Chapter Nine
Bryn didn’t think he’d ever met anyone who seemed as utterly terrified of life as Talbot Dunne.
He was only two years younger than Bryn but it was apparent that Bryn’s group home upbringing had been way better than growing up with Talbot’s toxic parents.
Agent Bell had him in a suite normally reserved for child victims. Talbot was sitting on a couch, knees drawn up, gripping a pink teddy.
He was wide-eyed and staring into space.
When Bryn and Gunnar came into the room, he scuttled even further into the corner of the couch.
“Hey, I’m Bryn.” Bryn walked across the room and sat next to Talbot. “You don’t have to worry about him.” He indicated Gunnar. “I know he’s big and scary-looking but he’s a pussy cat. Actually, he’s a wolf, so I guess that should be puppy dog.”
“He’s a wolf?”
“Yeah.”
“My best friend at high school tested lupine. He always looked after me when we were kids.”
“Wolves don’t like bullies. They take care of their pack. I guess the instinct is there even before the gene kicks in.”
“Agent Bell told me you’re an augur, is that true?”
“It is. Bell is one of the good guys, you know that, right?”
Talbot nodded. “He’s been nice to me even though I’m a…a…”
“A man getting by the best he can in difficult circumstances?” Bryn nudged shoulders with Talbot. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
Talbot relaxed enough to lower his legs. He kept hold of the bear. “You must think I’m pathetic.”
“I think you’re incredibly brave. You got out of a crappy situation and you survived. No way could I have done that.”
“I’m not even any good at it.” Talbot sighed. “You didn’t need to know that, did you?”
Bryn chuckled. “Everything takes practice, or so I hear. What would you rather be doing?”
“Anything! Garbage collector, sewer cleaner, grave digger…anything! Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I want any old dick in my mouth.”
“I get that, but did you have an idea of a career or college, anything like that?”
“It’s going to sound real boring but I love computers. I wanted to get into IT.”
“You mean you want to tell tech-idiots like me to turn it off and on again?”
For a moment, Talbot seemed uncertain but then he broke into a smile. “Yeah. I think I’d be good at it.”
“Rather you than me. For me, ram is a male sheep and gigabytes are what I take when someone hands me a Twinkie.”
“I love Twinkies!” Talbot exclaimed.
“Which is why we are definitely going to be pals. So, how do you feel about me having a poke around in your head?” Bryn softened his words with a smile. “You won’t feel a thing, I promise.”
“You can read my mind?”
“No, not quite. I can’t see what you’re thinking. I can see your strongest memory and that’s what we’re banking on. Even though you think you can’t remember what you saw, it’ll be in your memory. Your brain is protecting you but I can see right past the block.”
“I want to help. What do I need to do?”
Bryn took off his gloves. “I need skin-to-skin contact with you. It works best if I hold your wrist at the pulse point.”
“Okay.” Talbot held out a very thin arm.
“All you have to do is relax,” Bryn said.
“You can think about anything you like, it won’t make any difference.
” He wrapped his hand around Talbot’s wrist and concentrated.
Talbot’s memory was strong and clear. He was kneeling on cold concrete in a dimly lit alley.
To one side of him was a yellow dumpster and there was a strong smell of rotting garbage in the air.
To the other was a haphazard stack of empty pallets.
Talbot didn’t like the taste in his mouth.
He spat on the ground then unwrapped a stick of gum.
He was putting it into his mouth when he heard a noise and froze.
Bryn could sense his fear as Talbot peeked around the dumpster, a fear that escalated at what he was seeing.
A man, wearing a dark hoody and pants, had entered the alley from the other end and made his way to a point about halfway down.
Talbot couldn’t make out his face but the body the man had slung over his shoulder was obvious.
Talbot made himself as small as possible and held his breath.
He watched in horrified fascination as the man dumped the body alongside a wall then kicked some trash over it.
He straightened, glanced around then pulled a fistful of petals from his pocket and scattered them around the corpse.
Talbot whimpered and the man stared in his direction.
He took a few steps toward him and Talbot’s heart pounded.
A fire-exit door on the other side of the pallet pile creaked open and someone came out, heaving two garbage bags.
The hooded man turned and walked away. Talbot sobbed and that was the last Bryn saw.
“Wow, that was fucking scary,” Bryn said.
“Did you see what I saw?” Talbot asked.
“Yeah. Gimme a minute while I talk to my partner so he can make some notes, okay?”
“Sure. Not going anywhere.” Talbot hugged his bear.
Bryn took Gunnar outside the room to relate what he’d seen. “He was lucky he didn’t end up dead too.”
“No wonder he’s blanked it out.”
“I don’t think the killer saw him.”
“That’s good. I don’t like the idea of Talbot being back on the streets, though.”
“Me either. You think we could talk to Warden about maybe giving him a job and a place to stay for a while?”
“I think that’s an excellent idea. That work for you, Bell?”
“The kid will die if he has to go back out there. Anything we can do to help, we should do.”
“I’m going to go make the call,” Gunnar said. “We should take him back to HQ with us later. When I’m done, we need to talk about these cases on your books, Bell. Pool what we know and see if we can’t work out some next steps.”
Agent Bell nodded. “I’ll go sort out a room and pull the team together. Bryn, can you take care of Talbot for a while?”
“Sure. Point me at food and we’ll go eat. I’m starving.”
“How’s your head?” Gunnar asked.
“Fine. There was no resistance so it didn’t take much effort.”
“Did you look at his future?”
“No. I hope we’re going to change it, so I didn’t want to.”
“Fair enough. Let’s get going. We have work to do.”
Gunnar wouldn’t allow Bryn to go outside without him so Bell took him and Talbot to the staff restaurant. He handed over a code for payment then left them to it.
“Looks like we have carte blanche to stuff our faces,” Bryn said. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“I guess. I’m worried about what happens next, though. I can’t identify the guy I saw so I’m not useful anymore. They’re going to put me back on the street, aren’t they?”
“Gunnar and I have a plan. But let’s get food then I can tell you about it and see what you think.”
Bryn loaded his tray with a steaming bowl of chicken soup, two dinner rolls, an enormous slice of peach pie with whipped cream and a bag of chips. In a concession to Gunnar’s concern for healthy eating, he grabbed an orange juice.
Talbot hesitated but then followed Bryn’s example, mirroring his choices, except he chose English breakfast tea as his drink.
They grabbed silverware then headed for a corner table.
A few people eyed Bryn’s dark glasses and gloves.
It was apparent they knew what he was because there were plenty of muttered conversations and glances.
“How do you put up with that?” Talbot waved vaguely at the room as he took his seat.
“They’re curious.” Bryn sat down. “It’s unavoidable.” He took off his glasses and laid them on the table. “Might as well give them something to stare at.”
“Wow. Pretty!”
“Why, thank you. That’s better than freak or weirdo.”
“I’d never heard of an augur until Agent Bell told me about you. Are there any more like you?”
“Not that I know of.” Bryn focused on his soup, which was excellent. He was mopping the dish with the end of a roll before Talbot said anything else.
“What’s it like working with a wolf?”
“I don’t think of him like that,” Bryn said. “Until he does something wolfy.”
“Like what?”
“He gets growly when he thinks I need protecting. He eats enough for two and his senses are much sharper than a human’s. He gets up at the crack of dawn to run, can you believe that?”
Talbot shuddered. “That’s horrifying.”
“I know, right? But other than that, he puts up with me. He can cook too.” Bryn told Talbot about how he and Gunnar shared an apartment at the Gene Control and Research HQ and a little bit of the kinds of cases they were working on.
He told him about Emmett and his genius with all things admin.
“Do you think it’s the kind of place you might like to work? ”
“It sounds amazing, but that’s never going to happen. I’m a homeless rent boy, Bryn. Who’d want to give me a job? Without a postal address I can’t even get hired to flip burgers. Not that I’m putting down anyone who does that. It’s good, honest work.”
“Me and Gunnar have a bit of sway with the boss at GCR. Right now, he’s putting in a word for you with Warden—that’s our boss—to see if he’ll take you on as an entry-level geek. I mean IT guru.” Bryn chomped his pie. “Fuck me, this is good.”
Talbot stared at him. “You’d do that for me? You only just met me.”
Bryn shrugged. “We all need a helping hand every now and again. Eat your pie.”
They were finishing their food when Gunnar came to join them. He had a plate heaped with pasta and salad, enough for three normal appetites. Bryn and Talbot exchanged glances and Talbot broke into a smile.
“What’s so amusing?” Gunnar tucked in.
“I’d been telling Talbot about your voracious appetite, partner. You came through with perfect timing. Also, you need to get the pie.”
“You do.” Talbot nodded. “So yummy.”
“So what did the boss man say?” Bryn asked.
“If Talbot agrees, he can come back to HQ with us. He can start work with the geek squad right away. Warden says they’re always looking for new talent.”
Talbot gaped. “You mean it?”