by Lissa Kasey
“How bad are we talking?” He panned from one man to the other, then back to the money on the table. That was a lot of green even after Bart’s cut. Aki could probably buy three or four pairs of sparkly designer shoes with that, maybe a new outfit too. “I have nightmares after something bad, but I know it’s not real. It can’t hurt me. Not really.”
Jack took one folder from his discarded pile and pulled out a picture. He held it up for Aki to see but not close enough to touch. It didn’t make sense since it looked like a mess of hamburger, red ground-up meat. Why would that be a clue? Didn’t everyone cook? Even at the Gem, everyone took a turn at cooking. Was someone kidnapped while making dinner?
He must have recognized the confusion on Aki’s face because he said, “This was a person, Aki. Do you really want to relive what happened to them?”
Aki turned away, swallowing back bile just as the picture came together in his head. Something else he’d never be able to unsee. Damn it. No. He didn’t want any money badly enough to experience that.
“Just one. This girl may still be alive. We need something. Just one tiny clue.” McNaughton played with the money. Aki could hear him shuffling through it, almost smell the scent of the new bills. “One small lead and you get lots of cash. We’ve got a government official missing a kid. Taken only a few hours ago. Might still be alive. Short window to save her.”
“Everyone who’s been taken, we’ve found dead. Eleven so far. All with ransom demands that are followed to the letter only to find them like this.” Jack rummaged through his files, but Aki refused to look at more pictures. “Reduced to so much meat. Who does that? And why? They’ve been paid, what’s the point? And most of them have been kids.”
Aki sat down on the bed, not looking at either of them, just trying to think. This wasn’t going to be bad; this was going to be awful, maybe life changing. Like end up in a padded cell, pissing himself, brain-dead awful. There weren’t many jobs available to psis. Those with his type even less. He’d been lucky to find Bart so understanding, willing to set down rules to make this not only a place to work, but a home. The only other alternative would have been to work for the government, doing exactly this, experiencing people’s deaths. It was never so simple as finding a missing artifact or tracking down the guy stealing money from his company. No, it was all about the gore.
Jack pulled out a file. He took a bag with a thin piece of cloth and glared at it. “This one may still be alive. Ransom isn’t set to be paid until tomorrow evening.” He glanced down to the money. “If money motivates you, we can get more, but know this is a sixteen-year-old girl missing. We just want to know if she has a chance.”
Aki closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, for a moment remembering the one other time he’d done this. The pain had been immediate, a beating gone wrong, a strike to the head not hard enough to kill, but enough to do a lot of damage. He’d lingered, well the man had, but Aki had felt it, suffered for hours while the man slowly bled to death and finally drowned in his own vomit.
One touch would show him it all. The more Aki fought, the more detailed the memories would become. He’d much rather go back downstairs and find a nice old man to jack off for the cash instead of this. Though he’d have to entertain a couple dozen clients to make even half of what was on the table. Then there was the girl. What if she was still alive and he could save her? He hadn’t been much older himself when Bart and Paris found him half-starved and begging for a chance to live or a fast death. Bart had had a brother who’d been psi and taken from them when they were young, never seen again. Sometimes he still looked at Aki with that sorrow in his eyes. But Aki wasn’t his kid brother. He was no one’s kid brother, just an abandoned psi who played the role of whore really well. But where would he be if no one had given him a chance?
He held his hand out for the bag.
“If she’s dead, it will be bad,” Jack pointed out.
“Yeah, well, hand it over before I change my mind.” Aki grabbed the bag from him and carefully opened it. “I’m not contaminating anything by touching this, am I?” Objects didn’t always give him anything, not like people did. He could get everything from touching the shirt or nothing. Aki found that most objects didn’t hold enough life to pass on memories. Good for him, not always good for McNaughton.
“No.” McNaughton left his seat and eased down on the bed beside Aki.
“If you come from watching this, I’m totally charging you twice my normal rate,” Aki told him.
McNaughton laughed. “Deal.”
With a sigh Aki tugged off his right glove and let his fingers brush the fabric. The room at the Hidden Gem vanished instantly. He raced through the streets of City M, rushing by buildings, cars, people, then to a bedroom. The posters of boy bands hung on the walls and bright bedding decorating the bed said this was the sanctuary of a teenage girl. He knew that what he was holding was a T-shirt. Mandy, the missing girl, had gotten it from her best friend for her last birthday. If Aki unfolded it, he’d have seen the band logo decorating the front and that it was well-worn from constant use. She stared at herself in the mirror for a minute, smiled at the reflection. So young. A happy kid, the world at her fingertips. Obviously she had everything she could ever have wanted. So what had gone wrong?
The world shifted, swirling by fast enough to nearly knock him over with vertigo. He saw Just Shoes and the dark streets, the shoes he wanted so badly, and Mandy’s thoughts about being a princess. Then she’d been taken. Pain exploded in her brain only briefly, then darkness. Only when she awoke, the pain returned, worse than anything Aki had ever experienced before, white-hot, breath-stealing pain. He tried to reason through it, remind himself it wasn’t really him that was hurting, clear his vision, anything to catch a glimpse of something that might show where she was. His head felt like it’d been set on fire, pain beginning around his eyes and spreading outward, down the heavy weight of his body. His limbs were unmovable, unresponsive, almost like they weren’t there. Something hot dripped down his cheeks and over his chest, not hot enough to burn, but warmer, thicker, and heavier than water would be. The distinct “plink” of liquid hitting the ground was the only sound. Aki called to her like he’d never tried before. Would she hear? Could she respond even if she did?
“Mandy? Where are you?”
The pain intensified, sending him spinning in a circle of wary confusion for a few minutes before becoming a suffocating weight on his chest. Blind to the world around him, and not in the way of a blindfold, he tried to reason through his other senses. The realization hit him, and he couldn’t help but try to pull himself away. He knew it was a mistake the second it happened. His world solidified with hers, and he screamed through her lips at the horror, the sound ratcheting off many walls and through a cavernous space. He fought to free himself with every ounce of strength he had as the memory of her eyes being torn out filled him. Thankfully everything went dark and the connection snapped away, taking with it all the pain.
THREE
BART HAD thrown them out. McNaughton knew the second Aki began screaming that Biniski’s kid was dead. But it was Taylor who stepped up and cocked the psi hard enough to knock him out. Shane would never have thought of that himself. He also didn’t normally go around punching people smaller than him, which was most of the world. He clicked off the recorder he had in his pocket and stalked with Taylor out the door and back to their car. He should have gotten the blow job first. Now he’d be thinking about what he missed until he could return for the actual service.
“You want me to drop you off at home?” Taylor asked as he got in the driver’s seat.
“Station,” Shane grunted. He needed to pore over this case and analyze everything Aki said. He wondered vaguely if the kid knew he talked through a lot of what he saw without being asked.
Taylor started up the car. “So you and this kid have a thing?”
“He’s a useful whore” was all Shane would commit to. He learned long ago to never let his weakne
sses show. “Helped me solve many cases.”
“He dresses like a girl.”
“Mhmm.”
“That’s….”
“He’s one of the mostly highly sought-after whores in all of City M, male or female. Obviously his clients don’t have problems with the way he dresses.”
“But if you want a girl, why not just pick a girl?”
Shane shrugged. Sometimes a man just wanted something not soft, pretty but firm. Then there was the whole wanting another dick thing. Not that he ever got to even see Aki’s. Maybe others actually fantasized that Aki was a girl. Whatever.
“You know, if he had proper training, he could help the ISS. Have a high-paying job and he’d never have to bend over for again. Could buy all the shoes he wanted.”
“He’s a whore and happy to be one. Leave him be.”
Taylor sighed. They drove the rest of the way in silence. Had the younger A-M been close enough to hear Aki’s muttering? Had he understood any of it? Something about a band. Then a rattle of words, which was usually how Shane found the missing. It was sort of like a messed-up map, sometimes going over buildings as the path of a bird might. It had helped more than once. The hardest part was unraveling the mutterings to make something out of them. Mandy was probably dead or at least would be by morning. But if they moved fast enough, they might be able to find her killer, catch him before he moved on to the next or dumped her body.
“You should have left the money,” Taylor finally said as he parked the car at the station.
“Bart would have taken most of it. Besides, I said we’d pay him for a clue. We don’t have one yet.” He got out of the car and headed in, plowing his way through the nearly empty precinct before making his way to the conference room that had been set up as home base. Pictures lined the walls, whiteboards of notes, ideas, good and bad. Shane put the recorder down and clicked play. Taylor entered the room behind him. “You can go home to bed if you can sleep. I’m just gonna work on this for a while.”
“This meaning that spew of crap? All PC psis do that. It’s like speaking in tongues or something. The ISS has been analyzing it for years, trying to decode it like it’s another language.” Taylor dropped down into a chair on the other side of the table. “I get that you think this kid can help, but if you want a real C psi, you’re better off getting one of the consultants from the ISS. At least they’re trained. That kid had no control. I wouldn’t have had to hit him if he did. He was trying to claw his eyes out.”
“Reliving what they did to her. You’ll never meet a more powerful C psi than Aki.” Shane replayed it. If he could figure out the first word, he’d know where to start. He’d worked with a handful of C psis sent for projects from the ISS. None of them lasted long. Their feelings didn’t lead to much. The few who got visions were so scattered it was like picking through the remains of the fire. Who knew if they’d get something usable or not. At least with Aki, Shane knew he’d find some new clue.
Someone knocked on the door. Lieutenant Jenny Page stuck her head in. “Coffee?”
“Sludge or the stuff you make?” Shane asked.
“Mine of course.” She paused, glancing at the recorder. “You playing pick out the street name or landmark again?”
“Yep.”
“Be right back with coffee. Did you know Castwell has a program he created to clean up the vocals and compare words to maps just for this? Chief was talking about maybe adding a psi permanently to the department. And Castwell thought this might help for recognition.”
“Hmm.” Shane grumbled noncommittally, replaying it again. The chief had talked of adding psis for years. One-offs, yeah, but permanently? Never happen, still too much distrust in the world at large. He could only imagine the panic if the world found out about A-Ms. Page returned a minute later with coffee and a com unit. He took the coffee, thankful for the liquid, though he was starting to crave something less nice. Damn, he’d have to change soon. In the middle of this case was not a good time.
Page took the recorder, flipped it to wireless upload, and transferred it to the computer. A minute later she was programing it into the new software.
“I don’t get it,” Taylor said.
“What?” Page asked. “The jumble? We’ve used it a couple times before to help us pinpoint an area to search. We just have to pick out some words. Match them up on the map and follow the path.” She hit the button, and it played back the recorded jumble, only now so slowly it sounded like deep garble. “Was that Ricen?”
“Like Ricen Blvd down in the warehouse district off the lake?” Taylor said.
“Keep going,” Shane said. He was pulling words out, writing them down as he caught them, letters if he could make them out and not the whole word. The computer was still trying to catch up, picking out its own words and pulling up maps. “Slow it down more. I’m trying to catch the sounds.” Another three rounds and he was sure he had it all. He got up from the table and pulled up the digital mapping board on the computerized wall. Not everything was about paper and pictures, they just left those there as reminders of order and ideas. The computer could never truly duplicate the human brain. He pulled up Ricen, eyes following the street, watching for signs of anything else from Aki’s jumble. All Shane ever needed was the jumble. The rest was cake.
Bingo.
He traced the path with his fingers, highlighting until it stopped. Mandy probably had no idea where she was, but a true psi couldn’t be fooled. However they connected to the universe went far beyond the physical and into something deeply emotional, maybe even spiritual.
“Let’s call all units out. See if we can catch this son of a bitch in the act. Page, get on the phone with the media and Biniski. There’s going to be hell to pay no matter how this turns out.”
Taylor got up and stared at the map. “No way you got this from that kid.”
Shane just smiled and headed for the door. Time to go find another dead teenager and maybe a murderer. If all went well, he’d get home, shift, and then be back at the Gem tonight for a little bit of real entertainment with his favorite companion.
WHEN MANNY pulled Candy out of the dining hall and away from the important, high-paying party, he was somewhat annoyed. He should have known when McNaughton showed up with another detective that the cop would cause trouble. If Aki was hurt, they were going to have words and Candy would see the man banned.
In their tiny room, the blond lay on his bed, shaking and whispering, head rolling back and forth. Nightmares. Damn that cop. Candy pulled the psi into his arms and ran his hands over Aki’s skin. He’d had a lot of practice chasing away Aki’s demons. Never thought he’d wind up best friends with a psi. He’d grown up thinking of them much like most of the South did, that they were less than human, little more than animals bent on destroying the world. Aki changed that.
Candy began pulling the pins from his best friend’s hair. He’d heard enough horror stories from the blond to know that he bled just as red as anyone else. The psi cried, screamed, felt pain and love. He was human just like Candy. Though Aki was two years older than him, Candy still thought of Aki as his little brother, someone who needed to be taken care of. He pulled the psi’s wrist up and massaged the biohazard symbol Aki hid from everyone. The mark was a sign of how the world saw him, but not what he really was. He wasn’t toxic. The world was.
Bart appeared in the doorway, knocking lightly to alert Candy of his presence. “How is he?”
The nightmares had calmed. Aki seemed to be resting normally. “Okay, I think. I will have to get the makeup off to see if there’s any damage to his face.” A few shallow scratches looked red and angry, but Candy wasn’t sure how deep they were. “McNaughton knows better.”
“He had a new partner with him. Manny said he heard them talking about a case with a lot of dead kids.” Bart shook his head. “I should ban him. I’ll fine him heavily if there’s any permanent damage to Aki’s face.”
But Aki would freak if Bart kept the Irishman away. S
omething about that cop made Aki light up. All the jewels in the world couldn’t match his shine when the detective came around and started flirting with the blond.
“I’ll look him over. Do you want me to go back down?” The group of CEOs that had come in late tipped well for services rendered, even if they did get a little grabby.
“No. It’s almost closing time anyway. We’ll just offer them another night of their choice with you and Aki as their servers. They’ll be happy enough.” Bart turned and left the room without another word, likely to return to negotiate another meeting of senators with a taste for pretty boys.
Candy brushed Aki’s hair out of his face. At least he could provide his friend a few moments of peace. That’s all a companion ever really needed.
FOUR
AKI EXPECTED nightmares, but he got bright colors and swirling clouds. That meant someone was touching him. He pulled himself from sleep only to open his eyes to Candy’s smile. The companion’s bright purple hair reflected moonlight. Was it still the same night? How had he gotten here? They were in their shared room at the Gem, a tiny space with two twin-sized beds and a really big walk-in closet, curled up in Candy’s bed.
His fingers brushed Aki’s jaw. “Ow.”
“Sorry. The detective hit you pretty hard,” Candy said.
Aki flexed his jaw. Sore, but okay. Not like a really busy night, more like a dull ache at the base of his chin. Not a feeling he liked. “What happened?”
“You touched something for the detectives, and it was bad. You were screaming and clawing at your eyes. Detective Taylor punched you to knock you out when they couldn’t stop the vision.” Candy ran his hands through Aki’s hair, which must have been freed from the pins. “Bart called me away from the big group to help. Said you needed my touch, then threw the detectives out.”