“Why do you have to be so reckless, then?” Felicity asked, her voice calm but still betraying a definite subtext of annoyance.
I had taken it as a good sign that she didn’t simply walk away when I approached. She was still leaning back against the light standard, and I was next to her doing the same, more or less sitting on the edge of the large concrete base and pressing the back of my head against the cold post. At first it seemed to afford a little relief from the pain in my skull, but as expected it didn’t last long.
We had been standing in silence for a long measure. I was keeping an eye on Ben as he talked on the phone while at the same time trying to focus my aching brain on a suitable apology I could offer my wife. I certainly wasn’t going to say something empty just to get myself out of hot water. I wanted to honestly attempt to make amends to her. I just wasn’t sure where to start except to simply say I was sorry, which seemed a bit lame under any circumstances.
Since I was finding myself at a loss for the appropriate verbiage, she beat me to the punch with her straightforward question being the first thing either of us had uttered. I was actually a bit surprised that she was talking to me in such an even tone. Had she snarled a string of acerbic Gaelic at me, it would have been much closer to what I was expecting.
I paused then grunted in response, “That’s a good question.”
“I’m serious, Row.”
“I know you are,” I offered with a heavy sigh. “I just don’t have a good answer.”
Quiet fell between us again for several heartbeats, and I waited for her reply, watching my breath condense in a frosty cloud in front of me before dissipating into nothingness.
Finally, I heard Felicity sigh and shuffle as she repositioned herself against the post. “You know I think what bothers me the most is that I know I would probably have done the same thing.”
“Yeah, you’ve had your share of moments too,” I replied.
“You needn’t remind me,” she said.
“Sorry.”
“Aye, now that, you definitely needed to say.”
“I thought I might,” I said. “Sorry about the whole thing with the car too. I just felt I needed the strength of the physical connection if I was going to get anything tangible.”
She responded without pause. “I know.”
“It worked…” I offered sheepishly.
“I heard,” she replied. “I think everyone did. You were your usual vociferous self where that was concerned.”
“They weren’t listening.”
“I know.”
I glanced toward Ben for a visual check on his progress. He still had his cell phone pressed to his ear, and he seemed to be waiting. I was at least heartened by the fact that he appeared to be edging toward impatience himself.
I sighed. “Now if it just pans out.”
“It will,” she murmured.
After a brief pause I shifted slightly and glanced over in her direction. “So… Still mad at me?”
She didn’t turn, but she held her hand up over her shoulder with her index finger and thumb around a half inch apart. “Just a little.”
“Could be worse I suppose.”
“Aye.”
“Am I sleeping on the couch?”
She shook her head out of reflex as she spoke. “No. I’m sure I can think of a suitable punishment for you though.”
I felt my brow furrow automatically at the way she almost purred the comment. “Umm, honey… Are you in one of those moods again? Because, you know, this really isn’t the time or place…”
“I know, I know…” she replied, rushing to explain. Her voice sounded almost as if she were ashamed of what she had just said. “I wasn’t and then suddenly I was. It just came over me. I know this isn’t the time, believe me. But…the feeling is more than just a little overwhelming.”
“Like with Miranda?” I nearly whispered the question.
“Almost,” she replied, giving her head a shallow nod. “Not exactly, but almost.”
She definitely hadn’t given me the answer I had hoped for, but it was better she was honest rather than lie about something like this.
“That’s not good,” I said, unable to find any other words that fit.
“I was thinking the same thing, trust me.”
On a whim I reached into my jacket pocket and checked for the bottle containing the necklace. I breathed a small sigh of relief when I felt my fingers wrap around it. Even if I had lost it I couldn’t think of any way for it to end up back in Annalise’s hands. But I also wasn’t sure what effect it might have if it was released from its salt-filled coffin.
Although I knew by feel that the bottle was still in my pocket, just to be safe I pulled it out and inspected it closely. I even gave the glass vessel a light tap against my palm in order to uncover the piece of jewelry just enough to make sure it was still entombed in the salt. Once satisfied, I shook it again and stuffed it back into my jacket.
I pondered what to say for a moment before finally venturing, “I hate to ask this, but I feel like I have to. Are you certain you are in control of yourself?”
“Aye,” she replied. “It isn’t like that. I’m still me.”
“Sorry again… I just needed to know.”
“I understand…” She paused for a moment then continued with, “I’m fine, Rowan. Really, I am. Don’t worry. I have to admit that I’m embarrassed by the situation though…if you know what I mean. I really shouldn’t be getting aroused right now. It seems rather sick, don’t you think?”
“If things were different, I would probably say it was odd, yes,” I admitted. “But, right now, I’d have to say it’s sick only if it’s for the wrong reasons.”
“I don’t know if there are any right reasons for it to come on me now,” she replied. “But, it certainly isn’t because of all this. At least, I don’t…”
“Hey Rowan!” Ben called out, interrupting the balance of her explanation.
We both looked up to see him half jogging across the parking lot then ducking beneath the crime scene tape a few feet from us.
“Did you find it?” I asked hopefully.
“Probably,” he told us. “There’re seven Millston’s in a fifty mile radius-three in Illinois, two in Saint Charles, and two in the county.”
“Are all of them being checked?”
“Yeah, but you said the house looked like it had been through a fire, right?”
“Yeah,” I replied, nodding quickly. “It was boarded up and you could see where the fire had scorched the brick above the windows. And, it was near a corner intersection, but I didn’t get the other street name.”
“Well, one of the addresses in the county fits that description,” he said. “It’s in Overmoor. Got torched by an arsonist about four years ago and been vacant ever since. The local coppers are doing a drive-by right now, and SWAT is on standby if they find anything.”
“Overmoor? That’s thirty-five or forty miles back the other direction,” I said.
“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “That’d be about right.”
“Then why is Judith Albright’s car abandoned all the way out here?”
“Who knows how these wingnuts think,” he said with a shrug. “More’n likely ta’ send us lookin’ in the wrong direction. Besides, even you said ya’ didn’t know if she was with the SOB.”
“I know,” I replied. “I know… But it doesn’t make sense.”
“None of it does, Row. I thought you’d be used ta’ that by now.”
