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?”
“Now would really be a good time to come collect your civilian.”
“Oh, man,” Ben moaned. “Is she cuffed?”
“Not yet, but she’s going to be in about thirty seconds.”
“Jeezus, Row… What’s up with her all of a sudden?”
“This place, probably,” I offered. “Like I said, she’s not grounding. See why I didn’t want her in here?”
“Fuck me… You two are a piece a’ work… Man… Go. Go get your wife, and get ‘er outta here before she ends up gettin’ herself arrested.”
“Yeah,” I agreed as I started for the door.
“I’ll get ahold of ya’ later,” he called after me.
I was already heading through the door as his words reached me, but I didn’t waste time to acknowledge them. Across the parking lot, the petite redhead standing toe to toe with a grim-faced cop had instantly become the focus of my full attention.
“I still don’t see why we had to leave,” Felicity announced.
“How about, because I don’t have enough bail money with me,” I returned, having grown tired of trying to calmly explain the downfalls of her behavior to her.
I had barely managed to extract my wife from the confrontation in time to avoid her seeing the world from the back seat of a squad car. After a somewhat embarrassing moment or two, I got her into the passenger seat of her Jeep, and we were on our way. That had been better than ten minutes ago, and she still hadn’t stopped complaining. In fact, she had only gotten worse.
“He wouldn’t have dared arrest me,” she shot back with a haughty air.
“Yeah? Well, I wouldn’t count on it. If I had been him, I would have seriously considered the use of excessive force.”
“Bullshit.”
I ignored the blatant curse, although I thought it odd that she didn’t use Gaelic, as that was her normal language for swearing. Even so, she did occasionally let loose with an American obscenity, so I allowed the curiosity at her choice of words to die on the vine.
“Besides, Albright was going to be there at any minute,” I added.
I knew that even if the officer she was tangling with were willing to forgive and forget, Albright would jump at the chance to toss my wife into a cell. Considering some of their past altercations, I almost believed she hated Felicity even more than she did me.
“Screw that bitch,” she spat in a dismissive tone.
That was epithet number two she had spoken without resorting to her Celtic tongue. The curiosity was suddenly resurrected.
“He was enjoying it almost as much as I was,” she continued. “Then, you had to interrupt.”
“Excuse me?”
“He was getting off,” she stated in no uncertain terms. “So was I. You ruined my fun.”
Now I noticed something else that was peculiar. Even at her most rested and lucid, Felicity had a mild lilt in her voice that betrayed her Irish heritage. But, at this moment in time, that lilt was completely gone, and in fact had been usurped by a slight, but still noticeable, Southern affectation. On top of that, the tone itself had changed; enough so that if I’d been blindfolded, I wouldn’t identify the voice as my wife’s.
“You need to ground,” I instructed. “Right now.”
“I’m grounded.”
“No you aren’t.”
“Hmph.” She tossed her head and shot me a flat gaze. “And just how do you know that I’m not?”
“Easy,” I replied. “You aren’t even you right now.”
“Of course I am.”
“No. No you aren’t. Listen to yourself.”
“Listen to myself what?”
“Your voice,” I insisted. “It’s changed. It’s not even yours.”
“All right. Then who am I?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. So would the police.”
“And why would the police care?”
“Because, I think that right now you are the ethereal reflection of a very sick individual who’s killed at least two men, and I’m sure they’d be all about stopping you… Her… Whatever.”
“Or, maybe this is just a side of me you’ve never seen.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Even if you could explain away everything else, my wife wouldn’t consider it a turn on to argue with a cop.”
“Maybe I would and you just don’t know it.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it.”
“All men want to be dominated by a woman, even you,” she continued unfazed. “It’s the ultimate fantasy of your gender and you know it. It’s as it should be.”
“Role playing is one thing,” I replied. “You’re taking it past that line.”
“That’s because I’m not playing,” she retorted. “I’m serious.”
“I know. That’s another thing that tells me you aren’t yourself at the moment.”
“Like I said, then who am I?”
“You tell me.”
“Guess.”
“We don’t have time for this, Felicity.”
“Wrong.”
“Wrong what?”
“Felicity. Wrong. Not my name.”
“Okay, so I’m correct. You’re channeling someone.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she teased.
“Felicity, stop it right now! Ground and center, please.”
“Oh, okay, you’re right. I’m not myself right now. Would you really like to know who I am?”
“Yes.”
“You, little man, may call me, Mistress,” she replied. “Go ahead, say it. Yes, Mistress.”
I didn’t reply.
Everything caught up with me all at once. My head still hadn’t stopped aching, Agent Drew had been a major annoyance, even Ben was moodier than ever, and those were just for starters. Now, on top of it all, my wife was being driven by an unnatural connection with an insane individual, and she was using me for a practice dummy.
A hard sting suddenly ripped through my jaw as the back of Felicity’s hand struck my face.
“I told you to say ‘yes mistress’, little man. Now do it!”
In that single moment, I’d had my fill.
I looked to the right and noticed a convenience store on the opposite corner of the intersection we were approaching. Instead of continuing through toward home, I immediately downshifted the vehicle and hooked it into the parking lot. The turn was so abrupt that the tires screeched as they skidded against the pavement, and Felicity was pitched sideways against the safety harness.
“What the hell are you doing!” she demanded.
I didn’t respond; instead, I jammed the shift lever hard into gear and gunned the engine. We shot across the paved expanse and came to a halt between the worn lines of a parking space at the front of the building. I shut off the engine and climbed quickly out of the vehicle.
“You answer me dammit!” Felicity barked once again, the Southern drawl becoming thicker by the moment.
I slammed the door and stalked around the front of the Jeep to the passenger side then yanked her door open. Reaching in, I popped the catch on her seatbelt and pulled it free.
“Get out,” I told her.
“I said answer me!” she ordered yet again.
I remained silent, my features set with grim determination. I wasn’t certain how I was going to handle this, but something told me I needed to get her physically in touch with something earthbound, and the Jeep wasn’t it.
“Get out,” I said again, trying to remain calm.
“I will not!” she retorted.
At this rate things were going to turn ugly very fast. I sighed then reached in, taking her by the wrist and forming an instant connection. If she wasn’t going to get out then I would just use myself as a conduit. The moment I touched her, I could feel a hot surge of energy coursing through her body. Its tendrils began to reach into me almost immediately. I seized on them and started to force every ounce I could through to the ground beneath my feet.
In a flash the open palm of Felicity’s free hand swung toward my face once again. Fortunately, I saw the motion from the corner of my eye, and I reached up to catch her hand mid-flight. I stood there for a moment, locked in a staring contest with her as I struggled to ground out whatever she was channeling.
The look that filled her jade green eyes was at once foreign and familiar to me. The obvious contempt that burned deeply behind them was something I had never experienced from her before. The almost involuntary droop of her eyelids, however, was something I had seen before, and I knew exactly what it signaled. She was cycling through an ever-heightening state of arousal, and it was being fed by her own high-handedness.
As quickly as the entity had attempted to invade my body, it began to recede, curling back into my wife and assuming what I could only describe as a defensive posture. Whether it was the energy or Felicity herself doing it, I couldn’t be sure; but one or both of them knew exactly what I was trying to do, and I was now being shut out.
I tried to reach into her, to renew the connection, but it wasn’t long before I realized that as hard as I was trying to ground, she was trying to resist. It was almost as if she had become addicted to the stimulation, and she was unwilling to give it up.
I was going to need some help.
I raced through ideas as quickly as I could, discarding each as I hit upon reasons they wouldn’t work. When I was almost certain I had exhausted my options, I stumbled on to a thought. I was going to have to come at this from the inside, and I thought I just might know how to do it. I just needed to go into the store and get a couple of things first.
I considered leaving Felicity in the vehicle but something told me that wasn’t the best idea.
“Come on,” I told her. “We need to go inside and get something.”
“What thing?” she demanded.
“Some thing,” I repeated with split emphasis on the syllables.
She stared at me for a moment as if she were trying to read my mind. If the look on her face was any indication, she just may have succeeded.
“No,” she snapped.
“Yes.”
“I said, NO,” she replied coolly then followed with, “Now, get back in the car and drive me home this instant, and maybe, just maybe I’ll take that into consideration when I punish you.”
If it weren’t for the fact that I could tell she was deadly serious, her comment would have been comical. What was worse, her rampant arousal was beginning to affect me as well. Whatever it was that she was giving off-energy, pheromones, or something else that I’d yet to figure out, she was actually getting to me. I could feel a rush of excitement welling in me, and for a moment I found myself considering the idea of obeying her without question.
Fortunately, I was still in control of my faculties. I managed to shake off the feeling then bolstered my shields against the onslaught and jerked her from the seat. Taking hold of her upper arm, I guided her out of the way and swung the door shut. I then thumbed the key fob to lock the vehicle and with a moderate nudge aimed her toward the entrance. She stumbled for a moment then dug in and resisted.
“Dammit,” she growled. “Just what do you think you’re doing?!”
“Taming the shrew,” I spat. “Now be quiet and try not to make a scene for a change.”
“You need to learn who is in charge here!”
“Right now? Me.”
“Fuck you.”
I pulled hard and set her into motion once again. “No thanks. Believe me, I’m feeling sufficiently screwed right now as it is.”
I guided the still fuming redhead through the door and down the aisles toward the wall of drink coolers. We had already attracted some unwanted attention, but luckily the store was sparsely occupied with only a single visible clerk and a pair of patrons, so it pretty much amounted to hateful glances cast in my direction. Of course, if they only knew the reality then maybe they would be aiming them at her, but right now I didn’t care. I just wanted my wife back.
I continued to hold her arm as we strolled along the cooler aisle, my eyes searching. I finally spied what I was after, and we came to a halt in front of the second door from the end. I tugged it open, reached in and retrieved a bottle of water.
Whoever was in control of Felicity seized that moment to shove the door hard against my shoulder and knock me off balance. While I didn’t fall, I did stumble momentarily and lost my grip on her arm. Instead of running, however, she planted herself firmly, and as I twisted back to her, she brought her knee up toward my crotch. I managed to react quickly enough to continue my turn and sidestep her by a scant few inches, removing the intended target from harm’s way. Still, I wasn’t completely out of her aim, and she landed her knee hard against my thigh. The force of the blow caused me to stumble back again. Apparently dissatisfied with the result, she jacked her leg back and thrust it forward again, connecting the toe of her shoe against my kneecap with a resounding pop. The joint buckled, and I went down into a kneeling position, yelping as the pain bit into my leg a second time.
I gritted my teeth and scrambled up to my feet as I turned toward her. Stepping back, I pushed the door the rest of the way shut then fixed her with a hard gaze and sighed as I mentally reminded myself that someone else was controlling her actions.
She cocked herself into a defiant pose and placed her hands on her hips then stared back at me with a much more than contented smile on her lips. Giving her head an imperious toss, she leveled her gaze back on me and purred, “I really enjoyed that, how about you?”
“Not so much,” I retorted then limped forward to take hold of her arm and pulled her toward the checkout, stopping briefly at the snack counter where stainless steel bins of condiments resided. I set the bottle on the counter momentarily, snatched up a handful of salt packets and shoved them into my pocket, then grabbed the bottle and continued on to the checkout.
The young girl behind the counter frowned and gave me a hard stare then looked over at Felicity and said, “Is everything okay, ma’am?”
My wife smiled sweetly and drawled, “Oh, don’t worry, honey. He’s being a little unruly, but I’ll be punishing him for it soon enough.”
I didn’t comment. I set the water in front of the register and withdrew my wallet, then tossed a five onto the counter. Quickly stuffing the billfold back into my pocket, I took the water and tugged Felicity toward the exit.
“Don’t you want your change?” the clerk asked.
“Keep it,” I snapped without looking back.
Before the door could swing shut, I was certain I heard her call me an asshole.