“Am I interrupting?” she asked. Her voice held a nondescript but very definite Southern affectation.
I thought I felt a tickle run along the back of my neck, but I wasn’t sure. Ever since I’d been injected with the diazepam, I had been a bit dulled to the outside world. I just wished it would work for my headache as well because that was still hammering inside my skull.
“Can I help you?” Ben returned.
“You must be Detective Storm,” she said as she stepped farther into the room after pushing the door so that it would swing shut behind her.
I noticed Constance stepping forward and carefully shifting her position so as to place herself in between the woman and me. Apparently even though Miranda was gone, she was operating on automatic.
“Yeah,” Ben acknowledged.
Even with Constance between us, I could see that the woman was carrying a folding notepad under her left arm and had what appeared to be a Glock riding high in a retention holster on her right hip. A gold shield was clipped to her belt in plain view.
“Wow. The lieutenant told me you were tall. He definitely wasn’t kidding,” she said and then glanced over at Constance. “So that would make you Special Agent Mandalay.”
“Guilty,” Constance replied. “And you are?”
“Oh, sorry, I’m Detective Shen. I thought you were expecting me.” The woman reached into her back pocket and withdrew a leather case, which she then flipped open with practiced ease and proceeded to display her official ID. “Saint Flora P.D. Lieutenant Sheets with the Major Case Squad commandeered me to come up and take Mister Gant’s statement.” She glanced past Constance at me and added, “If you’re ready that is.”
The honey dipped drawl was even more prominent now that she had spoken more than three words in a row. I looked over at Ben and saw that he had an eyebrow cocked upward. He had first hand dealings with Felicity when Miranda had taken over her body, so he knew the uncharacteristic onset of a Southern accent was something that happened to her hosts.
He glanced quickly at me then gave the woman a suspect stare. “Detective Shen… Huh. Ya’ mind if I ask…”
“Chinese, but I was born and raised in Mississippi,” she replied before he could complete the question. She was already shoving her credentials back into her pocket as she spoke. “You were going to ask about the accent, right?” Her hand now free, she pointed her index finger at her own face and wound it in a trio of quick circles. “It’s a little hard to reconcile Southern Belle coming out of this face, I know.”
“Sorry,” Ben replied. “Wasn’t tryin’ ta’ be a jerk.”
Detective Shen gave him a quick shake of her head and a lopsided smile. “Don’t worry. I’m used to it. Besides, at least you didn’t scalp me first and then ask.”
Ben snorted. “Yeah, okay. I guess I deserved that.”
“So, I guess we’re even,” Shen replied, a good-natured air to the comment.
“Yeah, I guess,” he said with a nod.
“So, is this a bad time?” she asked.
“Just a sec and I’ll let ya’ know,” Ben told her. He stepped around the end of the bed and crossed behind Constance then snatched the handset from the phone. With a series of deliberate punches from his finger, he dialed a number then held the phone up to his ear. After a short pause he said, “Yeah, L. T., it’s Storm. Yeah… Well, he’s doin’ as good as can be expected I guess. Yeah… So listen, I got a Saint Flora copper up here… Uh-huh… Yeah… That’s her… Yeah… Okay, just had ta’ check… Yeah… I’ll be down in a few… Thanks.”
Ben dropped the phone back onto the cradle then looked over at Detective Shen and said, “Okay. All good.”
I saw Constance relax her posture, but she remained stationed between Detective Shen and me.
The woman gave Ben a brief look of confusion then said, “Was there a problem?”
“Just never saw ya’ before is all,” Ben replied. “Had to check your story.”
Constance added. “Mister Gant is still technically under federal protection for the time being.”
“Sorry,” Shen replied. “Like I said, I thought you were expecting me.”
“We were. Sorta. Just figured it’d be someone from the MCS.”
Shen raised her eyebrows and nodded. “It’s a little busy, as I’m sure you know.”
“Yeah. I can relate. It’s all good,” Ben told her. “Just bein’ cautious is all.”
“That’s okay, I understand,” she replied. After an uncomfortable pause she directed herself at me. “Umm… So now that that’s done, are you ready to give your statement, Mister Gant?”
“Yeah, I can do that,” I told her. I still wasn’t excited about the prospect of recounting the story yet again, but I also wanted to get it over with.
“Listen, Row,” Ben said. “I’ll catch up with ya’ a little later. L. T. needs me back downstairs.”
“No problem,” I replied.
“Rowan, do you think you’ll be okay with Detective Shen for a minute?” Constance asked.
“I don’t see why not,” I replied. The tickle was still taunting the back of my neck, but it seemed innocuous. “I mean it’s all pretty much over at this point anyway, right?”
“I guess it is,” she replied. Seeming far more relaxed than she had been just moments ago, she turned to Ben and said. “I’ll walk you out. I could use a bottle of water anyway.”
“Yeah,” Ben agreed. “I could go for a coffee.”
“What about you, Detective Shen,” she asked. “Can I bring you anything?”
“No, I’m fine, but thank you.”
Constance nodded. “Okay then, I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time,” Shen replied. “Get some air if you want. Mister Gant and I will be awhile, and I’ll be happy to stay with him until you get back.”
“Thanks,” Constance replied. “I know it’s just a formality at this point, but remember, nobody comes through that door without a badge or a hospital ID, okay?”
“Got it.”
“Good. I shouldn’t be long.”
Once they’d exited and the door was shut, Detective Shen came over to the side of the bed and looked down at me.
“Rough day, huh?” she asked.
“That’s one way to put it,” I replied.
“Well, I’ll try to make this as painless as possible,” she told me.
She turned and wandered over to the window wall and watched Ben and Constance as they disappeared around the corner. Then she purposely drew the curtain shut.
The phantom tickle brushed my neck once again then ran along my spine and spread out to my arms as well. The thud inside my head seemed to grow a little angrier too.
“Why’d you do that?” I asked.
She turned and came back to the bedside then smiled down at me. “I always prefer a little privacy when I do this sort of thing.”
CHAPTER 35
“Then she told me that I was to blame for all of them,” I said.
Detective Shen stopped writing for a second and glanced at me. “All of them?”
“Yes,” I told her. “All of the victims. She was fixated on my wife for some reason. And, since I was keeping her from getting to Felicity… That’s my wife… Anyway, since I was an obstacle to her, she wanted me to know I was to blame for everyone she had killed.”
“I see,” she replied. “Is that your conclusion, or is it what she actually said?”
“I’m paraphrasing a bit,” I admitted.
“We really need to stick to the actual events,” she instructed. “Sort of a just-the-facts kind of thing, okay?”
I gave her a slight nod. My head was still pounding, and the tickle along my spine was trying hard to turn into a full-blown tingle. The edge having been chemically honed off my senses wasn’t making me happy at the moment. I could tell something wasn’t quite right, but I had no idea what it was.
I cast a furtive glance toward the door. Ben and Constance had only been gone for a few minutes, but it was starting to seem like hours. A small knot was working its way into my intestines, and I found myself trying to will Constance to walk back through the door right now.