The Good Doctor's Tales Folio Three Read Free Page B

everyday activities, for the next week or two.  Walking,
stooping, lifting light objects.  Normal muscle use.”
    Tonya nodded.
    “I also wanted to talk to you about Keaton, away from
prying ears.”
    Another nod.  “You don’t think we’ve seen the last of
her, do you?” Tonya asked.
    Hank nodded.  “Despite our personal differences, Tonya,
I think we’re going to have to cooperate on this issue.”
    “I’ll think about it,” Tonya said.  “I’d rather say
‘over my dead body’, but this brings up another question – with the Arm’s
murderous reputation, do you have any idea why she left us alive?”
    “I think she’s begging for help.  At least from her predatory
viewpoint.”  Two points made a line and all that.  “I’m guessing she decided
she can’t survive alone.”
    “Well, I’m not going to go out of my way to help her,
not after this episode,” Tonya said.  “I’d truthfully rather never run into her
again.”
    “I can understand that,” Hank said.  “I don’t believe it’s
going to be up to us, though.”
     
    ---
     
    “Zielinski?”
    Hank glanced across his office, and waved away Dr. Sellstrom. 
They had been going through a batch of CVs – curriculum vitae, what passed for
resumes among the PhD set – to replace Dr. Kepke, who quit the Transform
program two weeks ago.
    “This is my friend from Phoenix, isn’t it?” Hank asked
as Dr. Sellstrom closed the door, though he didn’t recognize the voice.  He
suspected someone had tapped his phone again.  His FBI contact and Focus
Network colleague, Special Agent Tommy Bates, had grilled him for hours just
after his return from his surgical trip to the New York City area to stitch up Tonya
and her people, and Tommy hadn’t been happy to learn about his contact with
Stacy Keaton.
    “Oh, you’re good, aren’t you, Dr. Zielinski.  Yes.  It’s
me, hun.  Did the bitch live?”
    Tonya.  “Yes.  She wasn’t impressed with your skills in
Celtic knotwork.”
    “Huh.  Good.  I’ve tried to get in contact with her, but
her damned phone screeners keep hanging up on me.”
    “Try the third number.”  Tonya’s private line.
    Pause.  “I’ll do that.  The idiots behind the last
episode made another attempt.  They had some tomato stacked out ready to be
squeezed, and I walked into it like a fucking idiot.”
    Whatever Focus caused these troubles – a name he hadn’t
been able to squeeze out of Tonya, no big shock – had set up a prey Transform
as bait for Keaton as a trap, to try to kill her.
    “You walked out again, too, I take it,” Hank said, not
quite a question.
    “Not without damage, though nothing too serious.  I
stole their professional.”
    “I don’t understand,” Hank said.  Professional?
    “Another in the same line as tall, dark and snotty.”
    Oh, another Monster hunter, as was Tonya.  “One like me,
or one like tall dark and snotty?”  That is, a normal or a Transform.
    “Just a guy.”
    A normal.  Hank took a deep breath.  “May I ask why you’re
telling me this?”
    “Just so that if you see some reports in the newspaper
about someone helping me, you won’t get jealous.  He’s teaching me all the
professional tricks, you see.”
    Crap.  Just what the world needed, someone teaching
Keaton about the proper use of modern weaponry.  Keaton was starting to get
serious about long-term survival.  No more fumbling around with pawnshop pistols.
    “So, how reliable are the other phone numbers on this
list?” Keaton asked.  “Some of them were a real surprise.”  Ah, the real meat
of the conversation.  She wanted to know which Network people would be safe to
deal with.
    “For the moment, avoid the suits,” Hank said.  The Focus
Network had more than a few FBI and police officers helping them – several who
had Transform spouses.  Their opinion of Keaton wasn’t printable.  “The guys in
the white lab coats should be safe.”  Doctors, like him.  “The beautiful