"...As it happens," he went on politely. "We are requiring the presence of this person for questioning, ma'am...so you running into her was only a happy accident for us."
Behind me, Cass flinched when the young punk guy with the modified gun kicked the downed seer in the ribs. The seer wore so few clothes, it was like watching someone kick a naked woman. Grabbing my arm, Cass clutched it tightly. From her face, I could tell she didn't know what to do either.
"Please!" the seer pleaded, gasping. "Please! I did not do anything! I am legal...I have papers! I can show you!"
"Papers, iceblood?" the punky one asked. "And where did you get those?"
Unlike ponytail guy, his accent sounded Russian to me.
"Please!" the seer cried, holding up her hands. "Please! Listen to the girl...it was only an accident! I am legal! You can call my owner...she will vouch for me!" She gasped again when the military-looking man kicked her in the kidney area again.
"Stop it!" I yelled. "Just call her owner, okay? Stop hurting her!"
Looking up at me, the military man kicked her again, that time in the face.
I looked away, I couldn't help it.
I felt Jon tense behind me, too. He muttered something, but I didn't catch what he said.
Now even he wasn't sure what to do.
I was afraid if I said anything more, that jackass with the cattle prod would only hurt her again, so I looked around us instead. I was looking for a cop, I guess, as unlikely as that was for me under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, I found one.
He was watching the whole scene, not a care in the world on his face.
Great. New York's finest.
I couldn't believe they would just beat a seer on the street like this. The whole thing felt surreal, like something from the dark ages. I looked around at the seer's captors again, trying to memorize their faces. Maybe there was some way to turn them in? Get them on police brutality? I wished I had that illegal imaging device I'd gotten from Jon for my birthday. I would have risked trying to film them if I could, even though it was no joke, being caught with any kind of image-capturing device without a permit.
Maybe I could draw them, once we got back to the hotel room. I looked at each face in turn, trying to memorize every detail of their appearance.
The guy in the suit was looking down at the seer on the sidewalk, as if trying to make up his mind about something. When the other two looked at him, he nodded once.