Flutter (32 page)

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 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.

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.”

Abigail softly growled and said, “No. I have been delivered.” She saw that Atkins was within inches of her death. She asked, “What have you done to this woman?”

“Why do you care?” Saul asked. 

Abigail struggled to speak and said, “Settle your business with me. Not her.”

“This is not about you,” Ben insisted, “This woman is a small assignment we must take care of. She has something we want. We are here to get it. And since you are here, we will take you home with us as well.”

Abigail smiled and said, “I will not go anywhere with you, and you know that.” Her muscles flexed and she hissed at them. She clenched her fists.

Saul said, “Always so rebellious.” Saul smirked and said, “I guess we will have to make you come with us.” He took off his eye glasses and placed them into his inner pocket. “We don’t want to disappoint our father.” Saul hissed at Abigail. She hissed back. Both Ben and Saul ran toward Abigail. They fought. 

The three of them ripped at one another, but Abigail tossed them across the room. They punched and kicked and tossed her when they got the chance. Abigail could take down two men easily, but these were not regular men. These men were just like her. And though she was possessed with more than one animal, she never was able to call on all of them at once. She was faster than they were. She was smarter than they were. She knew she would eventually win the fight, but it would take time. 

Saul had been Abigail’s biggest rival on the wrestling mat. They had fought for 20 minutes once before. Abigail had eventually won, and Saul hated her ever since.
Hate
was one emotion that
Ezekiels
were allowed to have. Abigail used to think that they must have forgotten to eliminate
Envy
in the brainwashing unit. As she became wiser, she understood that
Envy
could be the most powerful driving force behind the desire to win, encouraging competition and an untamed desire to defeat another. It was perfect. This fight was Saul’s opportunity to settle unfinished business. 

In the meantime, Roger snuck into the house using the trap door in the back. Once he got into the basement, he ran over to the hidden door. He was trying to be quiet as possible, but the wind had slammed the trap door shut. Abigail, Saul and Ben heard the noise. It stopped them all in their tracks. Protect Roger! Abigail knew they would pursue him. She fought even harder. Ben immediately slipped away from the brawl and headed toward the basement. Abigail tried to follow, but Saul prevented her from leaving.

Roger got the door open and saw Ben descending quickly down the stairs. He shut the door just in time to lock himself in. BANG… BANG! Ben repeatedly banged on the door. Roger put on a protective vest and began collecting weapons, picking up guns and strapping them to his body using the belts and straps on the vest. He tried to catch his breath. All he could think about was his mother. He loaded up with ammunition, grabbed a few explosives, and took a deep breath.

Finch was in her car, fighting back and forth in her head, looking for excuses not to go to the dinner or to be able to leave early. She thought about convincing Brown to call her and fake an emergency. She knew she was being cruel, and the woman didn’t deserve this. She knew Anthony’s mother was going through hell, and Meghan was her last connection to Anthony. Finch was driving slowly through the streets when she heard a call on her police scanner. She didn’t use it unless she was off duty. She liked to know what was going on in the streets. The call was coming from dispatch, “We just received a call. There seems to be a domestic disturbance at 161 Wallace Street. Anyone in the area?”

Finch knew she was not far away. She was on her way to meet up with her mother–in–law and what better excuse than to show up late and have to rush through dinner.
I got called in to check out a domestic dispute.
Finch called in and said, “This is Finch. I am about two blocks away from there. This is not my regular thing, but I’ll check it out for you.”

“Roger that. Let me know if you need back up,” Dispatch responded.

“Stand by.” Finch made a sudden U–turn and turned on her flashing lights.

Abigail and Saul fought as if they hated one another. They were destroying the house bit by bit, busting holes in the walls, tossing furniture across the room, and breaking glass. They both had scratched one another in various places. They growled like animals. Sometimes they would stop fighting and circle one another before pouncing on each other again. Ms. Atkins was too weak to move. She was losing too much blood, and the blows to her head kept her vision blurry. She slipped in and out of consciousness as the two fought. Saul finally got a good grip on Abigail and tossed her clean through a wall into the kitchen. 

Saul said, “Give up, 43.”

Abigail slowly pulled herself off the ground, “You have never beaten me 19.”

“I’ve been training while you’ve been off in Lala Land, you idiot!” Saul was clearly bitter about Abigail’s comment.
Envy. Hate. Revenge!
“And after I kill you, I will make a sandwich out of your friend. If Ben hasn’t yet.” He smiled.