The Edge Of Justice

Edge Of Justice Chapter 10

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 “How many?”

A rustling sound came through the phone, and I heard Melissa grunt. The same voice wound over the speaker, and the spark of anger in my chest flared into a raging inferno. “Hello, Christian,” Neal said. “We wouldn’t want you to ruin the fun by asking such questions, would we? Would you mind coming to see us? Without your weapons please, I would like our little chat to be non-violent, if you wouldn’t mind.”

The phone disconnected, and I understood. I understood what I should have seen from the beginning. It was all a trap. The men in the yard were not there to look for me; they were there to keep me away long enough for Neal to move in on the warehouse. I turned and ran for all I was worth for the Bmw, got behind the wheel and sped back toward the warehouse, cursing my own stupidity. When I had stopped Neal the first time, Melissa had pointed out that  Neal knew about the warehouse, and that we should sell it. My argument had been that he would never expect us to use it in case he returned, and that’s why we should. I had been wrong, and my daughter and wife were now paying the price. What felt like eons later, I pulled up to the warehouse and got out of the car, shedding my weapons and mask into the backseat. I looked up to the roof to see a lone figure with a rifle and the irony hit me like a ton of bricks. The very first time I’d been here there’d been a man on the roof with a rifle. “If everything goes right, I leave you for last,” I whispered, echoing my statement from twelve years earlier.

I knew that I probably wouldn’t be walking out of the warehouse this time, and I silently prayed for God to protect my wife and daughter. I walked toward the door, chin held high against the despair roiling in my gut, and pushed through. I’d been expecting something bad, but this was much worse. Seven people stood in the storage area of the warehouse, each of them wearing a D-23, mask and all. Dual swords on every back, and the secondary weapons were varied. I even spied a kama and chain on the hip of one of the women. One man, at least a head taller than me pointed toward my office, and I carefully picked my way through the people blocking my way.

Opening the door to my office, I wasn’t surprised to see Michael Neal sitting behind my desk, my daughter on his lap. “And it turned out, Haley, that the king was just misunderstood instead of evil.”

My wife’s eyes flew to me, the panic in them evident to me, though I knew anyone else who looked at her would see her calm, cool, and collected. Neal smiled and brought his head up slowly, the joy of his victory evident in his smile. “Christian, it’s so good to see you.”

“Haley, come here,” I said, holding my arm out to my daughter. She squirmed in Neal’s lap and he let her go, watching carefully as she made her way to me. “Are you okay?” I asked, scanning her for injuries.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Uncle Mike was telling me a story. Did you get the bad guys?” she asked hopefully.

I raised my eyes to Neal, who wore a smirk. “Most of them, sweetie. Just a few more to go and this will all be over with.”

“Good,” she answered, hugging my waist. “Did they hurt you?”

“No, baby girl, I’m fine. Do me a favor and go sit on mom’s lap, would you? Me and Uncle Mike need to talk about some things.”

Haley wordlessly went to her mother, who wrapped her arms tightly around her. I jerked my head at Neal, indicating that I wanted to talk in the warehouse proper and he nodded. He rose from the desk, a pained look crossing his features for a split second, but I caught it anyway. “The years catching up to you, old man?” I chided when he gestured for me to go in front of him. “Feels like it,” he said. “But there are some things I’m catching up to.”