Rogue Justice by William Neal

old. Quite the athlete at one time, wasn't she? Among her many accomplishments, she was one of the first women to navigate the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon." He hesitated as if undecided about what to say next. "Your father was no slouch either. His name was Zach, a gentleman farmer and Idaho river runner."
    Zora closed her eyes, felt a suffocating pressure, like she was being sucked into a black hole. She wanted to cut the man's throat, bit her lower lip instead.
    The man continued. "You came along rather late in the game, excelled at everything you did. Life was good in the Idaho hills, a nice little slice of Norman Rockwell. Then one day, Zach left and never came back, tore the family apart, broke your heart. You were eight at the time, as I recall. He moved to some hick town in Missouri, not the end of the world but close, found himself another woman."
    Zora was vibrating now, her face red with fury. She remembered hearing the news, remembered that day like it was yesterday. And every birthday, every holiday after that, she would run down to the mail box, hoping her father had sent a card, maybe even a gift. He never did. She kept reaching out to him anyway, hoping things would change. When she was eleven, she saved up all her allowance and bought him an expensive cardigan sweater for Christmas, wrapped it up nice and neat. She found his address in Mother's appointment book, rode into town, and sent it first-class mail. It came back ten days later, unopened. A year later, he shot himself in the chest.
    The man took a deep breath and spread his hands, palms up. "Curious how most of this got left out of the Vanity Fair story, isn't it? Same goes for the unfortunate accident with your young friend, must have been terrible watching her and her horse disappear into that ravine."
    "Give it a fucking rest, already," Zora snapped. "And leave my father out of this. He's burning in some dark corner of hell, which is exactly where he belongs." She tugged on the hood of her yellow poncho, took a deep breath. Just then, two bald eagles swooped down, soared above a broken-down old building, and disappeared over the harbor. Looking up she wished she could sprout wings and fly, too, get as far away as possible from this man and this nightmare.
    A contrite look came over his face. He nodded and said, "You know what? I hear you. My old man's not exactly a candidate for sainthood either. He, uh, well he—"
    Zora shot him a give-me-a-break look. "Remind me to bring my violin next time."
    "Listen," the man said. "I've got no ax to grind here. I really don't. Personally, I hope your mother lives to be a hundred and nine. But there's something you need to understand, captain. The people in this game do not play by the rules. They are the rules. Think of the nastiest thing imaginable, the most despicable thing one human being can do to another, and they are capable of it. As cold and as cruel as all this must sound, I'm just trying to be honest with you."
    Zora felt sick to her stomach, trapped in a dark tunnel with no way out. She stared at him in fury, then after a long pause, said, "Okay, so why me? I don't know a damn thing about killer whales. I catch fish for a living."
    "Asked and answered. Other options were considered and ruled out, as I said before. I have no doubt you'll get the job done. Can't be any worse than playing Russian roulette with a man-eating shark, right?"
    Zora ignored the reference. "Okay, let's say I do manage to pull this off somehow. What proof do I have that you'll leave my mother and me alone?"
    "You don't. You'll have to take it on faith, captain. It's the best you're gonna do."
    Zora threw him a cold stare. She was in complete free-fall now. "Fuck you and the horse you rode in on."
    They stood toe-to-toe for several long moments, staring one another down.
    Then the man slowly backed away. Glancing at his watch, he remaining maddeningly composed. "I'm sorry you feel that way." He pulled a card from his