by E. A. Darl
Seeking Silence
By
E.A. Darl
Copyright © 2018 E.A. Darl
All rights reserved. Reproduction or utilization of this work in any form, by any means now known or hereinafter invented, including, but not limited to, xerography, photocopying, and recording, and in any known storage and retrieval system, is forbidden without permission from the copyright holder.
Cover Design by Greg Simanson
Edited by Judith Docken
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to similarly named places or to persons living or deceased is unintentional.
EPUB ISBN 978-1-989022-03-0
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Also By E.A. Darl | Stealing Silence | Seeking Silence | Stinging Silence | Shadowed Silence
Chapter 1 | A Place To Start
Chapter 2 | Plans Within Plans
Chapter 3 | Press Ganged
Chapter 4 | Mitch’s Secret
Chapter 5 | The Hospital Visit
Chapter 6 | Frankie’s Finger Foods
Chapter 7 | Tribal Trespass
Chapter 8 | Flight Of The Hunted
Chapter 9 | The Envelope
Chapter 10 | The Bunker
Chapter 11 | To Save A Life
Chapter 12 | Firebrand
Chapter 13 | An Unpleasant Truth
Chapter 14 | Undercover Scientist
Chapter 15 | A Change In Plans
*** THE END ***
Stinging Silence
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Also By E.A. Darl
Stealing Silence
Seeking Silence
Stinging Silence
Shadowed Silence
Chapter 1
A Place To Start
Avalon sprawled on the floor of the bedroom she shared with Alexa, chin wedged between her palms, staring at the items spread across the floor. Stretched out on her stomach and legs bent at the knee, she swung her feet back and forth, studying the objects. Two silver cuff links with a stylized golden bee on black sparkled in the ray of sunshine slanting through the open window. A curling photo of laughing friends, two of which were circled in black pen; five books of matches advertising “Frankie’s Finger Foods,” and a hand drawn pencil sketch of a green house and the words “Landfill #3” written at the bottom, with the number “9275”. She scowled at the items, then swung around to sit cross-legged and picked up the matchbook.
“I think this is our best bet. I am going to go check out Frankie’s Finger Foods,” said Avalon.
“Are you sure? It might not even exist anymore. There are hardly any restaurants in business. The cost of food is so much, no one can afford to eat out,” Alexa pointed out. “I think we should start with the landfills.”
“How are we going to search every landfill in the country? We can’t even drive.”
“We could search for them online. You know, see if any of the photos have green houses. Or use internet maps. They would have the latest satellite views of the dumps.”
Avalon frowned and fingered the matchbook. The last ray of the sun vanished as it sank below the horizon, plunging the room into twilight. “I have a feeling about this place. I am going to go to Frankie’s first.”
“Ok, then I am coming with you.”
“No you’re not. I am not dragging you out into danger. I swore to Mom and Dad to keep you safe. You are too young,” said Avalon as she pushed to her feet. She gathered the items and stuffed them back into a tin that she had found, placing all the objects inside except for one cuff link and a match box, which she stuffed into the inside pocket of her dad’s jacket. She rarely took it off.
“You can’t stop me following you, Avalon. I hate being stuck alone when you go out.” Alexa scowled at her older sister, angry tears sparkling in her hazel eyes. She jumped to her feet and ran over to the door, planting herself in front of it, all five feet two inches of stubborn sister..
“You are not alone. Peet is right downstairs. You will be safe here.”
“I am coming with you. You have to get by me to go out.” Alexa spread her arms wide, back against the door and gripped the door casing, anchoring herself against Avalon’s advance.
Avalon shrugged and walked over to the window, picking up her back pack and slinging it over her shoulder and onto her back as she passed it. Reaching the glass, she gripped the edge of the pane and pushed the sash higher. She swung one leg out over the lip of the window jamb then sat down straddling the opening.
“Tell Mitch where I have gone and if I am not back within two days, to start looking for me there. Love you, ‘sis.”
She ducked her head under the window and grasped the upper window casing, pulling herself to a standing position outside the window. A metal television antenna ran up the side of the house and she stepped over onto the structure and climbed quickly down, jumping the last three feet to land in a crouch at the base of tower.
“Avalon, get back here!” screamed Alexa in frustration. She stared at the offending tower in frustration and then backed away from the window. The height scared her and kept her confined to the house more than any lecture of Peet’s.
Avalon glanced back up at the window and waved, before vanishing into the bushes lining the driveway.
A curtain parted on the main floor and a pair of anxious eyes watched as Avalon disappeared down the drive.
AVALON RAN DOWN THE driveway, once she was clear of the house and any watching eyes. I don’t want to worry Mitch, he is way too protective of me. I work better alone. I can go places and do things that he cannot. He’s a cop, for god’s sake!
Mitch had been her constant companion for the last several weeks. They met when he arrested her for breaking into a greenhouse. He later freed her from custody, under the condition that she agree to a dangerous mission. The mission involved stealing evidence of a government cover up, one that strangely linked back to her missing parents. Avalon and her sister Alexa had been on their own for five years, ever since the disappearance of their mother and father, two preeminent scientists with a flair for solving ecological issues in the natural environment. But this goes way beyond invasive species management, thought Avalon, as she ducked behind a wooden machine shed at the edge of the driveway.
She ran around to the back to the aging wooden door and yanked it open. It took a moment for her eyes to adjusted to the dimly lit interior, after the brightness of the outside. She pulled the door partly shut and looked around the barn. She had been in the machine shed last week, just poking around to see what Peet kept in the decrepit old building. It was then that she spied the old bicycle, leaning up against the rusting red fender of a long disused square hay baler. Lucky for her, the tires were still fully inflated. She pulled the bike out of the thick cobwebs and rolled it over to the doorway. The bike was baby blue with a purple banana seat, the plastic split in two places. Long curving handle bars put her in mind of a Harley Davidson motor bike. “This will do for transportation,” she muttered aloud, scooping off the remaining spider webs and then rolling it outside. She kicked the door closed behind her and with a running start, hopped onto the bike and began peddling. Beats walking, she thought, as she sped down the deserted gravel lane, a cloud of dust trailing in her wake.
The pav
ed highway was empty when she reached it, for which she was grateful. Peet’s driveway sloped toward the road and as she sped down the hill she gathered speed. Just as she reached the turn off, she braked, squeezing the pedals in reverse to slow her descent. Nothing happened. She shot out into the road at break neck speed and swung the handlebars to the left, dumping herself onto the hot pavement as the bike skidded out from under her. She slid along its surface for a few feet before coming to a bruised stop at the edge of the gravel.
“Oww!” she howled, the palms of her hands skinned and embedded with stones. The cuts welled up with blood and she wiped them on her jeans, wincing at the contact. “Damn, that hurts! Shit!” She puckered her lips and blew gently on the stinging cuts. Her knee throbbed, drawing her attention to a new ache and she bent over to examine the rip in her jeans. “Aww, man! Not my new jeans!”
They were not new jeans at all but the cast offs of Peet’s eldest daughter, now well into her middle years. Twenty years out of date, they were still a wondrous find for Avalon, for they fit her thin torso perfectly. She even liked the bell bottoms.
Avalon limped back to the bike, scowling. She picked it up by the scuffed handles and did a visual inspection, carefully checking it over for damage. It looked to be no worse for the spill on the hard pavement. The chain had sprung off the sprocket and was dragging in the dirt. Avalon put down the kickstand and began repairing the bike. As she fiddled with the chain, an object dropped onto the road with a jingling sound. Surprised, she picked up the object. It was a leather change purse stuffed with coins. She bent her head sideways to look at the underside of the bike seat and that is when she saw it. The seat was hollow, and a little trap door had popped open with her fall. She snapped open the clasp of the change purse and emptied it in her hand. Out tumbled a large number of assorted coins, and a small silver key, but more importantly, a fat roll of bills secured with a rubber band. A low whistle escaped her lips as she slipped the rubber band from the cache of cash. A quick count brought the total to over a thousand dollars. Shocked at her sudden windfall, she stretched the band around the bills and put them back into the bike seat, keeping the change in her pocket. As an afterthought, she put the cuff link in the bike seat too, for safekeeping.
Chain properly seated once again, Avalon straddled the bike and slowly pedaled away, testing that the chain was repaired and operating correctly. This time when she braked, it slowed with no effort at all. Grinning, Avalon sped up, heading toward the outskirts of Solace. Her aches were forgotten in the excitement of her windfall. I can even buy myself lunch when I get to Frankie’s, she thought. Her stomach rumbled in pleased agreement at the thought.
Chapter 2
Plans Within Plans
The door opened and closed. The floorboards creaked as Peet walked down the hallway to his living room where Mitch sat, a glass of neat whiskey in his hand. He frowned down at the book open on his lap. The page was in some way offensive, for his frown deepened as he turned the page.
“She found it,” Peet said, sitting down in the horse hair chair across from Mitch.
“That didn’t take her long,” said Mitch, engrossed in his reading.
“She is a smart one, that girl,” said Peet with a grin. “I like her.”
“Did you really have to slip the chain like that? You could have just told her.”
“Yeah? And have her run like last time? Nope, she is a stubborn one. Best to let her discover things herself.” Pleased with himself, Peet helped himself to a measure of whiskey from the decanter sitting on the table between the two chairs. He took a sip and as he lowered his glass, he spied Alexa standing in the doorway. “Hello Alexa.”
Mitch’s head came up and he smiled at the younger sister, features smoothing. “Come in, Alexa.”
She walked into the room and sat down on a foot stool by the fireplace hearth. The fireplace was empty and cold. Alexa twisted her fingers together and said, “You put her up to this, didn’t you?” The accusation tumbled from her lips in a rush and she felt her cheeks heat. “Why did you have to use her again?”
Mitch stuck a coaster in between the pages of his book and closed it, settling his full attention on Alexa. “I am not using her, Alexa. Avalon came to this decision all on her own.”
“No she didn’t! You are responsible. You said that the restaurant might be where the gangs hang out. You had to say it, didn’t you?”
“Alexa, I only said they might be there. I also said that trying to locate the stronghold of the Firebrand gang is like trying to find a nest of rats in a sewer system. So many dead ends.”
“We need to find our parents!” Alexa trembled, her anxiety spiking with the conversation. “They are the important key, not the Firebrand gang. Who cares about a gang of teenage street rats? They robbed our house after our parents were taken! They are thugs and scum!”
“Alexa,” said Peet, “We are going after your parents, but first we need to figure out where they are. We will find them but it will take time. The S.O.S. might have some information. I am going to start with them. If anyone knows where they might be, it will be the S.O.S.”
“Who are the S.O.S? I know what they are, you already explained that. What I want to know is who are they? If they are so important and smart and all of that, how come the government doesn’t have them under lock and key, helping to solve the problems rather than sneaking around in the dark?”
The S.O.S. were a group of scientists, working in secret right under the government’s nose, to discover the “Seeds Of Survival” in a world where the land was dying. No longer trusting the government to provide answers in time to save the populace, the environmental scientists formed an underground, non-profit scientific brain trust, to explore solutions to the advancing ecological disaster that was unfolding before it was too late.
“They are in hiding, Alexa, because they refused to help the government. The government doesn’t take these things lightly. Its aims are not always aligned with the scientific community.”
“You want to go to scientists who are on the most wanted list and ask for their help against the government? Why would they do that? They are in hiding!”
“They are in hiding as their way of fighting back. I know what they want, Alexa, I am one of them.”
“So if they are so smart, if you are so smart,” she glared at Peet, “why did you have to send Avalon into danger again?” Alexa’s voice rose in anger and she choked on the next words. “She’s the only family I have!”
“Hey, hey... Alexa, we are here. I know you hate seeing her leave, but do you really think we could corral Avalon?” Mitch gathered Alexa into a fatherly hug, pressing her face against his shoulder. “She would have gone anyway, Alexa. She is headstrong and way too used to doing her own thing. We wanted to make sure that if that was the choice she made, that she was set up in an unobtrusive way. We also wanted to make sure she had resources and options. She has cash and transportation and most importantly, she is street smart. She will be fine.”
Alexa pulled away, scrubbing an escaped tear from her cheek. “Why can’t I help? Why does everyone treat me like a child? I hate being left behind. I can help!”
Mitch ran a hand over the stubble of his beard, taking in the stubborn set of her jaw and the narrowed, stormy eyes. His gaze rose to meet Peet’s. He nodded agreement to his unasked question. Mitch sighed.
“You can help.”
“I can?” said Alexa, surprised.
“Yes, you can. Peet would like you to be his spy. Would you like to be a spy?”
Alexa’s eyes widened as her lips wobbled into a half grin.
“A spy? Like in the movies? I can run around and eavesdrop on conversations, and discover secrets?”
Mitch nodded. “Exactly. Adults overlook children, and often speak things in front of them they would never share with an adult nearby.”
“Ok.” Alexa sat up straight and twisted around to look at Peet. “Who are we spying on? When do we leave?”
; “Not until the morning,” he said.
“But Avalon got to leave early. She is biking to town in the dark!”
“Well the people we will be infiltrating do not hang around after dark. Most scientists work during the day. We leave in the morning.”
“Alright.” She jumped to her feet and ran out of the room. “I am going to go pack. Do I need a dress?” Her voice floated back to them as she climbed the stairs to her room.
“Yes!” called Peet after her retreating form.
Mitch eyed him for a moment then picked up his glass of whiskey again. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“I guarantee they will not even notice her after a while. She will be safe with me. And as you are leaving, it’s best she is in my line of sight.”
“Alright, we go with your plan. Now, I just have to figure out how to get back into my old job without being thrown into jail. We need access to those police records.”
He watched the amber liquid swirl in his glass for a moment, before downing it in one gulp. Placing the glass on the table, he stood, picking up his baseball cap and tugging it onto his head.
“I think it’s time to pay a visit to another old friend. Take care of Alexa.”
“Will do. Watch your back, Mitch. You cannot know who is involved in this or how far the governments’ reach is. Be careful who you talk to and who you trust when you do.”
Mitch nodded, and left the room. The front door slammed and his steps faded away. A moment later the engine of his ‘69 Mustang roared to life and he swung out of the driveway, leaving the old house in a cloud of dust.
Peet watched for a moment as the car disappeared down the lane, then shut the door and bolted it. He picked up the shot gun behind the door and checked the magazine, then placed it back behind the door. He hoped he would not need it. But one could never be too careful.
Chapter 3