“Well, I’m not that great a pitcher either, but that was a nice throw, considering that you did it while falling,” Cole said as he continued scanning the brush in the vicinity where the staff piece should have landed given the arc of Kryschenn’s lob. However, as they were both now standing, the Mentalist began to wonder why Kryschenn had yet to let go of his hand. He quickly glanced at her eyes but saw her attention was diverted elsewhere. Her eyes were down looking at his hand. Cole realized then that he had made the crucial error of allowing her to accept the bandaged hand they nearly got into an argument over minutes before. His own eyes widened in surprise as he felt part of the bandage begin to brush against his hand. Wound over his hand, he wouldn’t feel it move in such a way unless it were somehow loose, or it was being loosened by the Berserker.No, she isn’t. Is she?
Cole decided to give a quick look to his hand before making any accusations. It was possible it could have become loose on its own. If that were true and he mentioned it to her, Kryschenn could seize the opportunity to remove it from his hand outright. Unfortunately, Cole saw he was already too late in that last respect. When he cast his eyes down, the Mentalist saw the hand held in his already at work unwinding the leather strap he wore over his right hand. “Don’t you think it’s time you let go of my hand now?” he bluntly asked, indicating to Kryschenn that he was now aware of her covert efforts to remove his bandage.
Immediately, Cole stepped back as he withdrew his hand from hers. However, the sudden motion used to whip his hand out of her grasp only served to unwind what straps she had already worked loose. Fortunately, his secret still remained covered. His hands grasp the loose section of the leather strap at the bandage, Kryschenn managed to hold fast to the end.
His eyes narrowed on the Berserker. He thought he could trust her to drop the subject, to let it go as they agreed to earlier. He obviously thought wrong. He could feel the anger and hurt at this sudden betrayal welling up within him. Cole didn’t feel compelled to let that feeling subside.
With a sudden violent pull at the strap between them, Cole released his anger in three simple words that sounded more like to the wail of a wounded animal than anything remotely human:
“LET GO, NOW!!!”
