Scavenger by Tom Savage

Author:Tom Savage [Savage, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780989149112
Publisher: Cliffhanger Press
Published: 2013-08-04T06:00:00+00:00

THURSDAY

30

An empty lot. He had traveled nearly three thousand miles to stand here, staring at an empty lot.

Well, not quite empty. The broad hilltop had recently been flattened by bulldozers, and the cement block foundation of what would soon be a basement had been laid. It was going to be a complex of twelve one- and two-bedroom condominium apartments when the work was done. That would be sometime next year, according to the big billboard that faced the road in front of the property. There was a painting on the board, an artist’s rendering of the finished product: a sleek, elegant structure surrounded by fountains and lawns and lush foliage, none of which presently existed. It would be very nice, he supposed, a pleasant place to live.

But it was not what he’d been expecting. He’d been expecting a murder scene.

Mark had arrived in Los Angeles late yesterday afternoon, and the activities of the previous night and morning in New Orleans had at last taken their toll on him. Throughout the flight, he’d felt himself growing increasingly exhausted as he’d gone over every detail in his mind, from the moment Saturday when he’d received the mysterious computer diskette that had started the whole thing. Now, three cities and two dead bodies later, he was no closer to understanding this than before.

The man, Scavenger, had killed the Banes family in Brooklyn; Mark was certain. Yet he had insisted that Mark go there and retrieve the first article, the newspaper announcing his handiwork. Why? What was the point? If he wanted to reveal his identity, why do it in such an obscure, roundabout way?

Then, on the plane somewhere over Texas, Mark reread the electronic letter. I have always been a lover of games, Mr. Stevenson.…

Yes, Mark thought. Indeed he is a lover of games.

By the time the plane landed, Mark had actually dozed off. A flight attendant gently woke him, and he stumbled into the terminal. He’d wisely decided to take a cab to the big chain hotel on Sunset where he’d stayed the only other time he’d been in L.A., more than ten years ago. He was too tired to drive; he would rent a car later. He’d looked around the airport, as he’d searched the entire length of the plane, but the tall man with the scar was nowhere to be seen.

During the cab ride, Mark had decided to register as Jared McKinley, and to pay cash, and that is what he did. He got a single room for two nights. He’d called Tracy and spoken to her, but he couldn’t remember one word of the conversation now except the part where she’d suddenly told him she loved him. That had been wonderful. Then he’d eaten in one of the restaurants off the lobby, made his way back to his room on the tenth floor, and fallen, fully clothed, across the bed. He’d slept for nearly twelve hours.

Now, gazing at the construction site before him, Mark remembered the events of this morning.

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