Free Landfall (The Reach, Book 2) by Mark R. Healy Page A

him across the mahogany coffee table and thrust him onto the sofa.  The old man squealed in terror and clamped his eyes shut, wriggling where he lay as he waited for Knile to start raining blows down upon him.
    “Shut up!” Knile said.  “Pay attention.”
    Honeybul opened one eye and, seeing Knile towering over him, struggled backward against the sofa.
    “All right, I’ll do what you want!  Just don’t hurt me!”
    “Roman.  I want him removed from the program and his data erased.”
    A look of dread came over Honeybul’s face.
    “I’m sorry, Mr. Remington, but I can’t do that.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because Roman has already been placed with his benefactor.”
    Knile recoiled in horror.  “What?”
    Honeybul swallowed in an exaggerated fashion.  “His authority to enter the Reach came through yesterday and he was processed this morning.  The transaction has been made.”
    Knile felt the heat rising in his cheeks and he gritted his teeth, furious.  He lunged forward at Honeybul and gripped him by the bathrobe again.
    “Where is he?  Tell me , you fuck! ”
    Honeybul wailed and tried feebly to worm away, but Knile’s grip was firm.
    “Yes, I’ll tell you.  Just let me go and I’ll tell you everything.”  He pointed at a tablet on the floor that had been knocked from the coffee table.  “There!  The information is there!”
    Knile snatched up the tablet and handed it to the old man.
    “Hurry up.  Tell me what I need to know.”
    Honeybul swiped a trembling finger across the screen and then looked up uncertainly at Knile.
    “You have to promise that you’ll let me go–”
    “The boy!” Knile roared.  “Tell me where he is!”
    Honeybul whimpered and turned back to the tablet, bringing up his Candidate database and scrolling through the entries.  He had only flicked through four photos when he came to Roman.
    Knile felt sick seeing the image of the boy’s face.  H e thought of the transaction, of what kind of monster might have taken possession of Roman, and Knile wondered if perhaps he was already too late.
    “Where is he?” he demanded.
    Honeybul selected the entry and dragged his finger down until he came to the information he sought.
    “He’s with Mr. Rojas, over on Elk Parade.  Right here in Lux.”
    Knile snatched up the tablet and looked over the information.  He saw a number of text entries where Rojas and Honeybul had been communicating as they’d set up the deal, negotiating on price and the delivery time.  The address was listed as 13 Elk Parade .  There was also a history of other transactions the two of them had conducted, and Knile could see that Rojas had acquired more than ten children in the last year.
    This bastard Rojas really churns through them , he thought.
    “Where does he take them?” Knile demanded urgently.
    “I don’t know.  His home, I think.”  Knile leaned forward menacingly , and Honeybul raised his hand protectively.  “After the transaction is complete, the children are out of my hands.  I’m not privy to the dealings of my clients, I swear.”
    Knile tossed the tablet in his backpack and then turned to leave.  He’d only taken a few steps when he stopped.
    “This ends now,” he grated, fixing Honeybul with a pointed glare.  “The Candidate program is finished.  I want it dismantled today .  Get the children returned to their homes, all of them.  That includes the ones who are currently with their ‘benefactors’.”
    “Well, that’s quite impossible–”
    “I’m going to be checking up on you, Honeybul.  I’ll be watching everywhere you go.  If you haven’t followed my instructions, next time I won’t be throwing you across a coffee table.  I’ll be throwing you off the balcony up on Level Two-Thirty.”
    Honeybul just blinked at him, disbelieving.
    “Unless you want to take a trip up there right now?” Knile said.
    Honeybul shook his head vigorously.  “No, not that.  All right.  I’ll do as you