I feel a slight pressure on my back.
I turn around and find the faceless woman standing there. Without a word she thrusts her palms outward against my chest, and I fall backward into the darkness.
A barrage of words assaulted my ears with an unmistakable Celtic accent wrapped firmly around them. “Damn your eyes, Rowan Linden Gant!”
Behind the crystal clear exclamation, a flood of other voices were chattering, yelling, and generally creating an unintelligible cacophony. Some sounded authoritative, while others came across as excited, and still others seemed almost conversational. In any event, they blended together to create a boisterous hum in the cold air that only served to add to my disorientation.
My head was pounding again, my too brief respite from the migraine now over with a vengeance. However, that wasn’t the only pain with which I was forced to contend. My shoulders were arched up into the sides of my neck, and it seemed that someone was manhandling me. I could feel knuckles digging into my chest as a pair of arms hugged beneath my own. It took me a second to realize I was still moving backwards, but instead of a sensation of falling as before, I could tell I was now being dragged.
“Is he bleedin’?” Ben Storm’s gruff voice penetrated the overbearing murmur.
“I can’t see,” Felicity said. “His shoulder is in the way…”
“Get that paramedic over here!” my friend shouted.
My wife’s soft hand slipped into the fold between my neck and shoulder then pulled away.
“No blood,” she announced. “Thank the Gods.”
We had stopped moving, but Ben was still holding me up in a bear hug from behind. Disorientation was now giving way to a thin thread of lucidity, and I seemed to be remembering where I was. Of course, knowing my location didn’t keep me from being completely out of synch with my surroundings. After such an intense trip through the veil between the worlds, my mind was still trying to sort out what was real here, what was real there, and the in between where it all overlapped. This was far from a new experience for me, but old hat or not, it was never an easy process.
It crossed my mind that it would probably be a good idea to let them know that I was okay, instead of letting them run amok as they seemed to be doing at the moment. I tried to say something but couldn’t seem to get the words out. It was then I realized that Ben was holding so tightly around my chest that breathing, in and of itself, was more than enough effort on its own. Talking was simply out of the question. However, before I could attempt to wave my hand or try to grab their attention some other way, a fresh voice entered the mix.
“We need to get his jacket off,” the paramedic ordered.
The pressure released on my chest as Ben let go and supported me with a single arm while the paramedic quickly stripped off my coat. I immediately wheezed in a deep breath then exhaled heavily. After drawing in another, I started to speak, but apparently I still wasn’t able to form actual words, and all that came out was a moan. By then, they were already lowering me onto the asphalt. A shadow immediately came over me as I felt a pair of hands groping around my neck and another pushing up my sleeve.
I sputtered as I tried to demand that they stop, but for my trouble I was treated to a flashlight in my face and a pair of gloved fingers in my mouth as my head was tilted back.
“Labored respirations, but there’s no obstruction,” the paramedic barked. “Get the oxygen.”
A soft hand pressed against my forehead as my wife brought her face in close to mine. “Rowan, can you hear me?”
“Ma’am,” the paramedic said, trying to push her away. “You need to step back so we can work.”
As he pushed her, I was already moving my arms to fend him off before he hurt her or could continued gagging me. I slapped his hand from Felicity then grabbed his wrist and wrestled his other hand away from my mouth. I was still out of breath from the bear hug, but I managed to suck in a fresh lungful of air and finally form words that made some kind of sense as I groaned, “Better watch it. She’ll make your hair fall out.”
“Rowan?” Felicity was up in my face again.
“Yeah…”
Her concern made a quick metamorphosis into anger, “What the hell were you thinking?”
I gulped air again and said, “That you were going to be really pissed.”
“Aye,” she replied. “You’re right about that.”
“We still need to check you out, Mister Gant,” the paramedic told me.
I tried to shake my head as I objected, “I’m fine.”
“Best see if you can do something about his thick skull while you’re at it then,” my wife snipped as she pulled herself up to her feet and stalked off.
I was going to have to worry about patching things up with her later. Right now, I needed to talk to Ben.
“Get off me, dammit,” I exclaimed as I pushed the paramedic away and levered myself up into a sitting position. “Ben? Where’s Ben?”
My friend’s voice hit my ears. “I’m right here, Kemosabe. You really better let ‘em check you out.”
“There’s no time for that,” I said, as I started struggling to my feet.
With a quizzical look on his face, Ben reached out and gave me a hand up. “What’s up, you see another dead swan or somethin’ over in la-la land?”
“No,” I said as I focused on the grainy memory looping through my mind and rushed to get the words out in a frantic declaration. “I saw the killer’s address.”
CHAPTER 30:
“Is Judith all right?” Captain Albright demanded.
I had barely finished blurting out the revelation about the address to Ben when her words came at me from behind. I turned to find her staring at me with the same look of concern she had been wearing earlier, but there was no mistaking the thread of hopefulness in her voice.
“I don’t know,” I replied, shaking my head. “I didn’t see her.”
“What do you mean you didn’t see her?” she insisted.
“I mean I didn’t see her,” I replied before swinging back around to face Ben and fire off, “Twenty-three oh two South Millston Street. The killer is there. Right now.”
“You sure?” Ben asked.
“Yes, I’m sure,” I said.
Albright stepped around and grabbed me by the collar. With urgent panic in her tone, she shouted, “Damn you, Gant! Where is my daughter?”
I reached up and grasped her wrists as I started to respond, but the moment the question sank in I hesitated. Instead of struggling, I simply stood there motionless and stared back into her contorted face. Her outburst brought an instantaneous halt to all conversation around me, or so it seemed.
After a few seconds that felt as if they dragged on for minutes, Ben cleared his throat and said, “Um, Captain… Don’t ya’ mean niece?”
Albright didn’t even bother to look at him. A dim flicker of realization over her slip showed in her eyes, but rather than respond to my friend’s question, she let out a small shriek then pushed me. I stumbled back but maintained my footing.
“Is Judith with the killer?” she spat.
“Maybe…” I replied, shaking my head. “I don’t know. All I can say is that I think he had someone…”
She cut me off. “You think?”
“Barbara, I told you I didn’t see her. I just heard the killer talking to someone.”
“Are you certain it wasn’t Judith?”
“Whoever it was didn’t say anything,” I replied. “But, you’re missing the point here. I saw the killer’s address and yes, he has someone with him. Don’t you think you should send someone to at least check out what I’m telling you?”
She huffed out a heavy breath and glared at me. After a moment she looked over to my friend and said, “He’s your devil worshipper, Storm. Do you think he’s telling the truth?”
I sighed and dropped my forehead into my hand. I couldn’t win with this woman no matter what I did. I had to bite my tongue, but I knew getting into another altercation with her would just be wasting valuable time.