“No secrets between us,” Gunnar said.
“All he thinks about is chasing rabbits anyway, Emmett. Wolf stuff.” Bryn affected innocence.
“The fuck I do.”
Emmett didn’t seem sure how to react.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to us.” Gunnar gave him an encouraging smile. “You can set an example to Bryn on how to behave in a professional manner in the workplace.”
Bryn pretended to wind his middle finger up and Emmett snorted with laughter. Gunnar sighed. “Might take a while, though.”
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 aninvasion 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.”
