The TALONS Files: the chronicles of telepathic agent Ryan Dart

The Agents are in Place

The trip to Chicago went without a hitch.  They had left around one o'clock, finding a downtown parking spot by four.  Ryan was ginger with the controls, thinking that one false move would eject him from the car-or worse.

Downtown Chicago seemed endless, at least compared to Green Bay.  Each street seemed a canyon of towering sky scrapers.  Accompanying the monstrous buildings, sounds of sirens and horns echoed over the automobile engines and construction crews.

It was a fifteen minute walk to Portillo's, which turned out to be great timing, because Ryan was starved. Ryan would have enough time to get a couple Chicago style dogs and a soda.

Mai shook her head with a hand on hip, as she waited in the order line with Ryan. She wore a black dress with black sandals. Her long, wavy hair cascaded over her shoulders. "You do realize, we're eating in about an hour and a half." She thought with silence, as she shot Ryan a glance.

Ryan, wearing kakhi's and a black button down shirt, smiled at his partner. Before leaving Green Bay, Mai absolutely fought with him and forced him to change his clothes. He had originally showed with jeans and his black hoodie. Even though he felt the the hoodie might come in handy, Ryan realized there was no winning that argument.

This time, Ryan sensed a battle he could win. He answered aloud, "Yeah that's an hour and a half from now."

Mai shook her head with an astounded look, as her partner surveyed the fifties retro restaurant. A young lady was taking orders at a counter. Behind her was a visible kitchen, full of busy workers in white aprons.

Ryan shrugged, as he watched Mai mildly making her disapproval known. "I'm a growing boy."

* * *

After Ryan was served his food, they made it out to a small patio. A waist high steel grate fence separated those eating from pedestrians. Two elderly people sat in a corner and handful of businessmen talked and laughed along the building.

As they sat on the Patio on a gorgeous May day, Ryan decided to text Chloe a simple message. ''how's it going?'

"What are you doing?" Mai asked exasperated.

"What? I'm texting. This tends to get boring." Ryan bit into his hot dog.

"We're supposed to keep our eyes out for the two subjects."

"It's four thirty."

"Who are you texting?"

Ryan couldn't help the grin that cracked his face, as he swallowed his large bite. "No one."

Mai searched Ryan's eyes, because she knew Ryan's silent mind was in full effect. She couldn't sense his thoughts. However, Ryan's face was all she needed to see.

An angry pout came over Mai's face. It wasn't jealousy, but she seemed to suggest they were back at square one. "Seriously, put the phone away. Your teenage hormones are not going to destroy this mission."

"I can sense Louie's presence," Ryan whispered, so only Mai could hear him. His grin had turned into a guilty frown.

"You're not going to sense anything, if you don't concentrate on what's going on." Mai said in a softer tone. "We've got an hour and a half. We can learn about each other."

Ryan's voice became louder. "You ignored me the whole ride here." Ryan wasn't exaggerating. Mai had brought her Nintendo Switch along, and her nose was in it the entire ride. Ryan tried to make small talk, but Mai simply ignored him. The largest response was a short hum.

"That's because I wanted you to keep your eyes on the road. Plus, for as much time as we are together today, we're going to run out of things to talk about."

"OKay. I'll put the phone away."

"Who is she?"

"I don't know if I should say."

"Chloe." She said firmly.

Ryan grinned. "Yes."

"She's really not a bad choice." His partner smiled.

"I'm so glad you said that because...." Ryan caught himself, avoiding a disastrous slip of the tongue. During their training, which had only been a couple of weeks, Ryan had developed a comfort level with Mai. He knew what kind of person she was, he liked her and trusted her.

He realized he almost trusted her too much, because, even if his silent mind was working very well, Esmeralda's name almost left his lips.

Mai paused with a silent look of suspicion. 'What's that about?'

"I think some people won't"

'not telling me the truth' Mai looked toward the table puzzled. 'And I won't be able to pry it from him.'

"Honestly, there's nothing more," Ryan said, as he waited for Mai's response.

"You're lying, but I'm not going to get it out of you." She just shook her head. "Maybe its none of my business."

Ryan responded adamantly, "There you go."

Mai's glare seared across the table.