the shower drain.”
I knew immediately where he was heading with this, and I shot back, “Well, they aren’t Felicity’s if that’s what you are trying to say.”
“Rowan, they were red, and they were long,” he replied.
“She’s not the only redhead in the world, Ben,” I snapped.
“I know that, Rowan. But they found some on Wentworth too.”
“She was there taking the damn crime scene photos, Ben.”
“Yeah, that was the thought at first. But, now, with Hobbes… She wasn’t in that room. At least not with us… Today…”
“You’re just jumping to conclusions.”
“Yeah, you’re right, I kinda am,” he said with a nod. “But, listen, you told me yourself that you’re afraid she’s gonna hurt someone. Maybe even kill ‘em.”
“Yes, I did,” I replied. “Now that she’s under the influence of this collateral possession, that’s a possibility. Which is one of the primary reasons we need to be out there looking for her right now.”
“Believe me, there are plenty of people lookin’ for ‘er. You have no idea.”
“Yeah. People with guns who think she’s an armed fugitive.”
He shook his head. “Got news for ya’, Row. She is.”
“That’s not my point,” I snapped. “We need to…”
He held up his hand to stop me. “Let’s get back to what I was sayin’. Now, let’s say I believe you on this whole possessed thing. What’s to say she wasn’t all Twilight Zoned out last night, waited for you to go to sleep, then out the door she went?”
“That’s ridiculous,” I objected. “Even if she snuck out of the house, which she didn’t, how do you figure she would have even connected with Hobbes in such a short period of time?”
“Maybe she knew him already.”
“How?”
“I dunno, Rowan. You tell me. He had her business card in his wallet.”
“She’s a freelance photographer, Ben. Her business card is sitting on the counter of every camera store in a fifty mile radius.”
“Yeah, true.” He nodded. “Or maybe she gave it to ‘im when they met somewhere.”
“So you’re trying to tell me that my wife has been having an illicit affair?”
“Look, all I know is that they found her card in his wallet. Ackman also did some askin’ around and found out Hobbes was leading a bit of a secret life,” he explained. “He was really into the whole kinky sex thing. By Felicity’s own admission, she was too.”
“Operative word there, Ben. Was.”
“I dunno. I got the impression she was still up for it, Row.”
“Maybe so, but if it was something she wanted to get back into, I think she would have said something to me.”
“Maybe not.”
My retort came out as a growl. “I don’t have to listen to this crap!”
“Okay, okay. Calm down. So maybe he did get her card from the camera store. They coulda hooked up another way. He was apparently a regular at a nightclub over on the east side that caters to the whole domination fetish crowd. East side’s only a twenty-minute drive from here… Even less at that time of night. So maybe she cruised over…”
“Come on, Ben…”
“Look, I told ya’ you weren’t gonna wanna hear this.”
“Let me get this straight. First you’re telling me that my wife is running around on me. Now you’re trying to get me to believe that she waited for me to go to sleep, slipped out, went over to a fetish bar on the east side, picked up a guy, brought him back across the river to a motel, played extreme bondage games with him, and finally she killed him. Then, after all of that, she comes home, crawls back into bed with me, and in the morning it’s like nothing ever happened.”
“Yeah, I know, Rowan. It sounds out there to me too.”
“That’s because it is,” I replied. “Out there.”
“Where was she when Wentworth bought it?”
“I’m not listening to any more of this crap.”
“Look, I’m not sayin’ this is what happened.”
“That’s what it sounds like to me.”
“Listen, Row, I’d much rather believe your version.”
“So, why even bring all this up?”
“Because it’s a theory that’s been advanced to the MCS.”
“By who?” I demanded then held up my hand to stop him from answering. “No, wait. Don’t tell me. Albright.”
“Yeah,” he replied with a nod.
“Bitch.”
“Yeah.”
“What’s she even involved for?”
“The possible connection with Wentworth,” he replied. “Told ya’ she’d be all over it.”
“So, why go to the east side?” I suddenly appealed.
“Whaddaya mean?”
“Why didn’t Felicity just torture and kill me instead? I was right here. Why go to the trouble of sneaking out and going to the east side?”
“Maybe she loves ya’ too much to actually kill ya’.”
“Why would whatever or whoever is possessing her give a…” I let the rest of the sentence go unspoken, switching instantly from a question to an accusation. “You don’t actually believe she’s possessed.”
“Listen, Row…” he started then blew out a heavy sigh. “Like you just figured out. It’s not what I believe that’s important right now. There are a lot of other people involved in this investigation, and Bible Barb has their ears.”
“Felicity did NOT kill Officer Hobbes, Ben. Wentworth either.”
“I believe ya’, Rowan.”
“And, she is under the influence of some type of spirit possession.”
“Like I said, I believe ya’.”
“Well, you’ll have to excuse me, but I’m beginning to wonder.”
“I’m still a cop, Row,” he offered apologetically. “It was either gonna be me or someone else askin’ the questions. I wanted it ta’ be me. First anyway, because trust me, they’ll get asked again, and not nearly as nice.”
“I guess I should say thank you,” I said without much conviction.
“Thank me later. I just need ya’ ta’ know that after everything that’s happened today, Felicity’s gonna be real high on the list of suspects. Especially after what happened here.”
“Then let’s go find her before one of them does.”
“Okay, where do you want to look first?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Yeah. It’s a good idea on paper,” he said with a nod then mumbled, “Jeezus. Deja fuckin’ vu.”
“About what?” I asked.
“Your goddamned wife,” he grunted. “Last time she got all la-la on us, she ran off ta’ chase ghosts in a friggin’ park in the middle of the night. At least that time she left us a map.”
He was referring to the kidnapping and homicide case we’d worked two years ago. The first and only time, until now, that Felicity had been so in tune with the other side of the veil. And, the very reason I’d buried the poppet in the back yard, not that it seemed to be doing its job at present.
“Yeah,” I replied with a nod. “But, when she did that it was a conscious decision on her part. This time it isn’t. There’s someone else in control of her body.”
