you?”
He paused for a moment, and I heard him let out an exasperated huff.
“Yeah… Yeah… Well why don’t ya’ do that… Uh-huh, well trust me, I will… Yeah, I’ll be sure to let Ms. Winston know just exactly how concerned you folks are for her welfare… Yeah, same to ya’.”
We heard him close the flap on the portable phone with an angry snap that was followed immediately by a disgusted mumble, “…And the fuckin’ horse you rode in on, too, ya’ lousy sonofabitch.”
I caught Carl’s eye and jerked my head toward the room’s entrance. He nodded acknowledgement and gave the anguished young woman next to him a fatherly pat on the shoulder.
“Will you be okay for a bit, Ms. Winston?” he asked as she broke her hollow stare and looked up at him. “Rowan and I need to talk to Detective Storm for just a minute.”
“Yes…yes, Detective, I’ll be fine,” she answered mechanically.
“We’ll just be right outside the door,” he added and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before joining me to crowd into the narrow passageway.
“That didn’t sound good,” I remarked in a near whisper as I wedged myself through and leaned against a doorjamb. “What did they say?”
“Awww, they’re all fucked up,” Ben replied, still seething from the conversation with the uncooperative Lansbury Police Department. “They don’t wanna send anyone over unless I can tell ‘em who’s gonna pay for it.”
“Pay for it?” I was confused.
“Lansbury is pretty small,” Carl explained. “Their police department isn’t really a police department per se. Truthfully, it’s not much more than a handful of rent-a-cops hired out through a third-party security firm. All they’re ever worried about is money.”
“So what are you going to do?” I appealed.
“Well, they’re still inside the county, so technically we have jurisdiction…” he mused. “Of course, we’re stretched pretty thin as it is…”
Ben reached up and smoothed his hair back then let his large hand rest on the back of his neck. Slowly his fingers started working on a tense knot at the base, and he grimaced thoughtfully, “Yeah, Carl, I know. Right now I’ve got Martin and Kelly back at the command post contactin’ everyone on the list she gave us.” He cocked his head toward the other room to indicate Starr.
“From what we can tell so far, it looks like they all live in areas with real coppers,” he detailed. “That’ll help a lot, so there shouldn’t be much fuss about gettin’ police protection for ‘em. Of course, they haven’t reached everyone on the list yet.”
He continued working the back of his neck with his large hand and puffed his cheeks out with a fatigued sigh.
“Jeezus, what a mess!” he finally exclaimed. “I guess it’s gonna be up ta’ us to keep watch over these two.”
“How are the higher ups going to feel about you playing bodyguard?” I asked, “Seems to me they get a little concerned over budgets too.”
“Lemme ask you this,” He stared directly into my face and raised an eyebrow, “Do you think this asshole might come after another one of the women in this group?”
“Well, Starr did say that no one else has received any threats,” I offered.
“That she knew of.” He qualified my statement and thrust his index finger at me. “But that’s not what I asked ya’.”
I took a moment to weigh the facts before I replied, “You can’t entirely rule out the possibility that he might go after someone else. Like I’ve said before, there are a lot of Pagans in this city, and I still believe that the eradication of Witches is this guy’s main focus. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be going about the murders in the manner he has so far.”
I let out my own troubled sigh. Ben was seeking my advice, and my nagging doubts were keeping me from giving a singular commitment to this avenue of thought. I knew he was depending on me, and I didn’t want to let him down.
“I suppose I would have to agree though that by killing two members of the same Coven, he’s established something of a pattern. I don’t want to put all the eggs in one basket, but in answer to your question… yes, I think it is very likely that he will target another member of this circle.”
“Well, that’s good enough for me, and I’m bettin’ it’ll be good enough for the chief. He’s the only higher up I’m worryin’ about right now. Whaddaya think, Carl?”
“Sounds reasonable to me,” Deckert nodded as he spoke. “I got a hinky feeling about the whole deal.”
“Okay. So what now?” I inquired.
“Let’s see…” Ben turned his wrist and glanced quickly at his watch. “It’s five after five now… Oh shit! Man, I’m s’posed to have you home in twenty-five minutes.”
“I’ll just have to call Felicity and tell her to go on without me,” I remarked.
Ben looked hard at his watch again as if by doing so he could somehow turn the hands back by sheer force of will. “No way, white man. No freakin’ way. The red squaw would scalp me for sure. I promised ‘er I’d have ya’ home. Besides, there’s nothin’ you can really do right now.”
“I can cancel, Ben,” I insisted. “I’m really not looking forward to it anyway. You know her father doesn’t much care for me, and I can do without that grief at the moment.”
“Yeah, but it’s family and ya’ do what you gotta. Besides, she’d kill us both. Anyway, like I said, there’s nothin’ more for you ta’ do at the moment. Seriously.”
“Are you certain?”
“Positive. Just let me know where you’re gonna be, and if somethin’ comes up, I’ll get in touch with ya’.”
“Why don’t you go ahead and take Rowan home,” Deckert volunteered. “I’ll hang loose till you get back.”
“You sure, Carl?” Ben asked as he gave him a questioning glance.
“Yeah. No problem,” he returned easily. “Mona’s outta town visiting her sister, so I was just gonna grab a burger and work late anyway. Ya’know, maybe I’ll make a few calls. I got a coupl’a guys that owe me a favor or two. If either of ‘em is off duty, maybe I can get one of ‘em over here on a payback.”
“Good idea.” Ben nodded vigorously. “I’ve got a few markers out there myself. I’ll make some calls too.”
“You guys go on ahead,” Carl ordered and shot me a grin. “Don’t need your wife gettin’ upset… If she’s anything like Mona… Well, you know.”
“Thanks, Deck,” Ben told him as he ushered me toward the doorway, “I shouldn’t be gone more’n forty-five minutes, tops.”
“No problem. I’m not goin’ anywhere.”
There are those times when it pays to have a cop behind the wheel. Being in a hurry to get somewhere can definitely qualify as one of them.
Ben dropped me off in front of my house with slightly over one minute to spare.
Felicity reached up and casually cranked the Jeep’s rear-view mirror in a direction I’m firmly convinced the engineers had not really designed it to go. I am also fairly certain that in order to avoid breaking said mirror, the out of specification contortion was something that could only be accomplished by a woman applying makeup while in the driver’s seat. I suppose I should be thankful we were currently parked.
Leaning into the steering column, she frantically brushed what she obviously considered to be a stray hair or two from her forehead and urged them to disappear into the rest of her auburn mane. Still pitched forward, and using only one hand, she spun the barrel of a lipstick with practiced fingers then swiped it across her lips with fluid, almost surgical, precision. Turning her head from one side to the other and inspecting her reflected image from the corners of her eyes, she let out a satisfied purr. Only then did she stuff the tube of gloss back into her coat pocket and return the mirror to a crooked semblance of its proper position. Still, even after seeing for herself, she twisted in her seat to face me and asked, “How do I look?”
“Like a regular Colleen,” I answered. “A real Irish lassie if ever there was one.”
