The Discarded

by Brett Battles

  __________

  NATE AND ABRAHAM followed the MINI Cooper east on Haiku Road and then north on Kahekili Highway, never letting the vehicle get more than four cars ahead.

  “Relax,” Nate said, sensing Abraham’s tension.

  “I am relaxed,” Abraham snapped.

  “Really?”

  “I mean…it’s just, well, we’re so close.”

  Nate couldn’t begrudge him his anticipation. The man had been obsessing about this for seven years.

  A few minutes later, the MINI turned onto Kamehameha Highway, but only stayed there for about a minute before turning onto a side road into what seemed a more residential neighborhood.

  Nate gave the MINI a little more distance before he took the turn. When he did, he found himself at the top of a slope. The MINI had reached the bottom and was pulling off into what appeared to be a park. Nate angled across the street onto the shoulder and killed the engine.

  “Call Quinn,” he said to Abraham. “Tell him where we are. But stay in the car.”

  He jumped out before Abraham could respond, and headed down the small hill. Unlike Quinn, he was dressed for the islands, having put on shorts and a T-shirt before they landed. To finish the look, he pulled out a set of earbuds, plugged them into his phone, and started nodding his head to music that wasn’t playing.

  When he reached the bottom, he saw that Wiley had pulled into a small parking lot next to the park. A few other cars were there, too—all, including the MINI, empty.

  The park itself was not large. There was a basketball court near the parking area, and to the side a grassy area big enough for a decent game of international football. Near the center, close to the road, was a tan cinderblock building that had to be restrooms, and not too far away a sign that read: LAENANI BEACH PARK.

  Nate entered the restrooms, going in only far enough so that he was masked by the shadows. There were three people in the park, a woman playing with a dog down at the far end of the grassy area, and two teenage boys shooting hoops. Sandra Wiley was nowhere in sight.

  He looked past the parking area, wondering if she had gone into one of the nearby homes. As he swept his gaze back across the park, he noticed the top of someone’s head just beyond the edge of the park across from him.

  The beach. It was below the level of the park a good four and a half feet. Needing a better view, he walked around the court to a picnic table near the ocean side and leaned against it.

  The person on the beach was indeed Wiley, so he took off his shoes, hopped over the short wall onto the sand, and walked into the water. It was warm and inviting, just the way he liked it.

  After a few seconds, he turned and started walking parallel to the land, expecting to see the woman still standing where she’d been, but instead she was heading back to the parking area access way.

  What the hell? She was leaving, but without meeting anyone?

  Maybe she’d been killing time until she was supposed to meet Desirae somewhere else. Which would mean he needed to get back to his car in a hurry. But wouldn’t she have left her shop later? He stepped out of the water intending to return to the car, but his gut was telling him he was missing something, that Wiley didn’t come here on a whim.

  He looked toward the spot where she had been leaning against the wall, and noticed a crack between the blocks running halfway up from the bottom. Nothing special; there were other cracks. But this was the only one that had a spot of white peeking from it.

  He looked toward the parking lot. The woman had almost reached her MINI. If he sprinted, he might be able to get back to Abraham before she drove past, but not without her seeing him and likely wondering what he was doing.

  He moved back into the water, trusting his instincts, and started walking again. Behind him he could hear the MINI’s engine spring to life, followed soon by the roar of it driving away.

  The crack was now only a dozen feet ahead and across the beach. He swung his gaze left and right, taking in the beauty of his surroundings. His pace didn’t falter as he passed the crack. No one would have been able to tell he had the slightest interest in it.

  His gamble had paid off. The woman was now unimportant.

  Jammed in the crack was a white envelope.

  CHAPTER 31

  ORLANDO FLIPPED THE page and stared at the words without actually reading them.

  As soon as she and Quinn caught up to Nate and Abraham, she had taken over observation duty and was now sitting at the picnic table, reading a trade paperback copy of Wool by Hugh Howey that Abraham had been carrying around.

  Since she’d moved into position, only two other people had ventured onto the beach, neither coming close to the crack containing the envelope.

  “It’s starting to get dark,” she whispered without moving her lips. After the sun set, pretending to read would no longer be a viable ruse.

  “You’ve got at least ten minutes,” Quinn said.

  “Maybe we’ve already been made.”

  “Let’s hope not.”

  She let the appropriate amount of time pass and turned the page again.

  “Car,” Nate said. He and Abraham had moved into the parking lot of the Episcopal church at the top of the rise. “Turning onto Laenani Drive now.”

  “I see it,” Quinn said. “And old Jeep CJ7. Dark blue. Black hardtop. Pulling into the parking lot. Hold on…okay, got the license.” He read off the number.

  “Running it now,” Nate said.

  Quinn took up commentary again. “Door’s opening. I have…a woman exiting. She’s the right age but her hair’s black and long. Don’t have a good angle on her face so can’t say for sure. Heads up, Orlando. She’s headed your way.”

  Orlando made no move to acknowledge the steps echoing off the asphalt behind her. She was just someone enjoying a good story. As the person from the Jeep moved past the table and onto the beach, Orlando turned the page again. The clacking echoes were now replaced by shifting sand along the wall.

  Orlando softly clucked her tongue once, letting the others know the woman was heading toward the crack.

  “Got an owner on the car. Karla Bishop. Age thirty-seven.” Nate read off an address. “Checking the map…okay, got it. It’s in the hills northwest another ten miles or so. Satellite image doesn’t really show much. Looks pretty overgrown.”

  “Move to position number two,” Quinn told him.

  “Copy.”

  “Orlando, what’s going on there?”

  “She’s almost there,” she said as low as she could.

  The woman slowed as she approached the crack, and then leaned against the wall and looked out at the ocean. So normal and natural. A real pro. Orlando’s position prevented her from seeing the crack itself, but when the woman leaned to the side, she knew it was to tease out the envelope.

  Orlando clicked her tongue three times.

  “Copy,” Quinn said. “Tagging the vehicle.”

  While Orlando continued pretending to read, she kept the woman in sight, ready to warn Quinn the moment she neared the parking area, but the woman seemed content to remain at the wall. Again, a pro move, selling the sense that nothing was up.

  “Clear,” Quinn said. “We’re all set.”

  “Ready on our end, too,” Nate said. He and Abraham would now be waiting closer to the main highway to follow the Jeep.

  When the woman finally began moving again, Orlando clucked once, staying focused on the book.

  Footsteps coming up the ramp, growing closer and closer and—

  “Getting a little dark to read, don’t you think?”

  Orlando looked up. The woman was standing five feet away, and though the color of her hair had changed, Orlando knew from the picture Nadine had shown them that the woman was indeed Desirae Rosette.

  “Not too bad yet,” Orlando said. “I can probably get in another twenty minutes.” She turned back to the book but could feel the woman’s gaze on her.

  “What is it?” Desirae asked.

 
; “I’m sorry?”

  “The book. What is it?”

  Orlando held it up so Desirae could see the cover.

  “What’s it about? Sheep?” Desirae said.

  “No,” Orlando said with a smile. “It’s actually science fiction. Kind of.”

  “What do you mean, kind of?”

  Orlando could tell Desirae was testing her, but as a proponent of being prepared, she’d asked Abraham to give her a quick rundown of the plot.

  “There are these people living in a silo with no apparent way out. Thousands of them. Not sure why. Haven’t gotten there yet.”

  “Good?”

  “Yeah. Really good.”

  “Well, have a nice evening,” Desirae said, and then headed into the parking lot.

  __________

  “THAT SOUNDED LIKE fun,” Quinn said as Orlando climbed into the car and tossed the book into the backseat.

  “She didn’t bash my head in so I’ll take that as a win,” she said.

  Quinn hit the gas and headed for the highway.

  On the console between them was his phone, open to the app tracking the Jeep. Orlando picked it up and looked at the screen.

  “Heading northwest,” she said. “Fits with the address Nate found. Who was the Jeep registered to again?”

  “Karla…Bishop, I believe.”

  Orlando leaned between the seats and retrieved her laptop. Within moments she had a mobile connection and her browser open. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to turn up anything more about Karla Bishop. The address on the Jeep’s registration had a different name as property owner—Susan Drake. A search of that name also came up blank.

  __________

  AS GLORIA HAD done at the four houses they’d visited so far, she approached the door of house number five with only King as company while Nolan and Andres waited by the sedan, ready to spring into action if things went bad.

  Her knock was greeted by an elderly Asian man. “Yes?” he said.

  “I’m sorry to bother you. I’m Detective Baker and this is Detective Kendrick. We’re with the county crime investigation unit.”

  The man looked surprised. “How can I help you?”

  She asked him a few innocuous questions, hinted at an investigation of someone else in the valley, and in the end decided he and his wife—the only other person who lived at the house—were unlikely to have been the ones Eli had talked to.

  With a thank you and good-bye, she and her team moved on to house number six. Like several of the other places, there was a gate across the driveway. On one side was a mailbox with the name Drake printed on it, while on the other an intercom at driver level. When Gloria pushed the button, she received no response.

  She peered past the gate and down the long drive. She could make out a portion of the house off to the right, tucked beneath several trees and surrounded by brush. The rest of the property seemed overgrown, too, as if the owner had given title back to the jungle. What she didn’t see were any cars.

  She pushed the button again but again no one answered.

  “Mark this one,” she said. “We’ll come back.”

  She backed out of the driveway and headed down the road to house number seven.

  __________

  THE GOLDEN TONES in the sky had begun to give way to black as the Jeep turned onto the mountain valley where the property owned by Susan Drake was located. Since there was no other way out of the area, Quinn had Nate and Abraham wait for him and Orlando at the base of the valley. By the time they met up, the Jeep had stopped moving at the exact coordinates they’d expected.

  After consolidating into one car, they headed into the valley. The Bishop/Drake residence was the sixth property up the road. There was a gate across the driveway and an intercom to the side. While he couldn’t see any, Quinn was sure a camera was there, too.

  He started to roll down his window to access the intercom.

  “She knows me,” Abraham said. “Let me try.”

  It was a sound idea. Quinn pulled forward enough so that Abraham could lean out his window and press the button.

  For a long moment, it seemed as if no one would answer, and then the same voice Quinn had heard speaking to Orlando on the beach blared out of the speaker. “This is private property. Leave now or I will call the police.”

  “Desirae,” Abraham said. “We just want to—”

  “Get off my property!”

  “It’s Abraham Delger. I know you haven’t forgotten the last time you saw me. When I brought her to you.”

  Silence.

  “Please,” he said. “Please let us in.”

  A few more seconds passed before they heard the sound of an electric motor and saw the gate swing open. Quinn drove forward before Desirae could change her mind.

  “Nice job,” Nate said to Abraham.

  “I don’t think the job’s done yet,” Quinn said as the front lanai came into view, revealing Desirae Rosette standing at the top of the steps cradling a Tavor assault rifle.

  CHAPTER 32

  “DO NOT GET out of the car,” Desirae said. “I don’t care why you’re here. I don’t know what lies you told my mother. I don’t want to hear any of it. I only let you come this far so you could see how serious I am. You are not welcome. Just your presence here has already ruined our lives. If you come back tomorrow, we will be gone. Now turn around and don’t come back.” She emphasized the last of her words by leveling the barrel of her rifle at them.

  Orlando said, “All we need is a few minutes of—”

  “Leave. Now.” Desirae braced the rifle against her shoulder.

  “Anyone have a suggestion?” Quinn whispered.

  “Maybe we should go,” Nate said. “Let her cool down a little and come back in a few hours. One of us could keep an eye on the place, make sure she doesn’t leave.”

  Quinn knew as unsatisfactory as Nate’s suggestion might be, it was probably the best solution for now. But as he reached to put the car in reverse, he heard one of the back doors open.

  “What are you doing?” Nate said.

  “Do not step another foot outside!” Desirae shouted. “Get back in your vehicle.”

  “Go ahead and shoot me, then,” Abraham said, climbing all the way out of the car. “I’m not going to leave. Not until you’ve heard us out.”

  “I said get in the car, Abraham! Right now!”

  He moved around the back of the sedan and started walking toward the house, his hands raised.

  “I swear to God, I will kill you where you stand.”

  “Then go ahead,” he said.

  Quinn opened his door.

  “You get back in!” Desirae said, shifting her aim to him.

  “There are people looking for you,” he said.

  “I know there are people looking for me. They’ve been looking for me for years.”

  “They’re getting close,” Abraham told her.

  “Because of you,” she said, pointing her gun back at him.

  “All I wanted to know was if Tessa was alive. I realize I should have left it alone, but I can’t take it back now.” He paused. “These are the worst kind of people. They killed a good man, a friend who was helping me.”

  Surprise flashed across Desirae’s face. “What friend?”

  “His name was Eli. Eli Be—”

  “Becker?” she said. “They killed Eli? Oh, God. I told him to run.”

  Another car door opened. “You’re the one who warned him,” Orlando said as she climbed out.

  Nate, apparently feeling left out, opened his door and joined them.

  Still holding her gun on them, Desirae repeated, “I told him to run.”

  “He did run,” Quinn said. “He went to Florida.”

  “I was supposed to meet him there,” Abraham said. “But they found him before I arrived. We followed his trail but we didn’t get to him in time. They knew he’d found some information about Tessa. They tried to torture it out of him. We don’t know how much they got before h
e died.”

  “Oh, my God. Abraham, why couldn’t you stop? Why did you have to keep looking?”

  “This isn’t Abraham’s fault,” Quinn said. “These people aren’t looking for you because he wouldn’t stop. They took another friend of ours, but we were able to get him out before they could kill him. When they were interrogating him, they never asked him about Abraham. They don’t even know about Abraham.”

  “The dot-xuki computer virus at the CIA,” Orlando said. “I’d be willing to bet that’s what started it. At least this latest round.”

  The front door of the house creaked open, and a scared young voice said, “Mom, what’s going on?”

  Desirae looked over her shoulder and said, “Get back inside.”

  “Who are these people?”

  “Terri, I told you, wait in your room.”

  From Quinn’s vantage point, he could see the girl standing in the doorway. Abraham, however, had to take a few steps to the side to see around Desirae.

  “Tessa?” he said.

  “Inside!” Desirae yelled at the girl.

  But the girl had frozen in the doorway at the sound of Abraham’s voice.

  Abraham took a step forward. “Tessa, I-I don’t know if you remember me, but I knew you when you were very young. My name is Abraham. I—”

  “Abraham?” the girl said, her eyes widening. “Abe?”

  Abraham’s own eyes were swimming in water as he continued forward. “Yes. I’m Abe.” The girl stepped onto the lanai.

  “Terri, please,” Desirae pleaded. “It’s not safe out here.”

  But the girl walked on as if she couldn’t hear Desirae.

  “Abe?” she said again. “You…you took me on a plane.”

  “A few. A couple trains, too.”

  “I don’t remember trains.” She hesitated. “You promised you’d come back.”

  “I wanted to for a long time, but I’m here now.” He was almost to the lanai now. “Do you still play checkers?”

  A surprised half smile. “Every day,” she said. “Just like you taught me.”

  Desirae’s shoulders sagged as she lowered her gun. “For God’s sake, come inside before I kill all of you.”