Justice from the Shadows

by Nadirah Foxx

  “Never.”

  He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close. Kissing the top of my head, Josh added, “Let’s get out of here.”

  When the bathroom door opened, there was a crowd. They clapped while a few men even whistled. Josh gave me a quick peck, and then we made our way to the front door.

  By the time we reached the parking lot, there was a car speeding away. I got a quick glimpse of Joe. We hurried to the SUV, and I tossed Josh the keys. Despite the fact he had alerted Lidia, I didn’t trust that Joe wouldn’t attempt something.

  38

  Don’t Get It Twisted

  We weren’t saving the bad guy. It was more about saving possible evidence. If Joe succeeded in killing Mikey, we lost a potential witness.

  Josh drove like a maniac—tearing through the streets at top speed. When he crossed the boundary between Victoryville and Liberty City, I held my breath, waiting for the cops. No one appeared, and Josh continued the breakneck pace toward City Center.

  “Get Lidia on the phone,” Josh shouted.

  I disagreed. We needed someone with different skills. I pulled out my phone and hooked into the Bluetooth connection.

  “Debbie speaking.”

  “We have a big problem. Mayor Simpson ordered a hit on Mikey.” I moved into the back seat and shimmied out of my dress. If it hadn’t been for Josh’s reminder, I might have left the suit behind.

  “You’ve contacted Lidia?”

  “Yes, but the hit man is Joe. Mikey is his cousin.”

  Furious typing on a keyboard came through the speakers. “Okay. I’m accessing the LCPD network... A simple hack of the security codes for the interior doors should keep Joe out.”

  Josh yelled, “Provided he’s not there yet.”

  “Right,” Debbie said. “If he’s already inside, he won’t be leaving anytime soon.”

  “We need to find the mayor. She was at the Lucky Lady,” I said.

  “Good thing I’m still at Sentinel.” More clicking sounds. “I’ll link into the citywide security cams in Victoryville.” More tapping on the keyboard. “Okay. I’m in. The last recordings show Mayor Simpson leaving the casino and heading to the parking lot. Give me a few minutes to go through the different cameras to find her.”

  “Do it. I’ll get back to you.”

  Josh turned into the precinct parking lot on two wheels. As soon as he shut off the engine, we exited the vehicle, leaving the doors wide open. As we sprinted, I pulled my hood into position and went dark.

  Clicking the comm in my ear, I spoke to Debbie. “Digital Pirate, we need access into the LCPD.”

  “On it.”

  Just in time. As soon as we cleared the stairs, the main doors slid open. Officers ran out with their guns drawn on Josh.

  He held out his palms. “Don’t shoot! It’s me, Reynolds!”

  When the men lowered their weapons, I walked through the lobby and headed for the interrogation rooms. I breathed a lot easier when I saw Mikey alive. My plan? To stand guard until we could get him into some sort of protective custody.

  In the meantime, I’d get a little information. After discovering that Walter copied my mother’s phone, I installed an app granting me the same permission. While I waited for the wheels of justice to turn, I cloned Mikey’s device.

  It was a fortuitous action. I found emails that should have been deleted along with text messages between Mikey and Joe and Mikey and Mayor Simpson. There were numerous phone calls along with a few voicemails. Either Mikey was an idiot, or he was compiling evidence in case the mayor was a backstabber.

  An hour later, Mikey was safely behind bars, and Joe was nowhere to be seen. I left the precinct and made my way back to Sentinel. Debbie and Josh were waiting for me in the tech lab. I removed the hood and mask before joining them.

  “What took so long?” Debbie asked. “I expected you to touch base sooner.”

  I tossed her my phone with the app still open. “Check out the trail of evidence. It should be more than enough to arrest Mayor Simpson and Joe.”

  Debbie scrolled through the screens, her eyes widening with every swipe. “This is perfect. I’ll make copies of it.”

  “What about the robberies?” Josh asked.

  “Let me go through the data,” Debbie said, turning back toward the monitor. “I’ll let you know what I find.”

  Josh and I went to the apartment. Rather than sit with him, I wanted to get out of the suit and go to bed. For once, I was tired enough to fall asleep without much effort.

  “You okay?” Josh asked as I stretched and yawned.

  “Yeah. It’s just been a long day.”

  “Do you want me to leave?”

  Without hesitation, I said, “No. Keep me company?”

  He grinned. “I can do that.”

  We walked back to the bedroom. I grabbed a T-shirt and shorts from a drawer and then stepped into the bathroom. Closing the door behind me, I realized I’d invited Josh to spend the night.

  What was I thinking?

  It would have been a bold-faced lie if I said I wasn’t lonely. Despite the issues between us, I missed Ryan terribly. I missed our late-night chats with a glass of wine and his favorite snack—a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. The man had a serious sweet tooth, and I indulged him way too much.

  What I needed from Josh was not sexual in nature. It was only about companionship. I quickly undressed and slipped on the shirt and shorts.

  When I exited the bathroom, Josh sat on the edge of the bed. “Hey, beautiful.”

  My mouth opened but immediately slammed shut when I noticed the glasses on the nightstand filled with white wine and the plate of chocolate cake.

  I smiled. “How did you know?”

  “Ryan might have told me.” Josh grinned and patted the mattress. “He once said the favorite part of his day was a glass of wine and chocolate cake with you.”

  I wiped away a tear.

  “Hey, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Josh began to rise.

  “No, I’m fine.” I sat beside him. “These days anything makes me tear up.”

  “Understood.” Josh passed a glass to me. “How have you been? I haven’t asked in a while.”

  “Holding up.”

  It was an honest answer, but it wasn’t the whole story. The truth was my chasing down the bad guys was taking its toll. I wasn’t sleeping and barely eating. It seemed like I’d spent all of my days training and researching possible suspects. I was failing as Sentinel’s CEO.

  “There are days, Josh, when I want to surrender. I want to wake up in the morning and go back to being a computer analyst for the LCPD.”

  He didn’t say a word.

  “But then reality kicks in and tells me I have to find who killed my family. I’m reminded that corruption may have infiltrated the precinct and that nobody will be safe until we solve the problem.”

  “Then what?” Josh took a sip of wine.

  “What do you mean?”

  I thought it was fairly obvious. The city needed us—all of us. We had to keep fighting for the little guy—that man or woman or child who couldn’t defend themselves.

  Josh lowered his glass. “I mean, what do you do after the bad guys are apprehended? Do you resume your job at the precinct? Or do you become more active at Sentinel?”

  “I don’t think I could return to the precinct, not with what I know.” I reached for the cake and the fork. “Sentinel is my bread and butter. Besides, it gives me a place to keep my secret identity.”

  He looked at me in disbelief. “You were serious about the whole vigilante game?”

  I paused with my fork in the air. “One, it’s not a game. And two, the answer is yes. People need us.”

  “That’s what the police are for.”

  “Only honest ones.” I set the plate and fork on the nightstand. “Could you live with yourself if another woman experienced my loss?”

  “No, but—”

  “No buts, Josh. If w
e can avoid senseless crimes from happening, it is our right to do so.”

  He didn’t speak.

  “If we can avoid innocent lives from being shed, we must fight.”

  My friend remained quiet.

  “It’s our duty to help the authorities in their mission to serve and protect. But when they fail, we must step up and assume the role.”

  “At what expense?” he asked.

  What I wanted us to do required sacrifices. It was possible nobody else was prepared to make them but me. I was good with that. Besides, I had nothing else to live for.

  Facing Josh, I said, “I’m all in. No matter what has to be done, I can do it. You, on the other hand, shouldn’t have to. Josh, you can still have that wondrous life Ryan and I had. Find someone else. Marry her or him. Have a real family.”

  Staring at the floor, Josh said, “I don’t want anyone else—man or woman. I tried it. No matter who I meet, I always think of you.” He glanced up. “I want that family. I want that life, but only with you, Kerrie.”

  Shaking my head, I said, “I don’t know if I can give it to you, and it’s unfair of me to expect you to wait.”

  I stood and went to the closet. Suddenly, I was chilled to the bone. I pulled out one of Ryan’s hoodies he wore in college.

  “What are you afraid of?”

  “Afraid?” I kept my back turned.

  “Yeah. Once upon a time, you wanted to be more than friends.”

  “I got married. Had a kid. My life changed.”

  “So, your feelings disappeared too?”

  Leaning my head against the door, I thought about his words. “Some things just can’t be.”

  “Do you think you’re cheating on Ryan’s memory?”

  “Yes,” I admitted.

  Two strong hands gripped my upper arms. “He wouldn’t have wanted you to be alone forever.”

  “True, but would Ryan have wanted me to replace him so soon?”

  Josh kissed my cheek. “I wouldn’t dream of replacing Ryan. He was my friend too. I remember how happy you were after RJ was born. Don’t you want to experience that again?”

  A sharp pang sliced through my heart. I wasn’t even thirty years old. Too young to become a spinster, and I wasn’t too fond of cats. I also had no desire to live with my mother. Some of my older aunts did that when their husbands died. Hell, even my mother found a way to move forward from Dad. It didn’t matter that Walter was the wrong man. It only mattered that she moved on.

  It was something I had to do for my own sanity.

  Turning around, I gazed deeply into Josh’s eyes. “Can I ask you to be patient with me? Give me this time to get over my loss?”

  “For how long?”

  “I’ll come to you. I’ll let you know what place you have in my heart. If you can wait...”

  He caressed my cheek. “I can do that. I can most certainly do that.”

  39

  A Winding Trail

  I anticipated a slow process when Mikey requested a lawyer. In the wee hours of the morning, Lidia called and let me know I’d been mistaken.

  “Hey, Kerrie. We’ve arrested two suspects. Would you like to come down?”

  “Be there soon.” Thankfully, I was still dressed.

  Josh stood in my bedroom door. He’d slept on the sofa. “What was that about?”

  “Lidia. They’ve arrested Joe and Mikey.”

  “Let’s go. I’ll drive.”

  ◆◆◆

  Lidia gave us permission to view the interrogation. Thankfully, Captain Stratham wasn’t on duty. If he had been, I’m sure the approval wouldn’t have been granted.

  Josh and I watched Joe squirm as he waited for the questioning to begin. Although he was cuffed to the table, there was enough chain between his wrists to allow for some movement.

  Lidia turned on the speaker so we could listen, and then she walked out. Seconds later, a door opened in the interrogation room, and the detective took a seat at the stainless-steel table.

  “Joseph McPherson.” Lidia flipped through a file. “You have quite the record. As a juvenile you were arrested and convicted of at least half a dozen misdemeanors. After spending time in juvie, you were arrested ten different times for petty burglaries. Eventually, you served four years at Iron Valley Correctional.” Lidia closed the folder as she looked up. “Escalating to murder? I guess that was bound to happen. Want to tell me about the night of September third?”

  Joe jutted his chin and asked sarcastically, “Were the Patriots playing that night?”

  Lidia smiled easily, sat back in her chair, and crossed her legs. “Joseph, I have an entire fucking night to sit here. You, on the other hand, only have minutes to tell your tale before I throw your ass in lock-up. Prepare yourself for a trip back to Iron Valley due to parole violations. Or maybe we could send you to Rockwood Penitentiary with the big boys.”

  He leaned away from her. “No big deal. I’ve got friends there.”

  “Friends like Mario Genetti?”

  Joe swallowed hard and kept his mouth shut.

  “Or is he your boss, Joseph?”

  Beads of sweat shone on his brow.

  “Okay, let’s forget Genetti for a moment.” Lidia uncrossed her legs and sat forward. “What about Mikey? Maybe I should have a little talk with him? It’s amazing what people will tell you when you drop a little knowledge on them.”

  “Leave Mikey alone,” Joe muttered.

  “Aww, isn’t that sweet? Now you’re all protective when just hours ago you were planning to kill him.”

  I slammed my hand against the wall and turned away from the one-way mirror. “She wasn’t supposed to tell him that!”

  Josh rubbed my shoulder. “It doesn’t matter if it gets us the information we need.”

  Shaking my head, I turned back toward the glass.

  Joe sat there with his mouth gaping. Another minute passed before he said, “Who said I was here for that?”

  Lidia waved her finger in the air. “Uh-uh. I’m asking the questions here. Tell me what happened that night, or I’ll go see your cousin.”

  Joe dragged a hand through his wavy hair. A trail of sweat dripped from his forehead. After a few minutes, Joe told what he knew.

  “It was an accident,” he claimed. “We had what we came for when we ran into the homeowner. I was gonna let him go. Then, Mikey ran out of the house.” Joe squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled.

  “What happened next?”

  He exhaled and said, “My clumsy-ass cousin tripped. He collided with the man and his kid. Lost his fucking grip on the gun. When it hit the ground, it discharged. My cousin wasn’t going to shoot the man. It was the kid. He started crying. Mikey’s not so good around loud noises.”

  Why didn’t the bastards get Ryan some help? If it happened the way Joe claimed, he should have stuck around. He could have at least contacted the paramedics. It might not have changed anything. Still…

  Lidia dropped a pad of paper and a pen in front of Joe. “Write it down. Don’t leave out a detail.”

  Joe’s brow wrinkled as he lifted the pen. “You get what I said? It was an accident? My cousin didn’t mean to kill anyone.”

  “Just write everything down for me.” Lidia went to the door.

  When she re-entered the observation room, I lit into her. “Why didn’t you find out who they were working for?”

  Lidia swung her dark hair off her shoulder. Narrowing her eyes, she crossed her arms. “Have you forgotten who’s in charge here?”

  I kept quiet.

  “You got a little closure, Mrs. King. Be happy with that. You can move on now.”

  Move on? Was she fucking serious?

  Catching the killers was only the beginning. Without knowing who they were working for, all of this could happen to someone else. I refused to let anyone suffer through the same pain.

  Lidia hadn’t even bothered to get a reason for the senseless murders. I wanted to know the truth behind Ryan’s and RJ’s deaths. Lidia mi
ght have bought the whole it-was-an-accident story, but I didn’t. Joe was an asshole looking to stay out of prison. He would say anything to earn his get-out-of-jail-free card.

  Granted, his confession should have been enough. For the average person, it would have been, but I wanted Joe to implicate someone. Well, not just someone but somebody. I wanted him to say Mayor Simpson’s name. I wanted to hear that Walter was also behind it. And if there was somebody at the top of the food chain, I wanted to know who it was.

  Thanks to Lidia, however, it wasn’t happening.

  Was it not justice to hear Joe’s confession?

  It might have been, but it didn’t feel like it. I’d been gypped. That man wasn’t even remorseful for his actions. Joe was only sorry they were caught. He wasn’t sorry his stupid cousin shot innocent people either. Joe wanted someone to excuse their fucked-up behavior.

  “Let’s go, Josh. There’s nothing more here for us,” I said flatly.

  Lidia unfolded her arms. “That’s probably the smartest decision you’ve made since this shit happened to you. Let the cops do their job, Mrs. King. There’s nothing else for you to worry about.”

  “Sure,” I mumbled.

  If Joe and Mikey weren’t going to give up Mayor Simpson, it was left up to us.

  As we walked to the SUV, Josh asked, “What are you thinking?”

  “The police won’t get the answers we need.”

  Josh opened my door for me and then leaned in. “Kerrie, you helped bring in your family’s killers. Can’t that be enough?”

  “No.”

  He slammed the door and walked around to the driver’s side. As Josh cranked up the car, he asked, “What’s next?”

  “We find a trail and trap whoever’s on it.” The first person I suspected to be on the path was the Mayor of Arcadia.

  When we returned to the bunker, Debbie was hard at work. According to her, Jackie was still out of town, giving my assistant an excuse to stick around.

  “I’ve accessed Mayor Simpson’s financial records.” Debbie’s fingers flew across the keyboard. Seconds later, digital files opened on the monitor. “The only thing the authorities can hold the mayor accountable for is a little money laundering.”