Justice Keepers Saga - Books 7-9

Chapter 1-1

Fat snowflakes fluttered about on the other side of the window, some pressing up against the glass and melting in seconds. It was hard to see much else on this overcast afternoon – Jack could just make out another apartment building across the way – when the storm and the darkening sky cut off visibility.

His mother"s kitchen was simple but homey; dark wooden cupboards encircled a linoleum tile floor, all lit by a single large bulb in the ceiling. The square-shaped table in the corner offered just enough room for two people.

Jack wore jeans and a thick gray sweater as he sat in one chair with his head down. “So, then I pull off the hood,” he said with a shrug. “And she looks just like Jena. But she isn"t Jena.”

His mother was leaning against the stove with arms folded, frowning as she nodded along with the story. “Must have been hard,” she murmured. “You never said much about Jena, but I knew she had your respect.”

In fuzzy pajama pants and an over-sized sweater of her own, Crystal looked as if she were ready to hibernate for the rest of one very long Canadian winter. Blonde hair fell in waves around a face with a few noticeable lines, but she was still her vibrant self. Hell, she looked better than she had the last time he had seen her. That had been just over five months ago, on the day when he had departed for Leyria. It seemed the single life agreed with Crystal. “My little boy,” she said. “Assistant to the head of the Justice Keepers.”

Jack felt his face burn. Hunching over, he pressed a palm to his forehead. “That"s my mom for you,” he teased. “Big with the careerism. You do know that it"s really not a big deal, right?”

“I"m only trying to be supportive.”

He felt his lips curl into a smile, then shook his head slowly. “Your gently-worded reprimand has been duly noted,” Jack replied. “Rest assured that I will respond with the appropriate amount of guilt and a renewed appreciation for your firm but loving style of parenting.”

“That"s all I ask.”

Outside, the wind was howling, pelting the window with snowflakes. Back home – had he really just thought of Leyria as home? – it was the height of summer, but January in Winnipeg was a season of hot chocolate, warm fires and unsafe driving conditions. He had been so eager to see his family when Larani informed him that she would be visiting Earth for two weeks that he had practically hopped on board a transport without so much as packing a suitcase. Well…he had done that much. But in typical Jack Hunter fashion, he had stuffed the thing with clothes meant for summer weather. Trying to buy a sweater and a coat with a credit card that was no longer active was…not fun.

hadHe"d given some thought to asking Melissa if she wanted to come back with him for a few weeks – it would do the girl some good to see her mother – but she had gone on a mission with Anna, and that was…Well, he wasn"t getting in the middle of that.

Crystal turned her head to look out the window, a solemn expression on her face. “It"s a shame you couldn"t be here for Christmas,” she said softly. “It just wasn"t the same without you.”

Biting his lower lip, Jack closed his eyes. “I hear you,” he said with a curt nod. “But I think I"ve had enough Christmas to last me for several years. I"m still reeling from Dad"s big speech at the dinner table.”

He got out of his chair, slipping hands into his back pockets and making his way to the window. “I"m just here for a couple weeks,” he said. “Larani wanted me to interview a few people that she thought might have been involved with Slade.”

“And were they?”

“Not to my knowledge.” Of course, that particular investigation – the one that had consumed most of his time over the last six months – seemed to go one way. Jack would go after someone only to find that they were clean as a whistle. Or maybe something in their record would look shady, but it would be impossible to prove anything beyond what seemed to be an unfortunate coincidence.

With the exception of Cara Sinthel, he had caught exactly no one, and there were still traitors among the Keepers. Jensen Noralis had released Cara from her cell only to get trapped there himself when Harry overpowered him.

He didn"t have to look at his mom to sense her standing by the stove, drumming fingers on her thigh while she studied the floor tiles. “So, are we gonna talk about what you want to talk about.”

want“Ah, the standard momly advice chat,” Jack said. “You know, I think I"ve come to prefer having them over vid-com. Less chance that you"ll swat me.”

“What"s going on between you and Anna?”

Jack crossed his arms with a heavy sigh, hanging his head as the frustration set in. “What makes you think something is going on with us?” Good; his voice was steady. “I think she"s doing just fine.”

His mother slouched against the stove and looked up to blink at the light bulb in the ceiling. “Well, there"s the fact that you think she"s doing just fine,” she answered. “For the last four years, you"ve known everything about that girl.”

think“She doesn"t tell me everything.”

“Answer my question.”

Why did parents always do this? Well…Not parents. Just his mother. His father, on the other hand, wouldn"t notice if Jack started crying his eyes out right there in front of him, and if Arthur did notice, it would only result in a lecture about being a man. “Mom, I would rather not talk about it.”

did“I"d rather live in the Bahamas.”

“You could live in the Bahamas.”

could“Not on my salary.”

He spun to face his mother, marching toward her with his arms folded, unable to look up and meet her gaze. “Come to Leyria,” Jack offered. “We can set you up on some tropical island for the rest of your life.”

“I can"t just up and leave.”

“Why not?” Jack shot back. “Not to go all reverse George Bailey on you, but you really aren"t needed here. Lauren"s happy; Dad seems to be doing quite well on his own. Why not just be selfish for a change?”

His mother looked up at him with sympathetic brown eyes, blinking a few times. “Over fifty years of patriarchy telling me I should put my family"s needs first,” she said. “And besides, your reference was off. That was technically a reverse Clarence. Accuracy is everything.”

“You"re out referencing me?”

“Are you gonna tell me about Anna?”

“Nothing to tell,” Jack said, turning away and pacing through the kitchen. All of a sudden, he was practically buzzing with nervous energy. “We fell in love, but she had a boyfriend. So, she called it quits with both of us, and now she"s not speaking to me.”

He could see Crystal standing there in his mind"s eye, her face pained as she took in the information. “That"s rough,” she said. “Just give it time, Jack; that girl loves you with all her heart.”

Summer agreed.

Jack shut his eyes and felt one tear sliding over his cheek. “Yeah,” he said, nodding his agreement. “You"re not the first person to say as much. But I can"t let myself hope for something that"s never gonna happen.”

“Sweetie…”

“Nah, Mom,” he said. “Just let this one be.”

Tanaben Loranai was all right.

Not great, not spectacular, not one hundred percent satisfied with his life, but all right. And that was all he needed to be for the moment. Despite all odds, he"d found a gig with a small group of people who developed multi-tool apps. Not that it really mattered in terms of material need. This wasn"t Earth; he would always have a roof over his head and food in his belly no matter what he did.

A fulfilling life, however, required a certain amount of challenge. The human brain was not meant for idleness. He could always work on his own projects, of course – give them to the Collaborative Commons, and see if anyone was interested in whatever he came up with – but that was a massive undertaking. He preferred to work with people.

But who would work with a convicted criminal?

Apparently, a small group of individuals who designed new protocols for nanobot fabrication was perfectly willing to bring him on board. Maybe it was because Ben had rigged his old multi-tool to fabricate things that went well beyond the design specs.

Sunlight through large rectangular windows illuminated the common room of this small office they shared, a room of sea-foam green walls, where computer consoles were arrayed in a ring. They didn"t need much floor space – just a kitchen, a lounge and a place to work – but it would do.

A segment of Ben"s desk was tilted upward and raised to eye level, and white text scrolled along the sheet of SmartGlass. He reviewed the code for what seemed like the hundredth time, searching for a bug.

Ben sat forward with one elbow on his knee, covering his mouth with three fingers. “Where are you?” he asked, eyes flicking back and forth. “Come on…I know that you"re in there somewhere.”

Something caught his eye.

He wheeled his chair back from the desk and thrust his hand out, pointing at the screen. “Right there!” he exclaimed. “In the secondary networking function. If you leave the code like that, hackers will be able to disable a tool"s fabrication module, and the only way to fix it would be a complete firmware refresh.”

His supervisor came over.

Dex Velori was a tall man with sun-darkened skin, a thick brown goatee and hair that he wore parted to one side. A good guy, really, though Ben still couldn"t figure out why he would want a felon on his team.

Dex bent over with his hands on his knees, peering into the screen. “Layat"s ghost!” he said. “I think our boy found it!”

The four other people in this room – two men and two women – all started clapping and cheering him on. Alesi Tyse, a plump dark-skinned woman with a bob of black hair, stood and said, “We"ve been at that for weeks.”

Red-faced with chagrin, Ben closed his eyes. “It really wasn"t that big of a deal,” he said. “I just looked at the code…thought about how I"d break it if I wanted to control…”

Finishing that sentence was too difficult. The last thing he wanted to do was remind these people of his criminal past. But despite the fact that he had done just that, they were still clapping him on the shoulder, telling him how glad they were about him being here. Almost as if his past didn"t matter.

A fresh start.

It was a strange thing, being confronted with exactly what you wanted. Until now, he had never imagined that it would be possible. He was still having a hard time allowing himself to believe that it was really happening.