The Return of Chief Justice

By Scot Savage

After missing in action and presumed dead for twenty-five years, a fallen super-hero must come out of hiding to face his arch-enemy one last time!

Plagued with self-doubts of past sins as well as bouts of boozing and womanizing, can Chief Justice conquer his inner demons and restore his good name with the support of a dedicated police commissioner, the reluctant help from the son of his former junior sidekick and the love of his newly-created crime-fighting partner?

Or will the arch-enemy finally prevail in his long-awaited revenge by forcing Chief Justice to confront the “real truth” of a lost innocent from long ago and finish the job he failed to complete twenty-five years ago?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Oct 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781387372454

Book preview

The Return of Chief Justice

The Return of Chief Justice

A Novel

Scot Savage

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Scot Savage Enterprises

Schaumburg, IL

www.havevampirewilltravel.com

[e-mail]

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Scot Savage Enterprises

Copyright © 2009 by Scot Savage

ISBN # 978-1-387-37245-4

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including, but not limited to, photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews or where permitted by law.

Cover Art by Scot Savage

Scot Savage Enterprises

Printed in the United States of America

¹⁰ ⁹ ⁸ ⁷ ⁶ ⁵ ⁴ ³ ²

Dedication

To Law Enforcement Officers, Fire Fighters

and Military Personnel:

The Real Super-Heroes!

PROLOGUE

The youngest of my great-grandchildren came to visit me at my senior retirement community in Scottsdale, Arizona.

During one of our quiet times, he jumped up on my lap and asked me to tell him about Chief Justice.

Where did he come from, Poppy? If he was around before you were born, then how come he still looks young rather than old?

Well, I answered, I have heard many stories concerning his origin, but this is my favorite—and the one I believe to be the truest...

It all started when the United States was involved in The Great War—World War I.

The Emissary had awoken from suspended animation after his small spacecraft finally reached its destination—Earth!

His world and its people had been long dead. He was now the sole hope to complete the desperate mission of peace.

Peace! It was ironic!

For thousands of years, the people of the Emissary’s world enjoyed a life of peace; however, it came with a great price.

Long before the Emissary was born, two rival factions from his planet had engaged in an endless war.

There was so much hate—so much killing!

Billions died.

The enlightened few pleaded for both sides to reach a peaceful resolution, but it seemed that the moral majority did not have the stomach for negotiation or diplomacy. They kept building weapons of mass destruction.

Eventually, weapons were no longer needed to kill. The population of the planet would become extinct on its own. The fallout from the weapons of mass destruction had slowly rendered the inhabitants sterile. Each generation found it progressively harder to procreate and the damage that was done was irreversible!

The entire race was now doomed to slowly fade away into obscurity— and eventually—non-existence.

Both sides now saw the error of their ways; they accepted peace.

Everyone banned together and decided to use the time that they had left to set the best possible example to other races. They pursued knowledge, medicine, charity, meditation and understanding.

The Emissary’s people lived out their remaining years without violence—without crime. No one ever killed another. People only died from the effects of extreme old age as diseases were virtually wiped out.

It was a glorious time—a time of great enlightenment! Everyone loved and helped each other. Even though it took a terrible tragedy to bring everyone together, the people considered themselves the most fortunate beings in the multiverse.

Alas, all good things come to an end!

The finality was drawing near and the population of the world had dwindled down to a paltry few. Most races in the same predicament would have been content to reach the pinnacle of self-actualization—of being all that they can be. Even though they had reached a point of greatness that no other beings could ever hope to achieve, it just simply wasn’t enough. They wanted to pass on their knowledge and instill their ways of peace and contentment to other races. They were determined to go out with one last glorious mission of greatness.

It took years, but they finally found a world that was most suitable for their purpose.

It was a world that the inhabitants simply called Earth.

However, what was most uniquely unusual about this world was that there was more than one—so to speak.

This planet existed in a delicate and critical temporal eco-system. Earth existed in many parallels. There were virtually infinite multiples of Earth, each with different divulgences in time and different outcomes of history.

For example, on one Earth, the Ice Age never came and the dinosaurs still rule the world and humankind never came to be. In another, the Roman Empire managed to crush the barbarian hordes and the sovereignty still exits to this very day.

Many of these alternate Earths were appealing to the Emissary’s people, but the ones that were the most intriguing were the ones that supported the creation of super-powered beings—super-heroes!

In almost all realties of Earth, these special beings only existed in comic books and those that dared to imagine; however, in a few exceptional realities, super-beings were very much real!

There were worlds in which unique individuals could fly through the air as easily as a bird. Some could see through solid objects. Some could turn invisible.  And some were so strong that they could bend a solid steel bar as effortlessly as a normal person could bend a wire coat hanger.

Of all these special worlds that had super-powered beings, the Emissary’s people focused their attention on one world in particular. Every other super-powered world had an abundance of super-powered beings, but one of these worlds had no super-beings at all; however, it had the potential for them to exist.

It was decided that they would give this version of Earth its very first super-hero.  This Earth-reality would be gifted with its greatest human savior.

With that in mind, the Ultimate Formula was created!

This formula would fuse with the blood and the recipient would become a human with the greatest physical, mental and, perhaps, spiritual potential.

Since there was only time to make enough formula for one person, the only question that remained was—who was this recipient going to be?

That was why the Emissary was sent—to find the one worthy individual out of so many!

The Emissary arrived on this Earth not a moment too soon!

The continent of Europe had broken out into war. Although the violence of this war had paled in comparison to the violence that was suffered on his own world, the Emissary was still appalled because he had become so accustomed to the ways of peace.

The Emissary believed that his best chance of success for his mission was to assimilate himself into the human race and live among them secretly. The Emissary used his vast knowledge to accumulate wealth so he could set up a base of operations to better observe our world and pick his subject.

When the Emissary traveled to Europe, in the guise of an American general, he found his most suitable candidate.

His original name before he changed it to preserve his secret identity (or so I was told) was Captain Mason Jackson—an American infantry officer believed to be a descendant of Andrew Jackson, the great American general and president.

Captain Jackson was a heroic man. He was a fine officer and a great leader of men. He was known for his steadfast courage under fire—and he was dying!

Jackson was the victim of enemy artillery fire. The blast had burned away his once-handsome face. Almost every bone in his body was broken. His internal organs were ripped up inside him and beyond repair.

Mason Jackson was not bitter over his impending death. Despite that his wrecked body yearned for the escape of death, he still thanked the Good Lord for allowing him the opportunity to serve his country and die for a just cause. He also was grateful that when he took the blast, he was able to signal off a warning to his platoon as they would not suffer from the upcoming mortar attack. Because of his selfless sacrifice, many lives were saved.

Mason had no regrets. He believed that his actions would contribute to final victory, ultimate peace and the greater good.

The Emissary was touched by Jackson’s dedication to humanity, even at the cost of his own life. The Emissary saw great potential in Jackson as well as hearing Jackson’s secret prayer for another chance to keep serving his fellow humans.

Late into the night, the Emissary/General secretly visited the dying soldier’s bedside. The Emissary revealed his true identity and the nature of his mission. He made Captain Mason Jackson an offer to be the sole recipient of the Ultimate Formula and be re-born into a new being of great power. In exchange, Jackson had to agree only to use his new powers in the pursuit and preservation of the greater good—to protect the weak and quell the presence of evil wherever it festered.

Jackson enthusiastically agreed and allowed the Emissary to inject him with the formula which caused a deep slumber that simulated death.

While it was believed that Jackson died in his sleep, the Emissary took the body to his secret lair so that Jackson could slowly heal without fear of discovery.

Jackson slept for twenty years as his burned body regenerated back to healthy flesh.

In that time, his severed limbs and missing internal organs grew back. It took all that time, for his mind, body and soul to accept his re-birth.

When the slumber finally ended, Mason found that his physical strength was equaled to that of a champion weight-lifter. He had the speed of an Olympic runner. He had the endurance and the dexterity of a world-class athlete. He found that he could easily master unarmed combat like a seasoned professional boxing contender and a long-time pupil of martial arts. His body could heal from minor wounds in seconds, serious wounds in minutes, broken bones in days and re-grow missing limbs and organs in weeks.

His re-birth had given him an acute sense of compassion and fair play—a bastion of morality!

He was everything that a human being could be—and more!

With more training in the use of his powers, Jackson found that he could use his regeneration ability to replace deteriorating cells with healthy ones to retard the effects of aging.

He could even pass on his healing gift to others.

Once a year, Mason had the ability to draw his blood to heal a lucky recipient of almost any injury or illness. All it took was a few drops and for Mason to make physical contact with the recipient to mentally activate the healing process.

In order to make his limited immortality more bearable, the Emissary told Jackson that, every twenty tears, he could transfuse his blood to a ‘worthy’ recipient who would be given the gift of limited immortality along with super-powers. That way, Jackson would not have to be alone in his crusade of justice. He could create a companion or a successor when he decided to retire.

When Jackson was finally ready to re-enter the world, he discovered that his beloved country was involved again in another World War!

Discovering the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the rise of the Third Reich, he swore to put an end to this war and prevent any more wars from following.

In order to combat the evil of the Axis Powers, Jackson adopted the costumed identity of Chief Justice. His red, white and blue costume and the gold eagle he wore on his chest were symbols of inspiration that freedom and democracy must always prevail.

With the Allied Forces inspired to work harder, they were able to capture Adolf Hitler before he could tried to take his own life.

Hitler failed to cheat the War Crimes Commission of sentencing him to be hung.

It was due to the strategic genius of Chief Justice that led a secret invasion into Japan which resulted in the capture of Emperor Hirohito without having to adopt an alternate plan to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

With the threat of war eliminated, Chief Justice was now able to restore law and order on the home front.

He smashed organized crime and crushed terrorist cells before they could do any harm. All that remained were petty criminals. The crime rate fell so low that people were actually not afraid to leave their doors unlocked when they went to take a neighborhood stroll.

Being satisfied that his protégé had reduced crime from serious problem to annoying nuisance, the Emissary decided to leave Earth. Now that his mission was complete, the Emissary traveled deep into space and set his craft to self-destruct so that he could finally join his own people forever.

Even with the absence of his mentor, Chief Justice still continued to stamp out evil. He led by example and taught the people of the world that they did not have to have super-powers to be good. All they needed to do was live as law-abiding citizens. It was Chief Justice’s hope that someday he would no longer be needed and he could retire and live a normal life of his own.

It seemed that Chief Justice was not far away from that goal—or so he thought!

Little did he realize (and neither did the Emissary), that although the forces of evil can be greatly diminished or even held at bay, they cannot be destroyed entirely.

Much like Yin and Yang, one force cannot exist without the other. Although it seemed to be crushed, a portion of evil can still slip through the cracks unnoticed.

Evil is patient. It knows where to hide so that it can slowly grow—slowly regain strength—and strike when it felt that the moment was right.

My great-grandson son found it hard to believe that my former home of Nirvana City was once the ideal community of the United States. Now, it is a war zone in which honest, hard-working folks are at the bottom of the food chain.

This was once the base of operations and beloved home of Chief Justice and he cared for this city and its citizens more than any other. Nirvana City was once a wonderful place to live and raise a family—that is, until twenty-five years ago.

Much like in comic books, every super-hero has an arch-enemy! Everything was just fine and dandy—until twenty years ago.

That’s when everything suddenly went to hell in a handbag!

What really happened all those years ago?

CHAPTER 1

Late April, Present Day

He had fooled them all!

It had taken twenty-five years—but he fooled them all.

Jonas Marrow, the man known once as the villainous Fire Fiend, had convinced those over-worked doctors in the criminal justice system that he was finally cured. He had persuaded them that he was no longer insane. He was now free to take his rightful place in society.

Jonas fooled everyone—not because they believed him cured—but rather that he was never sick in the first place.

Jonas was always aware of exactly what he was doing. He knew the difference between right and wrong, but always preferred the side of wrong. After all, good and evil were merely conceptions of each individual’s mind; therefore, one person’s good was another person’s evil.

No one else could possibly understand (or even appreciate) the true nature of fire.

How he loved to watch things burn.

How he longed to make things burn again!

He loved to set fires.

He marveled in his ability to not make them appear as deliberate acts of arson. It was even better when he could make it look like it was due to some other dope’s negligence.

Jonas longed to hear the screams of people in a burning building. There was no better way to release someone’s spirit from their body and cleanse it for all eternity.

Fire is pure! Fire is alive! Fire is life!

It was all so deadly and simple—and only Jonas could see it!

In the beginning, it was all so innocent and fun—until he showed up!

That blasted Boy Scout wasn’t content that he ended the war in Europe and wiped out all major crime in America. Now, he had to clean up petty crime and make local conventional law enforcement officials look like a bunch of hapless boobs.

The hero was right; the police were stupid!

The Fire Fiend could always evade them. They could never capture him. Only that stupid-hero could do it—only that patriotic glory hound had what it took to defeat him—time and time again!

It some ways, it was flattering. It took a super-powered being to capture a mere normal human.

Marrow only had his wits, great intelligence and technology to combat the enemy. No one had any idea that a non-super-powered villain with no henchmen would be the most challenging adversary of the greatest hero that ever lived—but Marrow was exactly that!

Even though the hero beat him every time, Jonas was never out.

Time and time again, the Fire Fiend would fight another day with another plan to thwart his nemesis.

It was also frustrating as hell as the cursed enemy always managed to figure out Marrow’s ingenious clues and stop him before a major blow could be struck.  Marrow would seem to have the upper hand but, in the end, the enemy always outsmarted him.

Every dog has his day—and the Fire Fiend had his!

Call it luck. Call it destiny. Call it sloppiness on the part of the hero. Call it that Marrow finally outsmarted the enemy.

Marrow had his day!

The hero always got the better of him—until that one day—the one day that changed it all.

On that one fateful day, it was all over!

However, Marrow did not want it to be over!

It took twenty-five years to get out of the insane asylum and there was one last goal that Marrow wanted to achieve before taking his last dying breath.

Twenty-five years ago, he had humiliated and discouraged his enemy so badly, that the once great and proud hero went into hiding. He had destroyed the heart and spirit of his enemy.

It wasn’t enough!

Much like a poker player that couldn’t stop until either he broke the bank or lost all his money, Marrow wanted to destroy the physical remains of the hero—or be destroyed himself.

It was believed by many that the hero died long ago, but Marrow knew otherwise.

The hero was still alive and hiding in his hole!

He was like a wounded dragon that retreated to its cave only to cower inside and lick its wounds for the rest of its life—waiting for its natural lifespan to end.

Like all vermin that hide in their holes, even they must stick their heads out eventually. Marrow was going to force the weakened hero out of his hole.

He would come out!

Marrow knew his enemy well and he knew what he needed to do.

Jonas Marrow, the Fire Fiend, was going to destroy Chief Justice—once and for all!

CHAPTER 2

Late March, Mid-Evening, Twenty-five Years Ago

Chief Justice and his teenage sidekick/protégé, Bernie Schwartz, aka Blazing Justice, had just climbed over the roof to the old abandoned warehouse which was located in one of the seedier parts of Nirvana City where no honest, hard-working citizen would dare venture after dark.

They tip-toed to the skylight in the middle of the roof and peered down the glass to spot a rabble of crooks that were gathered around a table dividing up the loot from their most recent score.

Holy cow! young Blazing Justice said enthusiastically, but still managed to keep his voice low. You were right, Chief. This is the Dead End Gang’s hideout. How did you figure it out?

Simple deduction, Bernie, Chief Justice answered in his deep and charismatic voice. Remember the footprint left behind by one of the crooks during the diamond store heist? I did an analysis of the mud that was left behind from that shoe. I found metallic dust mixed in—a special titanium alloy. I remembered reading an article that Morse Enterprises were building a new line of cargo ships using that alloy. Then, I also remembered that one of their ships was in Nirvana City Harbor for repairs. I figured that the dust was a result of the hull being sanded down smooth. That meant that their hideout would have to be near the harbor. I checked the Bureau of Public Records and found that this warehouse was abandoned for years.

Geez. Bernie bit his bottom lip. I should have deducted that, too.

Don’t be too hard on yourself, Son. You would have figured it out eventually. You’re still not an experienced crime-fighter like me, but you will be some day. Like a fine wine, Bernie, you’ll mature and get better with age.

By the time I’m as wise as you, Chief, I’ll be too old to fight crime.

Nonsense. Chief Justice chuckled with a hint of smugness. You’ll be a full-fledged crime-fighter rather than a sidekick. When I finally retire, I wouldn’t be surprised if you ended up being a greater hero than me. And don’t worry about getting old. When you take your final oath, that won’t happen unless you want it to.

It would be something. Having longevity just like you—never getting old.

But remember, my ambitious lad, Chief Justice got on his moral pedestal again, the price of that longevity is your dedication to the pursuit of justice.

Bernie smiled. I’ve only been dreaming of that moment ever since you took me under you wing.

Your day will come, Bernie. Chief Justice returned the boy’s smile.

Holy epiphany, Chief Justice! Blazing Justice suddenly switched to a new tangent of thought. Now I get it. On the Dead End Gang’s previous caper last night, you let them escape on purpose when we could have easily nabbed them. Only up until now, I thought you got sloppy. It was all a ploy because you knew that they would all come here to meet up—every member of the gang, including the ring leader. That way, we could all grab them at the same time.

Very good, Blazing Justice! Chief Justice rewarded his sidekick with a warm pat on the back.

Ingenious, Chief—but—why didn’t you mention it before instead of letting me think that you were slipping?

Because I wanted you to figure it out on your own. That’s the best way to learn. Even though you had some doubts about my competence, you still followed my lead and didn’t question my judgment. You chose to stick with teamwork. That’s why we always prevail.

You’re right again, Chief. Bernie nodded his head, As always.

Now that the lecture is over, how about we catch us some bad guys?

With pleasure, Chief. Bernie playfully hit his gloved fist into the palm of his other hand.

Remember, said Chief Justice as he and his junior partner took another look into the skylight to observe the crooks, make sure to cover your face with your forearms before you jump into the glass.

Right. Bernie heard this many times before, but knew that another good reminder was to his benefit.

Even though his thin-layered red, white, and blue uniform was actually made of a heavy duty kevlar which would protect him from the jagged pieces of glass, his face was still vulnerable as he only wore an eye mask.

And don’t forget to roll when you hit the floor to absorb the impact.

Bernie had to bite his tongue as to not answer back. For crying out loud, Chief! I’m not exactly new at this. Bernie knew that Chief Justice meant well, but sometimes his overcautious pampering could get annoying. Say, isn’t this Captain Pulaski’s precinct? Shouldn’t we call for backup?

Heavens, no! Chief Justice politely scolded him. By the time we bag the crooks, the police arrive just in time to haul away the garbage as they always do. No need to trouble Captain Pulaski with this. He’s much too busy. He’ll be up all night with his lieutenants and sergeants to go over crowd control for the Gay Rights demonstration early tomorrow morning.

Why does the city let gay folks protest every year, Chief? The police should be rounding up and taking them to mental hospitals where they can be cured and be normal people.

Come now, Bernie. This isn’t the same situation as when I helped round up the Japs during World War II. No one is being accused of spying. We can’t force anyone into institutions unless they are a danger to society. Even people with mental disorders have the right to peaceful assembly.

Bernie nodded in agreement as they got ready to pounce upon the criminals.

On three, said Chief Justice.

CHAPTER 3

Wednesday, May 1, Late Morning, Present Day

After the ninety-minute bus ride, Jonas walked out of the depot and took his first look at Nirvana City after a twenty-five year absence—and he liked what he saw!

It was just as he expected. He relished in the pride of his handiwork.

The one-time utopia-metropolis had fallen and rapidly digressed from a Norman Rockwell community to a cesspool of crime and a bastion of corruption. The once-honest public servants that ruled the city were now replaced by those infected with political graft.

The stink of mistrust was in the air and Jonas enjoyed every breath he took in like the fine aroma of a bouquet of roses. He could see the looks of complacency, hopelessness and melancholy on all the poor inhabitants of the city as he passed them by. All their expressions seemed so lost and disheveled.

There was a time when people would smile and greet each other as they passed by on the street. Folks actually went out of their way to stop and help someone that needed directions.

Now, everyone walked and avoided making eye contact with any strangers on the street. They all seemed so afraid that if they looked at someone the wrong way they might bring trouble upon themselves. Someone could be dying in the street and no one would stop to help. They would just keep walking by as if nothing were wrong. No one wanted to get involved in matters that had no bearing on their livelihood.

Much like the benevolent guard of Stalog-13, Sergeant Schulz from Hogan’s Heroes, everyone sees nothing—hears nothing—knows nothing. People survived in this town if they minded their own business and ignored trouble.

In this urban, concrete jungle, the regular working-class citizens knew that they were the sheep, rabbits and mice that made up the bottom of the food chain. Their only defense was to keep their eyes alert so that they wouldn’t fall victim to evil criminals like Jonas and the rest of the wolves that would prey on them if they let themselves become unaware.

Jonas could see the fear and wariness in their eyes—and they were very wise to be scared and cautious.

Unlike twenty-five years ago, the unlawful element that now infected the city were real criminals with real agendas. They lived in the real world and their crimes were motivated by personal gain—not some idiotic theme to make a point and gain media attention.

All these people that obviously passed him by had no clue that he gave Nirvana City its greatest gift. He was its savior. He was the snake in the Garden of Eden that forced the forbidden fruit down everyone’s throat. Jonas made everyone open their eyes and gave them back their freewill and their ability to embrace good or evil to its actual potential.

As expected, Jonas saw that evil had flourished and took a strong

foothold. Like every savior that tried to free his people, there would be a few that would condemn him for taking away paradise—especially Chief Justice!

Jonas had to do it. The goodness of Nirvana City was a lie. It was all a fake veneer and everyone else was too blind to see it.

For everyone’s sake, Jonas had to make them see it.

Good and evil had to fight and take control by natural means. It wasn’t Jonas’ fault that evil took over Nirvana City. Good was only prevailing in the past because—it was cheating!

Good had an unfair advantage over the clueless denizens of Nirvana City—and the main orchestrator of this lie was Chief Justice’s very own benefactor: the alien emissary that gave him his power.

Even Chief Justice couldn’t see the fraud that the inhuman invader had perpetrated on the city. It took an evil genius like the Fire Fiend to get the naïve foolish hero to see the light.

Jonas’ thoughts were suddenly interrupted when on old, beat-up Honda Civic pulled up and stopped right in front of him. Was this his ride?

The driver hit the electric switch which made the passenger window slide down to reveal a young man of about nineteen or twenty years of age.

Jonas didn’t recognize the young man, but he also wasn’t surprised that Turk wasn’t here to pick him up personally.

Even though the young driver had spotted Jonas minutes before, he had to circle around and pretend that he didn’t see him right away as he needed a little more time to clear his head and get up his nerve.

His pick-up was just as Turk described him: a middle-aged man, average height, wiry and bushy black hair with a thin mustache and goatee.

The driver knew he had his man when he saw the eyes; Turk told him that Jonas had a stare that could grab hold of your soul and choke it to death.

Although this man appeared like a sorry-excuse for a homeless person who could be easily twisted like a pretzel, the young driver knew that this was but a deception to get his enemies to underestimate him.

In those eyes, the young man could see an insane evil—but a calculated and intelligent evil as well.

The young man’s gut instinct told him that this stranger was extremely dangerous and never to be trifled with. He was obviously a master of cat-and-mouse games and, like a chess master, was always a dozen moves ahead of his opponent.

Mr. Marrow? asked the young driver.

Yes. The strange man smiled. Are you my ride?

Yeah, the young driver answered nervously as Jonas pulled on the door handle and took a seat next to him. I work for Turk. My name is Jim.

A pleasure, Jim. Jonas offered his hand and could see that Jim was reluctant to accept it. "My name is Jonas. Your employer and I go back a long

time. Thanks for picking me up. I was afraid that I would get the old brush off."

Turk would never do that, Jim said. "He takes care of his people."

As do I, Jim, Jonas said sarcastically. "As do I."

Jonas looked out the window as they drove through Nirvana City as he was still fascinated by the changes he wrought, but never got to see firsthand.

He began to wonder how Benny Bugsy Siegel would feel if he came back from the dead to see how he turned Las Vegas from a small desert town into a major empire of casinos, hotels and senior retirement villages.

Jim felt very uncomfortable with the sudden awkward silence.

For several minutes, the strange passenger was sticking his head out the window like a dog taking a first car ride. He looked at his surroundings with both awe and wonder.

Jim remembered having that same look—except that he was four years old and he walked into Disneyworld for the first time.

CHAPTER 4

Late March, Mid-Evening, Twenty-five Years Ago

Not bad for a night’s work, said a thug. Ain’t it, Boss?

Like takin’ candy from a baby, Longshot Louie answered.

Coming to Nirvana City was a great idea, Boss. The cops around here don’t have a clue. They can’t even catch a j-walker.

You got that right, Fingers, Louie replied. They go crying to Chief Justice every time there’s a felony. Did you see how easily we gave him the slip last night? If that bozo is the best law enforcement they got, then we’ll be running this city by the end of the month.

Before Louie could continue his bragging, every member of his gang jumped when they heard the loud shattering of glass. They quickly knelt down low and covered their heads to protect themselves from the falling debris as two figures descended from the roof and landed on the floor.

The first figure, who was a mature male in his mid-twenties, landed flat on