Justice Black: The Game Never Ends

by Gartia Bansah

  His kiss was voracious, and without too much shame, she almost gave in.

  “Justice, please,” she weakly begged. “You have to stop, please.”

  “All right,” he groaned. “I can stop. It’ll kill me, and it’ll be your fault. Don’t forget to say that at my funeral.” He slowly rose in pretended agony.

  She grabbed her chest, gasping for air, as she braced one hand against his chest to create space.

  “Dr. Black, you have a mean streak.”

  Impervious to her remark, he kissed the palms of her hands and said in perfect Latin, “Absit invidia. Let there be no envy or ill will.”

  She scoffed at his lack of remorse. “Really?”

  chapter

  THIRTY-FIVE

  Tansy Golden was on the move again. She had three hours to get to her sister, deliver the list of the new people coming in, buy that perfume bottle, and be home-free. The chairman had promised her that much. She could then move to Florida with Ed because he’d have the money he needed to start over. She could then afford to buy the perfume she liked rather than being a collector of the rich women’s cast-off bottles. Now Justice Black was a problem, and that put everything on hold.

  Suddenly her favorite song that blared from the car radio irritated her. She no longer wanted to hear about the cowboy and his broken heart. She had her own problems. She abruptly turned it off and angrily said, “If Double Man had listened to me, he wouldn’t be in this trouble. The fire was too soon. No kids were supposed to be there.” She pounded on the steering wheel. “Idiots! Everyone was to wait until Halloween, when everyone was at the festival. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Double Man hadn’t listened. I should have done the job myself.”

  There would be consequences. It wasn’t good to kill children. It drew too much sympathy from the public. They were to follow the script to show the townspeople they needed safe family restaurants for BrightTown’s growth. Her job was to locate new sites to open those restaurants to pass the money through, and now that was screwed.

  Kentucky would have been the perfect location. She now agreed with the chairman. Whoever the hell this Ghost is must be destroyed. If Jarrod had followed the script, he wouldn’t be missing today. “What did Jarrod do?” She answered her own question. “He ran off. Now all his accounts are frozen. I told the chairman to put our best hackers on it, but no one listened. I’ll find Jarrod, and then I’ll kill him myself.” She was so angry thinking of the money Jarrod had kept for Legion she couldn’t see straight. “Jarrod had better not be dead. I’ll dig him up and kill him again.”

  The car swerved, but she took control. Now was not the time to attract attention. She smiled. It was a good plan of the chairman to have whining Eunice meet Ed. The chairman knew it would work. Ed needed a base to get back in business, and Eunice was desperate for a man. The thought of her half sister reminded her how much she hated Eunice. “Everybody wins.” She laughed.

  Tansy pulled over for today’s paper to search for a new list of names listed in the thank-you section, Legion’s other method of communication. On the front page, alongside a photo of Dave Lane and Dan Williams, was a photo of Dr. Adeena Gianna Joseph, the new chief of psychology with Eastermann & Associates.

  “So this is who the chairman spoke about.” She neatly folded the paper and placed it in the briefcase for later. “I wonder what she’s about.”

  Justice barely reached his phone before Jeremiah hung up. He managed to write the license number of Tansy’s car. Tansy was a collector of those Clive Christian perfume bottles. She was easy to find. All he had to do was follow the perfume-bottle trail. Jarrod was right; she was a nut for that stuff.

  “What is it, Son?”

  Jeremiah was quiet. He didn’t want to frighten his dad.

  “Nothing really, something happened the other day that I need to tell you about.”

  Justice listened quietly, but the hairs prickled on his arm when Jeremiah started talking.

  “A cop stopped me the other day and asked for ID,” Jeremiah said. “He said I was speeding, but I wasn’t. What was so odd, he didn’t take the license but asked whether I knew a J’miah Murphy.” He heard his dad sigh and rushed to finish. “I played it off just like you told me to if something like this happened and said no. The cop said I looked like Justice Black, and I said, yeah, everybody says that. All he said then was to slow down. I got his badge number for you and remembered what he looked like.”

  “Are you good, Jeremiah?” Justice knew Jeremiah was street smart and could handle most things with a level head but still he worried about him.

  Jeremiah laughed. “I’m good, Dad. The man’s badge didn’t scare me at all. When he asked those dumb questions and didn’t take my license, I knew something was up but I gave him respect like you said.”

  Justice took the badge number down but didn’t hold weight to it.

  After checking the police officer’s badge number, Justice wasn’t surprised but was more pissed. The badge number was bogus, and so was the man. Someone was looking for his son.

  chapter

  THIRTY-SIX

  After Justice finally let her go, Kaitlyn whipped through traffic and made it to mass before her first appointment. She only missed two exits. Justice was too much for her, and there was no way she could keep her past from him. He wasn’t fooled this morning. She took the stairs, needing the time to rearrange her clothing before her eagle-eyed friend noticed anything and questioned her to death.

  Alice met her at the door “Dr. Joseph, your flight has been confirmed for Tuesday morning, eight forty-five. You’ll be met at DFW by the prison staff Candace Patterson.”

  “Thank you, Alice.”

  “Your nine thirty wanted to cancel again. He of all people needs to keep his schedule. His sanity depends upon it. So he’ll be here. By the way, your calendar is booked today. I scheduled Cricket Painter for Thursday at eight o’clock.”

  A large envelope without a return address on Kaitlyn’s desk caught her attention. “Alice, do you know where this envelope came from?”

  Alice frowned at the envelope. “Let me check the logbook.” She came back later, puzzled; there was no record of a delivery. She frowned. “Unbelievable. The mail again. It’s not logged in.”

  Kaitlyn laid it aside to open later. “Jakeith won his championship and said he’d send a picture. Perhaps this is it.”

  “Maybe,” Alice said. “But we do have procedures for delivering mail. I’ll take care of it with the mailroom again.” Fired with anger, she left to do just that.

  Wil poked her head into her office, full of smiles. “Good morning, Dr. Joseph, and how are you?”

  “My goodness, Dr. Eastermann, aren’t we overly cheerful this morning?” Kaitlyn gave her a curious look; she had a good idea of the tall, dark reason for that bubbliness. “You must have had a great weekend.”

  “About as great as the start of your day, I see.” Wil pointed to Kaitlyn’s neck. “What’s that on your neck? Is that what I think it is?” She came closer for a better look. “My God, it is,” she whispered and gave in to an irrepressible laugh.

  Kaitlyn pulled out the mirror she kept in her desk and pushed the neck of her sweater down, shocked to see a fresh mark on her neck. She silently made a vow to kill Justice Black.

  “Well, Dr. Joseph, a gift from Justice Black?”

  Kaitlyn, embarrassed, refused to answer as she applied a little makeup to the area and jerked the sweater up as high as possible.

  “Can you see anything? What will my patients think of me?”

  “Woman, you’re fine. Seriously, will this interfere with you working with Justice?”

  “There isn’t a problem. I assure you. We have some professional differences, Wil. That’s all.” Her tone was harsh as she turned away.

  Wil heard the uneasiness in her friend’s voice,
but without missing a beat, she continued. “Listen, Gianna, for your comfort, Justice is a good man. Believe me. He’ll do the right thing. Now, break your heart…” Wil shrugged. “He’s a man. There are no guarantees.”

  Kaitlyn’s eyes suddenly filled with sadness. “That’s what I am afraid of, Wil. I suppose I do like him. I tried not to, but he’s hard to resist.”

  Wil carefully chose the right words Kaitlyn needed to hear. “You’ve paid the price far too long. Let it go. For your sake, don’t continue carrying that deadweight.”

  “I do want someone decent in my life. Don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do. You’ve started already.” Wil pointed again to Kaitlyn’s neck. “You’re smitten.” Wil thought for a moment. Kaitlyn needed support and knew exactly who. “Call your grandmother. You need family around you.”

  “I haven’t been able to reach her yet.” She suddenly remembered the scene at Ricky’s. Private by nature, Wil only shared her feelings about Trenton to two people, her and Gracie. “So, Wil, that fella you lingered with in the corner at Ricky’s, is he the one you’ve told us about?”

  “Yes,” Wil saucily returned, “Trenton Boudreaux and I, let’s say, have decided we like each other a lot. I think I’ve found that decent someone.” She grinned, then hummed a gleeful tune and left.

  Kaitlyn chuckled. “She’s the one to talk about being smitten.”

  chapter

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  By the time Justice landed in New York, he’d missed Gus by ten minutes. Gus had purchased an emergency ticket to Dallas. Justice was barely able to catch a flight himself. That kind of plane ride could kill a man. He could wring Gus’s neck.

  In between those flights, Caldwell called Justice about the first sarin case. It was Lucky. They’d gotten her to the hospital in time to receive treatment. She’d be fine. That made his day a bit better, and he was glad he’d made sure the hospitals were prepared.

  A rented car was waiting for him when he finally landed at DFW Airport. The GPS for once was accurate, and he’d gotten to the restaurant on time where Gus regularly ate dinner. Justice watched Gus a few moments. He had to cool down first, or he couldn’t be responsible for what he’d do to him.

  Gus was desperate. Flying scared him shitless, but alcohol and a sedative got him through the plane ride. Now here he sat comfortably in his favorite Dallas eatery. They had the best deep-fried Cornish hen smothered with wild rice, fried buttered toast, deep-dish peach cobbler, and his favorite wine. Tansy had warned him about the fire, so except for dinner here tonight, he hadn’t been out in public for months. He’d stayed with Legion way too long, a decision he now regretted.

  He knew there’s no time for regrets now. He can’t undo the done. Still, Tansy had warned him to be careful. “I’m always careful.” He chuckled to himself as he quickly shoved more food into his mouth, unaware Justice was walking toward him.

  “Hello, Gus,” Justice said as he sat down.

  Surprised to see anyone, Gus choked on his spoonful of rice and begin to wheeze. “Who in the hell are you?”

  From Justice’s look, Gus guessed this was not a friendly visit. He needed his inhaler. His wheezing was getting worse. Being in hiding for nearly two years, he couldn’t afford to work out, so he’d gained sixty-five pounds.

  “Gus, like rat droppings, you left an easy trail. Always the same creature of bad habits. You can’t help using those rewards points at the same hotel, and the room has to be on the north side. You like early-twenties redhead prostitutes, starchy gray-monogrammed black shirts with your initials on the collars.” He looked at the greasy food on his plate. “This food will kill you. Let’s not forget the yellow Mustang cars and hard-core porn. Come on. Ride with me,” Justice ordered.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Get in the damn car.”

  Gus chanced a run but got no farther than fifty feet before Justice kicked him hard to the ground.

  “Do you want to try that again?”

  Gus heard that as a plea, not a question.

  The rain started in a fast, hard downpour, flooding the narrow, isolated streets. Gus didn’t dare look again at the man driving the car; he believed to do so would be his own end.

  Gus thought they’d been riding for hours; then Justice stopped the car. The rain was now a mist.

  “Walk ahead of me. You know where.”

  Gus recognized the place. Ten years ago he spent his honeymoon here.

  They walked through the straight concrete path along a row of pale-green cottages and then followed a winding path to a dark grove of pine trees. A yellow cottage was separated from the others. It was the honeymoon special. The smell of honeysuckle wafted in the wind.

  “Inside,” Justice ordered.

  The place had changed. The purple-tulip wallpaper and beddings had been replaced with grape designs.

  “Sit on the bed.”

  Gus wiped rain from his face and did as told.

  Justice stood, giving Gus no other choice but to look up at him.

  Gus’s job as an electrician got him into homes and businesses, and later he gave the addresses to his crew, who returned to burglarize the places. Their last victim was an elderly couple; on Gus’s order, the killers yelled continuously to the woman, “Watch your husband.” They brutally murdered him while she watched. The wife’s heart gave out, but that didn’t stop the killer from cutting off her finger for the wedding rings. Gus had ordered the murder of his own grandparents and to bring the ring fingers as proof.

  Justice looked into Gus’s hollow eyes. They were empty; only a husk of a human remained. “What makes something like you tick?”

  “Look, whatever it is, can we make a deal? Please. I got a kid I’m putting through college. That’s what the money was for.” Gus cried without shame. “I don’t want to die. Can we at least talk?”

  “Sure, when you stop lying. Your son is eighteen; you haven’t seen him since he was three months old, when you and Peg dumped him with your mother. The two of you lived a life of luxury while they got by on welfare checks and your mother cleaned motels. The grandparents you had murdered helped support them.”

  It wasn’t out of remorse that he bowed his head but fear. He never wanted children, but his mother wanted a grandchild.

  “Listen, can we make a deal, mister? Why won’t you tell me your name?”

  “I said, look at me when you talk. My name doesn’t matter, does it, Gus?”

  Gus raised his head, suddenly shocked with a wild thought. It’s him, he thought. No one ever saw him to prove he existed.

  “I didn’t chase you this far and long to make a deal. Remember that.”

  “I got Peg into this. Don’t hurt her.”

  “Peg knew what she was doing.”

  “If I give you a name, would it count for something? I know about the bombings and fires.”

  Justice didn’t answer, only stared.

  “Why don’t you say something? Look, for thirty-five years I gave everything to that company. They cut my salary. When I retired, I was handed a catalogue to pick out some useless trinket made in China, and the next day I was forgotten. Please, I don’t want to die.”

  Justice shrugged. “Not interested. Do you think your grandmother wanted her husband to live?”

  Gus pulled himself together long enough to place a cocky sneer on his face when he said it. “I didn’t care a rat’s ass for Grannie. She had plenty money but wouldn’t give me a dime.”

  “How much money do you have on you, Gus?”

  Gus was shocked but hopeful. “A couple thousand, but I can get what you want.”

  “How much in pocket change, you idiot?”

  “What?” Gus eagerly reached inside his pockets and pulled out a handful of coins.

  Justice took one penny and a crumpled dollar bill and held both up. “This is how
much you’re worth, and these, like you, may not be around much longer. You’re on Legion’s AR list. That’s above the radar. You know better than anyone else you are on a short rope. Politicians call it distancing. Legion calls it a liability. Of course, you know how that works. Besides, it’s too late for your offer; Jarrod beat you to it. He said he had nothing to lose and everything to gain. As for Peg, she has a new man in her life now. You know him. Who do you think gave you up?” That was his wild card.

  That surprised Gus. “Bitch, Peg and that son of a bitch Double Man. The bastard swore if I did him that favor he’d protect me.”

  “Guess James lied to you.”

  “Screw him and you, too, you black bastard. You tell Double Man he’d better worry about Drayton and those other crazy sons of bitches. They’ll kill him and Peg too.”

  Thunder rumbled throughout the cottages, followed by lightning that brightened the room. Justice steadied himself. He had a name.

  Justice simply asked, “Drayton who?”

  “You go to hell,” Gus yelled. “You won’t be walking around much longer either. You damn well can count on that.”

  “Is that what Tansy told you?”

  Gus’s face fell, Justice blurred before him; he couldn’t feel or hear anything. “Not Tansy,” he whispered.

  “Who’s the chairman?”

  Gus spit. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He’d taken an oath. He’d protect the chairman.

  Four hours later, his job done, Justice called Pen. Someone else would handle Gus.

  The flight out of DFW was crowded. The airport, as always, was deep with people milling around, swearing at delays and bumped flights. One burly man shouted he’d sue the airlines but soon quieted after he was told he had standby status only. Out the corner of his eye, Justice watched a four-year-old kid throw his hot dog on the floor and stomp it before he lay down and repeatedly rolled his full body over it. The kid kicked and screamed while the mother frantically tried to coax him off the floor and away from the stares.