Page 65 of Private Exhibit
Devon winced. He knew there was a ghost sitting there, though he couldn't see it. Was Frankie feeling left out, not able to fully share in the conversation? Having to watch everyone eating around him? Was that how it would be for Devon himself someday?
“I've also been composing like crazy lately,” Brendan went on, interrupting Devon's thoughts, “so I almost have enough material foranothernew album, but that'll have to wait. We're going to try a show at Garbon's Theater here in town, and if that goes well, it could mean a worldwide tour.”
“That's amazing!” Nash said. “Congrats.”
“Thanks.”
“Andy?” Hayden asked. “You look lost.”
Andy blinked. “Sorry. I just…” He frowned and shook his head. “Who are you?”
A few people gasped, but Brendan threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, gods. Thank you for that. It's actually a reliefnot to be recognized. There was a time I couldn't go anywhere without getting bombarded. I hadnoprivacy whatsoever.”
“He's known on stage as Vesad Stromos,” Connor cut in. “Most famous musician the world has ever known. Second only to Will Knightley, of course. No offense.”
“None taken,” Brendan said with a laugh. “That man was a genius.” He held up his hands before anyone else could say anything. “Alright, that's enough about me. Somebody else go.”
The table fell silent, everyone glancing around expectantly until Levi spoke up. “I got a job.”
Hayden and Connor cheered for him. “Oh yay! Doing what?”
“Nash's head of I.T. is moving away,” Levi explained. “So I'm taking over the position. And right now we're just starting the merger with Hawkeye, so there's alotto do.”
Connor gasped. “You're merging with Hawkeye? Oh damn. You'll dominate the industry!”
Nash chuckled. “I don't know about that, but we'll be big, for sure. It's just too bad we'll have to shut down S.P.I.R.I.T. Division.”
“What's that?” Hayden asked.
“It's Hawkeye's paranormal investigative branch,” Nash explained. “My mentor, Saira—she and her husband own Hawkeye and got me started in the industry—she has this incredibly sensitive E.S.P. She's helped catch murderers and rapists in real time by basically hearing the victims' mental screams.”
“Mentalscreams?” Thomas asked.
“Yeah,” Nash replied. “When someone is hurt or in danger, even if they can't physically scream, they're usually screaming in their minds, begging the universe for help. Saira can pick up on that. And because the victims are so vulnerable in that state, she can get inside their heads, figure out who and where they are,then send a team out in hopes of stopping the crime before it's over. Before the perp gets away.”
Gasps and mutters erupted all around the table.
“They've tried for years to find someone with the same ability,” Nash went on. “But telepathy is such a rare gift here as it is. Having it to that level is a whole other story. So we'll have to shut it down.”
Devon squirmed. He could have done something like that. Hells, hehadbeen able to do that before the mysterious man cut his mind off from the telepathic plane. He could have helped people. Helped save lives.
Would that ability come back once he was dead? Without a physical brain around which to anchor that telekinetic barrier, would the block simply cease to exist?
Devon reached out a shaky hand and knocked over his coffee mug. “Oh gods,” he gasped. “I'm so sorry.”
Andy jumped up and righted the mug, then threw down his napkin, sopping up the mess while Hayden assured them that it was fine.
“You alright?” Andy whispered as he sat back down. The man studied Devon's face, looking intently at him. “Was that an attack?”
Devon started to shake his head, but he honestly wasn't sure. It could have just as easily been a momentary attack as it might have been sheer overwhelm. “Can we go home?” he whispered.
Andy didn't even hesitate. “Of course.” He paused, then quickly yanked out his phone and glanced at the screen before shoving the phone out of sight. “I'm sorry to cut this short, but I just got paged to the E.R.”
Devon scanned the table. He couldn't tell if anybody actually bought the lie, but nobody commented on it. Instead, everyone got up and took turns giving Devon and Andy hugs and handshakes before walking them to the door.
Once they were alone in the elevator, Devon slumped back against the wall with a heavy sigh.
“Baby?” Andy asked, reaching out but stopping shy of touching him. “You alright?”
