Estranged

by Alex Fedyr

  Kalei was grateful for the sweatshirt, but the glasses had been at Jenna’s insistence. “Xamic made you famous, honey. The driver gets one look at your face, and everyone goes nuts. You shoulda seen the news when you chased Xamic down that interstate. They have experts on you now.” Jenna had given a short laugh as she pulled Kalei’s hood over her head.

  For the most part, though, the taxi driver wasn’t overly concerned with Kalei’s attire, or with their “passed-out-drunk” friend. He only had eyes for Jenna’s half-exposed melons. Once they arrived at a grimy motel, Jenna pouted her lips, invented some sob story about losing their wallets in last night’s fun, and the driver grudgingly let them go for free after a quick peek at the items of his affection.

  Kalei stayed in the parking lot with Josh while Jenna worked more of her magic on the motel manager, probably sharing more than the brief flash she had given the cabbie, and soon they were climbing the stairs to their new room.

  Kalei couldn’t even look at her sister. She was ashamed of what Jenna had done, and even more ashamed that she had let her do it.

  Once Jenna opened the door, Kalei immediately found the nearest bed and dumped Josh into it. Kalei knew this hotel. She had done guard duty for a number of crime scenes at this place. She had only seen the interior of the rooms in passing, but nonetheless, it was odd to see the cheap, garish furniture sitting neatly in their places. Usually, they were tossed about the room, or half covered in someone’s blood. Almost like a recovery room, except the wreckage was ten times cheaper to replace.

  As it was, a pair of twin-sized beds covered with red leopard print sat pushed against the wall, a small, wooden nightstand between them. A gaudy painting featuring a large, well-endowed woman in a cocktail dress overshadowed the drab lamp on the table, and on the opposite wall stood a pasty green dresser with a fat, cracked television on top. A door at the back led to the bathroom, but Kalei’s nose told her she had no interest in investigating. The main room already smelled like sex and vomit overlaid with the sickening tang of artificial citrus. She had no desire to know what the bathroom smelled like. Instead, she plopped down on the second bed while Jenna found a short armchair near the door to fall into.

  The girls sat in silence for a moment, taking a deep, mental breath after the mayhem of the afternoon. While the furnishings were distracting enough to take Kalei’s mind off things, they were almost painful to look at. So instead, she found herself looking at Josh, lying perfectly limp on the bed where she had dropped him. She noticed that his head hung off one edge of the bed, and his arm was twisted in a painful angle beneath his body. Kalei leaned forward and straightened the boy out, berating herself for being so careless.

  Jenna remarked, “Dumbass is slow to recover.”

  “Whatever. He’ll wake up soon. “

  Jenna kicked her feet up onto the bed and leaned back in her chair, eyeing Kalei. “So what is this? One minute, you’re all, ‘I’m gonna kill the Estranged!’ and now you’re savin’ ‘em? What the hell?” Jenna pulled her hands forward and started counting out on her fingers. “We’ve got Terin and all of frickin’ SWORDE after us, Franklin’s pissed, who the hell knows what Xamic is up to, and now we’re playin’ babysitter to some dumbass kid? Shit.” Jenna flopped her arms onto the armrests. “So what now?”

  Kalei looked back at Josh’s body. If it wasn’t for the bullet-hole in his forehead, or the fact that he wasn’t breathing, he could’ve been just another teenager, passed out on a Saturday afternoon after a late night of video games. As it was, she knew what he was. She knew he was Estranged. But when she asked herself why she bothered to take him along, when she asked herself what they were going to do next...

  Kalei replied, “I don’t know.”

  Jenna pulled her feet off the bed and leaned forward. “I’ll tell you my plan.” She pointed at Josh. “I’m gonna get rid of this punk-ass kid ASAP. I can’t stand the immature little son of a—”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Shenanigans

  Jenna sat on the edge of the bed, arms animating her words as Josh watched closely from his seat on the opposite mattress. “Then I turned around...” Jenna grinned as Josh leaned in closer. “And smacked her dead in the face! And get this: the bitch falls flat on her ass and rips out the biggest damn fart I ever heard!” The pair burst into laughter.

  From where she stood on the other side of the room, Kalei dropped her head back into the wall. Arms crossed, her eyes rolled back beneath closed eyelids. They had been like this for the last three days, ever since Josh woke up. Kalei was at her wit’s end; she felt like a chaperone to a pair of middle-schoolers. When Josh started asking questions about whether it was a juicy fart or a loud honker, Kalei opened her eyes, pushed off the wall, and reached for the door handle.

  Jenna stopped laughing. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Out.”

  “Hey, you know you can’t go out. People will see you.”

  Kalei picked a paper bag up off the dresser, dumped out its contents of newspaper and gum wrappers, then put it over her head. She poked out two holes for the eyes and demanded, “There! Better?” She didn’t wait for a response. She stepped out.

  Kalei strode up to the railing where it guarded their second-story walkway from the parking lot. She grabbed it with both hands and looked out at the world beyond their tiny little room. The pavement spread out in deeper, darkened hues and the cars glistened from a recent spurt of rain. A cool breeze hinted of more to come.

  She didn’t even know why she had bothered to drag Josh out of that office. Perhaps it was just a misplaced sense of concern. Perhaps she just didn’t want to be responsible for sending anyone else to solitary. The memory of that place still stuck in the back of her throat like sour milk.

  Kalei tried to take in a deep breath of fresh air, but the bag impeded her attempt. In contrast to the cool breeze that played across her exposed arms, the air inside the bag was already humid and warm. It pressed close to her face and kept any of that refreshing relief from coming in. Furious and frustrated, Kalei reached up to pull the bag off, but as her fingers closed around one corner, she noticed a man approaching and let her hand drop.

  Tall, dark, and handsome, he smiled as he drew nearer. “Why the bag?”

  Kalei didn’t so much as shrug as she responded, “Why not?”

  The man was just a couple feet away when she replied, and at the sound of her voice, he casually stopped and squinted into her eyeholes. “Your voice sounds familiar... Have we met before?”

  Kalei relinquished her hold on the railing and turned to face him. She wanted to scream in his face and tell him to just leave her the fuck alone. All she wanted was a moment’s peace! Instead, she said, “How can you tell? If you haven’t noticed, there’s a freaking bag over my head. Tends to muffle sound, change voices a bit.”

  His squint deepened, and a handsome crease formed on his brow. “No, I’ve definitely heard your voice before.”

  Kalei was pissed that she couldn’t even shake a damned stranger, but she knew it wouldn’t do them any good if she tossed this man over the balcony and caused a scene. So she stepped past him and reached for the door handle to the room. “See ya.”

  As she walked by him, the man reached out for her arm.

  Kalei snatched her arm away and then pointed her index finger at his face. “Back the fuck off.”

  She glared at him through the peepholes in her stuffy brown bag. He raised an eyebrow as he raised his arms in surrender, taking a step back as he said, “Okay, sorry.”

  Kalei waited for another heartbeat, daring him to try something so she would have an excuse to vent her rage, but when he didn’t, she broke eye contact and stepped into the room, slamming the door behind her as she ripped off the bag. She glanced at the four garish walls; it felt as though they were closing in on her. Her companions were already too close for comfort. Even in a room of three, it felt crowded.

  “I fucking hate you all.” She plopped down i
nto a nearby chair and stared at the ceiling.

  Jenna looked up from her conversation with Josh. “What happened?”

  “Nothing. Listen, what the fuck are we doing here? I can’t stand this shithole. Let’s just go already.”

  “And go where? I’m sure Tusic and SWORDE are already taking bets on who gets to sink their claws into us first.”

  Josh chimed, “Wait—Tusic? The GPS company?”

  Kalei absently replied, “Don’t worry about it.” She continued to Jenna, “We can’t just sit here on our asses. My family is still out there. Dead or alive: I need to find out which.”

  “You heard Franklin. They’re still in the city. They’re fine—”

  “Are they? He didn’t even say if they are still Untouched, he just said, ‘They’re together.’ And are you really going to trust anything that comes out of that fucker’s mouth?”

  “Well, what do you think we should do? You already tried calling your little friend, Lecia. She won’ answer you. Now what?”

  Kalei paused for a moment. It was true; Lecia hadn’t answered any of her calls. Kalei suspected it was because Lecia didn’t recognize the number, but then, when did an aspiring researcher turn down calls? In either case, Kalei didn’t leave any voicemails for fear that Tusic might have an illegal phone tap on Lecia. In fact, Kalei didn’t even know why she kept calling Lecia in the first place. Terin knew Kalei had been talking to Lecia before her imprisonment. He probably knew she was the only one Kalei could turn to now. It was stupid for Kalei to call, but it was the only idea she could come up with. Lecia was the only outside person she had left. Except for one other person, but she was loath to drag him into this mess. If anything, she wanted to keep him as far away from her black nails as possible. But then, what options did she have left?

  Kalei turned and picked up the hotel phone. “I’m calling Marley.”

  Jenna jumped up and pushed in the trigger on the receiver, “Whoa, whoa. You mean your police friend? What are you? Stupid? You call the station and the first cop that picks up will know your voice.”

  “That’s why I’m calling his cellphone. Now bug off.” Kalei waved Jenna away, but her sister wouldn’t move.

  Jenna said, “What’s gonna stop him from calling in the reinforcements, huh?”

  Kalei looked away to the undisturbed pillows on the bed beside her, studying the leopard spots closely. Jenna had never been a cop; she wouldn’t understand.

  Kalei said, “He’s my partner.”

  “He’s Untouched! You’re an Estranged.” Jenna’s voice took an unforgiving edge. “He won’t trust a damn thing you have to say.”

  That fact that Jenna was right made it that much harder for Kalei to hear. If Marley had any sense, partner or no, he would hang up the moment he heard her voice. Or turn her over to the authorities. The thought made Kalei’s stomach clench. Still, she couldn’t let go of the kind memories of her foster cousin, or the instinctive prodding that told her Marley wouldn’t turn her in. Kalei reached for the receiver and tried to pull it away from Jenna as she said, “Whether he wants to or not, I’ll make him believe me.”

  Kalei’s attempt to free the phone failed, Jenna’s grip was unyielding.

  Jenna said, “You think you can make him? With what? Brute force? Threats? Partnerly love? C’mon, Kalei; get real. You got no skill at persuasion, and whatever bond you guys had ain’t gonna fix the fact that you tha’ threat now. You tha enemy to all them cops and their families.”

  Kalei slammed the phone down onto the receiver, narrowly missing Jenna’s fingers as she pulled them out of the way. “And what other option do I have! Huh? Please, tell me! You’re the big sister, right? You’re supposed to have all the answers! What the fuck am I supposed to do!”

  The phone rang. Everyone fell silent and stared at the device. They couldn’t have been more shocked if the thing had sprouted arms and legs and begun dancing an Irish jig. It rang again.

  Without taking her eyes off the beast, Jenna whispered to Kalei, “Who the fuck could that be?”

  Kalei whispered back, “I dunno. Maybe it’s the manager, or housekeeping or something?”

  “More likely a ho lookin’ for her sugar daddy.”

  It rang again.

  Josh cupped his hands around his mouth, giggled, then whispered, “Answer it.”

  Jenna looked at Kalei and said, “Yeah, answer it.”

  Kalei furrowed her brows at Jenna and hissed, “Why me?”

  “Because—”

  It rang again.

  Jenna yelled out, “Fuck! I’ll answer it.” She plucked the phone from the receiver and said, “Hello?” She paused and frowned at the painted lady portrait above the bed. “No. Who is this? ... I ain’t telling you nothin’ until you tell me who this is!” She put her hand over the mouthpiece and whispered to Kalei, “Check the windows.” Kalei nodded, then shooed Josh out of her way as she tried to get around the bed. She hadn’t made it more than two steps when she heard Jenna say, “Grasshoppers?”

  The word sent a mental jolt through Kalei. She turned around and snatched the phone away from Jenna, waving off her sister’s complaints as she pressed the phone to her ear and said, “Marley?”

  “Kalei.”

  She could have cried, it was such a relief to hear his voice. She never would have expected to react that way to Marley, of all people, but it was like waking up from a nightmare and finding that the Reaper hadn’t taken her loved ones after all.

  She asked, “How did you get this number?”

  He replied, “I’m a Detective now. It’s my—”

  Jenna whispered furiously, “Marley? What the fuck is he—”

  Kalei turned away and pushed her free hand to her free ear to block out Jenna’s protests.

  Marley was still talking, “—happened since you left. But that doesn’t matter; you’re with SWORDE, right?”

  “Not anymore.”

  “Thought so. Listen, you might wanna get out of there. An anonymous tip just came in saying that Kalei Distrad has been spotted at the Lazy Daze Motel. According to dispatch, SWORDE is heading your way.”

  “Thanks, Marley. Listen, I need to talk to you—”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Just get out of there, Kalei. ETA is seven minutes.”

  “Marley, wait! Chi’s Diner, ten o’clock.”

  Marley was silent. For a moment, Kalei thought she heard him inhale, like he was going to say something, but then the phone gave a light “click” and went dead.

  Kalei hung up the phone and found an agitated Jenna standing immediately behind her. Jenna said, “What the hell was that?”

  Kalei moved away from Jenna and started to collect her few belongings from the dresser. Her chapstick, her change, her hooded sweatshirt... While Kalei had been grounded to the hotel, Jenna had been busy collecting supplies, including fresh clothes. Kalei replied, “Don’t worry about it. Right now, we need to get out of here.”

  Josh reported from the window, “I don’t see anything out here.” He covered his mouth with his hand as a snicker escaped from his grinning countenance. “What am I looking for? Is the boogey man coming?” He giggled like the preteen he used to be.

  Kalei’s eyes lingered on Josh for a moment, trying to puzzle out why his giggling sent off red flags in her mind, but she wrote it off as childish nonsense and turned to Jenna. “Someone just tipped off SWORDE. We’ve got about six minutes before they get here.”

  Kalei expected her sister to be pissed, but instead, Jenna clapped her hands and grinned wildly as she said, “Sweet, a Camaro pulled in yesterday and I’ve been dying to jack the thing.”

  “No.” Kalei stopped her. “They’ll find out the car was stolen and just send out a BOLO. We have time. Let’s just go on foot.”

  Jenna stomped her foot and rolled her eyes as she said, “Fine. Jus’ make sure you don’t take your mask off once we get out there.”

  “What?”

  Kalei had no idea what Jenna was talk
ing about, but the teen had already pulled away and started shuffling through the stash of grocery bags in the second drawer of the dresser. After a moment, Jenna said, “Ha! Gotchya.” And turned around with a full, white opera mask in her hand. “Here. Put this on. An’ make sure you pull your hood up.”

  Kalei snatched the mask and said, “Why the hell did you let me walk out of here with a paper bag on my head when you had this!”

  “You didn’ exactly wait around for me to tell you. Besides, it was funny as hell.”

  Kalei mumbled a series of choice curses as she pulled the mask on.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Dropping By

  The three finished gathering up their things and then went on their way. They had just made it across the parking lot when Josh said, “Hey! I forgot my first aid kit.”

  Kalei looked at Jenna, forgetting that the mask hid her raised eyebrow. She said, “He really has no fucking clue, does he?”

  Jenna laughed. “Nope.” Then she gave Josh a light shove on the shoulder and said, “Leave it, or I’ll give you a hole your Band-Aids can’t fix.”

  Luckily, Josh knew Jenna well enough to forget about the first aid kit.

  They made it several blocks before the sound of sirens began echoing off the buildings. Kalei said, “It sounds like Marley’s estimate was optimistic.”

  Jenna laughed. “Or pessimistic.”

  Kalei spotted Josh anxiously glancing over his shoulder. Casually, so as not to spook him any further, she said, “Relax. As far as we’re concerned, those sirens have nothing to do with us. We don’t want people wondering why you’re so nervous, do we?”

  Josh shook his head silently and proceeded to study his feet the rest of the way.

  It was already late afternoon, although Kalei could hardly be sure from the overcast sky. A light drizzle had begun to fall as they made their way down the streets of the West End, and Kalei felt an angled drop hit her eyelid through the mask. Annoyed, she pulled her hood down further.

  But Kalei, despite her annoyance, was glad for the weather. The rain brought everyone’s hoods up, their umbrellas out, and made it easier for Kalei to blend in.