“It’s WitchCraft, Ben, it isn’t your forte. Isn’t that what you always tell us?”

“Yeah, but it’s my for-tay,” he stressed, “to know bullshit when I smell it. I’m thinkin’ maybe it didn’t work right ‘cause you didn’t say a poem.”

“I really think you need to stop dwelling on that,” she told him coolly.

“Of course you do. Because I’m right, ain’t I?”

“Keep it up and I will hurt you,” she told him, a frost in her voice that chilled the words in such a way as to add harsh punctuation to the threat.

“Do you think you two could play nice?” I asked. “Your bickering really isn’t helping my head at all.”

“I am playing nice,” my wife returned. “For the moment.” She paused then added, “That could change very quickly though.”

“Looks like he might be back,” Ben announced. “I’ll go check.” The absent tone in his voice told me he had already taken a left turn away from the previous conversation and was now re-focused on the original issue at hand, namely the salt.

I heard his door latch clunk, and the dome light popped on, making the previously dark world behind my tightly closed eyes illuminate with a dull, reddish glow. A second or two later, the same noise sounded on the other side of the vehicle. The out of synch stereo of both doors opening told me that Felicity was climbing out as well.

A blast of cold air blew through the interior of the van, swirling into the back and brushing its unseen fingers across my face. It actually lent some momentary relief to the throb in my skull, but momentary was the key word. I knew there wasn’t enough cold out there to act as an analgesic for what was going on inside my head-not without literally freezing me to death that is.

“Rowan, stay here,” Felicity instructed. “I’ll be right back.”

“Yes ma’am,” I muttered in return.

Seconds later the out-of-phase stereo of the doors thudding closed dropped my world back into cold darkness, with the small exception of the nearly imperceptible flicker of the emergency lights through the back windows. I let out a slow breath and continued rubbing my temples even though the massage wasn’t proving to give me any relief from the pain. What I really wanted was a handful of aspirin. At least I knew those would take the edge off before this became any worse.

Outside the van I could hear muffled voices. Just as was the case with the murmurings inside my head, I couldn’t make out any of the actual words, but I could pick out Ben and Felicity as two members of the conversation. The third person sounded angry, female, and a little familiar, but I couldn’t attach a name to it.

As I sat there listening to what seemed to be escalating into an argument, I tried to focus on it, but the pain in my head caused my concentration to abandon me, leaving my mind to wander off wherever it so desired. My recent thought of wanting aspirin seemed to be its favored destination, and it made a beeline to it. Self-preservation was trumping everything else.

As I dwelled on the desire to be pain free, I vaguely remembered Ben mentioning earlier that he had a bottle of the over-the-counter painkiller on hand if I needed it. Soon I found myself wondering if it was possibly stashed somewhere in the van. Logically, I knew it was one of the last things I should be putting into my body at the moment, but the growing migraine had pushed me to the point of no longer caring about doctor’s instructions. I needed something to at least dull the ache because it was now well past the point of being ignored.

I remained motionless for a moment, now ruminating over whether or not the mere act of moving would only serve to make the pain worse. If it did and I managed to find the aspirin, no big deal, but if I couldn’t locate the meds, then I was going to be royally screwed. I weighed the two options as carefully as my throbbing brain would let me then decided to take the chance. Unfortunately, my decision to do something other than just sit here and suffer came too late to do any good. The second I opened my eyes and started leaning forward to begin my quest turned out to be the exact same second the side door of the van flew open with an unceremonious grind and thump.

Angry words instantly blasted through the interior, centered directly on me. “What in the name of God do you think you’re doing, Gant?”

I looked over to see Captain Barbara Albright glaring at me, her gaze a mixture of anger and insistence. The identity behind the mystery voice now became painfully apparent.

“I told you to back off!” Felicity shouted from behind her. “Leave him alone!”

Peering past the angry cop who was now blocking the opening, I saw Ben latch onto my wife just as she started forward. Then he pulled her back before she could literally assault the woman.

“Storm,” Albright spat the words without tearing her eyes away from me. “Cuff that bitch and get her out of the way right now.”

If I hadn’t been hurting so much I think I would have been surprised by her blatant use of profanity, mild as it was. It was definitely out of character for the holier-than-thou Albright. Of course, what I heard next was no shock at all considering that it came spewing from the livid redhead behind her.

“ Fekking saigh! ” Felicity growled. “ Pog mo thoin! Damnu, Ben, let go of me!”

“Look, Captain, I’m not gonna cuff ‘er…” Ben insisted. “There’s no reason for it.” Then he quipped, “I’ll try ta’ keep ‘er from kickin’ your ass, but I’m not makin’ any guarantees.”

“I gave you an order,” she told him.

“Yeah, but I’m not takin’ it.”

“Fine, I’ll do it myself.” Albright wheeled around and reached beneath her coat.

My friend snorted and twisted so that he was between Felicity and her. “Not happenin’… There’s no reason for this ta’ get ridiculous. Listen, you need ta’ just calm down and give the man some room like she said.”

Of course, with all of this commotion confined to a small space that just happened to be more or less surrounded by cops, the altercation had attracted more than a little attention. Without even trying I counted three state troopers and two sheriff’s deputies descending on us already and wouldn’t be surprised if more showed up at any minute.

“What’s the problem here,” one of the uniformed officers asked.

Albright waved her badge in the air and announced, “I’m Captain Albright… I have it under control. I’m just asking Mister Gant a few questions.”

“You know you aren’t even s’posed ta’ be here, Captain,” Ben said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “You’re on administrative leave.”

She disregarded his comment and ignored the growing turmoil. Instead, she wheeled back around to face me and demanded, “Answer me, Gant.”

Felicity suddenly let out a banshee screech, there was a heavy thump, Ben yelped, then I heard him snarl, “Goddammit, Felicity, don’t fuckin’ kick me again! And stop squirmin’ or I will cuff ya’!”

One of the deputies leapt forward and grabbed my wife by the arm and wrenched it back then immediately began slipping his own handcuffs from his belt. My wife let out a pained scream as he continued twisting her arm in an attempt to subdue her. I could also see that one of the troopers had unholstered his taser and was holding it at the ready.

“Goddammit! Just back off for a minute!” my friend barked as he muscled the deputy away while keeping an arm hooked around Felicity. “And, you, put that damn thing away! There’s no reason for this to get stupid.”

The whole situation was heading south in a hurry, and none of it was helping my head in the least. My already foul mood was souring even further, and it definitely wasn’t going to be a good mixer for the volatility forming right before my eyes. Unfortunately, my head was hurting too badly to allow me to give Albright anything other than an honest, gut response. I simply stared at her and said, “I was looking for some aspirin. Got any?”

“Get out here!” she demanded, motioning for me to exit the van.

“Captain, I’m tellin’ ya’,” Ben insisted. “Ya’ need ta’ just back off. You don’t understand what’s goin’ on here.”

“I can still have you suspended, Storm,” she shot back.

“That’s a two-way street,” he countered. “You know you aren’t supposed ta’ be here. All it’d take would be a phone call, and you’d be in more hot water than you could stand. You know I’m right.”

She didn’t reply but turned to look at him. I could only imagine the glare he was receiving.

He held fast and said, “Whaddaya say we just call a truce before this gets any uglier.”

The standoff had multiplied by several more uniformed officers, and I knew my friend wasn’t going to back

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