“Officer Phelps, you’re aware we’ve had a complaint against you?” The superintendent didn’t waste any time with preliminaries.
“Wouldn’t be a day with a y in it if there hadn’t been. Cons got nothing better to do than make shit up.”
The super gave a non-committal grunt. “Well, we are fortunate to be able to clear this up quickly. I’d like to introduce you to Bryn Ashton. He’s an augur.”
Phelps’ face reddened. “The fuck he is.”
“He was here helping with another case but kindly offered to stay so that we could remove all doubt about your situation as quickly as possible. This isn’t an accusation you need hanging over you.”
Bryn took off his glasses and grinned at Phelps’ wince. On this occasion, he was happy his eyes made someone uncomfortable. “Give me your hand.” He held out his own.
“Why?”
“I need skin-to-skin contact for this to work.” Bryn held down a shudder when Phelps took his hand. His palm was sweaty and he gripped too hard for comfort, but Bryn had been trained not to show any emotion. He pressed his thumb to the underside of Phelps’ wrist. “I’m ready.”
“Did you assault prisoner Da Costa? You only need answer yes or no.”
“No.” Phelps’ word was accompanied by a spray of spittle.
“Lie.” Bryn locked on to Phelps’ memory. “He’s done it before too.” He yanked his hand away but Phelps grabbed him and got an arm around Bryn’s throat. He pulled a knife, but Gunnar was far too quick for him. He dragged Bryn away and disarmed Phelps in one swift movement. He had Phelps on the floor with a knee in his back seconds later.
“Where the fuck did this lowlife get a knife?”
Bryn backed away. He really wanted to wash his hands. The super was white-faced and already making a call for backup, which arrived seconds later. Two uniformed men crashed through the office door, guns raised.
“What did you see, Bryn?” Gunnar asked.
“He was raping a man. Ginger hair, freckles, looked young. He was enjoying it. The power as much as the act. He called him Jimmy, so I knew it was someone different from the accuser.”
“Jimmy Allen, killed himself in his cell. Get this garbage out of my office,” the superintendent snapped. “Read him his rights then put him in a holding cell. Maybe he’ll get lucky and be sent back here in a different colored uniform. That would be justice.”
Gunnar dragged Phelps to his feet then pushed him at the armed officers. “He’s all yours.”
“Nicely done, Detective.”
“He was predictable and dumb as a rock.” Gunnar put the knife on the super’s desk.
“And evil,” Bryn contributed. “It wouldn’t surprise me if you get a lot more inmates coming forward after this. I’d guess he’s been abusing his position for a long time.”
“It’s sickening. The COs wear body cams but it’s too easy to obscure the footage or claim the camera isn’t working. I can only thank you for helping, but I’ll be sending a report to your superiors. This has been invaluable and I hope we can work together again, particularly if it means freeing more people who’ve suffered injustices.”
Gunnar shook the super’s hand but Bryn just nodded as he put his dark glasses on. He couldn’t wait to leave the cloying prison atmosphere and breathe fresh air.
Chapter Five
“You look like a two-day-old corpse,” Gunnar said as he and Bryn made their way out of the prison to the parking lot. He was worried Bryn had done too much.
“Well thanks.” Bryn massaged his neck. “That boosts my self-esteem no end.”
“You did a great job in there but you shouldn’t overdo it.” Gunnar opened the car door and hoisted Bryn into the passenger seat before he could protest. It was worrying that Bryn didn’t say anything sarcastic or gripe about being manhandled. “Maybe we should head back to the apartment?” Gunnar said as he got behind the wheel.
“No way. You are not getting out of buying me Twinkies. I want my trip to the market. Chemically enhanced goodness will make me feel so much better.”
“You know that’s not a good thing, right?”
“Drive, wolf boy. We can get you some goodies too.” Bryn slumped in his seat and Gunnar guessed that his eyes were closed behind his glasses.
“Okay, but you ain’t gonna fit in the kiddie seat in the cart. You’ll have to walk.”
