Justice Black: The Game Never Ends Page 5

  “No, ma’am. No marriage, no children.”

  Barrett heard a bit of sadness and regret in her reply and changed the subject. They spent the rest of the time talking and arranging Kaitlyn’s apartment. Barrett took her to one of her favorite charity stores, where Kaitlyn picked up needed odds and ends.

  Kaitlyn knew it was rude and impolite, but curiosity got the best of her.

  “Barrett, I apologize if I’m being too invasive, but with your wealth, why live in an apartment, why not a mansion?”

  “Ah, my dear, why not live in an apartment? I lived in a mansion, but after Herman died, it was obvious that most of the people who surrounded me were more Herman’s friends than mine. I’d had enough of the pretentious world, so I allowed the city to use the house for tourism. Most of the people here at Serenity Place know me and don’t judge me by my money. I love being with people who are genuine and real. Here I have that.”

  Right at that moment, Kaitlyn reserved a special place in her heart for Barrett. It was getting late, and with good nights said, Kaitlyn only wanted to fall asleep in her own bed for a restful sleep.

  At 11:40, she heeded the call of the lavender-scented bath. “Nice,” she moaned as she relished the soothing comfort and serene moment when she stepped into the tub. She later dressed in her usual sleeping attire, a pair of sweats, cat slippers, and crashed onto her clean, comfortable, freshly made bed. She whispered, “Oh my Lord, sleep is so good,” before she fell into a deep, needed sleep.

  Justice barely managed to push through his door, using his briefcase for leverage, when he reached home. He’d just arrived from Dallas after meeting with their attorney and preparing for the House subcommitte hearing. He was glad his secretary, Jeri, was able to handle the office billings alone and had moved some of his appointments around to free up his time to work on the hearing.

  He heard the parrots making that damn bush mating call again. They almost made him hate to come home. If he turned on the lights, they’d lose their tiny brains. To avoid a repeat of the other night, he made his way toward his bedroom.

  “Minor thing,” he whispered. “I should load these feathered creatures in the car and dump them at Rayford’s door.”

  If he wasn’t so tired, he’d do that. He had barely cleared one cage when his briefcase bumped the edge, and it tilted and swayed against the other cage. Both coverings fell, and the parrots immediately went into a squawking frenzy.

  “Damn it!” He reached for both cages. Instead they tumbled, and the doors flew open. One large bird immediately flew through the opening, squawking as it flew past his head. The other bird screeched and flapped its wings in a struggle inside the cage. He caught the escaping bird by its tail and landed against a table, spilling the contents of the fish aquarium. The moonlight showed two exotic blue fish flopping aimlessly on the wet carpet, struggling for air. “Aw shit,” he yelled again.

  The second bird finally made its exit and flew around the apartment, squawking, when his wing struck the lamp, sending it to the floor. The bulb exploded. Seymour skittered across the birdcage, up the wall, and swung from the light fixture, bowing to the chaos. One of the parrots nearly took Justice’s ears off after it squawked again in fright at the sight of Seymour and flew over Justice’s head. In his attempt to catch it, he tripped and banged his head against the glass table. Then he heard dogs barking next door.

  “Damn you, Seymour.” Then he shouted at the screeching parrots, “Shut up!”

  Kaitlyn bolted upright from her deep sleep. “Now what!” she shouted. A picture rattled against her wall from the upstairs vibrations. Her favorite songbird clock fell to the floor, and the facing cracked. Was it an earthquake? She realized it wasn’t and threw a pillow at the ceiling, yelling undignified words her grandmom would not be pleased to hear.

  chapter

  NINE

  The icy wind blew like a small tornado. Normally he wouldn’t agree to meet in this frigid weather, but the chairman had made it sound urgent.

  “It damn well better be.” He squashed his cigarette in the palm of his hand seeing the chairman’s car approach him and whispered, “I hate this.”

  The chairman sighed. This trip shouldn’t have been necessary. When the car stopped near Drayton and the window was rolled down, irritation was clearly in the chairman’s voice. “This had better work this time. We have too much money riding on this. Do you understand what you are expected to do? The sarin is ready to go. Your job is to get Justice Black alone so there’s no chance of anyone rescuing him.”

  He hated the chairman talking down to him. He knew his job. He’d never had complaints before. After all, it was his neck on the line, not the chairman’s.

  There was sarcasm in his voice when he said, “Sure, yeah. I think I can handle it. I’ve done a few.”

  “Well, let’s hope you are as good as your brag. Once Black is dead, the coroner will take care of the details.”

  The pending death of Justice Black warmed the chairman’s heart. The hearing would prove too much for the great Dr. Black. He would tire of the pressure and end his life. Once he was gone, while the world mourned his demise, they would move on to the acquisition of the villa.

  “What about the money?” It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the chairman, but why take chances? Besides, he’d already spent the money from the restaurant job setting up his new identity. In this business, he clearly understood a man would be a fool to have just one identity.

  “Are you questioning my ethics? You’d better not. Don’t you ever think you are the only contact I have. You said you wanted to start over. Well, this is your chance.”

  “Listen, Chairman. Sure, I need this job, but don’t you think for one minute I’ll be cheated. Unerstand I have nothing to lose. I’ll get Black, but I want half of the money up front. Taking out Justice Black won’t be as easy. The man has someone with him all the time. I can handle that, but I need to increase my resources.”

  The chairman glared at him. His kind has been dealt with before. He’s a bee on the windshield.

  “Yes, it’s quite understood, Mr. Drayton.”

  “Don’t call me that. Remember I’m Jacobson Cooper. That was your order.”

  chapter

  TEN

  “Shut the hell up!” More than the birds squawking, the pounding on the door irritated most. “Damn it to hell! Now what. Who is it?” he shouted.

  “You’re the one who needs to shut up,” Kaitlyn shouted back. “I’m downstairs under you, and I’d like to inform you that there are some people—I being one of them—who’d like to get some sleep at three in the morning even if you and your zoo don’t.”

  “What the hell?” Justice jerked the door open to apologize but only saw the swishing backside of an obviously mad woman wearing sweats, thick gray cat slippers the size of baseball mitts, and what looked like juice cans in her hair. He couldn’t get a good look at her face because of those damn cans, but the foul words coming out of her mouth were a good indication not to face her. The woman cursed in English and French.

  He didn’t blame her. If he didn’t know where he was, he’d have sworn he had landed in a zoo, especially since suddenly several more people were now yelling and screaming at him.

  Kaitlyn shamelessly yelled from the bottom of the stairs, “Now see what you did, you silly idiot? I hope you are satisfied. You are the rudest human being I’ve ever met. You broke my bird clock.”

  “Listen, lady. I’m sorry.”

  “Moron!” Kaitlyn continued. “This place rents to anyone. If I wanted to live in a zoo, I would have done that. You are truly an aberration.” Kaitlyn seethed with stress laced with lack of sleep. “That does it. I am not taking any more of this nonsense. God, no one in their right mind has time for this.”

  “What is her problem?” Justice slammed the door, got the parrots back into their cages, threw the coverings on top, and
turned off the stereo. “You’re right, lady. I don’t have time for this.” With only a few hours until morning, he showered and crashed onto his bed, falling into an exhausted sleep that even the barking dogs couldn’t break through.

  It wasn’t what he expected the next morning. Three people stood waiting at his door. The woman holding two barking chihuahuas spoke first. They were the dogs he heard last night. Now that’s what the foulmouthed woman should complain about. “Damn it.”

  “Dr. Black.” Barrett ignored his intimidating look. “Yes, I make it my business to know the tenants in this place. I am your next-door neighbor Mrs. Barrett Goods, and these are my friends, Aurora Smith and Garland Means. They are also your neighbors.”

  This was not a welcome visit. Still, he recalled his manners. “Glad to meet you, Mrs. Goods. Yes, I know who you are.” He, too, made sure he knew the tenants around him, which meant the foulmouthed woman must have recently moved in. Barrett stood proudly with her silver hair piled in a ponytail, smiled, then shifted and cooed the dogs to faint growls.

  He ignored both the dogs and their growls.

  “Well,” Barrett continued with a sigh, “I don’t know how good it is to meet you. I must tell you, Cassie and Calvin here did not appreciate the ruckus you made in the wee hours in the morning. The complex’s name is Serenity, meaning calmness, tranquility, and peace.”

  He didn’t want to be rude, but he really needed to shove past Barrett and the barking runts and get to his office. “I am sorry about the noise, Mrs. Goods, and I promise you it won’t happen again.”

  Cassie and Calvin didn’t stop growling even as Barrett stepped in front of Justice. “I have lived in the complex for ten years. Last night, although quite disturbing, was definitely not boring. How many parrots do you have, Dr. Black?”

  “That noise surely is not going to work for me,” Garland said.

  “No way will that fly with me either.” Aurora stepped up. “I was up all night listening to that wild serenade. You can hear that noise all over the complex.”

  “Why don’t y’all leave that man be?” Mrs. Forest yelled as she stood on the lawn, watching everything. She made it a habit to rise early to retrieve her newspaper before it was poached by one of her neighbors. She’d complained Aurora was the poacher.

  “You hush,” Aurora yelled back. “You can’t hear anything.”

  “I may not hear well, but I can damn sure read your lips,” Mrs. Forest snapped.

  Jesus, Justice thought. What did these people do, have an early-morning meeting? He ran his hand over his face. It wasn’t seven o’clock yet. Already it was hot as hell standing here, and his neighbors were crowding him.

  “Look, I am sorry about the noise. I will be glad to stop by later to talk about it.”

  “There will be a meeting, I assure you.” Garland was unhappy how Justice abruptly pushed past everyone and left.

  “I’ll bring the drinks,” Barrett yelled.

  “Honestly, Barrett,” Garland said, “I believe you like him.” He didn’t understand how Barrett could be so taken with the man responsible for everyone’s sleepless night.

  “You know, Garland, I think Dr. Black is quite nice.”

  Exasperated, Garland frowned. “You can tell that by looking?”

  Barrett whispered to Aurora, “What I really wanted to say would singe Garland’s thinning hair—he’s so proper—and that is, Justice Black has a nice ass.” She laughed before she walked away. “Garland, I know men.”

  Aurora leaned over the railing for a better look and yelled, “Nice ass.”

  Mrs. Forest shook her fist at Aurora and Barrett and yelled, “You heifers ain’t no good.”

  Justice simply ignored the remark from Aurora. Aurora also did a morning radio talk broadcast—mostly gossip and yard sales. He was sure he’d be the main topic this morning. He pulled down his sunglasses after seeing the swishing backside of the foulmouthed woman charge through the parking lot. He stood and watched how she slammed the car door, gunned the engine, disregarded the speed bumps, and zoomed out of the parking lot, missing him by mere inches. There was a fleeting thought to go downstairs later to meet her, but that thought left as fast as it came.

  “I have enough to deal with. No need to invite the devil.” He was thankful she wasn’t part of that entourage he’d left behind.

  chapter

  ELEVEN

  Thank goodness for the hog festival. The traffic was almost nonexistent, and he needed the extra time. Normally it took thirty minutes to get to his satellite office; today it took him twenty.

  Four days since the fire, it no longer was front-page news. Mr. Shorty’s stolen prized horses were more important. There were three more cryptic messages on billboards around town.

  “Good morning, Dr. Black,” Jeri Davis greeted her boss with caution. She didn’t miss the nasty purple knot on his forehead, or his sour face.

  Jeri prided herself on being able to read her boss by his attire. Usually he wore suits with crisp white shirts and a tie, but today he was wrinkled and wore bland colors. He wore casual khaki slacks with a pale-gray open-collared shirt. She admired his hard, seasoned looks. Even the gray around his temples against his rich brown skin made him look more distinguished. He was in good physical shape, and his body was still lean and taut. Her boss was definitely eye candy, evident by women showing up at the office with lame excuses to see him.

  “I don’t know how good it is,” Justice grunted, instead of his usual “Hello, lady.”

  Jeri had been with him for three years. He liked her. She was blunt and outspoken and ran his office the way he liked; everyone knew what they were expected to do and did his or her work. Jeri was her own force to be reckoned with. She’d threatened to post photos of all nonpaying coffee drinkers if they didn’t make their bill current. After that, the guilty paid six months in advance. He didn’t know how to take it the time he came to the office at five in the morning and found Jeri and her odd cousin Renitha praying and releasing holy water. Shocked, he bowed his own head and waited. Afterward, he eased into his office and quietly closed the door. The last word he heard that cousin shout was, “Open the door, and let the demons run out. God has this place.” He didn’t ask about that.

  “Dr. Black, what happened, you wrestled with the devil himself last night?”

  “Worse. I ran into two obnoxious barking dogs; ill-tempered, screaming parrots; a lizard in hiding; and bad-tempered neighbors. One called me an idiot and a moron. Did I mention the ‘nice ass’ comment I got from the seventy-year-old woman? The only one who had my back was Mrs. Forest, and that’s because she’s hard of hearing.”

  His occasional moodiness didn’t bother Jeri. She said his moods were brought on by the bad spirits circling from the wicked people he came in contact with in this job. Today he couldn’t argue against that.

  Jeri raised her brows. “Here’s the fire report and mail. Where do you live?”

  “Serenity Place. The owner should be sued for naming it that.”

  Jeri prepared him for the day. “Pen called about the restaurant fire. Elrod is still running tests on that water, and Dr. Eastermann called this morning. She said it was important. I can get her on the phone when you are ready. You had two calls from a man who refused to leave his name. He said he’d call back. Genevieve Pell called; she wanted to apologize again for the mayor’s ‘ineptness.’ She shrugged with a smirk and indifference. “That was her word, not mine. She would like to meet with you sometime this week. Oh, your sister Khalidah called.”

  “Hmm. Get Dr. Eastermann on the phone. I’ll take it in my office. I’ll call Elrod later.” He’d call Khalidah when he got home.

  Justice closed his office door and placed the mail in his basket, on top of Jeri’s to-do list. Before he could open the report, Jeri announced she had Wil on the line.

  “Hello, Dr. Eastermann. How are you?�
�� He’d worked with Dr. Eastermann before. She was the best in her field.

  “I’m fine, Justice. I need to update you on a few things. Anytime your folks are ready, we are too.”

  “I haven’t had a chance to fully read the report. The kids were there by circumstance; they weren’t the target.”

  “At least that’s good. Peter Harrison was court ordered to be seen here at the office for an evaluation to determine whether he was fit to be with his kids. I’ll talk to you later about that.”

  “If it wasn’t for Desirae, everyone would have died. Fortunately she’d overheard the contractors making arrangements to fireproof Rodney’s office.”

  “I know. Desirae isn’t ready to accept the role of hero and is having a lot of guilt with the attention because of Jamie and John.”

  “That’s too bad. She is a hero. I’ll have Jeri contact Alice and set up a schedule that will work for both of us this week.”

  “Perfect. I’ll let Alice know.”

  chapter

  TWELVE

  Tracking Justice was beginning to be a task. Ed stood across the street and watched Justice enter Bandlo Inc. He scratched his itchy, scraggly beard. It was a good blend with the morning regular panhandlers. He’d underestimated the time it would take to study his pattern because Justice Black didn’t have one. Some days he waited in vain. Sometimes he’d go to that church off Whittendale, and the people would swarm him. He would never take a chance to get him there. Today the one called Caldwell dropped him off. Yesterday he drove his own car; other days it would be rentals. He never knew what he drove on any given day.

  “Smart guy, not a creature of habit.”

  “Hey, this is my spot,” Lucky yelled. “Get your own corner. Get the hell away from here.” Lucky was a regular panhandler and made the corner her terrority. Everyone in the area knew her and her friend Fred and which corner each claimed. “Don’t you go down the other corner either; that belongs to Fred.” She gathered her bags and headed toward Ed, ready to take on a confrontation.