Justice Keepers Saga - Books 7-9

Chapter 6-2

Ben gave her a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, and that seemed to ease some of the tension. Not much, but some. What else could she say? She wanted him to come back to work with the Keepers again, but she was old enough to know that trying to argue would be pointless. People had to make their own choices. “Seeing anyone?” Melissa asked.

“Maybe.”

“Oh? Wanna share the juicy gossip?”

A wheeze of laughter from Ben was followed by the man"s attempt to wipe sweat off his brow with the back of one fist. “Kid, I"m twelve years older than you,” he said. “I don"t think we can do the gossip.”

“If you say so.”

“Where"s the birthday girl?”

The sound of Jack"s voice made her look up to see her friend coming around the back of the house with a wrapped present in both hands, a smile on his face. “Melissa,” he said. “I have something for you.”

Melissa strode toward him at a brisk pace, shaking her head. “You didn"t have to do that,” she said. “I"m just glad you were able to stop by.”

He handed her a rectangular package in pink wrapping paper and a bow, and when she tore into it, she found a stack of comic books. There were maybe a dozen in total, all featuring her favourite character. “Ms. Marvel?” she exclaimed. “Jack, you really didn"t have to do this.”

“You think I"m gonna go to Earth and not bring back something?” Jack teased. “I thought you knew me better than that.”

“Well, it"s much appreciated.”

Melissa threw her arms around him in a hug, patting his back several times. She pulled away and held his gaze for a long moment. “I"m glad you made it,” she said. “We were worried you wouldn"t come.”

He shut his eyes, breathing deeply, and then nodded to her. “I wasn"t going to skip out on your birthday,” he said. “But I really can"t stay. Cassi needs me to look over some files.”

“Oh, come on, Jack.” Deep down, they all knew the real reason he was so eager to get out of here; Anna would be showing up any minute now. Melissa had half a mind to tell him that he and Anna would just have to work out their differences – they were both her friends and both old enough to be past this kind of stupid high school drama – but she thought better of it.

Her father"s attempt to make them sort out their issues had only resulted in disaster. You couldn"t push people to be rational in the face of painful emotions. That said, she still thought Jack was being ridiculous. Running away every time he thought that Anna might show up wasn"t going to solve anything.

“I"m sorry…” Jack mumbled.

He turned to go, pacing to the end of the patio, then paused for a moment. “Happy birthday, Melissa,” he said. “You"ve got a lot to be proud of. Never forget that.”

When Anna stepped into the backyard, she found the patio lit by a string of lights along the houses back wall and lanterns on tall, skinny poles. A group of teenagers was conversing in the grass, and Melissa was among them.

She noticed Ben leaning against the wall with arms folded, staring off at nothing at all. The man looked more than a little uncomfortable, though Anna supposed she could understand why. From what she understood, Ben hadn"t parted ways with the Keepers on the best of terms.

“Hey!” Anna called out.

Ben stiffened, then glanced in her direction and flashed that winning smile of his. “Lenai,” he said. “I was wondering when you were gonna show up. All the stress finally turned your hair white, I see.”

When she got close enough, Anna took his hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. Whatever differences they had in their politics were not enough to take away her sadness at what Ben had been through. True, he"d made a mistake six years ago, but he had also made up for it a hundred times over with acts of valour that would put even the bravest soldiers to shame.

In response, people treated Ben like a common criminal. It was no wonder the man wanted out of this life.

Anna leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek. “I"m sorry it didn"t work out,” she said. “I wouldn"t be standing here if you hadn"t saved me from that Death Sphere in New York.”

He was smiling, his face flushed as he tried his best to avoid eye-contact. “That"s what us hero types do,” he replied. “Besides, I seem to recall you using that Death Sphere to save me from a pretty nasty-looking robot.”

“Letting you walk away was a mistake.”

“It wouldn"t be Larani"s fist,” Ben said. The bitterness in his tone told her that she didn"t want to press him on that point. She wasn"t sure what he had done to lose Larani"s trust – Keli had only said that it had involved some attempt to interrogate Isara without authorization – but she knew there was a pretty good chance they wouldn"t see eye to eye on this issue.

Anna took a step back with her arms crossed, shaking her head as she let out a soft sigh. “As mistakes go, hers are pretty reasonable,” she murmured. “Larani"s got nothing on the queen of screw-ups.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry approaching. The man let out a grunt as he drew near. “Glad you could make it, Anna,” he said. “Melissa was really hoping you"d stop by.”

“You should have seen her, Harry,” Anna said.

Harry craned his neck to stare at her, blinking slowly as if confused by what she had said. “On the raid you conducted?” he asked. “Melissa wouldn"t say much about it. Only that it had gone well.”

That made sense; the girl was probably worried about stressing out her father when he was still recovering from his injuries. Poor kid. Anna remembered what it was like to have a symbiont at such a young age. The expectations, the impossible standards that you held yourself to. The need to prove that you were worthy.

Glancing toward the pack of teenagers in the grass, Anna narrowed her eyes. “Your daughter was magnificent,” she said. “As skilled as people who"ve been doing this job for fifteen years, and Harry, she kept people alive. Both our team and the enemy soldiers.”

Harry replied with a sheepish grin and shook his head slowly. “That"s my girl,” he said. “Always looking out for other people.”

“Where"s Jack?” Anna inquired.

“He left about ten minutes ago.”

“Why?”

Ben was hunched over with his hands in his pockets, smiling and shaking his head. “Seriously, Lenai, you can"t figure that one out?” he grated. “Jack left because he thinks you wouldn"t want him here.”

That felt very much like a splash of cold water in the face. She had never wanted Jack to stay away from their mutual friends. A part of her thought that should have been obvious, but of course, it wasn"t. Not for a man who would take any excuse to find fault with himself.

And how might that man react when the person who always saw the good in him tells him that she wants him to stay away? It had never occurred to her when she lashed out at him, but hearing that from her of all people must have confirmed Jack"s worst fears about himself. Suddenly, she felt sick to her stomach. Before she even realized it, she was walking to the edge of the patio.

And how might that man react when the person who always saw the good in him tells him that she wants him to stay away?“Where are you going?” Harry called out.

Anna winced, trembling as she stifled her guilt. “To fix one of my many mistakes,” she answered. “Save a slice of cake for me, Harry, and tell your daughter that when I get back, her friends are gonna hear all about what a bad-a*s she is.”