“That desperate woman is not going to start her mating call this morning.” Like any good secretary when it came to her office, no one got to her boss unless she allowed it. After all, how many times had her boss told her she was damn good at her job?
Like a cat waiting for a mouse, one of the young clerks watched Justice, determined to get to him first before Gwen cornered him.
Justice stood in the doorway, not too happy at the sight of the clerk gauging when he’d walked through the door. He had an idea it was the coffee club again and had no plans of being involved with any of it. He’d heard the quarrel about Jeri’s handling of the dues. Frankly, he didn’t care. They’d wanted it and had elected Jeri to be in charge. He was out of it.
He couldn’t decide whether to take the coffee club anarchy or Gwen’s hormones. For once he wished he had used the back entrance into his office.
He strolled past Jeri’s desk, hoping everyone ignored him. No such luck. Jeri walked ahead of him toward his office. The clerk was seconds behind her.
“Dr. Black, I need to see you about an issue here in this office,” the clerk blurted.
Jeri frowned at her. “Have you finished Jayce’s report? Pen needs it this morning.”
The clerk pivoted on her heels back to her desk, smarting at the question.
“Justice, I’ve been waiting for you.”
Gwen rushed toward him; however, Jeri, being quicker, stepped into his office and smiled.
“Sorry, Miss Marcus,” she said before closing the door. “I need to brief Dr. Black.” Then she mumbled, “Not today, honey.”
“What is that all about, Jeri?” Justice sat on the edge of his desk with his arms folded across his chest. Jeri was usually tolerate of Gwen’s behavior, but today she was almost rude. “I’m not taking part in any of that coffee club nonsense; don’t let me have to repeat myself.”
She released a deep sigh. “I’m sorry about that. I’ll handle it. This is about Ms. Marcus. That woman is on a hunting expedition again for a breeder, and in case you don’t know, you have been selected. I’m not giving you a baby shower to celebrate procreating with that.” In the same manner, she folded her arms and waited for him to deny he was unaware of Gwen’s intentions.
“Jeri, I told you, don’t worry about Gwen. Give me five minutes, and I’ll see her. It’ll give her time to cool down.” He scowled at Jeri, confirming she had made Gwen angry with that stunt.
“Well, I don’t see why you don’t tell her to go hire a man or go to a sperm bank. She comes in here like she owns the place and expects everyone to drop everything and pay attention to her, which you know I am not doing. We run a business here, not a dating service. With all her plastic surgeries, one of these days I’m going to pretend I don’t know who she is and let her sit and wait.”
Justice could see Jeri was on the edge of losing her temper, and he didn’t have the time to deal with that.
“I will tell her about her impromptu visits, all right?”
He reached inside his desk for the extra razor he kept. His face itched, and there had not been enough time this morning to shave. Gwen’s presence was not what he needed. He was careful in public meetings with Gwen and even more careful not to be alone with her. It was always business, no dates, even though she had made one poor attempt scheduling a business lunch at her home that ended in a disaster for her. She’d greeted him at the door in a damn fluffy purple gown that left nothing to the imagination. He simply smiled, said, “No thanks,” and left. After that she avoided him for two months.
Justice moved to the other side of the desk as a barrier, only he didn’t fool himself. Gwen would easily crawl over it.
Jeri calmed herself before leaving but had to get one thing off her mind. “Dr. Black, you need to tell that woman not everyone is impressed with her.”
Instead of directly bringing Gwen in, Jeri returned to her desk and began sanitizing the area. The looks each exchanged indicated there was no love lost between them. Jeri smirked at Gwen’s latest favorite hobby next to chasing her boss, plastic surgery. She swore if the woman lifted her breasts any higher, her chin would be resting on them. The job on her eyebrows made her look constantly surprised.
“You’ll have to wait, Miss Marcus. Dr. Black is tied up for the next fifteen minutes.” She politely handed her a fashion magazine. “If you’re interested, on page sixty-nine there is an article on lips.” Jeri strutted to the clerical pool in search of the clerk, leaving Gwen frantically turning pages.
Gwen loved Justice and believed they’d be good together. Unfortunately, Justice didn’t share those same beliefs. That didn’t dampen her interest in him, and she’d staked her claim on him years ago. She would go to war with any woman who got in her way, including his poppy little secretary. She waited until Jeri was gone and rushed into his office.
Gwen smiled at Justice as she leaned over and attempted to kiss his lips. In this position she presented a view of her new cleavage. Justice leaned back in time for her to properly kiss air.
“Still playing hard to get, I see, Justice?” She took a seat next to his desk, crossed her long legs, and made a poor attempt to adjust her very mini skirt. “It doesn’t matter. I like the chase,” she added. As usual, she hopefully waited for a reaction from Justice. As usual, none came. It was difficult to know everything about Justice’s life. She’d tried. There were many gaps after his stay in the military—he was mostly a ghost.
“What do you want, Gwen?”
Jeri stood in the doorway, her eyes on Gwen’s back. Then she looked to the heavens. “Dr. Black, do you want the door open or closed?”
“You can close it, Jeri.”
“Good-bye.” Gwen waved, flipped her hair over her shoulders, and shrugged at Jeri.
“Call me if you need anything,” Jeri said. “What was her mother thinking when she spawned that?” she muttered as she walked away.
Gwen waited until Jeri left before she spoke. “Justice, you should consider getting a new secretary. Jeri is intolerable. I wouldn’t put up with her for one minute in my office.”
“None of my staff, especially Jeri, is your business. Don’t make it.”
With that hard, flat response, Gwen cut her losses; it wouldn’t do her any good to taint the little relationship she had with Justice by making him angry about Jeri.
“I wanted to see what you have on the restaurant fire—anything new?”
When she wanted to be, Gwen was a capable reporter, which was the reason he put up with her. She could be decent if she gave herself a chance. It didn’t mean he trusted her.
“I don’t have anything I want in the press right now, Gwen. How many times must you be told that?” He shifted through papers, thinking about the interviews with Gabe and Desirae. Their information disturbed him, but he wasn’t ready to release it yet.
“I hear you are working with Dr. Adeena Joseph, who is also single.”
“And how is that important?” He continued with his paperwork and never gave her a second look.
“I make it my business to know the women in close contact with you. Is she pretty?”
He ignored that last statement but gave her his full attention to refresh the boundaries.
“You know, Gwen, you need to have some respect for yourself. We have gone over this too many times. Your interest in me is not a shared interest. Why don’t you knock it off? Find someone who has the same interest as you or who doesn’t mind being stalked as a breeder.” She had pushed his patience, and he’d had enough. “Speaking of interest, you need to have Jeri schedule appointments before you barge in here.”
Gwen was offended. “I don’t care about rubbing Jeri the wrong way. That little twerp hates me, and frankly, she acts likes she owns you. Why is she so territorial when it comes to you anyway?”
“Jeri is my secretary, and when you come here, you are to respect h
er and my staff. That is not a request. As long as you keep it professional, there shouldn’t be a problem. If you come in here with anything else on your mind or bother my staff, that is a serious problem, and you’ll be dealing with me. Understand?”
Gwen balked. If pushed, that temper Justice worked hard to restrain would be her downfall.
“Sure,” she finally agreed.
The phone rang and offered her a little respite.
“Yes, Jeri,” Justice said.
Gwen tried to show indifference, but it bothered her how Justice softened with Jeri.
“Dr. Joseph? Yes, put her through.” He was surprised she would call; they hadn’t had much information to go on and wouldn’t until after her interview next week.
“Would you excuse me, Gwen?”
Justice’s mood mellowed. Seeing that Gwen hesitated in leaving, he nodded toward the door. “Gwen. Make an appointment with Jeri.”
“I’ll be home around nine, Justice. Call me?” she asked before she walked out.
“Dr. Joseph, how are you?” He relaxed in his chair and tried to imagine what she looked like today. He knew she had on brown for sure, and the hair was a no-brainer. The few times he’d seen her from a distance, she wore brown.
“I am sorry to interrupt you, Dr. Black, but can you spare a few minutes?” Kaitlyn tried not to sound nervous as she focused on an imaginary point outside of her office window. She used this technique to create a blind spot between her and Justice after he’d successfully frazzled her nerves in her apartment with his antics. It helped that she’d been busy with other clients and hadn’t had time to focus on Justice whenever he did come into the office. His schedule was just as busy, which helped.
“I can spare you as much time as you need or want.” He crossed his legs and relaxed. “Shoot.”
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, certain there was a hidden meaning in what he said.
“I looked at some additional bios, and there are two locals I’ll be looking into. They’re patients of the other clinic. One is Cricket Neals Painter. She set her house on fire while the family slept and then stood among the crowd, screaming.”
Justice rubbed his forehead, stared out the window, and thought of the young girl. He remembered the case.
“The second person,” she continued, “is Marley Saic. He lives in a halfway house and hangs out at the shelter; he set fire to his girlfriend’s body after he had beaten her to death. I’m to evaluate him for suitability for release.”
“I can have Caldwell check with Saic’s parole officer.” Justice felt the rigid silence on the other end. He had struck a nerve. After a few silent seconds, he asked, “Are you still there?”
A few more seconds passed before she answered.
“Yes, I am still here. Listen, Dr. Black. I am not some weakling that needs a chaperone or a Sir Galahad. I can certainly take care of myself, and as a professional courtesy, you need to give me respect and know when to back off. I would appreciate it if you refrained from interfering with my job.”
Her knuckles hurt from the tight grip; she could not hold her disdain for the chauvinistic behavior that came from Justice Black.
Justice calmly responded, “Now, first, I do respect you. Secondly, although not a bad man, Sir Galahad was known for his gallantry and purity. Don’t mistake either in me. If you aren’t willing to work as a team, you let me know now.”
He did it again. What did he mean she couldn’t work as a team?
“By all means I will do that.”
“Thirdly, Dr. Joseph, I admit I may be a little old-fashioned and a bit opinionated, but I mean what I say.”
She was beside herself. Undeniably he was the most infuriating human specimen she could imagine. God knows she didn’t want to be accused of overreacting to anything he said. But that sense of authority got the best of her.
He sensed a lecture coming and shifted the conversation to the interview. “Again, let me know when you have discussed this with Dr. Eastermann.”
Smart aleck. How would he like it if I hung up in his face? She had a mind to do just that.
“Sure, Dr. Black. I will.”
chapter
TWENTY-THREE
Ed knew he could have had a better plan to get inside of Bandlo Inc., but he couldn’t wait. The ground-floor security wouldn’t let him in. He blamed himself. He’d forgotten the badge for this building. He would raise the price for Justice Black. The chairman never told him he’d be following Justice between two office sites that were forty-five miles apart.
“What a piece of shit,” he complained. “I could get useless Slick to keep tabs on one of the buildings, but Slick could screw things up. No, I have a better idea.”
“That broad at the front desk may be a problem. I’ve solved worse than her.” He checked his watch one more time. “Where is that worthless piece of ass? He was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. I hate depending on others. They always let you down unless you knock them around.”
The grocery store parking lot hadn’t thinned; he’d picked the location because it was less conspicuous and was the perfect place for rendezvous, as the cameras were for show only.
While he waited Ed thought of the numerous times he’d seen wives and husbands meet their lovers here, not to mention the drug deals. He believed if he took pictures he could make big money.
A gray Ford slowly parked in the designated spot. Ed waited before he approached the car and watched Kyle foolishly look around as he scampered across the lot.
Kyle couldn’t look more suspicious and that infuriated Ed.
Kyle figured Ed would be plenty angry; the man had a horrible temper.
“Sorry,” he apologized when he reached Ed and saw the scowl on his face. “I had a meeting I couldn’t get out of.”
“I’m not interested in your excuses. Did you find my kids?”
“Yes. Here are their addresses.” Kyle hesitated before giving him the paper. “The chairman doesn’t want to know what you’ll do with this. Do you understand?”
“These kids owe me, so why don’t you pull out of here before the good people of this town see you standing here talking? One more thing, Kyle, you tell the chairman I’m doing this job my way, and stay off my back.”
Kyle didn’t argue. No way would he tell the chairman that. He silently vowed this was the last time he’d stoop this low to accomplish what he wanted.
“If my kids still remember their stuff, they’ll come in handy. If they hold true to my teachings, Justice Black and his black justice are nearing their end.”
It was 2:00 a.m. Dan swore as the blaze from the two-story wood-frame house leaped to the rooftop of the other house. The burning house had been built in 1938 and was ripe for kindling. Only dry rot and termites barely held it up.
“Let’s get some water on that other house.” He’d warned the mayor about these vacant houses. Sometimes addicts would camp overnight in them and often leave makeshift stoves for cooking more than food. This was the fourth vacant house that had been burned within three weeks in this part of town. All between two and three in the morning. Something needed to be done.
“Sir,” one of his men yelled from the next house, “I need you over here.”
Dan walked inside the smoldering house. He stopped in his tracks. “Holy Mother of God,” he said as he made the sign of the cross at the sight of the charred body.
“Yeah,” the fireman said. “And it’s a woman.”
chapter
TWENTY-FOUR
“Dr. Black, I’m sorry about the other day. Please accept my apology. If you think that it is still possible, I’m willing to start new with you.” Kaitlyn tapped her fingers on her desk. She would not let him think she couldn’t work as a team.
If she made a mistake, she wasn’t too proud to admit it. But Dr. Black needed to know she was not a dis
hrag hanging around to be used when needed. She was good at her job.
There was a moment of silence on the phone. While compromise was seldom an option, he would be willing to give Dr. Joseph the benefit of the doubt. After all, she was new.
“Look, Dr. Joseph. Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot, and I’m sorry about that. But it is important that you understand how things work. We can work together.” He was well aware she had deliberately avoided face-to-face contact with him since his stunt in her apartment. She either e-mailed, called, or left messages with Jeri.
“Yes, I do understand.”
“Truce then?” he asked.
“Truce.” Yes, she would do this.
“Do you like seafood?”
“Sorry. I’m allergic to seafood,” she lied. She loved it, but that was none of Mr. Take Charge’s business.
“No, you’re not.”
“Not what?” She leaned back in her chair before she swiveled toward the window and watched Peter and Gabe as they sat in their wheelchairs and watched their children play. Both were now in group sessions and doing well.
Although Peter’s healing was good, the deep resentment he held for his ex-wife slowed his mental progress. His mood improved only when his children came for the sessions. She was especially pleased with Gabe’s daughter’s progress.
“Allergic to seafood. You know how I know?”
“Humor me, Dr. Black, please.” She tried to sound disinterested in his raw sense of humor and instead watched the children play. They reminded her of her childhood summer days with nothing to worry about except coming down that hot slide.
“Well, if you were allergic to seafood, you would have one of those little bracelets on your wrist, which you do not.” Justice waited a few seconds before he nonchalantly added, “Besides, I happen to know you ate lobster at Barrett’s.”
Justice Black: The Game Never Ends Page 10