Flutter

by L. E. Green

  He walked back onto the restaurant floor where Frankie was serving a few guests.

  “Hey, Frank. Something came up. I got an important call and have to run out for a minute,” he prayed Frankie didn’t ask too many questions, and Frankie didn’t. His mind was too busy thinking about Abigail and Roger upstairs.

  “Are you coming back?” Frankie asked.

  “Yeah. Give me about an hour or two.” With that, Larry grabbed his things and rushed out the door.

  Larry ran home and grabbed his research. The one thing he promised himself was that he wouldn’t let Levy know anything about Frankie’s Pub or Frankie’s relationship with Abigail or that she worked there with him. He knew Frankie would be upset with him if he knew Larry led them directly to Abigail, so his plan was to tell Levy that Abigail recently disappeared and let Levy figure things out from there. He mainly wanted to get more information about Abigail. But why should we be this discreet? Is she wanted? Is she a runaway? Is she an escaped convict? Larry’s curiosity took captive his senses. Everything was shady about this meeting, but he put his common sense aside for the sake of answers.

  Larry wasn’t totally foolish. He used his secondary prepaid phone for the contact number to his advertisement. He regularly cleared it and never kept contact information or stored texts or images or recent calls. He never told the man his real name. He used an alias that he had used in the past, complete with a fake ID and bogus credit cards. His name for the night was Talbert Sullivan. He walked the ten blocks from his apartment to the diner where they had arranged to meet. When he reached the diner, he saw a black Escalade parked with a man standing outside of it. By the way Larry looked at him, Levy could tell Larry was the man he was waiting for.

  Larry got closer and could see Levy’s face clearly. Unknown to Larry, Levy was really Mr. Jason Dewey. He said, “Are you Talbert?”

  Larry stretched out his hand and said, “Yes I am. Levy?”

  Dewey said, “Yes you can call me that if you like.” They shook hands. “How about we take this conversation into the car? We will need privacy. It’s a sensitive matter.”

  Larry eagerly hopped into the car. Saul and Ben were in the front seat. Ben was behind the wheel. Once Larry got into the car he knew something wasn’t right with the situation and wanted to get out of the car, but felt that opportunity had passed. Dewey lit a cigar. Ben pulled the car out of the parking lot. Dewey didn’t say anything for a few minutes. He wanted to make Larry as uncomfortable as possible. Dewey finally spoke and said, “Talbert. I see you have done some research. How do you know my Abigail?”

  Larry already had a story prepared, “I met her one day at the Supercoin Laundromat on Winchester Street. She was hungry and cold, so I gave her some money, clothes and some food. I went there regularly to check up on her and one day she took off. I put up the ad to try and find her.”

  “How did you know to post the ads in New York?” Dewey asked.

  “She was reluctant but eventually she came around. We talked a few times. She couldn’t remember much about her past but she had an ID so she let me borrow it to look her up.” Larry hoped Levy wouldn’t ask too many questions, but he knew by the questioning that Levy was not convinced of his lie. He decided to switch gears and do the questioning. Besides, he wanted to know what the hell was going on. That was his main purpose. “What’s the deal with her? Was she a runaway? Escaped convict? Who is she?”

  Levy said, “Oh, Mr. Sullivan it’s very complicated and classified, so how about you cut the shit and tell me what you really know?”

  Larry knew then that Frankie was right. Leave it alone! He would say. And that is all Larry could here in his head. “I’m not sure what you mean.” Larry said in an unconvincing manner. It was true that Larry didn’t know much, but he knew a lot more than this story about an occasional rendezvous at a laundromat.

  “I see you have done some digging. And what did you find out?” Dewey said teasingly as the smoke from his cigar filled the truck. Larry didn’t answer. “Well, since you cannot seem to put things together, let me tell you.” He soaked in every syllable; every word and punctuation mark was clear in what would be the last paragraph he’d ever hear in his life. “My name is not Levy. As I am sure your name is not Sullivan, but that matters not. You are more irrelevant than I hoped and not even worth torturing. I will take your materials and kill you. But before I do, listen carefully. Your Abigail Paige is a creature like none other, similar to my sons here.” He referred to Ben and Saul. They smirked. “Only, Abigail is a unique creature. She was carefully crafted under the auspices of myself and a few other geniuses in a fashion you wouldn’t understand. But if you must know, she is a killer ordained by... well, me. You could say that I am her father.”

  Dewey continued, “You are very foolish. I don’t sense concern for Abigail in you. I sense a rage, a discontent. She sickens you. Am I correct?” Mr. Dewey smiled. He knew he was right. “Oh yes. So now I wonder what she has done to you.”

  “What has she done to you!?” Larry yelled out. Larry knew these would be the last words he would ever hear.

  “Disobedience. Lying. Treason. All worthy of elimination. But it matters not. And you led me to her. I know she is here. But where exactly? Where is my disobedient little daughter?”

  “I truly do not know.” Larry wasn’t lying. Abigail was all over the place.

  “And if you did know, you wouldn’t tell me anyway, would you?” Dewey asked.

  Larry shook his head. Dewey said, “You would have been better off leaving things alone, my friend.” The car slowed in a dark place. Larry had no weapons, no help. He wasn’t the fighter Frankie was. He couldn’t even try. It was hopeless. They are killers! He didn’t have a chance in hell. Mr. Dewey took the materials away from Larry. Ben and Saul dragged him out of the car and shot him in the head. Each of them delivering fatal wounds to the skull. They left Larry lifeless on the side of the road and pulled off.

  Dewey made a phone call. “How are things looking?”

  A black Ezekiel named Adonis with green eyes and a low haircut answered, “We are walking to get him now.

  DR. PALTEE’S HOUSE

  6:11 PM

  The cool air outside had changed and the wind picked up as heavy dark clouds made an appearance over the tree enveloped Victorian home. Dr. Paltee was in his house having tea in front of his fireplace, reading a book. Suddenly he glanced over and saw on a surveillance screen on the table a dark figure walking slowly up the cobblestone driveway. A few weeks earlier, he had installed hidden cameras at the entrance of his driveway and around the home. He stopped and watched, and then he saw another figure walking behind the other. Ezekiels! He dropped the tea on the table and ran into his basement. He grabbed a bag that was pre–packed and went back up to the main level. For one reason or another Dr. Paltee knew this day was coming. If Abigail could find me, they will be soon behind. Since that day he had prepared an exit plan. He had given Abigail all he had left of his research on Project Flutter and Gray Scale. He took a few more books and tossed them into the fireplace. They began to burn. He rushed around the house and packed a few more things into a second bag. He grabbed a few books and tossed them into a suitcase. Just before he left, he gave his house one last look. He closed the door.

  He looked around but didn’t see them. His older body struggled to pick up the heavy bags. His car was only a few steps away. He quickly shuffled over to the car and opened the back door. He threw the first bag into the back of the car. He stopped. He heard something. He looked around. He picked up the second bag and tossed it onto the back seat. He closed the door. He stopped again. He heard something again. He saw something coming quickly in the distance. Just before they reached him, he smiled and pressed a button on a black device he had pulled from his pocket. There was a light series of four beeps and his house exploded.

  They were all thrown to the ground. Paltee’s body was weakened by the blast. He momentarily lost his bearings and hearing. His eyes were
out of focus. The explosion only knocked the two dark figures off their feet for a few moments. He made an attempt to make one last phone call, but he was too late. He didn’t get a chance to press SEND. The two mysterious men approached Paltee, then jumped on his body and immediately ripped him to pieces. The pain was agonizing but his screams only lasted for a moment. The two Ezekiels checked Paltee’s belongings, grabbed the two bags from his car and found his phone dangling from his hand. They searched through the phone and immediately knew the next target. They walked back down the cobblestone road and faded away into the darkness. Suddenly two red lights of a car appeared in the darkness. There was the sound of opening and then closing car doors.

  Once inside, Adonis called Dewey. Dewey picked up the phone and Adonis said, “Target eliminated.”

  Dewey said, “Excellence as always, Adonis. I expect nothing less.”

  “Thank you, Father,” Adonis was proud. “We did have a minor kink. He must have known we were coming and destroyed his house before we reached it. We took care of him and fled as quickly as possible. It was a huge explosion which would easily alarm authorities. We needed to move quickly.”

  “Shit! Were you able to recover anything?” Dewey asked.

  Adonis said, “We grabbed a briefcase and a few bags from his car. We didn’t go through any of the bags, but we got his phone. He attempted to make a call to someone named Atkins, before we killed him,” Adonis said.

  Dewey smiled and said, “Atkins!?” Dewey remembered her. He remembered the intel on her said that she was clean, dysfunctional, slightly insane and incapable of being an issue. He wondered how Atkins and Paltee had reconnected. He wondered how their communicating had slipped under his radar. Paltee made a major mistake looking up Indigo, Inc. the night he and Abigail met. A Google search for Indigo is not unusual unless it comes from an IP address that is on their watch list. Paltee should have known better. Dewey was immediately made aware and Paltee became a target, just in case. Thus Ezekiels were sent in, but he never suspected that Paltee and Atkins had been keeping in touch after all these years. How did that slip by me? We must tighten loose ends.

  “Terry Atkins. Now that is a pleasant surprise. After all these years they’ve been keeping in touch. Hmm. I should have checked up on that but, whatever.”

  “There’s one more thing,” Adonis said. “It seems Paltee met with Abigail. He snapped a picture of her on his cell phone. I don’t think she noticed.”

  “So, he reunited with Abigail? How did he manage that? Probably Atkins. Hmm. Well, I guess we know our next target. Ben, quick change of plans. Drop me at the hotel. I have a new assignment. It just came in.” He referred back to Adonis saying, “Good work. I will see you in a few hours.”

  They hung up the phones and drove off.

  DEWEY’S HOTEL ROOM

  Dewey reached his hotel room and immediately changed his clothes into a white cotton shirt and cotton slacks. He sat at a table and looked through Larry’s papers and said softly, ‘What do you know Mr. Talbert Sullivan or whatever your name is?” He flipped through the files and only saw information that he already knew. He also found a pile of missing person’s reports of young women that fit Abigail’s description and would be about Abigail’s age at this point. “Oh I think you were on to something!” Mr. Dewey found a report of a missing young girl named Savannah Paltee.

  Savannah Paltee was Dr. Colin Paltee’s daughter. Her picture used to hang on the wall next to the picture of his parents. She favored Abigail. They looked like they could have been sisters but Savannah was a few years older. Paltee volunteered her into the program after his wife left him for another woman. When he realized the direction of the program had changed, he quit but they refused to release her, stating she was now intellectual property. Paltee fought hard, but was denied visitation due to a contract he had signed but hadn’t read, thoroughly due to his initial excitement for the program. She had disappeared three years earlier and was never recovered. Seeing the post brought back many memories for Dewey.

  Dewey had his assistant post the report, but nothing came of it. Savannah had completely vanished without a trace. She had gone on assignment, eliminated the target and never returned to the rendezvous point, nor did she call in. They spent the next two years searching for her but they determined that she was either dead or in hiding. Dewey believed the latter. Larry had found the posting and thought the girl in the picture looked a bit like Abigail and printed it out, but he was never able to make any additional connections. Dewey took the posting and placed it off to the side.

  Dewey took a sip of water. He then took Larry’s phone and opened it. He was disappointed at the lack of a memory card and the lack of contacts, call history and missing text messages. Dewey took out his cell phone and made a phone call. When the person answered he said, “I have a number here. I will need the numbers called from this phone as soon as you can.” Then he listened for a moment and said, “$5,000 is fine. I will give you another $5,000 if you can get that to me in three days or less.” He listened again and said, “Goodbye.”

  Dewey closed the phone. There was a knock on the door. He opened the door. It was Detective Duffy. Duffy took out a drive, handed it to Dewey and said, “Chris Duffy. Erin Moore sent me.” Dewey greeted him with a smile and a stiff pat on the shoulder.

  CHAPTER 19

  ATKINS’ RESIDENCE

  Abigail sensed something was irregular. She stopped Roger in his tracks, blocking his way with her arm. Roger was too eager and anxious to follow his senses and piece things together. He was ready to bolt into the house until Abigail stopped him. Abigail’s eyes were blazing blue like a high temperature flame. Though she cared about Ms. Atkins, she refused to lose control of herself. Protect Roger! She thought. She told him, “You can’t go in.” Abigail could sense that Ms. Atkins was not alone.

  Ben and Saul were in the house standing over Ms. Atkins who was bloody and barely breathing. She had been beaten and tortured and was hanging on for life. They questioned her about Paltee, Abigail and the suit. Though they didn’t know she had managed to build a suit, they knew she must have access to the plans. She was suspected of stealing the plans years ago, but now they were sure she was guilty of it. She refused to speak to them. She refused to tell them anything about Abigail, and she refused to answer questions about the suit. They had beaten her badly in response to her noncompliance. They were even more frustrated that they hadn’t recovered her phone.

  When they first kicked in the door, she was in the kitchen. She had received a call from Paltee earlier and heard him scream, then suddenly go silent. She had listened for a moment before hanging up. Next she had turned off her phone’s ringer and tried to send Roger a text message, “DONT COME HOME TONIGHT! GET ELVIS OUT OF TOWN!” but she was so jittery and nervous she had forgotten to press SEND. Paranoia set in. She tucked her phone in the refrigerator behind the eggs. Then she went back into the front room, attempting to lock down the house. But they had kicked in the door within 15 minutes of the call from Paltee, and her attempt at securing the door had been no match for their strength.

  As they stood over her, harassing her and searching her house, they suddenly stopped in their tracks. Saul and Ben’s eyes turned blue. Their fangs grew slightly. They recognized Abigail’s presence. Saul looked up and said, “Ben, it is our sister. She is here!” Saul smiled.

  Ben said, “Yes, brother. She is here, isn’t she?”

  Saul said, “Just as we knew she would be.”

  Ben looked out the window and looked at Ms. Atkins, “Seems your son is here, too.” Ben and Saul smiled at Ms. Atkins. She was tied up, sniffing blood through her nostrils. Her mouth was gagged with cloth covered in tape. She was splattered with her own blood which was coming from various parts of her body.

  Roger and Abigail were in the street. Abigail was heating up with anger. She could smell the blood but couldn’t tell if Roger’s mother was dead. She assumed she was. She didn’t want Roger to know and freak out on
her. Roger said, “Someone else is in there.”

  Abigail nodded. She didn’t know what to say. She looked at Roger. She was breathing heavily and struggling to speak. “Do as I say, Roger. Get in the basement and get to the weapons. Put dirt in your hair and cover your mouth so it’s harder to smell you. They may already know we are here.” She dug up a handful of dirt from the grass on the side of the road and rubbed it in his hair.

  Roger took a bandana out of his pocket. He tied it around his mouth and nose. Roger then ran around the back of the house and disappeared into the dark. He decided to try and sneak in through the back door. Abigail, confidently and fearlessly, walked up to the front door. The door was slightly ajar. She opened the door and walked in.

  Abigail slowly walked down the hallway, taking in the scenery. She peered her head around the corner and saw Saul and Ben standing there over the sad–looking Terry Atkins. She pretended not to be affected by the condition of the woman. Abigail recalled a quick memory of them training together. She also saw flashing memories of their photos in Dr. Paltee’s journal– “FLUTTER 26” and “FLUTTER 19”. She fearlessly entered the room.

  Abigail said, “26 and 19.” She stood firm.

  Ben smiled and said, “Sister. You remember.”

  Abigail said, “I am not your sister.”

  Saul said, “But you remember. We came here to retrieve you. Won’t you come home with us? Our Creator, our Father, he wants you to come home.”

  Abigail shook her head and said, “No. He will kill me.”

  Ben said, “No, 43. He will reprogram you. You need to be cleared. Your mind must be cleaned. You have been confused.”