Indirection (Borealis Without a Compass #1) - Gregory Ashe Page 0,2

desk: one was white, in a security uniform, a hint of a pink-dyed curl slipping out from under the peaked cap. The other was black and wore scrubs. An ID clipped to the waistband identified her as Dr. Holloway. The women had been looking at something on a phone, and now they both turned their attention to Shaw.

“Hi,” Shaw said, wiggling out of his sherpa cloak. “I’m—” He’d gotten his arm stuck, and it took him a moment to get it free. “I’m Max. I’m here to see my cousin. Oh, I like your nails!”

The women exchanged a look as Shaw approached the desk. “Sir,” the woman in the security uniform said. Her nametag, now that Shaw was closer, read Weigel. “You said you’re here to see your cousin? What’s the name and unit number?”

“I told my boyfriend I wanted to get rainbow-painted cat claws for Pride,” Shaw said wistfully, staring at Weigel’s nails, “and he told me no. Oh, you’ve got a tattoo! Is it a rose?”

“It’s a carnation,” Weigel said, rotating her arm to display the underside of her wrist.

“For purity,” Holloway said and started to laugh until Weigel slapped her leg.

“My boyfriend won’t let me get any tattoos. Or piercings. I told him I wanted to get my nipples pierced, and he said he’d break up with me. He said he’s the only one allowed to touch my body.”

“Boy,” Weigel said, drawing out the word. “What’d you tell him?”

“Oh, I know he just wants what’s best for me. Davey’s so sweet. He picks out what I’m supposed to wear—well, not my cloak. He told me I couldn’t have this, but I bought it anyway. But he made me wear this stuff.” He gestured at the long-sleeved tee and jeans. “And I have to hide the cloak at Mom’s. But I can’t tell her about Davey because when I said something about the diet Davey put me on, she just about lost her mind.”

Holloway narrowed her eyes at him; she was picking at her weave with one hand. “You ain’t nothing but skin and bones. Why’re you on a diet?”

“Davey likes it when he can count my ribs. He says that’s when I look best for him. Oh, Coca-Cola. That’s my favorite! I don’t know when the last time was that Davey let me have one.”

“Like a big, white baby,” Holloway murmured to herself.

Weigel held out an unopened can of Coke, but instead of taking it, Shaw moved around the desk. “Hey, you’ve got all sorts of cool stuff back here. Do you really watch all those screens?”

“You know you shouldn’t be back here,” Weigel said.

“Leave him alone,” Holloway said. She reached out and caught some of Shaw’s hair. “Now don’t tell me Davey makes you wear your hair like this?”

“Oh.” Shaw let his expression fall. “I was, um, really bad. One time. And Davey cut my hair. It was for my own good. You know, he had to teach me a lesson.”

“Child,” Weigel said. “Why don’t you call Davey and tell him to come down here?”

“Do you want to see what my hair used to look like? It was really long. Oh, that’s a picture of a mole on Davey’s back that I think might be cancerous. And that’s a carousel horse, but the carousel’s gone, so I guess maybe it’s just a regular horse now. But out of wood. And that’s—”

“Just a big baby,” Holloway said to herself again, both women turning away from the lobby to face Shaw, leaning closer to look at the pictures on his phone. He glanced up just once, over their heads, as North sprinted silently across the tile. Then he went back to the patter, dragging it out until North rode the elevator up and Shaw guessed that several minutes had passed.

“Anyway,” Shaw said, “I guess I’d better go see Chris. Chris Hobson. He’s my cousin; he lives in 8A.”

“Sweety pie,” Holloway said, “you got to get this Davey out of your life. He’s got some bad energy.”

“I say call him,” Weigel said. “Get him down here and let the two of us talk to him for a few minutes. That boy won’t ever trouble you again.”

“And drink that Coke,” Holloway said. “I think I’ve got a Kind bar in my purse. You’re too thin; don’t listen to that boy.”

“Drink that Coke right up,” Weigel said as she grabbed the desk phone. “What’s your cousin know about all this?”

“Oh, he and Davey don’t get along at all. That’s the whole