Brain Storm by Cat Gilbert (detective books to read .TXT) 📖

* * *

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, we were back inside the coffee shop, sitting at my old table and I was feeling a little better. He was sitting across from me and asking for the umpteenth time what I knew about Denzel. I had filled him in on everything except my suspicions about having telekinetic abilities, which were seeming more far fetched by the minute. In the light of current events, it was obvious that Denzel and I had some sort of connection, although I had no idea what that might be. The fact that he was following me and had been waving a gun around didn’t bode well. I had to admit that the most likely scenario was that Denzel had actually thrown the coffee at me, although at the time, it sure hadn’t seemed like it. Why, was anyone’s guess and what I needed to find out. The upside, if that was the case, was this telekinesis thing could be laid to rest.

I had called Trinity to come and pick me up, as my car was going to be here until they cleared the scene, and she was due any minute. As relieved as I was that Jonas was all right, I was, quite frankly, tired of the inquisition and wished she would hurry up and get here, so I could leave.

“Hey!” Jonas snapped his fingers in front of my eyes. “Pay attention. Answer the question.”

I focused back on Jonas and blinked hard, feeling another headache coming on. Snorting, Jonas stood up motioning for someone behind me to come over. To my surprise, it was an EMT.

“Check her out. She took a pretty good hit to the head when we dove for cover.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my head,” I retorted, not wanting to delay my departure longer than necessary.

“Then there’s something wrong with your eyes because they’re rolling around in your head,” Jonas shot back.

Frowning, I followed the EMT’s instruction and attempted to follow his penlight around. Unfortunately, Trinity chose that minute to make an entrance, and before I knew it, she was hovering over me, demanding to know what had happened. Seeing I was unable to field her questions and comply with the EMT’s instructions at the same time, Jonas stepped in and took hold of her arm, in an attempt to remove her from the area.

Jonas didn’t know it yet, but he had just made a huge mistake. Trinity had never talked about it much, but you didn’t need to be a genius to know her father hadn’t just used his fists on her mother. I suspected Trinity had taken her share of beatings, and I knew for a fact that she blamed her father for her mother’s death. She’d never seen her father again after that night, and she didn’t want me to look for him. In Trinity’s mind, she had put it all behind her, and it was a closed book. But she hadn’t. Not really. It bled over into her life, every day.

Simply put, Trinity had a problem with men and that problem was, when she looked at a man, she saw her father. It didn’t help that her job reminded her daily of the seamy side of family life, and the horrible things people can do to each other. As a result, she hated most men and trusted none of them, the exception, of course, being her little brother, who in her eyes could do no wrong. She had somehow managed to tolerate Keith, for my sake, but it was always a rocky relationship between them. Normally she just ignored them, but occasionally, she came across one that set her off. And Jonas set her off. Not only was he a man, but he was a big, good-looking black man, with a badge and a gun and he wasn’t intimidated by her. I had a feeling that what was to follow wasn’t going to be pretty, and I was dead on the money.

I chose to ignore the raised voices and heated discussion that little move precipitated, content to let them fight it out. Woe to him that gets between Trinity and her quest for knowledge. Add in concern for a friend, her intense dislike of men and the fact that he actually had the audacity to touch her, and Jonas had more to worry about than getting shot at.

I had finished my on-site exam, received my diagnosis of concussion and they were still going at it. I settled back into the chair cushions to watch, inordinately happy that they were going at each other instead of me. It was the most entertainment I’d had all day.

“What are you smiling at?” Trinity snapped, as she headed my way, having finished with Jonas. “Sitting there enjoying the show?”

Oops. “Hey, I have a concussion. Don’t yell at me.” I looked over to see Jonas talking to the EMT. “You have to admit, it was quite a display,” I couldn’t resist adding.

“I don’t have to admit anything except he’s a pain in the posterior. If he so much as dares to put his hands on me again, I’ll...”

“You’ll what?” Jonas inquired, cutting her off as he joined us. “Instead of making a scene here, why don’t you take Taylor over to Baptist to finish getting checked out.”

He turned to me, ignoring Trinity’s glare. “I’ll catch up with you later, maybe tonight. And,” he added, leaning down close to me, “in case I didn’t say it in all the excitement. Thank you.” With that, he kissed me on the cheek, threw a scornful look at Trinity, who was standing there with her mouth hanging open, and walked away.

I managed not to crack a smile while we walked to Trinity’s car, although I could hear her muttering under her breath the whole time. I decided to keep silent and just look out the windows on the short trip over to Baptist Health Care, one of two main hospitals in the area, the other being St. Vincent’s. We checked in at the emergency room, thankful that there seemed to be a minimum of injuries in the middle of the day. Hopeful of a short wait, I grabbed up a Hollywood rag and paged through while Trinity occupied herself on her cell phone. I had filled her in on the situation in Atlanta earlier while waiting for Denzel and she was busy now with finalizing arrangements for the Atlanta police to pick up our boy and send him home where he belonged. Justice served. What a happy thought in an otherwise dismal day.