Scott guided the car onto the exit ramp as the gentle voice of the GPS told him to turn. I could see the Kwik Trip lit up just off the freeway, a fifty foot sign out front with the price of gas in red as an enticement to save a cent over their competitors across the street. We turned into the parking lot and stopped in front of the pump. Kat and I both looked at Scott, questioning, until he shrugged. “We need gas. We can look around here and then head out to the hospital to interview Lideen, if he’s awake.”
Kat walked alongside me toward the door while Scott pulled out his Directorate issued credit card to swipe it in the gas pump. “Talk to the clerk while I go to the bathroom?” She said this to me as I pulled open the glass door so she could go in.
“Uh, okay.” I shook my head as she veered toward the back of the store. I watched her pass a bakery case with a wide selection of donuts. I felt my stomach rumble and realized I never did get my dinner, but I shook it off. It felt like my metabolism had slowed in the last few months, in spite of the training routine. I had to watch what I ate.
I approached the counter as the Asian kid behind it stared at me, the only person in the store. I reached for my FBI ID and flipped it open, trying not to feel nervous. After all, he was most likely going to be paying attention to the ID, not me. “Sienna Clarke,” I said, just barely remembering my assumed name. “FBI. I’m here to ask some questions about the robbery.”
“Uh, yeah.” He nodded, his acne seeming to have reddened. “I wasn’t here when it happened.”
“I know that.” I pulled out a small notepad and pen I was carrying in my pocket. “The victim was a Daniel Lideen, right?” He nodded at me. “You work with Dan very often?”
“Nah,” he said. “He was usually mornings or overnights. I work evenings; this is only part-time for me. Dan’s a full-timer. I was here before he took over last night at eleven, though.”
“See anything unusual?” I was asking mostly out of general interest. I wasn’t planning on spending a lot of time interviewing this kid, since he hadn’t been around for the robbery, and based on our information, the perp had been in South Dakota during his last shift.
“Not really.” He shrugged. “We get a lot of traffic from the interstate, so there’s more strangers that come in here than regulars.”
“All right, well, thanks for your help…” I looked down at his white nametag, standing out on his blue shirt. “…Shaun.”
“Sure.” He nodded again. He seemed to let out a deep breath and I suspected he might be a little nervous talking to the law. Couldn’t imagine why.
“I’ll take these.” Kat appeared at my shoulder and plopped a plastic bag onto the counter. I looked down and saw she had filled it with a half dozen donuts from the bakery display against the far wall. She looked up at me innocently. “Want one?”
“I don’t think I can,” I said. “They go right to my hips.”
She picked up one with white frosting and multicolored sprinkles and took a big bite. “You sure?” Her mouth was full, and the glorious smell of sugary dough was in the air. “It’s really good.”
I blinked and shook my head. “I can’t.” I looked down at the bag then back up at her with a suspicion. “Are you going to eat all of those?”
“Unless Scott wants one, yeah.”
I sighed and pushed my way out the exit with a forced smile for Shaun, who blanched because I caught him checking out Kat. It figures; not only does she have a body that draws the attention of every man that crosses her path, but she doesn’t have to work that hard to maintain it.
Scott was screwing the gas cap on when I got back to the car. “How’d it go?”
“Fine. Your girlfriend will be back in a minute; she’s buying out their entire bakery.”
He frowned. “I didn’t expect to turn up much here, but I kinda hoped…” He let his words trail off.
“That we’d find the meta hiding out in front of the store, wearing a trench coat, a backward baseball cap, and rapping profanities?” I cast a look back toward the entrance as Kat made her way across the parking lot toward us, a donut in one hand and the bag hanging from her fingers in the other.
“Guess this is where the real detective work begins, huh?” He opened his door and climbed in while I got into the backseat behind him again. I watched him start to fiddle with the GPS. “Let’s hope the victim or the local cops can shed some light on things for us, or else we’re gonna be hanging out in this town until we pick up another incident. Hospital is an exit back, police station is east of here a little ways.” He shrugged. “Hospital first?” I nodded and we were off.
When we arrived at the nurses’ station and flashed IDs, a middle-aged overweight woman in pink scrubs showed us to Daniel Lideen’s room. He was sleeping, his long face tilted to the side. The nurse left when Scott asked her to and I looked to Kat. “You should get a feel for his injuries before you wake him up.”
She put her hand on his forehead, causing him to stir slightly. “Not a bad idea.” She closed her eyes and her breathing slowed. A light glow appeared under her hand and the clerk’s skin started to shine. A black and purple bruise under his eye began to fade along with a thin scab that ran the length of his cheek. I saw Scott shutting the door as Kat took her hand off the clerk’s forehead and his eyes opened, blinking at the two of us. “That should do it,” Kat said.
“Hello, Daniel,” I said as I leaned over him. “My name is Sienna Clarke and I’m with the FBI.” I halted to give him a second to process that information. His eyes blinked a few times as he tried to focus on me. “I’m here to ask you some questions about your assailant.”
“Oh…okay.” His voice was a little scratchy, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was more asleep than awake. “I already told the officers what I remember.”
“I know.” I tried to make my reply as soothing as possible. “But they’re local cops and we’re here to ask because the same thing that happened to you happened to some other folks in Wyoming and South Dakota. Can you tell me anything about the person that robbed you?”
He screwed up his face in intense concentration, staring over my shoulder, then went blank. “I don’t…I can’t remember.”
I shot a look at Kat, whose eyes widened as she put her hand on his upper arm. I saw the glow from her as I asked him another question. “Tell me what you do remember.”
“Um…I came into work at about eleven…and I did some restocking in the freezer.” He squinted, as though he were trying to recall. “I remember eating my sandwich and drinking some coffee at about five.” His face relaxed and he shook his head. “After that…I don’t know.”
I looked sidelong at Kat, who was taking long, ragged breaths and whose hand was at her side. She shook her head. “Can you tell me anything else, Dan? Anything could help.”
His eyes were blank. “That’s all. That’s all I remember.”
I gave him as warm of a fake smile as I could. “Excuse me while I talk to my associates.” I beckoned to Kat, who followed me, shuffling along in slow steps to the hallway outside. I looked left and then right; the corridors were white, with dingy tile and little color, but empty. I honed in on Kat. “What’s the matter with him? Has he got brain damage?”
“No!” She shook her head with more emphasis. “I checked him over again after the first time, and this guy is healed; he’s in perfect condition. His skull is fixed, his scars are gone and it doesn’t look like there was anything wrong with his brain even when I touched him the first time, let alone now.”
Scott looked back at the door to the room, which was drawn. “Is it possible he’s lying?”
“Possible.” I nodded at him as I chewed that one over. “But I don’t think so. I was looking in his eyes as he answered, and he didn’t show any of the obvious signs. He was working last night, so it seems unlikely he’s secretly the meta doing all this, unless he can somehow teleport to Wyoming and South Dakota on his breaks.” I shook my head. “I don’t think he’s lying. I think there’s a simpler explanation.”