All Acts Of Pleasure: A Rowan Gant Investigation (13 page)

“Listen, the information I obtained could be
wrong, but the rumor is the police have hard evidence placing
Felicity at the scene of a somewhat bizarre homicide in Myrtle
Beach, South Carolina that happened in December of last year.”

“What evidence?” I asked quietly.

“I don’t know that yet,” she replied.

The dull ache at the back of my head was now
returning in force. It wasn’t going to take long for it to fill my
skull and make itself right at home for the duration. I closed my
eyes once again and sighed.

“Well, they’re right about one thing,” I
offered flatly. “The same woman committed that murder as did the
two homicides in Saint Louis. But, Felicity is NOT that woman.”

“I believe you, Rowan,” Jackie replied. “But
you need to understand that I’m not the one we need to convince of
that fact.”

“I thought I told you to wait at home?”
Jackie said, glaring at me with the best stoic attorney face she
could muster plastered across her features.

“I got lonely,” I replied.

“Don’t be a smartass, Rowan,” she snapped.
“I’ve got my hands full here, so I really don’t need to be
babysitting you.”

“I don’t recall asking you to.”

“Let me refresh your memory,” she snapped.
“You asked by showing up here.”

“Hey, don’t get mad at me.”

“How can I not? I just had a detective drag
me out of the middle of an interview with your wife.”

“Then you should go yell at him.”

We were standing in the lobby of police
headquarters at the corner of Clark and Tucker in downtown Saint
Louis. I’d been here more times than I cared to count, but usually
I was escorted straight in by Ben and at times, even treated like
just another one of the cops. This afternoon, however, was vastly
different. I had been detained here at the main entrance, and
Jackie had been brought out to see me. It was immediately obvious
that she wasn’t thrilled about it. Of course, she also hadn’t been
aware that I was on my way here, and I had purposely neglected to
mention it before hanging up the phone earlier.

“Right now I’d rather tell him to just shoot
you,” she hissed, still trying to keep her voice low. At the tail
end of the comment, she let out a heavy sigh and shook her head in
exasperation.

“From the reception I got, I’m guessing you
wouldn’t have a problem getting him to take you up on the idea,” I
replied.

“What did you expect, Rowan, a marching band
and a parade? You’re the husband of a murder suspect who is
currently detained in this building, and you come blazing in here
like everyone is supposed to clear a path for you. Wake up, will
you?!”

Jackie was in her mid-fifties but looked more
like she was hovering somewhere in her forties, even when sporting
the flat expression. She was the sole attorney in a wildly
successful one-woman shop bearing her name, although she did have a
small support staff consisting of a paralegal and a part-time
receptionist.

I’d heard rumors that she’d been offered
partnerships in some rather prestigious local firms more than once
but always declined in favor of the autonomy that allowed complete
control over her caseload. I wasn’t at all surprised, because she
wasn’t one for taking direction. Giving it, yes. Taking it,
definitely not.

“Hey, I’m trying to help here,” I appealed,
attempting to change my approach, though in a halfhearted
sense.

“Well, you definitely aren’t. Helping, that
is.”

My bid at toning down my temper didn’t last,
and I snarled my reply. “Yeah, well you don’t appear to be helping
all that much either.”

She tossed back a shock of platinum blonde
hair and fixed me with her hard gaze once again. Physically, she
was really closer to Felicity’s height than mine, but wearing her
ever-present designer heels, she came right to eye level with me.
The stature elevating shoes along with her reputation for
relentlessly tearing apart cases—and even other attorneys if
necessary—until she came out on top are what had garnered her the
nickname “the pit bull in high heels.” She would instantly feign
annoyance anytime she heard someone call her by the moniker, but
secretly, I think she actually liked it.

After a pause she punctuated her cold stare
with a calm but brutally caustic reply, “That’s because I’m out
here dealing with an asshole instead of being allowed to do my
job.”

“Listen, I…”

She cut me off before I could finish. “No.
Just shut up and YOU listen for once. If that last comment had come
out of any other client’s mouth, I would have packed my briefcase
and headed home. But, I’ve known you way too long, and I know that
you’re actually a pretty nice guy. I’m writing this all off to the
stress you are under, but believe me, I’m only going to write off
just so much.

“Besides, the reality of the situation is
that I’m representing your wife right now, not you. So, I suggest
you count yourself as damned lucky I’m still standing here.”

“Yeah, but…” I started.

“I’m not finished,” she spat, cutting me off.
“Now, what you need to do is start listening to me and stop acting
like some kind of maniac. You sure as hell aren’t making any
friends right now, and you’re trying my patience to say the
least.”

“But why can’t I see her?” I demanded, still
trying to circumvent her tirade.

“That’s easy. I could have told you that on
the phone if you’d bothered to ask. The short list is A: She’s
under arrest for two, and quite possibly three counts of first
degree murder; B: You aren’t her attorney, I am; and C: Right now
you’re acting irrationally and the police have some genuine
concerns for your mental stability, as do I.”

“Bullshit. I’m fine.”

“Then like I said, start acting like it and
listen to me for a change. Go home. Sit on your hands. Don’t talk
to anyone, especially not the press, and just wait for me to call
you. End of discussion. Is that clear?”

I shook my head. “I can’t, Jackie. Not right
now. Not after what they did to the house.”

“What they…What did they do to your
house?”

“It’s trashed. They totally wrecked the
place.”

Now it was her turn to do the head shaking.
“Did they destroy anything?”

“No…I don’t think so…Not that I could see,
anyway, but it looks like a tornado went through it.”

“Did you happen to notice what they
took?”

“Some of Felicity’s clothes, my handgun, and
some of my books on Voodoo for sure,” I rattled off my own short
list. “I tried to tell them the books were mine…”

“Are they?”

“Yes. I just bought them. And, checked some
out from the library.”

“The books from the library shouldn’t be a
problem. We’ll just have to contact the branch where you checked
them out, and that should be enough to get them disallowed. What
about the books you purchased? Do you have proof of when you bought
them?”

“Yes. I have the receipts.”

“Then don’t worry about it, they won’t be an
issue. Anything else?”

I nodded. “I know there was other stuff, but
I can’t remember what. They gave me a voucher, but I haven’t really
gone over it…”

“Great…Okay, fine. We’ll address that later.
Have you got your cell phone with you?”

I rummaged in my pocket to check then nodded.
“Yeah.”

“Okay, why don’t you go find someplace to get
a cup of coffee, and I’ll call you as soon as I know
something.”

“Are you…”

“Yes, I’m sure,” she interrupted, finishing
the query for me. “Now just go and let me do what you’re paying me
for.”

“Yeah, okay,” I answered with a nod.

Her enumerated reasons for keeping me out of
the loop had effectively shut me down for the time being. On top of
that, my befuddled emotions were now batting me back into
depression territory. I knew I was probably shifting back and forth
between sounding insane and coming off like a frightened child,
just like she said I was, but I couldn’t help it. I was still
trying to get a handle on what was happening, but that handle kept
staying just out of my grasp.

“You’ll call the minute you know something,
right?” I asked, desperate for reassurance. In fact, my voice had
an almost pleading tone to it.

“Yes, I’ll call. Now go.”

I gave her another nod then turned and
started toward the front door of the building.

“Rowan,” she suddenly called after me.

I stopped and turned back to face her with a
questioning look.

“Just coffee, no booze, okay?”

I involuntarily screwed my face into a
confused expression then said, “You know, it’s not like I have a
drinking problem or something.”

“I didn’t say you did, but I know you, and in
your present state, if you drink you’re definitely going to be a
problem. Trust me. No alcohol, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” I gave her a nod then started
to turn back toward the door but stopped myself. “Wait,
Jackie…”

“What?” she asked, her voice sounding
strained as she tried to hide her obvious aggravation.

“I forgot to tell you. My father-in-law is
taking it upon himself to send his own attorney down here with
orders to take over the case.”

“Do you know who the attorney is?”

“Sorry, no.”

“Do you want his attorney to take over?”

“No.”

“Then as long as Felicity is of the same
opinion, don’t worry about it. Just let me handle it.”

“It’s possible Shamus, her father, might show
up himself.”

“He’s not going to get any farther than you
have, so like I said: Don’t worry, just let me handle it.”

“Okay…And, Jackie…Thanks.”

“Yeah,” she replied as she turned, calling
over her shoulder, ”You know the old line about the bill,
right?”

I watched her disappear into the elevator
then continued on my way through the front doors then out onto the
sidewalk. The wind was picking up, whipping along the street as it
cut its way between the buildings. I could feel the encroaching
cold as a burning sting against my cheeks, but even so, I didn’t
bother to zip up my coat, simply leaving it wide open to the wintry
chill.

I knew I had to do what Jackie said, but I
couldn’t get excited about climbing into my truck and putting any
more distance between Felicity and me than there already was. While
I’m certain “the pit bull” would have been happier if I would at
least go a few blocks away, I set my sights on the small diner
directly across the street which boasted the bizarre name,
Forty.

Residing just to the side of the entrance to
City Hall’s parking lot, I knew for certain the place was a hangout
for cops. Not just because of its proximity to the station but also
due to the fact that I had once commented to Ben about the odd
name. In response he had explained that 40 is the Saint Louis city
police radio code for a meal break.

Even though I wasn’t holding members of the
local law enforcement community in very high regard at the moment,
I decided I could bear sitting at the lunch counter with a cup of
java. As long as I kept to myself, I figured I should be okay.
After waiting for a pair of cars to pass, I stepped out onto the
asphalt and jogged across the street.

I had only been sitting at the counter for
around ten minutes, my hands wrapped around a ceramic mug and eyes
gazing unfocused at my reflection in the black liquid, when the
hair on the back of my neck began to prickle.

Amid the drone of chatting patrons, sizzling
grills, staticky radios, and even ringing phones, a painful sound
pierced my ears, launching me back out of the depression and square
into the middle of anger once again.

“Yo, Carl,” Ben Storm’s voice called to
someone behind the counter. “Ya’ got that order I called in ready
yet?”

“Heya, Storm, yeah…” the man replied. “Got
yer eats right here.”

I shot a quick glance in the direction of the
voices and saw Ben standing near the register only a dozen or so
feet to my right. He was angled away from me, and given his relaxed
posture I got the impression that he hadn’t seen me when he came
in, even though he had to have passed within two or three feet of
me at the most.

“Lessee, I got a Reuben, two bacon
cheeseburgers, and a chicken salad on wheat.” The cook listed the
order while parking a large sack on the counter between them.” With
a chuckle he added, “You hungry or somethin’?”

“Not really,” Ben responded to the joke.
“This is just a snack ta’ get me through.”

“Yeah, right, you sure you don’t want any
fries or some drinks wit’ dat?”

“Nahh, this is good.”

The logical side of my brain was telling me
to keep quiet and shrink into the shadows. This diner was literally
right next to the last place on earth I needed to get into an
altercation with him. And, considering the clientele here, being
right next to police headquarters was for all intents and purposes
just like being in the squad room itself. Of course, those were
just the facts I should be paying attention to. The truth is, I had
a terrible habit of allowing my emotional half to override the
practical aspect of my personality, and that was when I usually got
myself into trouble.

I tilted my head forward and struggled with
the two sides as they competed for dominance over my actions. For
the moment, I had myself nailed down, and I was fairly certain I
could stay that way for a bit. The problem was, I didn’t know
exactly how long that bit would be.

“Okay, so what’s the damage?” Ben asked.

“Seventeen-thirty-two,” Carl replied.

He handed him the money while adding,
“Jeezus. You tryin’ ta’ retire early?”

“Yeah, I wish. Lemme get yer change.”