“I hesitate ta’ ask…” he began.
I finished the question for him. “Why haven’t I been able to do the same thing with her connection to Felicity?”
“Well… Yeah…”
“Believe me, I wish it were that simple. But like I said, it doesn’t always work like that.”
“Friggin’ wunnerful…” he muttered.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Okay, but just ‘cause we helped, that doesn’t mean either of us is gonna start goin’ all la-la or anything, right?”
“No more than you normally do,” I replied.
“Yeah, Row. Funny. Just fuckin’ hilarious. You’re a real comedian, ain’t ya’?”
I felt myself wince, and then I sighed heavily. “I suppose that depends on who you ask.”
“Yeah. Well don’t quit your day job.”
“Which one?” I asked.
“The computer genius gig,” he replied. “‘Cause in case ya’ don’t remember, I officially fired ya’ from the other one. It was too close this time. My nerves can’t take it anymore.”
“Bullshit.”
“I’m serious, Row.”
“Well, I don’t know that you have the authority to pull that off,” I told him.
“I think my L. T.’ll back me up.”
“Yeah, well you can both tell it to the voices in my head. Besides, the Major Case Squad apparently has competition.”
“Yeah,” he grunted. “I heard the Feebs are tryin’ ta’ recruit ya’.”
“I’m afraid I told him, Rowan,” Constance interjected. “Sorry.”
“Not necessary. I’m glad you did. I wasn’t really planning to keep it a secret.”
Ben waited a moment then asked, “So, ya’ gonna do it?”
“Right now, I honestly don’t know.”
“Ya’know I’d hafta start callin’ you a Feeb too, right?”
“Why? You haven’t called me a Feeb in years,” Constance objected.
“Not to your face,” Ben replied.
“Oh really?”
“B’sides, that’s different. I’m datin’ you. I ain’t datin’ Row.”
“And believe me, I’m thankful for that,” I grunted. “Well, don’t worry. The ‘Feeb’ thing has already gone into the con column on my list. I don’t need anymore nicknames.”
“You’re starting to sound pretty tired, Rowan,” Constance announced.
“Yeah…I am.”
She nodded. “And you also sound like you’re hurting again.”
“It’s not really that bad,” I breathed through a quick wince.
“Now who’s a liar?” Ben chided.
“Guess that’d be me.”
“Why don’t you just go ahead and hit the morphine,” Constance said, telling more than asking.
“So you’re pushing narcotics now?” I gibed, although my thin chuckle was cut short by another spate of sharp pains.
“It’s there for a reason, Row,” she told me.
“Yeah…I know… I think maybe I’m getting close,” I admitted.
“Ya’ oughta just go ahead, white man,” Ben told me. “You layin’ there sufferin’ for no reason ain’t gonna help anything.”
“Okay… Okay…” I sighed then lifted my hand into both their lines of sight and made a somewhat exaggerated show of mashing my thumb down on the button. As the pump kicked on with a quick, soft hum I asked, “Happy now?”
“Yeah,” he grunted and then took a quick glance at his watch. “Don’t worry. You won’t miss anything. I’ve gotta run back upstairs anyway.”
“What for?” I asked as the first fingers of dullness started to massage my brain.
“Gotta see if there’s an ID on the vic yet. No prints ta’ work from, and unfortunately, there hasn’t been anyone matchin’ his description reported missin’. Hell, hasn’t even been anyone who’s a deaf-mute reported missin’ at all.”
“Miranda is using someone else’s body,” I sighed.
“Yeah, Row, I got that. I ain’t spreadin’ it around, obviously, but I know the score. We just gotta find who.”
“No… Yes… I mean…” I sighed again as the opiate clouded my thoughts and used my exhaustion to nudge me closer to sleep. “I mean…whoever she’s using…that person already knew the victim… He was probably a friend or close acquaintance.”
“Why do ya’ say that?”
I sucked in a deep breath and widened my eyes as I struggled to stay conscious. “Something Miranda said in Texas…” I explained. “She told me she could make the voices stop… That means she already had the spell planned… It wasn’t spur of the moment… She knew this victim before I ever came back to Saint Louis…probably longer…”
“Okay…” Ben replied with a nod. His voice seemed hollow and distant as the room began melting around me. “I’ll tell my L. T. Saint Flora coppers and MCS are already doin’ a door ta’ door. Maybe we’ll get lucky an’ somebody knows ‘im.”
“Conmmm ban?” I asked.
“What?”
I huffed out an exasperated breath as I tried to make my tongue work in sync with my lips. “Commeen bag?”
“Comin’ back?” he repeated. “Yeah Row, I’ll be back later. Right now, you just rest.”
“It’s okay, Rowan,” Constance told me. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here.”
“Goond,” I mumbled then tried to add, “Nemmer know…my hab sssome…”
Apparently I didn’t finish the sentence as I heard the echo of Constance’s voice drifting into my ears, “Some what, Rowan?”
However, even if I had managed to make my mouth work, I wouldn’t have been able to answer the question. It was simply too late.
I was already falling toward the muddy, roiling water.
CHAPTER 32
“Rowan…you came for her,” Ariel says.
I open my mouth to reply, and the words tumble onto the ground, unspoken and unheard. They shatter, exploding into shimmering gemlike shards, then rain outward only to disappear into the darkness.
“Come with me,” she says. “She’s been waiting.”
We are walking…
The darkness is all around us. I can feel it clinging to me like a shroud. I look down at my own hands but see nothing more than the endless black.
I look over at Ariel and can see her clearly.
I don’t even try to ask. It isn’t for me to know.
We are walking…
The hollow peal of a telephone ringer worked its way into my ears. It was both infinitely distant and infinitely close by. My brain tried for a moment to make sense of the sound and its proximity to me.
It was completely out of context. But then, so was I.
My brain gave up. It knew I belonged somewhere else right now. I had something important to do, and it didn’t involve a telephone.
“She’s been waiting for you,” Ariel says.
We are standing in front of a large wooden door with intricate carvings.
It is more than just familiar.
It has become a part of me.
The pain that lives beyond its threshold belongs to me.
It calls me.
“It is good that you have come for her,” Ariel says. “She’s waiting.”
“Thank you,” I tell her.
The words, like all those before, drip from my mouth in silence. They dribble down my chin then fall, only to land on my chest where they leave bloody stains upon my shirt.
Ariel says, “Go to her, Rowan.”
I look up and see the door is now open. I search for Ariel, but she is gone.
I step through the opening and into a new void.
The darkness is replaced by grey.
I’m standing in the center of a small room.
The walls are close.
Too close…
Claustrophobia claws at me.
I have been here before.
I turn in place, searching for her.
In the shadows of the corner an ivory skinned woman waits.
I go to her.
I kneel in front of her.
I reach out and gently touch her.
Slowly, she brings her face up and stares at me.
She smiles and says, “I knew you would come.”
“Felicity?” I ask.
Sharp pain arcs through my stomach.
I can no longer breathe.
I look down and see that I am bleeding.
The woman begins to laugh.
She withdraws the knife slowly then plunges it back into my abdomen.
I look at her and the pain rips through me again.