Justice (A Science Fiction / Fantasy Romance)

by Fall, Carly

  Pulling up to the gate, she punched in the code and waited for it to slip to the right as she decided it would be best to park behind the bunker so her car wouldn’t be visible to anyone approaching.

  After turning off the engine, she got out of the vehicle and stood in the desert silence for a moment. Yes, this is what she needed—complete solitude to get over her shock and fear and figure out what her next step would be.

  Her footsteps against the dirt sounded loud as they echoed in her ears, and she pulled out the keys and opened the door. Quickly, she went to the cabinets and opened one up, finding an old rag and throwing up it up over the camera. She eyed the lock leading down into the bunker itself—she could break it. She returned to the outdoors and walked around looking for a large rock. When she finally found it, she went back into the bunker and tried to shatter the lock with it.

  After a few tries, she dropped it and sank to the floor. Exhaustion overtook her, and the tears began to flow.

  That man had been right—the guilt ate at her, making her heart hurt. The argument kept playing over and over in her mind, her last words to Billy reverberating through her head in a never-ending loop—fuck you, Billy.

  She had wanted to help him, but she’d been so angry because he wouldn’t help himself; he hadn’t wanted to help himself. She worked so hard to fill so many roles in her job—as his caregiver, the cook, the maid, the banker … and he couldn’t even take a shower and get ready to go meet his shrink.

  Pulling off her sweatshirt, she balled it up and lay down on the dirt floor. Sobs wracked her body as her bones ached with blame.

  Eventually, she cried herself to sleep.

  Chapter 18

  Justice felt he’d definitely mastered driving a vehicle. He stayed slow and steady and kept to the back roads as Noah had suggested.

  He veered off onto the dirt track, and a sense of peace came over him, making it clear that he definitely needed this time alone. He had no idea how long he’d stay in the bunker, but he’d be here until he felt he had a more definitive plan of what his future held. Yes, he had agreed to help the Saviors, but the living conditions needed to change, and he also wanted to really be able to process the fact that his home had been destroyed and he now lived on Earth.

  Utter loneliness rolled through him, and he longed to be around people, even though he’d just left to escape. His conundrum of wants and emotions proved to be another good indicator he just needed to sort through everything.

  Pulling up to the gate, he sighed as he read the Government Property—Keep Out sign. He’d have to scale the fence as someone had always been inside to let him in. He pulled himself up and over the chain link with ease and landed on the other side in a puff of dust.

  When they’d first found the place, it had taken them a while to get in. Kade had fashioned a pick from some wires, but it hadn’t worked. They’d walked around the building, and Justice had literally tripped over their entrance—a hidden tunnel that led into the bunker. Eventually, Kade had been able to fashion a sort of key for the front door.

  It seemed silly that what he now knew as a government facility wouldn’t have better security measures, but he supposed they didn’t think anyone would ever find it, or else, they’d just move along once they did. Or perhaps they thought the chain link fence and the government warning sign would be enough.

  He unburied the key and quickly opened the lock. His breath caught in his throat at the scene in front of him.

  Holly lay curled up on the dirt floor, her shirt stained with what looked like blood. Her brow furrowed, yet her eyes remained closed, the heave of her chest indicating she breathed deeply.

  Stepping inside, he closed the door and locked it, and had absolutely no idea what to do.

  Should he wake her? But how would he explain his presence? Was that blood on her shirt? What had happened to her? Could she be hurt?

  He ran his hand over his head, panic welling within him. If she was hurt, he needed to help her. The blood looked dried and old, but that didn’t mean she still didn’t need assistance.

  She had been showing up at the bunker once a week for a year. Every time she walked in, she chatted about something. He knew she had a brother who suffered from the effects of war, and that they lived together. He also remembered she loved to run, and hated Chinese food, but loved pizza. She also liked a cocktail called a Screwdriver and didn’t mind her job, even though it made her uncomfortable to go into abandoned government facilities.

  He glanced over her porcelain skin, her high cheekbones, and full mouth. Her blonde hair seemed to have a life of its own as it stuck out at every angle from her head. Usually, she talked the whole time she went through her monitoring of the bunker while he watched her on the computers below. He’d always felt like she held a spark of energy that he found attractive, but lying here, she looked troubled, yet very pretty.

  In fact, he felt like he knew her and he became very concerned, especially with the sight of the blood.

  He kneeled down next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Holly?”

  She bolted upright, screaming. “Don’t touch me! Don’t you dare hurt him, you son of a bitch!”

  Her fist met his jaw and he staggered backward. It hadn’t quite been what he’d expected.

  She crab-crawled away from him, her breath tearing in and out of her lungs as she looked around.

  “Holly, it’s okay,” he said gently and didn’t move, but noticed a bruise starting to form on her cheek.

  Her gaze finally met his and she stared at him a moment. “Lieutenant?”

  He grinned, and her head fell.

  “Oh my God. I just punched a lieutenant.”

  Chuckling, he stood up. “It’s okay, Holly. I’ve had worse. I’m sorry I wasn’t more careful when waking you.”

  “I’m so sorry, sir.”

  “Don’t worry about. Seriously. We’re cool.”

  She nodded and got to her feet.

  “What’s up, Holly? Why are you here?”

  Her gaze darted around the small area, as if she would find the answer to his question hanging out in a corner. His worry grew as tears formed in her eyes, and she seemed like a scared, caged animal to him.

  He recalled the little monsters that lived on the forest floors back home. The vicious little things became even meaner when cornered, and he’d found the best thing to do had been to give them space. His instinct told him to do the same with Holly.

  “I don’t know what’s going on, or why you’re sleeping here on the dirt, or why you have blood on your shirt. You seem scared to death, confused, and in need of a friend.”

  The tears fell from her eyes and she quickly wiped them away.

  “When was the last time you ate?”

  She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Look, I want to help you, Holly. I can get you some food and fresh clothing.”

  “I … I can’t leave,” she whispered.

  Turning, he pulled out his keys and unlocked the gate. “You don’t have to. I have everything down here. It’s your call.”

  He walked down the dark corridor and flipped on the switch at the bottom, knowing the hallway would illuminate and hoping she would follow.

  Holly watched as the darkness seemed to suck up Lieutenant Justice, reminding her of a black hole pulling in a planet. She almost called to him as his footsteps faded, then the lights went on and illuminated the hallway.

  She stood in the small entryway, her gaze traveling from the door that would lead her out to the desert, then back to the open chain link fence that would take her underground.

  Her panic at being found screamed at her to run, but when she thought about it logically, she knew she had nowhere to go. It wasn’t as if she could go back to the city and walk around covered in blood. That would get her picked up in a heartbeat.

  She needed new clothes, and her stomach howled with hunger. The lieutenant had offered her both.

  But could she tr
ust him?

  He’d want to know what happened, and she should tell him. Perhaps he’d be just the person to help her navigate this mess she found herself in. He stood as a high-ranking official in the military; perhaps he could reason with the police and help her convince them of her story, and the truth—she hadn’t killed her brother.

  Taking a deep breath and a leap of faith, she began her descent down the corridor.

  Chapter 19

  Dirt crunched under Holly’s shoes as she made her way down the passage. Eventually, she stepped out onto cement flooring and into a fairly large room with doors on each side and a table in the middle of it. No windows were present and she reminded herself that they stood underground.

  She glanced around for the lieutenant, but didn’t see him. She noted another closed door on the other side of the room and wondered where it led.

  “Hey,” he said, stepping out of one of the rooms and shutting the door behind him. He needed to bend his head down so he wouldn’t smack it on the door frame. “I thought I heard you coming. Here’s some clothes for you.”

  He set them down on the table. “If you’d like to take a shower before you change, you can do that as well.”

  She glanced down at the dried blood on her legs and felt like ripping off her skin. “Yes, I’d appreciate a shower.”

  He nodded and pointed to the last door on the left-hand side. “You can go right in there. I’ll get something for us to eat.”

  She nodded and walked across the room to the door he’d indicated. Opening it, she found a small bathroom, complete with a metal shower and a toilet. As she locked the door and undressed, she thought of all the times she’d been in the bunker and wondered what stood beyond the padlocked gate. It felt strange, yet exhilarating, to finally know. The bunker proved to be fully functional, a place where a group of people could live while the world outside burned. If the world ever did get that bad, it wouldn’t be the average Joe who would receive a coveted bed in one of these things. No, it would be the politicians and high-ranking military personnel who lit the match in the first place.

  She sighed as she stepped into the shower and twisted the knob all the way over to the hot side. After a moment, she realized the water seemed to be as hot as it would get. The lukewarm spray chilled her, but it still felt good as it cascaded down her body. She used the shampoo and tried to calm her mind. When she unloaded her problems to the lieutenant, she needed to sound like a sane person, not a crazy lunatic. She needed to tell him the facts and pray he could help her.

  Stepping out of the shower, she opened a tall, thin cabinet and found a towel. After drying off, she hung the towel on the back of the door and then slipped on her clothes. Picking up her bloodstained bra, she couldn’t even try to put it on, so she dropped it back onto the floor. The military green t-shirt hugged her chest a bit tightly, and she pulled on it to stretch it out. The camouflage pants felt a bit loose around the waist and were too long, but they’d work. She ran her fingers through her hair and met her gaze in the steel mirror. Her blue eyes were wide, and light purple circles hung underneath them. Her skin seemed paler than it had been, except for the bruise forming on her cheek. Touching it, she found it only slightly tender.

  She gripped the sides of the sink and took a deep breath.

  “You need to focus,” she whispered. “That lieu out there may be your only hope of not spending any time in jail.”

  She nodded and pushed back her shoulders, resolve settling in. Even though she’d love nothing more than to curl up on the floor and go back to sleep, the lieutenant had been kind to her, and he deserved some answers as to why he found her on the floor at the entrance of the bunker covered in blood and tears.

  Chapter 20

  “Hi.”

  Justice swung around from the sink, a little bit startled as he hadn’t heard her come out of the bathroom. For someone who talked so much, she’d been awfully quiet since he’d found her.

  His gaze raked over her body, and his throat tightened. Her t-shirt appeared just a little too snug, the outline of her small breasts and perk nipples evident as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  She hadn’t put her bra back on.

  “Feel better?” he asked, trying to ignore his body’s response to her breasts.

  “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  He grinned. “You can just call me Justice. No need for the ‘sir’ stuff.”

  “Okay.”

  He’d considered cooking her some vegetables, but then he’d have to explain where he’d gotten them. As the bunker was supposed to be abandoned, he didn’t want to give her any solid clues that he’d been living there. He had probably already shared too much.

  He handed her an MRE and motioned for her to sit down at the table.

  “Thank you,” she said, and took a chair.

  He opened the pouch and poured the beef stew in his bowl that he’d set out on the table earlier. She did the same, then picked up a spoon and brought a large portion to her mouth.

  “It’s not the best, but I find when I’m hungry, taste doesn’t matter too much.”

  She nodded in agreement, and they ate in silence.

  He watched her delicate mouth as she chewed, and grinned thinking of the damn thing moving a hundred miles per hour as she did her inspection on the bunker.

  There had been so much she’d unwittingly shared with him and his crew as she did her job. They’d learned about a friend of hers, Heather, getting married and moving away, and how lonely Holly had felt as she didn’t have many friends. He recalled the times she’d complained of exhaustion as she had sat up with her brother the night before, trying to calm him from his night terrors. She’d spoken of dates every now and then, each not ending very well. His favorite story had been when she’d had a first date with a male named Michael. They’d gone to dinner and then to a movie. In the middle of the movie, she’d begun to feel a little sick, but ignored it. She’d ended up with food poisoning and vomiting all over the person in front of her. Michael had been so embarrassed he’d abandoned her in the theater to fend for herself.

  She’d also frequently talked about her runs. From what he could gather, she did tricks and flew through the air as she moved through the city. She’d once referred to it as Parkour, and he’d lain in bed for a few nights trying to imagine what she described.

  As he stole glances at her while they ate, he tried to contain his smile. He knew this female, and over the year of listening to her, he’d grown to really like her.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked as she met his gaze, pulling him out of his thoughts, the question catching him off-guard.

  He should have thought of an answer to this question first thing, and frankly, he felt a little surprised she hadn’t asked it sooner.

  “Just completing the inspection process,” he said. He needed to put the focus back on her. “I think the question is, what are you doing here, Holly?”

  She looked back down at her bowl, scraped the last bit of stew onto her spoon, and brought it to her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she met his gaze, her features passive, but the fear in her eyes evident.

  He put down his spoon as his heartbeat accelerated and laced his hands together on the table in front of him, giving her his full attention.

  “I’m in trouble. I’m being accused of something I didn’t do.”

  He had a feeling he should simply get her on her way, but curiosity got the best of him. “What’s that?”

  “My brother. He was murdered today and I was framed for it.”

  He felt as if someone had just kicked him in the stomach. His breath hitched as he sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. As he’d heard Noah say, it seemed shit had just headed south.

  No, he never should have asked, but he had, and now, he stood knee deep in her problem.

  Might as well wade in all the way.

  “Can you please start at the beginning, Holly? What exactly happened?”

  She told h
im about the fight she’d had with Billy, tears welling up in her eyes, but they didn’t fall.

  “The whole reason we live downtown is because the V.A. Hospital is there, and all I asked him to do was get up off the couch and get ready for his appointment. He didn’t do it. I take care of everything for us: groceries, bills, cooking, cleaning … I just wanted him to shower before seeing his doctor. That’s it. I was so mad at him that I went for a run. When I got home, there was a man in our apartment. My brother had his throat slit, and the killer made me hold the knife he’d used to kill him. I got blood all over me trying to wipe my hands clean. He then called the police and told them that he’d heard a fight in my apartment and was worried someone had been hurt.”

  “What happened, then?”

  “I ran,” she said, the tears finally falling. “I’m not going to jail.”

  Running his hand over his head, he tried to think straight. He knew there couldn’t be any way that Holly would kill her brother. She loved him. But maybe in a fit of rage?

  Glancing over at her, he noted she’d composed herself again and stared directly at him.

  “I know you don’t know me, sir, but I would never hurt my brother. He was my only family.”

  Justice stared at her for a few minutes and listened to what his gut told him. She didn’t seem the type to kill in a fit of rage. In fact, she’d said she’d gone running because she had been so angry. He recalled her sneakers, running shorts, and t-shirt he’d found her in—running gear.

  He knew Holly loved her brother just from listening to her ramblings during her inspection. Deciding to take Noah’s advice, he listened to what his soul said. What was his gut feeling?

  She didn’t kill her brother.

  But if she didn’t, who had been the male who did? It seemed like a very brazen kill, and a little bit of panic crept in. Pushing it aside, he decided to focus on the facts before even entertaining the fear.

  “Okay. Let’s start from the beginning. I want you to tell me the story again, and not leave out anything. Nothing, Holly. Each detail is going to be important.”