Page 4 of Judge's Justice

"Yes."

"Got a place to stay?"

"Yes." My voice is barely a whisper.

"Where?"

"An Airbnb. On Oak Street."

He nods slowly. "The third house on the right?"

"How do you know that?"

"Only rental on Oak Street with a code entry. Owner lists it online." He glances back toward where the Viper disappeared. "That piece of shit is going to go straight back to his club. Tell them what happened. Tell them about you."

"Me? I didn't do anything—"

"You were here. You saw it. That makes you a witness." He stares at me with those beautiful green eyes. "And that means the Vipers are going to want to know who you are. What you saw. Whether you're connected to the Iron Phoenix."

"I'm not connected to anyone. I just got here—"

"Doesn't matter." His voice is flat. Final. "They'll come looking anyway. They're at war with my club. They'll use whatever leverage they can find."

Grace tugs on my sleeve. “Mama, who is he?”

I don't know how to answer that. Don't know what to tell her about the man who just saved us from something I don't want to think about.

Judge looks at Grace again. Then, slowly, he raises his hands and signs.

“My name is Judge. You're safe now. The bad man won't come back.”

Grace's mouth falls open.

So does mine.

He knows sign language.

Grace's whole face lights up. She signs back immediately, her hands moving fast with that fearless curiosity only five-year-olds have. “You can talk like Mama! Are you nice? Why did you fight the mean man?”

Judge's expression changes, something almost like a smile, but smaller. He signs back. “The mean man was being bad. I stopped him. That's my job.”

“What job?”

“Protecting people.”

“Like a superhero?”

This time he does smile. “Something like that.”

I find my voice finally. "How do you know ASL?"

He looks at me, and something in his eyes is unreadable. "Learned it a long time ago. Needed another way tocommunicate." He doesn't elaborate. Just nods toward the street. "You need to get to your rental. Get inside. Lock the doors."

"Are we in danger?"

"Not tonight. I'll make sure of it." He pulls out his phone. "Give me your number."

"Why?"