Goddess of Justice by Dwayne Clayden (mobi ebook reader TXT) 📕

“Maybe,” Jackson replied. “He said one guy was dressed in jeans and a blue parka and the other person, shorter, was behind and dressed in black.”

“Okay, you convinced me,” Steele said.

Chapter Seventy

Brad was floating in cold darkness, then toward a light. He was over—well, he wasn’t sure what he was over. People moved below him, hustling from one place to another. He floated across the street and over some steps. A door opened, and he continued. Another door opened, and he was in a courtroom. “It is clear, Your Honor, that Coulter is guilty,” Jenni Blighe said. “His carelessness, his ego and his failure to protect the innocent all contributed to the death. You must sentence him accordingly.”

The judge, Ethan Gray, glared at Brad. His words were obvious.

“Coulter? Coulter? You had one job. Protect my daughter. I release you into the custody of Dice. May the Goddess of Justice have mercy on your soul. Or not.” His eyes blazed and an evil grin crossed his face. He laughed, a loud, maniacal laugh. The judge disappeared. Brad’s body wouldn’t move. The room went dark and he was freezing.

“Coulter.”

He lifted his head a few inches and opened his eyes. It took a moment to focus. Then it started coming back. Toscana sat before him, grinning. Her hands rested on her thighs, one hand holding her gun. He glanced down. His camouflage parka, gloves, and beanie lay in a pile on the floor. His upper body, with only a T-shirt, shivered.

He was in a chair, his arms still tied behind his back, calves tied to the legs of the chair. Several loops of rope tightly encircled his chest, making it difficult to take a deep breath.

“What the hell?” Brad struggled against the ropes.

“For a while, I admired you.” Toscana casually sat back in the chair. “With the shit you’d been through, I was sure you’d understand what needed to be done.” She smiled sadly. “But you were weak.” Her voice rose. “Unfortunate, really. We could have cleaned up the city. Partners.” She let out an exasperated sigh. “Crime would decrease. Criminals we didn’t execute would flee the city. Almost as good.”

“You’re out of your mind.” Brad jerked his body in the chair.

“You’re too smart for your own well-being. You slipped through my carefully planned frame-up. This isn’t personal. But I can’t let you stop me.” Her nostrils flared.

Brad flexed and relaxed his hands and wrists. He slid his arms up and down and side to side against the ropes. Soon his arms were on fire from the rope burn, but he continued. He needed to create some slack in the ropes. He slid as low as he could in the chair. His fingers spread and he reached as far around his back as he could. His fingers searched for the cold metal he’d clipped to his pants under his belt. Nothing there.

“Searching for this?” Toscana held his tactical knife in her hand and waved it in front of his eyes. “Quite sneaky, clipping it under your belt.” Toscana held her finger to her lips. “Now who was it that told me to always carry a knife?” She swung the hand holding the knife wide, then pointed it at Brad. “Why, it was you.” She grinned. “The gun on your hip and your right ankle were easy. She flicked her wrist, and the blade flew open. She gently touched the edge across his face. “Oh, nice and sharp. I bet it would cut the ropes with no problem and you could escape. You won’t find out.” She closed the knife and slid it into her pants pocket. She glanced over at Michael. “There are too many who need justice.”

“Your justice.” Brad practically spit the words.

“My justice.” Toscana sneered with an ugly twist of her mouth. “Does it matter? Like I said, if the courts won’t do it, I will.”

Brad laughed. “You aren’t the Goddess of Justice. You’re a punk, a thug with an overgrown sense of yourself. You’re a cold-hearted killer with an over-confident sense of superiority, nothing more.”

Toscana loomed over Brad, her face reddening.

Brad jutted out his chin. “True justice doesn’t mete out punishment for a chosen few. The laws are the same for all.”

Toscana leaned inches from Brad’s face. “Those who died were guilty. They were also the scum of society. That’s a win both ways.”

Keep her talking.

Brad rolled his eyes, his chin high. “You haven’t given the justice system a chance. Heck, you haven’t even given being a cop a chance. We see some evil stuff, and the courts don’t always see it the way we do, but they take a lot of evil pricks off the street.”

“Correction, pretty boy.” Toscana straightened, legs wide, eyes blazing. “We arrest many people, but few of them end up in jail. Hell, most are out on bail before we’ve even completed the paperwork. Out to re-offend. Right back to the shit they were doing.”

Brad’s eyes peered around the room. His options for escaping weren’t promising. His muscles were stiffening from the cold. She’s slipped a cog. She was crazy. Keep her talking.

“It’s not a perfect system, but it’s better than every other freaking one.”

She raised an eyebrow and laughed. “How did the perfect system work for you? Fiancée and baby dead.” Toscana’s tone was mocking. “All because the jail system couldn’t keep Wolfe secured. He escapes jail not once, but twice. Each time he continues killing. Where’s the justice in that, smartass? A perfect example of the failure of the system. I can’t believe you would even try to defend that.”

Brad clenched his jaw until he felt the pain up to his temples. He couldn’t let Toscana distract him. Keep talking and figure a way out of here. There was no doubt she was going to kill him and Michael.

“Wolfe was a despicable piece of shit, I’ll give you that,” Brad said. “He’s the exception, though, not the rule. What’s the