Redeeming Justice

by Suzanne Halliday

  Redeeming Justice

  Copyright © 2014 by Suzanne Halliday

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by an means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

  Edited by www.editing4indies.com

  Book Cover Design by www.ashbeedesigns.com

  Formatting By Champagne Formats

  Other Books by Suzanne Halliday

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Epilogue

  And the story doesn’t end there!

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Other Books by Suzanne Halliday

  Broken Justice

  Fixing Justice

  I am blessed to have been raised in a home where reading and the love of books surrounded me. It fed my imagination and nourished my soul in ways that I’m only now beginning to understand. Everyone read, even my dad, but the greatest influence came from the quirky women in my family.

  To my unique and hilarious grandmother who used to bring us stacks of magazines after she’d read them. And that was before recycling was a trend!

  To my mother who read everything she could get her hands on and who gladly took me to the library at the drop of a hat. I still have an ancient copy of The Prince and the Pauper held together with masking tape – the corners well worn from my youthful fingers devouring every page. It reminds me of her and the way she encouraged me to read, read, read.

  I miss both those irreplaceable women more than words can convey.

  Thankfully ~ the tradition continues

  To my fabulous, wonderful, unique and totally bad-ass daughter without whom absolutely none of this would have happened.

  ~You Are My Sunshine~

  And finally, I dedicate this book to my readers with love; I appreciate and thank you for allowing the Justice Brothers to be a part of your lives.

  “Major, you really don’t have to do this,” the quietly efficient Army nurse told him with a look of exhaustion etched on her face. They’d been together most of the day as he endured the endless rounds of tests and excruciating physical therapy necessary to repair his shattered body. Feeling a little bit like Humpty Dumpty, Major Alex Marquez wondered if all the military doctors and a slew of skilled therapists could ever truly put him back together again.

  Even though the military casualty office had handled the death notifications for the men and women under his command after the suicide bombing that had come perilously close to claiming his life, Alex was driven by unseen emotional forces to contact each and every family member or next of kin for the list of names he kept in a notebook next to his hospital bed.

  So much more than a duty, it was an ethical obligation that defined the man he was. Every one of those names represented a human being, a person who at the time of their death had been Alex’s responsibility. In his mind, it was his unequivocal duty to speak one last time for and about the good people who had given the ultimate sacrifice in a fucked-up war that didn’t seem like it was ever going to end.

  “Actually, yes I do Blake. As their commanding officer, it’s the only thing left that I can do for them.” He eyed the nurse through the heavy pain medication that made his brain fuzzier than he was comfortable with. When she nodded silently and stepped back to let him struggle with the pen and paper she’d brought, he knew she’d seen the determination in his gaze and probably the torment too. She was military through and through, and he didn’t doubt for a nanosecond that she misunderstood what he was getting at.

  From practically the moment he’d regained consciousness after the blast that had flattened his command post, Alex had focused on those who hadn’t survived. Instead of concentrating on his own nearly fatal injuries and the long road of healing and convalescence ahead for him, he’d obsessed over the list of deceased. Reading and re-reading it over and over until he could recite each person’s name by rote, the command officer in his conscience struggled to deal with the senseless loss of life.

  His commitment to the men and women who lived and died at his side was without compromise. Bloodshed, death, and acts of true heroism and selflessness played out in his mind each time he closed his eyes. The public didn’t know what war was like on a day-to-day, minute-by-minute basis. But the troops on the ground understood all about living with the dust, heat, and unrelenting fear. Afghanistan was nothing short of hell on Earth and as long as he lived, Alex was never going to escape the repercussions of his time there.

  “Has the mail come in today, Blake?” he asked with a labored sigh. Letters from home and the half-assed correspondence he looked forward to from members of his former squad were the only bright spots in his days. He hated the hospital atmosphere, hated the constant reminder that his Special Forces days were effectively over now that he was held together with pins and skin grafts. If not for the love of his parents and sisters, he might have succumbed to the unrelenting emotional trauma that went hand-in-hand with almost being blown to bits.

  It was his buddies from the Justice Squad though that really made the difference. Bonded forever through an initiation of fire and blood, Alex held tight to their friendship. Before he’d been promoted to a command position, he’d been just another Special Forces hotshot. Fighting, eating, sleeping, and surviving together created a strong family-like bond that kept them all sane in an otherwise chaotic existence. Together with Cameron and Draegyn, he’d held himself together through a shitload of fuckery that would probably haunt him forever. They were like the Three Musketeers – inseparable and very much living all for one and one for all.

  When he got out of this medical nightmare, whenever that proved to be, Alex had decided that come hell or high water, the three of them would be together again. He had a huge spread of land in the Arizona desert where they could escape the fucking war and build a new life. Thanks to the military, they each had skills and talents that were unmatched and would be in high demand in the world of private security and counterintelligence. Might as well put what they’d learned to good use once they were all back in the civilian world.

  Nurse Blake gave him something that was supposed to look like a smile. She wasn’t an idiot. No one who had to deal with the wounded coming back from the war zones was. She knew damn well that he relied on those letters to keep him sane almost more than he needed the endless parade of doctors and specialists who jigsaw puzzled his body back together.

  “Rest assured Major, I will make sure
you get your mail before the hour is out. You okay while I go check?”

  Alex nodded even though the fucking morphine they pumped into him made the motion more of a wobble. “Thanks Blake. If you weren’t a butt kicking Army Nurse who could crack my skull with one hand, I’d kiss your ugly ass.”

  She laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “Said like a butt fucking ugly Special Forces shithead. Hold that thought and I’ll see what I can do.”

  There was no doubt about it. Meghan O’Brien loved sunshine. When the story of her life was written, surely there would be a notation about her love hate affair with the sun. Being a fair complexioned Irish beauty meant she’d learned to be clever about protecting her skin. Tilting her head skyward, Meghan felt a mass of auburn curls tumble down her back the same second the blazing sun lit up her face. Both sensations were delicious and made her sigh. As she stood there absorbing the invigorating energy, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her other senses.

  Pressed up against the side of an SUV, her butt was warmed from the heat of the desert southwest radiating off the vehicle. It was an oddly pleasant feeling that helped alleviate some of the tension in her back from long hours spent behind the wheel.

  There were muffled voices from the people in the roadside rest area where she’d stopped for a break. Kids laughing. Parents yelling. The usual, she chuckled. There was even the low bark of a big dog and the dull rumble of an idling motorcycle.

  She clutched a very cold bottle of water in one hand, while the other rested on the door handle. Her inner teacher’s voice fed fast facts into her thoughts making Meghan grin. Vitamin D is primarily synthesized in skin exposure to UV light and is essential to healthy skin. The grin became a laugh. Some things won’t ever change.

  Where a year ago she’d known exactly what she wanted to do and how she wanted to live her life, today she was in a curious limbo. At the age of twenty-eight, her resume was a study in perfection. Bachelor’s Degree in Education followed by a Master’s in Kinesiology. Every job known to mankind in those two fields; camp counselor, fitness trainer, motivational coach, gym teacher, licensed massage therapist—she was a respected member of the Belmont Circle School District faculty where she’d been assistant athletic director. Not bad for being a girl in a man’s field.

  She was also loud and proud, a true Irish Daughter of Boston and was more than capable of taking care of herself. Having three brothers taught Meghan how to navigate the world of men. She was competitive by nature and didn’t cry when she lost. With a straightforward, take no shit attitude, her students liked her, and the parents and her fellow faculty members respected her. Life had been damn good. She had no complaints and while the idea of finding a guy she could put her faith in, someone she could trust, was a shining ideal, she was content living alone as a successful professional.

  And then it happened. One day, one very ordinary day, she’d been nesting at home, cartons of takeout food on the table as she hunkered down with her Kindle to catch up on some reading when the phone rang and her entire life changed.

  Meghan, along with five colleagues from her school, had pooled their money and purchased lottery tickets that had incredibly won them a mega jackpot. That phone call had done more than change the direction of her life. With the staggering amount of money she suddenly had, the mortgages on her parents’ and brothers’ homes got paid off and a sizeable trust fund established for her nieces and nephews ensuring that each of them would have the money for college when that time came.

  With the job market being such a tough place for educators, Meghan reluctantly stepped down from her position so someone else could have the chance to chase their dreams. She didn’t want to stop working but others immediately started showing signs of jealousy and disdain for her and her fellow jackpot winners. Hanging onto a job when she didn’t need the income was only inviting judgment.

  The midday heat starting to make her clothes feel heavy and uncomfortable got Meghan moving into the driver’s seat of her shiny, new SUV on a reluctant sigh. As much as she enjoyed basking for a few minutes in the relentless southwest sun, it didn’t take long for her to throw in the towel once the heat took over. Starting the engine she flipped the AC to low and took a long, slow pull off the bottle of chilled water, settling comfortably into the plush seat. The car had been her first big purchase. She’d felt giddy at the freedom of having unlimited options and went a little crazy when it came to all the bells and whistles.

  All that stuff, from the navigation system to the satellite radio and heated seats, had come in handy though. On a whim, she’d packed up her apartment, put everything she owned in storage, and headed off on a cross-country road trip. Because she could. That was three months ago.

  In that time she’d traveled from Boston to Seattle then down the California coast, stopping at every giant wind chime or world’s largest whatever along the way. Putting her teacher skills to creative good use, she’d been taking thousands of pictures either with her phone or the fancy digital camera she loved; then designing digital scrapbooks with a running commentary of her adventures.

  While in California, her mother had flown to join Meghan for a weeklong spa retreat and a sweet mother daughter bonding experience. Maggie O’Brien was everything Meghan hoped she’d be one day; smart, loving, fiercely devoted to her family, and possessing a wicked streak a mile wide. They knocked back a couple of bottles of Jameson Irish Whiskey during their ten days together laughing like schoolgirls, and at night she would sit at her mother’s knee like she had as a child, listening to her mom’s calming voice as she smoothed Meghan’s curls.

  After California, it was time to get back on the road, which is what brought her to this rest stop along old Route 66. This portion of her American adventure had been the most fun she’d had. The rich history turned her on. The desert southwest was so incredibly beautiful that she pulled over constantly to take pictures.

  Tonight she’d be in Flagstaff where she planned to stay for a few days. After that it was a slight detour south toward Sedona and a visit she’d been thinking about for a very long time. More than five years in the making, she would at long last be meeting face to face with a man she barely knew who had been uncommonly kind to her during a dark time. Knowing that his kindness came during a difficult period in his own life, she’d always hoped to share her enormous gratitude in person. Now that the opportunity was upon her, Meghan was excited and a bit apprehensive too.

  It had felt so forward and pushy to tap out an email that basically said - Hey, I’m in town and inviting myself over to your place for a visit – but that’s what she’d done. Well, she thought as her SUV pulled onto the highway, the deed was done. Now the stage was set for whatever came of her impulsive desire to settle an emotional debt that only meant something to her.

  Alexander Valleja-Marquez was fit to be tied. Depending on which hat he was wearing at any given time, whether Spanish Don of inherited nobility or retired Special Forces Commander or senior partner in a prestigious security agency, or friend, he was a handful at the best of times. When he had an itch up his butt though, he was a fucking nightmare to deal with. And he knew it. But frankly, knowing didn’t slow his roll for a second.

  The agency’s summer calendar was fully booked for the season making the Marquez Villa and surrounding Justice Agency compound a bustling mini-town of activity. It was their busiest time of year and with both his partners slightly distracted by personal matters, Alex had assumed a bigger role in overseeing day-to-day agency operations.

  As out of sorts as he was, that didn’t stop Alex from a moment of happiness recalling the unexpected chain of events that found two of the three Justice Brothers married and with babies on the way. As if Cameron’s life changing romance with his ponytailed wife wasn’t mind-boggling enough, the approaching birth of their first child had blown everyone’s mind. And then there was Draegyn who was also a married man with a baby on the way. Never in a million years had he thought any of them would be the happily
ever after sort.

  Snorting in disbelief for the thousandth time, Alex left the dimly lit tech cave where he spent the majority of his time and made his way to the tiled walk leading to the pool. Zeus, his constant companion and the only female to speak of in his life, trotted along amiably at his feet. At least the dog seemed to like him.

  He was heading for the pool to work off an excess of nervous energy that was tying him up in knots. With the non-stop agency activity to keep him busy you’d think he wouldn’t have time for wandering thoughts, but pretty much the only thing he could think about for the past couple of days had been an email from someone he’d known briefly during his special ops days. Back when he ordered people into danger, then was the one to tell families about their son or daughter’s brave sacrifice.

  That last awful day of his command not only ended his military career, it was when the families of more than a dozen soldiers and civilians he was responsible for had gotten bad or devastating news. Even though Alex had been one of the severely wounded, he hadn’t shirked his responsibility as the commanding office in charge to write personally to each family. It was the least he could do, and while it did nothing to ease the black mark left on his soul from that day, it did serve as a reminder of his own humanity, something that came perilously close to being lost in the months before and for a long time afterward.

  One of those he wrote to was the fiancée of a young soldier who hadn’t stood a chance when the bomb went off. He’d been surprised when she replied, sending a long heartfelt letter about her fiancé and how much he loved every minute of his time in the service and respected his C.O. At the time, Alex was struggling through months of endless surgeries, physical therapy, plus mental and physical anguish that were stripping his soul. Her letters had been the start of a brief pen pal exchange. By the following year when he was stateside again and starting to build a life outside the military, they’d remained Christmas card pals but nothing else. Until she emailed him out of the blue and said she’d be in the Sedona area soon and could she come by for a visit.