Justice Read Online Free

couldn’t pound you for it.”
    Maddock shook his head, and the two friends exchanged an intense stare.
    Bones said, “I’ll deny I ever said this, but...nice move, man.”
    “Deny you ever said what?”
    “Not as dumb as you look.”
    A shrill ring cut through the heavy summer air. Maddock flinched before remembering that his cell phone was tucked in the tiny pack strapped close to his back. Maddock had resisted getting a cell phone for a long time, but once or twice Bones’ device had come in very handy. His friend Jimmy Letson said that within a decade phones would be more powerful than the current personal computers.  Maddock only cared that he could make and receive a call, which apparently was possible in the middle of nowhere.
    “If that’s Maxie, don’t answer it. The good old commander lives to screw up our time off. Remember that time he sent us on a week of hell for a super-secret mission that was only supposed to take two days?”
    “Which time?”
    Bones smirked. “You see my point.”
    “It could be Melissa.” Not many people had Maddock’s number, but his girlfriend, Melissa Moore, did. They had first met in Boston the previous year, and after some long distance correspondence and several visits to determine if they really wanted to pursue a relationship, they both acknowledged that they had fallen hard.
    Bones sighed. “How someone with your skills can be so thoroughly whipped is beyond me. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. How about you pretend to lose the connection if it’s Maxie.”
    Maddock extracted the phone from his pack. Why have the thing if he wasn’t going to answer it. It could be their commanding officer, but he doubted it.
    “Hello?”
    The familiar voice came on the phone, but it contained tension he had never heard before. “Dane, Thank God you’re there. I need you.”
    Rarely had words triggered such a rush of adrenaline. Melissa was in trouble. Maddock had always been the type who would help anyone in trouble, even help the occasional little old lady across the street. So when the woman he cared about most in the world called for help, an army couldn’t have prevented him from rushing to her side.
    His mind also registered one of the many things he appreciated about Melissa – her focus and lack of drama. Eight words were all she needed.
    “Where are you?”
    “Work.”
    He looked at his watch. “I can be there in an hour. Are you hurt? Are you in immediate danger? Do you need me to call someone?”
    “No, no, I’m fine. The police will be here any minute. But Sarah was attacked and… well, it was really weird and I don’t think the cops are up to this sort of thing.”
    Maddock felt a tingling sensation in his neck, one he had by now learned never to ignore. It happened when something important was imminent. Usually something involving bad guys trying to put one over on good guys. He hated that. “Hold on.”
    Melissa worked at Mt. Vernon during the summer, not exactly a terrorist target or even any kind of sensitive location. Sarah Abrams was her boss, a curator/administrator in charge of the interns. Maddock looked at Bones and relayed her words.
    Bones whistled. “Mysterious goings on with something related to George Washington? Are you getting that same feeling deep in your bowels that I am?”
    “That’s more detail than I ever need about your digestive tract, Bones, but yeah we’re on the same page.”
    Melissa’s voice came over the phone which was still attached to Maddock’s ear. “Are you still there?”
    “Yeah, honey, I’m still here. One hour, maybe less.”
    “Aren’t you eighty miles away?”
    “Yep, on a ledge seventy-five feet off the ground. I’m gonna let Bones drive.”
    “Bones driving? So either you’ll be here in forty-five minutes or you’ll die in a fiery crash. Lovely.”
    “I heard that,” Bones called.
    Melissa managed a laugh. “I’m glad you’re bringing him along. My spidey senses are on high