Justice Incarnate (9 page)

Before the guard could take a poke, Brian sidestepped. "Figuratively."

"Literally too. Just watch the news," Jaden suggested with a saucy smile for the guard.

"Whatever. I'll ring you through door one."

"Great."

Door one buzzed, swung open, and Jaden stepped forward without hesitation. Brian followed. The door clanged shut behind him, then the lights in the small room came up, stopping just short of too bright.

Jaden waved at the camera in the corner and jerked her thumb at Thomas. "He's cool. We're both dead and I need a place for a day or two."

"It'll cost," Micky's voice declared from the speaker.

"One class," she agreed.

"Two."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay. But if you or your girls talk you've made an enemy."

"Same goes," Micky replied, before an entire wall of the room slid away to reveal a warehouse full of young women packing smuggler's bags with pure, refined sugar.

She heard Thomas–Brian–suck in his breath at the sight of such criminal activity. "Oh, relax, you've dined with worse."

"So you've said."

"Maybe just once in this dance of ours, you'll simply take my word."

His furrowed brow said it all. He had no clue to the true origin of their relationship.

Then Micky descended from his office and embraced her. Quite an unusual display from the man, and at only their second personal meeting. Jaden noticed he looked nothing like the confident, cocky smuggler she'd met earlier.

"What's happened?"

"Two more girls gone. This morning. The cargo dumped in the gutter."

"Which you recovered, naturally," Brian said.

Micky gave Brian a calculating glance. "Naturally. Who is this?" he asked Jaden.

"Man of a thousand faces. He's–"

"The chief," Micky snarled as recognition dawned. He turned on Jaden. "You've exposed the heart of my business to a man who can take it down with a word?"

Put that way, maybe she should've left Brian to manage the second explosion on his own.

"The media thinks he's dead. Take a look." She pointed over his shoulder. The monitors he had at the end of the room were running the story now. Micky strode over, punched a button for volume and paused. His head swiveled back to Brian, then toward the monitor once more. Jaden waited until he signaled them to join him upstairs.

"Come on," she whispered to Brian. "And behave yourself."

"I knew about him, y'know."

"And let his business run unhindered?" she asked, climbing the stairs.

"Unhindered doesn't mean unmonitored. He's breaking the law, but it's a stupid law."

She felt him lean in, felt his words against her neck. She hated herself for the instant shiver of excitement. Attraction had plenty to do with it, but loving him once had doomed her forever. A woman should learn her lesson and move on.

She stopped at the landing, just outside the office doorway and gaped at him.

"Can you really say that?"

"Sure. Especially now that I'm dead."

His grin was sharp and fast. And electric.

"Well then, dead men tell no tales," she reminded him, struggling to regain her objectivity.

"Got it. You talk I'll observe."

"Deal." For a second, hope bloomed again. Then she remembered who she was dealing with and common sense nipped it.

Stepping inside, she focused on Micky. "So what's the big upset?"

"I've lost another one. Dead this time. Used and dead and tossed back."

"Tossed back?" Jaden and Brian asked simultaneously. Jaden scowled at Brian who acknowledged his mistake with a dip of his chin.

Micky continued, oblivious to their subtle exchange. "Tossed back. At the back door, of all places."

"Back door?" Jaden inquired, alone this time, though she could see Brian thinking the same.

"The private entrance for my girls. Only they know about it. Only they have access."

"Then someone's talked."

"I assume so."

"Have all the missing girls been–accounted for?" Brian asked.

Can't fight nature, Jaden thought. Brian's nature was inquisitive, even with his narrow mind.

"No. Three have never been heard from again."

"Have you reported this? Given descriptions?" Brian asked.

Jaden nudged him with an elbow. "Pretty talkative for an observer." She turned back to Micky. "But he's got a point."

"Are you kidding? Filing a report is financial suicide for me. And I think this bastard knows it."

"You mean your mules are targeted because you won't complain."

Micky shot a look at Brian that said more about his estimation of the chief's intelligence than an IQ test. "Yeah."

"So we've got a serial killer or rapist on the hunt."

"That's only the tip of the iceberg," Jaden grumbled. "There's more here."

"More what?"

"More to it," she snapped at Brian, tired of his consistent interruptions. She knew her enemy, knew his patterns and this had a different feel.

To his credit, Brian let her think. Her last life was usually the easiest to recall, down to the smallest details about society. "Last time he dabbled in video. Cambodian girls I think."

"What?" Micky asked.

She ignored him. "Chinese girls were priceless, and largely unavailable. Their female population was already dying."

"How do you know all this?"

The memory faded and she met his quizzical gaze. "Experience."

"You mean research."

"I say what I mean, thank you," she snipped, not liking the reaction but helpless to stop it. "But research isn't a bad idea. I'll need access to old reports. Both police and news."

Brian shrugged. "Good luck. I'm dead, remember?"

"I've got news files here," Micky offered.

"And with the right computer I can hack police files," she thought aloud. "Micky if you want your girls protected, I'm gonna need to set up shop. My place is gone."

"And I'm dead."

"Oh, get off it." She elbowed Brian again. "Being dead might be the most helpful thing for all of us. The Judge will be upset about taking you out. Unless he did it on purpose. Who told you to follow me? Or did you decide to answer the initial call on your own?"

Brian scowled. "The Judge asked me to follow up and make sure you didn't try anything with the transport officer. Not unusual considering how the case went down."

She quirked a brow, daring him to not make the obvious connection.

"You undermined his authority," Brian defended.

"Yeah? And what did you do?"

Brian just stared so she resumed her preference of ignoring him. "Micky, can I check out the rooms of the missing girls?" He nodded. "And do you have a place with a computer we could call home for a day or two? We need to do some planning."

"I've only got one free place."

"With three missing girls?"

"Most of them share."

Jaden knew it wasn't true, but she held her tongue. It was likely Micky had wired a suite just for business visitors. In his position she'd want to keep the 'former' police chief under surveillance too.

"We'll deal with it." Her look squashed any unnecessary commentary from Brian.

Leaving Micky's office from the opposite door, they headed into the building Micky used for housing. He led them to a suite two levels up from where Jaden had met the survivor just days ago.

"Nice digs," Brian said, stepping into a spacious room decked out with real furniture and a state of the art entertainment system.

"Enjoy your stay," Micky deadpanned as he handed over a key card.

Once they were alone, Jaden jumped into the real issue. "I know you're not buying into why I'm gunning for your boss–"

"Friend. Boss would be unethical." He flopped onto the couch.

"So you're an ethical guy."

"I like to think so."

Once upon a time, she'd thought so too. "Good. Fine. Whatever. Are you gonna listen and cooperate or not?"

"Are those my only options?" He rubbed his knee absently.

"Let's get this straight. I have one, sole purpose in this sorry existence: to take down a monster hurting innocent girls and unfortunate women. Will you help, in the name of upholding the oath you took a few years ago?"

"My oath to protect and serve includes everyone, not just a select few."

She expected to feel steam burst from her ears. Of all the callous, insensitive things he could say. "Answer the question and we can move forward."

"I'll answer when you explain what old files have to do with this case."

She sighed and took pity on his lack of memory-aided comprehension. "I'll be looking for trends within the missing girls. He has preferences."

"He, meaning Albertson."

She knelt on the floor and took over the task of massaging his knee. "Whether you believe it or not."

Brian threw up his hands. "What started your obsessive vendetta against Albertson?"

With practiced control, Jaden answered only the question asked. "He raped me. Then he marked me so he'd be sure not to use me again." She watched Brian's eyes widen in shock. Then soften as he considered her. She could handle anything. Anything but pity from him.

She stood up and began to investigate their temporary quarters. Within moments she found wiring for a miniscule video camera. Expecting Micky to be the cutting-edge wireless type, she kept looking.

"How old were you?"

She didn't bother pretending to misunderstand his question. "Thirteen." She scanned the corners where walls met ceiling. Nothing.

"You want me to pull your report and reopen the case?"

"You won't find a report." But she had found the wireless video tap. She stuck out her tongue and disabled it with an efficiency Cleveland would appreciate.

"Your parents didn't file any of this? They didn't take you to the hospital for treatment?"

The search over, she turned her full attention back to Brian. "Sure they did. A week after the fact when I made it home."

"You were kidnapped?"

His incredulous expression made her want to kick out his knee all over again. "My story's only important if you can prove it. There are no records. Except maybe my suicide attempt. I don't think he erased that one."

"I can't picture you as a suicide."

"Weak moment." She shrugged. "Good thing for both of us I didn't or he'd win this round."

"This round?"

"Oh, forget it." She'd get into that later. If she decided he was worth the effort. She settled into the chair near the couch. "Let's just agree I hate him and you adore him. How about you explain that to me."

"I don't adore him." Brian scowled and came to his feet. "He's a respected member of the law enforcement community."

She snorted. "He's the devil's own assistant."

"An opinion I'd expect from any victim."

"I haven't been a victim in–" She opted not to do the math. "I told you why I'm in the market to kill him. You tell me why I shouldn't."

"He's my father?"

"That's not even funny." But his somber face made her wonder if she'd severely miscalculated this life's challenges.

"Okay, not really. But he's a father figure. When my own father was doing time in Leavenworth prison, he stepped in. I guess he just stayed 'in' after that. Then my dad died and..." He began pacing.

"How?"

Brian stopped moving and blinked at her.

"How did your dad die?" she clarified.

"Transport vehicles were automated back then. It malfunctioned."

"His release was unexpected?"

"Three, no, four months early."

"And you managed to make chief with that big old skeleton in your closet because of a friend like the Judge."

"Hold on!" His hands fisted. "I earned my position."

"I'm sure you think so." Jaden took over the pacing.

If Albertson had the foresight to imbed himself in Brian's life then maybe Cleveland was right. Maybe the key was turning Brian to her side of the battle. Her fingers went to her neck, slid over her heart and paused at her midsection. All points of deadly impact in the past. But how to make him see the truth and get him on board with her version of the Judge?

"To be fair, I'm sure you did. And I'm just as sure he's using you. It's his method. He saw an opening, saw a need and filled it to his benefit."

"But he hasn't asked for anything."

"No?"

Brian's hands sought his jacket pockets before he recalled it was long gone. "Once in a blue moon he asks me to write a leniency recommendation. But–"

"But he watched out for you once and you've chalked it up to his benevolence."