Justice Black: The Game Never Ends

by Gartia Bansah

  chapter

  FIFTY-ONE

  Someone tried to hack into his personnel files again; Justice’s only worry was Jeremiah. He needed to see his son. If anyone harmed Jeremiah, he’d tear hell open to find him.

  “Don’t worry about it; we know who’s doing it,” Pen said. “You know your son is safe. You get much from your would-be thief?”

  Pen was right. It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last time that someone tried digging into his background. They wouldn’t find much. Jeremiah was safe.

  “Not much. Slick is not too bright. His real name is Nehemiah Percival Carter. He denied knowing Ed. He was also the man at the Fish Emporium with Tate. Slick swore a man named Brady Smith hired him to get his stolen cat back. His description didn’t fit Ed at all. I’ll keep Caldwell on him. Putting pressure on Sterling paid off. He was paid to follow Kaitlyn but didn’t want to do it himself, so instead he lied to Tate. Sterling, like Slick, swore he didn’t know who the contact was and said he was paid cash at different drop-off locations.”

  “I just bet,” Pen said. “Ed sending that idiot for Kaitlyn was a major screw-up on his end. The onion skin is thinning.”

  After Pen hung up, Justice thought about Sterling. He by no means was giving up on him.

  Kaitlyn’s request for a staff record that he hadn’t approved got her summoned to Justice’s office. The request was for the staff who’d leaked Eunice’s information.

  He thought about a few things as he waited for Kaitlyn. James and Jarrod had said, “No one is who they say they are.” Jarrod had said it was for security. On one of his hunches, Justice had one other person investigated. It was a wild card, but it worked.

  “I’ll be damned,” he said when he thought how that person was always there in plain sight and was liked by everyone.

  Kaitlyn knocked on his office door but refused to sit when he asked her. Her hair was back in a tight coil again.

  “Dr. Joseph,” he started, “in case we have a problem here, I meant every word I said. I don’t need to repeat myself again, do I? You’re to run your request by me whenever you want to look at other records from my office. I noticed you conveniently forgot that.”

  Kaitlyn could spit nails. How could Justice sit there and scold her like a child? She hadn’t felt this humiliated in a very long time. It took strong willpower not to lash out at him. Instead she readied for a battle.

  “If you care to look, Dr. Black, I believe I was way past asking for your permission to do my work. That staff is my patient’s live-in boyfriend. I have a release, and I’ll not stand here and be objurgated by you.”

  After Gwen’s story and Justice’s arrest fiasco and the break-in, although everyone in the office was supportive of her, they hovered around Justice as if he was some sort of a wounded puppy and she was the one who had stepped on his paw.

  She was no good for anyone. For the past week, people had whispered behind their hands and pointed at her—even at the car-rental place. Only church, her sax, and fishing were her respites. Being thrust into the center of everything was throwing her off. It made her ill thinking the fire was perhaps because of her.

  “I am not scolding you.” He supposed he could have handled things differently, but that didn’t happen. The longer they were apart, tension grew deeper between them. He softened his tone. “Listen, Kaitlyn. You wanted this ‘distance,’ not me,” he reminded her.

  The temp did a double take when she walked in on the two; they looked as if they had invisible swords drawn, ready to battle. From where she stood, it was hard to tell who was the angriest, and she quietly backed out of the office.

  “Fine.” Rather than say something she’d later regret, Kaitlyn walked away.

  It was easy for Kaitlyn to avoid contact with Justice. She made sure one of the secretaries or Wil was in the room whenever he came into his office. Their conversations were brief and to the point, and she used e-mails.

  “Frankly,” Alice later told Wil, “I can’t understand why Dr. Joseph was in a snit with Dr. Black. As far as I could tell, he hadn’t done a thing to her.” She was sympathetic of Dr. Joseph’s situation and had grown fond of her. Still, she didn’t believe Dr. Black deserved her icy treatment. “Today they are off my list, especially if I have to referee the telephone fight between Felix and Dr. Black after that crabby Jeri called and complained Felix failed to fax over some reports.

  “I swear,” Alice groaned after reading another complaining e-mail from Jeri. “All this trouble is Gwen Marcus’s fault. If her mother had had a crystal ball and witnessed how Gwen would turn out, she may have had her tubes tied.”

  Something had to be done. Wil even felt the tension in the office. With the recent bombing, everyone’s nerves were on edge. Tired of being the go-between for the two, she enrolled staff in an off-site training and brought in temporary help, leaving Kaitlyn and Justice for three days.

  “You two can fight it out,” she told Kaitlyn.

  Kaitlyn worked from home the three days Wil cleared the office and only came in for scheduled appointments.

  This morning in the parking lot, as she’d been surrounded by Laila and Barrett, Justice had slipped on his sunglasses and nodded to everyone on his way to his car. Kaitlyn walked the other way and never looked back. She looked great wearing a fitted red polka-dot dress and long white jacket, both above her knees. Red heels showed off nicely shaped legs, her hair was pinned back, and she wore bangs. She even wore a shade of red lip color.

  Last weekend Laila and Barrett practically had dragged Kaitlyn to the car and later returned with several shopping bags. Familiar with Barrett’s conversations on the art of enticement, his guess was that Kaitlyn was not pleased with that trip. Barrett and Laila had summoned him for a meeting tonight but offered no details. He figured it had something to do with the break-in.

  Kaitlyn used her sunglasses in an effort to ignore Laila and Barrett. She understood what they wanted her to do, but she couldn’t and secretly watched Justice drive away. She wasn’t worried about herself; it was Justice and everyone else. Another package had come yesterday; Ed’s obsession was getting out of control.

  “Are you listening to me, Gianna?”

  “No, she isn’t, Laila,” Barrett answered instead.

  “My goodness, you two act as if I’m a child.”

  Laila and Barrett had become so tight she hardly saw her grandmom alone. Barrett and Genevieve introduced her to every hot spot and restaurant in town. To make matters worse, the three somehow insisted on buying “snazzier and jazzy” clothing, as according to Laila, Kaitlyn needed “oomph” clothes, which she soon found out what that meant. Barrett had agreed, declaring her present wardrobe as uniforms. She made every attempt to entice Kaitlyn to try on a thong. Now that’s where she drew the line. She was mortified. Laila found it humorous. Genevieve picked out several pieces of lingerie. Kaitlyn settled on red-and-black satin-and-lace lingerie that satisfied everyone and gave her reprieve from Barrett’s sexual fantasies.

  “Gianna, take those sunglasses off. I need to see your eyes,” Laila demanded. “You should be ashamed of yourself the way you’re treating Dr. Black. He doesn’t deserve this.” She was also worried about Kaitlyn. Laila was well aware Kaitlyn had told Justice about her life, and had asked to see him tonight. She hugged her granddaughter and lifted her chin. “Neither do you.” She watched the sad shadow pass through Kaitlyn’s eyes. “Do I need to have you stand in the mirror and look at yourself? When are you going to stop punishing yourself? I know you love him, and although he may not say it, honey, he loves you in his own way. Most men are like that. Justice made a hard choice. I’m sure you had a lot to do with it. Trust me. I know. Before I met your grandfather, I lost a love and made a hard choice, and no matter how it hurt, at that time, it was the right choice.”

  Kaitlyn removed her sunglasses as Laila scolded her.

  “
Grandmom, I don’t want his pity.”

  “Nonsense. You kill me, Gianna. It’s not pity. Who was it that gave you his apartment? Justice didn’t have to do that. Every day I see him fighting this mess—and it is a pure mess. There are people out there who hate Justice and work hard to see that he does not succeed—even try to take his life. Justice doesn’t have to do that job, but he pushes on each day because he cares. Most would have given up.”

  Laila waited for Kaitlyn to accept what she already knew. “Gianna,” she said more softly, “le Coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait point. The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of. Your Justice does more than what is expected of any man in his situation. You’re smart; you know what I’m talking about. Sometimes, honey, men don’t really get a choice. Think of the greatest man you know. What if he’d said no when duty called?”

  Inwardly, Justice’s long absences were hard for Kaitlyn. Although she regretted it, she would stick to her decision. She lay awake at night, softly saying prayers until she heard him moving around in his apartment, which was sometimes at dawn; she needed to know he was safe and truly welcomed his noise. She couldn’t ask him anything and had no regrets with what they’d shared.

  “We’re only professional colleagues. I only feed his parrots when needed.” No strings attached.

  “That’s not the reason, and you know it, honey. You miss him. How hard can that be to admit? Gianna, stand by and with Justice. He needs that.”

  chapter

  FIFTY-TWO

  In his usual style, Justice silently leaned against the doorway and studied Kaitlyn; she sat stiffly on the sofa with her hands folded in her lap. The dark circles under her eyes showed strain and tiredness. Cassie and Calvin sat on each side of her, softly growling at him. He knew damn well either he or Kaitlyn was being ambushed by Laila and Barrett.

  “Justice,” Laila began, “it’s Gianna, and I don’t know where to start, so I asked you to come here. I need your advice, or rather your help.”

  “Grandmom, you don’t have to worry about me.” Kaitlyn looked with confidence at her grandmother. “I am all right.”

  “Sure, so you say. I don’t see that from where I’m sitting.” The only thing that mattered to Laila was Kaitlyn’s safety. She turned back to Justice.

  “Justice, Gianna doesn’t sleep nor eat. She works until she can barely walk. I know my Gianna. You have to drag everything out of her. I bet she hasn’t mentioned those packages she’s been getting with those filthy notes and trinkets.”

  Kaitlyn gasped. She didn’t want anyone to know about that, especially Justice.

  Justice pushed away from the wall already angry with Kaitlyn.

  “What do you mean trinkets and notes?”

  “It’s nothing really,” Kaitlyn hurriedly answered. That was not the truth. She not only saw Justice’s anger but felt it.

  “Dr. Joseph, what is she talking about?” He hadn’t realized he’d shouted until he heard gasping in the room. “Go get them. Now!”

  Kaitlyn started to argue, but one look at Justice, and she went for the box.

  Cassie and Calvin hurriedly dashed from the room behind Kaitlyn.

  “Gianna punishes herself like no other,” Laila continued. “If she keeps this up, she will collapse, and I can’t have that.” She looked at Barrett. “We need to know how much danger she is in. I will take her home with me if I have to.”

  Laila’s words kicked him in his heart. He couldn’t have that.

  “She’ll be all right, Laila. I promise you that.”

  Visibly shaken, Kaitlyn wouldn’t look at Justice and quickly handed him the box. She sat back on the couch and stared at the fresh bouquet of forget-me-nots on the table. They’d come an hour ago.

  “Damn it,” he said when he opened the box. The items were all personal. There were rings, a black-cat necklace, a dancing imp on a necklace, and a bottle of perfume. Justice immediately had the box picked up. His heart was in his throat. Without thinking, he took Kaitlyn by both arms and jerked her up. From the date on one of the packages, she’d receive that damn necklace several days before the break-in.

  “Have you lost your mind? You’re keeping these until what—Ed comes knocking on your door?” No matter how stubborn she was, he needed her to understand she was not that fourteen-year-old ready to fight a grown man with a pair of broken scissors and a stick.

  “I can take care of myself. How many times do I have to keep saying that? I’m not afraid of Ed.”

  “The hell with that,” he said. “Ed kills, and he doesn’t care. You know firsthand what he is capable of doing if he thinks he can’t have you.”

  “Yes.” Her body become rigid again as she fought back tears.

  “Dr. Joseph, you may not be afraid of Ed the man, but you need to be afraid of his mind. You of all people know that. I want you to think as Dr. Joseph.”

  Cassie and Calvin snarled and barked from the safety of the doorway but ran away after Justice released Kaitlyn and slammed the door shut.

  Justice was not concerned how he looked and that he terrified everyone. They all needed to know Ed meant to get this woman at any cost to anyone.

  “Please, honey, listen to him,” Laila cried. She hadn’t realized the horrible danger until now.

  Barrett watched and listened in horror. She had thought this was all about a lovers’ quarrel, not that Kaitlyn was being dangerously stalked.

  “Yes, I will, Grandmom.” She turned to Justice and gently touched his arm. “I will.” Her eyes pleadingly told him that she’d have given anything if this hadn’t touched the people in this room, the ones she loved. She shook her head to erase the memory of Ed’s fondness for torture.

  Justice tempered a minute. The picture of he and Kaitlyn at the club had turned up no leads and weighed heavy on him. He hadn’t told her about it.

  “Is this all you have?”

  He looked at the women in this room. Ed would go through any of them to get Kaitlyn. He couldn’t let that happen. Ed’d already showed how merciless he was. He thought of Eunice and her broken bones. The image of the restaurant cemented like an oven, of Jamie and John. The fear in Peter’s kids’ eyes, and Gabe’s daughter, who still had nightmares, all flashed through his mind. Ed was not there alone. His helper was a soulless bastard too.

  She nodded as she sat down. “Yes, that’s it. There is nothing else.”

  “Don’t you hide anything else again. I mean it. Not even a scrap of paper. You’d better march it to me.”

  “All right. What more do you want?”

  That stubborn look in Kaitlyn’s eyes pissed him off. It was the same look she had when she talked about fighting Ed whenever he went after Clermont and Swimmer.

  “Can I see you outside?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  The air was cool and crisp as they stepped outside. Kaitlyn carefully leaned her back against the wall. Justice spoke in a whisper as he braced his hands on each side of her and looked her in the eyes.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Kaitlyn, don’t play with me. You promised you’d tell me if Ed contacted you in any way. What happened to that?”

  “Justice, I don’t know whether Ed sent those.”

  Pigheaded. He understood she always did things for others and fought alone, making her own choices. Even speaking a language no one really spoke. This was Kaitlyn. She believed her shadows were hers to deal with alone, but not this time. The stakes were too high.

  “Kaitlyn, you’re lying. This is not a time for secrets to protect someone. I don’t need for you to worry about me or my career or to protect me,” he said. “I can handle anything that comes to me. If I even think you’d try to protect me with your life, one of us has to walk away, and it’ll have to be me. You can’t save everyone. It’s
impossible.”

  Kaitlyn’s shoulders dropped an inch. “Justice, I do understand, and I won’t do anything foolish. But I don’t want Ed to hurt you, especially, or anyone in that room. Ed is my Goliath,” she whispered. “I need to fight him on my own. If I don’t, I’ll never have a life.”

  Having been in that dark space alone himself, Justice was familiar with that corner loneliness pushed you into until you started believing that was all in this world meant for you and all that you deserved.

  “Not this time, Duchess,” he whispered softly, pulled her into his arms, and very gently rocked her. She wrapped her arms around his waist in return and hugged him very tight. “We all have our Goliaths,” he said. “But remember, God armed David.”

  Kaitlyn breathed deeply and silently agreed. He had his Goliaths too. She thought how each morning Justice left home not knowing whether he would return by the end of the day. How his days were not normal. How his career was in jeopardy, how he’d been shot at, and now Gwen had planted seeds of hate through her news reports. He could have easily refused to take this job, but that was not who he was.

  “When you were arrested, I’d never prayed so hard for your safety. Justice, I was so afraid you’d be killed in jail.”

  Justice released her to clear his head. There was no need in telling her that if he’d made a move that day, he probably would have been killed.

  Kaitlyn sadly walked back inside ahead of Justice. Laila and Barrett watched her.

  Justice rubbed his hand over his face now that a little sanity had crept back into the room.

  “Dr. Joseph, are you positive you never saw Cutter? He goes by the name David Ransom and Dallas Righter.”

  Before Kaitlyn could respond, Laila gasped.

  Justice turned to her. “What is it, Laila?”

  “Wait, David Ransom? I have pictures of him.” She said it quietly, but to everyone in the room, she shouted.