by Regan Black
"I'm on my way to a B&E call at your place," Loomis grumbled. "Guess you're not home."
Brian stormed the security office and unfolded the Trident II. Camera two had begun to record when motion tripped the newly programmed sensor. His front door stood open to the world. He used his thumb to move the camera around. Two men, formerly of the van he'd bet, were ransacking his place.
"Ready or not, here comes round two."
"Huh?" Loomis asked.
"Nothing." The transmission from Jaden's tag showed she'd just left the building. Running off without him again. Would she never hold still? "Look," he said to Loomis, "forget the official call. Divert to the warehouse district and meet me at West 16th and State. We've got bigger fish to fry."
"Right boss."
He entered the suite to stow the computer and grab his gun. "This is off the record, Loomis."
"You got it."
Brian disconnected and slid the card into his jacket, only to watch it fall to the floor. "Stupid to hang on to the past." Wasn't a fresh future what he wanted? A chance to make his city safer? Tossing the abused jacket, Brian plowed the closet for the next best thing. He found a supple leather duster and donned it, stocking it with his preferred weapon, a .38 pistol, and a long reach taser in case he felt generous.
Next, he dialed Jaden's cell and waited as it rang twice, three times, then four. Unheard of. Worry nipped at the edges of reason.
"Hello?"
Not Jaden. "Who is this," he barked.
"L-Leigh."
"Put Jaden on." He'd find out details later, right now, he just needed to hear her voice. To let her know how he'd pushed Kristoff into a corner. To share his ideas for taking down Albertson.
"I can't, sir."
"Don't sir me, hand her the phone."
"She's–"
"You're outside." Just days ago she'd been terrified of the street. He softened his voice. "Congratulations, Leigh. What's going on with Jaden?"
"She seems to be in pain."
"Can you put the phone to her ear?"
"Jaden? He's attacking someone?"
A gruff sound he took as affirmation came over the earpiece. "You don't have to hang on to track him."
"Yes," she groaned. "Ka-tie."
"Breathe, babe. I'm on my way." But Jaden didn't reply. Brian looked at the scanner. They were headed in opposite directions. Not for long. "I've got a van coming."
"What the he–"
"Hang on, babe. I'll be right there."
He heard her gasp, then the connection died.
Swearing a blue streak, he didn't wait for Loomis to stop before jumping in. Consulting the Trident II he guided Loomis to Jaden's location.
"There!" he pointed through the windshield to the women in the shadows of an alley entrance.
Loomis stomped on the brakes and Brian ran to help Jaden and Leigh into the van.
"Just take a seat in back," Brian instructed Leigh on his way to kneel by Jaden. "Nice day for a walk."
"Shut up and touch me."
He stroked a wisp of hair off her forehead. Her next breath was visibly better. "You know where we're going?"
"Sort of." She gave a wan smile. "Do it again?"
He cradled her face and kissed her full on the lips. "Better?"
"Yeah."
He helped her to her feet, knowing she'd happily beat him up later if he carried her. "I set the sting for Kristoff."
"I hope he's allergic."
The humor did more to ease his mind than anything. "You armed?"
"And dangerous. We need to hustle. Katie–"
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. "Cleve called."
"Damn." He should've killed Albertson when he had the chance. Should've torched the whole damn mill instead of looking for legal recourse.
"It's not your fault." Jaden stroked his fist until his hand relaxed. "Albertson's the bad guy here."
"Did you just read my mind?" Brian asked.
"No, your face." She kissed his open palm. "You didn't let me hang on to the blame. I can't let you."
Before he could say the words burning in his throat, before he could promise her the world, the van lurched forward.
"Where to?" Loomis boomed from the front seat.
"Wacker Street platform," Jaden said.
Loomis whipped the bulky vehicle around and floored it.
Jaden and Brian strapped in, with a glance of shared regret for Larry between them. As if they'd partnered for years, they set to separate tasks. She opened the cell frequency scanner while he scanned the emergency channels.
Brian reached over to help Leigh with the safety restraints on her seat. She was pale, but hanging in. "You made it outside," he observed. "Way to go."
Leigh studied the floor.
"She can show us how to get inside."
Brian looked from Jaden to Leigh and back again. "Inside where, exactly?"
"Wait until Cleveland gets here."
"He's coming with us?" But Jaden didn't get to answer because Loomis came to an abrupt halt. Brian saw Cleveland and Quinn waiting under the platform stairs. He threw the door open and urged them inside.
They'd officially breached safe capacity of the evidence van. Leigh moved into the front seat, and to Brian's surprise, Quinn took her place in front of a monitor, while Cleveland tucked himself onto the floor at Jaden's feet.
"Check this, Jaden," the kid said enthusiastically, sliding a clear mini-disk into a drive.
A glance from Jaden kept Brian quiet. He settled for watching the three of them in turns, wondering what he'd missed this time. Wondering if their respective plans would collide or compliment.
"Cleveland's got the best library access. D'you know that?"
"Sounds right," Jaden replied. "What'd you find?"
The monitor came to life and a map bloomed across the modest screen. As if he'd been born in an evidence van, Quinn manipulated the picture, highlighting and zooming in on what he wanted to present.
"You're a natural, kiddo," Brian said, impressed.
Loomis grunted. "What is that?"
"The Chicago subway system," Quinn declared.
"Chicago doesn't have a subway," Loomis made the point before Brian could.
"It wanted to," Jaden interjected. "On several occasions contractors tried to move away from the el trains into sub trains. They lost the fight, but not before digging the core tunnels. How'd you come across this Quinn?"
"Why?" Brian asked.
"I've been poking around since...well, since I heard crying in the gutters one day. I haven't found the access..."
"I have that!" Brian exclaimed.
All heads turned.
He took an electronic marker and drew an infinity symbol over the map. "I just didn't know it," he clarified. "Head to the el maintenance hub, Loomis."
"Wait," Jaden said. Loomis stilled with his hand over the ignition switch. "What are you looking at, Chief?"
She studied the cryptic notation, but couldn't see what excited him. She gave up. "What's the infinity symbol tell you?"
"That we have to break it." Brian traced it again. "The hub is where the line meets itself. The top swoop right heads toward the lake, the docks. Go from middle, up and down left and you're aimed at Peoria. Or you can circle around, back to the hub or continue on toward Gary."
"So?"
"The hub is a center. Peoria is where several of Kristoff's labs are. Gary is the mill and torture chamber."
"But the girls weren't there. The transfer guards denied it. Maria didn't see children. Leigh saw them, but she wasn't at the mill."
"The elevator!" Brian and Jaden said in tandem, causing a confused uproar from everyone else.
"Leigh says they're underground," Jaden clarified. "She knows a back entrance. Let me out Loomis."
"Hold on a minute," Brian stalled. "We'll go together."
"If we both go under he'll escape up top."
"And the reverse would be true," Cleveland concurred,
contributing for the first time. "There are a few more of us here to help."
"Then you take the subway," Brian said to Cleveland.
"No," Jaden contradicted. "How's a guy like him gonna hide among young girls? Leigh and I will go in the back way. They might be scared of men."
She had a point.
"They won't be scared of me," Quinn offered.
Brian ruffled his hair. "Let's not scar you any more than necessary, okay?" He traded speaking looks with Cleveland. "Can you deal, Leigh?"
She gave a weak nod. "I'll do what it takes."
"Then here we are. Loomis and I will take the el to Gary. You," he frowned at Jaden, "and Leigh will go in her way." Another assessment of man and boy. "You two are in charge of monitoring the progress from here. When they get the girls up and out, you can get them to safety."
"We'll do it," Quinn said.
"Whatever it takes," Cleveland agreed with a proud look for the boy.
"Let's get to it," Jaden stood. "We'll celebrate over his fat body in a couple hours."
"You mean his dead body," Brian grumbled.
"No. You kill him and your career's over."
"I'll smoke the pervert," Loomis offered.
"His blood's on my hands and it'll stay there," Jaden stated in a tone that stopped the argument.
"All right, all right." Brian kept his eyes off Jaden and moved closer to Quinn, popping open the Trident II.
"Cool!" Quinn exclaimed.
"Yeah, I'll get you one when this is over. For now, note this frequency." Brian wrote down a few numbers. "Keep track of it and let me know if anything goes haywire." He'd be too far away to track Jaden without the van's help.
Quinn called up the software and entered the info. "Says it's in the van with us."
"Um, yeah. Just a test I suppose. Let's rock," Brian moved to open the doors.
"Not so fast." Jaden was hanging over Quinn's shoulder. She shot a smug look at Brian. "Keep an eye on this one too."
"Hey, it's right here, too."
"I bet. What's it say now?" She moved to Brian and wrapped herself around him, smacking his lips with hers.
"They're right on top of each other."
Brian smirked. He didn't know what to think of her easy acceptance of his tag or the realization that she'd tagged him without his knowledge.
"Great minds think alike."
"Guess so."
He hopped from the van to the pavement and helped her down. "Be careful."
She tilted her smiling face up to him and puckered her lips. "Load me up, big guy. It might be awhile before I can touch you again."
He gave himself to her through their mysterious connection. Touching her, kissing her, sharing his breath and heartbeat. He wanted her to have all of him. His strength as a shield from the perpetual drain of the Judge.
"Promise me–"
Her hand stilled his lips. "Don't ask what I can't give."
Though it went against his judgment, he let it drop. He would just get there first and finish off Albertson before the Judge could destroy them both.
Brian kissed her one last time, reluctantly releasing her when Leigh joined them. He wanted to send armored cavalry with them and knew his thought would annoy Jaden.
He watched them go.
The ultra-capable, big girl warrior setting off for another epic battle. It didn't seem so painful when it had only been theory. When he hadn't know it was his soul mate dashing off to finish a thousand-year war with evil incarnate.
Chapter Fifteen
"It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." –Sherlock Holmes, of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Jaden watched Brian's back ascending to the el, refusing to regret the unspoken words. Spilling her guts wouldn't help his concentration. If they lived, they'd have a lifetime to talk.
Hopefully.
"You guys take care," Jaden called into the van.
"Seems things are better," Cleveland observed dryly.
Jaden just grunted.
"They're a mess of gross mush." Quinn made gagging noises.
"You guys are unbelievable. Katie's scared out of her mind, who knows where, and you're talking about my love life?"
"I'm not worried. Cleveland says you're the link. You'll find her. You'll save them all."
She eyed Cleveland over the boy's head. "Some bedtime tales you tell."
"Legends and quests are the best," he countered pointedly. He turned his penetrating gaze to Leigh. "Guide her well. She'll bring you home."
Leigh only blinked watery eyes.
Cleveland smiled and then closed the van doors. Jaden knew he'd done it on purpose, making sure the last image in their minds was that picture of his ultimate confidence in them.
"This way," Leigh said.
An effective tool, Jaden thought. Leigh's shoulders were squared and her stride steady as they moved toward the scene of such recent horror in her life.
She followed, sensing at the edge of her consciousness that Albertson knew they were closing in. How would he spin it? What tricks would he pull out to stop them? She hoped her infusion of strength from Brian was enough to ward off any additional mental attacks.
"Leigh, if I, um..." She tried again. "If I zone on you, punch me right here." She pointed to her solar plexus. "Just like I showed in class." The girl's eyes went wide. "Kick if you have to."
"Why?"
"The Judge, well, he's been able to get in my head and make me see things. If he gets a hold, pain will pull me out. You can do it. And I probably won't fight back."
"Probably?"
The single word weighted with such vast doubt made Jaden smile. "It's the safest way to get me back on your side."
"What is this really about?"
"Conquering evil. No more, no less."
Leigh nodded and guided them around the corner.
Jaden's thoughts wandered as they neared the target. There had to be a way to take down Albertson legally. Regardless of Brian's rash words and fiery sense of justice, death hadn't worked so far.
Turning the police chief into a vigilante didn't sound like a positive solution. For the little girls now and the female population in the future, what they needed was a positive, permanent solution.
Brian loved Albertson; at least he'd loved the man he'd known until recently. Jaden understood first-hand the choking vine of mixed emotions. The churning tension of hating someone you loved. If she could spare Brian that pain, she would. He wouldn't like having a family friend behind bars with two needles a day, but it had to be better than having your lover kill a friend outright.
Jaden pulled a digital hand-cam from her pocket. "If I'm out of commission, take this and film all you can. Make copies, hide them and get the original to Loomis."
"The to-do list is sure growing. You're gonna have to do that yourself. I suck with cameras. I always cut off heads."
Jaden smiled at the rambling. Leigh was doing whatever she could to keep herself moving forward when she clearly wanted to run like hell back to Micky's safe house.
"I appreciate the escort, Leigh."
No answer. She'd frozen like a statue in front of an unremarkable doorway.
"This is it?" Jaden prompted.
A jerky nod was all the confirmation Leigh could give.
"I'll take it from here then."
"No. If I stop now he wins."
Jaden began to protest, until she recognized the glittering determination in Leigh's eyes.
"Good for you." She turned on the camera, unsnapped the strap on her dagger and flipped the safety off her pistol. "I'm ready. Lead on."
Brian stood with Loomis on the Gary platform. Loomis used binoculars to assess the guards on patrol. "Nothin'. This place is deader than a doornail."
Naturally, Brian understood the phrasing. Taking the opportunity, Brian checked in with Quinn and Cleveland. "What's her status?" he asked via his link to the van.
> "We just lost her signal," Cleveland replied. "She must be underground."
Shit. He didn't think of that. "There might be a way to boost it." Did Cleveland hear his desperation? He had to get a grip on this or Albertson would win easily.
"Give me that," Loomis lowered the binoculars and held out a hand for the communicator. He relayed instructions for boosting the signal, waited, then returned the device to Brian.
"There she is!"
Quinn's happy voice eased Brian's worry.
"Any fallout on Kristoff yet?" he asked Cleveland.
"Not that we've picked up. I'll let you know."
"Fine." Not willing to delay any longer he signed off. "We're going in."
They strolled toward the abandoned mill as if they owned it, instead of a morally bankrupt judge.
"What's your plan?" Loomis asked.
"Go in, subdue the guards, release any prisoners. When we find the Judge make him beg for his life."
"You'll let him live?"
"Hell no."
"But Jaden said–"
"She's wrong. He'll never stop unless we, I, take him out."
"Whatever, boss." Loomis shrugged and pulled his gun from his shoulder holster.
They loped across the open area without incident. Either the mill had been cleared out, or the orders were to hold fire.
"Too quiet," Loomis groused.
Brian agreed. "Get set then."
They offed the safeties on their weapons and kicked in the front door. This room Brian had never seen. It rivaled the entries of grand estates, down to the sweeping, marble staircase.
"Welcome, boys," Albertson boomed.
They looked up to see the Judge in all his glory at the balcony, surrounded by armed men, with weapons at the ready.
Brian lowered his gun, but didn't engage the safety. "Had a report there was trouble. You okay, old man?"
He saw the Judge flinch.
"Just protecting my interests, son."
"From what threat?"
"Come in, come in, and we'll talk. What report alerted you?"
"Squatters draining an energy source," Loomis improvised.
"Oh, yes, of course. All handled." He lumbered down the wide staircase. "Just decided to step up the security. Can't be too sure who's who and what's what with the visitors I'm expecting. You're not in uniform."