Concrete Savior Read Free Page A

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Below the table, Brynna gave herself a hard, vicious pinch on one thigh, using the very real pain to bring her spiraling thoughts back into line. She had to stay grounded here, keep focused on her goal. Even though she had set herself up in the guest bedroom, it was still difficult to live in the same house with him. She didn’t— couldn’t —let her thoughts wander into areas that would only get them both in trouble.
As if sensing she would neither surrender nor talk about it any further, Eran sat back again and shook open his paper, effectively creating a wall between them. Brynna let her gaze drop back to the Sun-Times , trying to concentrate on the words. Now that she had settled in here with Eran, Brynna read the paper every day, front to back. Not only was it an excellent way to keep on top of what was happening in the city, it helped her hone in on humanity. Every day she learned more about the twenty-first-century version of the men and women with whom she now shared an existence. On the surface, she seemed to fit in perfectly, and she had to admit that was Eran’s doing. His connections had gotten her started as an interpreter, where she could use her ability to speak and understand any language in existence to make a damned good living. Where only a couple of months ago she had been only a few steps above crude, now she could successfully—at least most of the time—pass for a socially acceptable modern working woman. She had even learned, most of the time, to not only consider but care about possible consequences before she opened her mouth.
Still scanning the text although her thoughts were trying to stubbornly return to Eran, her eyes stopped on a headline midway down page three. “Check this out,” she said, grateful for a chance to change the subject. “ Man Saves Seizure Victim. ”
Eran lowered his paper just enough to look at her over its top edge. “Saved him from what?”
It didn’t take Brynna long to read the single-column piece. “It says a man on the subway platform had a seizure and fell in front of an oncoming train. The conductor saw him fall but it was too late to do anything more than slam on the brakes. This other guy jumped onto the tracks and pushed the first man down until they were both flat so that the train just passed right over them.”
Eran’s paper lowered a little more. “Really?”
“According to the article, aside from some bruises and scrapes, neither one was hurt.” She paused, then added, “Well, the guy did have a seizure and might have some problems stemming from that, but that’s not related to the train.”
“Hopping in front of a subway train—pretty ballsy. That’ll make the guy a citywide hero. He’ll get some good publicity out of it.”
“I don’t think so,” Brynna said. “He never even told anyone his name. The person who wrote the article got there right away because he heard it on the police band, but the rescuer was gone. The police interviewed a bunch of people who were there when it happened and got a description, but no one knew who he was. According to them, he insisted he was just trying to help. The fire department ambulance was the first on the scene and the medical techs spoke with him, but they said he left after they put the guy he saved into the ambulance and got him settled.”
Above his glasses, Eran’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “He didn’t stick around to bask in the glory?”
“Apparently not.”
“I’m surprised. Most people would jump at the chance for a public pat on the back.”
Brynna tilted her head. “Is it really so hard to believe one human being would help another?”
Eran shook his head, but the movement was more cynical than anything else. “You know how you keep telling me that there is no such thing as coincidence? I believe there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
Brynna frowned. “ ‘Free lunch’?”
“It’s a roundabout way of saying no one does anything for free. Everyone expects some