Saturday, April 2nd, 2011, 10:30 PM
Diamond District
Judge Harrison Kelley's Private Office
Malik crouched on the fire escape outside the third-floor window, studying the security system with the kind of focus most kids his age reserved for video games. Infrared sensors, pressure plates, silent alarms connected to a private security firm that wouldn't ask questions before shooting.
"Nervous?" Selina's voice came through the comm unit barely louder than a whisper.
"Excited," Malik replied, and meant it.
This was his job. His plan, his execution, his responsibility. For the first time since he'd started working with Selina, she was letting him run the show completely.
Three weeks of preparation had led to this moment. Building schematics acquired through Douglas Valerio's casual mentions of his father's legal connections. Guard schedules lifted from Holly's contact in the private security industry. Entry and exit routes mapped during lunch breaks from school when he'd pretended to be exploring downtown.
Judge Harrison Kelley kept his most sensitive files in a private office separate from the courthouse. Smart move for someone taking bribes from half the criminal organizations in the city. Stupid move for someone who thought a fancy alarm system would protect him from a fifteen-year-old with too much skill and not enough sense.
"Two guards in the lobby, one roving patrol every forty-five minutes," Malik murmured into his comm. "Security feed loops I planted last week are still active. We've got a seven-minute window starting... now."
He pressed a device against the window lock, a piece of tech Diana Volkov had provided that made electronic locks about as useful as chocolate teapots. The window slid open silently.
"Show off," Selina's voice carried amusement. She was positioned across the street, ready to create a distraction if things went sideways.
Malik slipped through the window like smoke, landing in a crouch that would have made Ted proud. The office was exactly as he'd expected from the building plans. Conservative furniture, expensive art, law books that probably hadn't been opened since law school.
The safe was behind a painting of Justice holding her scales. Malik almost laughed at the irony.
"Safe's a Mosler Double Guard Supreme," he reported. "Give me eight minutes."
"You said six minutes last week."
"I lied. Wanted to impress you."
"Brat."
The lockpicking tools Marcus Bellini had provided were works of art, designed specifically for high-end safes. Malik worked by feel, letting his fingers read the mechanisms the way other people read books. Click. Click. The tumblers fell into place like dominos.
Inside the safe, Judge Kelley had kept meticulous records of his corruption. Bank statements showing payments from shell companies. Correspondence with defense attorneys negotiating verdicts. Even handwritten notes about which cases to throw and which ones to decide legitimately.
"Holy shit," Malik breathed, photographing everything with a camera designed to work in low light. "This guy's been taking bribes for fifteen years. And he kept records of all of it."
"Criminals love documentation. Makes them feel legitimate."
"Some of these cases... Jesus, Selina. Kids who should have gone free, people who should have gotten help instead of prison time." Malik's voice carried genuine anger. "This bastard destroyed lives for money."
"Focus. Anger later, escape now."
Right. Malik finished photographing the documents, returned everything to its original position, and closed the safe. Six minutes, forty seconds. Not bad for his first solo gig.
"Package acquired. Heading out."
"Copy. I've got eyes on both guards. You're clear."
Malik made it back to the fire escape without triggering a single alarm. Twenty minutes later, they were three blocks away, walking through Robinson Park like any other couple out for a late-night stroll.
"Well?" Selina asked.
"Flawless execution. No evidence we were ever there. And enough corruption to bring down half the judicial system in this city."
"I meant how do you feel?"
Malik considered the question. He felt... powerful. Like he'd just proven something important, not just to Selina but to himself. He'd planned and executed a perfect crime, gathered intelligence that could change lives, and done it all without anyone even knowing he existed.
"I feel like I'm finally getting good at this," he said.
Monday, April 4th, 2011, 7:15 AM
Gotham Gazette Newsroom
Vicki Vale found the manila envelope on her desk when she arrived for work. No return address, no postmark, no indication of how it had gotten past building security.
Inside were photocopies of documents that made her coffee grow cold as she read.
Bank statements. Correspondence. Meeting notes. All of it pointing to the same impossible conclusion: Judge Harrison Kelley, one of Gotham's most respected jurists, had been selling verdicts for over a decade.
There was enough evidence here to destroy not just Kelley, but half the legal system in the city. Defense attorneys who'd paid for acquittals. Prosecutors who'd thrown cases for money. A systemic corruption that reached into every corner of Gotham's justice system.
The documents were genuine. Vicki had spent enough years investigating corruption to recognize the real thing when she saw it. But the source was a mystery. Someone with access to Kelley's private safe, someone with the skills to photograph everything without being detected.
Someone who wanted the truth exposed but didn't want credit for exposing it.
By noon, Vicki had verified enough details to run with the story. By evening, Judge Harrison Kelley was under federal investigation. By the end of the week, he'd resigned in disgrace and twelve other members of Gotham's legal community were facing corruption charges.
Same Day, 8:45 PM
Fashion District
Selina's Apartment
"You've been watching the news all day," Selina observed, settling onto the couch beside Malik.
"It's satisfying," Malik admitted. "Watching Kelley's world fall apart, knowing we made it happen."
"And?"
"And I want to do it again."
Selina had been expecting this. The rush of successful intelligence gathering, the satisfaction of watching corrupt officials face consequences, the realization that information could be more powerful than violence.
"Kelley was just one target," she said carefully. "There are dozens of others just as corrupt."
"I know. That's what I'm thinking about."
"Malik." Selina's voice carried a warning. "This isn't a game. What we did to Kelley, we can't undo. His career is over, his reputation is destroyed, his family is dealing with the fallout."
"Good. He earned it."
"Did his wife earn it? His kids?"
Malik paused, considering that. He hadn't thought much about Judge Kelley's family, about the collateral damage from exposing corruption.
"Probably not," he said finally. "But that doesn't make exposing him wrong."
"Doesn't make it right either. It makes it necessary." Selina's expression was serious. "That's the difference you need to understand. We didn't destroy Kelley because it felt good. We did it because someone had to, and we had the skills to do it cleanly."
"So what's next?"
"Next, you learn to slow down. Real change takes time. If we move too fast, if we hit too many targets at once, people start connecting dots. They start looking for patterns."
"And they find us."
"And they find us."
Both said in unison.
Malik nodded, understanding. The power he'd felt during the Kelley job was intoxicating, but it needed to be channeled carefully.
"But we will do it again?"
Selina smiled, and it was sharp as a blade. "Oh yes. Gotham's full of people who think they're untouchable. Time to teach them different."