I turned and looked over at the pendulum clock on our dining room wall. It was edging toward seven, just like it had been when I checked moments ago. Four hours had gone by, and we were still waiting, a fact that wasn’t helping my sense of foreboding in the least.
“You two should relax,” Constance said, glancing between Felicity and me as she brushed more hair down over her ear. “This could be a dry run. She might not even call tonight. She might wait until tomorrow, or the next day.”
“No… She’ll call soon,” Felicity replied.
“You need to be prepared if she doesn’t,” Constance offered.
“No,” my wife said confidently. “I don’t.”
The clock made a loud thunk as if to punctuate her statement. The minute hand had completed its upward journey and the internal spring automatically engaged. The winding released and chattered through the house as it drew back the hammer then proceeded to launch it against the chime. Before the fourth bong had finished reverberating, the telephone started to ring.
“Goddamn Witches,” Ben muttered.
Felicity stepped over to the table and picked up the handset. Constance gave her a quick nod, so she thumbed it on and placed it up to her ear.
“I was beginning to think you had second thoughts,” my wife said, her voice coated with a thick frost. “Where do you want to do this?”
The last chime of the hour echoed from the clock with a dull finality as we stood waiting. I don’t know about everyone else in the room, but I was holding my breath.
“Are you sure?” Felicity finally said. “I thought you’d want it to be someplace more private… I see… Well, that’s a big place. Where should I meet you once I’m there? Uh-huh… Aye… I can’t wait.”
She switched off the phone and laid it back on the table as she turned to fully face us.
“The zoo,” she said. “In one hour. She told me to wait for her by the carousel. She also said she’ll be watching, and I’d best come alone or she won’t show.”
“Dammit,” Constance muttered. “The zoo has their holiday light displays running, and it’s going to be crowded.”
“Prob’ly why she picked it,” Ben grumbled. “Easier ta’ disappear into the crowd than to be out in the open.”
“Did you hear anything in the background?” Constance asked. “Anything that might indicate she’s already there?”
“No,” Felicity replied, shaking her head. “It was quiet.”
“She might be there but sitting in a car on the parking lot,” the other agent offered.
“Probably,” Constance said with a nod.
“Your call,” Ben huffed, nodding toward Constance. “Whaddaya wanna do?”
“I don’t like it,” she replied after a moment. “Not at all… But, who knows if we’ll get another chance.” She turned to the other agent. “Parker, call it in. Get as many bodies as we can into the crowd, and get SWAT on standby. Also, have someone notify the zoo’s park security. Tell them to go about business as usual, but let them know what’s going on. Tell them do not approach. We don’t need some rent-a-cop blowing this and getting someone hurt. Once I leave, give me about five minutes, then head out, but take a different route out of the subdivision. Catch up with me on Highway Forty, but hang back in case I’m tailed.”
“Got it,” Agent Parker replied, pulling out her cell phone and starting to dial.
Constance stepped into the dining room then pulled her coat from the back of a chair and quickly slipped into it. Picking up Felicity’s keys from the buffet, she turned back to us.
“Ben, you still have two local units outside. If you need…”
“Go,” Ben said, cutting her off. “I’ve got it covered here.”
“Constance…” Felicity spoke up with a bit of hesitation in her voice. “Thank you…”
She gave her a nod and replied, “I’ll call as soon as this is over. You can thank me then.”
She turned and headed toward the back of the house where Felicity’s Jeep was parked. Just before she reached the kitchen doorway, Ben called out, “Connie…”
She stopped and looked back, a surprised expression on her face. I suspected it was due to the nickname, since I’d only seen one other person get away with calling her by it, and this was the first time I’d ever heard Ben use it when she was present.
My friend just stared at her for a second then said, “Be careful. ‘Kay?”
She gave him a quick smile then disappeared around the corner. A few seconds later, we heard the Jeep moving alongside the house as she backed it out of the driveway then sped off down the street. As ordered, Agent Parker followed along behind several minutes later.
Ben stood silently at the window, peering through a small crack in the blinds. Every now and then he would glance up at the clock then return his gaze to the opening. After a few minutes, he turned and pulled his jacket from the back of a chair and started shrugging into it.
“Something wrong?” I asked.
“Get your coats,” he replied.
“Why?” Felicity asked.
“‘Cause it’s cold outside,” he told her.
“Why are we…”
“Just get your coats,” he repeated. “We’re goin’ ta’ break some rules.”
CHAPTER 42:
Ben exited the highway and pulled the van into Forest Park then moved with the flow of traffic until he could swing into the zoo parking lot. He hadn’t been particularly forthcoming with answers to any of our questions, so both Felicity and I had eventually given up and simply rode along in silence. It was obvious to us where we were going. What our taciturn friend had in mind, however, remained a mystery.
He slowly pulled around the lot, bypassing several empty spaces until he came back around and located one with a halfway decent view of the zoo entrance. Nosing in, he shut off the lights and engine then cracked his side window to keep the windshield from fogging over. He simply stared through the glass, watching the entrance without saying a word.
After about a minute, I said, “I take it we aren’t getting out.”
“Nope. Not yet, anyway,” he replied then glanced over his shoulder and said, “Felicity, hand me that bag that’s in the seat next to ya’.”
My wife felt around in the dark and then passed a paper bag forward. I twisted in my seat and took it from her then handed it to Ben.
“Dinner?” I asked with a note of sarcasm, as he took it.
He opened the top of the bag then pulled out a handheld walkie-talkie and switched it on.
“No. It’s stuff,” he grunted as he ramped up the volume into the audible range then started clicking through the preset channels.
“…ear so far,” a familiar female voice crackled from the speaker. “How’s my signal?”
He stopped and listened intently.
“Reading you loud and clear,” a male voice replied.
“Okay, I’m approaching the entrance,” Constance’s voice came back across the air.
“Lawson has a visual on you,” the man told her.
Ben upped the volume on the walkie-talkie a bit more then laid it on the console between us.
“Okay, I see you,” the man responded a few seconds later. “Washburn will pick you up once you’re inside. He’ll hand you off to Frye at the Bayou Bullfrog display.”
“Good. Any sign of her yet?”
“Negative.”
The radio crackled with a burst of static then fell silent for the moment. I looked over at Ben who had directed his stare back out the windshield.
“Where did you get that?” I asked.
“It’s police stuff,” he replied.
“That isn’t your regular radio, Ben.”
“I got a new one.”
“In a brown paper bag?”
“Recycled packaging,” he returned.
“That’s not police stuff. It’s FBI stuff,” I said.
“Real cops got ‘em too,” he said, verbally hinting at his selective lack of respect for the federal agency.