“There’s a little bit left in each,” he said, “to give you a fresh start.”
“You can’t do this,” she whispered.
“We can’t, no,” Orlando said. “But friends of ours can, and did.”
Quinn asked Desirae, “Anything else to add?”
“One more thing,” she said, then looked offscreen and raised her voice. “Terri!”
A few seconds later, Tessa squeezed into the shot with her.
“There was something you wanted to say, wasn’t there?” Desirae said to her daughter.
Tessa looked into the camera. “You’re Mrs. Rostov?”
The woman’s mouth hung open.
“Answer her,” Quinn said.
“Yes,” Rostov replied.
“I know what you did to my first mom, I know what you did to my friend Abe, and I know what you wanted to do to me. You’re not a good person. My mom…”—she glanced at Desirae—“says I should forgive you so I can move on. I’ll try, but I don’t know if I can.” She paused and looked at her mother again. “That’s it.”
“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
FROM 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
THE JONATHAN QUINN THRILLERS
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)
THE LOGAN HARPER THRILLERS
LITTLE GIRL GONE
THE PROJECT EDEN THRILLERS
SICK
EXIT NINE
PALE HORSE
ASHES
EDEN RISING
DREAM SKY
THE ALEXANDRA POE THRILLERS
COWRITTEN WITH ROBERT GREGORY BROWNE
POE
TAKEDOWN
STANDALONES
Novels
THE PULL OF GRAVITY
NO RETURN
Short Stories
“Perfect Gentleman”
For Younger Readers
THE TROUBLE FAMILY CHRONICLES
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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