why would he risk getting caught, and sent to prison for a long time?
“Why?”
Austin stood tall, facing me like the man he was, mouth opened slightly and he started to speak. “Be—”
“For us, Lainie,” Claire interrupted. “Dylan found me kicking the shit out of Greyson, after he caught him stalking me outside the hospital. He was coming after me because I stood up to him, and belittled him in front of his street thugs. He knew the law had failed you, and me, and every woman these two love.” She finished, pleading in her voice for me to understand. “They had to do something to make him stop.”
And I did understand, more than anyone could imagine. Had she forgotten we were both girls from Kentucky, raised around men who never considered involving the local sheriff when shit went down? Taking care of those who’d wronged them, being the judge, jury, and executioner. Folks where we came from had a term for it, Southern Justice.
“When I was eleven,” I focused my eyes on Austin’s blue ones. “I came home one afternoon to find my momma on the kitchen floor with her boyfriend, Bucky, straddling her hips, while punching her in the face. I managed to grab a skillet off the stove, and cold cocked him in the back of the head. I knew I wasn’t strong enough to do much damage, but I knew who could.”
Austin moved closer, taking slow, deliberate steps toward me. He needed to hear how I understood why they did as they’d thought best. “Larkin Biggs, the man who managed the trailer park we lived in, came around on his four wheeler every day to check on us. I knew if he was home, he would take care of Bucky, who was screaming for me to come back. I ran as fast as my feet would carry me, right up to his porch. Larkin opened the door, calmed me down, and then grabbed his double barreled shotgun.” I reached out with my open hand, laying it gently against the rough scruff of Austin’s face. His warm skin felt so good under my cold hand, and all the accusing thoughts I had earlier, seemed impossible now.
“Larkin dragged the guy out of our house, leading him to the wooden shed he kept the lawn equipment in. After Momma told him what happened, several of Larkin’s family came out, and helped to set up a rope in one of the trees.” There were no suggestions to call the law, or for someone to take him to jail. They would handle this as they always had; themselves.
“One of his uncles had served in Vietnam, and he had a chair set up with Bucky tied to it by the time we got over there. I stood beside Momma, as Uncle Beau took a pair of pliers, and removed every one of Bucky’s fingernails, from both hands. Then they let Momma slap him until she had her fill.” The final thing they did, before they let him die in pain and agony, was to take away what was most precious to him. Larkin had turned to me, as he brought his knife down on the man.
“One of the other men took his hunting knife and cut Bucky’s jeans off. Leaving him only in his white underwear. Larkin looked over his shoulder at me, and said loud enough for everyone to hear, that this was for me. When he moved away, Bucky’s white underwear was a dark shade of red from all the blood rushing out. His dick was shoved in his mouth, keeping his screams silent.”
New found joy began to migrate across Austin’s face. His signature smile timidly making an appearance. Austin’s smile spread across his face, at my understanding.
Such a handsome man. With eyes holding such power, they could make a woman forget why she was angry in the first place, which is where I am now.
“Wish we had Larkin with us last night.” Forget the eyes. The vibrations of his voice created goosebumps to form on my shoulders and arms. Patches of discolored skin rose to the surface under his eyes. I hadn’t noticed it before, but as I scanned his olive skin, thick eyelashes and delectable lips, his lack of sleep began to tell on him.
“Thank you.” Two simple words containing bottomless meaning.
“I wanted to tell you about last night, but I wasn’t sure I could trust you with something as serious as what we had to do.” I understood what he was saying. We had known each other for the briefest of time, not even defining what was happening between us.
“I’m sorry for the thoughts I had about you.” His face pulled back, looking at me with confused expression. “When Claire told me you and Dylan had to supervise the bike part, I assumed it was a play on words for seeing a girl naked.”
Austin’s eyes bulged in shock, shaking his head in disbelief. “Wh—what?”
Dylan pulled Claire to his lap, hugging her tightly, as if worried she would disappear. With his face in Claire’s neck, he mumbled a single word, which gets a smack from Claire, and a snorting laugh from me.
“Jugs.”
“What?” he questioned, as he grabbed her hand from smacking him again. “Jugs are what we call the cylinders inside a bike engine and what you guys have—”
Claire pulled away from him, extending her index finger in his direction. “Don’t you dare.” Dylan smiled at her, turning her anger into something she must find funny, as she laughed into his neck. Dylan took advantage of the diversion, and swept her up, heading for my balcony.
“I’m sorry you had to spend the night in confusion and anger. My only intention was to protect you.” Honesty colored his eyes. The penetration no longer sexual, but of the profession of truth. “I’m not used to feeling this way.” He lowered his eyes to our hands, which were clasped together, and I’m clueless as to when they found one another. “If you’ve forgiven me, I’d like to ask something of you.” I searched his
face, for what I’m not certain. Austin is the definition of hero, giving selfishly of himself for the benefit of others. Willing to risk imprisonment, for standing up for what he believes in.
“There is nothing to forgive. You were doing something to make the world a better place. I should be thanking you for taking one of the monsters, and sending him back where he belongs.”
“There are a lot more monsters.”
“And you’re going to deal with them one by one.”
“Not if I have to sacrifice you.” He took my face between his hands. Warm skin, creating a heat in my body, and a new desire in my belly.
“How do Dylan and Claire do it?”
“Well,” he responds, bobbing his head back and forth. “That’s where the term ‘parts run’ came from.”
The fog which I placed in the room earlier, lifted with the warm breeze of his honesty. “I can live with that.” And I could. He has a call to do the right and just thing. To pick up where the chains of injustice restricted those who they had sworn to protect.
“We won’t go without a solid plan, background checks, the works.” He assured me, and I believed him. More importantly, I trusted him.
Yet, something he just said stuck out. “Who’s we?”
“Well, there is Dylan and I, Carson, and our little brother Chase.”
I’m shocked to hear Carson is in the mix, but reassured as well. He is the king of the protectors, and my adopted father. “Really? Carson? That wasn’t expected.”
Austin takes my hand again, playing with my fingernails, reminding me I need to see my girl soon. “Yeah, he came to us right after Chase tossed Cash off the bridge, said he was tired of the red tape.” He is very brazen in his word choice. I ignored it, and concentrated on the calluses of his fingers, as they glide across the back of my hand.
Absolute Corruption: Southern Justice Trilogy Page 11