Sleight Read Online Free Page A

myself by grabbing the door frame, I got my balance and peeked into the shop. More food wrappers and bags cluttered the area around the door. I reached down again and snagged the receipt. It was dated three days earlier, so whoever was camping out on the lower level had been here recently. I considered that it might be the construction workers but there wasn’t anything else that indicated that they had spent much time downstairs. Besides, it seemed unlikely that they would leave trash around that they’d just have to clean up later.
    Pulling the door shut I stared at the food packaging at my feet. Most of the stuff had come from a fish and chips place a couple of blocks away. It seemed like a good idea to follow my slim lead as far as I could since I was already on the waterfront.
    It took me less than a half hour to get to Ivar’s Fish N Chips and order lunch. I’d polished off my battered halibut and most of my fries when I heard raised voices at the counter. Looking like he had been working in a coal mine, clothes in tatters, Breno was standing at the counter with a dirty hand clutching a wad of greasy bills. His tall and lanky frame looked a little heavier than the last time I’d seen him. A beard and long hair now covered most of his face. I was shocked at how much his appearance had changed in such a short time.
    “I told you that you can’t come here anymore,” squeaked a tiny blond behind the counter. “The other customers say you...say you...you smell.” She stood about two feet back from the counter as though she was afraid Breno’s stink was contagious.
    “I’m jus’ hungry. I’ll eat somewheres else. I jus’ want food,” he mumbled.
    Shaking her head the girl refused to speak and wouldn’t approach the counter. I jumped up and limped over to the counter and stood next to Breno. His head swung slowly in my direction and he looked at me with a glassy-eyed stare. He gave no sign that he recognized me. Using my oldest knack, the ability to sense what someone was feeling, I reached out and was surprised by what I found. Breno had always had a simple and pure quality about him. No strong feelings and so little going on in his head that whatever he was focused on at the moment colored all of his thoughts. At the moment I was sensing confusion, and frustration. The confusion wasn’t necessarily new for Breno, but the frustration was something I had never picked up from him in the past. The only time I had ever sensed anything other than basic contentment from him was when I had asked him some questions that had opened doors to his past that would have been better left closed.
    “Hey, look. I’ll buy his food and make sure he doesn’t come back. Here,” I said as I passed her a ten dollar bill. “Just get him a cod and chips and keep the change for a tip. Okay?”
    Glaring at Breno, she looked down at the money and then at me. “You shouldn’t feed them. They count on intimidating people so that they don’t have to pay. It’s like a scam,” she said.
    I could feel the blood rush to my face, but kept my anger in check. “Look, he’s family. We’ve...I’ve been looking for him. You won’t see him again. Please, let me just get him something to eat and we’ll go,” I said.
    She grabbed the ten and rang up my order and stuffed the bill in the register. “Okay, but you and...him, you’ll need to wait on the sidewalk...downwind.” She wrinkled her nose and pointed at a spot about thirty feet away.
    I turned and started walking to where she’d pointed and then looked back at Breno, who hadn’t moved.
    “Breno? Hey, come over here with me. It’s Benny. Remember?” I pleaded.
    His body leaned in my direction and his blank stare passed over me. “ ’Member.” he said.
    I stepped closer to him but didn’t try to touch him for fear he’d freak, and he actually did smell super bad. “It’s me, Benny. We’re friends. I’ve been worried about you.”
    His big heavy-jawed head swung in