Justice Black: The Game Never Ends

by Gartia Bansah

  “My brother and I were in a different camp. Dad choked Mother to death right in front of us. He threatened to do the same to us if we ever told. When we were old enough, we ran away to our mother’s mother. Then we told her what happened. Grandmother adopted us and changed our names to Winncott, her maiden name. She was powerful enough to keep Dad and the others away but she was never able to prove he killed Mother. The cops believed Dad when he told them Mother abandoned us. Tevis threatened to go public that Ed was our father if we didn’t help him.” He paused for a minute. “He’d been bleeding us dry for money for years. I don’t think Aunt Mavis knew all of what Dad and Tevis did together. The man you shot wasn’t Dad you know. Dad was a user of many people.”

  Victoria looked at Steve, Justice bloody from fighting, the taped area and the tarp covered bodies. She thought of those Senate hearings and the burned image of Justice and of Tate trying to kill her boss. She finally said, “Boss, I agree with Caldwell. You should hate all of it.”

  chapter

  SIXTY-EIGHT

  Halloween had come and gone without any problems. Justice now sat before Genevieve in the interrogation room. She was no longer powerful and affluent but small and alone, broken and politically “distanced.”

  “Tell me, Genevieve, you and your son ordered everything, even the billboards. Reputation and money meant a lot to you. But you lost both.”

  He’d always suspected Tevis. Tevis had earlier claimed he arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before the party. Peter and Desirae said Tevis actually came thirty minutes early. Genevieve left the restaurant shortly before Tevis arrived, but she never came into the kitchen and saw the kids. Tevis did. The soulless bastard returned to set the fire.

  “The billboards were Dragus’s clever idea. He is very loyal, you know.”

  “Loyalty means killing an innocent child and man. You always cleaned Tevis’s mess. Is that why you gave gifts and money to the family, as a guilt offering?”

  “Tevis made a mistake. That was unfortunate indeed. But you do understand I had to protect my family.”

  “You gave birth to Tevis while overseas and raised him under your mother’s maiden name. You felt you owed him something because he was born without a legal father. Especially by one who didn’t give a damn about him. So you came back to the United States and threatened to expose Wray Sr., but you never got a chance. The day the two of you argued, he collasped on the Senate floor. But why Dr. Joseph? I suppose you took the pictures of us?”

  “Wray made my son a bastard child. I couldn’t let him get away with that. I made him leave us plenty of money. As for Dr. Joseph and those pictures, they were tools. I recognized her from the book Vicky had in her home and remembered her from Ed’s camp. It was her eyes and the mole near her lip. After I saw how the two of you looked at each other at Ricky’s, I decided to visit Barrett to follow your movements. Tevis made a mistake by letting Ed know she was here. I advised him against it because I knew Ed would get distracted.” She laughed, “But Dr. Black, I’m an eighty-year-old woman. Who would believe I could possibly do such things as you claim?”

  Justice smiled back. “Genevieve, I promise you that is a very minor detail. I wouldn’t be so confident. Mavis saw no reason to remain silent. Her and Eunice’s records put you and Senator Wray and several others on the payroll. I shut down your foreign computer-hacking office and that toxic-waste site. I’m sure you know the new terrorism laws don’t allow for imprisonment but fast-track execution, thanks to Senator Wray. You did a lot of campaigning on his behalf for that change. I think I have a pretty good chance with everything.”

  “I’d like to see you try,” she retorted. “You killed my son. I hear you may have a son out there. Perhaps you’ll pay with his life. You know, an eye for an eye.” She leaned back with a smile that made that guy in Silence of the Lambs look like an angel. “As for Eunice, she was fool. It also may help you to know Dr. Black, you didn’t get everyone,” she said.

  Tevis needed killing, but he wouldn’t say that to Genevieve. Justice relaxed in his chair. “Are you sure about that? I may not get everyone today or tomorrow, but we will. Written words are always good proof. People like that. Mavis was very prolific in her writings.” He let her digest that.

  “Ah,” Genevieve said, “so much for loyalty, I see. Vicky was always ungrateful. I gave her my pride and joy, the best I had. I gave her my son.”

  “Genevieve, the dead woman in the burned house, was that your doing?” The woman was the mistress that gave Tevis the STD. She had been vaginally mutilated before being burned. Without doing any kind of an exam, the damn coroner listed her death as a suicide.

  Genevieve’s evil glare and smile made chills run down his back.

  “No,” she said, “That’s Dragus type of pleasure. “I will tell you this. I enjoyed making that image of you.”

  Justice showed no reaction to what she said but said, “Genevieve you knew what Dragus was capable of doing. After all, who watched the watcher if it wasn’t you Genevieve.”

  “That’s correct, Dr. Black. So you’re not dumb.” Genevieve smiled. “I couldn’t be a good leader if I didn’t know my soldiers. Surely you understand that. All I said was, Dragus I trust you’ll take care of it.”

  Genevieve’s eyes were empty. There was something seriously innately wrong with her. The woman was without a conscious. Her heart had hardened and she was cold as steel. Every step she made was methodically planned and deliberate. Justice knew it. Genevieve was truly damaged.

  “And you knew he’d kill.” Justice finally said.

  Genevieve shrugged. “Maybe people aren’t safe under your leadership. Dr. Black, looks like you have a mess to clean up.” Then she laughed.

  Two days later, Kaitlyn’s apartment was still under siege with reporters and hecklers until Justice personally became responsible for keeping the press at bay. The first few nights, sleep evaded her until he threatened that a nurse would sit with her if she didn’t sleep.

  “That’s low, and you know it, Justice. I am not a child. I refuse to have some nurse sit by my bed each night.” She felt betrayed when Laila happily agreed.

  “I mean it, Duchess. You pace this floor one more night, and that’s it for you.” Justice worried the trauma was lasting longer than normal; Kaitlyn swore that was not the case.

  Familiar with how her mind worked, he made her promise to work half days for the next few days.

  Justice authorized the release of some of Ron’s material. It was perfect for the story. A TV segment read, “Living with Terrorists Through a Child’s Eyes: The True Story of Dr. Kaitlyn Adeena Joseph and Ronald Benjamin Castleman.”

  She and Ron worked hard on the final segments and were engrossed in the editing when Alice knocked on the office door.

  “Dr. Joseph and Mr. Castleman, there’s someone here to see you. Dr. Black said it was urgent.” Alice smiled at Ron before she escorted a woman inside. A gray-haired, tall man sat in the lobby and waited.

  Justice hadn’t told her of anyone else that needed to be seen, but if he’d arranged it, she knew it was crucial.

  The woman, whose silver hair framed her small face, gave a kindly smile to Kaitlyn. Her eyes were sad and deep with mixed emotions as she twiddled her bag in her hands, unsure of what to do next. Kaitlyn offered her a seat.

  “No thank you,” she said. “If I sit, I may not be able to do what I came for.” She looked at Ron with a loving expression.

  Ron hesitated in greeting her; it was strange, but he felt he knew her.

  “It’s been a long time,” she said. “I know you don’t remember me, Baby, I mean Ronnie.” The tears blurred her vision, and she quickly wiped them away. “I don’t expect you to.”

  Kaitlyn glanced between the two and recognized the familiar eyes at the same time as Ron.

  “Julie?”

  “Mom?”

 
“Yes, it’s me, Julie Benjamin.”

  Kaitlyn’s legs weakened as she sat down.

  “They said you were dead, Mom. What happened?” Ron hugged her.

  “I know, honey, and I’m so sorry. I was dead to everyone.” Julie sat down. Her mouth became dry, and it hurt to swallow. “Could I have a glass of water, Anna?”

  Kaitlyn rushed to the cooler and brought her water. “Are you all right, Julie?”

  “I’m fine. You are just as pretty as I remembered you.” Julie turned to Ron. “Ed took me away that night and threatened to sell me but decided against it after he did his usual chastisement.” She looked knowingly at Kaitlyn. “He left me for dead on the side of that road, threw my ID on top of me and said good riddance. I didn’t move until BenBen came. He knew what Ed had planned and had followed us. We decided it was safer to let everyone believe I was dead, we left my ID there. You were gone Ronnie. I had no other reason to live. Dr. Black knows all of this. He sent us here.”

  Kaitlyn placed her hand over her heart.

  “Why didn’t you come for me?” Ron asked.

  “Honey, how could I? I had no money, no name, nothing. I didn’t trust the police.”

  She was right. As far as anyone was concerned, his mother was as much dead as not. She had no family. No one missed her but him.

  “We made it to some of BenBen’s relatives in Michigan and survived the best we could. I went to school and became a nurse, and he became an engineer. BenBen is a boxing nut,” she nervously laughed, “and recognized you in a high school training program. We followed your story and saw your parents the night you won your first title. Later we met them and promised not to interfere. We were just happy to see you from a distance. They’d done such a wonderful job with you, and you were so happy. They kept in contact with us and sent pictures.” She gave him a small photo album. “It broke our hearts when they died. We saw you at their funerals and wanted to come to you, but it wouldn’t have been right. You were grieving the parents who raised and loved you too. We honored that.”

  “I hate my father for what he has done. I can never forgive him.”

  “Ronnie, there’s no need to hate Ed. He is not your father. That’s why I never called you Eddie Jr.”

  Kaitlyn smiled.

  “What do you mean, Mom?”

  “Because you looked so much like me, Ed wasn’t really sure. That’s why he hurt you and me. I convinced him otherwise. I was afraid of what he might have done to you if he knew differently. BenBen—I mean Ronald Benjamin—is your father. The Castlemans gave you his name when they adopted you. He is waiting outside.”

  Kaitlyn ran to the door, and there stood BenBen with Justice. Ron was speechless. He’d grown to resemble the tall, dark-haired boy he knew only as BenBen. He didn’t have Ed’s genes. It had bothered him to have that legacy.

  Justice stepped aside a moment to answer his phone.

  “Justice, Pen here. We need to talk.”

  chapter

  SIXTY-NINE

  “The DNA test came back,” Pen said. “You were right. It wasn’t Ed. He was a friend of Ed. Ed promised him Vicky if he brought Dr. Joseph to him. What a son of a bitch. I bet the sister didn’t know that about her precious brother. Ed was on the boat owned by Senator Wray and Tevis. He was headed across the Mexican border and decided he’d shoot it out. He is dead. We did a DNA test on everyone on the boat. We got him. Bad news, though, Dragus wasn’t there. In that tunnel, we found records that showed Dragus is really Greson Forman, Gus’s brother. Dragus kept pictures of the multilated body of the woman he killed for Tevis it was numbered 12.”

  “Shit.” Justice exclaimed. “So it was true. No one was who they said they were.”

  “Seems so. By the way, Senator Wray is on my plate, and I’m enjoying having him there. Now, you still feel the same about Dr. Joseph?”

  “Yes, Pen, I do.”

  “Well, I can’t say as I blame you. You know it has to be done the same way as we did with Jeremiah. You got to tell her that. Now how’s Jeremiah?”

  “He’s fine, Pen. We both are.”

  “What happened?” He’d known about Justice’s search for Clarissa and had called in a favor to help with the search. Clarissa was found in a Dallas hospital, dying and worn out from years on the streets. Justice took Jeremiah to see his mother.

  Justice gave a heavy sigh of relief before he began. “In front of Jeremiah, I asked, ‘Clarissa, why?’ Clarissa turned and faced the window. She needed no explanation. She said, ‘JT, if I’d told you, you and your family would have wanted J’miah. I see you have him anyway.’ The only solace she gave Jeremiah was the decency to turn and face him.”

  “She told him he did nothing wrong. That she didn’t want me to have him.” Justice was silent for a moment as he remembered her exact words and repeated them. “‘J’miah,’” she said, ‘I can’t make any excuses for anything. I was wrong, and I’m sorry for everything. You deserved better. I don’t have a right to ask, but forgive me. For whatever it is worth, you were the best thing that ever happened to me, but I didn’t know that at the time.’”

  “My God,” Pen said.

  “Then she became weak but managed to continue. She begged Jeremiah to promise not to compare other women to her. She told me there is too much me inside Jeremiah for that to happen. She begged me to make sure he didn’t.

  “Clarissa died the night of our visit. I paid for her burial and arranged for Caldwell to escort Tate to the services. I wanted to at least give him that. After seeing my son, I think he knew Clarissa’s game with him had ended.”

  “You’re no longer angry at Clarissa?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Get some rest, Justice. You deserve it,” Pen said as he hung up.

  Kaitlyn saw the small frown on Justice’s face.

  “You’re good, aren’t you?” Justice asked Kaitlyn, nodding toward Ron and his family.

  “I’m great. Are you all right?”

  chapter

  SEVENTY

  A day before Thanksgiving

  Tonight was the night for their show. After they’d talked, Justice and Kaitlyn communicated in their own way. They needed only to lightly touch each other with a finger in passing to be anchored as one. It was their signature.

  Kaitlyn wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Did I tell you I have a new dance step with a lot more push to it?”

  “I’m sure you do. Show me.” He laughed. “We got time.”

  Ricky’s was packed. Dan made sure there was good crowd control. With Genevieve and Tevis Mitchell out of the way, the town was healing, although most were still shocked after learning Genevieve’s role in everything.

  Lane drank the last of his ginger ale and shook Justice’s hand. “Dr. Black, this is the best day I’ve had thanks to you.” The city had proclaimed a Dave Lane Day after Justice recommended Lane receive a proclamation from the president for his part in uncovering the largest domestic terrorist cell in the region.

  “You deserve it, Lane.” Justice laughed. Then the lights went out.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” Ricky roared, “you demanded it, and now they’re back again for your pleasure. Welcome back 3Ds and Fire!”

  Gracie sang and played a jazzy tune, joined by Kaitlyn on the sax and Wil on the drums, with Dan on trumpet. The crowd went wild. Justice wasn’t worried. With Rayford and Trenton’s help, plenty security was in place. There would be no repeat of their last show.

  Justice proudly smiled as Kaitlyn mesmerized the crowd with that new dance she’d showed him. He then laughed when she added the step he’d shown her. She was good.

  “That’s my baby!” he heard Laila yell. “That’s my Gianna!”

  Barrett and Aurora shouted, “Blow your heart out, Adeena!”

  Lane slapped Justice’s shoulders, hooted, and pointed to Kaitlyn
. “Dr. Black, you met your match.”

  Justice moved his hand inside Kaitlyn’s robe, smiling at her effort to ignore him. He sat her on the desk and leaned into her.

  “You do this on purpose, Justice. I don’t like it, you know.” She tried to sound indifferent to his touches.

  “Listen, honey, you never did give me an answer for Thanksgiving.” It pleased him she was so responsive to his touches.

  Kaitlyn folded her arms as if in deep thought.

  Justice unfolded them and kissed her pursed lips.

  “You don’t like it, huh?” There was a twinkle in his eyes when he asked.

  “No, I don’t.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose and moved to her ears. “I love your ears. Did I ever tell you that?”

  “Justice, don’t you dare change the subject.”

  “Well, answer my question.”

  “I don’t know. Grandmom is coming here, you know.”

  “No, she isn’t. I spoke to Laila early this morning. She’ll be back after Thanksgiving. I don’t want you to be alone.”

  She lifted a brow. “You two are that close now?”

  “Sure. She told me to let you know.”

  This time he straightened to a standing position, bringing her up with him and folding his own arms. Kaitlyn gripped the desk for support and finally sat since her legs refused to cooperate. Completely put out with his teasing, she pondered the question.

  “What was it that you asked me? I forgot.”

  Justice exhaled. “Are you coming for Thanksgiving or not? I need to know—for the dressing,” he added.

  “How much does it mean to you?” She tilted her head backward to see his face. There was a new scar on his forehead from the fight. She flinched at the memory.

  Justice refused to let her dwell on that ugly night and leaned closer until her breath mixed with his. He nibbled alongside the hollow of her neck to her shoulders. He told her the truth about Ed. No matter how evil Ed and Tevis were, he knew although she’d accepted it she was saddened by their deaths. It hadn’t matter to him who killed Ed as long as he was not around to destroy another human life.