Page 50 of Greed
“Has anyone heard from Wyatt?” Evan asked hopefully.
A few months ago, Wyatt had taken off, leaving only a letter behind and no forwarding address. The family felt his absence acutely, now more than ever because it had been months with no word. He would be alone out there, angry, and full of guilt and self loathing for not listening to Evan’s warning about Sara.
“Nothing directly,” Mary stated, shaking out her napkin.
“What about indirectly?” Evan smiled briefly at the waitress placing his meal in front of him, waited for her to leave, then continued. “We put a tracker on his bike, right? Can AIMI find him?”
AIMI was their artificial intelligence management interface. Designed as a joint venture between Parker, Sloan and Flint, she’d been in her final prototype stages at the time of Wyatt’s disappearance.
“You know as well as anyone else at this table that AIMI can be deactivated manually,” Parker replied. “But, she hasn’t been. He’s in town. I just don’t understand why he doesn’t come home.”
“There’ve been reports in the South-Side of a rider in black interrupting gangland meetings and—” Flint hesitated and glanced at his wife.
“He’s being Wyatt,” Mary finished for him.
“Being Wyatt meaning he’s wailing on them, right?” Liza asked. “He’s not wearing his suit is he? We don’t need more bad press for the family if he’s recognized.”
“He’s not wearing the suit. Just his helmet to cover his face.”
“That’s not the point.” Flint wiped his hands on his napkin. “The body count is growing. I’m not sure how long we can leave him to his own devices before he slips into his sin entirely.”
The stunned silence around the room grated as much as noise.
Griffin’s pulse beat loudly in his ears, and he swallowed, tugging at his collar. Wyatt shouldn’t be out there on his own. It was dangerous to him, and everyone else. Griffin knew better than all of them what happened when you slipped into a sin psychosis… people died. All of them. Not just the sinners. He stared at the plate before him, contemplating. It was time he told the family.
“We need to bring him back,” he said. “If his sin takes hold of him, he’ll black out and kill anyone nearby. Mothers, children… anyone.”
Parker stopped eating and zeroed in on him. The look they shared conveyed Griffin’s urgency.
“You’re speaking from experience,” Parker said. It was a statement, not a question.
“I am.”
He expected questions. Maybe a few comments. Something like,That’s what’s wrong with you. But Mary only covered Flint’s hand on the table and held it tight.
“I’m sorry that happened to you while you were on your own, Griffin,” she said. “But you’re not alone anymore.”
“I know.” He turned to Evan. “What about your dreams? Can we find Wyatt that way?”
Evan blushed and looked at Grace. “I’m not seeing much other than my relationship at the moment. It seems my dreams are connected to what I’m thinking about most during my waking hours.”
It was Grace’s turn to blush as she dipped her gaze to her table setting.
The waitress came back and was almost finished placing meals at each setting, including Tony’s dessert which he accepted with a flirty wink.
When the waitress left again, Parker shot Tony a dirty look. “Don’t shit where you eat, Tony.”
“Relax, I’m not going to do anything.” Tony glared back, lifting his palms in mock surrender. Ignoring Parker’s bold stare, he spooned some chocolate mousse into his mouth.
That man put away so much food without putting on weight. It was commendable. Although his strict exercise regime was built to keep him solid and sculptured, and his personal trainers never let him miss a session at the gym.
“I mean it,” Parker added. “We can’t afford to keep hiring new staff every time you get a hankering for one of them.”
“Whatever. Hey, I’ve got something more appropriate to talk about,” Tony challenged. “Did anyone stop to wonder if Wyatt actually wrote the note? I mean, what if it was a fake?”
“It was his handwriting,” Mary disagreed. “I’d know his chicken scratch scrawl anywhere.”
“But we’re not a hundred percent sure, are we?” Tony countered.
