Callye's Justice

by Donica Covey

  Cas had made too many changes in his life.

  She’d been the reason he quit smoking, and since when did he only keep one six-pack in the house? He knew since when—since Cas had moved into his life

  Beginnigans was just down the block.

  He stepped out the door and walked along the side of the access road. The tavern sign was already lit, and if all went as planned he’d soon be lit, too.

  The old wooden door opened. He made his way through the smoky haze to a barstool and sat down.

  “As I live and breathe, Justice Bernard. How the hell are ya, boy? Been a long time.”

  Justice looked at the older man. “Hey, Slim. Yeah, been too long. Whiskey, neat.”

  Slim grabbed a glass from under the counter, then reached for the plain label on the rail. A second look at Justice and he pulled out the black label instead. “You look like you need the real deal.”

  Justice took the glass and threw the smooth drink down his throat. “Just keep them coming until the bottle is empty or I pass out, whichever comes first. And give me a pack of menthols, huh?”

  Slim gave him a questioning look. “I know this may be none of my business, son, but…”

  Justice waved his hand. “You’re right. It is none of your business. Just give me what I ask, all right?”

  Slim nodded, placed the bottle down on the bar in front of Justice, then handed him a pack of smokes.

  Justice tapped down the pack, pulled one out and lit it, inhaling the smoke deeply. “Hello, old friends. I’m back. Miss me?”

  Slim’s eyebrow raised at the corner and he stared for a minute.

  A heavy fog slowly built up inside Justice. This was the ticket, the way to forget all about Cas, for just a little while.

  Three quarters of the bottle later, the bar stool next to him slid and a hand clapped on his back.

  “If it isn’t our prodigal buddy. How the hell ya been?”

  Through the drunken haze, he saw Joey Tramblichi. They’d known each other for years, but he wasn’t in the mood for Joey’s mouth tonight. “Is there a better word than hell? Or worse? Screw it. Whatever, that’s where I am.”

  “With that sexy blonde who’s taken over your life? I should be so cursed. If she came to her senses and left you, give me her number, would you?”

  The stool clattered to the floor behind him and he buried his fist deep into Joey’s face. “You son of a bitch.” He continued to pound until two sets of beefy hands pulled him off. Slim had his hands on his arm, and Justice jerked free. “I’m done. Get off me.”

  He staggered back even farther. His hip knocked into a table, and sending it over, he followed close behind. His head was spinning, his eyes refusing to focus on the Ferris wheel whirling before him.

  In the fog, he could barely make out Joey sitting with a bar rag on his face, and Justice’s rage surged fresh. He pulled his way to his feet and headed for Joey, fists swinging in the air.

  “Enough,” Slim roared and shoved Justice to a chair. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Leave off,” he growled and pushed at Slim. “She’s too good for him. She’s too good for any of us.”

  “We need to get someone over here to pour him into his bed,” Slim said from somewhere above him.

  Justice leaned against the cool timber wall supporting his head. Things were getting harder to see. He could make out movements and hazy figures, but he couldn’t make himself care. “Hey, Slim, where’s my bottle?”

  “You’ve been cut off, buddy. Come on, let’s go.” Chase loomed above him.

  “When did you get here?”

  “Just now. You’re lucky Joey isn’t pressing assault charges,” he whispered as he dragged Justice to his feet.

  “Let him.”

  Chase dragged him out to the car. The passenger door opened and Justice was falling backwards. He aimed for the light brown patch and dropped down, landing with a thud on the hard lot, his elbow jamming against the floor of the car. “Damn, that’s gonna hurt later.”

  Chase hauled him up to his feet. “A lot of things are going to hurt later.” He gave Justice a shove onto the seat.

  The door slammed shut and suddenly the engine was purring. “What makes you think they don’t already hurt?”

  “What would Callye say if she saw you like this?”

  “Cas won’t give a damn. She’s finally come to her senses about me. Thass fine. I don’t need her anyway. She hated it when I smoked, she cut me off from all this. So is all good.”

  “Right. If she cut you off from all this, more power to her.”

  The car came to a stop, the door opened and Chase yanked him to his feet again.

  “Where’s your key?” He heard Chase’s voice but was having trouble finding the man.

  “Dunno.”

  Chase began digging in Justice’s pockets for the door keys. Jangling and pulling followed. Before he could think, he was in his living room.

  With a shove and a grunt, Justice fell to the leather sofa. “I was just here,” he griped. “I need a drink.”

  “I’d say you’ve had enough for all of us. Just lay still.”

  The sofa began to spin beneath him, the centrifugal force making his stomach reel. Dizzily, he tried to focus on a single point in the room to control the whirling. His gaze landed on the picture. “Did you know her eyes change color?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “When Cas is upset, the blue darkens to gray, almost looks like a summer sky clouding over for a storm. When she’s happy, there is this amazing sparkle that lights up the entire world. And when I’m holding her, kissing her, they darken to a dark blue that’s so smoldering, almost a navy black color.”

  A light weight floated down on him, but he couldn’t bear to tear his gaze from the picture. “She hates me. She knows is my fault. Bismarck…” He couldn’t stomach thinking about it, much less talk about it, even if he had been sober.

  “It wasn’t your fault, Jus. Close your eyes.”

  He didn’t want to. She was smiling at him from the picture frame. That image erased the pain splintering his heart when she cried and told him to leave. His eyelids slid down. The room slowed its spinning and blackness enveloped him.

  * * *

  Callye knew someone was watching her, and fear jerked her awake. She scanned the room and found her niece, Megan, standing near the door. Her sister Valerie moved to her side.

  “Callye.” Tears laced her sister’s voice.

  “I’m going to be all right, Valerie. Somehow I’m going to be all right.” Her throat burned, her chest ached, and worst of all her heart still kept beating.

  “Where’s Justice?”

  She leveled a look at her sister, and then saw Megan behind her. “He’s, umm…” If she said it, that would make it real. Megan’s small hand touched hers. “He’s not here right now.” She looked back up at her sister’s face, willing her to understand, or at least not press for now.

  Valerie’s slight nod let her relax a little. “Do you need anything?”

  Nothing but for this to all be a bad dream. “Just some rest. And maybe something to drink.”

  Valerie reached for the water pitcher but came up empty. “I’ll be right back.”

  Megan hadn’t moved far from her side and when Callye looked down, the child was studying her face with wide eyes.

  “I’m really going to be all right.” If only she could believe it herself.

  Megan took her hand and sat on the edge of the bed. “Uncle Justice won’t let anything bad happen to you. Mom said she was glad you and him met.” Megan leaned close. In a hushed voice, she said, “I made it happen.”

  Callye tried not to think about the loss, but to focus on the sweet face before her. “How did you make it happen?”

  “I fixed it so Scraggs’s leash would come loose. I saw Justice sitting on the bench, watching us. I waited until we got closer, then Scraggs got away.” Her small shoulders lifted and a bright smile split her face, revealing the gap from two
lost front teeth.

  Callye longed to push the pain down, for Megan. “You are one sneaky five-year-old.”

  Megan nodded. “I’m almost six.” She grinned. “Uncle Justice knows I did it. He calls me his fairy god-princess, cause I made a…miracle in his life.”

  Would the pain never end? “Megan, sometimes, despite all the miracles performed by fairy god-princesses, and no matter how much we want happy endings, things don’t work out that way. It’s not anyone’s fault, they just don’t work out.”

  Megan’s chin set in the same stubborn angle as Valerie’s. “This one is going to be a good ending. You wait and see.”

  Callye lay back and closed her eyes. It wasn’t any good trying to explain it right now. It was hard enough on the child to be visiting her in the hospital. What had Valerie been thinking anyway?

  “Callye? I’ve got some apple juice.”

  Callye raised the head of the bed slightly. Physically, she wasn’t as bad off as before. The stitches from the surgery to mend the ragged rip in her side were holding, even though they burned some with movement. Now if only the pain in her heart would heal as fast.

  She took the juice from Valerie and drank it down. The cool, sweet flavor dazzled her taste buds, soothing all the way down.

  She put the plastic container down on the bedside table and put her hand against her head. The throbbing was becoming more intense. The room was getting dark and she cried out from the pain.

  “Callye? What’s wrong?”

  She curled into a half-ball, trying to find a comfortable position, but nothing was helping. Each movement sent the spasms through her deeper. “God, it hurts,” she shouted.

  A nurse appeared at her side and in minutes the heated flush of medicine moved through her body. Slowly, the pain eased and she relaxed.

  Her sister was holding one hand and Megan’s small one was on her thigh.

  “Mommy, we need to call Uncle Justice.”

  Callye tried to form the word to stop them, to beg them not to, but the pain was finally receding and she clutched to the straw that was pulling her into peace.

  Chapter Twelve

  The buzzing of millions of angry hornets filled his head. Over their noise, Justice heard clanging. What the hell was going on? He moved and regretted it instantly. His tongue felt thick, his mouth was dry, his stomach and head took turns spinning and rocking. A thin sheet had wrapped its way around his waist. What the hell? He shifted and almost rolled off a sofa. His sofa.

  The light pierced straight through his eyes and into his brain.

  The clanging and clattering thundered in his head. He tried to get up but the world was a little skewed.

  Chase came in and dropped on a chair across from him. He stretched one long leg and rested it on the coffee table, then crossed the other one over it, resting them ankle on ankle.

  The slurping sound of Chase drinking from the mug echoed in Justice’s head. “Do you mind?”

  “I do, actually.” He sipped at it again. “Damn good coffee, if I do say so myself.”

  “Yeah. What happened?”

  “Let’s see. You got drunk. Lit a smoke.” He ticked the list off on his fingers. “Beat the crap out of Joey, someone who was one of your oldest friends, and got tossed out of what used to be one of your favorite bars. That pretty much covers it. Oh. One more thing. Slim says not to come back. Not for a long, long time.”

  Justice rubbed his hands across his eyes. In a mist, the images sprang into his mind. “Damn. I didn’t hurt Tramblichi too bad, did I?”

  “He doesn’t feel much as it is.” Chase chuckled. “So what’s going on with you? Last night you were whining about it being your fault, and how Callye’s too good for you.” He shook his head. “My brother, you lost it big-time.”

  Justice sank back into the leather. “That’s why she threw me out yesterday.” He rubbed his elbow. “Joey must’ve gotten in a few good licks, huh?”

  “The elbow you got when you attacked my car.”

  Justice tried to get a grip on what Chase was saying. “Never mind.”

  “I know you’re hurting from whatever happened between you and Callye. I don’t have any idea, and I was in the room. One minute you’re talking, the next she’s crying and kicking your ass out.”

  Justice scrubbed the back of his neck. “I told you, she realizes that it was because of me, because someone was trying to get even with me, that she was hurt. Nearly killed. She realizes her life is better without me in it.”

  Chase punched him in the arm. “Okay, where’s my partner? The arrogant, know-it-all, smug bastard who is always right and everyone else is wrong? Can I talk to him?”

  “I need coffee.” Justice stood up, waiting for his balance to catch up to him, then moved to the kitchen. He reached for the pot. “Where’s the coffee?”

  “I made it and then I drank it.”

  Justice rinsed the pot, added hot water, the filter and three scoops of dark roasted blend. At first the odor almost made him gag, but then it began to work its magic. By the time it was ready, he was craving it. “I need to know how she’s doing,” he said under his breath.

  “If you hadn’t turned into such a pansy, you’d be up there and know how she is. I could be at work, but no, I have to babysit your sorry ass because you can’t manage to be out of anyone’s sight for more than an hour before getting into all kinds of trouble.”

  “Stuff…” The rest of this thought trailed off as his phone rang. “Bernard.”

  “Uncle Justice? It’s me, Megan.”

  A pint-size Cas who meant so much to him. “Hey, princess, what’s up?”

  “We’re at the hospital. Mommy and me. Where are you? Aunt Callye needs you.”

  Everything flew from his mind. “What’s the matter? What happened?”

  The sound of the little girl’s tears and sniffles reached across the line and pulled at his heart. “I don’t know. She was crying, and hurting and… Uncle Justice, I’m scared.”

  “Don’t be scared, honey. I’ll be there soon.”

  “You’ll make it all right. I know you will.” Her faith amazed him.

  He hung up and tossed the phone on the easy chair as he headed for the shower.

  “Jus?”

  “Five minutes,” he shouted before shutting the door.

  As promised, he returned five minutes later. Chase was standing in front of the window, staring out into the street below. Justice sat down on the sofa and pulled on his boots. “What’s up?”

  Chase turned to look at him. “I was just thinking. You said someone hired Bismarck. Someone who?”

  “Rivera. I know it had to be him behind it. I don’t know how to prove it, but don’t think I won’t. And when I do—”

  “Justice, the threats have got to stop. The Bismarck case can be backed up, but if you don’t watch your step…”

  “Come on, I’ve got to get to the hospital.”

  “Is the partner formerly known as Justice T. Bernard coming back?”

  “I’m only going because Megan sounded scared.”

  “Yeah, right,” Chase muttered.

  The sun burned his eyes and his head began to throb again. He should’ve sucked down a few dozen aspirin with that coffee. He pulled the black-mirrored pilot’s glasses out of the console. “I’ll be at the hospital.”

  As he sped off, he tried not to worry about how Cas would act when she saw him. Would it shred him even more when she threw him out of her life again? How many times could a man put himself in this position? He wasn’t some kind of masochist.

  Who am I kidding? I’ll go running as often as she needs me.

  There was one more thing to consider. Something he’d not even thought about before. Rivera, or whoever paid Bismarck, was still nursing a grudge and until he nailed that person, no one would be safe. Not Cas. Not Valerie. Not Megan. His stomach pitched at the thought of someone hurting Megan.

  Grabbing his cell, he punched in Chase’s number. “Hey. I need some
guys.”

  “What?”

  “I need some guys. I want a protection detail placed on Cas’s sister Valerie and her kid Megan.”

  Chase was quiet for a minute. “I think I can wrangle up a couple. I’ll need to know where they are before I can send anyone.”

  “Right now they’re in the hospital with Cas. Valerie drives a blue Dodge minivan. I don’t have a plate for you. It’d be registered under Valerie Schultie. She’s five-feet-four inches. Dark blonde hair, light green eyes. Megan is five. Little, light blonde bit of a thing. She looks like a mini Cas. I want people on them round the clock.”

  “Got it. Where are you?”

  “I’m almost at the hospital. I’ll stay until you can get me the bodies.”

  “I’ll be up in a little while.”

  “You haven’t had any sleep,” Justice argued.

  “Neither have you. I’ll come and relieve you until I can get one of the other guys to come up there.”

  “All right, but we need to keep it quiet from Valerie. I don’t want her or Megan to freak out.”

  “Got it. See you in a short.”

  He parked and ran into the large white building, then took the elevator up to Cas’s room. Valerie and Megan were inside. Megan’s large tear-filled eyes looked more than a little scared.

  “Val…erie,” he added hastily. For a split second he forgot how much she hated to be called Val. “What happened?”

  “Callye just started to hurt… It was her head. She grabbed it and was twisting up in the bed.” She looked down at Callye, then back at him. “The doctor has ordered an MRI and some other tests. They think it has something to do with her skull fracture.”

  Megan’s little hand touched his knee. He picked her up, holding her close, and stroked her blonde hair. “It’s going to be all right,” he soothed.

  “Promise? You have to promise.”

  What was he supposed to say? The trusting way she was staring at him, he wanted to make it so. But how could he make a promise he might not be able to keep? “Everyone is going to do everything they can to make Cas all right. That I promise.”