Michael led Mark to the reception desk, which presented the promised, well-crafted sign: “PARK your worries out here.” The desk also sported a very high front, so that only the top of the reception’s brunette head was visible until they were standing right before her ... and once they were, any possible doubt that they had found the right place was squelched.
Madison had described the receptionist as being “bustier than she was,” and she was correct. Coupled with the thin, beige material of her shirt and obvious lack of brassiere (how could she find one that would fit?), the white woman might as well have been working topless. Behind Michael, Mark made a thankfully-brief noise that fell somewhere between a cough and a hiccup.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” the receptionist greeted them, and her professional tone and manner belied her (arguably) erotic appearance. Her tremendous breasts were decidedly not Michael’s kind of thing, but he did find her face absolutely stunning, aesthetically perfect — perhaps too perfect. He placed her somewhere around thirty years old, but given the skillful hands of Doctor Park obviously at work, he supposed she could be fifty or older and he would never know it.
“Good morning,” he returned, displaying his badge. “I’m Lieutenant Takayasu of the Paranormal Control Agency, and this is my partner, Shockwave. We are conducting an investigation into some recent abductions, and we were hoping for a few minutes of Doctor Park’s time.”
The receptionist appeared stunned. She said, “Oh, my goodness ...” and placed her hand over her heart; an awkward move, given her proportions. “I ... yes, I believe Doctor Park can be available. For a few minutes, at least.” She gestured toward the two people already in the waiting room with a vague wave of her other hand. “He has some ... but yes, please wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Michael nodded, and she rose from her chair to hustle further back into the office. Before she disappeared around the bend, Michael noticed something else different about her: The same tight, sheer material that showcased her oversized breasts also displayed an impressive musculature all down her back, from neck to waist — while her arms, and her legs as visible below her knee-length skirt, showed no indication of extreme fitness, her back muscles were nearly that of a female bodybuilder. A natural consequence of the weight of her breasts? Or had Doctor Park taken the extra time, given the extra attention to detail, to increase the size and density of those muscles so that said breasts did not cause her discomfort?
Letting it go for the moment, he leaned an arm on the desk’s high front and asked Mark in a low voice, “Hanging in there?”
“Sure, sure I am,” Mark insisted a little too quickly, and shuffled his legs a little too gracelessly, as he made a show of looking around the fancy waiting room.
Michael resisted the urge to smile.
Doctor Park did not make them wait long. He appeared from around the bend with the receptionist in tow; she moved back toward her chair, but did not sit, as Park himself rounded the desk to greet them.
Park was tall, lean, handsome — which came as no surprise, assuming that his abilities could work on his own body — and sported only the slightest hint of a Korean accent as he extended his hand and said, “I’m Andrew Park. How may I help you, Lieutenant, uh ...?”
“Takayasu,” he said as they shook. “This is my partner, Shockwave.”
Park shook with Mark as well. “Pleased to meet you, Shockwave. I believe I’ve seen you on TV. Both of you, now that I think of it.”
Mark beamed over that, while Michael said, “Doctor Park, if we could speak somewhere in private ...”
“Of course, of course.” He turned to the receptionist and whispered something Michael didn’t catch, then addressed the patients waiting ahead of them. “I’m sorry, I’ll be just a few minutes longer. I hope you don’t mind.”
The man grumbled about it, but kept it mostly under his breath. The woman didn’t even bother to look up from her phone.
“This way,” Park said as he led them toward the same bend in the hall.
Once they had cleared the waiting room, Park escorted them through a hallway lined with numbered patient rooms, although it was wider, nicer, and with a higher ceiling than Michael had come to expect from most doctors’ offices. Between each room came the posters Madison had spoken of, and yes, while the first few were glamour shots of famous actors and actresses, the ones further down did lean more toward the pornographic community — though, once again, they were not nearly as trashy as Michael had expected, they just showed more skin.
The final door on the left, before they reached Park’s private office, was different, with a pneumatic design and a rubber seal all the way around. The entrance to the small operating theater that Madison had mentioned? It made sense to Michael.
Park led them into his office, which was a bit spartan, with a single glamour shot of a beautiful woman Michael did not recognize hanging behind the desk; the room was a little gloomy, but was otherwise undistinguished. Park moved around his plain desk, and Michael noted that there was only a single, comfortable-looking chair before it.
Park noticed his look. “I’m sorry that I can only offer the one guest seat,” he explained. “The majority of the time, I only have one patient in here per appointment. Most of them prefer privacy as we discuss the body modifications they desire.”
“Go ahead, Mike,” Mark said as he moved behind and to the right of the lone chair. “I’ll stand.”
Michael nodded thanks to his partner as he sat, with Park sitting down at the same time. “We appreciate your time, Doctor Park. We saw that you have patients waiting, so we’ll keep this as brief as possible.”
Park said, “Carolyn impressed upon me that this was quite urgent. She said it was about an abduction?”
“Abductions,” Michael corrected with the plural. “But to clarify, the answer is yes and no. Yes, this case began with an assortment of young people who were abducted by a group of paranormal rogues ...” Park shook his head with an expression of disgust. “... but all the victims that we currently know of, pertaining to this case, have been rescued.”
Park spread his hands in confusion. “So ... it’s not about an abduction, then?”
“Again, yes and no. The reason we’re here today is that two of the abductees had their bodies altered, one of whom had it done somewhat against her will.”
“Ah. And you’re wondering if I’m the one who changed their faces?”
Michael shook his head. “Surprisingly, neither of them had their faces altered — at least, not to the point of making them unrecognizable. Their lips were a bit inflated, their cheekbones a little more pronounced, but otherwise—”
“Tits,” Mark cut in, prompting Park to shift his attention. “They were given ginormous tits.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Kinda like your secretary out there.”
“Ah.” Park nodded his understanding. “You’re saying these victims — women, I presume — received my ‘maximum breast augmentation,’ like Carolyn.” He offered a crooked grin. “Sorry for the sensational label, but once I started performing those alterations, it became clear that the sizes I manage go beyond simple ‘bra size’ descriptions. Personally, it often feels that it’s too much, that I take things too far ... but, believe it or not, it’s one of the more popular services I perform among women who can afford it. That, and facelifts.” He pursed his lips and glanced down at his hands, or maybe his lap. “And I’m sure you can guess the most popular request among the men.”
Michael offered no comment, but Mark released a knowing grunt.
“But you say that these women — or one of them, anyway — had it done against her will?” He shook his head. “Lieutenant, I am absolutely horrified to hear that.”
He sounds honest enough, Michael thought. “These women would’ve had the procedure performed sometime in the past three weeks, give or take. The reluctant one was a natural blonde named Madison Burr.”
Park turned slightly in his chair and double-tapped h
is desk. A panel slid back and a laptop computer rose to the surface; it was the first somewhat flashy example of the kind of money Michael knew that Park had. Park typed into the system, paused, slid his finger around the mouse pad, then shook his head.
“Sorry,” he said. “I don’t see a ‘Madison Burr’ on my patient list, in the past three weeks or otherwise.”
“It’s likely she was admitted under an alias,” Michael told him, “considering the circumstances of her abduction. But given the time period, surely you must have some idea ...”
Park shook his head again. “Sorry, but as I said, the ‘maximum breast augmentation’ is very popular. And many of the recipients are blonde, natural or otherwise.”
“C’mon, Doc,” Mark chided. “We’re just talkin’ about three freakin’ weeks here. How many women are askin’ to get turned into walkin’ cartoons in that short a window?”
Park stiffened. “I do not judge my patients on their requests, Mister ... um, Shockwave. And you would be surprised how many.” He looked back to Michael. “How sure are you about the time frame?”
“Very. Between the missing persons report and our rescue yesterday, the time frame cannot be any larger than that.”
“Did you notice any bruising or—?”
“Nope,” Mark cut him off. “That’s why we’re here, Doc. She went from normal to gigantic, and said she was on her feet in no time. That, plus she named you.”
“She did?”
“Yep. You, this office — ‘Park your worries out here’ and all that shit. You got an explanation for that in your little computer there?”
Park sat back, folding one arm across his chest and resting his chin on his other fist. “Please describe her — aside from the attributes I allegedly gave her.”
Michael did.
Park stared at the far wall for a moment, absorbing this. He then said, “Gentlemen, I am stumped. I have no record of her name, and no recollection of any patient, within the past three weeks, matching your description. And yet, between her providing my name and describing my office — not to mention the particular augmentation that only I could have performed ...” He fell silent another moment.
Michael waited, and Mark followed his lead.
Finally, Park held out his hands before him and said, “She must have been here. But ...” He let his hands drop to his desk, looking lost.
Michael said, “But you maintain you have no memory of her being here.”
“Vehemently.” He took a steadying breath. “You said that this Madison woman was abducted by a group of paranormals. Do you know if any of them could ... I don’t know, alter memories?”
“Seriously?” Mark said, dripping sarcasm all over the carpet.
“Not that we know of,” Michael allowed. “Is that your stance on this matter?”
Park shrugged, his hands rising then again falling back onto the desk. “I have no other stance to take. And again ...” In spite of the circumstances, a tinge of pride crept into his voice. “... to the best of my knowledge, I am the only professional who could have performed the augmentation you describe and have the patient recover in so short a time. So unless there is another paranormal body-modifier working ‘underground,’ it has to have been me. It has to.”
As near as Michael could tell, the man was being aboveboard about all of this. He tended to have a strong intuition about this sort of thing — he had once scored a high, non-paranormal ESP rating, though it had never been something he could command at will (much to his frustration). Andrew Park appeared to be telling them the truth.
And yet ... there was something, something underlaying all of this, that troublesome agitation that had been growing for a few weeks ...
Park interrupted his thoughts to ask, “Do I need an attorney?”
“Not yet,” Michael told him. “As I said, the victims have all been recovered. And, I presume from your stance on Madison’s situation, you deny any knowledge of the rogues who abducted her, or the fact that she was abducted at all?”
“I absolutely deny it. Vehemently.”
“Then, for the time being, this skews more toward the question of a ‘malpractice suit,’ of a sort, than an arrest.” Park opened his mouth to jump on that, and Michael held up his hand for patience. “I believe we can head off further complications with a little more help from you.”
Park looked cautiously relieved. “Name it.”
“Two things. First, would you be willing to turn over to the PCA any security footage you may have for the past three weeks?”
“Yes, of course. I mean, I’ll do what I can. We only have one inconspicuous camera up front — most of my patients would be sensitive to that sort of thing, fearing embarrassment that they sought my services, especially with things like facelifts or liposculpture. But building security has cameras near the elevators, and at the ends of each hallway. I can probably talk to them for something more helpful.”
Michael nodded. “We’d appreciate if you could do that right away, thank you.”
“Of course. And the second thing?”
“I promised Madison I would look into a possible reversal of her ‘maximum breast augmentation.’ If you would be willing and able to undo what has been done to her ...?”
“Yes, yes, absolutely! You can assure Madison that I will be able to return her to her previous state. I’ll need photographs, and preferably video of what she looked like before.”
“There won’t be any lasting damage? Scarring, traumatized tissue, that sort of thing?”
Park smiled, and his pride returned. “Not the way I work, Lieutenant. The reconstruction results may not include every single, personal subtlety that only she would notice, but I’ll get it damned close. I promise you, and you can pass along my promise to her.”
“No fee?”
“None, none whatsoever. As warped as this whole thing is, I do offer a full satisfaction guarantee for my services. This falls outside the usual seven-day limit, but under the circumstances, I will happily throw that technicality right out the window.”
Michael nodded, satisfied for the time being. “Excellent.”
He started to rise, but this time it was Park who held up his hand. “One more thing, Lieutenant.”
Michael settled back down into his chair. “Yes?”
Park clasped his hands together before him, taking on a professorial air. “I couldn’t help but notice — it’s part of my job, after all — the scars on your hands. And on your face, Shockwave.”
Michael froze. In an instant, he saw where this was going. And, in spite of his usual self-control while on the job, he felt his heart rate increasing.
“I could fix these issues for both of you,” Park said. “This is my livelihood, of course, so I can’t do it fully pro bono, like Madison. But you have been so courteous and understanding about this matter, I could offer you a steep discount.”
Mark stepped forward, standing alongside Michael on his right. Strangely, Michael felt embarrassed to look up at his partner.
“Shockwave,” Park was saying, “yours would take no time at all. From your clear speech, it seems that the musculature either healed very well or was never damaged. I can make it as though the injury never happened.” He shifted his gaze to Michael. “Lieutenant, given the intricacies of the human hand, yours will require a little more nuance, a little more crafting and special care and attention to fine detail. But just like Shockwave here, the results will be as though you never suffered those painful-looking burns.” He smiled, looking back and forth between them. “Would you gentlemen be interested?”
... as though you never suffered those painful-looking burns ...
Michael had been wishing to hear those words for years. After being told by multiple norm surgeons that full rehabilitation was impossible, that he would have to live with uncomfortable physical therapy for the rest of his life, just to maintain use of his hands ... to now hear that Doctor Park could take that all away ...
... sent him
into an abrupt, unexpected, barely-concealed panic.
Did he want normal sensation back in his hands? Yes. Was he tired of all the awkward exchanges with people, who either asked point-blank about the scars or who clearly saw them but tried to tiptoe around the subject? Yes.
But to wipe the scars away, gone for good, something he had thought impossible, prompted a voice to start screaming in his mind that he would be betraying his old friend, Jason, who had died engulfed in paranormal flames as Michael tried in vain to save him. This experience was his impetus for joining the then-new PCA academy.
How could he accept Park’s offer?
How could he not?
Park looked at him, expectant. In another moment, the silence would become embarrassing ...
“You know what, Doc,” Mark suddenly spoke up, “I appreciate your offer, I do. But this scar here?” He tapped his cheek. “See, I got this in the line of duty, sort of. A nasty ol’ rogue I took down wanted revenge and decided to carve me up, but because I was able to think ‘outside the box’ and all, I not only took that dumbass out, it got me to thinkin’ about other ways I could use my shockwaves. See here ...”
Mark made a show of hefting one buttock onto the edge of Park’s desk so that he could raise his foot up, and Michael realized what was really happening here: Mark, great friend that he was, had picked up on Michael’s trepidation and was covering for him.
In that moment, Michael wanted to give him a big hug.
“I used to have to kick my shoes off to fly,” Mark was explaining to Doctor Park, whose bewilderment was plain on his face. “But then I stepped on a big piece of glass, it was so bad I got laid up for a while and everything. So I stopped by a nerd shop to grab some comic books — I refuse to call them ‘graphic novels,’ you know what I’m sayin’? — and I checked out how some of them got ‘bootjets’ and stuff, and a friend of ours came up with these ...”
Paranormals | Book 3 | Darkness Reigns Page 15
