The Law Of Three: A Rowan Gant Investigation (25 page)

Agent Mandalay spoke up from across the room.
“The second and third calls came from the same phone, but we
couldn’t pinpoint a grid location before we lost the signal.”

“You got a name though, didn’t you?”

“What?” Mandalay asked with a faint note of
confusion.

“The owner of the cell phone,” I explained.
“It’s a woman, right?”

“Yeah,” Her puzzled tone blossomed. “How did
you know that?”

“Because he put her on the phone just before
he hung up,” I told her.

“So she’s still alive?” she asked.

“For now.”

“Dammit!” she snarled as she began stabbing
at the buttons on her cell phone once more.

“What’s her name?” I asked.

“Millicent something,” she answered, dividing
her attentions between dialing the phone and checking her notes.
“Millicent Sullivan.”

Felicity tensed against me as she heard the
name. Pain stabbed into the center of my brain, and I damned myself
for being so careless.

“Dear Mother Goddess…” I moaned. “How could I
have let this happen?”

“Rowan, what’s wrong?” Mandalay asked.

I squeezed Felicity tighter as I felt her
begin to tremble.

“Rowan, talk to me,” Agent Mandalay pressed
again. “Do you know this woman?”

“We know her as Starfyre,” I answered
quietly. “She’s being considered as a dedicant in our Coven.”

“But I thought everyone was…”

“They were,” I cut her off. “We were still
just considering her. She hadn’t been taken into the fold yet, so
no one would have thought to call her about any of this.”

“So explain to me again why we weren’t
watchin’ this Sullivan woman?” Ben smoothed back his hair and then
winced. He pulled his bandaged hand away and then stared at it as
if it was the first time he’d ever seen it. I didn’t give it long
before he did away with the bandages altogether in a fit of
frustration.

Apparently, he had only just gotten out of
the shower when Mandalay contacted him about Porter’s call. Even
though she assured him that she had things covered on our end, he
insisted on returning immediately. No amount of explanation from
her was going to convince him otherwise. Judging from his rumpled
appearance, he had probably still been getting dressed on the drive
over.

We were assembled in the living room of the
small apartment. Ben occupied one end of the sofa and Mandalay the
other. Felicity was parked in the chair, cradling a cup of tea
between her dainty hands; but me, I couldn’t begin to think about
sitting. I had too much of an infusion of nervous energy. I was
standing at the sliding doors, holding the heavy drapes partially
open, and looking out across the snow-covered balcony to the
parking lot several floors below.

“She was only a dedicant,” I replied without
turning.

It had been just slightly over an hour since
Porter had called, and my anger was still fresh. My jaw had now
added itself to my list of aches due to the fact that I was
unconsciously grinding my teeth. I kept catching myself in the act,
but I didn’t seem to be able to stop. I was still fighting a case
of the jitters that was born of the creepy tune looping in the back
of my head; so, I wasn’t sure if the teeth gnashing was an effect
of the anger alone or a combination of rage and anxiety. Whatever
the cause, it was beginning to get very old.

“And that means she’s like what? A
non-person?” He splayed his hands out in a gesture of
helplessness.

I shook my head sharply and allowed the
drapes to fall closed as I turned. I was frustrated that I had to
explain something that I perceived as trivial common knowledge
especially in light of my current emotional state. I took a deep
breath and huffed it back out, trying to keep in mind that Felicity
and I were the only ones in the room familiar with Coven dynamics
and order. “I really didn’t mean for it to sound like that,” I told
him. “Basically, a dedicant is someone who has made a conscious
choice to study a particular religion, or most often, religious
path. What we often refer to as a tradition. They take an oath to
study and learn the tradition.”

“So it’s like making a pledge or a promise.
Somethin’ like that?”

“Aye, exactly,” Felicity chimed in.

“So this isn’t something unusual then?” he
asked.

“Not within the confines of a Coven, no,” she
answered again. “Not at all.”

“So what you’re really sayin’ is that she
wanted to join your study group?” He simplified my answer as he
looked back and forth between us.

“Something like that, I suppose, yes.” I
nodded. “At any rate, she had approached Cally about joining our
Coven some time back. We met with her on a couple of occasions, and
we discussed the possibility of her dedicating. What you have to
remember is that taking someone into a Coven is not something you
do lightly, so we took some time to mull it over. We were actually
planning to bring her in at Yule, but she was out of town.”

“So she wasn’t actually a member of your
group yet?”

“No. Not officially.” I shook my head. “She
would have been brought in at the next Full Moon meeting.”

“Well, Porter obviously chose her because of
her relationship to you,” Mandalay offered. “He didn’t just get
lucky. How would he have found out about her if she wasn’t actually
a member?”

“I don’t know.” I shook my head and shrugged.
“My best guess would be Randy, but I can’t be sure. It could be
that Porter asked him for names when he tortured him. We pretty
much know that’s how he started compiling his list of victims
originally. Or it could be that Randy had her name and some notes
in a day planner or a PDA.”

“Notes?” Ben asked.

“Established Covens take bringing someone new
into the fold very seriously,” Felicity offered as explanation.

Ben sighed heavily then brought his other
hand up to massage his neck, only to repeat the wince and stunned
stare.

“Dammit,” he muttered as he shook his wounded
mitt and then lowered it back into his lap.

I began to slowly pace. “I blame myself for
this,” I announced. “I should have considered it as a
possibility.”

“Aye, I think not,” Felicity asserted. “I’m
their High Priestess. I am as much at fault as anyone, if not
more.”

She had regained her composure quickly.
Still, I knew by looking at her that it was a defense mechanism.
What she had done was nothing more than a temporary patch job on
her exterior demeanor. Inside, there was still a swirling ball of
gut twisting terror, but she had no intention of letting any more
of it show; not in front of Ben and Constance at least.

“Neither one of you is at fault for
anything,” Mandalay returned. “There was no way you could imagine
that Porter would go this route.”

“Believe me, Constance.” I gave her a quick
nod. “I can imagine a lot out of this whack job. I’ve got scars to
prove it.”

“Mandalay’s right,” Ben interjected. “Beating
yourselves up about all this isn’t doin’ either one of ya’ any
good. Not to mention that it ain’t gonna get us anywhere.”

“Well, what IS being done?” I asked.

“Right now, there’s a CSU team on their way
to Sullivan’s apartment. Her car is listed on the hot sheet, and
every copper on the street is lookin’ for it.”

“We don’t know that he has her car,” I
objected.

“We don’t know that he doesn’t,” Ben
returned. “Look, Row, let us do the cop stuff, it’s what we do.
Like I’ve told ya’ before, we actually solved a few crimes by
ourselves before you came along.”

I closed my eyes and put my palms up to my
temples, squeezing my head between my hands and roughly massaging
at the same time—as if I could will the pain away. “I’m sorry,” I
muttered. “I don’t mean to be arguing with you about this. I’m just
kind of at the center of it, and I’d give just about anything to be
somewhere else.”

“That’s understandable,” Mandalay said.
“You’ve been through a lot today.”

I shook my head. My eyes were still closed,
and my fingers were now working at my scalp. “Today is just the
beginning,” I said aloud. “There’s an end coming. I don’t know when
or where, but I’m not sure I want to.”

The moment the words exited my mouth, I felt
a wave of dread hit me. If that wasn’t enough, I could physically
feel my wife’s startled gaze instantly burning a hole in my back as
I stood there.

“What’s that s’posed to mean?” Ben asked.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “Forget it. I’m
just rambling.”

“You sure?” he pressed. “That ain’t some
kinda hocus-pocus la-la land thing you’re spoutin’ is it?”

Mandalay offered her observation. “Yeah,
Rowan, that sounded a little on the morbidly prophetic side,
especially coming from you.”

“Really. Forget it.” I waved a hand at them.
“My head is killing me, and I’m just running off at the mouth.”

The truth was that I didn’t actually know
what the comment was supposed to mean. I didn’t even know for sure
why I had said it. I only knew that there actually was more to it
than just idle rambling and that it sounded just as bad to me as it
did to them.

“You need to take somethin’, Kemosabe?” Ben
asked.

“Wouldn’t do any good,” I sighed. “So anyway,
go on. You were telling me what the plan is…”

“CSU, car…” He ticked off what he’d already
said. “Keepin’ an eye on public places since he seems to have a
penchant for exhibiting his kills.”

“By then it would be too late,” I contended
in a flat tone.

“Believe me, Row, we know that,” he returned.
“But it’s somethin’ that has to be done.”

“We’re also watching for the possibility that
he might use one of the two cell phones again,” Mandalay added to
the list. “If he does, we’ll be on top of it, and maybe this time
we can get a grid location.”

“What about me?” I queried.

Ben feigned ignorance. “Whaddaya mean? What
about you?”

“Don’t play dumb, Ben.” My voice once again
took on a note of annoyance. “You know damn well what I mean.
Porter killed Randy, and now he has Star, and he’s going to kill
her. You’ve already said that he’s choosing his victims to get to
me.”

“Yeah, I know where you’re headed but don’t
go there.” His tone was adamant.

“What do you mean, ‘don’t go there?’” I
couldn’t help but raise my voice a step. “There’s no place for me
to go, Ben. He’s bringing it to my doorstep!”

He addressed me with deadpan seriousness in
his voice and a hard expression forming across his features.
“Listen, Rowan, I’ll be honest with you, Albright already said
something about this.”

“Screw Albright,” I spat. “If she wants to
ban me from something else, tell her to go ahead.”

“No, you don’t get it,” he snarled. “She’s
all about using you for bait.”

“Will wonders never cease,” I said, injecting
the words with as much sarcasm as I could muster. “She and I
finally agree on something.”

“Rowan! No!” Felicity yelped.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the
startled expression on her face, and as I turned to look at her,
she slowly stood.

“I can’t let him kill Star,” I told her as if
the conclusion was obvious.

“Aye, I won’t allow it,” she proclaimed.

Ben glanced her way then back at me as he
spoke. “Well don’t worry, Felicity, cause it ain’t gonna
happen.”

“Why?” I demanded.

“Because it’s not how we do things, Rowan.
This isn’t a cop show. We don’t use civilians as bait for crazed
serial killers.”

“Yeah, well maybe it’s time to change your
rules.”

“I can’t listen to this,” Felicity blurted
with a mixture of both fear and anger in her voice.

I looked over at her, and she was trembling.
She stared at me with her eyes glistening, and I knew there were
tears behind them begging to be released. I took a step toward her,
and as I reached out to touch her, she backed away and sidestepped.
I stopped, immediately feeling the torment that now afflicted her.
She put her hand to her mouth and then shook her head again. With
that, she turned and disappeared down the short hallway and into
the bedroom.

The door made a dull sound as it slammed.

“Jeezus, white man.” Ben shook his head.

“You should probably go talk to her,”
Mandalay offered softly.

I was torn between running after her and
pleading my case. Choosing between the woman I loved more than my
own existence and the life of someone I barely knew was the last
thing I needed at the moment. I mutely pled for guidance from The
Ancients and met only with silence.

I started toward the bedroom door and
hesitated. I felt damned no matter which direction I went. I took
another step then turned and stared at Ben.

“Listen, apparently the whole idea isn’t out
of the question or Albright wouldn’t have brought it up,” I finally
countered.

“Why the hell do you think she was all over
your ass back at the morgue, Rowan?” He stood there looking at me
with his eyes wide and questioning.

“Because she doesn’t like me?” I
answered.

“Exactly. And because she doesn’t like you,
she was trying to get you worked up so you’d do somethin’ stupid,
Row.”

“I thought we’d already established
that.”

“I mean as in stupid like going after Porter.
She wants to let you throw yourself out there as bait, and if you
get killed in the process, oh fuckin’ well, too bad so sad.”

The revelation struck home, knocked me down,
then kicked me a few times just for good measure. I stood there
mute, wondering how I could have been so totally oblivious to her
intentions.

“Am I that stupid?” I finally asked, an
uneasy calm in my voice. “Have you known this all along?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Don’t feel like the
Lone Ranger, I didn’t catch it either. I just found out on the way
over here.”