coupl’a hours yet.”
She gave him an animated raise of her eyebrows. “So?”
“So, I don’t think it’d be a good idea for us to go knockin’ around in the woods with flashlights,” he returned.
“But we have more than flashlights,” Felicity countered. “We have me.”
Mandalay forced back another yawn with the back of her hand and then shook her head at my wife. “You’re beginning to sound like Rowan.”
“Aye, and you’re sounding like Ben used to,” Felicity replied.
“Just trying to play it safe, Felicity,” she told her. “You know how touchy all of this is.”
Ben spoke up again. “Like I said, Felicity, even if you go la-la and give us an exact location, we can’t see in the dark. The point is, if we go screwin’ around out there, we might accidentally fuck up the crime scene and lose a crucial piece of evidence without even knowin’ it. It’d be better if we do this at first light.”
“He’s right,” I said.
“I know he is,” she replied, resigned frustration seasoning her words as she made nervous motions with her hands. “But, I… I just… I don’t know… I just feel like I have to do something.”
“I know, honey,” I replied. “I’ve been there, remember?”
“So why don’t we look at a map of the park, then?” she proposed. “Maybe the one I drew is on a smaller scale, then.”
“That’s true, it could be. It would be a starting point at least,” Constance agreed. “Do you have one?”
“No,” she replied in a dejected tone, then let out a heavy breath as her shoulders drooped noticeably. She turned her back to the table and silently walked into the kitchen.
“I can probably download one from the State Parks or Conservation Department website,” I offered, speaking loud enough that I hoped she could hear as well.
“Okay, let’s do that,” Mandalay gave a nod as she spoke.
“Let’s back up for a second. We can go at this from a different angle too,” Ben offered. “Row, you got a phone book handy?”
“Sure,” I replied, starting toward the bookshelves in the living room. “What for?”
“Woodcrest Park is named after the muni it borders,” he told me. “So I’m gonna call Woodcrest PD and see if there’s been anything suspicious happen around there in the last day or so.”
“Good idea, Storm,” Mandalay said.
“Yeah, I have ‘em on occasion,” he replied with a slight sardonic note.
I returned quickly with the phone book. He flipped it open as he took it from me and then began thumbing his way toward the government office ‘blue pages’. “Can I use your phone?” he asked as he searched the hefty book.
“Sure. I’ll get it,” I replied and then stepped into the kitchen to retrieve the handset. When I came around the corner, Felicity was standing with her arms crossed and leaning back against the counter. She was staring at the floor, her chin against her chest, and she was nibbling at her lower lip once again.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Aye.” She gave a small nod. “I’m fine.”
“Ben is going to call the Woodcrest Police Department,” I offered.
“I heard.”
“You know, we can probably get a map of the park off the Internet.”
“Aye, I heard that too.”
“You’re sure you’re okay?”
She looked up and gave me a weak smile. “I’m fine, Row. Just very, very tired, that’s all.”
“Here it is,” Ben announced behind me. “Row. Phone.”
I glanced over my shoulder then back to her. “It’s going to be okay,” I said as I started backing out of the doorway. “I promise.”
“I know,” she answered with a nod. “I’ll be sure of that.”
Ben took the phone from my hand as I turned, and then he began stabbing the number into the handset. A moment later, he tucked it up to his ear and waited expectantly.
“Yeah, good morning,” he said suddenly. “My name’s Ben Storm, I’m a detective with St. Louis City Homicide. I need to speak with your watch commander… Yeah… Great, what’s his name? Okay, what’s her name? Sergeant Michelle Marshall… Great… Thanks… Yeah, it’s Detective Ben Storm… Yeah, that’s right, City Homicide. Yeah, I’ll hold. Thanks.”
Ben twisted the handset away from his mouth and reached up with his free hand to massage his neck. After a moment, he canted the receiver back up to his mouth and began speaking again. “Yeah, Sergeant Marshall. Detective Storm. Yeah… I know… Yeah, tell me about it, I’m runnin’ on about four hours outta the last twenty- four… Yeah, kinda… So listen, I’m wantin’ ta’ check if you’ve had any reports of vandalism or trespassing over at Woodcrest Park the past couple of days?… Really?… When was that?… No kidding… You find anything?… Okay… Yeah… Yeah… No, just a theory I’m workin’ on, nothing for sure… No, pretty minor case, nothin’ too serious… Yeah… Uh-huh… Yeah…” He looked over at me and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s me… Thanks, I think…” He let out a forced chuckle. “Yeah… Well I appreciate it… Sure, if it pans out we’ll be sure to let ya’ know… Yeah… Thanks… Bye.”
He pulled the handset away and pressed his thumb against the off-hook switch.
“Well?” Agent Mandalay asked.
“Park attendant found the gate unlatched when she arrived Saturday morning,” he answered. “Chain had been snapped. Prob’ly with a bolt cutter, but there was no other vandalism they could find. Apparently, this happens every now and then. According to the Sergeant, they’ve caught a coupl’a drunk good ol’ boys in the past who thought it’d be a good idea to go fishin’ in the middle of the night and broke in so they could use the boat ramp.”
“But not this time?” I asked.
“Nope.” He shook his head. “But since there was no other damage, they just wrote it off and filed a vandalism report.”
He offered me the handset and I took it.
“So what was the eye roll about?” I asked as I started backing slowly toward the kitchen doorway.
“She asked if I was the same Detective Storm that’s been on TV with ‘that Witch’,” he replied flatly.
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” he grunted. “You’re my freakin’ claim to fame apparently.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he sighed. “It’s not the first time I’ve been asked, won’t be the last I’m sure.”
I turned then continued through the doorway and dropped the phone back into its wall base. My mouth was already open to speak to my wife when I looked up and saw that the room was empty. I had been fairly intent on Ben’s side of the phone conversation, but I couldn’t imagine having missed Felicity coming into the room. Still, it wasn’t something I could rule out either.
I glanced around and then turned and called back into the dining room, “Felicity?”
I waited a few seconds but heard no reply. I called out again, “Is Felicity in there?”
“I thought she was in there,” Constance called back to me.
I felt my mouth curl downward into a frown as the hair on the back of my neck began to prickle in a wave of gooseflesh. The frightening hollowness that tended to visit the pit of my stomach from time to time announced its arrival, and I knew instantly that something was amiss.
I walked through the kitchen without a word and continued out the back door, through the atrium sun porch, and exited onto the deck. The security floods were still lit, casting illumination across the raised expanse but eventually dissipating as they lost their battle against the darkness a few feet beyond the railing. My wife was still nowhere to be seen.
I frowned harder and advanced across the deck, peering into the night toward the back of the yard. It wasn’t unheard of for her to sit on the bench along the side of her potting shed when she wanted some solitude. I strained to see if I could pick out her form amid the faint silhouette of the outbuilding but saw nothing resembling a person at all.
