Dark Justice

“Trust me, Christina. This isn’t the answer.”

“Look, maybe you don’t need the cash, but I’m paying tuition at TU, and that bill is larger than the GNP of some industrialized nations.”

“Christina, this wouldn’t be a moneymaker. More like a pro bono case. With some serious negative ramifications.” He turned back toward Maureen. “I’m sorry. I’d like to help. But it’s out of the question.” He extended his hand. “I just can’t do it.”

Maureen took his hand and clasped it. Her eyes seemed much softer than they had before. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “I’m disappointed and-well, just very … sorry.” She turned quickly and headed down the sidewalk. Rick followed a beat behind her.

Ben and Christina watched as the pair passed out of sight. “Are you sure about this?” Christina asked.

“Absolutely,” Ben replied. “It’s for the best. Really.” He started walking in the opposite direction.

Ben hadn’t moved ten feet when he heard a piercing shout from down the street. “Maureen!”

“What’s that?” Christina asked.

Ben whirled around. “Stay here.” He raced down the street and rounded the same corner he had seen Rick and Maureen take a few moments before. Following the sounds of struggle, he ducked into a side alley behind a closed dry cleaning store.

There were three of them-big burly thugs, the kind you knew immediately couldn’t possibly be good for anything in the world except inflicting pain. One of them had a chain wrapped around his fist and was using it to pummel Rick. Another one had Maureen pinned against the wall, her face stricken with terror. The third seemed content to fold his arms, supervise, and sneer.

“Well, now,” the third man said. “Let’s show these two tree huggers what rage really is, whaddaya say, boys?”

Chapter 7

Before Ben had a chance to think, much less act, the metal chain whipped around in a deadly spiral. Rick turned away, but had no room to maneuver. The chain crashed down on his back. He cried out as he fell to his knees. His assailant grinned and brought the chain around again.

Maureen was struggling for all she was worth, but her attacker had her pinned against a brick wall, his arms on either side and beneath hers, leaving her nowhere to go. The man outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds and was much stronger. He snapped his hand back for a sudden slap across the side of her face. Maureen’s head banged against the brick wall, then went limp.

“Stop!” Ben shouted. He knew that probably sounded incredibly unthreatening to these toughs, but he hoped it might slow them down a few beats. He had to think of something. But what could he do?

“Lookee here,” said the man with the folded arms. “Another tree hugger. Looks like I’m gonna get to do some poundin’ myself.” He started toward Ben, not in a hurry, making it all the more frightening. There was something about the man, something in his calm, powerful manner, that made him absolutely terrifying.

“I’ve called the sheriff’s office,” Ben said, trying to suppress the stutter in his voice. “They’re on their way.”

The man shook his head, still moving toward Ben. “There’s no pay phone on this block. You haven’t had time.”

Without thinking, Ben whipped his checkbook out of his back pocket. He just hoped it was dark enough back here to get away with this. “I used my cell phone. They’re on their way. Won’t take them a minute to get here.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“It’s true,” Maureen said, bringing as much strength to her voice as she could muster. “It’s standard Green Rage operating procedure. First sign of trouble, call the cops.”

“Listen!” Ben said. “I hear them coming.”

Somewhere in the distance, they heard the sound of a door slamming, followed by the sound of feet moving quickly on the pavement.

“Damn it all to hell,” the man swore, throwing down his big muscled arms. “Let’s get out of here, boys.”

The man with the chain stopped in mid-swing. The brute hovering over Maureen stepped away, but not before cracking her one more time across the jaw.

“We’ll be back,” the leader said. “This is just a reprieve.” He started to go, then whipped around suddenly, lurched forward, and drove his fist deep into the soft part of Ben’s stomach. Ben doubled over and fell to the pavement.

“That’s to remember me by,” the man growled. He and his two accomplices disappeared in the darkness of the alleyway.

“Are you all right?” Maureen said, rushing toward Ben. Her eyes were full of concern.

Ben wasn’t entirely sure. His gut felt like it was on fire; he couldn’t seem to stand up straight. “Am I all right? What about you? And Rick?”

“Rick!” She ran back the other way, then knelt by her friend. Ben could see that he was conscious, although he seemed to be having a hard time moving.

He was suddenly aware that Christina was standing behind him. “Didn’t I tell you to stay put?” he asked.

“What of it?”

Ben smirked. “I assume you provided the sound effects-the slamming door, the rushing feet.”

“Seemed like the least I could do. Nice bluff about the cell phone. Who knows? If you’d take more cases maybe you could afford a real one.”

Ben tried to push himself to his feet, but every time he moved, his stomach felt as if stitches were being ripped out.

“I think Rick’s okay,” Maureen said. She sat on the ground beside Ben. “At least in the sense that he’s not going to die. But I want him to go to the hospital.”

“No hospitals,” Rick said emphatically. “Doc can take a look at me when we get back to camp.”

“Doc’s our medic,” Maureen explained. “A member of our group. We’ve been trying to make ourselves self- sufficient by recruiting people with professional training. You know, so they can help out when the need arises, without our having to bankrupt ourselves hiring outside assistance. We’ve covered most of the major fields, except of course …”

“Law,” Ben said, finishing her sentence.

“Yeah. Most of the lawyers we’ve talked to seem more interested in summer cottages on Puget Sound than helping a group of …”

“Eco-terrorists,” Ben said, filling in the blanks.

“Environmental warriors,” she replied, then all at once broke out in a grin. “Anyway, we’ve got to run before more of these hoods appear. You can see what we’re up against. Like I told you, they’re everywhere. It’s not even safe for us to walk the streets.” She turned suddenly; Ben realized she was fighting back tears. “Thanks for the help. You’re pretty quick on your feet, and if you don’t mind me saying so, and I-well, never mind. I hope we see you again sometime.”

“I’m in,” Ben said.

Maureen stopped short. “You’re-I’m sorry?”

“I’m in. I’ll help.”

“Do you mean-”

“I mean, you need a lawyer. Well, here I am.”

Maureen grasped both his arms. “That’s wonderful. That’s-”

Ben cut in. “But I won’t do anything illegal. So don’t ask.”

“No, of course not. Are-are you sure about this?”