Chapter Seven
Back at Walmart, Bryn and Gunnar locked up their leathers in the bike’s panniers then strolled across the lot to the store.
“Did this ever happen to you before?” Gunnar asked. “Accidentally reading someone, I mean.”
Bryn checked his gloves for the third time.
“Yeah, all the time to start with when I was at the Facility. I can’t switch it off, but of course they didn’t know that at first. They wanted me to have more control, but nothing they did worked.
People started avoiding me even more than they already had been.
Because I always default to seeing memory—I guess it’s the strongest signal or something—I saw a few things I shouldn’t have. ”
“Like what?” Gunnar headed into the store and the inquiries desk.
“One guy had beaten the crap out of his wife. Two people had failed suicide attempts. Someone else had set fire to his neighbor’s house.
I could go on. Of course there was good stuff too, but it always felt like such an invasion of privacy.
So much kinky sex, I can’t tell you. Sadly most of them weren’t gay, but you can’t have everything. ”
“Wow, so someone decided you needed to wear gloves?”
“Yeah, my handler.”
“I think you need to tell me about this guy…or woman.”
“A guy. A vamp. Yeah, I don’t talk about him unless I really have to.”
“All the more reason to talk to me. Right, we’re here.
” Gunnar spoke to the woman at the service desk while Bryn hung back.
It felt good to be working on something that didn’t involve him reading anyone.
After a few minutes, the store manager emerged from a staff-only door and took them through to the security office, which bristled with monitors.
“I’m Drake Romano, the store manager. We had a call from Emmett at your office so we’re all ready for you.
Happy to help, in fact. I’m going to leave you with Dave, our security lead.
He’s already sent the digital files across to GCR but he’s pinned down the rough time you guys were in the store so you can look at the footage here straight away. ”
“Sounds good. Appreciate the cooperation,” Gunnar said as the three of them crowded into the tiny room.
“Dave can come find me if you need me for anything else,” Romano said. “In the meantime, I need to go deal with a toddler in the hamburger freezer.”
As they leaned over the monitors, Dave pointed out a pair of small legs sticking out of a freezer while the kid’s mother attempted to extract him whilst juggling a baby in a stroller and a cart full of groceries.
“That happen much?” Gunnar asked.
“More often than you might think,” Dave replied. He swiveled his chair around. “Dave Frederics. Security lead for this asylum. Nice to make your acquaintance.”
“Gunnar Ericson and this is Bryn, my partner.”
“Cops are getting younger and younger,” Dave commented. “Or I’m getting older. Let me pull up the footage you want.”
Bryn peered at the screen. It was weird watching himself and Gunnar as they traversed the aisles. Cameras had caught them three times before Gunnar wheeled the cart into the checkout line. After a few minutes, Bryn approached the back of the line and began to negotiate his way through.
“There!” There was the briefest glimpse of Bryn’s hand brushing another hand.
“Who does that belong to?” Gunnar squinted and Dave stopped the playback.
“Can’t tell. There are too many people.”
“Play it on a bit, Dave.”
“It has to be that guy,” Bryn commented. He watched his own reactions. The moment he got the reading was plain.
“Black hooded top?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s aware of the camera position. He’s keeping other people between him and the camera’s line of sight. Hood up, and he keeps his head turned away when he gets to the checkout.”
“Pays cash,” Dave added.
“Definitely knows what he’s doing,” Gunnar said. “Can you make out what he’s buying?”
“The belt’s obscured. Wait, I see lemon juice,” Bryn said as the man packed his purchases in a paper sack. “Honey, salt…sorry, I didn’t catch anything else.”
“Me either,” Gunnar admitted. “I think we’ve got the right man, though.
Most of the other people in the line are female.
I can only see two other younger men, neither of whom is acting suspiciously, but we’ll have to rule them out.
Then there’s the old guy with the walker. Don’t think he’s a likely candidate.”
“The registers are digital. Give me a while and I can get the accounts team to search for the time of the transaction and get you a list of what he purchased.”
“That would be great,” Gunnar said.
“It may take a while but I’ll get them on it right away.”
“I guess we should get back to HQ then?” Bryn straightened. “We ought to get a treat for Emmett.”
“You mean one for you with leftovers for Emmett, don’t you?”
“How dare you? Casting aspersions on my kind gesture.”
Dave was eying them. “Bakery has vanilla-glazed French crullers today, just saying.”
“Let’s go!” Bryn was already out of the door.
“Hold on a goddamn minute!” Gunnar turned back to Dave. “Do you have access to staff rosters? We’ll need to talk to the cashier on that checkout.”
I should have thought of that. Bryn hovered in the corridor. Need to focus on the fucking job, not the novelty of being allowed out in public. He scuffed the toe of his boot on the linoleum tile.
“Yeah, sure.” Dave shuffled through some paperwork. “Here you go. That’s Betty-Jo Jackson. She’s off today. Next shift is tomorrow midday. Lemme give you her details. She’s only been with us a week.” He scribbled an address and cell number on a scrap of paper.
“We’ll try to catch her before she comes in. Thanks.” Gunnar backed out of the office.
“Sorry,” Bryn muttered.
“What for?”
“Not thinking about obvious lines of inquiry.”
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up. You’re new to all this and the siren call of crullers is hard to resist.”
“Fuck off.”
“You want baked goods or not?”
Bryn lifted his glasses so Gunnar could see his eyes. “Yes. I do.” He pushed them back in place as the store manager poked his head out of his office.
“You guys get what you need?”
“For now,” Gunnar responded. “We might be back.”
“Sure thing. You can find your way out, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey, did you get the kid out of the freezer?” Bryn called.
“Yeah. He was a little frosty but fine. Just another day at the zoo.”
Romano retreated into his office and Gunnar led the way back to the store. Once Bryn had satisfied his need for pastries they headed for the lot and back to the bike.
“You want to take the long route back?” Gunnar asked as they both donned their leathers.
Bryn straddled the bike behind his partner. “Can’t believe I’m saying this but no. Let’s get back. I want to find out what Emmett has been doing while we’ve been gone.”
“Having a case of our own has got you excited, hasn’t it?” Gunnar revved the engine.
“Yeah. I like having something of ours to do. Helping out other people is fine, but you’re a detective.
It’s fun watching you detect and I want to be part of it.
” Bryn wrapped his arms around Gunnar’s waist and his pulse quickened.
The throb of the powerful machine between his legs and Gunnar’s proximity, along with the scent of leather, was a heady combination.
Why am I so attracted to him? This is so not the time for an internal monologue.
Bryn blanked his mind and focused on the bike’s speed and the sense of freedom that came with it.
* * * *
Back in their office, Gunnar handed round coffee and crullers. Emmett inhaled his pastry then reached for another. “Love these!”
“Did you not take a break while we were gone?” Gunnar asked.
“Too much to do. I kinda forgot.”
“Emmett, step away from the computer,” Bryn said. “Or Gunnar will have to shoot you. I would, but they won’t let me have a gun.”
Emmett eyed him. “Why not?”
“In case I off myself.” Bryn’s tone was matter-of-fact as he reached for another pastry.
“Why would you want to do that? You’re special. Unique. You’re going to be able to do so much good.” Emmett stood and stretched. His neck cracked.
“Wow. I wonder if they have a chiropractor on staff,” Bryn said.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll do some yoga later.” Emmett did a quick circuit of the room then resumed his seat.
“I’ve set everything up on shared servers, so you’ll both be able to see everything I’m doing.
There’s a spreadsheet listing all the cases from the folders and a brief summary along with a priority score.
I’ve then ranked them by distance and grouped some together from the same departments and agencies.
There’s a link to the full file and I’ve started scanning everything in so it’s more accessible.
I’ve set up a separate area for your own cases—of course there’s only one of those so far—and made tabs for all the relevant bits of the investigation cross-tabulated so it all links together. Easier to search. I…”
“Slow down, Emmett!” Gunnar grinned. “You’ve done more in a few hours than I could have managed in a month. Pace yourself.”
“Oh, right. Yeah. My brain works fast, sorry.”
“Don’t be—this is all great but I’m just a wolf, not a genius.”
“Yeah. What he said,” Bryn chimed in. “I mean, I’m not a wolf. The not a genius bit.”
“I’ve seen your files, remember. Neither of you is as dumb as you make out.” Emmett rubbed his neck. “But admin is my thing. It’s so satisfying getting everything organized.”
“I think you’re stranger than I am,” Bryn muttered.
“Thanks for that contribution, Bryn. Did you get the security camera footage from the market, Emmett?”
“I did. I haven’t viewed it, just loaded it into the folder.”
“No problem. We saw it at Walmart.” Gunnar handed over a slip of paper. “This is the name and address of a cashier we need to talk to. Could you track her down and set up an appointment for us?”
“Sure.” Emmett took the note.
“And when we have time, I’ll take you through the tape and point out some individuals we need to try facial rec on.”
“Okay. Uh, Warden dropped by. He said you have to spend at least eighty percent of your time on requests for Bryn’s help until the backlog is cleared.
I took the liberty of arranging for those jurors I mentioned to come in later this afternoon.
It’s a mafia case and the prosecuting lawyers want to know if any of them have been threatened or bribed.
There’s a few more than I thought.” He fiddled with his pen.
“It’ll be about nine truth reads, Bryn. I hope that’s not too much.
I know I said five earlier. It’s not the full pool, but these are the ones that may have been within reach of the mafia boss’s enforcers. ”
Bryn shrugged. “Stock up on Tylenol. It’s doable.”
“I wasn’t sure…I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Bryn perched on the edge of Emmett’s desk. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not that fragile. Do we have time for lunch?”
“First people are due in an hour.”
“Time for some of my patented chicken sandwiches,” Gunnar said, cracking his knuckles as if he were preparing for a fight. “Watch and learn, boys. Watch and learn.” He beckoned them to follow and marched to the kitchen. “Sit. Do not speak. Warm up your taste buds for a gastronomic orgasm.”
“Sounds…interesting,” Bryn muttered.
“Wolves like food. Lots of food. I can guarantee you’ve not tasted a chicken sandwich as good as this.” Gunnar held up a finger to halt any questions. “Judgment by taste only.” Bryn and Emmett exchanged a look, which Gunnar ignored.
“If I’d had more time to prepare, I’d have taken the chicken thighs out of the fridge to sit at room temperature for a while because they get crispier when you fry them, but life ain’t perfect.
” Gunnar gathered the ingredients and equipment he needed.
He whisked an egg in a bowl then in another stirred together panko crumbs, flour and salt.
“Double dipping is the secret.” He dunked pieces of chicken in the egg then coated them in the flour mixture.
“Double dipping sounds kinda fun,” Emmett commented, drawing Bryn’s gaze. “What?”
“Should I be worried about you?”
Emmett ducked his head. “Of course not.”
“Riiight.”
“Are you two concentrating? You need a good, deep skillet.” Gunnar brandished a pan before splashing in some vegetable oil to heat.
Sizzling sounds filled the kitchen as he laid the chicken pieces in the oil.
“These take five minutes so while they’re frying, we can prep the sides.
Bryn, you can shred the cabbage and cilantro.
Emmett, slice the brioche buns and spread them with yum yum sauce.
” He handed out the ingredients then supervised as his recently recruited kitchen assistants did as they were told.
Once everything was ready to his satisfaction, Gunnar assembled four sandwiches.
“Two for me. One each for you lightweights. Okay, eat.” He pushed plates toward Bryn and Emmett, then waited for their reactions.
“I vote for Gunnar making lunch every day from now on,” Emmett said around a mouthful of sandwich.
“Seconded.” Bryn grinned. “This is fantastic.”
“You’re spoiling us,” Emmett added.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Gunnar agreed. “The upside is I get to eat them too.” He’d already finished one sandwich and started on the next. “Hungry wolves are unhappy wolves.”
“You won’t believe the amount he eats, Emmett,” Bryn said.
“I have a friend who’s a wolf,” Emmett replied. “He once ate an entire lasagna, by himself. He still had dessert.”
Gunnar grunted his approval. “Of course. Talking of, there’s a pint of butter pecan in the freezer.”
Bryn and Emmett both declined, citing full bellies, so Gunnar fetched the ice cream and a spoon. It wasn’t long before he’d finished the whole tub.
“You done?” Bryn asked.
“That’ll tide me through ’til dinner.” Gunnar rubbed his flat belly. “You ready to go deal with these jurors?”
Bryn shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Your enthusiasm is inspiring. Emmett, can you track down the cashier and arrange for us to see her as a priority?”
“Sure. I’ll get right onto it. After I’ve cleaned up in here.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I don’t mind. You cooked after all, and you guys have to go work. It won’t take long.”
“Don’t argue with the man, Gunnar.” Bryn grabbed Gunnar’s arm and towed him from the room. “I like washing pans even less than truth reading jurors.”