Government Men by Gary J. Davies
****
OK, so it went too far again thought Rick Morando, as he got on the 34th Street Bus. It wasn't his fault; that bitch asked for it. He would play it cool, and everything would be fine. Nobody would ever know that he was the one who murdered Tanya Landers. Nobody even knew him in this part of town, and nobody paid any attention when he left the bar with Tanya last night. Besides, it had happened a couple of times before, and he had gotten off clean. Murder was no big deal. In fact, he really liked it. He closed his eyes for a minute and played back the rape and murder of Tanya through his head yet again. It was great! The bitch got just what she deserved.
The Bus was crowded, and he had to stand. Too bad the dumb shits sitting there comfortably in their seats didn't know what a bad dude he was; maybe the wimps would give him a seat like he deserved. He looked around at his fellow passengers. They sure were an odd, spooked bunch; lacking the usual day-before-Christmas spirit, though a lot of them were carrying packages. Probably they had swallowed that Dannos bull-shit, and thought this was their last day on Earth. Dumb shits! He didn't have the Dannos scam figured yet, but it had to be one.
"The one that just got on, he's a murderer!” he suddenly heard. But no, it wasn't exactly the same as hearing; it was more like someone talking directly into his head! He looked around discretely at the other passengers, trying to find the source. Several people were staring back at him.
"Yes, I heard him too," said a second 'voice'. "The victim’s name was Tanya. And the moron thinks that we're the dumb shits!”
How could they know that? Despite the cold December weather, Rick broke out into a sweat. He looked all around openly and desperately at the others on the Bus. By now practically everyone was staring back at him!
"He choked her to death. During sex, the pervert! Her body is in a dumpster in an ally off 43rd. Hey! Look at him! He can hear us!” said the first 'voice'.
"That makes it four people in about forty on this bus. About ten percent with full telepathic powers, same as at church this morning," replied the second 'voice'.
"Yeah, this is great! I wish I could fly like my Uncle John though. I'd fly after this creep. You can run but you can't hide, buddy! You're gonna fry!” said a new 'voice'.
"Quiet son," said the first 'voice'. "Leave this to the adults."
"Leave shit to the adults! You don't know nothing! You can't!” shouted Rick loudly, as he pushed his way to the front of the bus and demanded to be left off.
"Good-by, Rick Morando," said the first voice, as Rick leapt out the Bus door. "See you in court."