And had been given yet another life to try again.
"I can get you out of town. If you lose, we'll both have to disappear."
"But your school, the students." Brenda's head landed in her hands. "Oh, Jaden. I'm sorry I ever got you into this."
Jaden stood to pace, her racing mind demanding a physical outlet. "Trust me. I was hip deep before we ever met."
"What?"
"Never mind. If the case goes bad tomorrow, I'll see you safely out of town. In the meantime, teach this next class. And when you get home, pack a bag and be alert."
Brenda nodded, with a little more confidence, then headed off to follow Jaden's orders, leaving Jaden with cold tea and boiling thoughts.
Nothing she knew added up to anything she could use to eliminate the judge legally. Albertson's reach was increasing. In all the lives she'd known him, he'd never been sloppy about the people he chose to use, whether for his own perverse delight or to increase his power within a community. Which meant Chief Thomas was a vital link. Again.
"Great," she muttered to the empty kitchen. "He's even named for a doubter this time."
The control panel chimed, announcing the arrival of more students. Jaden shoved back from the table and went to make some calls. Whether or not Chief Thomas would kill her in the days to come, she first had to arrange for Brenda to survive tomorrow.
Chapter Three
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." –Tacitus
Jaden resented the chime of midnight and her complete sleeplessness. Shoving fingers through her hair, she loosened the braid she'd woven minutes earlier.
So far, the diary revealed nothing of value. No new or vital tidbit of information she'd forgotten in the living of a dozen lives. She locked it back in her safe.
With a gusty sigh, she let herself long for the sort of rest that was impossible in her current state of existence. She ached for eternity's blissful peace.
Irritable, she strode through the kitchen and down the hall to pound her stress into the punching bag.
She could feel the Judge on the far edge of her conscious mind, and knew without doubt the outcome of Brenda's case. With no authenticated video or still shots of the damage her ex-boyfriend caused, Brenda was doomed to serve time as a false accuser.
A swift kick sent the bag out and Jaden caught it in a hard hug on the return. Her first instinct was to make contact with her one link inside the system, but Larry had died en route to a crime scene starring her as the criminal.
Correction–he'd died when the police chief posing as a street rat lasered the tire. That eased the burden a bit.
Larry believed in his oath to protect society and his fellow officers. She combined two uppercuts with a right hook and smiled as she considered the hero's homecoming Larry must be enjoying in the eternity she desperately wanted for herself.
A yellow light above the doorway diverted her attention. She held her position at the bag and waited for a follow up signal or sound. She expected a grind or hiss of a lock being tumbled or bypassed. She didn't expect footsteps on the roof, or the sound of windows shattering in her classroom downstairs.
She thought first of the diary, then the photos in her floor safe. Then her mind emptied as she prepared to defend her home, and possibly her life.
"Clear."
"Here, too." The first guttural voice was answered by an equally deep and dispassionate reply.
She waited, pressed flat against the wall, for the rest to check in. None did. Her lips curved. Her against two put the odds heavy in her favor.
She listened to the footfalls to determine the intent of the intruders. Hearing the quiet whir of her computer told her they were most likely after Brenda's pictures.
"Found it. What about you?"
Two searchers. Two targets. But was she the second target or the diary? Somehow the Judge knew what she was about, knew who she was this time. As far as she could recall, he'd never come directly after her before.
Jaden had to move before the computer revealed the diary's location.
With a rude burst every light in the place came on at full power. The man at the computer had found the master controls. Soon he'd activate the infrared to show the location of everyone in the house, blowing her element of surprise. It was a standard security system and relatively pointless. Any hack with the most basic password finder could seize control with little effort.
This was precisely why she'd personally rewritten a new code and layered it over the standard system.
With heavy footsteps beating a quick pace to her position, Jaden dropped to a crouch and ran, using the wall as a shield.
"The east side. Hidden access."
The informed shout gave her pause and made her decision easier. Changing direction, she leaped for the nearest control panel, entering her contingency code.
Jaden heard the soft hum and click as her commands took effect, but the following whistle of a passing bullet earned her full attention.
The lights snapped out, just as she'd programmed, and the cursing of the intruder at her computer told her he couldn't stop the cascade of automatic responses.
"Retire the side and let's get out of here."
The unmistakable sound of a revolver being loaded reached Jaden's ears. She knew only one enforcer still using a revolver.
"What about the package?"
"Working on it. If ya had better aim, we wouldn't need it."
In the silence she felt the signals. Signals she would use if she were the hunter. Taking the only strategic advantage left, she rolled out of the open door toward her nearest opponent and slid into his knee with a single, bone-crunching kick. His shot went high and wide.
His agonized screams ended with her merciful knock out sweep to his neck. Now armed with his weapon, an old-school automatic, she maneuvered through the darkness to find his boss.
Keyed to every nuance of sound in her home, Jaden heard the move he'd assumed to be silent. She aimed the mac-10 at her opponent, squeezed off a warning shot and gave the voice command to bring the lights up halfway.
"Stand up," she called to the intruder. "Hands high and let me see the gun."
Even in the dim light the man's polished revolver gleamed.
"Triple Threat Tony," she said, using the nickname he'd given himself years ago. "What brings you by?"
"Just business, Ms. Jaden." The revolver's business end still targeted her ceiling.
It might've sounded like any other mundane conversation, but she kept the gun trained on him. Tony would've ruled the Wild West with his talent for speed and accuracy with a firearm. She didn't dare relax.
"So, how much am I worth?"
"Not you, hon. Not you. Couple trivial items is all. That's all I need."
"Tony, I'm not deaf. You told your worthless buddy over there to kill me. And trivial's a matter of perspective."
"True, hon. That's true. Give me a break, huh? I knew his aim would give you a fair chance."
Jaden glanced at the time display just over Tony's left shoulder. "Look, you've got about one more minute before cops are crawling all over this place. Tell me who's paying you and I'll give you a head start."
"Can't do that."
"Can your pal?"
"He's not dead?"
"Tony," she scolded. "You know better."
He shrugged, and she took it as an apology of sorts.
"He doesn't know nothin'. Worthless, just like you said."
"C'mon, Tony. Give me a line on the money."
"Sorry, sweetie." The wail of sirens grew closer. "Time's up." Tony dropped his arm and got off a shot, forcing Jaden to dive sideways while firing his buddy's weapon. As she lay there, her first concern was how Tony had missed. Then, willing her breathing to slow, she counted back the shots fired. Three.
Three?
"God, no!" She leaped up and vaulted the counter to see Tony lying in a puddle of blood, his hand still wrapped around the gun at his temple. "No! Tony!"
"Police! Step back, ma'am," a new voice boomed behind her.
She didn't. Instead she swiped the tears from her eyes and looked for where her shot lodged. In the fridge, of all places. She shook her head.
"I'm fine."
"Good for you. Care to explain?"
"A break in. Hacked my system. I engaged the backup."
The officer didn't seem to care. "With two dead, the paperwork'll kill me."
"Two?"
"Yeah, two. You didn't pop this guy here?"
Jaden shook her head again, understanding the impact of the three shots. Tony had killed his partner, then himself. With an outdated silver revolver. What wasted skill.
For Jaden, it confirmed the obvious. The Judge wanted those pictures buried and Jaden with them. Failure was clearly not an option Tony cared to explore.
"Wouldn't put it past her."
Jaden turned to see the glowering face of Chuck Loomis. "The ballistics will clear me."
"Good thing we've got us a shiny new van," Chuck said with a sneer.
I miss Larry too, she thought as Loomis pulled gunshot residue from her hands and labeled the sample.
"Why are you using guns anyway? Thought you were the hands only expert."
"She's both."
The new voice belonged to the Chief of Police, a.k.a. the 'street rat'. Turning, Jaden noted the slight limp and would've bet her best code-breaking card the bruise was dark, purple and painful.
She extended her hand in an effort to head off further hostilities. "Jaden Michaels. What brings the Chief out on a routine call?"
"You consider two dead men routine?"
Apparently he hadn't spent much time on the streets of his city. "Not at all. Nor is breaking and entering. They compromised my security system and came gunning for me."
"Yet here you stand without a scratch."
"A woman's got a right to defend herself." And others who can't.
His arms folded across his chest and she wondered how dense she could be. His arrogance, intensity, his every movement should have alerted her to his real identity, regardless of the shabby disguise he'd used on the street.
"You run a tidy profit on that theory I'd bet."
"I get by," she said.
His bark of laughter startled her and when he walked away, inviting himself for a full tour, having to follow him grated her nerves.
"This place is tricked out beyond a typical 'getting-by' income." He fingered the control panel in her private workout room, eyes widening as it responded negatively to his touch. "Well beyond."
"Touch sensors aren't that pricey."
His eyes narrowed and Jaden felt the years melt away. Long ago those storm gray eyes gave her that same look of disbelief. The disbelief that had cost her life then and several times over in the years since. Jaden, meet your executioner. Again.
The burst of awareness stole her breath and she stumbled toward the nearest chair.
"Are you okay?"
"No." Any idiot could see she wasn't.
His hand pushed her head between her knees. "Breathe," he ordered, and then called for water.
"Leave me be," she muttered in the general direction of her crotch. But he ignored her.
When the water arrived, he helped her sit up and sip slowly. Then he began to question her.
"Did they steal anything?"
"I stopped them."
"So what'd you do to earn a bad contract?"
"Guess I helped the wrong woman."
"Maybe so. One of my officers swore you were the best hand-to-hand teacher in the district. We'll need your student roster."
"No."
His eyes went wide.
"No, thank you." Jaden scooted out from under his hovering to stand up on her own.
Based on their history, trusting him ended badly, fatally, for her. It amazed her that he seemed the one piece of the puzzle completely oblivious to the horrendous connection she shared with him and Albertson. Regardless, she didn't have time to explain to him, or anyone else, how and why she intended to fulfill her mission.
"Chief Thomas, I can deal with this threat without exposing my students to more trouble."
"We're trained to keep them safe, Ms. Michaels."
"They're safe now. I see no reason to change what's working. If you'll excuse me, I'll provide my DNA sample to help your men on their way." Then she could blow up her warehouse and retreat to an alternate hideout.
"In a hurry?"
She forced herself to sound casual. "Just a busy day tomorrow." She checked the clock. "Today. Whatever."
A piercing wail sliced through her mind and she reached for the nearest stability. But it wasn't the wall or even a chair. It was the police chief.
He held her forearms in a secure grip, her own hands instinctively gripping him in turn. When her knees buckled under the second scream, Jaden gazed up at the man she'd once loved with utter abandon.