The Discarded (38 page)

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Authors: Brett Battles

Tags: #Mystery, #spy, #conspiracy, #Suspense, #Espionage, #Thriller

BOOK: The Discarded
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“Okay, sweetie.” Desirae kissed Tessa’s cheek and then said into the camera, “We’re done here.”

“Thanks,” Quinn said. “We’ll talk later.”

He closed the computer. After he and Orlando gathered their things, they stood up.

When they reached the door, he stopped and looked back. “An accounting team arrived while we were chatting and started inventorying everything. My understanding is that they’re beginning on the ground floor, so if you want any clothes, you should probably grab them now. Nothing valued over a hundred dollars, though. Believe me, they’ll check.”

As he and Orlando drove away a few minutes later, his phone rang.

“So how did it go?” Helen Cho asked.

“Exactly as planned.”

“So the matter’s finished?”

“One more thing.”

“How much longer?”

“Give us three days.”

“Call me when you’re ready. I have a job you’ll be perfect for.”

CHAPTER
37

 

 

F
ROM ABRAHAM’S GRAVESITE
they could hear the waves crashing on the beach, a gentle metronome marking time for those to whom time didn’t matter anymore.

Quinn had thought only he and Orlando and Nate and Daeng would be at the service, but a surprising amount of others had shown up—including about a dozen old colleagues from the business and Quinn’s sister, Liz. She had never met Abraham but knew he’d been important to Orlando and that was enough for her. Perhaps most surprising were the kids, nearly thirty of them, all from the afterschool tutoring center where Abraham had volunteered.

“Did he realize how many lives he touched?” Quinn asked Orlando after the crowd had drifted off, leaving them alone with her mentor.

“I doubt it. He never thought of things that way. He just did what he did.”

When he put an arm around her waist, she laid her head against his shoulder and they looked past the grave, out at the sea.

“It’s beautiful here. He’ll be happy.”

She nodded and they fell silent again. The ordeal and the loss had exhausted her. He made a vow to himself that until Orlando was fully recovered, he would do whatever it took to convince her not to go into the field.

He pulled her into his arms and held her tight. After a few minutes, he said, “Ready?”

“Just a second.”

She knelt beside the open grave.

“I’ve never been keen on Abraham as a first name,” she said, “but I’ve been thinking it would work well as a middle. I mean, if it’s a boy.”

“Wait, what?”

QUINN WILL BE BACK

 

If you feel inclined, reviews at your store of purchase are always appreciated.

Read more about Orlando’s and Quinn’s early days in the secret world in the novel:

BECOMING QUINN

And the short stories:


Just Another Job”—A Jonathan Quinn Story

“Off the Clock”—A Jonathan Quinn Story

“The Assignment”—An Orlando Story

“Lesson Plan”—A Jonathan Quinn Story (out April 2014)

“Quick Study”—An Orlando Story (out April 2014)

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

A quick word of thanks to Dan Barbier for help with the French, Rob Gregory Browne for helping me talk through story points and for another wonderful cover, and my street team for bringing new readers into Quinn’s world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

 

Brett Battles is a Barry Award-winning author of over twenty novels, including the Jonathan Quinn series, the Logan Harper series, and the Project Eden series. He’s also the coauthor, with Robert Gregory Browne, of the Alexandra Poe series. You can learn more at his website:
brettbattles.com

ALSO BY BRETT BATTLES

 

T
HE
J
ONATHAN
Q
UINN
T
HRILLERS

Novels

BECOMING QUINN

THE CLEANER

THE DECEIVED

SHADOW OF BETRAYAL (U.S.)
/
THE UNWANTED (U.K.)

THE SILENCED

THE DESTROYED

THE COLLECTED

THE ENRAGED

THE DISCARDED

Short Stories


Just Another Job”—A Jonathan Quinn Story

“Off the Clock”—A Jonathan Quinn Story

“The Assignment”—An Orlando Story

“Lesson Plan”—A Jonathan Quinn Story (April 2014)

“Quick Study”—An Orlando Story (April 2014)

 

T
HE
L
OGAN
H
ARPER
T
HRILLERS

LITTLE GIRL GONE

EVERY PRECIOUS THING

 

T
HE
P
ROJECT
E
DEN
T
HRILLERS

SICK

EXIT NINE

PALE HORSE

ASHES

EDEN RISING

DREAM SKY

 

T
HE
A
LEXANDRA
P
OE
T
HRILLERS

C
O
W
RITTEN
W
ITH
R
OBERT
G
REGORY
B
ROWNE

POE

TAKEDOWN

 

S
TAND
A
LONES

Novels

THE PULL OF GRAVITY

NO RETURN

Short Stories

“Perfect Gentleman”

 

For Younger Readers

 

T
HE
T
ROUBLE
F
AMILY
C
HRONICLES

HERE COMES MR. TROUBLE

 

Table of Contents

Book Description

PRAISE FOR THE JONATHAN QUINN SERIES

THE DISCARDED Copyright © 2014 by Brett Battles

This is for my wonderful editor Elyse

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 37

QUINN WILL BE BACK

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALSO BY BRETT BATTLES

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