Even Heroes Fall

13. Ghoul

I was sitting in a twenty-four hour internet cafe waiting for the only person I knew who could help me, who was the last person I expected to hear from. At first I thought Reed had seen sense and told her to reach out, but then I realised the reason for our meeting was entirely unrelated.

She arrived a few minutes after seven thirty, dressed in the same outfit she was wearing the night I beat her up. She took the seat opposite me, her expression telling me she was not happy.

'I have to admit I was surprised you contacted me.' I sipped my coffee waiting for her response. My night shift was just getting started but I didn't have any leads this evening so I was hoping to get a few out of Justice after she revealed the reason she needed me.

'Why is that?'

'I thought Justice was retired.' I smirked and saw her scowl. OK, wrong thing to say. In the bright light of the cafe I could tell she was a pretty girl, under the mask and the hood. Maybe in different circumstances we could have teamed up... but, no. I never team up. I work alone.

'Yeah, about that.' She shifted uneasily in her seat. 'I need your help.' I could tell it irritated her to ask.

'Go on.' I smiled, enjoying the moment.

'There is a contract in the mayor's office which makes it illegal for me to be Justice. I want it. In return I'll tell you everything I know about a certain individual I know you're after.'

Now her words caught my attention. Whilst I had not been shy about my targeting the criminals in South London I hadn't been advertising the fact I was after Castlemain specifically. I knew too much attention on him personally from the Met would most likely make him retreat into some hole where he would stay for some time. It surprised me that Justice knew who I was really after. I decided to call her bluff, for all I knew she was working with Castlemain (unlikely, the girl seemed almost too saintly to be true. A contract that stopped her from being Justice? Please, like I would allow such a thing to ever stop me!).

'And what makes you think I am after anyone?' I asked, leaning back in the plastic seat and observing her casually. 'I'm just a superhero employed to bring order to the streets of London.'

'I have a source,' she replied after a moment's hesitation, which piqued my interest. Reed, I presumed. 'Can you help me with the contract or not?'

'Maybe.' I was playing for time. 'Who would create a such a contract in the first place?'

'The Mayor.' She scowled deeply, demonstrating her unhappiness. I wondered if she had just found this out, hence her approaching me now. 

Breaking into the mayor's office and stealing a contract would be easy for me. I didn't even need to break in because of the bio-metric locks, something Justice clearly knew. Another interesting thought. And as much as I hated to admit it I had hit one too many dead-ends with Castlemain recently. But Justice had been fighting crime in South London for many years. She would have to be completely ignorant to not know anything about Castlemain and I doubted she was that stupid. She probably knew a lot that could help me, maybe even knew some stuff she didn't even realise would lead me to Castlemain. 

'Can you help me or not?' she asked impatiently.

'I think we can come to an arrangement,' I replied. I was about to suggest meeting at my basement lair when we were interrupted by a kid running over to us.

'Justice!' he said, tears in his eyes, 'it's my brother Raj. The ell oh ems have him and I don't know what to do!' He couldn't have been more than fourteen and his whining hurt my ears. I expected Justice to tell him to sod off but she seemed genuinely concerned.