Untrained Eye (14 page)

Chapter 15

IT BECAME PRETTY clear over the first week as I tried to assess
the fitness of my group that I’d gotten the runts.

I’d never seen kids so unfit or zoned out. Some of them were
sweet, some of them I wanted to hang from the weights bench.

One boy kept fainting every time he stood up for more than a
couple of seconds. It didn’t bode well for a life of thuggery. I couldn’t
figure out why it kept happening and I needed somebody with medical training.
He wasn’t the only one I wondered about either. One girl could barely breathe
so I kept her away from anything physical and I was pretty sure another boy was
having blackouts. I’d be talking to him and the lights would go out. Sometimes
he’d clatter to his knees, other times he’d wander off like someone had pressed
the reset button.

When I asked for Frei’s help, I expected her to laugh at me.
Instead she explained a lot of kids with medical problems were sidelined. It
cost money and unless they were worth it, they stayed untreated.

I wasn’t surprised to see Doctor Andrews turn up a couple of days
later. I knew that CIG were on hand to help out, waiting in RVs somewhere in
the surrounding area. They’d done the same back in Oppidum. Where one went, a
team was nearby.

Doctor Andrews ran through the group and then sat me down with a
grave look on his face.

I tensed, waiting for the verdict. Doctors could freak anyone out
with a sharp intake of breath.

“It’s a good thing you brought me in when you did.” He leaned onto
his knees as we sat on a bench in the gym. “So far I’ve diagnosed type two
diabetes, dyspraxia, severe asthma. Her pump is not the correct one.” He shook
his head, lips curled in disgust. “I’ve run an EEG on two which leans toward
them having possible epilepsy. One is having fits and the other blackouts . .
.”

He went down his list. It was official, I had the medical rejects.
“What about the kid who passes out all the time.”

Doctor Andrews sighed. “Tough one, maybe he’s not eating or it’s a
stress thing.”

I weren’t buying that. “You run tests?”

He gave me a look that made me shift in my seat. How dare I second
guess him? He had a piece of paper to prove he was clever. “Everything has come
back normal.”

I was still an empath, dimmed or not. “You checked his heart?”

The way my heart thumped when the kid passed out, I figured it was
as good a chance as any.

“It’s all normal. I gave him an ECG.” He shrugged. “Psychosomatic
probably.”

I fixed the doctor with my best glare. That kid had something up
with him physically. “Do it when he’s standing.”

Doctor Andrews sighed that irritating sigh doctors do when they
feel burdened. “I’ll do it but I’m not convinced.”

He handed me the list on my group. It was bleak reading. “Now,
I’ve prescribed the medications but I’ll need the parents’ signatures for the
insurance.”

Were there any parents? How much did Andrews know? “Leave that to
me. Best we keep your input as minimal as possible.”

Doctor Andrews muttered something again about insurance and then
went off to run his test on my fainter.

I spotted Renee loitering at the edge of the gym and wandered over
to lean on the doorjamb beside her. I knew I couldn’t say hi or even smile but
I hoped the closeness would put her at ease. I could feel how tense she was
from across the gym.

“Worthington, ain’t it?” I asked, hoping I sounded like the gruff
criminal I was meant to be.

“Yes,” she said in that fancy accent. “Doctor Roberta
Worthington.”

She stuck out her hand but I glared down at it. Roberta? Where did
she come up with these names? Not that they weren’t nice but they never suited
her. Where had Serena Llys gone anyhow? Then I remembered. The last cover
always became her sister, that’s how she kept track.

“Long way from home ain’t you.” I missed her normal accent.

“I came here with my sister a few years ago.” Renee met my gaze.
“She took a job in Austin.”

“She a teacher like you?” I asked, feeling like I
was
meeting this person for the first time. One of the women in Serenity had been a
few people inside her mind. I half wondered if Renee was borderline herself.
She was too convincing and it freaked me out. I hoped I hid it.

“No, a psychiatrist.”

I sucked in a breath. “Guess you got all the brains if she’s a
quack.”

Renee glared up at me. Cold, hard, unyielding. If I couldn’t feel how
much she wanted to hug me, I would have been hurt. “My sister is missing.”

“Not surprised if she messes with people’s heads.” I knew Renee
was checking up on me because she’d seen Doctor Andrews. She was probably
making sure I hadn’t re-lived any more healing. “You ain’t one too are you?”

“Took a class in college, why?” She failed to keep the twinkle out
of her eyes.

“The kids in my group have issues,” I said, fighting the smile
shining in my own. “I don’t do issues.”

Renee leaned in, against the doorjamb right next to me, and looked
up. “How do you know, Samson?”

I was trying to be gruff and she was enjoying my attempt at being
undercover. I waved the sheet at her not to break out in a smile and ask how
she thought I was doing. I wanted to impress her. She’d been working hard
teaching me.

Renee took the sheet, trailing her hand over mine as she did. It
was reassurance. It helped calm me.

She read down the list and her shoulders sagged. “That’s quite a
group.”

She had her fingers next to a name. “I’d be careful with some.”

Jed, a boy with violent tendencies. “You think a kid who’s scared
of the doc’s needles needs my attention?” I got she was trying to tell me
something. I didn’t know how to ask without asking. I needed some kind of code.

“He threatened two of my group,” she said, waving the sheet as if
she was angry but her eyes were filled with affection. “He doesn’t enjoy
hearing the word no.”

“He won’t give you trouble.” I nodded over to the equipment. It
felt a bit dumb to train a bully up so he could be a bigger, stronger bully but
that was my job. “So, you got any ideas on my nutcase?”

I was more concerned with one of the others. Jessie was a small
kid, the one with the asthma problem. Something wasn’t right about her and I
couldn’t figure out what. She acted like she didn’t understand me when she did.

“Having someone to look up to might help,” Renee whispered. “They
might show her how to be proud of who she is. Talk her through it.”

She stared down at the list. She was close to hugging me. Her arm
pressed against mine. “This one?”

It was the fainter. “He keeps dropping. When he sits, he’s great,
but the minute he’s up, he passes out.”

“A heart condition then.”

I blinked at her a few times. To cover it she fussed over my
t-shirt as if the threads were fascinating. “I once dated an astronaut. Same
thing happened to him when he came back from space.”

Was she telling me the truth? Cover or
reality? “But . . . You . . . Huh?”

Renee smiled as if she wanted to laugh. “Me . . . Professor Worthington.”
She studied my t-shirt more closely. “I like rough tough military men.”

“He’s bright,” I mumbled, not sure whether to hug her for the help
or sit her down and make her take a lie detector test. I’d never been able to
read some things about Renee as it was. I was certain she found my reaction
hilarious by the twinkle in her eyes. She couldn’t even look at me.

“I’m surprised he isn’t in the gold group.” I was torn between
chuckling and demanding that she write down every single bit of her life story
so I could figure out what was fact or fiction. My head hurt.

“Me too,” she said, trailing her hand up to my biceps. “You don’t
seem to have any issues with fainting though.”

She wanted to know if I was okay. She was checking up on me. I
didn’t get how her being so affectionate would make folks think I didn’t know
her.

“I’m fine,” I whispered, knowing my tone was way too soft for a
vicious criminal. “I can take care of myself.”

“You live with . . . Locks . . . don’t you?” The way she said
Frei’s name screamed “tell me the truth.” How did I wriggle out of this one?

Then I remembered Doctor Andrews in the CIG base. “Military
nicknames are dumb but they seem to love them.”

Renee narrowed her eyes but a smile curled the corners of her
lips. She had lipstick that made her lips look real pale. A contrast from
Serena Llys, whose makeup dazzled me every time I looked at her.

“You know a lot about the military?” She tapped me on the chest
with her long nails. Ah, so she was hiding her neatly cut ones again.

I went to speak but her hand tensed on my arm. She glanced over my
shoulder. Her eyes met mine. Her words flashed through my thoughts.

Someone’s watching
.
Act like your cover.

She ran her hand up and down my arm, her tension made my muscles
twitch. “Is that where you got your nickname from?”

I thought I had been acting like my cover. Right, guess I needed
to be more mean or something?

“Careful.” I leaned in closer, hoping I could be more convincing.
“Maybe your sister asked too many questions.”

Electricity shot through her fingertips. She snapped her hand
away. I caught it. Her fear flared. A picture of Yannick. I held her gaze,
hoping I could send reassurance back at her.

I’m not him. I got you. I won’t hurt you.

Her eyes studied mine, all her body language screamed out that she
was terrified but I thought I could see relief in her eyes. I hoped that she
knew I was a big dumb softy at heart. I didn’t much like being mean to her. I
also didn’t want her to judo throw me over her shoulder.

“Yes. Well . . . I . . .”

I pulled her in closer. Strange how I could tell someone was
watching but not who. I still seemed to be affected by acute feelings and still
linked to Renee. I just seemed to need to be closer to her to sort out the
signals. I guess I needed to read her touch. 

“I . . . I should be going.” She tried to pull her hand away but I
held fast. It didn’t matter how dimmed my burdens were, I knew whoever lurked
could see our bond. This had to be convincing. It had to cover our connection.
It needed to look real.

“Why, professor, what’s the rush?” I pulled her off balance,
forcing her to cling onto me with her other arm. “I got plenty of answers for
you.”

Renee looked up at me in a mix of genuine shock and confusion.
Some deeper feeling pulsed from her fingertips. Warmth tingled across my skin
from her touch. It felt like . . . like . . . hope?

I couldn’t explain it but before I could ask, her fear flared up.
Her anger ignited and her gray eyes hardened. “Let go.”

Her reaction jarred me. I was so sure she’d understood I wasn’t
going to hurt her. Now, I wasn’t so sure. I relaxed my grip, confused by the
panic in her eyes.

She snapped her hand away and fled.

“Samson?”

The sound of Jäger’s gruff tones made me thankful that I’d
produced that reaction from Renee. He’d have seen through anything else. I
tried to push away the fact I’d scared her, that I’d made her panic. I wasn’t
like Yannick. I’d never hurt her like he had. I hoped I wouldn’t hurt her at
all. Only, I felt like I had.

“S’up?” I turned and plastered a smile on my face and tried to
ignore that he was looking at me in a way anybody else would have been punched
for.

“Professor Worthington and you know each other?” He strode toward
me, his steely eyes pulling me in.

“She came looking for her sister.” I laughed. It sounded mean.
“She thinks I might have done something to her.”

His gaze flicked over my face. “The psychiatrist?”

I didn’t move from my relaxed position against the doorjamb. “You
know who she is and you did your research on me.” I smiled as nonchalantly as I
could. Frei had covered everything. I just needed to cut out the names. Same
stuff, different place. “I ain’t ever been to Austin.”

“You have issues with psychiatrists?”

“I was locked in with them.” I narrowed my eyes, knowing that my
dislike was genuine. “What do you think?”

“I’d say you have a problem with their family too.” Jäger smiled.
“At least based on the way you just scared her.”

I shrugged like I didn’t care when all I wanted to do was go after
her and make sure she was okay. “She’s fun to tease.”

He frowned and tucked his thumbs into his belt. “Professor
Worthington is needed, so no fun.”

I sighed as if he’d taken away my favorite toy and wondered how
I’d become this convincing. “Relax, I was just warning her.” I folded my arms.
“I won’t hurt her.”

He motioned for me to walk with him down the corridor. “She thinks
that she knows who you are. That’s a problem.”