The Cost of Justice

by Nova Drake

  Justice pushed that issue aside to deal with later but didn’t bother to hide her frustration. "So basically, you've been a complete waste of time." She didn't give him time to argue, she shot him and kept the gun.

  Jess quickly checked their pockets and got the hell out of there. The gunshot was going to draw attention but hopefully anyone that knew Fitz would think something went down between him and Eddie and they killed each other.

  There was a list a mile long of people that wanted Fitz dead, and it wasn’t unthinkable that Eddie could have sold him out. Anyone that came across the bodies would take their guns and whatever else they had on them, so the only thing tying her to the scene was creepy guy. It was a loose end she didn’t like at all.

  Once she was a good distance away, Jess slowed, putting pressure on the wound on her side. That could have gone better, but it could have been a whole lot worse too. At least she got some new information. Creepy guy was a new player for someone important, and that meant he had information. The problem was that he was also insanely dangerous if he had high-level gang members practically pissing themselves over nothing but his presence.

  Reputations never stopped Justice before, but something about that guy's eyes threw a warning in her stomach that she wasn’t willing to ignore. Her instincts told her she needed to find out more before she went hunting him down.

  Chapter 6

  "Scientists have confirmed that the modified street versions of Niyazine used in recent months have been significantly modified from the originals which were banned after initial testing revealed various frightening side effects of the drug. The new variations are expected to have even more unstable results. The police are urging anyone that sees one of the afflicted not to approach, and instead to get to a safe area and immediately contact the authorities.

  “Security and Technology mogul Cade Price of Price Industries had graciously offered some of his team to increase security along the borders while the threat remains. This news comes along with rumors that Mr. Price may be announcing a candidacy in the near future. When asked about the rumors, Price merely stated that the safety of Kalopsia city is his first priority."

  The news report rambled on again while Jess sipped her coffee. Niyazine had started as a promising new drug for the wealthy that was designed to make people healthier, stronger, and essentially immune to almost anything. With backers seeing dollar signs, it was rushed through the approval process for human testing trials, taking what ended up being disastrous shortcuts.

  The results had varied greatly. A total of fifty people were involved in the initial trials, of those people twenty-one died within a week. Fifteen developed some sort of enhancement. Some were minor like a higher metabolism, better vision or a stronger immune system, some were things like significantly enhanced strength or speed, even telekinesis, or telepathy. Twelve of the participants developed some form of brain damage or deformation, most along with some kind of ability. Two people came out of the trials unaffected.

  Some scientists speculated that the drug interacted differently with the different subject's biology, genetic makeup, preexisting conditions, etc. They felt that further study may show that the drug was still safe for some if they could narrow down which factors affected the result. But they never got that chance.

  The entire program was shut down despite the influential backers that were pushing its continued testing. That was the peculiar part - because, with everything else, the quest for profit outranked human lives. Jess didn’t quite get why that project had been shut down, and it made her curious about the whole thing, the drug, the trials, the street knock offs.

  It didn’t make sense.

  Though Niyazine was immediately banned from further trials worldwide, the drug quickly ended up on the streets. The government would be no help since it was owned and run by criminals in suits - bought and paid for. And there would always be some people out there dumb enough to try anything in hopes of working their way up the food chain and becoming something more - even with the same possibility of ending up a monster and an even higher possibility of death.

  In recent months, there had been a few sightings of those who had suffered the less desirable side effects of Niyazine. At first, she’d assumed that they were dumped in the poor cities like hers by the scientists that had run the experiments. But when they’d started reporting the sightings outside the elite city, she knew her assumption was wrong.

  Despite the name, the border cities were not right outside the elite city. And the common street trash that populated the poor cities could not just waltz right in. In their area, there was the elite city Kalopsia, and on the outskirts of that city were heavily patrolled neighborhoods where cops, judges, and politicians lived. The ones that hadn’t sold their souls enough to make it into the heart of the elite city, anyway. They were technically still within the elite city, but not quite as elite. Well outside of that, were the poor areas where most of the population lived. And beyond that were the crumbled, abandoned districts where the outcasts had been pushed.

  There was no way the Niyazine monsters were wandering through to the elite border. Someone was dropping them there. Probably the same people responsible for the black market availability. Quite a few people had lost out on a ton of money when those experiments died, and it seemed like maybe someone was still trying to cash in.

  Justice had no luck finding out who was doing it or why, but it was all just a distraction anyway. She was supposed to be looking for someone, someone that was taken instead of killed and no one seemed to know why or by whom. She’d spent the last few years of her life raiding criminal hideouts, looking for anyone with enough authority within crime circles to have real information and she would tear the world apart until she found him if she had to.

  She’d been hunting for years and come up with nothing useful linked to the kidnapping. Her little trafficking ring bust had led her nowhere. Still, Justice held out hope. There had to be a reason he was taken alive. They must have wanted him to stay that way. And if he wasn’t, the person that took his life would most definitely die screaming their regret.

  “So are you going to tell me what happened to your face this time?” Kat interrupted her thoughts.

  Jess glanced up and smiled. “Nah, don’t worry about it. Got caught up in a tornado.”

  “A tornado,” Kat deadpanned. “I’m not saying you’re lying, but I feel like I might have noticed if a tornado came through here.”

  “It was on the other side of town.”

  Kat shook her head. “I worry about you, Jess.”

  “Nothin' to worry about,” Jess insisted with a shrug.

  “Just try to be careful, Okay?”

  “Careful’s my middle name.” The mischievous grin that tried to pull at the corners of her lips gave away her lie.

  Kat laughed. “Yeah right, I have a feeling trouble is your middle name.”

  Jess flashed Kat a guilty, yet proud smile that only confirmed she was right. She glanced out the window at the dreary world outside, needing to break their moment of bonding. Her eyes caught on someone familiar moving toward the diner and her smile fell as his empty blue eyes locked on to hers.

  “You know him?” Kat asked.

  Jess looked back up at her. “Uh no, I don’t know him.” Her eyes flashed back to the window, but he was already gone.

  “He was hot. And he seemed pretty interested in you,” Kat provided.

  Jess stood, trying to see where he disappeared to. “Yeah, maybe I’ll go see if I can find him.” She distractedly handed Kat money and headed for the door.

  It was a bad idea. She knew that. It had only been a couple of days since she last saw him, and the handful of criminals she’d questioned had no information. They recognized his description. They all had noticeable reactions, clearly terrified to give anything up. But none of them had anything helpful anyway. No one knew who he worked for, or even had a name. So far, the biggest clue she had was how much he scared the shit out o
f everyone.

  Jess stood outside the door and looked in either direction, frustration building when she found no sign of him. She darted to the nearest alley, finding it empty. Back out on the street, she looked in every direction only to come up with nothing. Where the hell did he go?

  Not seeing any sign of where he could have gone, Jess snuck around the diner toward the back of the building. She smiled when she heard movement, but when she turned the corner, it wasn’t who she was expecting.

  The kid was bouncing a busted-up rubber ball against the building behind the diner. His dirty blonde hair stood up in all different directions. When the ball hit the brick at a bad angle and bounced toward her, instead of back to him, he turned his familiar eyes on her. The ball bounced off the broken street with a heavy thud before she reached out and snatched it from the air.

  She’d seen Kat’s little brother a few times through the window at the diner, but they’d never spoken. For some reason he made her insides twist up in knots. It wasn’t difficult avoiding kids. For the most part, it was too dangerous for them to wander on their own.

  Zain was around fourteen or fifteen, and that was about as young as you could expect to see in passing. Not exactly a child, but even so, interacting with Kat’s little brother had her itching to run. Forcing old memories away, she looked into his eyes, identical to Kat’s, and tossed his ball back. She should have left. He wasn’t her business. Wasn’t her problem. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

  “Your sister know you’re out here?”

  He clenched his hand around the ball and turned toward her again. When their eyes locked this time, she reconsidered her earlier assessment. Zain’s eyes held a resentment that Kat was too gentle to harbor.

  Zain tapped a finger on his chin, pretending to consider her question, before snapping his irritated eyes back to her. “None of your damn business.”

  Jess rolled her eyes at his attitude. Now he was starting to remind her more of herself than Kat. She remembered well her angry, punk-ass teenager phase and how it had come to an abrupt end.

  Casually strolling up to Zain, she let through that glint in her eyes that never failed to warn her opponents just how dangerous she really was. His eyes widened slightly but, to his credit, he held his ground. Jess smiled at that. She wasn’t much taller than him, but she moved in close to exaggerate looking down at him.

  “Kat is my business. Believe me, when I tell you, she would be beyond devastated if anything happened to you. She busts her ass every day trying to provide for you, and you are going to thank her by not making her life any harder than it already is. Understand?”

  Zain didn’t answer, stubbornly holding on to his defiance.

  “Pull your head out of your ass and protect your sister the only way you can right now. If anything happened to you, it would break her.” Zain opened his mouth to argue, but Jess cut him off. “You know I’m right. How would you feel if anything happened to her?”

  Finally breaking eye contact, he frowned, nodding his understanding.

  Jess ruffled his hair, much to his annoyance if his glare was anything to go by. “Whatever you guys are fighting about, it’s not that important. You’re all she has. Start acting like it.”

  Zain huffed. “Fine. I’ll be more careful.”

  Jess nodded and watched as he slipped through the back door before turning to take in her surroundings again.

  Creepy would be long gone by now. Truthfully, it was for the best. She wasn’t ready to take him on just yet. If everyone else was so afraid of him she had to be smart enough to proceed with caution, she didn’t get this far being reckless. Jess couldn’t go looking for trouble until she had some answers. Problem was, trouble tended to find her.

  Chapter 7

  In the dark of night, Jess meandered casually down the street in one of the nearby shady neighborhoods. There were a handful of areas that she favored for one reason or another. She’d dug up tons of information in these alleys and stolen plenty of money in the boarded-up drug houses.

  Since Archer had stiffed her on half the bounty for Fitz’s head, she needed a little extra cash. And this was just the place to find it. It had been worth it in the end, to see the look of wary surprise on his face when she’d shown up for her money after she'd completed the job.

  Up ahead, Jess could hear the familiar sounds of a fight and her smile widened. She rounded the corner and watched as two men fought for control of a knife in the shadows. Eh, no point in stealing their thunder just yet. Waiting her turn, she leaned up against a rusty, stripped-down car that had probably become a permanent addition to the street decades ago.

  The fight was glaringly uneven. One of the guys was huge, and he had no problem pummeling the life out of someone half his size. The smaller one was trained to fight, just not well enough to win against a guy that big.

  Most people were trained to fight. If they couldn’t fight, they were destined for a life as a victim. Probably a short one. Justice was trained all her life by her father. He’d been a successful professional fighter and it showed in her skill.

  Big guy was done with the scuffle. He effortlessly lifted his little friend and tossed him aside into another dilapidated car. His head smacked into the metal with a loud clang, and he dropped to the ground. He didn't get back up.

  “Wow, what’d he do to piss you off?” she asked casually.

  Big guy turned to see a small girl leaning up against a rusty old car. One foot propped on the hanging bumper, arms folded, with an amused smile tickling her lips. He stepped out of the shadows, and Jess drew in a sharp breath.

  Big guy was no ordinary guy. His muscles had muscles. Light from the only working street lamp fell across his face to reveal a completely unnatural shade of golden-orange eyes and even every section of his face was chiseled and bulging with muscle. She had no doubt he was one of the Niyazine monsters.

  It wouldn't be an easy fight, but there was potential information, so why leave now? A twist of concern fluttered through her stomach. But Jess maintained her cool, unimpressed show of confidence. That part wasn’t optional.

  “I just settled in to watch the show, but it was kinda over too fast. Don’t worry about it though, it’s a common problem I hear.”

  Jess’s charm wasn’t getting her anywhere, big guy kept moving closer, slowly but steadily with his awkward, stomping gait. She frowned.

  “Not big on small talk, huh? Kinda shy, or just not in a conversational kind of mood?” Still no answer. “Fine, I was just trying to be friendly. Not to be rude but you could stand to work on your people skills.”

  Big guy was finally within arms reach, and he took the first swing. Jess was quickly on the other side of him. He might be huge, but she was much faster. Her speed helped her dance around him, landing plenty of hits, though none seemed to cause even the slightest injury.

  Finally, she pulled one of her larger knives and stabbed him in the thigh. Expecting some sort of retreat, she paused., but the only reaction that came was a swipe of his arm across her cheekbone, in the same place she had been head-butted days before. The first time it just hit her sinuses, making her eyes water. This time she’d be lucky if he hadn’t broken her damn cheekbone.

  Big guy stopped to pull the knife she’d left in his leg, but she rolled away and popped back to her feet before he got too close. Getting behind him, she kicked in his leg as hard as she could. He dropped down to his knees but hefted himself right back up, nothing broken. Big guy wasn’t going down easy, but Jess wasn’t dumb. She just had to tire him out, and then he’d get sloppy. Using her speed to keep him moving, their back and forth went on for much longer than she would have liked. She focused more on not getting hit than attempting serious damage. Eventually, Big Guy was noticeably slower, and it was time to make her move.

  Justice pulled more knives. She threw two back to back, and both hit him right in the chest. The layers of muscle protected his organs, so there wouldn’t be any serious damage. But it had to hu
rt, at least a little. Three more knives hit him in the stomach and legs. He managed to deflect a fourth. He wasn’t going down, but he was bleeding, that was something. He was also getting pissed.

  A knife was whipped back at her and Jess dove out of the way, scraping up her elbow in the process. From the ground, she managed to throw three more knives, all hitting him in the chest and stomach. Still no serious damage, but he was tired and bleeding, and that was something she had to take advantage of. Big guy started pulling knives out while she zipped around behind him and tried breaking his knee again with no luck. It was like kicking a rock.

  “Shit,” she muttered as she ducked a swing and put more room between them. “I suppose it's too late to try that conversation again?”

  Big guy swung again narrowly missing her head as she spun away again.