Chapter 21 Brill

Ralphy's Limo

Ralphy answered in his cell.

"I shouldn't have taken the deal for Alana-Hope. She only writes romance articles, and her ex has cracked and died of beauty drug poisoning. I didn't do it."

"I know, he used drugs because he didn't have the stomach," Ralphy said.

"Don't blame me. Before he died, he gave the lot to the stupid Prime Minister for public housing. Ralphy, dig up Brill's body and move her."

He pounded his fist into his seat. "Prince Kyle can dig her up. He helped you beat those girls. I've got Josh breathing down my neck because he thinks I took part in the beating."

"I own you," she said.

"Sorry, but I left the provenance to clean up another of your and Kyle's messes. His fight clubs have gotten out of hand." The limo stopped in front of a shack with cars parked in the front.

*

In the Past

A year before Brill died, she saw Dr. Bloodstone selling knock-off face cream in the park.

Children ran around playing with tubes of the same shades of lipsticks, played tag, or pushed each other in swings.

"Why are you cheating people? You're a butcher." Brill tossed her half-finished frozen yogurt in the trash.

Dr. Bloodstone smirked and placed her palm on her hip. "Lady, I know I'm a flimflam artist, but you and the other Mark Board members make it easy to con these idiots. None of the stuff I use causes permanent scarring, but an infectious rash. I wouldn't sell anything dangerous to the morons here."

"Don't you feel guilty?" Brill asked.

Dr. Bloodstone winked at her. "I should ask you that. Women come to me because of your stupid rules and standards. The sweatshops are full of trafficking victims." Dr. Bloodstone lifted her hair to show the left side of her face, exposing a five-inch scar. "I almost died two years ago from an attack, but your colleagues forced me to live in a Mark House. Yolanda and a druggy board member pounded me because we bumped into her."

"How did you escape?" Brill asked.

She rolled up her sleeve, exposing a nine-inch scar on her arm. "I cut out the badges and microchips in the house. Brill, you, and the man who pummeled me signed my paperwork to give me my third Mark. My name was Cookie then, but that girl doesn't exist anymore."

Brill pulled hundreds of bills from her purse and paid her. "This is for your freedom. If I'm alive in a couple of months, I'll give you more." Brill didn't know what to say. Dr. Bloodstone was not wrong.

*

Summer Months

The Summer Months flew by for both Zeda and Quincy.

Fake text messages continued from Brill's account.

Brill's lawyers sent a postcard to Yolanda from her Earth. The Prime Minister is a dull fellow. No one remembered his name, which was long and boring. He is a wimp, but I'll help bring you down to my grave.

With Hate,

Brill

Yolanda kicked the wall. "Josh sent this. He knows I killed Brill."

*

Quincy's Apartment:

He opened the door and yanked a letter taped to his door. "Brill's letter must have been held."

*

Dear Quincy

If you receive this letter, then I must be dead.

Okay, I am playing a game. You will need to retrieve evidence in a Mark House. Yolanda will search my mansion or ransack my lawyer's office, but not one of her own Mark Houses. And yes, I know who you are.

Ella will contact you once she gets her letter. I need you and a partner to go into the Mark House on Brier Road to take photos. You will be given a disguise and delivery ID.

Love,

Brill

Cavalier clutched his postcard from Brill's lawyers.

Dear Cavalier Low

Do not tell anyone, not even your daughter or brother-in-law. My lawyer will call you and tell you where your wife might be headed and the security pass that will need to get you in.

Love,

Brill

Janice Kind's House

Ella and Professor Alana-Hope approached Zeda and Quincy in Zeda's mother's massive dining room. She waved a letter between her fingers.

"Brill's lawyer sent Ella's lawyer an address where she kept her files. The files will put her in a Unicorn Prime prison. I'll be your getaway driver because if anyone spots us, I can claim I'm writing another romance article."

The Mark House with Evidence

Professor Alana-Hope and Ella kept the car warm.

Zeda and Quincy weren't reporters or operatives. They snuck in through the pristine lobby into the back with a burner phone. Gray Paint peeled off the cement walls. Shackled women and children placed processes into 3D food printers.

They found the documents taped under a table and removed them as quickly as they could. The women shifted their bodies and their shackles, so that the guards and cameras couldn't see Zeda and Quincy.

They snuck out with the document package, examined the paperwork in the car as Alana-Hope sped down the road.

*

At the Mark House Where Mina was Held

Cavalier Low entered the Mark House disguised as Ralphy with forged the documents to move her.

He walked out with her and helped her into a borrowed car.

Lumps of silicon formed tumors from underneath her scarred skin.

She kissed his face and hands after they had been driving for hours and parked in his backyard.

"Mina, you need to hide in the basement of our cottage for a week, maybe longer. If this doesn't work, we need to run and keep running."

"Where are Quincy and Babette?"

"She is with my grandmother. I don't have time to tell your brother yet because I need to text Ella on a plan to trap Yolanda, but we'll need Chaz's help. Ella can be at Chaz's Estate in an hour."