Grim Judgment

by Jennifer Reinfried

  “I see. So he is skimming off the top, no?”

  “What? I mean yes, yes he is. Sorry.” My palms were sweating. My palms have never been sweaty before.

  “And how did you know he worked for me, hmm?”

  “Well, sir, Vance...uh...sir...when Alex came into the bank last week, I overheard—”

  “Oh? A personal visit?” The crime boss shot a look at his right hand man, who didn’t flinch.

  I shut my mouth.

  “I apologize for that.” Vance reached forward and I swore I could feel a phantom blade slide into my neck, but all he did was clap my shoulder. “He tends to let his emotions get in the way of his rational thinking.”

  The left corner of Alex’s mouth twitched.

  “Tell me your name.” Vance turned back to me.

  “Bruce, sir.”

  “I like that. He calls me sir already.”

  “I respect you, sir. It’s why I came to you.”

  Vance sucked his front teeth as he considered my offer. “But it is not the only reason, no?”

  Alex shifted in his seat next to me and I almost went through the roof. Adrenaline was coursing through me, had been since the man in the suit came toward me on the sidewalk.

  “I know what Gary’s doing and I can do it better, sir.” I forced myself to meet his gaze.

  “What is it you do, Mr. Bruce?” Vance asked.

  “I work in the loan department.”

  “Not happy there, I take it?”

  “No. Yes. I mean, it’s just a job.” I was frantic, trying to think of reasons I shouldn’t be killed. “I have two young sons at home. Supporting them has been...difficult.”

  Vance nodded, considering me with pale, blue eyes. Silence stretched on and on until I felt extremely awkward.

  “Do you...need me to leave, or...?” There went my heart again.

  The two men exchanged what seemed like an important glance.

  “Do us a favor,” Alex said, suddenly friendly, a smile back on his face. He adjusted his glasses. “Keep what you know to yourself. If we discover what you said was true, we will be in touch.” He opened his door and slid outside. As I exited the vehicle, keeping my movements slow, I noticed the lack of a wedding band on his hand. For some reason, I found myself hoping no one ever fell in the clutches of Weston Alexander. Something was not right about that man.

  “Mr. Rettig?” Vance said from inside the SUV. I started. Had I told him my last name? I planted a smile on my face and turned back to the crime boss. “I will remember your respect, and your secrecy. Be sure to give my regards to young Shawn and Jaxon.”

  The vehicle pulled away from the curb, leaving me standing on the sidewalk, shock plastered on my frozen face.

  —-

  So that’s how I came to work for Redborough’s underground crime business to support my family. Oh, and Gary went missing. I, of course, didn’t say a word.

  Chapter Twenty

  NOW

  2016

  “I hear them!” Aaron’s eyes were distant, but moving rapidly as he listened.

  Shawn stared at him, aware of his own heart beating steadily.

  “I think...” Aaron frowned as he used his power. “Oh, they’re fading. Getting fainter. They must be running.” He started moving forward, and Shawn followed suit, eyes scanning the area, Mari close behind.

  They jogged down the street for a bit before Aaron suddenly stopped.

  “What?” Shawn asked.

  “They changed direction.” He paused for a moment, still listening, then led them to his left and down a different street. “Come on,” he said. “They’re terrified.”

  “Are they being chased?” Mari asked, pulling her light jacket close as they began to trot after Aaron.

  “Yeah,” he replied. “They’re so scared. They think Jaxon’s behind them but I can’t determine...wait, no. He’s lost them.”

  “You can hear him, too?” Shawn looked around, wary, fear of being spotted by Jaxon now mixed in with his other emotions.

  “Yeah. He’s pissed.” Aaron picked up speed. He shot a glance at Mari. “Don’t freeze until we’re in sight of them. We need as much time as we can to—”

  “I know the plan.” Mari grumbled.

  They weaved along the sidewalk, avoiding running into other people as much as possible.

  “They’re getting louder!” Aaron shouted.

  Shawn’s heart leapt. They came to an intersection and crossed, barely making the signal before the light turned. A large crowd stood in front of them, but before they could part, a scream ripped through the air. Shawn skidded to a stop along with Mari and Aaron, eyes wide, trying to see where the noise had come from.

  Across the street, halfway down the block, people rounded the corner, running down the sidewalk opposite the trio.

  “The alley,” Aaron muttered, his eyes suddenly focusing. He looked across the road and pointed. “There. That’s where they’re hiding. And Jaxon’s coming.” Before Shawn could say anything, Aaron bolted into the street. He swerved to his right to avoid a car, its tires screeching. Straightening his path, he aimed right for the mouth of a small alley.

  Shawn took the momentary stop in traffic as an opportunity to run after Aaron. A quick glance over his shoulder showed Mari doing the same, her blonde hair fluttering, eyes determined. The pair was nearing the sidewalk when the ground shifted violently underneath their feet.

  “The fuck?” Mari shouted as they stumbled. She fell to one knee. Shawn reached down to help her up. Aaron continued forward, nearing the alley. The ground shifted again, harder. Shawn pitched forward and caught himself on the pavement with the palms of his hands. He could hear cries of other people as their feet were knocked out from under them. Shawn pushed himself to his feet as a loud rumbling filled his ears.

  Aaron had fallen as well when the second wave rippled through the ground. He was climbing to his feet, but all Shawn could look at was the brick building to the right of the alley. A large portion of it had knocked loose, and chunks were beginning to fall into the alley. His heart lurched into his throat and seemed to stop beating. He looked behind him wildly and grabbed Mari’s bicep in a tight squeeze.

  “Mari, now!” he screamed.

  The world fell silent. Shawn looked back at the alley. Debris was frozen mid-bounce. Some had spilled out onto the sidewalk. He was hit by a remorse so heavy, it nearly drove him to his knees.

  “Come on. We still need to try.” Mari urged him forward.

  Shawn followed on weak legs. He knew the moment he looked into the alley, he’d see nothing of Emma, nothing but fallen rock smashed into the ground.

  They passed Aaron, frozen with the rest of the world, a look of fear on his face as he stared toward the falling building.

  “Sorry, buddy,” Shawn muttered. A sudden laugh bubbled up from his stomach. He swallowed again to push it back down.

  “Oh.” Mari had arrived at the mouth of the alley a few moments before him, and now she looked back at him, eyebrows raised. He closed the distance in three hurried steps and, before his fear could stop him, peered inside.

  The alley was narrow. Large chunks of brick and mortar as well as piping and other debris littered the air. It was surreal to him, as if they had simply paused a movie.

  “Look.” Mari pointed forward. Shawn crouched down to her eye level, then felt his chest expand with relief.

  A few yards away, amidst the fallen pieces of building, he could just make out Isaac, who was flung face down on the ground over Emma. The debris hadn’t hit them yet, but it had been close. Isaac’s last-ditch effort to save the woman he loved brought a curious feeling to Shawn, but before he could identify it, Mari spoke.

  “Like that would save her.” She let out a scoff.

  Shawn threw a glare in her direction and began to move into the alleyway. He had to duck and shift his body around frozen fallen chunks as he hurried toward the two on the ground. He had noticed Isaac was shirtless right away, but as he nea
red, he realized Emma was clad in only a man’s shirt and a pair of underwear, which he could just barely see from her position underneath Isaac, and he frowned. She was a fake, Jaxon’s voice said in his head. He paused and swallowed, eyes on the couple. This is bigger than your feelings. We need her for the fight against your brother. Put everything behind you right now. Focus on the future. On surviving. On your friends, your family, surviving. None of his thoughts, however, stopped his emotions from roiling. Shawn felt a warm pressure in his chest as he looked at Isaac and Emma together, half clothed, and for a moment, he hesitated.

  “I thought we needed to use the freeze to get as far away as possible, not sit and stare at them.” Mari’s voice saved Shawn from himself. He started forward through the obstacles again without a word.

  Just act. Think later. He knelt down next to Isaac. Horror was plastered on his face, mingling with defeat and despair. His hands clenched Emma, whose own features were hidden behind her hair.

  Mari laughed suddenly, and Shawn looked up at her.

  “What’s so funny about this?” he demanded.

  “I’m having my own déjà vu.”

  “What does that mean? Is that bad?”

  “No,” she grinned. “This is exactly how I saved you and Jax on the roof. I froze time, we ran up to the roof so we could get you to safety. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do now.” Her eyes glittered as she looked at him, but her smile faltered as she took in his expression. “Right? Or did you change your mind?”

  Shawn turned back and looked at Isaac once more. “Yeah,” he said after a pause. “Yeah. We need them. Let’s do this.”

  Mari put her hand on his shoulder. “He’s in contact with her, so all you have to do is touch him.”

  Shawn laid his hand on Isaac’s bare shoulder. “Okay.” He looked up for the first time and realized just how close a particularly large chunk of debris was to crushing them. “Wait, how fast...?”

  Mari followed his gaze. “Pretty fast. If I don’t screw it up.”

  His heart stuttered. “Wait, what? Are—”

  The world around him shot to life with a loud roar, and Shawn flinched forward, eyes squeezed shut, mind solely on how it would feel to be crushed by half of a building, then silence hit him once more. He opened his eyes and straightened slowly, only to feel the back of his head graze against something rock hard.

  “Mari?”

  “You’re fine. Watch your head.” She let go of him and stepped back.

  Shawn twisted to the side to see the same large chunk of brick wall inches from his face. Holy fuck, he thought in wonder and terror. Less than a second later...

  A sharp intake of breath sounded beside him and he turned his attention forward again. Isaac’s green eyes were staring right at him. He held the back of his head with one hand. He hit his head.

  Emma stirred beneath him and both men turned their focus on her. She faced away from Shawn. “Isaac?” Her voice was scratched.

  “I’m here. I...” He stared at the frozen world around him.

  “What happened?” Emma looked up, then straightened quickly. Isaac reached out and stopped her from hitting her head as he had. Shawn felt a small spike of envy.

  “I don’t know.” Isaac pulled her up, slowly, into his arms. He stared around, unease now in his eyes.

  Shawn laughed. “What, don’t want to be rescued?” he said, a little too loudly.

  At the sound of his voice, Emma turned around sharply. He felt his stomach flip the moment her blue eyes connected with his.

  “Shawn,” she breathed.

  Instead of speaking directly to her, he looked back at Mari, then at Isaac. “Come on. We need to get you out of here and get moving.” He held out his hand to the other man, who still shielded Emma. A moment of uncertainty passed, then Isaac gripped his hand. Ignoring the feelings that came forth in wild, intermittent frequencies, Shawn pulled him out from underneath the shower of debris and into the area where Mari stood. Isaac instantly turned around and reached out for Emma just as Shawn did. The two men glanced at each other for a moment before pulling her up, then they all stood.

  “Fabulous, we rescued the half-naked criminals,” Mari said dryly. “Can we go now? We need to unfreeze Aaron.”

  The three ignored her as they looked between themselves. Emma was obviously uncomfortable with her attire, and continuously tugged at the bottom of the shirt she wore. Isaac stared around at the frozen world. Both trembled from the cold. Shawn averted his eyes from both of them.

  “We should move,” he said quietly. “Mari’s right. She can’t hold this forever, and we need to get moving.”

  “You did this?” Emma stared at the blonde woman, who shrugged, but didn’t hide the look of pride from her face.

  “We weren’t about to let Jaxon kill you two.” Shawn met her gaze and his stomach bounced.

  Emma stared at him for a moment, then surged forward and wrapped him into a tight hug. His chest warmed at her touch. Before he could stop himself, he put his arms around her waist and returned the affection. He ignored Mari’s scoff as she turned and surveyed their surroundings. Shawn didn’t look at Isaac. Instead, he lowered his face into the side of Emma’s neck and shut his eyes for a moment. He could smell sweat from her flight, from her fear, of dust and dirt, but could still make out a faint scent of just her, and he smiled. Then the pain hit him, and his hold loosened.

  “I don’t understand,” Emma said before he could speak. She pulled away. “I...I mean, you...” She looked at Isaac. “We...”

  “I know,” Shawn said. “I know everything, Emma. I know that you work for Vance, that you two were plants.” Isaac straightened and took a hesitant step forward, eyes hard, but Shawn held up a hand. “I know that you didn’t hurt Cassie, nor did you ever want to.” Please be true. Don’t let what Isaac told us be a lie. He put his hand along the side of her neck and moved his thumb along the soft skin of her jaw. “I know that the infiltration was getting to you. That you cared about me, truly cared.” A large part of him felt a satisfaction at the uncomfortable look that crossed over Isaac.

  “I did,” Emma said. “I still do. I never wanted to hurt any of you.”

  Shawn smiled.

  “I’ll leave you guys here if you don’t freaking hurry,” Mari said.

  “She will.” Shawn let out a small laugh. “We need to get as far away from here as possible.” He turned his eyes on Isaac, who suddenly frowned.

  “Wait a minute,” he said. “For the record, were you or were you not blind?”

  Mari threw her hands into the air in frustration

  “Oh, that.” Shawn moved forward. “Come on. This way. I had a surgery.” He led them through the frozen debris. “We’ll catch up after we get to safety. There’s a lot to talk about.”

  In the short time it had taken Mari to adjust her freeze, the falling chunks of building had drastically shifted. When they arrived at the mouth of the alley it became apparent that they were going to have to crawl underneath a wide piece of brick wall to make it to freedom. Shawn gave Mari an uneasy look.

  “Don’t you let go.” Before anyone could speak, he dropped to his stomach and scooted himself forward underneath the wall. Small shards of broken glass littered the ground, and sharp pain shot through his palms while he pulled his body free of danger. He stood, wiped his hands on his pants, then crouched. “All good. Come on.”

  There was a scuffle, then Isaac appeared underneath the brick wall. He grimaced as the glass trailed along his exposed torso before he pulled free. “Emma,” he called.

  Moments later, she was wiggling herself out onto the sidewalk. Shawn caught a glimpse of scrapes along her bare thighs as she stood, and his mind called forth the memory of how her legs had felt wrapped around him. He felt his cheeks flush and looked away. She went to Isaac, who pulled her close, looking into her eyes.

  “Are you all right?” he asked softly. “Are you hurt?”

  Emma shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”
She smiled, then a laugh choked out of her throat. “We’re going to be fine.”

  Isaac grinned and kissed her. Shawn kept his focus on Mari, who had just appeared. He reached out to help her to her feet.

  Once they were free of the alley, Shawn quickly turned and made his way to Aaron, Mari next to him. Isaac and Emma followed behind, hand in hand, both staring around at the frozen world in an awe.

  “I have so many questions about this,” Isaac muttered.

  “You’re about to have more.” Mari placed her hand on Aaron’s shoulder, then nodded at Shawn. He turned and looked at Emma, then reached out and lightly took her hand. She smiled, then jumped as the world around them surged in a loud blast of noise and movement. Moments later it was quiet again.

  “The fuck?” Aaron blinked.

  “Sorry, man, things got a little crazy,” Shawn replied.

  “At least you got ‘em out.” He smiled and stuck out his hand toward Emma. “Hey. I’m Aaron.”

  She shook it with a dazed expression.

  “You know,” Isaac said to Mari, “I actually get that. No new questions.” He smiled. “Damn glad to see you guys again.”

  Mari’s eyes remained hard. “We’re only here because we need your help.”

  “Again?” Emma said, but softly, as she stared around, only half paying attention.

  “What do you mean? That you need our help?” Isaac frowned.

  “Again, we’ll discuss that when we get to safety.” Shawn jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

  Emma smiled warmly at him, and he blushed, running a hand through his shaggy hair. “Hokay,” he said. “Time to get moving.” The three Synths turned away from the chaos and began to jog.

  “So wait,” Emma said as she and Isaac fell in behind them. “She can stop time. Shawn, you’re all strong and stuff. And you, Aaron? I assume you have some crazy power too?”

  “Think of something,” the blond man said. They passed along the center of the street. “Literally anything.”

  “Okay.”

  “Looks like a peaceful cottage. Is it yours?” Aaron glanced at Isaac as Emma choked on a gasp, but neither faltered in their steps.