originalsam_backup | Trace, Epilogue (Reply)

Epilogue

They said a lot of things about Colin Byrne, after he disappeared from Railburg. That his name wasn't really Colin Byrne at all. That he and Crazy Laney and Leonel Gutierrez once killed a man. They said he was more dangerous than you could ever believe. He disappeared in the night, but nobody looked for him. None of the guards would talk about it -- hell, half of the guards on duty that night had been arrested a few days later. One of the orderlies would tell you about it, if you caught him at the right moment, but he wouldn't say much.

They said Colin had come back because of Noel, that he'd taught Crazy Laney his magic to protect Noel, and that was why the Aryans gave them both a wide berth. They said he left because he could do real magic, prison magic, but he couldn't control it himself. They said that on the outside he was an exorcist, or that the priest who owned his shadow made him do it. They said his cop lover carried his freedom in his pocket. They said he had a guardian angel.

Most of it was true.

At the moment, however, Colm Byrne was sitting at the dining room table in the yellow morning light, eating a poached egg and casually stealing extra bacon from Joseph's plate.