Justice(93)

There were signs, there had to have been signs. All those times we were hanging out and he got a call. “Business emergency,” he’d say. There were a lot of those. Or the times I’d be walking around the mansion and one second he wasn’t there, and then he was. Just appeared, chalking it up to his “stealth ninja training,” he’d say with a laugh. Or the way he’d grow uncomfortable when I’d badmouth supers. The annoying way Justice would single me out for conversation or protection. Or the countless times it seemed like he wanted to tell me something but chickened out. Or a hundred other fucking clues I chose to ignore or was too stupid to notice.

He lied to me. Lied to me for our entire friendship, about a fundamental part of his life. Himself. He didn’t trust me. He’s never trusted me. Everything I thought we had, everything I thought we meant to each other was just bullshit. All in my head. Why didn’t he tell me? Why wasn’t I smart enough to see what was right in front of my face?

“Joanna?” Harry asks, and I think for not the first time. He shakes me by the shoulders. “Jo!”

I snap out of my haze to see my confused and angry boss staring at me, looking for answers that I just don’t have. Without a word I stand, push my way past the men, and sprint out of the squad room, not even waiting for the elevator. I have the wherewithal to grab my purse, but when I get outside I realize I don’t have a fucking car. I all but body slam some bureaucrat for his cab. I have twenty minutes of driving while I try to wrap my head around twenty years of lies.

The anger and humiliation grow with each passing mile. I’m shaking again, especially when we drive over Pendergast Bridge. He appeared by my side like magic, and I thought nothing of it. You were the first person he saved… Lucy said that. I thought she was drunk. She knew. Dobbs too. And Rebecca? Did he tell her? Did she know what she died for? Of course she did. He probably told her on the second date. Twenty fucking years.

The press pounces when I get out of the cab. I ignore them, punching in the code and running through the gate before I deck one of them. Dobbs is at the front door, but I rush past him without a word. He calls after me, but I ignore him. Liar.

My destination is the living room. Justin has disappeared from in here more than any other room. I would walk in looking for him, check the empty room, and then a few seconds later he’d stroll out claiming he was on the patio or at the beach. I’m such a fucking idiot.

Back in my hero worshiping days I read every article I could on Justice. My collection of clippings rivaled Alkaline’s. One was about his command center. He wouldn’t give the location, but said it had a lab for evidence analysis, gym, and super-computer with access to every law enforcement database, CCTV in the city, and communication system hooked up to it so if he’s in the field he can access the information right away. He’s better equipped than the entire department. If it’s here, I’ll find it.

I start at the bar first, checking under every surface for a button or switch. Not on the bar, not in the cabinets, not under any painting. I’ve just started tossing the movies on the floor when Dobbs and Lucy rush in. “Joanna, what in the hell are you doing?” Lucy asks.

I keep going. “Looking.”

There’s a buzz from the front gate. Lucy gestures for Dobbs to go and he does. She steps toward me. “What are you looking for?”

I whip my head to the side, giving her the look of death. “You know.”

Her face slowly falls. I’ve seen that look a hundred times on a perp, right when they know I’ve caught them. Guilt and fear, usually so satisfying, now just sickens me. We stare at each other, and to her credit she doesn’t leave my punishing gaze. Her shoulders slump and she nods. I just watch as she walks toward the fireplace and reaches into it. A second later, the entire stone structure moves to the side. I find myself gasping and holding my hands over my mouth. Tears appear in my eyes, and I almost double over as if I was just sucker punched. “I’m so sorry, Joanna.”

I guess I didn’t believe it until this very moment. No way he’d do this to me. Not him. Not ever. He was the only person I could trust. I’d do anything for him. I thought it was a two-way street. I spin around from Lucy, not wanting her to see me like this or look at the fucking hole in the wall. I will not cry. I will not. I take a few deep breaths, pushing down sad and making room for fury. When I’m composed enough, I turn around and stalk into that hole.

It’s cold in here. Dark. The only light comes from the bulbs every few feet as I walk down a metal ramp. I must be underground in the cliff. The ramp twists around a corner where the light is brighter. Then I’m in it, Justice’s Command Center with the man himself sitting with his back to me in front of a computer monitor. It’s one of three on the bank with two rows of TVs in the wall above them, all with real-time streaming footage from around town. It’s smaller in here than I imagined, maybe the size of the library upstairs. I thought it’d be as big as the mansion for some reason. There isn’t much in here either. A big black couch, a rack with a gaggle of costumes, a whiteboard covered with papers, crime scene photos, and reports. A red light flickers above. There are two doors on the far wall, one maybe to the lab and who knows about the other. In between them is another ramp exit, with a third next to the whiteboard. Not very homey.