The Overseer by Conlan Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

talk him down?”
    “I told him that I was there to help and that life was worth living.”
    “And?” John motioned for Devin to continue.
    “He denied it at first until I told him I knew about the gun and that he planned to take his own life right there in Central Park.”
    “And he just gave you the gun?” John asked.
    “No. He said that his wife had left him after he lost everything in the crash. He said that he just couldn’t take the loneliness anymore and that he was helping the world as a whole. The man told me that he’d come to that place three other times before but had never had the courage to do it until that day.”
    “Wow,” John said with genuine interest. “What did you say to him?”
    Devin coughed awkwardly into his fist. “I told him that he was trolling for sympathy and that if he really wanted to die that he would have done it already.”
    “ What? ” John exclaimed.
    “I told him to suck it up. That loneliness was part of life. That we’re all born alone and that we all die alone and that he’d better get used to it.”
    “Devin,” John stammered in disbelief. “That’s exactly the wrong way to talk to someone threatening suicide!”
    “He was trolling for sympathy,” Devin repeated. “He’d meant to do it three times before. Three times. He wasn’t serious about doing it.”
    “You can’t say that,” John groaned, rubbing his palm into his forehead. “Just because a person makes a series of false suicide threats doesn’t mean that this time they aren’t serious. A person only has to mean it once—and the vision said that this time was going to be it!”
    “Whose vision was it anyway?” Devin grumbled.
    “Gina Holst.”
    “From accounting?” Devin shook his head. “I told you not to send me on this one.”
    “It was important,” John argued, still trying to come to terms with what he was hearing. “I needed someone who I knew I could trust to get it done.”
    “And I dealt with it,” Devin retorted calmly.
    “But…” John scanned his desktop with big eyes, trying to think of what to say. “How? How did you talk that guy down after that ?”
    “I took the gun.”
    “Took it?” John asked, eyebrow raised. “How?”
    “He went to use the firearm on himself, so I delivered a swift jab to his face and stripped the firearm, like I would with anyone making threatening motions with a firearm.”
    “You punched the man in the face?” John choked.
    “Then,” Devin continued, “I took him to a reputable institution where he can get the help he needs from people who have better… people skills . I’ll be paying his expenses personally.”
    John closed his eyes, still recovering from the shock. “At least he’s safe now.” John sighed. “First it’s Hannah, then you—”
    Devin snapped to attention. “What about Hannah?”
    “I just visited her in the hospital. She was caught in a house fire while on a mission.”
    Devin’s eyes glared into his. “Was she hurt?”
    “Yes—I mean, no. Not badly anyway,” he stammered. “She’s already been discharged.”
    “Did you send her on that mission alone?”
    “No! You know I don’t like her operating on her own. She just felt…called. It involved a kidnapping—of young girls. You can guess that would get her attention.”
    Devin processed the information. Literal input, literal output. “She’s overcompensating. The trauma of her own kidnapping is causing her to project onto these girls. Perhaps it’s an attempt to cope, but she’s not being wise.”
    John nodded, glad they were on the same page on this one. “I told her she could continue work on it—but not alone. She needs backup. I know I’ve had you working on other people’s stuff that I shouldn’t, but is there any chance I could get you to help her?”
    Something passed through his eyes—a flicker—but before John could identify the emotion, it was gone. “I’ll do it.”
    “Another thing.” John looked away. “This is