Shattered Justice

by Karen Ball

  The boy’s lips lifted in a small smile. “I was pretty young, but I felt … I don’t know, good. Like when we were there in the yard, my dad and I were close. Connected.”

  He blinked. “ ’Course, the lumber industry took another dive, and they finally closed the yard down.” An indefinable emotion darkened his features as he looked down at the ground. “I keep hoping someday it’ll be used again. Not like now.”

  Dan reached out to squeeze the boy’s drooping shoulder. “Must be depressing to see the place deserted.”

  Jayce looked up, and Dan saw the sorrow there.

  “I’m sorry, Jayce.”

  He shrugged. “You didn’t close it down.”

  “No, I mean I’m sorry … about your dad. That you don’t get to see him.”

  Another shrug, this one more curt. “That’s the way life is, you know?”

  “But it shouldn’t be.” Dan held the boy’s gaze. “You deserve better.”

  The snort told Dan Jayce didn’t buy that for a minute. “Yeah, like a kid with a dad in prison deserves anything—”

  “Your value lies in who you are, Jayce. Not in who your dad is.”

  Dan could see, in the haunted look in the boy’s eyes, that his words struck a chord.

  “Haven’t you heard, Mr. Justice? Everyone says I’m my father’s son.” He looked away. “Even Gram.”

  “No.”

  Jayce turned back, his brow wrinkled.

  “You’re your own person, Jayce. You make your own decisions about how you live your life. You can take the same path your father did, or you can choose another way. A better way.”

  Suspicion glinted in those blue eyes. “You talkin’ about God?”

  Dan laughed. “I’m talking about doing what’s right. And yes, God makes that a lot easier. He wrote the Book on right and wrong, you know.”

  Humor wrestled with doubt on Jayce’s features, until a smile finally emerged. “Yeah, I think I did hear that somewhere before.”

  “So are we going home, or what?”

  Dan and Jayce turned to see Aaron and Shannon coming through the now-empty campsite. Dan smiled. “We are going home. Okay, you monsters—” he let the teasing affection in his tone encompass all three of them—“pile in.”

  “Shotgun!” Aaron ran to pull open the front passenger door. Dan wasn’t the least surprised when Shannon didn’t protest. As much as she loved riding shotgun, she was content this trip to sit in the back. With Jayce.

  The kids got in the car, shoving and nudging each other, filling the air with their teasing laughter. Dan lagged behind, soaking in the sight and sound of their happiness.

  How could a week just disappear in a heartbeat? It seemed they’d only arrived yesterday, and yet they’d been here five days. Five days of fishing and swimming and canoeing and telling stories and watching the kids grow ever closer. Aaron and Jayce were as comfortable—and as competitive—as any two brothers Dan had ever seen. And Shannon alternately bossed and hugged on them both with impunity.

  Surprisingly, Jayce didn’t even protest. He took Shannon’s bossing with a rueful grin. A grin that reminded Dan of how he used to look when Sarah bossed or mothered him.

  Ah, Sarah, I miss that. Miss feeling the way you made me feel when we were together, laughing. He felt the void inside as he opened the car door and slid behind the wheel. But as he inserted the key into the ignition, he felt something else.

  Something new.

  He paused, focusing, trying to understand. And when he did, his mouth dropped open a fraction.

  He missed Sarah. With all his heart. But he also missed being part of something bigger than himself. Part of a team.

  No. Be honest. Not part of a team.

  Okay. Fine. Part of a couple. He missed being part of a couple.

  “What’s wrong, Dad? You forget how to drive? Want me to drive home?”

  Dan started, then waved his son off. “Yeah, in your dreams, kid.” He turned the key in the ignition, letting the realization settle in.

  Maybe … just maybe … he was ready to explore feeling that way again. Maybe it was time to open another door.

  And let a certain someone with crystalline eyes and brown hair come in.

  SIXTEEN

  “We can cure physical diseases with medicine,

  but the only cure for loneliness,

  despair, and hopelessness is love. “

  MOTHER TERESA

  “Against all hope, [he] in hope believed.”

  ROMANS 4:18, (NIV)

  IT STARTED SMALL, LIKE A SPLINTER JUST LARGE enough to feel but not large enough to see and remove. It nagged at the edges of his awareness, entering his dreams, turning them dark and foreboding. The sound continued as images loomed, threatened, increased as shadowy figures reached for him …

  Jayce awoke with a heart-pounding jerk and bolted to his feet, standing in the middle of his bed. Sweat-drenched and trembling, he crouched, peering into the darkness around him. What …? What woke him?

  He dragged in ragged breaths, struggling free from the disturbing images and emotions that invaded his dreams. As his eyes adjusted to the nighttime, so, too, his hearing sharpened, tuned in—

  He turned his head.

  The sound came from his window.

  Stealth, as natural to him as breathing, filled his every movement from the bed to the floor, across the room to the window. Gaze sweeping, scanning, alert to any hint of movement—

  There. A shadowed form. Just outside the window.

  As he drew near, moonlight illuminated the form—and the edge of fear that had settled over Jayce slipped away as suddenly as it came. In its place was a dull, throbbing irritation.

  Frustration hissed through his teeth as he snatched the window lock open then thrust the window up with a low, muttered obscenity. Grabbing his jacket from the desk chair, he slipped through the window, dropping to the ground outside. He stalked away from the house, then, when he was far enough away that his grandmother wouldn’t hear them talking, he spun to glare at the hulking boy at his side. “What do you want?”

  Marlin Murphy smiled, but clear warning burned in those dark eyes. “Hey, can’t a guy stop by to see a friend?”

  Jayce crossed his arms. “I asked you what you want.”

  The other boy’s smile faded, leaving his lips thin and twisted. “Where you been, Dalton? You were supposed to meet us last week, remember? We had business.”

  Marlin looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers, then angled a look back up at Jayce. “I warned you about making nice with the law, man. And what do you do? Take a trip to the mountains with the jerk.”

  He sneered at Jayce’s surprise. “You didn’t think I knew where you were? Oh yeah, I knew. I heard all about the big plans. Campin’ in the mountains with good ol’ Deputy Dan and his kids. Just like one of the family. Make you feel good, Jayce? The way that little girl looks at you like you’re worth somethin’? Shannon, right? That her name?” His mouth twisted. “Cute kid. I bet she’s cute, even when she’s crying.”

  Jayce was no stranger to anger. But hearing Marlin talk about Shannon did something to him. Grabbed him by the back of the neck and shook him, like a Doberman ripping into a poodle.

  “Shut … up.” His words slid out on a growl with lethal force that brought Marlin’s head snapping up and narrowed his eyes.

  “You think you can take me?” A cruel mockery of laughter escaped him. “Pretty stupid after our last dance. Even more stupid than bein’ a no-show when we’re supposed to meet.”

  Even if the moon hadn’t been bright enough to see the hatred glinting in Marlin’s eyes, Jayce had no trouble hearing the threat in the crud’s voice.

  Marlin didn’t like much. Money. Power. That was pretty much it. He’d dropped out of school a couple years ago, when he was fifteen, because he said it was a waste of time. That it wouldn’t do a thing to help him get either one of those things. And they were what drove him.

  Money, power, and one o
ther thing. His favorite thing of all.

  Hurting people.

  Marlin could do more than hurt Jayce, though.

  Marlin could kill him.

  Sure, Jayce would get his shots in like last time. He knew how to fight. But he didn’t kid himself. In the end, Marlin’s size and bulk would win, and Jayce would be finished.

  For good.

  So what? You have so much to live for?

  Jayce flinched then relaxed. For a second he’d thought—

  “Did you hear me, you little jerkwad?”

  Understanding stiffened Jayce’s spine. Oh, man. He’d thought it was Marlin asking him what he had to live for. Marlin sounded just like the voice. Why hadn’t he ever realized that befo—?

  Go for it. Let the crud take you out. You’d be better off. Your grandmother would be better off.

  “Aw, you scared, little Jayce? Want me to go get your grammy?”

  Go on.

  It wouldn’t be hard. A few well-chosen words, a shove, and Marlin would be out of control.

  Do it!

  Not with his jacket on. It was too heavy. It’d get in his way as he fought. Jayce grabbed the zipper, jerked it down—and it snagged. Caught. Muttering an oath, he looked down and found himself staring into a pair of amber eyes.

  His pendant. Aslan.

  And suddenly the voice inside wasn’t dark or menacing. It was soft and gentle, full of a sweetness Jayce had never heard before.

  “You’re just like him … you’re not a tame lion. But you’re good … down inside.”

  Jayce eased the zipper free from the leather cord, then closed his hand over the pendant. He’d almost forgotten what he promised himself. What he promised Shannon, though she didn’t know it.

  But he knew. And that’s what mattered.

  He squeezed the pendant hard, then let it go. But he could feel its imprint in his palm as he faced Marlin. “I didn’t show because we’re done.”

  Something flashed on Marlin’s face. Shock? Alarm? Before Jayce could decide, it was replaced by a cold, hard stare that promised pain.

  “Done?” Marlin took a step forward. “I got news for you, you worthless piece of trash. We’re not done until I say so.”

  “I’ve done everything you told me to. I’ve delivered your packages without asking questions. I’ve stood guard and let you know when the cops were around. I stole and lied and done things that would kill my gramma if she knew. I’m sick of it. Sick of you. Sick of me when I’m around you.”

  Jayce stood his ground, not flinching, not looking away. He held Marlin’s merciless gaze, but from the corner of his eye he caught the other boy flexing his big hands. Stretch, clench. Stretch, clench. Like he was crushing his own bones.

  Or getting ready to crush Jayce’s.

  Yeah, well, Marlin was probably going to beat him to a pulp. So be it. He’d been hammered on by bigger and badder than Marlin, and he was still standing. If that’s what it took to make the guy leave him alone, to be free, it was worth it.

  He waited for the first blow. But it didn’t come.

  Instead, Marlin’s cruel mouth twisted into what Jayce supposed was a smile, and Marlin shifted his eyes, looking just past Jayce. At the house. His grandmother’s house.

  Alarm rammed through Jayce, and he spun, scanning the shadows.

  “You kill me, you know that? All worried about little Shannon.” Marlin’s voice turned to granite. “When there’s so much to worry about right in your own home.”

  It only took a moment to see them. Marlin’s crew. All standing next to Grams’s house.

  Holding gas cans.

  “Funny thing, fire. One little spark, and it’s gone. Outta control.” He moved to stand beside Jayce, slipping his arm around Jayce’s shoulders, digging his fingers into Jayce’s arm. “I heard they think fire’s alive. You know, ’cuz it doesn’t just burn things. It eats ’em. Consumes ’em. Fast. Like it’s starvin’. Someone old, not real steady on her feet. Why, she wouldn’t have much of a chance.”

  He pulled his arm away, leaving Jayce’s arm throbbing, a sure sign Marlin’s meaty fingers would leave bruises to remind him of this little lesson.

  “Yeah.” Marlin started toward the house. “Dyin’ like that. That’d be a bad way to go.”

  Anger wasn’t the only companion Jayce had carried through his life. Another even more familiar emotion hung on him, taunting him. And it came now, despised, compressing his chest until taking a breath was like being cut in half.

  Hopelessness. And as it curled itself through and around him, Jayce knew. It didn’t matter. Nothing that he did, nothing that anyone else thought—not even someone as special as Shannon—mattered one bit.

  This was his life. There was no escape. Period.

  “All right.”

  Marlin stopped. “Excuse me?” Victory all but screamed in his smug tone. “Did you say something?”

  “All right. You win.”

  Cruel laughter lifted on the night breeze. “I win.” Marlin turned, his malicious gaze raking Jayce. “Well whaddya know? It’s true.”

  Jayce could tell Marlin wasn’t going to let it go, so he ground out the expected response. “What’s true?”

  Marlin pointed to the sky. “God is in His heaven, dude, and all’s right with the world.”

  “God?” The word spat out before Jayce could stop it, as did the near hysterical laughter ripping from his throat. “You think God’s on your side? Are you crazy?”

  In three quick steps Marlin was in his face, grabbing a fistful of Jayce’s jacket—then he stopped. “Ow! What—?” He shook his hand then reached out and snatched Jayce’s pendant.

  “No!”

  His protest didn’t matter. Marlin jerked on the pendant, clearly bent on ripping it from the cord. But the leather wouldn’t give. His movements sharp and swift, Marlin cinched the cord above the pendant in his fist, making it into a noose, snapping Jayce’s neck back and drawing him up on his toes.

  Jayce grabbed at the cord with both hands, struggling to keep it from cutting off his air entirely.

  “So who’d you steal this from?” Marlin eyed the pendant.

  Jayce sucked just enough air to spit out a reply. “I didn’t steal it.”

  A greedy light glittered in Marlin’s eyes, and Jayce wanted to scream. He knew what that look meant.

  “Looks like real gold.” Marlin turned the pendant, running this thumb over the back—then frowned. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small flashlight, turned it on, and read the inscription.

  When Marlin’s eyes came back to Jayce, the greed he’d seen there moments before was gone.

  Something far worse had taken its place.

  “So your little girlfriend gave this to you, did she?”

  Jayce sucked in air. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

  “Too good for the likes of you, huh? Wouldn’t wipe her feet on trash like you?”

  Jayce yanked at the cord. “You sick jerk! She’s just a kid!”

  Marlin tugged the cord higher. “Got you thinking about God, huh? You thinking about God, Jayce?” He stuck his face close to Jayce’s. “I am god, you little puke. I’m your god. You live, you die—”

  Another tug on the cord. Jayce felt his vision going black.

  “—it’s not God’s call. It’s mine.”

  Suddenly Jayce was free. As he sucked in oxygen, Marlin took hold of his jacket and threw him backward. Jayce went flying, landing on the ground so hard it knocked whatever air he’d managed to drag in from his burning lungs.

  Marlin towered over him, a hulking shadow blocking the sky …

  “My call.”

  …the moon, the stars …

  “Don’t you ever forget it.”

  Hope.

  Everything was gone.

  SEVENTEEN

  “Enemy-occupied territory is what the world is.”

  C. S. LEWIS

  “The enemy said, ‘I will chase them,

  catch up with them,
and destroy them.

  I will divide the plunder, avenging myself against them.

  I will unsheath my sword; my power will destroy them.’ ”

  EXODUS 15:9

  “TALK TO ME ABOUT MARLIN MURPHY.”

  Jayce’s head jerked up, the look in his eyes far from accommodating.

  He and Dan were on their way home from catching a movie down in the valley, and Dan decided to put the drive to good use.

  “Why?”

  “Because I know he’s a friend of yours. And that worries me.”

  “Marlin’s not my friend.”

  The harsh edge to Jayce’s words drew a glance from Dan. Jayce released a huff. “You saw what he did to me at the center. Why would you think he’s my friend?”

  Fair question. Deserved an honest answer. “Because you hang with him.”

  “Yeah, well …” Jayce turned to stare out his window. “Not by choice.”

  He muttered the words so low Dan wondered if Jayce meant for him to hear them. “Meaning?”

  “What?”

  “What did you mean, not by choice?”

  Nope. If the red that seeped into Jayce’s cheeks was any sign, he hadn’t intended for Dan to hear that.

  “I dunno. Look, Marlin doesn’t have friends. He has …”

  “Accomplices?”

  His jaw tensed. “Do we have to talk about this?”

  Okaay. Dan gave the boy a sideways glance. “What would you rather talk about?”

  “Anything.” He pulled a pair of sunglasses from his coat pocket and slipped them on, leaning his head back against the headrest. Sunglasses at night. Clearly he wanted to hide. “Anything but Marlin the Miserable.”

  Dan let the silence grow for a beat then launched in. “So tell me what you think of God.”

  He peered at Dan over the sunglasses. “You gotta be kiddin’ me.”

  Dan negotiated the turn just before the Lost Lake bridge. He glanced at the lake, loving how the water shimmered in the moonlight. “Marlin or God. Take your pick.”