Page 21 of Justified (Ruthless Vigilante #1)

“No, you need to keep your eyes on that screen. I’ve got this. You also need to be thinking of a way to get that son of a bitch. I don’t want him killing anyone else,” Jordan said. “He was logged in tonight, but then logged out. I guess that’s when you were attacking.”

I nodded. “Most likely.” I turned back around to look at the screen.

It also gave me a better lay of the land, which was something I should have done prior to carrying out my half-assed strategy.

Lesson learned. Patience and plotting was the name of the game.

“I need to know everything you can get on this guy, J. I need to know what he eats, where his other properties are, what floor his office is on. I need to know his security team and where they come from. I need to know if he has anyone special in his life, shit like that.”

“Some of that I’ve already gathered for you,” Jordan said as he tossed the last of the glass into the trash. “Look at the folder over there.”

I looked to my left, then right, and saw the folder in question.

I opened it up and there were numerous files on some of the people Jordan had uncovered who patronized the site.

He currently had three targets for me. Walter, the mayor, and another mogul.

I looked over Walter’s information first because he was the man I was focusing on at the moment.

I made sure to keep checking on the monitor in between reading the file.

I now knew more about Walter than I’d care to know, but it was enough for me to come up with another idea.

“I’ve got a plan B,” I said, then turned to see that Jordan was on the sofa fast asleep.

I smiled, then rose out of my seat. It felt good to give my ass a break and stretch my muscles.

I walked over to Jordan, scooping him up and placing him in our bed.

Then I put on some civilian clothing in the form of a business suit.

I took out my contacts, replacing them with my eye glasses.

I wanted to look as unassuming as possible.

I put my vigilante outfit inside my bag, which was also full of weapons and other necessities, and climbed back into my car.

The best place I was going to capture this bastard was at his place of employment.

With him beefing up security at his home, I hoped his business wasn’t going to be as tight.

I drove to his company, Darring Inc., and parked my car a mile away where there were no street cameras.

I then took a quick nap because soon, Mr. Darring, aka Mr. Jingles, would be pulling inside the underground parking lot of his place of employment.

Something he had done faithfully for the past fifteen years, never missing a day, save vacation time.

Some might find that admirable, but I just thought he was a fucking control freak and wanted to keep his eye on everything and everyone under his employ.

I was counting on his need to micromanage right now.

I took a quick three hour nap and was up bright and early to get to the extraction point in time. I called Jordan and it took him a little while to answer, but he did.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. Listen, I need you to tap into the security at Darring Inc. If you can control what the cameras see, I’ll be able to sneak in better.”

“I’m on it. Just give me a few minutes,” he said. “You should start making your way there.”

“I’m already on my way.” I walked there with my guns under my suit in a double holster.

One was my real gun loaded with human killing bullets and the other had the tranquilizers.

I really wanted to avoid killing his guards.

I didn’t have any proof that they deserved to die, so if I could take them out peacefully, I would. “Okay, I’m in the alleyway.”

“Yeah, I see you.”

“On satellite?” Damn, Jordan was a fucking computer genius. I was always left in awe by his superpower.

“Yeah, I want to be able to be your eyes and ears, if I can,” he said.

“That’s why I love you.”

“You also look really fucking hot in that suit with your glasses.”

I smiled, because I liked the flattery. “Concentrate.”

“Oh, I am. But you know, I’m a multitasker. I can do two, three, sometimes even four things at once,” Jordan teased. “Okay, get ready to move…now.”

With that, I slithered into the parking garage, narrowly avoiding the camera that rotated in the opposite direction. “Any more cameras I need to avoid?”

“I’m in their feed now. Don’t move, because I’m going to put it on a loop for about five minutes. You need to get into a pretty good hiding place close to where that asshole parks his car. I would think someplace near the door as to avoid the inconvenience of having to walk.”

“Wait, look on their camera system and see if you can find which level his parking spot is on. He might have it marked off,” I instructed.

“Yeah… that is a better idea than having you running all over the place.”

“We need to step up our game in a few areas, I think. For one, we need communication devices so we can stay in contact without me having to call you,” I pointed out.

“Great idea,” Jordan agreed.

We were still new at this crime-fighting thing.

That was pretty fucking evident, but I thought we were slowly getting our shit together.

Soon, we would be a well-oiled machine. This was just our first time dealing with the big leagues, you could say.

I didn’t need a high-tech computer hacker’s skills to take out the petty pieces of shit on the streets.

This was another level, and one where I had faith we’d be successful.

“Okay, yeah… I found it. It’s on the second level, J-1 section – North,” Jordan told me. “Wait.”

“What? Why?” I asked.

“Walter hasn’t left his mansion yet.”

That was something I didn’t want to hear. This motherfucker was making shit more difficult than I wanted it to be. “What’s happening? What do you see?”

“More security vehicles pulling up, more guards covering the grounds. You were right, he’s beefing up his protection,” Jordan sighed.

“Fuck!” I hissed. Looked like I needed to come up with a plan C. “I’m coming home now.”

“Wait, what if he does go to work later?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m not going to stay in the garage for hours waiting to see if he comes in.

You can’t keep the cameras on a loop forever.

I’ve got another idea. Have a sandwich waiting for me when I get there.

” I left the garage and walked back towards my car.

Once I was behind the wheel, I took a few moments to just focus.

I had made one stupid maneuver after another, because I put myself on a clock.

Both Jordan and I wanted to take this guy out for what he had done to that kid, but I couldn’t be sloppy about it, which was how I had proceeded so far.

However, if Walter had brought his ass to work today, my Plan B would have been successful. Of that, I was certain. But he hadn’t, so now I needed another way to get to him. I started the engine and drove home.

“So, did you think of anything?” Jordan asked me once I got home and climbed out of my car. “Your sandwich is in the fridge.”

“As a matter of fact, I did.” I walked to the fridge, grabbed the roast beef sandwich, and devoured that bastard as Jordan looked on in amazement. In four bites, the sandwich was gone and I was satisfied, for the moment.

“So, you gonna fill me in?” Jordan asked.

I nodded. “It’s what I should have done last night, but the thought didn’t come to me.

” I started taking off my suit. I walked into my bedroom, going to my closet to get another outfit.

One I could change out of quickly. I pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, then slipped on a pair of sneakers.

“So, ummm, am I ever going to hear what this plan is, or do I have to guess?” Jordan asked, coming into our bedroom.

“As much as I hate doing it, I’m going to take the form of one of his guards.

That’s the only way I’m going to get close to this son of a bitch.

I may even have to take the form of his driver.

I need to take one of them down so I can see what they look like and be able to get the details right,” I said, walking over to him.

“Do you think we should wait? I mean, what if that doesn’t work?”

I shook my head. “It’s true, we’ve hit some walls, but the more time we give him to get his shit together, the harder it will be for me to get to him. I want to strike now that he’s still unnerved and getting things in order.”

Jordan nodded slowly as he took in what I was saying. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“I’m going to his house right now. I need you to keep me updated on his activities until I get there. I don’t want this motherfucker leaving and not finding out he’s gone until I get there.”

Jordan nodded. “Okay.”

I climbed back into my car and headed out.

Mentally, I was kicking myself for not thinking of this last night.

I could have shot just one guard, transformed into him, and then walked through the front door.

No one would have been the wiser. Sometimes, I didn’t think about that ability.

I relied far too much on my super strength and impenetrable skin when a lot of the physical combat could be avoided just by infiltrating as someone my target knew.

I need to be smarter about this vigilante shit, starting now.

My next target was the mayor. I couldn’t afford to mess up any more.

It was a little before noon by the time I got back to Walter’s mansion.

When I called Jordan, he had informed me that the man was still in his house, and that was good.

Before I climbed out of my car, I took my EMP device, tranq gun, two clips filled with tranq darts and two syringes filled with the same tranquilizer.

Too bad my tranq gun wasn’t silent. That’s why I needed the syringes.

“How do the grounds look? Can I sneak on?” I asked as I walked over towards the mansion.