Enigma Black (44 page)
Authors: Sara Furlong-Burr
“Ugh!” I yelled, punching a hole in the bricks of the building that ran along the alleyway.
“I’ve never seen you like this before.” Ian appeared in the alley. “I must say, it’s kind of hot.”
I shook my head without looking at him. “I wasn’t expecting that…I mean…I was…but not this soon.”
Ian entered the alley, taking a seat on a discarded plastic bag next to me. “He was your first love, wasn’t he?”
“How could you tell that?”
“Let’s just say the suicidal roof jump kind of tipped me off a little. That, and the fact that, had anything like that happened before, you would have reacted more indifferently than you just did.”
“Indifferently? What difference would it make? First love, second love, tenth love…its still love. If there was an ounce of indifference in your heart during the relationship, then it really wasn’t love at all.”
“Interesting point. All I know is that after my heart was shattered the first time, no other woman was able to fully fit the pieces of it back together again. Maybe that’s the reason I am who I am. I’m just searching for that loving feeling again, trying to replicate the unique. Going from woman to woman, to woman, to woman, to woman, to woman, to…”
“Okay. I get the point.”
“Well, that’s a good thing because we’d be sitting here for at least another couple of hours had you not gotten it.”
“You’re quite the scoundrel.” I managed a smile at him through watering eyes.
“I’m not good with this emotional stuff.” The plastic bag rustled as he adjusted his body to put his arms around my shoulders. “I’m used to dumping girls via text message, third parties, strategically placed post-it notes on pillows…you know, the usual.”
“And to think you’re still single…shocker.”
“Hey, so are…” he paused, correcting himself.
“So am I? You can say it.”
“I’m sorry, Celaine.”
“It’s fine. I know it. I know that once The Man in Black is gone, I’ll have nothing to come back home to, but there’s still this crazy little voice in my head that tells me there’s always hope.”
“Really? I usually just tell that voice to shut up because it’s usually somewhat of a buzz kill.”
I felt around my neck until I located Chase’s necklace, rubbing it between my thumb and index finger.
“Are you going to get rid of that?”
“No. The day I get rid of it is the day I know that hope has truly died. I’m not ready to know that yet.”
A police car cruised along the street, its headlights illuminating part of the alleyway as it passed.
“I’m thinking that’s our cue to leave,” Ian said, standing back up.
“Perhaps…” My pager went off, its alarm intensified by the silence. Removing it from my holster, I looked at the screen, my body becoming numb, the breath knocked out of me.
“What? What is it?” Ian asked, concerned
“It’s Kara. They know who killed Lucy.”
****
They gathered together in a ramshackle cabin deep in the Maryland woods on land owned by their unit’s designated leader, Marshall Leitner. As the head unit, they were the command post. With meetings held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, they were comprised of those who’d left the larger cities in search of a life away from the oppression President Brooks had created. Scattered throughout the country were several units like them—diverse groups of people who gathered, each with the goal of restoring democracy.
They communicated between units via encrypted e-mail messages that opened with codes, changing monthly to stay a step ahead of whoever may be spying on their activities. For now, they’d been able to stay under the radar, but they knew that wouldn’t be the case for much longer.
The Maryland unit was the largest with just over eighty members, but its proximity to Washington, D.C. is what made it unanimously dubbed the command post, and why members from other units were migrating their way there. Most walked to the cabin, leaving their vehicles at home. None ever spoke of the meetings, as they knew what fate could and would befall them if their actions were made known. There was no trial by jury anymore. For high treason, they would all be executed.
Marshall Leitner entered the cabin after putting out his cigarette on a stone used to prop the door open. Making his way to the podium in the back of the room, he mentally prepared himself for the night’s meeting, taking in his ever expanding group. Some were seated in lawn chairs while others stood on their feet, patiently waiting for him. His speech would be broadcasted to the units by a camera situated atop a laptop tuned in to a heavily secured site that only unit leaders could access. All eyes were on him as he cleared his throat and began to speak.
“As you all know, there have been a series of heinous acts perpetrated in our name.” He looked around the room, surveying the nods that echoed across it. “Our name has been tarnished, dragged through the mud in order to instill a sense of hatred toward our group by those who stay with the herd. They will listen to Dictator Brooks; they will not question his motives because doing so will bring harm to them and their families. But, we stand here strong with our resolve to make our country the great nation it once was. Even if it means the end of us, there will be more to carry on in our name. Our revolution will succeed, and our plan will be carried out. The fall of Brook’s tyrannical reign is imminent. We will take our country back!”
Applause exploded throughout the cabin. In response, he raised his hand in the air, quickly silencing the room.
“What about these superheroes?” a middle-aged raven haired gentleman asked. “Surely, we’ll be on their hit list just like The Man in Black.”
Marshall chuckled. “No, we’ll be hated more than The Man in Black. The Man in Black kills for the sake of killing. Our attacks will have a clear purpose, and our purpose will enact change. This change will go against Brooks. Going against Brooks will inherently wage war against his engineered puppets. Yes, they will come for us. They’ll come for us swiftly and take many of us out in the process, but we will stand strong with our mission to uncover the truth. We will level with Brooks’ superheroes, and after all of our attempts have failed, we will do what we must. Like Brooks, they too will fall.”
The cabin erupted with deafening applause which, this time, he did nothing to quell.
To be continued…
*****
About the Author
Sara "Furlong" Burr was born on February 1, 1982, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. At an early age, when it became apparent she wouldn't have the luxury of skating through life on her looks or athletic prowess, Sara found her true passion in writing. While in fifth grade, she wrote her first "novel"(whose name escapes her at the moment) about five friends who win a trip to Hawaii. At ninety-something pages, it was her crowning achievement during her childhood (you may now begin drawing your own conclusions on how sad a childhood Sara actually had).
After focusing much of her adult life on her family and career as a paralegal, Sara found the voices in her head becoming unrelenting and she returned to her true passion. Currently, she’s working on the sequel to
Enigma Black
entitled
Vendetta Nation
. She's also tossing around ideas for a chick-lit book about two ill-fated lovers (Lord, help her).
When she's not writing, Sara enjoys reading (pretty much a given), attempting to garden, shopping (prerequisite to being a woman), and spending time with her family and friends who somehow manage to tolerate her numerous disappearances propagated by infrequent bouts of inspiration.
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Connect with Sara Furlong Burr Online:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Sarafurlong
Blog:
http://sarafurlongburr.blogspot.com/
Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/SaraFurlongBurr
Facebook:
http://fb.me/EnigmaBlackKindle
*****
Other works by Sara Furlong Burr include A Second Chance, available on Amazon.com
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