Justice Keepers Saga - Books 4-6

Chapter 11-1

Like most others he had been in, the police station in Manchester, Tennessee had a bland feeling. Long hallways of white walls and wooden doors, officers shuffling about with their heads down. Harry felt right at home and also completely unwelcome. It was a strange sensation.

He wore a gray suit with a purple shirt as he strode through the corridor, sliding his sunglasses into place. “Excuse me,” he said, stopping the twelfth officer he passed. “I"m looking for room 23-B.”

The man looked up at him with lips pressed into a thin line, studying Harry as if he had just sprouted horns. “Second-last door on your right,” he said, jerking his head in that direction. Cordial but forced. Harry supposed it was the best he could hope for.

He walked on.

As he passed through the door, he found a large room with an oval-shaped table, a room where half a dozen uniformed officers sat in the wan light that came in through the blinds on the windows. He could size up a cop"s attitude simply by watching the man"s posture, and this bunch…They were all grizzled men in their late thirties or early forties, and he was willing to bet that most were fed up with their jobs. That didn"t bode well. A cop who was just counting the days until his pension had lost interest in justice as an abstract concept. If he"d ever had it. As expected, every last one of them was white.

The school principal was a pale man in a dark blue suit: a man who wore his hair parted to the side and kept his glasses pressed up against his face. Next to him, Harry saw a woman with long blonde hair. A guidance counselor unless he missed his guess.

And then there was Anna.

She leaned against the wall with her arms folded, dressed in gray pants and a black, short-sleeved blouse. Her bright red hair was tied back in a short little ponytail. Did she notice the dynamic here? A bunch of white people deciding the fate of a black kid.

The only person of colour in this room was obviously Kevin"s father, and that man was about as relaxed as a deer who had just run straight into the middle of a wolf pack. He sat with hands folded over his stomach, trying not to look at anything.

The lead officer shot a glance in Harry"s direction. “Who might you be?” he asked in that terse voice cops always developed. “This meeting is closed to the public.”

Harry smiled, then bowed his head to the man. “I"m your liaison to the Keepers,” he said, approaching the table. “You"ll forgive me for saying so, but I think you boys could use a fresh perspective.”

“He"s legit,” Anna said.

Harry took an empty chair without being asked, leaning back and taking in a deep breath. “Well, let"s get started then,” he said. “I"ve been briefed on the latest incident at the school.”

The lead officer bit his lip, hanging his head as he looked over his papers. “We"re thinking about calling in the FBI,” he began. “This one is just too big for a small town police department.”

Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, Anna shook her head in disgust. “That"s unnecessary,” she replied in a breathy hiss. “You already have all the help you need, Lieutenant Biggs. I"m trained to handle these situations.”

“With respect, Agent Lenai, you haven"t exactly handled it thus far.”

handled“Because your people don"t follow orders.”

For a moment, Harry considered intervening, but he"d known Anna long enough to know that when her righteous fury was hot, you had to let it burn itself out. Besides, the girl had a point. But for the itchy trigger fingers of a few idiots, this situation would have been resolved by now.

“The school board is concerned,” Principal Jensen chimed in, even though no one had addressed him. “These incidents on school property put the lives of students at risk. I"ve been told to inform you that we expect a speedy resolution to this conflict.”

Well, that settled it then!

One of the officers lifted a mug to his lips and slurped as he sipped his coffee. He turned his attention to the principal. “I say we bring in a TAC team. Next time we go up against this kid, we have snipers ready.”

“Excuse me!” Trevor Harmon was on his feet in the blink of an eye, standing with his fists clenched. “You"re talking about my son. If you think I"m going to stand by-”

son.“We"re talking about a boy with the power to swat armed men like flies,” the officer cut in. “This boy is a danger to anyone who crosses his path. Now, we must consider all possible options before we make a decision.”

Anna strode forward with fists clenched at her sides, pausing next to the man who had spoken. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear,” she said, fixing a death-glare on the back of his head. “This case is under Leyrian jurisdiction, which means Leyrian laws apply. You hurt that kid, and I will hunt you down like a dog.

“I"ll see to it that you"re charged with murder, and you will stand trial in a Leyrian court where, I can assure you, you will find no sympathy. Do we understand each other, Officer Hendricks?”

“Perfectly…Ma"am.”

In all the years, he"d known her, Harry would never have described his friendship with Anna as anything more than cordial, but right then, he loved her like a daughter. Her stubborn insistence on following her own personal code no matter what anyone thought could be one of her most infuriating qualities, but when she took a stand on principle, it was a glorious thing to behold.

Principal Jensen pressed a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. “Regardless,” he said, swiveling nervously in his chair. “Young Kevin represents a threat to the safety of our community. The school board-”

“Which member of the school board?”

“Hmm?”

Anna glanced over her shoulder, thin strands of red hair falling over her face. “I"d like to know which member of the school board is pressing for action,” she said, arching an eyebrow. “Is it Simmons?”

The principal went red, then lowered his eyes to stare into his lap. “It was a joint decision by all of them…” He slid his chair closer to the table. “You need to understand the value parents place on-”

“I understand perfectly well.”

Lieutenant Biggs rounded on Harry. “You"re supposed to be our go-between,” he said, gesticulating. “Can you possibly convince her to settle down and see sense?”

“Could you be any more condes-”

“Anna,” Harry broke in. “Give me a moment.” The lieutenant let out a sigh of relief, and it was clear that he thought Harry was going to press for diplomacy. There was a time and place for diplomacy – sometimes it was necessary to smooth things over and get everyone back on track – but this wasn"t it.

Pressing his lips together, Harry closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “You want to know what I think, Lieutenant?” he asked, standing up to give his words a little more gravitas.

“I think that the last ten years have seen a startling increase in the number of young black men shot dead by police officers. I think guns are a source of comfort to racist men who have no business wearing a badge, and now that one of these kids has demonstrated the ability to render your weapons useless, you"re panicking. You want to escalate this, to reassert your control.”

That left everyone speechless.

Anna walked around the table with her head down, forcing out a deep breath. “In case you"ve forgotten, you"re on this case as a courtesy,” she said. “And I"ve just decided that courtesy is no longer appropriate.”

She whirled around to face them with her arms crossed, raising her chin to stare down her nose at the lot of them. “As of right now, you"re off this investigation. All of you. If you see Kevin Harmon, you call me, but you are not to engage for any reason except to protect civilians.”

Harry leaned back with fingers laced over his chest, frowning at the ceiling. “I guess you won"t be needing a liaison,” he said, eyebrows rising. “So, what"s your next move, Agent Lenai?”

“I"m gonna find that kid,” she said, “and get that damn thing off his hand.”

Harry stared into his mug of coffee and watched his faint reflection ripple as he blew on the surface of the dark liquid. It was a little too warm for a hot beverage, but he really needed a caffeine fix.

This little coffee shop was empty except for a young man who stood behind the counter, cleaning the cake display with a cloth. Out the window, he saw cars rushing by on a busy city street.

Anna sat across from him with her elbow on the table, her chin resting in the palm of her hand. “What you said back there,” she began. “About these cops being motivated by bigoted fears? Is that really what it"s about?”

Harry closed his eyes. He let his head hang and chose his words with care. “It"s a problem on this world. Cops tend to assume that people who look like me are dangerous.”

Anna growled.

Lifting his chin, Harry narrowed his eyes. “This isn"t something you were prepared for,” he muttered, staring at the roof. “Anna, it"s a reality that I have to live with every day.”

She sat with arms crossed, bent forward so that he could only see the top of her head. “I knew race was a part of this,” she hissed. “These cops had a bad attitude from the very start, but I never thought it would motivate them to kill.”

“You were expecting some degree of integrity.”

“Yes.”

Harry brought the mug to his lips and slurped as he took a sip. He set it back down on the table. “Here"s the sad reality, Anna. The egalitarian attitudes that your people take so much pride in were the result of centuries of struggle, and I"m willing to bet that if you scratch the surface, you"ll find traces of those old prejudices in most people.”

“You"re probably right,” Anna mumbled. “So now I have to finish this assignment alone.”

“Not alone. You have me.”

“Thanks.”

“Not sure if this means anything to you,” Harry said softly. “But I think Kevin"s extremely lucky that you"re the one working this case.”

“If you say so.”

“So, what do we do now?”

Anna looked up at the ceiling with her lips pursed, blinking as she considered the question. “The same thing we always do when an investigation hits a dead end. Go right back to square one.”

He got up and shoved his hands into his pockets, standing before her with his head down. “Good luck with that,” he said with a nod. “I think I"ll go back to the police station and make sure they stay out of your hair.”