Murray Hill || A Superhuman Tale - 1

Chapter Fifteen

Down on the street, Tommy and Sam walked briefly in silence.

"Amy is missing," Sam finally ventured.

Tommy stopped. It was as if something sharp had transected his heart. After a few beats, he felt Sam's hand on his shoulder. He took a breath and continued walking.

Amy Lascar was a friend from way back. Sam had introduced the two in 1980, and Tommy had been her close friend and travelling companion for several years afterward. She, Sam, and a few others were the only people Tommy had kept up with from the old days. It'd been nearly a year since Tommy had spoken with her, and he'd missed a chance to see her the last time she'd been in the City, for which he now cursed himself.

"How do you know?" Tommy asked. Amy travelled a great deal for work.

"I hear from her every few months," Sam answered. "It'd been a while, but about a week ago, I heard from a friend of hers, Karen Junker. She was wondering if I'd heard from Amy. I hadn't. She said none of Amy's friends had heard from her for at least three months. I got some names and numbers from Karen, called them. Got some more names and numbers from those folks, called them. The last anyone was certain of Amy's location was early March in St. Louis. And then nothing.

Tommy still felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. He knew the moment he'd seen Sam something of this kind was afoot. There'd been rumors over the last 20 years about people like them coming up missing.

That their friend now had disappeared was no mere happenstance. Her Gift enabled her to look briefly into people's futures and was often triggered by danger. Like many of the Gifted, the petite woman also was unusually strong and quick for her size. If something untoward had happened, it was unlikely she'd been the victim of common street crime.

"I went to St. Louis and then Indianapolis, before here," Sam continued. "She was due in Indy. Nothing. This kind of thing has been going on a while."

Sam, like Amy, was incredibly gregarious and had a huge social network that included a goodly number of people like them. If anyone saw patterns, it was him.

"How long? How many?"

Sam seemed to consider. "I don't know. Since '91, I think. How many? It's tough to say. Some people are like you. They just want to drop off the radar. I only started seeing a pattern a few years back. At least five, now six. But that's just my circle of acquaintances."

Tommy had suspected. No. Tommy knew.

"Rhonda is a beautiful girl. She really is too good for you," Sam added candidly. The two men laughed. "But this thing ain't going away. Even if you decide to stay on the bench, it won't stop. And, sooner or later, somebody will show up at your door. And you being the baddest motherfucker in the valley won't stop that."

"I know," said Tommy.

The two men stood in silence for a few minutes. Tommy knew Sam was only half right. Unlike others, Tommy could disappear anytime he wanted, but not without leaving Rhonda and their life behind.

No. No. No ....

"I'm not staying on the bench," he told Sam. "I knew the second I saw you something was up. Hell, I knew before that." He paused briefly, then continued. "Keep looking. Get me the names and phone numbers of Amy's friends. I have a couple of acquaintances on the PD here. Maybe they can do a couple of checks. And I still know two or three people from the Defense Department. Hopefully, none of them have retired and might still be willing to talk."

Both Sam and Tommy knew instinctively that this was the doing of the federal government in some way.

Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. The sight shocked Tommy.

"Yeah," said Sam. "I swore I'd never get one of these damn things. That's how desperate times are." Sam was convinced personal electronic devices were how the government tracked people.

The two men swapped numbers, and Sam shared the names and numbers of a dozen or so of Amy's other friends. About that time, a late-model red SUV pulled up, and the driver waved. He was a nice-looking guy in his mid-twenties.

"My ride," growled Sam. The old veteran hated airplanes, even more so since the TSA.

Tommy moved closer and put his arms around his friend. "I need a few days to clear things up here," he said finally, "then I'm going hunting. Let me know if you learn anything at all. I'll do the same."

The two stepped apart and shook hands.

"Welcome back, you sexy motherfucker," Sam drawled with a wink. On that note, the old vet slid into the car and was gone.