Urban Justice (A Chicago Vigilantes Novel Book 2)

by India Kells

  “During that last mission, I admit things got out of hand. I was so close to catching those rat bastards. Then Luke appeared out of nowhere and gave me an ultimatum. I lashed out. He doesn’t understand what’s at stake. Even if those couriers aren’t the big fish, we’re after, it would mean one less on the streets. How many lives could be saved? All I could think about was those people who’d normally never touch that shit but would stumble upon it and in a moment of weakness, fall into a hole of pain and despair that would change their lives forever.”

  Ben nodded. “Like you.”

  Tears welled again, but she wouldn’t indulge in them. “And then he shut down. You’ve met Luke, even in the height of danger, he never loses his cool.”

  “He yelled at you?”

  “If only. It was like something had slammed shut between us. All he wanted was to get away as fast as he could. And then...” It was like reliving everything once more, and to her utter horror, a sob escaped. “I thought he’d leave right away, but he stayed and we... All I can think about is how something had changed, but he didn’t see it. When I woke, he was gone.”

  “What changed?”

  “The way we connected. It wasn’t sex, it was like a door had opened between us. I was so sure of it. I thought he’d felt it too, especially since he... he told me he loved me.”

  Again, Ben nodded. “And did you say it back?”

  Sloane shook her head, hanging it low. “How can I tell him? Not only do we barely know each other, but it means what’s between us becomes tangible, real. I can’t do that to him.”

  “You revealed your deepest secrets to him, and he accepted you and them so what’s holding you back? Those three words won’t make you burst into flames, you know. What are you so afraid of?”

  Any other time, it would’ve stung to be called a coward, but it was useless to hide, even from herself. “I’m an addict, Ben. Yes, it was a while ago, but that need will be with me till the end of my days. I’ve done awful things, descended into darkness, both inside my soul and in real life too. I know everything I’ve done, who I was, led me here to becoming the Vigilante. That doesn’t fix me, and it doesn’t restore everything to its default setting. Nothing ever will. I have no right to long for a man like Luke, a scholar, a veteran... he deserves someone who can walk in the light by his side. He said so himself. He wants a wife, kids, home…”

  “I think Luke would have strong words for you if he heard what you just said. Me too, for that matter, but I’ll refrain and say this instead. It’s not the dark and the broken parts of you that led you to this team, but the courage and light that’s always been in you. If you had all that ugliness in you like you said, you wouldn’t seek justice, on the contrary. It takes a strong individual to become a cop and fight crime, but an indomitable one to tread the fine line of vigilantism. If not, one could tumble on the wrong side of that line and get lost forever.

  “If there’s one thing you hear from me, let it be this: forgive yourself. Forgive yourself for your regrets and your faults. You’ve changed since then. You’ve learned from your mistakes and that makes you a different person. It’s time to let that pain go, Sloane. Luke is your sign. Please listen to it. Whether you’re destined to be with him or not, it’s your call, but it’s time to set things straight with yourself. As for what Luke wants, I’m pretty certain he’d have pulled back much earlier if he thought he couldn’t have all that with you. He knows what you’re offering, and even if it’s not the cookie-cutter idea he had before, he may be changing, envisioning his happiness differently, with you.”

  How did Ben’s words exhilarate and scare her at the same time? It was the same sensation she felt when she was about to leap into an unknown situation. One big leap of faith with herself. Her heart thudding harder in her chest, all she wanted to do was find Luke and say the words he’d said to her and beg him to take a chance on her, all of her; the recovering addict, the Vigilante, and the woman. Luke wouldn’t be another of her regrets. No more regrets.

  Maybe he sensed the shift in her, or he just knew, but Ben put an arm around her shoulders and brought her in for a hug. For the first time in an eternity, she let herself be held and even embraced him in return, solidifying everything that was shifting inside her. Luke. She would go get Luke, explain, and apologize. They would make it work for whatever time they had. It wasn’t important anymore, she just had to have him.

  “Sloane!”

  Lance’s voice boomed, and Sloane jumped out of Ben’s embrace in sheer surprise, almost knocking him off his stool.

  As he’d come out of the elevator, he’d roared her name, obviously expecting her to still be locked in her room and not sitting behind Ben.

  “What? Why are you yelling?”

  Lance swiveled, instinctively pointing his gun at her, but lowered it immediately. His expression rapidly shifted from murderous to annoyed, and then relieved before being worried again. “You’re up. Good. You need to come downstairs now. We’re in serious shit.”

  Her entire body went on full alert. “You got a hit on the traffickers?”

  Lance hesitated before pressing the elevator button. He moved inside, followed by Sloane and Ben.

  “I was waiting for Luke’s new coordinates before crashing your bedroom door down and dragging your stubborn ass out of bed. In fact, the entire team has been put on standby just in case we needed immediate backup.”

  The elevator’s doors opened and the three of them rushed downstairs to see Devin cursing at his screen.

  When he peeked at Sloane and she saw the same worried look on his face, she knew deep down in her gut it didn’t bode well.

  Lance stepped next to Devin. “Did you find him?”

  Her breath caught and the fact she didn’t lose control was due to her years of experience and in-depth knowledge that she had to keep it together.

  “Tell me that ‘him’ you’re talking about isn’t Luke.”

  The hacker winced. “Sorry, Sloane. We all let out guards down, expecting Luke to simply reach out when he came up with potential spots to check. We didn’t think he’d go by himself to investigate.”

  It was as if her entire being wanted to explode into a storm and accuse everyone in the room of having made a big mistake. But Ben’s words echoed inside her, and she’d been the one to retreat into her room like a child and not put on her big girl pants like she should have.

  “Just tell me the situation.”

  Devin pointed at a list on his screen. “You know that Luke was working on a list of potential locations that the traffickers might be using. Once he discovered the pattern of one entrance being in plain sight for the truck to drop their delivery, and the other inside a building, so they can transport it without being seen, he began revising the list, narrowing it down. Luke sent us an updated list a few hours ago. There’s a limited selection of potential spots that I was ready to send to the police so the boys in blue would take care of the rest, but he told us to wait. He said he needed to verify one more building access, that it might be the motherload, the place where the biggest transports were done.”

  Sloane fidgeted, anticipating the answer. “He just didn’t tell you he’d be doing that in person.”

  Lance sighed, his shoulders sagging a little. “We thought he’d stay put, but we should’ve known better. It’s what Devin said. Luke sent a text message twenty minutes ago, telling me that he’d stumbled across a potential drop.”

  Dread fell on her like a shower of stones. “And?”

  Lance shook his head. “And nothing. That was his last message. I asked Devin to track his cell signal and went to get you.”

  The heat of panic coursing through her veins only lasted a few seconds, replaced by stone-cold resolution. “Did you tag his last location?”

  Without a word, a map appeared, a red circle defining a sector she remembered well.

  “I’ve been there... and not that long ago. Remember we had a hint about three of Mr. White’s men loaded with boxes
and going under at that spot? I found them on their way out and almost got killed when one of them got behind me. A faceless man saved me. Luke. We haven’t had a chance to explore that place again with everything else that’s happened, and it’s probably why he wanted to take another look. Smart move, but not so much going alone.” Guilt crept inside her heart, but there was no time to deal with that, not when Luke’s life was on the line.

  “I’m going to call in everyone that’s available from the team.”

  Sloane nodded. “I hope it will be enough. Devin, load the underground maps so I can consult them even when the signal is gone.”

  As she sprinted to get ready, Lance loaded up the gear. In record time, she got to her bike. It may have been too cold for it, but for Sloane, speed was of the essence. She needed to get to Luke as fast as possible.

  Just as the engine roared to life, Devin checked her connection via her earpiece. “I know you care about him, Sloane, but be careful. We don’t have the upper hand in this, and we don’t know where Luke is, or how many people are down there. Luke’s survival depends on yours. Don’t forget that. I’ll send the others after you. Bring him back, babe. Good luck.”

  Once out of the underground parking, Sloane pushed the bike to its destination with Devin’s words still in her head. She wouldn’t allow any other outcome. She didn’t care about how many bad guys were underground, or even if her life was at risk. Luke would get out of there alive.

  Chapter 23

  Luke tried hard to ignore the humidity hugging him like a wet blanket. His body shivered, but his discomfort wasn’t high on his priority list. Since he’d left Sloane and the lair, despair had almost sidetracked his research. With his brain constantly going back over what happened with Sloane and debating if he’d done the right thing or not by leaving, Luke almost missed the obvious. He’d indulged in Sloan’s warm body, but he had no illusions that he’d changed her mind. At least he’d said goodbye his way, pouring his soul into their joining, opening his heart one more time before shutting it for good.

  Work became his sanity, his mission to keep himself from sliding into unwanted thoughts. Through all the maps, all his notes, all the possibilities in his head, a few scribbles fell in front of him, and brought him back to an event that seemed so far away now: the failed urbex with Eddie where he’d met the Vigilante for the first time. Everything had happened so fast since then Luke had almost forgotten the reason he’d gone there in the first place.

  He knew for sure there was an anomaly in that spot, an intersection nobody had found before, just like the tunnel from the hotel the bad guys had blown up: one end was hidden from view, the other obvious where a car could do a drop via a manhole. That was the only reason the traffickers would’ve used that specific location. If she’d had more time, Sloane would’ve discovered the path, which was why he needed to narrow down the list and give it to the cops so they could plug all the holes.

  Luke knew he had to check it out for himself before alerting the team, or at least do some basic recon with what he knew. Confirmation was crucial. What he hadn’t planned for was almost coming face to face with them. When he’d reached the intersection with one way leading to the open space where he’d seen the Vigilante and the three men, Luke’s intention was to go the other way, to confirm if his theory was right. His plan went south when noise reverberated through the tunnels, leaving him with two choices: push ahead of the traffickers or retreat to the same command center where he’d shot the bad guys.

  Instinct led him to the command center, ducking out of sight just as light beams scanned the area.

  One look at his phone confirmed the concrete surrounding him blocked his ability to call Lance, or convey his position. He had to be patient and wait.

  From where he hid, Luke couldn’t determine how many men were in the group, but from the noise and the voices, it was at least five, but there could be more depending on their stealth.

  The senses he’d learned to rely on as an active Marine returned. His body moved silently; his heart steadied, sharpening his focus.

  Once darkness returned and the noise faded, Luke knew he had an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. If he followed the men, they’d lead him to the passage he hadn’t found in his initial urbex.

  The weight of his only weapon tucked in his waistband made him even more conscious of his situation. He could only shadow them and not engage. If they saw him, he’d be outgunned for sure.

  Following the faint light ahead of him, Luke remained as silent as possible while keeping them in his sight. Twice the crew turned to the right, and twice Luke sped up to make sure he didn’t lose them. The only blessing being they made more and more noise as they moved deeper into the tunnel, covering his own inevitable blunders in the dark.

  Luke held his breath when they reached a dead end, and the point where he believed the access to the tunnel, and maybe even another network, was located. The scholar in him wanted to know, the Marine focused on surviving and getting out of there alive to tell.

  From his hiding spot, Luke couldn’t move closer without revealing his presence, and as he waited a deafening scraping noise filled the space. It only lasted a couple of seconds but made his ears buzz in the absolute silence that followed.

  Luke waited a few heartbeats longer before daring to move. Not hearing voices or footsteps, he made his way forward and turned on his flashlight to find a dead end.

  “Damn it! Where have they gone?” He stood exactly where he thought the entrance was. It was if the traffickers had vanished into thin air.

  Like the first time, he examined the area, including the walls and the ceiling, but apart from the urban art on the walls, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Frustration was about to overcome him when the toe of his boot caught on the uneven ground.

  A thick metal plate, the same color as the concrete floor, hadn’t been replaced correctly. No wonder he hadn’t seen it the first time!

  No longer thinking of heading back, Luke opened the plate, praying the men he was following were far enough away not to hear the ruckus he was about to make.

  As he expected, another tunnel appeared running perpendicular to the main one. Luke entered the dark tunnel, his flashlight lowered, his ears sharp for any sound indicating which way to go.

  It took about five minutes to catch up with them. According to his estimations, they walked for at least thirty minutes, and over a mile, in more or less a straight line. The more they advanced, the more decrepit the tunnel looked. Large cracks ran along the walls and ceiling, water dripped more and more, which meant the structure was compromised. It was only a matter of time before it collapsed over their heads.

  The glow intensified, and so did the overall level of noise in front of him.

  Crouching behind a partly collapsed wall, ankle-deep in stagnant water, Luke monitored them as they stood there chatting and laughing. Although he couldn’t hear what the crew were saying, he could see they were relaxed and confident, with not a worry in the world. And Luke saw why.

  The team was composed of eight men. It wasn’t possible to know where they were underground in relation to the top part of the city, but someone was dropping several large boxes from above, much more than on the previous run. Each crew member unfolded a dolly before loading them with the boxes. Luke’s breath seized when he calculated the number of drugs that would flood the city if he let them pass. There was no way he could allow that to happen.

  “Don’t make a sound.”

  Luke almost did until his brain registered Sloane’s whisper behind him. In shock, he didn’t know if he wanted to kiss her, or berate her. It made it difficult to keep his voice low and even. “What are you doing here?”

  “Saving your ass, professor. Come on.”

  His sudden elation at seeing her died. He couldn’t see her face through her mask, but her voice, free of the modulator, was all business. She’d come for his knowledge of the underground, and not for him. His attempt to reach her heart had clearly
failed. In any other circumstance, he would’ve reveled in the pain, but instead, he retreated, reverting to the Marine he needed to be to complete his mission. “Not without making sure this cargo is taken care of.”

  Sloane shook her head. “We’ll get them another time. May I remind you of an earlier argument you gave me.”

  There was no way he was going there, and emotion wasn’t clouding his decisions. “Look! It’s the biggest load ever. More than anything you told me they’d been moving. It’s probably a gamble on their part. It’s an opportunity we can’t pass up.”

  For a moment she seemed to consider it before shaking her head. “No way. It’s too dangerous.” She hesitated a moment. “Unless you have a plan?”

  Sloane was focused on her mission, the part that was ready to sacrifice herself was still there, and more of him died a little. If Sloane Friday thought her salvation lay in stopping those men, he would do precisely that. Only for her, even if it was the last thing he did.

  “I have a plan. Do you have any explosives?”

  Sloane reached for her back. “Only three small charges to open a locked door.”

  That might work. “Go back to the entrance point, the one on the floor above. Set two explosives on the upper part of the ceiling, where there are more cracks and set them off when these guys reach you. I’ll stay here and do the same at this end. The tunnel isn’t as strong here and it should collapse easier.”

  “No way, Luke. It’s suicide!”

  “I’ll set the charge once they’re out of sight. And when it goes off, I’ll leave through the manhole they used for the transfer. It’s not a perfect plan, but it should work.”

  A quick peek told Luke the men were ready to leave, and it was now or never.

  Sloane touched his arm, making him look at her. How much he’d have loved to see her face.

  “You better get out before it blows. We have a lot to talk about, professor.”