“I’m not so sure that there is another perspective on this.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” she replied. “Think about this. You’re in a big city where they usually frown on having police officers arresting their friends. You aren’t in a small town where everyone knows everyone else, and there’s no choice in the matter. It would be better for the department to avoid a conflict of interest like this.”
“Yeah, so what’s your point?”
“My point is that your friend probably had to pull some major strings to be allowed to make the arrest rather than allowing someone else to take her in. He most likely saw what he was doing as a favor.”
My reply was so sharply edged with sarcasm I’m surprised I didn’t cut my own tongue. “Yeah, some favor.”
“I suspect he was trying to spare you from the anguish of having strangers show up and haul Felicity away.”
I stayed silent for a moment and thought about what she had just said. I finally replied, “Well, I guess he did make it a point to repeatedly tell her not to say a word. The other cop with him wasn’t real excited about that at all.”
“You need to give your friend some credit, Rowan. I’m sure he was only doing what he thought was best for his friends, given the situation,” Her statement was punctuated by an electromechanical “ding” in the background then the hollow quality that had surrounded her voice disappeared. I could hear a droning background noise and assumed she must have just stepped from the elevator in her office building and was on her way past the decorative waterfall in the lobby.
“Maybe,” I replied. “But, this is wrong and he knows it.”
“Yes, I’m sure that he does. But, obviously she was going to be arrested anyway given the fact that a warrant was issued. So, who would you rather have had do it?”
I didn’t think she really wanted an answer to the question so I just grunted.
“Now, the reason I said this isn’t good is the fact that they even had a warrant to begin with and that they came and got her on a Friday.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“Well, first off arrest warrants aren’t typically issued on felony cases if there is probable cause. Especially where violent crime is concerned. The arrest is simply made and the charges get filed. The warrant is just paperwork that happens during the process as a matter of course.
“Someone is definitely dotting I’s and crossing T’s on this one. Being very cautious and official about it. So, that tells me one of two things. One, they don’t have much of a case so they are playing it by the book…”
“That’s a good thing, right?” I interrupted hopefully, a sudden brightness in my voice.
“If that’s the case, yes,” she answered then proceeded to extinguish my momentary glow. “However, it could also mean that they are pretty certain they have a smoking gun, and they’re just being careful because of their long time affiliation with you as a consultant.
“Either way, one thing is perfectly clear. She is no longer simply under investigation. She’s been moved up from person of interest to prime suspect.”
“Damn.”
“Of course, we won’t know for sure what is going on until I can get there and get a read on the situation.”
“Whatever it is, the one behind it has got to be Albright,” I mumbled. “She’s a bureaucrat with a badge and she hates both of us. She’s tried to pull stunts before, and I can just about guarantee you she’ll do whatever it takes to make this stick.”
“Well, whoever it is, they’re playing for keeps. Warrants aren’t issued on whims. They’ve got something they think is damaging, or she wouldn’t be in custody right now.”
“Okay, so what about it being Friday? What’s up with that?”
“The courts are closed over the weekend, Rowan, and it’s…” she paused for a moment. “…It’s already after two in the afternoon. Given the nature of the arrest, I seriously doubt I’m going to be able to do much in the way of getting an emergency bail hearing. Unless there was a bail amount on the arrest warrant already.”
“I don’t remember seeing one.”
“I’m not surprised. It would be pretty much unheard of in a homicide case, and with this being a high profile double murder charge…so, anyway, what it all means is that I’m afraid Felicity is going to be spending the weekend, at the very least, in jail. To be honest, Rowan, probably longer. Bail in a homicide case like this is going to be unlikely, and even on the off chance we can get it set, it will be exorbitant.”
“I don’t care. I’ve got money.”
“We could be talking millions, Rowan, and even though you’ll only need ten percent in cash, it could mount up.”
“I can cash in our IRA’s if I have to.”
“I understand, but remember it could all be a moot point. Like I said, bail might not even be an option depending on what they have.”
“Dammit!” I spat. “You aren’t telling me what I need to hear.”
“Actually, yes I am. I’m just not telling you what you want to hear.”
“Yeah. Okay. Fine. So what now?”
“Now, I need to ask you a question.”
“What?”
“You aren’t going to like it.”
“Yeah, so why should my day suddenly start getting better?” I returned sarcastically. “What’s the question?”
I heard her take in a deep breath, and a second later she hit me with the last thing I expected. “Is Felicity guilty? Did she kill those men?”
“Hell no! How can you ask me that?! What happened to being on my side?!”
“It’s my job, Rowan. I have to know what I’m up against and whom I’m defending. You’re absolutely certain she’s innocent?”
“Yes,” I returned harshly. “And don’t ever ask me that again.”
“I won’t. Not you. But you need to understand that I’m going to have to ask Felicity the same thing.”
“And you’ll get the same answer.”
Here we had a slight problem. And, that problem came in the form of the fact that I wasn’t entirely sure I was telling the truth with that last comment. The night Felicity had been taken into custody at the East side motel, the suspicious fingers were already being pointed and the investigation underway. When I discussed it with her, she had told me that she wasn’t even certain in her own mind that she hadn’t committed the crimes. The Lwa possession had caused substantial blocks of time to be missing from her memory, and that frightened her. It didn’t do much for me either, but I still knew she was innocent. Why, when the police apparently had evidence to the contrary, I couldn’t say; but the fact remained that I knew it beyond any doubt in my mind.
Unfortunately, something else I knew was that my wife was still harboring distrust in her own sanity. And, because of her personal history within the bondage and D/S subculture, she was finding it easy to convince herself that perhaps she really was the killer. The truth was, when Jackie asked her the question, she was very likely to say, “I don’t know.” What was even more frightening was that it was going to be a bit before Jackie got there. Given Felicity’s mental state, depending on what she was told by the police between now and then, her answer could well be “Yes. I think I’m guilty.”
That single possibility, all by itself, scared me as much as anything ever could right now.
“Find a way to get her home, Jackie. I know that’s asking a lot, but I need her home. I need her home NOW.”
“I’ll do what I can,” she offered. “But, you need to be prepared for this.”
“Prepared?” Incredulity filled my voice. “Okay, then why don’t you tell me how I’m supposed to prepare myself for my wife spending time in jail on a bogus murder charge.”
“I wish I knew, Ro…”
The end of her sentence was truncated by an annoying beep issuing from the earpiece of my phone. Lately, I had been ignoring the call-waiting when it chimed in, due to a recent resurgence of mysterious hang-ups that had been plaguing us off and on for the past few years. Under the circumstances, however, I thought it might be a good idea to answer it this time.
“I’ve got another call coming in. Can you hold for a sec?”