BooksBarbecue
Back The Preserve
Chapters (56)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Half-Title Page
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  6. 1.
  7. 2.
  8. 3.
  9. 4.
  10. 5.
  11. 6.
  12. 7.
  13. 8.
  14. 9.
  15. 10.
  16. 11.
  17. 12.
  18. 13.
  19. 14.
  20. 15.
  21. 16.
  22. 17.
  23. 18.
  24. 19.
  25. 20.
  26. 21.
  27. 22.
  28. 23.
  29. 24.
  30. 25.
  31. 26.
  32. 27.
  33. 28.
  34. 29.
  35. 30.
  36. 31.
  37. 32.
  38. 33.
  39. 34.
  40. 35.
  41. 36.
  42. 37.
  43. 38.
  44. 39.
  45. 40.
  46. 41.
  47. 42.
  48. 43.
  49. 44.
  50. 45.
  51. 46.
  52. 47.
  53. 48.
  54. EPILOGUE
  55. AFTERWORD
  56. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“Plenty of scars, and hands made for fighting. Dents in his head.”

Lett lowered deep into his chair, slowly. Kodama, he thought. Lansdale was manipulating even his closest partners in crime.

She cocked her head so sideways that a flower would’ve fallen from her ear if she’d been wearing one. “Wait, you saw that one, too?”

Lett didn’t answer.

“Let me guess—you can’t say any more, yeah?”

“Yeah. Top secret. Lansdale’s orders.” Lett sighed. “All right, look. His name is Kodama. But that’s all I can tell you.”

Her face opened up, and her eyes widened. “No, there’s more. I can tell. I can see it on your face.” She shot out of her chair. “You saw Frankie there again?”

He nodded.

“Ho, you saw all of them. All but Mae? Auwe. Shit . . .”

She reached for the whisky. It still had a little left. He twisted off the cap for her. She lowered back with the bottle and muttered something in Pidgin.

“How did you get back here?” she asked him after a while.

“On a boat, into Kona this time. A smaller cargo ship. Fast, too.”

“But you don’t know where that cargo went?”

“No. They drove us up in that old disguised jalopy of a pickup.”

“Okay, all right,” she said. “So, we just keep going, right? Me with my cure, and you with yours.”

“We go for broke,” he said.

“Go for broke.” She smiled for him. But her eyes were racing, and she produced a Camel for thinking, which she lit with her gold Chinese lighter, and she never did pass back the bottle.

20.

Kanani’s head floated and blurred a little from the whisky, but at least it helped her stay calm and think. She had apologized to Wendell for downing the last of his hooch and kissed him on the forehead and promised to bring him back something to eat. First, though, she had ground to cover. She had the afternoon off and a few hours before dark.

She roamed the camp, down the other lane of bungalows, through other clearings, passing by the mess hall and bar, offices, latrines, storeroom, training grounds, working up a sweat under the high sun. She ducked into the forest for shade and marched as far as she could get on the paths, reaching perimeter fences. She encountered few others the whole way. She didn’t know if the camp being empty was a good or a bad sign for the future, but it helped her stay discreet.