Harm None: A Rowan Gant Investigation (14 page)

“I know, but you’re the closest thing we’ve
got to an expert,” Ben answered. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay. Just say when.”

“I’ll call you in the mornin’. Go get some
rest. And give the squaw a hug for me.”

I watched as Ben backed out of the drive. The
handset of his cell phone was pressed to his ear. Even at a
distance, I could see his mouth moving rapidly and a sad look in
his eyes. I knew then that he was talking to Allison—telling her
yet again not to wait up for him.

“We saw you on the news.”

I heard my wife’s voice behind me and turned
to face her. She had come out on the porch where I was
standing.

“Did they get my good side?” I joked
half-heartedly and then gave her a tired peck on the cheek.

“The cheek?” she pouted. “Don’t you love me
anymore?”

“Considering the gastric event I experienced,
until I brush my teeth and get a swig of mouthwash...” I trailed
off.

“It was bad, huh?” she asked, instantly
understanding.

“Worse than Ariel,” I told her. “But I can’t
tell you about it until we’re alone.”

“I understand.”

We went into the house, and I headed directly
for the bathroom where I could make myself a bit more presentable.
When I returned to the dining room, the entire group was seated
around the table talking. They were in a much more relaxed mood
than before I left.

“So what happened?” R.J. immediately asked as
I sat down.

“I can’t tell you much,” I answered, pouring
myself a glass of tea. “Suffice it to say, there was another
murder.”

“Well,” Cally intoned. “Was it the same
killer or what?”

“We think so,” I replied.

“We saw you on the news, Mr. Gant…” Shari
stated.

“…But just from a distance,” Jennifer
continued.

“Rowan. Please.” I nodded, remembering the
glaring lights and sea of reporters at the scene. “So, what did
they say?”

“They’re calling him the Satanic Serial
Killer,” Randy intoned. “They said he killed this woman the same
way he killed Ariel. Is that true?”

“I wish I could tell you guys,” I answered,
“but I can’t. If the police are going to be able to trust me to
help them with the investigation, then I have to follow their
rules.”

There was some grumbling, but with Cally’s
prodding, they all grudgingly agreed. She was a strong young woman
and level headed for the most part. With a little further training
in The Craft, I felt certain she would be able to pick up with the
coven where Ariel had been prematurely forced to leave off.

“So how did things go around here after Ben
and I left?” I questioned, looking about. “From the looks of
things, I missed a circle...Any good discussions or
revelations?”

Extinguished candles still sat in holders on
the table: yellow, red, blue, green, and a white one in the center.
Two small dishes, one containing salt, the other water, were
positioned together with the white candle, and the last crumbs of a
honey cake adorned a plate. A pewter goblet and Felicity’s athamè
completed the centerpiece. I could still feel the leftover energy
that had been created by the casting of the circle and raising a
cone. I was sorry I had missed it, especially since I could feel a
trace of darkness in the energy. Something tainted was lingering in
the background, and I feared it was coming from a particular
individual in this room. If I had been present in the circle, I
might have been able to pinpoint its source.

“We talked quite a bit about crossing over,”
Felicity chimed with a smile.

“Yeah,” R.J. added. “It was pretty
intense.”

“Ariel never said anything about the
crossing,” Cally interjected. “We had all read about it,
but...well, you know.”

“Yes, I do,” I answered. “I’m afraid I was
probably a little lax in her teachings when it came to that. I had
to deal with another particularly difficult crossing a few years
back, so I have a tendency to avoid the subject sometimes.”

“Who?” Cally asked.

“My mother,” I answered.

“Your mother was a Witch?” Randy
questioned.

“Yes, she was,” I told them then fell
quiet.

“So we held a simple death rite for Ariel
tonight.” Felicity broke the silence. “It went fairly well,
except...”

“Ariel won’t leave…” Shari interrupted.

“…She won’t cross the bridge,” Jennifer
finished.

“That isn’t unusual,” I told them as I
pondered what the twins had just said. “In the case of a violent
death, one’s spirit sometimes hangs around on this plane searching
for closure.”

“You mean Ariel’s stuck here?” Randy
exclaimed, emphatic concern in his eyes.

“Maybe for a while but probably not
permanently,” I comforted him. “We can try another rite once the
killer is caught. Maybe that will allow her to move on.”

I looked at my watch. It read midnight. I
suddenly realized I was running on four hours sleep out of the past
forty.

“I don’t know about the rest of you,” I
stated with a shallow yawn. “But I’m beat, and I need to hit the
sack.”

The pendulum clock on the wall began to bong
out its count of the hour as the hands finally came to rest on
twelve. Cally looked at her own watch, and her eyes widened
slightly.

“I’m sorry,” she exclaimed. “I didn’t realize
it was this late.”

“Nothing to apologize for,” I assured her.
“It’s been a long day for all of us.”

“Do you think,” Randy queried as they all
began gathering themselves to leave, “that maybe we could have
circle with you and Felicity again sometime? You know, like a Full
Moon meeting or something?”

“Certainly,” I grinned.

“Of course.” Felicity smiled. “We’d love
to.”

The group gathered their things, and then
Cally, Nancy and the twins hugged both Felicity and myself. Randy
hugged my wife and shook my hand. R.J. still seemed to remain
somewhat aloof. He shook hands with both of us, and when I clasped
my hand about his, I mentally probed for the streak of darkness I
had felt earlier. He had been taught well, and his defenses came
up, immediately blocking my psychic exploration. I was more
experienced and could have easily broken through the ethereal wall
separating us, but it was both inappropriate, and at this point in
time, uncalled for. He looked back at me coolly, knowing full well
what I had tried to do, and said nothing.

Once they were gone, Felicity sent the dogs
out to take care of whatever they needed to do and then let them
back in. I had just finished letting Emily out the front door to go
on her nightly “mouse patrol” when the rambunctious canines
scrambled past me and into our bedroom. My wife trailed along
behind them, switching off lights as she went. We finished locking
up the house and shutting off the remaining lights together then
dragged ourselves off to bed as well.

The crisp, fresh sheets on our waterbed felt
wonderful, and I expelled a tired sigh as I stretched out. A
tranquil hum issued from the slowly spinning ceiling fan above as
it moved the cool air about the room. I heard the light switch in
the bathroom, and Felicity emerged, having twisted her hair atop
her head and donned an oversized t-shirt bearing the faded quip,
“Photographers do it in a darkroom.” After moving the bedroom light
from dim to off, she gently slid into the bed next to me and rested
her head on my shoulder.

“Do you want to talk about it now?”

Her voice drifted to me in the darkness. I
shifted and slid my arm around, pulling her closer.

“It’s the same guy,” I told her. “No doubt in
my mind. I don’t think he was just practicing this time though, but
I can’t be sure. It looked like he performed a full ritual...” I
paused. “Complete with removing the victim’s heart.”

I could feel her shudder against me. I wasn’t
sure how I felt about giving her the details, but I knew that if I
didn’t, she would get them from Ben as soon as I turned my
back.

“Why in the park?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Based on what
I’ve seen so far, I’m thinking he might want to be caught, but this
was more than a little brazen if you ask me.”

“From what I saw on the news,” she lent,
“those restrooms were the ones in the back of the park. They’re
pretty isolated.”

“I know, but still, people walk their dogs
back there. That’s how the body was found. A kid walking his dog.”
I told her, “Dog went nuts when they passed by the restrooms. The
door was propped open, and he broke loose and ran in.”

“Poor kid,” Felicity sighed. “I doubt if he
was ready for that.”

“Yeah, he was still talking to a police
shrink when Ben and I left.”

“Do you think the killer knew the
victim?”

“We didn’t find anything to indicate that,” I
answered. “So I’d be inclined to say no, but I’m sure they’ll be
checking into it.”

“Did they find anything at the scene that
might help?”

“Not much,” I answered. “He hailed the towers
and performed an Expiation spell again, presumably after the other
ritual. He bound her wrists and ankles and gagged her with duct
tape. They might get something off that. When I projected...”

I felt her tense against me, and I knew what
she was thinking.

“...Don’t worry, I didn’t channel, I just
projected. It wasn’t the same as with Ariel...”

She relaxed, and I gave her a reassuring
squeeze.

“When I projected, I saw him pull his glove
off before he reached in for her heart.” I couldn’t believe how
calmly I was relaying this story. I hoped that I wasn’t becoming
jaded to the atrocities I had witnessed lately. “I don’t know if
they’ll get anything, but they’re going to look for latent prints
on the body.”

“Maybe that will turn something up,” she
said.

“Maybe. Even if it does, unless he’s on file
from some previous offense or something, it won’t be much help in
finding him.”

The waterbed rippled slightly, and we felt
movement in the dark followed by a muted rumble growing closer by
the second. Within moments, Salinger climbed onto my chest and
curled up, purring interminably as Felicity scratched his ears.

“That reminds me,” I said shifting slightly,
recalling Salinger’s earlier opinion of R.J. “How did the circle go
for you? I noticed a little streak of dark in the residual energy
when I sat down at the table.”

“It was there during the circle too,” she
told me. “It really didn’t seem to come from anyone though. It was
more like it was just hanging around from something else. It wasn’t
terribly overwhelming or anything, so I just had everyone ground
all their negative thoughts and energies. I figured it was probably
their thoughts of seeking revenge and such.”

“You could be right,” I mused. “I suppose
some of it could have been left hanging around. How did the cats
act?”

“Nowhere to be found,” she answered. “They
were probably in here asleep on the bed.”

“You know Ben really suspects R.J.,” I told
her. “Especially after the time of death for Karen Barnes was
placed somewhere between five-thirty and eight P.M.”

“Karen Barnes. They identified her pretty
quickly.”

“Her purse was at the scene.”

“I know R.J. was late and all,” she stated.
“But I think Ben is on the wrong track. I would have felt something
from him if he had done it. He wouldn’t have been able to mask that
while in the circle.”

“Well,” I intoned, “I tried to feel him out
when he shook my hand, and he put up defenses immediately.”

“You would have done the same if someone
tried to check you out,” she told me. “That doesn’t make him guilty
of anything.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

We laid wordlessly in the dark listening to
the sound of the humming fan blend with the contented, throaty
rumble of the lump of fur curled up on my chest.

“Is Ben going to call tomorrow?” Felicity
finally asked.

“Yeah,” I answered. “In the morning. He wants
me to meet with the Major Case Squad. I might end up needing those
slides.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to get up early and
process them, so I can get them mounted,” she stated and then gave
me a light kiss. “Go to sleep dear. You have to be exhausted.”

“I am.” I patted her lightly on the rear as
she rolled over. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I stared off into the darkness, the meter of
the swirling fan blades setting up an audible, hypnotic rhythm. I
was so tired I felt I could sleep forever, but at the same time, I
was still coming down from the adrenalin pumping through my veins.
I listened to the soft rhythm and started a mental exercise to
relax. Clearing my mind, I allowed the stress of the past two days
to pour out of me like water from a faucet. I closed my eyes and
let the last thoughts in my head drift away.

Before long, my body was completely infused
with a comfortable drifting sensation. Indigo darkness enveloped me
broken only by a bright blue light in the distance. I reached for
the light, and I was gone.

F
elicity allowed me to sleep in the next morning, and it was
going on eight A.M. when I finally dragged myself from the bed and
into the shower. I felt rested for the first time in what seemed
like forever. Apparently, I had been too exhausted to have any
nightmares, and about that, I wasn’t going to complain.

My wife was seated at the dining room table
when I was finally dressed and prepared to meet the day. A portable
light box inhabited the surface of the table, and she was huddled
over it with a loupe held to her eye. A stack of freshly mounted
color slides occupied the space to her right, and she was
inspecting them one by one as she arranged them on the illuminated
panel before her.

“How did you sleep?” she asked without
looking up.