Scavenger Hunt
Page 24
Clint started to say, “You,” then stopped himself. He remembered a half-noticed detail. The blood on Two-Teeth’s clothing when he had come for Dee-Dee – and more after he finished with her – had taken up most of Clint’s memory of the man. But there was also… “Two-Teeth was covered in dirt the first time I saw him.”
Noelle smiled. “Bright.” She cocked an eyebrow at Clint’s expression, and the smile turned to a mocking pout. “Don’t approve? I thought it was rather poetic – everyone who did this to you and your sister helping set up tonight’s game. Don’t be sad for them. Everyone who died… they wanted to play this game. Do-Good presided over the closing rounds, but all the players began the scavenger hunt a long time ago. Searching for bodies, for parts to supply the rich who didn’t want to wait their turn, take their chances.” She grew quiet, then whispered. “Everyone here wanted in the game. They just didn’t realize the way it would end up being played.”
Clint thought of something: “Solomon didn’t recognize Dee-Dee. What if she wasn’t even a part –”
“She was. He didn’t know her because Two-Teeth kept the different parts of the job separate. Same with the others Two-Teeth killed –”
(And Clint remembered the blood all over Two-Teeth, remembered him saying to Dee-Dee, “SFD didn’t do it. And he won’t paw you no more – or anyone else. Neither will Zonker or Mako.”)
“– which was another careful move that didn’t matter in the end. Not to someone like me.”
She looked behind her, intent for a moment on the mask that lay on the floor. “I drew her once, you know. Drew her face, and showed it to him, and he didn’t even recognize it.”
Clint blinked back the tears that wanted to come, thinking of his sister, unknown by any save him and this madwoman. “And me? Why was I in the game?”
Noelle smiled. Then raised the knife she still held and in a motion too fast to be seen, she stabbed down and buried the knife up to the hilt in his chest.
9
Clint gasped, expecting the pain to come hard and fast and sharp. There was nothing. A strange numbness, a tingling that spread out from his hand of all places.
He looked down. Saw the knife sawing away, but not at him after all. Noelle slashed through the bonds on his right wrist. Then she lifted it and Clint flinched again as she brought it toward his face. But she reversed it, holding the blade as she extended the knife toward him.
He took it. Made sense to do so: always better to be armed when facing a crazy person. But he suspected she could have handed him a handful of used toilet paper and he would have taken that, too. He was acting automatically, his mind barely keeping up with what was happening.
Noelle – was that even her name? he wondered – pulled her shirt down, again exposing the scar that held –
(don’t think about it don’t think about what’s in there or you really will go crazy)
– the evidence of what she had been a part of. “You were the only one who didn’t choose to play,” she said. “You and Claire, and the baby we saved earlier tonight.”
Clint looked at the knife. “The baby could have died.”
Noelle shook her head. “I knew one of the players would take the baby. Would take her and save her, even if they didn’t know what they were saving her from. I would have suggested we take her to the fire station if you hadn’t thought of it, but I knew you would think of it, because it was what had been done to you.” She nodded at the knife in Clint’s hand, then looked at her scar. “You can have it back,” she whispered. “You can cut it out. I lived stolen years, and I don’t want them anymore.”
Clint cut his other wrist free. Then he exploded from the bed, knocking Noelle down. He rode her as she fell, ending up astride her, the knife at her throat.
“Just for my own curiosity: why did you let Elena go?”
Noelle smiled beatifically at him. “Who said I did?”
“You did. I saw her –”
“You saw her walk away. But neither of you noticed the evidence I left. DNA and fingerprints at a murder scene.”
“What the hell are you –” began Clint. Then he stopped. He looked at the water cooler. At the space on the floor where the Dixie cups had been. He remembered Noelle handing Elena a cup, then Elena putting it down.
Then later, Two-Teeth striding across the trash in Dee-Dee’s apartment. Including a cup.
A paper cup.
He remembered Elena as the only one to touch the money on the bed, the only one who dropped the deposit bags into the bank.
“I left a baby whose footprints would tie to her.”
“How would –” Clint began. Then realized. “Babies who are orphaned or abandoned have their vital stats taken, including their footprints.” He exhaled, sudden rage taking him. “She came from St. Jerome’s.” Then he frowned. “But she didn’t even recognize the little girl. Or me, either. I’d swear she didn’t.”
“Do you think someone like her would remember the ones who made her life easier?” Noelle shook her head. “I left evidence that she was at every place where a murder happened, along with a huge amount of cash that she didn’t notice was going to her personal account….”
(Clint heard the sounds of the envelopes sliding into the deposit chute. Thud…thud…)
“… and which had a newly-deceased man’s prints all over it.”
(Thud… and the money was gone.)
“They picked her up a few hours ago,” said Noelle. “They’re going to find files showing transfers of money like the one in the safe. She’s going to say she did it for the orphans – evil people always say they’re acting for the greater good, and the worst of them actually believe it – but they won’t believe her. She’s going to jail, and the right people have already been alerted. She’s going to jail, and the right people have already been alerted. Some very bad things are going to happen to her once she’s behind bars, so she’ll know what it’s like to be powerless, forgotten… and used until there’s nothing left of her.”
“What about the others? At St. Jerome’s?”
“The kids?” Noelle grew sad, even as she said, “They’re going to be taken care of. For real this time.” She laughed, but tears bejeweled her eyes. “Being rich means I can make things happen.”
“What now? Why all the cameras?”
“Because I wanted it to be big. I wanted people to see, and remember, and then make a choice.”
“What choice?”
She told him. Clint didn’t move. The knife didn’t waver. If anything, it pressed harder to her neck as Noelle spoke. Then she finished, her voice not trembling, her eyes resigned, and said, “What happens next is up to you.”
Postlude
1
FBI REPORT FILE FA2017R2
Appendix A
First interview with subject, night of incident, by Detectives Hernandez and Dehghani (continued).
---
HERNANDEZ: Look, we know you didn’t do it. Not all of it. We think there was someone behind this, but can’t pin down who it was. If you know, tell us his name, please.
DEHGHANI: He could barely stand when we found him. He mighta fried a circuit or –
WITNESS: (laughter)
DEHGHANI: (addressing Hernandez) You ever see something like this?
HERNANDEZ: (unintelligible)
(addressing witness) What about Thaddeus Sterling? He was seen near where we found you -
DEHGHANI: Not his usual stomping grounds –
HERNANDEZ: And we know he’s missing
DEHGHANI: He one of the bodies?
WITNESS: (laughter)
DEHGHANI: We know that Elena Ruiz is in this up to her eyeballs.
WITNESS: Well of course she is!
DEHGHANI: I knew it! I knew you were in this. How do you know her, Walker? I swear to God if you don’t –
HERNANDEZ: D., chill!
(addressing witness) Mr. Walker. Clint. How do you know Elena Ruiz?
WITNESS: She worked at an or
phanage I lived at for a while. With another girl. She disappeared.
HERNANDEZ: Who did? Elena Ruiz?
WITNESS: My sister.
HERNANDEZ: Oh shit.
(addressing Dehghani) You don’t think…
DEHGHANI: The amounts line up. And if it’s true, I wouldn’t want to be her, I wouldn’t want to be that woman once she hits gen-pop in the prison. A person who does that… to kids.
I better make a call
HERNANDEZ: You better make a lot of them, or she might not even make it to trial.
WITNESS: I wouldn’t worry too much about that. She’ll make it to trial.
HERNANDEZ: What does that mean, Clint? What do you know? Okay, let the record show we’re taking a short break
(…)
HERNANDEZ: Okay we’re back. Witness is still Mr. Clint Walker, Detectives Hernandez and Dehghani administering the interview of Mr. Walker.
Clint, I’m sincerely sorry for what happened to you. To… your sister?
WITNESS: My sister. Claire.
HERNANDEZ: I’m sorry. We’ll follow up on that. But now I need to know: who else was involved in what happened tonight?
WITNESS: I can tell you what happened to me. But as for what else was going on, and who was behind it?
(witness shrugs)
2
FBI REPORT FILE FA2018R2
Abstract
Previous videos downloaded from Portobello Road open site, YouTube, and various other P2P and bit torrent sites continue to emerge (list of known videos and sites can be found in Appendix D; please note that though attempts have been made to remove the videos from as many sites as possible, every single one continues to emerge at different sites in various geographical locations).
To date, the exact number of homicides proceeding as a result of these videos is unknown.
The above is complicated by the fact that electronic files dealing with the case are consistently penetrated by an outside hacker, then corrupted or destroyed. As a result ONLY PAPER COPIES OF REPORTS MAY BE RELIED UPON.
3
Her name was Hope. She did not like it; she hated the name, in fact, because she knew her life represented hope stolen from an innocent.
She had enjoyed being Noelle, if only for a short time. But she would be Hope again. That was part of her penance.
She looked around, and had to resist the urge to gag for the tenth time. She hated this room. She’d been in here only once before, to hit Chong with the Taser, but even that short time in the room where so many deals were made, where so many came to purchase life for one at the cost of death for another, had made her feel like vomiting, even though she had spent hours in here virtually, hacking her way into Chong’s systems and servers.
He was pretty good. But she was better. She’d always been good with computers, and once she realized what her father had done, and what she would have to do to start righting some wrongs, she had been driven to a place beyond expertise, beyond even genius. UCry2 was born then: a hacker of highest skill, and who could go anywhere and be anyone from the hidden corners of the internet.
So yes, she had been in here dozens of times, pulling information from Chong’s files, subverting his Portobello Road abomination in preparation for this moment.
She looked at one of the screens. A series of thumbnails showed on it, each of a child. Beside each child were six fields:
Date of Sale – BUYER – SELLER – Price
– KNOWN FAMILY –
Another screen showed the edited version of the final rounds of the scavenger hunt, the program she was using to lighten and brighten all the scenes compiling as her voice played over the scene.
“I’ve shown you how it can be done. Whether you do it is up to you.”
The video ended. A beep sounded and she turned to the screen. A pop-up message said, “Video compressed. Send?”
Her finger hovered over the keyboard.
She looked at another of Chong’s screens. This one held no images, no video. Just text. A transcript.
WITNESS: I can tell you what happened to me. But as for what else was going on, and who was behind it?
(witness shrugs)
WITNESS: I dunno. I just hope that anyone else who made other kids disappear… I hope someone finds them. I hope someone tells their friends and families what happened, and who did it, and I hope…
Noelle didn’t have to read the last line. She had it memorized. “I hope the people who do shit like this find themselves in hell.”
Her finger stabbed down.
The videos began posting. Some on Portobello Road – which had under her hand gone from dark web repository of the worst in humanity to a website that was appearing at the top of every Google search, with pages archived that showed as many identities as she’d been able to discover.
She wasn’t done, though.
She’d find them all. She’d post their names, too, and send the information to the relatives and friends and loved ones of the people who had disappeared like a little girl packed into a suitcase in the middle of the night.
She’d send the videos she’d made. She’d post them on hundreds of places, impossible to take down all of them. She’d give everyone who’d been wronged a visual example of what could be done.
The dead could not be brought back.
But the guilty would not enjoy what they had stolen.
Not for long.
Not if Hope had any power in the world.
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Author’s Note
The black market organ trade earns $1.7 billion annually
10% of the total organ transplants in the world come from this market.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michaelbrent is an internationally-bestselling author, produced screenwriter, and member of the Writers Guild of America, but his greatest jobs are being a husband and father. See a complete list of Michaelbrent’s books at writteninsomnia.com.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always, first prize for thanks-deserved goes to my wife, with the second place a four-way tie between my kids. I don’t know how they put up with me, but am beyond grateful that they do.
A big thank you to my Street Team (lovingly known as the Collings Cult). You all help me spread the word, and catch errors that would make me look dumb(er).
Special thanks to my friends Bobbie Bretana, Nicole Toscano, Julie Castle-Smith, Maria Cook, Heather Escobedo, Rudy McDaniel, Dan Hilton, Malina Roos, Kim Napolitano, Priscilla Bettis, Shelley Butchart, Eric Taylor, MaryJude Schmitz, Christine Christensen, Kimberly Busse, Christine Huff, Trevor Holyoak, and others who caught errors and continuity issues.
Thanks also
to my fans and friends on Facebook, with whom I shared bits and pieces of the story before it came out, and who got me excited again when the grind of a novel got me down.
NOVELS BY MICHAELBRENT COLLINGS
DARKLING SMILES
PREDATORS
THE DARKLIGHTS
THE LONGEST CON
THE HOUSE THAT DEATH BUILT
THE DEEP
TWISTED
THIS DARKNESS LIGHT
CRIME SEEN
STRANGERS
DARKBOUND
BLOOD RELATIONS:
A GOOD MORMON GIRL MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED
APPARITION
THE LOON
MR. GRAY (aka THE MERIDIANS)
RUN
RISING FEARS
DARKLING SMILES (collection)
THE COLONY SAGA:
THE COLONY: GENESIS (THE COLONY, Vol. 1)
THE COLONY: RENEGADES (THE COLONY, Vol. 2)
THE COLONY: DESCENT (THE COLONY, VOL. 3)
THE COLONY: VELOCITY (THE COLONY, VOL. 4)
THE COLONY: SHIFT (THE COLONY, VOL. 5)
THE COLONY: BURIED (THE COLONY, VOL. 6)
THE COLONY: RECKONING (THE COLONY, VOL. 7)
THE COLONY OMNIBUS
THE COLONY OMNIBUS II
THE COMPLETE COLONY SAGA BOX SET