Page 16 of So Silent

“Everything is B,” Michael said.

“What?”

“All of the doors have B after the number. Where are the A’s?”

“Colleges have dumb numbering systems,” she replied. “It never makes sense. You mind if we do some work now?”

“Sure,” he said. “But it was a legitimate question.”

“Okay, fine. It was legitimate.”

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She sighed. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine.”

The truth was that Faith felt anxious. She wondered what it was for a moment, but she didn’t have to wonder long. The last time she had faced a killer, he had nearly killed her and Turk before allowing the police to arrest him and promising her that he would break her.

She didn’t want Michael to know that, though. “Come on,” she said, “I can’t be worried that everything I say is going to make you ask if I’m okay. I just want to deal with this before the asshole kills someone else, all right?”

“Fair enough,” he said. “Let’s go, then.”

Faith sighed as she stepped in. Michael didn’t normally let things go that easily. Maybe he understood that she was on edge after West’s attack.

Remember. I will break you. She hated that West came to her mind right now. He was in custody. He was locked up. She was safe.

But she didn’t feel safe, and that was what really made her irritable.

“Showtime,” Michael said.

Without any other preamble, he pulled open the door and called, “FBI!”As Faith stepped through, she saw two college kids holding their hands against their ears and grimacing in pain. A bearded man rushed to a panel and flipped a switch. “Do you want to blow out someone’s eardrums?” he asked angrily. “This room is closed for auditory studies. There’s a sign posted on the front of the damned door. I assume you can read, yes?”

He moved to the students, staring at a no longer grimacing and quite pretty blonde who smiled sheepishly at him. “I’m all right, Doctor.”

He produced an ear scope. There was an actual name for the tool but she didn’t know what it was. “We’ll just make sure of that.”

Michael stepped toward him, but Faith put her hand on his arm. “Just make your way around to the other side so he’s between us,” she said softly.

He lifted an eyebrow but didn’t question her. Still, the brief look frustrated her, all the more so because the man really didn’t look like a flight risk.

“Are you George Tate?” she asked.

“George Tate? I’m Gregory Tate. George Tate is the football coach. Did you really just interrupt my study accidentally?”

“I misspoke,” she said. She hated herself for it, too. “Go ahead and finish your examination.” If there were any auditory injuries to the students, she wanted to know about them now. Better she tell the Boss what had happened rather than the University.

The man checked the girl’s other ear and then checked the other student, a young man who did a passable job of pretending he was unbothered by the assault on his eardrums. When he was satisfied his students weren’t harmed, he turned to Michael and said, “All right. I can see that you’re FBI now. I’m guessing this isn’t a situation where I can tell you to fuck off and make an appointment like a decent human being.”

Turk growled low in his throat, and Dr. Tate looked at him. Faith noticed there was no fear in his gaze. “I’ll take that as a no. Do my subjects need to stay here, or can I pay them their fee and let them leave?”

“Are they super hearers?” Michael asked.

“Super… super what?”

“Do they have exceptional hearing? Are they part of the research program for students with exceptional hearing?”

“No. This is a study with sound amplifying hearing aids for people with normal hearing.”

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