The TALONS Files: the chronicles of telepathic agent Ryan Dart

When You Have to Go...

31

Esmeralda's expression changed and she seemed distant for a second.  Yet, Ryan couldn't sense her thoughts.  She turned to him,  "He's heart broken.  One of the research members was his fiance.  He loved that chick with all his heart, and she's now missing.  I think he knows where she is, but he realizes they can't be together."

"How can you be sure?"

"A DOJ superior, one that had a vague knowledge of TALONS, asked a TALONS agent to interview my brother."

Ryan's ears perked.  This would clarify whether Esmeralda was just bonkers, or if there was some substance to her claims.

"During the interview, He had the thought, 'I'm going to miss her like hell, but I did what I had to do.' Naturally TALONS thinks that means he killed her."

Ryan turned towards the raucous crowd, trying to see if anyone was listening in, and then whispered.  "And that tells you he didn't?"

"Ryan, he's not going to kill the woman he loves...I know that, I know my big brother a little better than the DOJ or TALONS.  I don't care how up in his business they are.  They can't find me, can they?"

"So you left to save your brother."

"And to put Scam Likely behind bars.  Cue Ball won't do that.  I think he's afraid of Scam.  Every time we get the goods on him, he tells us to put it away for safekeeping.  That's the real reason I left.  TALONS leaves criminals on the streets.  For what?  To make sure agents have jobs?"

Ryan found that hard to believe.  If Esmeralda was right, his new world, the one he just discovered, was not what it seemed.  What's worse, now that he had met her, he felt as if he was more alone than ever.  He couldn't tell anybody about the meeting-because Ryan felt some of her words could be true.  Yet, he didn't know if he could trust her.  It seemed like his life, being that he was questioning everything, became more complicated than it ever had been, and he wasn't even a trained TALONS agent yet.

As Ryan thought this, the urge to use the restroom hit him.  His bladder felt as if it would empty right in his jeans.  Embarrassed, he turned to Esmeralda and said, "I have to use the Men's room."

Esmeralda responded with a sly smile.  "You don't say."

"Huh...."  Ryan paused, befuddled by Esmeralda's devious face, "How do you..."  He then realized he had no time for explanations.  "Save my seat! I'll be right back!"  He demanded urgently, as he galloped towards the building, in search of the restrooms.

He made it in the nick of time.  A man at the urinal next to him drunkenly appraised Ryan, the teenager being out of breath.  "You know, you shouldn't hold your urine like that, kid.  You'll be wearing depends by age 55 if you keep doing that."  The man's words were slightly slurred, as he swayed while urinating.  "If you get an urge, just go."

"I didn't have to pee like two minutes ago.  I swear."

The man zipped up, letting out a loud boisterous laugh.  "You're with a young lady aren't you!  Didn't even notice you had to go!"  The man laughed, staggering out of the restroom. 

"You forgot to wash your hands."  Ryan mumbled to himself.

Ryan washed up and headed back to the packed patio.  He strolled casually now, trying to recuperate from the jaunt to the bathroom.  Surely, people must have noticed him practically running towards the building.  He cringed, wondering what Esmeralda would think about the episode.

However, it appeared he wouldn't find out tonight.  When he returned to the bench, more embarrassment crept over him.  Esmeralda simply left.

No 'Goodbye'.  No 'thanks for listening'.  No 'good luck'.  She was just gone.

A couple in their twenties were arguing as they sat in her place. Ryan stared blankly at the couple, then scanned the bar to see if she got herself a soda.  There was no sign of his newly found acquaintance.