Justice Ch. 07: From the Grave

"Hey, Eli," the man said as he waved his hand. "Hadn't seen you in here for a while. What can I get for ya?"

"A nice cold beer would be fine, Jake," Eli said.

"What about yer young lady friend? Sarsaparilla?" Jake asked. Eli looked at me, grinned, then shook his head.

"Nah. She can handle a beer. A nice cold one. From my stock, not that stuff you give the tourists."

"Whatever you say, Eli," Jake replied as he handed me a tall cold bottle. I popped the top and took a long drink. I was mildly surprised at how good it tasted. And even more surprised to see it had a modern English label. "By the way, Eli, yer friends are in the back room waitin' for ya."

"Thanks, Jake," Eli said.

I followed him past the bar and through a narrow door and into a small room where I saw a strikingly beautiful petite blonde woman in jeans and a denim shirt, and... my father. I almost dropped the beer when I saw him. For a moment, I couldn't speak. Was it really him? After all these years? I set the beer down on the table and ran to him, my arms open wide.

"Daddy!" I screamed as tears fell down my face. "Is it really you?"

"Yes, Pumpkin, it's me," he replied as he held me tight. He was real. I could FEEL him.

"Oh Daddy, I've missed you so much," I cried. He held me the way he did when I was a little girl, and I never wanted the moment to end.

"I know, sweetheart. I've missed you too," he said. We held each other tight for a few moments, then it hit me. This was impossible. My father died almost 15 years ago. And this Justice character who said he fought in the Civil War. How was any of this possible? I collected myself, broke the hug, and turned to Eli.

"How is this possible? My Dad died of a tumor years ago. Are you... ghosts or something?"

"Do I look like a ghost?" Eli chuckled. "Go on, touch me."

I did as he asked and found that he was very much real - at least to the touch, although he did feel... colder than I would've expected.

"And who are you?" I asked the woman. I didn't bother much with my appearance, even between assignments. As a sniper, it was a deeply ingrained habit not to call attention to myself. So, I felt more than a little self-conscious standing next to this stunning woman.

"My name is Adrestia Rhamnousia," she said calmly. "You can call me Dr. A if you wish."

"Dr. A? All right. Can you explain all of this?"

"Yes, I can," the blonde said with a rueful smile. "But I don't think you'd believe my explanation."

"Is this a dream?" I pressed.

"No, this is no dream, sweetheart," Dad responded. "This is very real. I told you when you started working for your mother that Justice would be riding with you," he added, looking at the tall cowboy. "You called out to him, and he responded."

"So that wasn't just a dream then?" I asked, shocked to the core.

"No, sweetheart," Dad said. "But it was the only way I could get the message to you."

"So, you were talking about," I began, glancing at the tall gaunt cowboy with the Texas Ranger badge.

"Yeah, him," Dad said.

"Does that mean you're my guardian angel or something?" I asked, turning to Eli.

"I'm no angel, Olivia. Just an ordinary man with an extraordinary job. Ah put mah britches on one leg at a time, just like any other man," Eli said.

"What is this place, then? Heaven? Am I dead, too?" I asked skeptically. All three of them laughed quietly.

"No," Dr. A said. "But it is a place where all of us can coexist, at least for a little while. And Papa Charlie will never find you here."

"And what's your job?" I asked Dr. A.

"I'm here to make sure justice is served," she said. "Since it appears justice was denied 15 years ago."

"Justice? No offense, Dr. A, or whoever you really are, but you look way too young to pull that off," I said.

"As I'm sure you can understand, appearances can be deceiving, can they not? After all, you don't exactly look like someone capable of killing a man at 1000 yards, do you?" Dr. A responded, her brows arched. "And your birth mother did a pretty good job of deceiving you, didn't she?"

"I... suppose you have a point there," I replied. "Do you think she's behind this?"

"As you correctly surmised, she's the only one who knew your identity, knew of your inheritance, and knew where you would be. But she had help," Adrestia said, now with a tablet that suddenly appeared in her hand. For some reason that didn't surprise me at all. "Do you recognize this man?"

I looked at the image on her tablet and instantly recognized the man seated at a table with my birth mother.

"Yes, I do. His name is..."

"Douglas Gordon. Your mother's current lover," Adrestia said, finishing my sentence.

I looked at the tablet again and realized I was watching a video. The two lovers were chuckling as a waiter poured their drinks. Douglas gave the waiter a tip, and I saw a tiny spark between his hand and the waiter's. Douglas jerked his hand back as the waiter apologized.

"I apologize, sir. The static in here can be bad sometimes," the waiter said. He looked at my mother, who placed her hand on the waiter as if to get his attention. Again, I saw a tiny spark between them, and the waiter apologized again. "I'll inform management and leave you two to your dinner," the waiter said before standing.

As I watched, the waiter straightened himself and then appeared to look directly into whatever it was that was sending the video. He smiled and winked, and I saw gold specks in his eyes. Adrestia and Eli both chuckled, leaving me confused.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"That waiter is a friend of ours. His name is Cameron Drake, and he has some... interesting... abilities. Along with a singular wit. We'll soon know the full scope of what's going on," Adrestia said. "I think Eli and I should leave the two of you alone for a while."

"Wait. What about my team leader?" I asked as Adrestia turned to leave the room.

She turned back and I saw a quick flash of understanding in her so far implacable eyes. "Ryan Jackson was picked up by the USS Idaho about an hour ago," Adrestia said. "He was badly wounded but still alive. He's in surgery now. Fortunately, there are several crew members with his blood type."

"Will he make it?" I asked hopefully.

"That is... outside my jurisdiction. But rest assured, everything that can be done is being done for him," Adrestia said. I could feel waves of empathy from her which gave me hope. "We'll be back soon." With that, she and Eli left the room. I turned back to my father and for a moment, I was an eight-year-old girl again, and tears welled up in my eyes.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry," I blubbered.

"For what?" Dad asked, wrapping his arms around me. I couldn't help myself as tears flowed freely down my face.

"I'm a horrible daughter. I should've been there for you when you needed me," I sobbed. "Can you ever forgive me?"

"Sweetheart, there's nothing to forgive," Dad said as he held me in his strong arms. I latched onto him as hard as I could and sobbed as he rocked me. "You're the best daughter a man could ever want."

"Are you upset that Uncle Bill and Aunt Lisa adopted me?" I asked. Dad smiled before responding.

"No, not at all. In fact, we had talked about that possibility when you and Marie were just babies. We promised that if anything happened to one family, the other would step in. I'm very happy that they adopted you. I am curious about one thing, though."

"What?"

"I left you enough to make sure you could do whatever you wanted when you graduated from high school. I didn't want you to have to scrape by like I did when I was your age. Why did you join the Army?" Dad asked.

"I wanted to make it on my own. I planned to go to college after my time in the Army, but I wanted to know that I could do it without buying my way in. Does that make sense?" I asked.

"Actually, it does," Dad replied, his eyes shining with pride. "It shows immense character. If you don't mind I'll take a tiny bit of the credit for that, since I'm pretty certain your birth mother has very little. Character, that is." He stepped back and looked me up and down. "And I must admit, the Army seems to have done a good job on you." I chuckled at that. "What are your plans after your tour is up?"

"I was thinking about going to college, maybe becoming an IT guru, like you," I said.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine no matter what career you choose," Dad said. His face turned sad before he continued as if he had heard something that I had not. "My time here is almost up. I need to get back. I just want you to know that I love you with all my heart."

"Do you have to go, Dad?" I begged.

"I'm afraid so," he replied. "But I'll always be with you, here, in your heart," he said, placing a hand on my chest.

"Will I ever see you again?" I asked as tears started to fall down my face.

"I'm sure we'll see each other again, sweetheart," he said with a smile.

"I love you, Daddy," I cried, throwing my arms around his neck.

"And I love you too, sweetheart," he whispered in my ear as he hugged me back. We broke the hug, and he wiped the tears from my face. "No more crying now. We'll see each other again. I promise. Maybe Eli can arrange for another visit here one of these days."

"I'd like that," I said. He kissed my cheek, and I returned the kiss.

"Me too. Make sure to say hello for me the next time you see your folks, okay?"

"I will," I promised. I stood and watched as he seemed to dissolve in front of me. I felt tears on my cheek, then heard him in my mind.

"No more tears, remember? I'll always be with you," Dad said in my mind. I smiled at that and wiped the tears from my face. Strangely enough, I felt better - much better than I had since that awful day nearly 15 years ago when I first learned that he had died.

After a few minutes had passed, Adrestia and Eli entered the room. By then, I had collected myself.

"I see your father has left," Adrestia said.

"Yes, he has."

"You seem to be in a much better frame of mind now. That is good. You needed the closure," Adrestia told me. I agreed with her wholeheartedly.

"So, what is the plan now?" I asked, now back in "professional soldier" mode.

"I'm fixin' ta head back down to that island, and poke a hornet's nest," Eli said grimly.

"Want me to come with you?" I asked. "I am good with a rifle."

"No," Adrestia broke in. "You'll come with me. We need to discuss a few things, and there's something I need to show you."

Before my current assignment, I had always attended services with my unit, and had paid attention to the chaplain when he talked about a 'Higher Power.' I now had a pretty good idea that whatever I was now involved with had something to do with that 'Higher Power' and I realized there was nothing I could say to change their minds, so I nodded in acquiescence. "All right," I said, standing up. "Let's do it, then."

...

"What the hell do you mean, she's missing?" Anita shouted at the image of the large man on her phone.

"She's... gone, mistress. I cannot explain it," Papa Charlie moaned. "The matron went to take her breakfast, but she was missing. No one can explain it. The door is still locked from the outside, and the guards around her hut saw nothing at all last night. It's as if she just... disappeared."

"Find. Her. NOW!" Anita screamed. "Or the next team that comes to your Godforsaken island will burn it and everything on it to a crisp. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, mistress," Papa Charlie replied in a fearful tone.

Anita ended the video call and slammed her phone down on the nightstand before turning to the younger man in her bed.

"I thought you said these morons were well-trained," she spit.

"They were trained and equipped by the best mercenaries the CIA has to offer," the man replied defensively.

"Obviously not well enough. How could they let a 23-year-old girl just disappear like that? I know Olivia's a well-trained soldier, but not even she can just disappear into thin air. We need to get a handle on this, ASAP. There's too much money at stake."

"Have you heard from the team or the submarine?" the man asked evenly, trying to calm her down.

"No. If anyone on the team survived, which I doubt, and if they followed protocol, they would maintain radio silence until they were well away from the target," Anita said.

"Then maybe we should follow protocol as well," the man urged. "Give it a couple of days. Olivia couldn't have gotten very far on foot, and Papa Charlie's people can track her easily enough."

"You don't understand. I have... obligations," Anita said tensely through gritted teeth.

"I understand, Anita. But two more days won't make any difference."

"Maybe not to you," she said. "But I've waited 15 years for this day. Fifteen years to finally get what is rightfully mine. Do you know what it's like to find out your spouse is worth over $100 million, and all you got was a picture of a middle finger while your brat gets the lion's share?"

"No, I can't say that I do," Douglas replied blandly.

"I admit, I wasn't the best wife to Andrew that last year, but dammit, at least half of that should've gone to me. Instead, he gave three-quarters of it to HER. And what does she do with it? Does she buy herself a new sports car or go to college? No. She joins the fuckin' Army and becomes a sniper. Says she wants to earn her way on her own. How stupid is that?"

"Well, you have to admire her spunk." He shrugged. "A lot of kids her age would love a free ride like that. Sounds like she has a good head on her shoulders."

"It's the principle of the thing," Anita said quietly, but with a strong undercurrent of anger. "I want what's mine. And I won't let some snot-nosed brat keep me from it."

"Don't forget I have a stake in this as well. After all, I'm the one who put you in touch with Papa Charlie. And I'm the one who made the arrangements. And don't forget you promised me a cut for my efforts," Douglas said.

"Ten percent. Yes, I remember," Anita said. "After Papa Charlie gets the $10 million he needs to fund his silly revolution, that would leave me with $40 million. And your cut would be four million. Olivia can have the rest, assuming she survives."

"And assuming she doesn't get sold off," Douglas sneered. Anita snorted at that. She would have been less happy if she had seen the thought that ran through her lover's mind as he contemplated buying and bedding the young, fit heiress rather than this admittedly lusty but obviously 50-year-old bitch.

"Indeed. Besides, I think she owes me," Anita hissed, rubbing her cheeks as she recalled the vicious slaps the young woman gave her that day they met eighteen months ago. Her mind worked as she rubbed her cheeks. "We'll need a contingency in case she doesn't make her presence known soon."

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"Her adoptive family. Andrew's brother, wife, and niece. His mother."

"I'm sure we can find a way to put pressure on them if you think that's necessary," Douglas replied. Anita smiled, but there was no mirth in it.

"Yes, it may become necessary. Now, why don't you stop talking, and show me that you're worth four million dollars," Anita purred, taking his cock in her hands.

...

A frantic Papa Charlie addressed the armed men now standing in formation before him. He looked at the rows of battle-hardened men, confident they could do the job. After all, how far could one young American girl get in this jungle? Their pride had been stung that THEIR prisoner had managed to escape, but some were a bit uneasy that the prisoner had seemingly vanished.

"We must find this American girl! Everything is at stake. Find her! But do NOT harm her! If you do, I will kill you myself, eviscerate you slowly, and feed your bodies to the worms! Understand?"

"Yes, SIR," the men responded in unison, snapping to attention.

Suddenly, the sky above them turned dark as large menacing clouds streamed in from all directions. Papa Charlie and the men looked up in amazement. They had never seen such a thing before. Lightning flashed across the sky like a major battle, and a large bolt crashed into a nearby tree, showering them with smoldering chips with an explosion of thunder that hammered their bodies.

They had been trained to fight people; having the world itself seem to turn against them was more than frightening. The tropical heat around them was sucked away in the suddenly buffeting wind and the sweat froze on their bodies.

"Look! There," one of the men shouted, pointing toward a spot behind Papa Charlie. Charlie turned to see a large man on the tallest horse he had ever seen. It looked like a midnight shadow in the garish, greenish light trapped under the churning clouds overhead. The man, dressed like an American movie cowboy with a shining badge on his chest, climbed off the horse and approached them, his eyes burning like fire.

"Who are you?" Papa Charlie shouted, his hand moving toward his sidearm. "What do you want?"

"The name's Justice. Justice O. Peace. And I'm here to take you in, Papa Charlie," the tall man said, his voice crystal clear even through the continuous booming over the thunder.

Papa Charlie gathered his wits and broke out in laughter. "You must be insane. You are one man against my army!"

"One army. One Ranger," Justice replied, paraphrasing a quote attributed to his friend and one-time boss, Texas Ranger Captain Bill McDonald. "Sounds about even to me."

"KILL HIM!" Papa Charlie ordered, his body shaking with rage at the audacity of this cowboy. The men rushed forward with their automatic weapons, firing indiscriminately at the figure, who simply looked at them with contempt. They all saw their bullets tear through the man's clothing, but he stood there as though nothing had happened.

After the last magazine 'clicked' empty, Eli smiled coldly as he slowly pulled his Army single-action revolvers from their holsters.

"My turn," he said. And he began firing, rapidly. One soldier after another fell to the ground, dead. One shot, one death. Some dropped their weapons and ran. None made it to the cover of the jungle. Eli continued firing, and Papa Charlie noticed the man never seemed to run out of ammunition and never had to reload. He looked at the piles of bodies stacked around him, shocked and frozen in fear. Who was this man?

After the last soldier fell, all of the bodies glowed red, then disappeared in a puff of acrid smoke, leaving behind only patches of scorched dirt. Papa Charlie shook as he finally pulled a semi-automatic pistol from its holster.

"Ah wouldn't do that if ah were you," Eli growled as he walked toward Charlie, his pistols trained on the big man's face. "Now drop that shootin' iron. I'm taking you in."

Papa Charlie realized this was now a lost cause. Shaking and scared, he tossed the pistol to the ground and dropped to his knees as Eli approached.

"Please. Do not kill me. I will do as you ask," he pleaded in a shaky voice.

"I ain't here ta kill ya," Eli said. "I'm here ta take you in." He let out a loud whistle, and the black horse trotted to his side.

"How did you," Charlie began.

"Haven't you heard? Ya can't kill a feller who's already dead," Eli hissed. "But mah wife's gonna be pissed when she sees what yer boys did to mah shirt."

"Where did they all go?" Charlie asked as he looked around his now deserted compound.

"Yer boys have gone to their eternal destinations," Eli said as he pulled a rope from his saddle. "Now, are you gonna cooperate, or do I have to hogtie ya?"

"I will... cooperate," Charlie said in a defeated tone.

"Good," Eli replied, dropping a lasso around the man. He saw a phone in Charlie's shirt pocket and knew Adrestia would want to have it, so he grabbed the phone and placed it in his pants pocket. With one end of the rope in hand, Eli jumped on the horse's back and pulled the lasso tight. "Let's go."