“Yeah, I guess so…” I replied. “I just wish I knew what she’s planning.”
“Besides goin’ after Firehair, ya’ mean?”
“Yeah, but really more of the how she plans to do it, I guess.”
“Uh-huh, yeah, well you’n me both,” he replied.
“I guess I should have seen this whole thing coming. Especially given my reservations about the resolution of that last case.”
“You ain’t Superman, Row.”
I grumbled. “Yeah, well sometimes I feel like I have to be.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I know. Been there.” He was quiet for a second then asked, “Do ya’ think you’re gonna be able ta’ end this?”
“Superman or not, I have to. I don’t have any choice.”
We continued for a moment in relative silence, save for the vibrating drone of the suitcase wheels clacking against the non-skid surface of the floor. As we approached the automatic doors at the bottom of the sloping ramp they slid open, and we exited into the terminal level of the parking garage. Compared to the dimness of the baggage claim area, the exterior lights around the entrance cast harsh, yellowish illumination down from above. I blinked several times as my eyes adjusted to the sudden glare.
“To the left, next level up,” Ben said, pointing as he guided us toward the stairwell.
The night itself was mild, with the temperature hovering somewhere in the low sixties. Cool, but not cold. A slight breeze wafted through, stirring the funk of old exhaust fumes and dirty concrete that forever permeated the structure.
As we approached the stairs, Ben asked, “So you ain’t gonna do the Twilight Zone thing anytime soon, right?”
“You mean right now?”
“Yeah. Like right here or somethin’.”
“Honestly, I don’t think I could if I wanted to, why?”
“Just checkin’,” he replied. “When you get like this I start worryin’ ‘cause it usually means you’re about ta’ fall down an’ flop around on the floor or some shit. I don’t need your sorry ass rollin’ backwards down the stairs right now.”
“It’s not always that bad,” I objected.
He gave me a one-eyed stare. “Aren’t you the guy who just bled all over the place and shit?”
“Yeah, yeah, I get your point. But that doesn’t always happen.”
“No, maybe not, but whatever does happen is always weird and kinda freaky.”
“So you’re saying I embarrass you?”
“Hell no,” he snorted. “You embarrass yourself. I’m just along for the ride.” Constance was already halfway up the stairwell, so Ben gestured and said, “After you, white man. Just in case and all, ya’know.”
I huffed out a tired snort, hefted my suitcase by the grip, and then started upward. “You know, Constance didn’t give me this much grief. Maybe I should just work with her instead of you.”
“Leave me out of it,” she called down at us from the landing. “Right now the only partner I want to work with is my pillow.”
“I won’t argue with you there,” I said. “I just want to get home myself.”
“So listen, Row,” Ben started. “On this whole…”
Before he could finish the sentence, a syncopated warble began issuing from his belt, growing louder with each beat. He grumbled and said, “Hold that thought.”
I had just stepped onto the landing next to Constance when my friend topped the stairs with his cell phone in hand. He held it up and waved the chirping device at us as he announced, “Speakin’ of home, I think McLaughlin must be gettin’ antsy…”
Flipping it open, he answered with, “Yeah, Charlee, we’re on our way. I just picked ‘em up.” As he spoke my friend dipped his head in the direction of his van, and we started walking toward it while he listened to the caller. “Do what? Awww, Jeezus. You’n Firehair are okay, right?”
Adrenalin instantly dumped into my bloodstream at the mention of Felicity, especially considering the apparent nature of his question to Detective McLauglin.
“What’s going on, Ben?” I asked, concern tightening my throat and causing my voice to rise slightly in pitch.
He shook his head to stave me off while he concentrated on the call. “But you’re both okay, right? Good…”
His vehicle hadn’t been parked very far away, so we arrived at it quickly. He let go of Constance’s suitcase and hurriedly dug around in his pocket for his keys, which he immediately handed to her. She proceeded to unlock the van, but my attention never wavered from him.
“You call it in ta’ Major Case? Yeah… Well don’t let the locals fuck with anything. Just have ‘em secure the scene until MCS gets there…” He continued. “Yeah… Good… Okay, so what about the vic? Are ya’ sure? Yeah, sounds just like the last one… What? Jeezus… Okay… Yeah, well hang tight. We’ll be there in twenty.” Ben folded the phone and slipped it back onto his belt. A look of distress now hardened his features, and his hand shot up to smooth back his hair.
His silence was punctuated by a sharp click as Constance pushed down the pull handle on her luggage. We both stood watching him and waiting. However, I didn’t hold out for very long.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” I demanded. “What happened?”
His side of the conversation had been enough for me to figure out that Miranda apparently hadn’t waited to kill again and that somehow Felicity was involved. Obviously, that latter fact had put me immediately on edge, especially considering all the possible implications. However, it was my friend’s sudden switch in demeanor that disturbed me most. Something about it said there was more going on than just the discovery of a body.
He sighed. “Listen, Row, Felicity’s okay. She’s just fine and Charlee’s with ‘er. So don’t worry about that.”
“What the…” I started. “Okay…but, what’s going on? Why is she even involved? She… She didn’t…”
He shook his head and then gestured at me with one hand. “What? No… No, she was with Charlee. She didn’t go all kinky Twilight Zone or anything, so that’s all good…”
“Then what’s going on?”
He sighed. “Apparently your front yard just became the killer’s latest dump site.”
I muttered, “Damn that bitch…” I sighed heavily as I closed my eyes then reached up with both hands and began massaging my scalp. Oddly enough, I think the gesture was more out of habit than anything else because there was no pain.
I still felt nothing.
In fact, I realized in that moment that not only did I feel nothing, but also for the first time in a very long while, the din inside my skull had fallen quiet. No screams, no murmurs, not even a whisper.
The voices of the dead were gone, and it seemed I was very much alone.
CHAPTER 16
Ben had affixed his magnetic-based emergency light to the roof of his van, and it was sending out oscillating waves of bright red as he whipped the vehicle through quiet intersections, completely ignoring speed limits and traffic signals in the process. Riding with him was always an adventure to begin with, and when an emergency was involved, it was akin to being aboard a runaway train. Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic to get in his way at this hour.
In my usual attempt at self-preservation, I cinched my seatbelt even tighter and tried to keep my eyes focused forward through the windshield. However, even with that, I could feel the bottom drop out of my stomach when we arced along the ramp from I-70 to I-170 Southbound. For a moment or two, I found myself wishing I had one of the airsickness bags from my recent flight handy.
I couldn’t see the speedometer from where I was sitting, but my best guess was that we had to have been
