River of Implications

They descended the stairs, and Venita glanced outside through the round mini window in the stairwell. The night had turned cold, and the blustery winds that swept across the dock chilled her to the bone inside the unheated stairwell. She strained her eyes to see if she could spot any signs of movement, but the stores and streets were devoid of any life. Jan unlocked a door at the bottom of the steps. "Come on, Venita, it's cold out here." They stepped into a darkened room, and Jan reached to the right and flipped on the light switch. It was even colder in there. The room, mostly stacked with shelves and boxes, ran about two-thirds of the way underneath the upper floor. Then there was a section that was enclosed, which Venita assumed was where the boat's controls were located. "What is this?" "This, my dear Venita, is justice." "Justice for who?" Jan walked over to a file cabinet and opened a drawer, then she pulled out some manila folders. "For these people." Venita took the folders curiously and opened the one on top. It looked much like a police file on a case of an abused little boy. "Are you a cop or something?" Without answering, Jan said, "That little boy was beaten to death by his father, who was made to stand trial. In the end, he got off on some fucked up technicality. You know how much time he ended up doing?" Venita shook her head. "Eighteen months. Just eighteen lousy months." "God," Venita moaned. "So then you are a cop?" "That doesn't matter. What matters is justice." It didn't take a genius to figure out where Jan was going with this. "And that task falls to you?" Jan nodded. "And you can help, Venita. We need people like you." "We?" Jan nodded again. "You're not giving me enough information, and without knowing more, I can't make a decision." "You don't have a choice." Fear began to once again creep up Venita's spine, but it was quickly replaced with anger. "Excuse me, but I decide what I do with my life. Not you." Jan quickly rose from the white plastic chair she'd been sitting on and pulled the gun out of her pocket. Venita opened her mouth to scream, but before any sound could emerge from between her full lips, Jan snatched her wrist and firmly placed her hand around the pistol. "What the fuck are you doing?" "Proving that you have no choice. I've had gloves on the whole time. The only prints that are on this gun right now are yours." Venita watched in utter disbelief as Jan took a key from her pocket and unlocked a drawer in the metal filing cabinet. She tossed the gun in the drawer and locked it back up. "You—you crazy-ass fucker!" she finally stammered. Her brain scrambled to come up with the right things to say. "If you'd have just explained to me a little more about how it all works, I would have gladly helped out. You think I like seeing little kids' rapists and murderers get off? Well, I don't!" Jan studied her intently. Venita decided to bluff her. Maybe if she appeared indifferent and unafraid, she could weasel her way into that filing cabinet so she could remove her prints from the damn gun. She had no problem with the guy who probably would have raped and killed her being flat-out dead. But she did have a problem with her prints being on a weapon she hadn't fired. "Go ahead, call the cops. I'm not afraid of no gun. I know I can prove to them what really happened." Jan laughed. It wasn't a nice laugh either. It was a laugh laced with evil. Maybe she really was a cop, in which case, going to the cops about a cop would surely be worthless. But she had to try. If she let herself get caught up in a bunch of illegal activity, as much as she loved the idea of taking out some of the world's trash, she would be in even deeper shit. If she could just get to the police station and explain everything… "Listen, Venita," said Jan, placing her hands on her small shoulders. "I really want us to get along. I won't make you do anything you don't want to do, and I'm sorry if I came across as all or nothing." Venita's eyes flicked up to Jan. "I think it's called blackmail." "Really, though, I don't want to blackmail you or anybody. I just want some help, and for some reason, I thought you might be interested." Choosing her words carefully, Venita said, "What do you want me to do?" "Be the bait." "I have it in me to hate, despise and loathe people, but honestly, Jan, I don't think I have it in me to kill them. I can wish they'd drop dead or wish someone else would take the honors, but me, kill? I don't think so. Not unless I was left with absolutely no other choice whatsoever." "You don't have to kill anybody. Just be a lure." "How?" "Tonight. All you gotta do is go to this guy's house and knock on his door." "Then what?" "Then you appear all pretty and friendly as you ask him directions. He'll be more than happy to help. That's when you suddenly realize you don't have a pen and paper to write the directions down on and you ask him to write it down for you. He'll no doubt offer for you to come inside. You refuse, saying you're in a hurry but would like to come back the next day to thank him personally for the help. He'll definitely want you to do that. As he's going to get something to write the directions on, my guys will take over and you just get the hell out of there." "And go where?" "Back to my car, which will be parked a few houses away. But you can't run like something's wrong in case anyone's watching. You absolutely must appear casual. Got it?" "Got it. Who are the guys, and are you driving them, too?" "They have their own ride." Venita took a moment to let Jan's words seep into her brain. "What did this guy do?" "Oh, only raped a few people and got off a little too easy for it. Just four lousy years, then it was off to be a danger to society again due to good behavior. Good behavior that was really a good act, of course. Criminals will say and do just about anything to get back on the street and resume their activities. Trust me, Venita." "Why won't you tell me if you're some kind of corrupt cop or anything like that, not that I don't totally get why you're doing this? These animals make me just as sick." "My title doesn't matter. It's irrelevant. All that matters is that it's either no justice, some justice, or vigilante justice. And I can assure you, Venita, that legal or not, vigilante justice means total justice." Venita's mind churned a mile a minute. "You ok with this?" "Everything but the prints on a weapon I never used." "That's my insurance." "Why do you need insurance? If you feel the need for insurance, then that means you don't trust me, and so you shouldn't have enlisted me in this operation by force like you did. Why not get someone you trust?" "You just told me before you weren't worried about the gun and that you could simply explain it away." "Oh, I'm not worried. I know the truth would prevail. I just think that if we're going to work together, it should be because we trust each other and it's something we both want to do. I didn't say I wouldn't consider helping you out, Jan. But yes, the truth would prevail in the end with a little explaining." Jan took a step toward Venita, smug and confident smile on her face. "That's what countless rape victims said, too. If they just explained what happened, presented the evidence, the asshole would go down and then they could sleep at night." Venita felt her pulse speed up. The bitch was right. "So I have to keep baiting these fuckers for you so you don't throw the gun at the cops, swearing that I killed someone for shits and giggles, explaining that my prints are on it?" "Actually, I was going to just drop the gun off wherever and leave it to fate." "Oh, thanks, Jan. That's really sweet of you," said Venita, visualizing her back in her store when she used to shop for incense and other things, never knowing about her secret nightlife. "Prove to me that you're sincere and that your heart is really in this and I'll wipe the gun clean in front of you and together we'll dump it in the river far enough away to ensure that it will never be found." "I don't like these ultimatums you've given me, Jan." "But you said you're not worried about your prints being on the gun. So decide what's most important to you, Venita. Righting some of the world's wrongs, or telling the truth," Jan said, adding a touch of sarcasm to her last few words. "I'm still not worried about the gun, but I'll do it. I'm in." "You're in?" Venita nodded and noted how Jan eyed her skeptically. That was ok. She didn't need to prove herself to the woman. She just needed to get off this damn boat and over to the police station. She couldn't and wouldn't judge Jan for "righting the world's wrongs," as the tall, dark woman had put it. She understood her frustration. Hell, if she'd had a daughter who'd been raped and she watched her attacker get away with it, she'd no doubt go after the bastard herself. For now, though, all she needed to do was get away before she got in deeper shit.