16

Jeremy

Saturday: 3:22 PM

Agent Reston strode into the room on the arm of her partner, high heels clacking on the wood floor. She and her squad of paranormal paramedics had arrived in less than twenty minutes after my call.

“Lucky for you, I was visiting the New York offices today,” she said smoothly. Her dark glasses reflected the afternoon light from the windows. I thought I saw her turn toward the apparition, who had taken to sitting in the corner to stare gloomily at me, arms hugging her knees.

“Yeah,” I said. “Very lucky.”

Marisa was on the couch comforting Gabe after she’d finally managed to drag her off of Bobby Pendell’s unresponsive body.

He had frozen, midsentence, a forkful of jasmine rice halfway on its journey to his mouth, and then fallen off of his chair.

I hadn’t wanted to call Agent Reston. But I didn’t think there was any other way to save Pendell’s life.

Agent Reston’s partner led her to a stool by the kitchen counter. She waited there, neck straight, ears cocked like a hunting dog while her team of white-coated medics poked and prodded Pendell with strange objects that looked more like portable bug zappers than medical equipment. I flinched when one of them stuck a long spiral rod up his nose.

Bobby Pendell, however, did not move a muscle.

“This may take a while,” Agent Reston said. “You can leave if you want.”

“Not a chance!” Gabe sprang off the couch. “No way in hell am I leaving him alone with you!”

Agent Reston tilted her head. “Ah. Must be the girlfriend. Well, that’s fine. But I’m warning you. It may not be pleasant.”

“I can deal with it,” Gabe said defiantly, hands on hips, an effect completely wasted on Agent Reston.

A slim eyebrow lifted above the dark glasses. “Lovely to see such devotion. Continue with the procedure, team.”

“What are you doing to him?” I asked.

Agent Reston turned to face me, a slight smile curving her red lips. “I see you two have bonded. That’s very nice. But I’m afraid our methods are confidential.”

“But what’s wrong with him?” I pressed, and swallowed down the hocker I wanted to spit at her.

“If Bobby had listened to me, we wouldn’t be here right now,” Agent Reston said.

“And you did nothing to stop this? When you knew the danger he was in?” Gabe was inches from Agent Reston’s face, but the woman remained unruffled.

“I did try to warn him,” she said. “But he insisted on handling things his way. And since he is still a minor, I could do very little without his father’s consent.”

On the floor, Pendell had begun to writhe and rave, as if he were speaking in tongues. The flywing girl rose from her corner perch and began to run frantically back and forth.

“Stop!” Pendell screamed hoarsely. “The ring belongs to Brendan Wavestone!”