Bounty

by J. D. Cunegan

  Gregor opened his eyes and glanced to his left, seeing the katana dug into the conference table, the blade pinning him there by his shirt, inches from his face. He exhaled a breath of relief despite himself.

  "I didn't need you to, either." Jill dug the blade out of the table and sheathed it with a self-satisfied smile. She lunged for Gregor, grabbing a tuft of his white hair and letting her face hover inches from his. "We'll do this again, Mr. Gregor. Real soon. And when that time comes, you better be ready to make peace with everything."

  Backing up so she could keep her gaze on Gregor, Jill sank back into the shadows. Only her infrared eye was visible.

  "Oh, and my name's not Patient Zero. It's Bounty."

  The red eye disappeared.

  Chapter 20

  Juanita Gutierrez stood in her brother's kitchen, cracking open two cans of soda before joining him on the couch. Open containers of Chinese food were strewn about his wooden coffee table, a purple PlayStation controller laying on the floor. She handed Ramon a can, rolling her eyes when she saw the television.

  "The news, hermano?" She shook her head. "Really?"

  Ramon gave his sister a quizzical stare, pausing just long enough to take a bite of his egg roll. For the most part, he was adept at using chopsticks, but when it came to egg rolls, he was more of a hands-on kind of guy. "What's wrong with watching the news?"

  She sighed. "All the shit we deal with every day, and you're gonna sit here and watch more of it?"

  He shrugged in response, taking another bite from his egg roll before washing it down with a swig of soda. Juanita watched him carefully, like she always did, noting how he still had that latent giddiness about him. There was something rolling around in that boy's brain, and the fact that he wasn't saying anything about it made her all the more curious and suspicious.

  "This wouldn't have anything to do with that secret, would it?"

  Ramon stopped mid-chew, giving his sister a death glare with a hint of confusion. He swallowed and set his plate down on the coffee table before tucking his legs underneath himself. "What? Chica, what are you talking about?"

  "You're hiding something." She was matter-of-fact about it. "I can tell. You're sittin' on something you can't mention to anyone."

  Ramon panicked, wondering what he should say. He should have known his sister would find him out; his only saving grace, to this point, was that she didn't know what he knew. Unless Jill had told her, which he doubted. Ramon got the impression that his partner's secret was only known to him, and as far as he was concerned, it would stay that way -- friendly familial ribbing about certain tells aside.

  Before Ramon could respond, something on the TV caught his eye. Both Ramon and Juanita turned their attention.

  "This just in." The perfectly-coiffed anchorman announced. "Billionaire mogul and Maryland native David Gregor has called an impromptu news conference outside the Transamerica Tower. We take you there now."

  The businessman stood in front of a cluster of microphones, flashbulbs assaulting his face. If Ramon didn't know any better, he swore he saw a bend in his nose and some bruising around his nostrils. It was faint, almost like concealer had been applied. Ramon and Juanita both sat up a little straighter.

  "I'm here today to offer a reward." His eyes bore directly into the camera. Gregor's shoulders were broad, authoritative. "One million dollars to the person or persons who apprehend the vigilante known as Bounty."

  Ramon nearly did a spit-take, barely maintaining his composure so as not to arise his sister's suspicion.

  "This menace can no longer be allowed to run rampant over this city!" He slammed his right fist against the podium for emphasis. Flashbulbs nearly blinded him. "She is dangerous. She is unstable. She cannot be allowed to terrorize these citizens anymore!"

  Juanita cast a sidelong glance at her brother, noting the way his brow furrowed.

  Gregor reached into the pocket of his blazer, producing a sheet of paper. Unfolding it, he held the paper out for the camera to zoom in on, finding a sketch of a woman -- her face largely shrouded by strands of hair, a red left eye shining through. Ramon felt his heart leap into his throat, panic washing over him so suddenly that he had to cough and reach for his soda to hide his reaction.

  "This is Bounty." He practically snarled as he spoke. "If you see her, do not call the police. They will be of no help to you."

  Juanita frowned. "Can he do that?"

  "You find this woman, you bring her to me." Gregor pocketed the sketch. "And you will be handsomely rewarded."

  Gregor turned to walk back into the building, ignoring the scrum of reporters as they shouted questions over each other and reached their voice recorders out to the departing businessman. Flashbulbs were nearly constant, even after Gregor disappeared into the building, before the newscast cut back to the anchor desk.

  Juanita turned off the television and stared at her brother. "That has to be illegal." She sighed. "Right? Can a private citizen put out a bounty like that?"

  Ramon bolted from his seat, grabbing his coat and hastily slinging the garment over his shoulders. His mind was racing, his heart going a million miles a minute. His eyes darted around his apartment, purposefully avoiding Juanita until he snatched his keys off the top of the TV stand.

  "Juanita." His voice was closer to a breathless huff. "Promise me you won't ask any questions."

  She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out -- until she watched her brother grab the door knob. "You know who that girl is, don't you?"

  "Chica! I said no questions."

  Ramon was out the door before his sister could respond, leaving her alone on the couch.

  Chapter 21

  "Yeah, I saw." Jill shrugged, smartphone pinned to her ear. "Can't say I'm surprised."

  Ramon clutched his phone as he jogged from his parking spot to the building that housed their precinct, his grip so tight that his knuckles were turning white. "You seem awful calm for someone who just had a public hit taken out on them."

  From her perch atop the precinct, Jill saw Ramon running. Knowing they were just a few moments from carrying on this conversation face-to-face, she ended the call and pocketed her phone. She could see the lights from Camden Yards from the rooftop; there was no game tonight, as the Orioles were heading to Anaheim to begin the ALCS, but the lights still shone like a beacon to draw in the rest of the city. Baltimore just felt like a different city when the Orioles were winning and contending. The fourteen straight losing seasons had cast a pall on the town, and Jill was thankful that it had been lifted.

  She leaned against a storage shed, chewing on her lower lip. Truth was, the only reason Gregor put a bounty on her -- and no, the irony was not lost on Jill -- was because of her stunt. It was bold, it wasn't blessed with an abundance of forethought, and most others would regret it in hindsight. But Jill needed answers, and she clearly hadn't been getting them through official channels. This way, at least she now knew where to go.

  Ramon burst through the door leading onto the roof a lot faster than he needed to, huffing and struggling to catch his breath. He was tense, but he couldn't help but laugh when he saw the amused grin on his partner's face.

  "Hey, shut up,” he mocked. "Not all of us are cyborgs."

  They both fell silent, largely because Ramon was still catching his breath. The precinct was relatively dead at this hour, so Ramon hadn't encountered much resistance on his way to the roof. He gulped in as much air as his lungs would allow, the chill of the fall air making that slightly more difficult. He zipped his coat up as far as it would go, as Jill tightened the coal gray scarf around her neck.

  Ramon finally approached, hands in his pockets. "What happened?"

  She sighed, glancing over the edge of the roof. She didn't really want to get into it, but she knew her partner had seen the news. She knew he wouldn't have called her unless he figured out she had done something to call attention to herself. As green as Ramon was, he was also intelligent and insightful. If he wasn�
��t, he wouldn’t have made the leap to detective at such a young age.

  "I went to see him." Jill shrugged. "I needed to find out for sure if what Freeman said was true."

  Ramon frowned. "And we couldn't do that by just detecting?"

  "You saw what happened when we asked Freeman if he knew the guy." She approached Ramon, errant strands of hair blowing in her face. She squinted at the gusts, silently cursing how cold nights got in Baltimore this time of year. She needed to re-think her habit of holding clandestine conversations on rooftops.

  "Look." She put a hand on Ramon's arm. "Hindsight? Not my best moment."

  Ramon couldn't help but laugh. "Ya think?"

  She smiled before lightly smacking his arm -- or what she thought was lightly, until she saw Ramon grimace in pain. She cringed, taking a couple steps back. "I just... I knew Gregor would never talk if we went in with badges, and if he did, he or his lawyer would just deny deny deny, and then deny some more."

  Ramon nodded, rubbing that spot on his arm. "And seeing as how we're getting nowhere with the Pentagon..."

  "I had to go the direct route." Jill agreed. "Risky. Beyond risky. Like, Risky looked at my idea and thought, 'Nah, I'm good'." She slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, leveling a serious gaze at her partner. "But now I know. Gregor bankrolled the whole thing." She frowned. "And was apparently warned that I'd be coming."

  Ramon frowned. "What?"

  "He called me Patient Zero." She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "That was my codename at Project Fusion."

  Ramon sighed. "So what's our next move?"

  Jill shook her head. "There is no our next move." She shrugged and glanced down at her feet. "Hell, I'm not even sure if I'm gonna have a next move."

  This looked bleak. To this point, Jill had thrived on the anonymity her alter ego enjoyed. But with that press conference, David Gregor had blown that completely out of the water. Her element of surprise, her ability to intimidate through uncertainty, was gone. Now, the underbelly of the city would be actively seeking her out, which meant she was even more limited in what she could do going forward. She hated this. When her badge didn't get her anywhere, at least Jill had her vigilantism to fall back on; now, she didn't even have that.

  "I wanna help."

  Ramon's words almost didn't register. But Jill did hear them, and while she loved her partner for having her back like this, she couldn't in good conscience send him on a suicide mission like this. She was already somewhat convinced this was going to kill her. There was no sense in dragging him along with her.

  "I appreciate that, Ramon. Really." She sighed. "But I can't let you do that."

  "Jill." Ramon spoke in a tone she was sure she'd never heard. She frowned at him, the look in his eyes disarming. "I'm not backing out on this." Jill opened her mouth to protest, but Ramon stepped toward her, realizing if he was going to say this, he was going to have to say it before she had a chance to put her foot down. "You trusted me, Jill, and I'm not sure I can tell you just how much I appreciate that. But that also means I have a responsibility, and I plan to take that seriously."

  Jill shook her head. "I never asked you to --"

  "You don't have to." Ramon took Jill's hand into his own, surprising them both. They were partners and friends, almost as close as siblings in some ways, but such blatant displays of that affection were rare. They were much more likely to bump elbows, call each other idiots, and throw back a few cold ones. "Do you have any idea how much of a godsend you've been to me since they gave me that badge?"

  Jill cocked her head to side, her eyes imploring Ramon to continue.

  "Being green in Homicide is terrifying enough." He let go of Jill's hand, leaning against the side of the entrance to the roof. "Moving across the country for my first detective job after college and the academy? Having Juanita here already helped some, but... the only reason I'm still here is you. I don't just mean in the I-might-be-killed sense. I mean..." He shook his head and shrugged. "There's a lot about being a cop they don't teach you at the academy. But I've had one hell of a teacher."

  She smiled at that, genuine and unguarded. "I've had a hell of a student."

  "So whatever this is?" He pointed at Jill's face, undoubtedly the eyeplate she had concealed. "Whatever you're into? I'm right there with you. No matter what."

  Jill smirked and shook her head. "What are you, my plucky sidekick?"

  Ramon shook his head. "Plucky sidekick always gets killed." He extended his right arm, palm open for Jill. "Partner. In every sense of the word."

  She clasped her fingers around his hand, careful not to squeeze too hard as they shook. Jill's eyes met Ramon's, and they smiled.

  "In every sense of the word."

  Chapter 22

  Technically speaking, Brian Andersen still lived in his childhood home. The deed was now in his name, but truth be told, he rarely went back. He lived in his office more than anything, not just because he was tied to his work in such an extreme fashion, to the point where colleagues joked that he was a robot, but because crossing through the front door and wandering through the house brought back a slew of memories he wanted no part of. Childhood homes were supposed to be happy places, comfortable spaces full of laughter and love. Yet every time Brian set foot in his house, he was greeted with nothing but heartache and deceit.

  A framed picture of Brian's parents on their wedding day sat on his desk. Aside from his computer and a small bin for outgoing files, it was the only thing to grace the wooden surface. Paul and Janice were so young and happy in that picture, and that was exactly how Brian chose to remember them. It beat the pain and lies that were to come years later.

  Brian trapped a pencil between his teeth, scratching at the thick stubble on his cheek. He wheeled from behind his desk to a nearby bookshelf, silently thankful that the book he needed wasn't sitting on one of the higher shelves. Brian grabbed the book in question, setting it in his lap before he reached up to loosen and pull off his orange tie.

  Wheeling back to his desk, Brian heard a knock on his door. "Come in."

  By the time Brian had returned to his desk and looked up, the pencil dropped out of his mouth and his heart skipped a beat. He clutched at the rubber wheels of his wheelchair, taking a deep breath as a scowl developed on his face. He shook his head and sucked in a deep breath, letting go of the wheels to crack his knuckles.

  "What the hell do you want?"

  Jill sighed, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her leather coat. She had expected this sort of reaction, mostly because in recent years, it was one of the few things Brian would actually say to her. She crossed the threshold into the office and took a step toward the desk, trying to put on a good front, trying to make it seem like simply being in her younger brother's office didn't scare the crap out of her.

  "What?" Jill shrugged, and she hoped that faking nonchalance was one of her talents. "I can't visit my little brother?"

  "If you had one." He slammed the book that had been in his lap onto the desk, taking secret pleasure in watching Jill flinch when it banged against the wood. "But that can't be it, so I'm going to assume that you're here because you're ready to file charges against someone for that murder at the Inner Harbor."

  Even as he said that, Brian knew that wasn't the case -- because whenever Jill needed to file charges with the DA's office, she just went to his superior, Ramona Parish. He buried his face in the book, not really taking in the words. It just gave him a good excuse to not look Jill in the eye.

  Jill sighed and stared at the ceiling. "I never knew you to be so vindictive."

  "That's what happens when everyone betrays you."

  Anger welling up inside her, and pushing aside whatever hesitance she had left, Jill leaned forward and pressed her palms against the desk. "Are we really gonna do this again, Brian?"

  He finally lifted his gaze from his book, anger flashing in his brown eyes. "You're here, aren't you?"

  Jill had lost track of how many times they'd ha
d this conversation. Brian took Paul's arrest just as hard as Jill, but whereas Jill turned that pain into determination, Brian had lost himself. He didn't share Jill's belief that Paul was innocent, and he blamed Paul just as much as he blamed Jill for everything that happened following his arrest. Jill had learned long ago that merely bringing up their mother’s name elicited a far more boisterous reaction.

  "How can you have so little faith in dad?"

  Brian shook his head. "You've seen the evidence. How can you still believe he's innocent?"

  "Right. I'm such a terrible sister because I refuse to give up on our father."

  "You gave up on me pretty easily."

  "What was I supposed to do?!" Jill's voice shook as it rose, her finger stabbing at the air in his direction. "You gave up on me! I came to see you when you were in the hospital and you threw me back out!"

  "Because you weren't there when it mattered,” Brian argued. “You were only there when it suited you."

  "You know what?" Jill gnashed her teeth together. "I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm sorry that you're so absorbed in your own bullshit that you can't even understand what it was like for me when I enlisted. It wasn't as if I could just duck out whenever I damn well pleased."

  "All you had to do was answer your phone."

  "I was in the middle of receiving orders!" Jill pounded her fist against the desk, ignoring the tiny splinters digging into her palm. "And while we're on the subject of people betraying each other in this family, nice job out of you not showing up for mom's funeral."

  Brian stared at Jill's hand, wondering how someone of her stature could put a dent in his desk like that. He shook his head, refusing to look up at her. "She turned her back on us. I wasn't about to celebrate the life of a coward."

  Jill leapt over the desk and grabbed her brother by his collar with both hands. Their faces were inches from each other, and Jill snarled when she caught a whiff of Brian's aftershave. The strong aroma nearly made her gag. Jill tightened her grip on his collar, her nails nearly poking holes in the fabric of his shirt. Jill’s nostrils flared, and she waited several moments for her nerves to calm before she did something she'd really regret.