and then handed it to me. I instantly thumbed the annoying gadget to life and placed it to my ear as I said a quick hello.
Instead of a similar salutation, I was greeted immediately by my wife’s stilted voice-her audible annoyance reigned in only by a forced, but obviously wavering, patience. “Rowan, would you please have Ben come outside and tell this young officer that I am supposed to be here.”
CHAPTER 21:
Felicity’s call was one of the last things I expected to happen. I stole a quick glance at my watch and did some mental ciphering with the numbers. The result was that by my calculations she was still supposed to be at her lunch meeting. So, either I needed a crash course in math, or there was a new variable in play.
Without thinking, I blurted, “Felicity’s outside, and they won’t let her in.”
“I’ll go take care of it,” Ben replied with a nod as he started to turn toward the door.
Instantly realizing my mistake, I vigorously shook my head at him and waved my hand quickly as I spoke into the phone. “Hold on a second, hon.”
I pulled the cell away from my face and buried the mouthpiece against my palm.
“What?” Ben asked, giving me a confused look.
“I don’t want her in here,” I insisted in a half whisper. “Not now. Not yet anyway.”
“C’mon, Row,” he replied with a nod toward the bed. “She’s seen worse than this.”
“It’s not that,” I explained. “Just trust me, she doesn’t need to experience this scene right now.”
“You mean…” He did a small jig through the air with his hand and let out a quavering whistle before adding, “ Twilight Zone?”
I gave him a nod. “Right.”
He raised his eyebrows. “La-la land, like you did?”
“Or maybe like yesterday morning.”
“Yesterday morning?” he repeated with a knowing tone.
“Exactly. Maybe worse.”
“Friggin’ wunnerful.”
Much to my amazement, Agent Drew held his tongue.
Mandalay, however, had her curiosity piqued and asked, “What are you two talking about?”
“I’ll tell ya’ later,” Ben said then focused on me with a thoughtful stare once again.
“Detective Storm?” A voice interrupted from the doorway.
He turned and addressed the uniformed officer to whom it belonged, “Yeah?”
“There’s a civilian out here claiming that she’s supposed to be allowed on the scene.”
“Yeah,” Ben acknowledged as he held his hand out at mid-chest height with the palm down. “Redhead, ‘bout so tall?”
“That would be her,” the officer said.
He jerked his head toward me. “Yeah, she’s on the phone with him right now.”
The officer cast a quick glance over his shoulder then replied, “Not anymore, and, well, she’s starting to get belligerent.”
I immediately uncapped the mouthpiece and put the cell back up to my ear. “Felicity?”
I was met with nothing but silence. I pulled the phone away and checked the status LCD. The call had been terminated.
“He’s right,” I announced. “She hung up.”
“You Rowan?” the officer asked me.
“Yeah, why?”
“Well, she had some choice words for you when you put her on hold.”
“She’s not grounding,” I said to Ben.
“I’ll take care of it,” Ben told the officer. “I’ll be out in a sec.”
“Better make it quick, Golden has already threatened to cuff her.”
“Yeah,” my friend sighed. “Been there myself. Doesn’t do any good, believe me.”
“Yeah, not surprised by that,” the cop returned then glanced over to me again. “Sucks to be you.” He started to recede from the doorway then quickly stepped back in and added, “Oh, by the way, Captain Albright is about fifteen minutes out. She just called. You said you wanted us to let you know.”
“Just keeps gettin’ better an’ better,” Ben replied. “How ‘bout the circus. They here yet?”
The cop nodded. “Media? Oh yeah, all three rings.”
There is a tired old adage that says when it rains, it pours. As exhausted and cliche as those words were, they came out of Ben’s mouth right on cue, albeit with a few expletives mixed in for emphasis.
Still shaking his head, he turned back toward me. With a grimace on his face, he reached up and smoothed his hair once again before lamenting, “Anything else, white man?”
“Anything else?” I repeated, my mind now preoccupied with thoughts of what trouble Felicity was getting herself into.
“Mojo, hocus-pocus, whatever,” he detailed, wagging his finger at the table.
“No, I’m afraid not,” I replied with a shake of my head.
“Okay, sixty-four thousand dollar question. You think this stuff actually has anything to do with the murders?”
“I’d have to say, yes. But, that’s kind of obvious.”
“I mean besides just some kinda weird callin’ card?”
“I’d still say yes, but I’m not sure what.”
“Okay, well unless you’ve got somethin’ more than that, better go ahead and get outta here so we can do some police work.”
I was a little taken aback by the abrupt dismissal, and my tone of voice said as much. “You’re welcome.”
“Look, Row…”
“Hey, you called me, remember?”
“Yes, I did, and I appreciate you comin’ all the way down here, but you know how these things work.”
“I thought I did.”
“Okay, listen. Do you really think this Voodoo stuff is somethin’ I need ta’ know about to solve the case?”
I shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know yet.”
“Yeah, well there ya’ go,” he huffed.
“Sorry,” I told him in a less than sincere tone.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he backpedaled as he checked his watch. “Listen, I just got too much shit hittin’ the fan all at once, and Albright ain’t gonna be pleased to see your smilin’ face. Look, just to make life a bit easier, why don’t ya’ grab Firehair and get outta Dodge before she gets here.”
“You’re sure?” I pressed. “I’m not afraid of Albright.”
“I know that, but like I said, I got enough on my plate without you and her gettin’ into it too. So listen, you got enough info to do some diggin’ on the hocus-pocus stuff?”
“Pretty much. Some copies of the crime scene photos couldn’t hurt.”
“The Bureau would like a set as well,” Mandalay added quickly.
“Yeah, well you just heard the same thing I did. With Bible Barb in the mix I wouldn’t be countin’ on it.”
“You should know that we’re already working on a subpoena for the Wentworth photos,” Agent Drew interjected.
“More power to ya’,” my friend replied. “But you need to threaten her with it, not me. I’m tellin’ ya’ it’s outta my hands.”
The voice of the uniformed officer came from the doorway again, “Detective Storm?”
“Yeah?”
