All Acts Of Pleasure: A Rowan Gant Investigation (40 page)

“Yeah, well someone needs ta’ tell that ta’
mine, the little shit.”

“Like I said, it was a different time.”

“Yeah, ‘pparently. So no one knows what
happened to ‘er? The kid I mean.”

“All Maggie knew was what her sister told
her. The baby was healthy and female.”

“What about hospital records? Where’d she
give birth?”

“She wasn’t at a hospital. She gave birth at
a convent or something of that sort, and the baby went straight
into a Catholic orphanage. Her parents had made the arrangements
and wouldn’t give any information to the rest of the family.”

“Pretty fuckin’ cold if ya’ ask me.”

“I agree, but that doesn’t help us now.”

“Any idea which convent or orphanage?”

“No, only that it was out of state.”

“Great. And, you said her sister is dead, so
she can’t even give us a clue.”

“Yeah. She committed suicide something like
eight months later.”

“So can ya’ like do a séance or
somethin’?
Twilight Zone
out
and have a chat with ‘er?”

“You know it doesn’t work like that.”

“Well, I gotta ask.”

“Yeah, I know. You always do.”

“Shit!” he suddenly exclaimed. “So at least
tell me the old farts are still alive, so we can go knock their
heads together and see if the address falls out on the table.”

“Unfortunately, her father died almost three
years ago, and judging from what Maggie told me, he pretty much
ruled the family, so I’m sure he’s the one who made the
arrangements. Her mother is still alive, and she might know
something of use, but getting to it is a different story. She’s in
a nursing facility suffering from severe dementia. According to
Maggie, she doesn’t even recognize her when she visits. She thinks
she’s an old playmate from school back in Ireland.”

“Fuckin’ wunnerful,” he huffed. “We might
have to give it a go anyway. So, any other line on where we could
get some info?”

“Well, Maggie’s mom didn’t really end up
completely losing it until about a year ago. According to her, they
still have a lot of her stuff in storage, and she hasn’t been
through all of the paperwork her father had squirreled away quite
yet. She’s hoping there might be something in all of that.”

“She’s hopin’? So she’s willin’ to
cooperate?”

“She is, but I don’t know what Shamus’s
reaction is going to be.”

“Well, ya’know I’m gonna have ta’ take this
to the lead investigator with the MCS since I’m not assigned. They
might decide to jump on a warrant if they even think there’s gonna
be a problem with cooperation.”

“Yeah, I know. Just try to make sure my
wife’s name isn’t on it this time.”

“Ouch. You ever gonna get off my ass about
that, white man?”

“Eventually, Kemosabe. But not just yet.
Maybe after this is all over. Just view it as an incentive.”

“Yeah, fuckin’ great. Just what I need, the
Rowan Gant incentive program.”

“Well, you know I’m not going to apologize.
Right now I’m still feeling a bit desperate, and I’ll do whatever
it takes.”

“Yeah, I understand, Row. Don’t worry, we’re
gonna find ‘er. I just don’t know how yet.”

“Do you think Constance could help? The FBI
might have some more pull.”

“Yeah, well she’s already on ‘er way here. We
were gonna see what we could scrounge up since dinner got
cancelled. Prob’ly gonna hit the Chinese place down on the corner.
They never close.”

“Sorry. I
will
apologize for screwing up your
holiday.”

“Don’t worry about it. Helen’s dressin’ is
always too dry anyway. But, don’t tell ‘er I said that.”

“I’ll keep it between us.”

“So listen, I’ll fill Constance in on
everything and see what she says. But, if it’s a convent, who the
fuck knows? Might make it even harder gettin’ what we need by
havin’ the feebs in the middle of it.”

“Well, I’ll leave that up to you.”

“‘
Bout time. I been tryin’ to get ya’
ta’ let us handle the shit for a while now.”

“Well, you’re in luck this time because I’ve
got something else to take care of at this point.”

“Yeah, your wife.”

“Her too.”

He was quiet for a moment as he digested my
answer then finally said, “Row, what are you plannin’?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Row…”

“Trust me, Ben,” I said. “You worry about
this side of the veil, I’ll deal with the other.”

“Jeezus…” he mumbled. “This got somethin’ ta’
do with that Voodoo stuff?”

“Like I said, you don’t want to know.”

“Dammit, Row, you also said ‘trust me’, and I
learned a long time ago that when that’s the first thing outta
someone’s mouth, then don’t.”

“Yeah, well I think you’re going to have to
make an exception to that rule this go around.”

“Don’t go doin’ anything stupid, white
man.”

“You know me better than that.”

“Yeah, I do, and that’s ‘zactly why I said
it.”

Tuesday, November 29

11:17 A.M.

Saint Louis, Missouri

“Good morning, Judy,” I called out as I came
through the doors and started across the lobby toward the main desk
at the hospital. I was trying to remain pleasant, which was a
struggle considering where I was and why I was here.

“Good morning,” she answered, giving me a
wave.

Helen had quashed my original plan of more or
less camping out and working from the hospital before it had even
been put into action. I wasn’t happy about it and had even argued
with her for the better part of a day. In the end, however, she had
convinced me that it would be in my wife’s best interest if she
could concentrate on herself and not fret about me worrying myself
sick. After a bit of negotiation, we finally settled on a visiting
schedule that worked out to one hour in the morning and two in the
evening, each day.

The staff had quickly become accustomed to my
face since I was in and out, twice daily, like clockwork, so it
didn’t take long before I was on a first name basis with most of
them. Of course, I had my own ulterior motives for getting to know
everyone here that I could. They were the people responsible for
the care and well being of my wife during her stay. I needed to be
sure that I trusted them with that task, so studying their faces,
shaking their hands, and learning their names was just my way of
convincing myself it would be all right.

I’m sure I was simply being paranoid, but I’d
had plenty of things happen over the past month that had endeavored
to make me that way.

“So, how was your evening?” I asked, drawing
up to the desk and picking up an ink pen from the countertop. “Did
you manage to get out of here on time for a change?”

I was just preparing to sign in on the
visitor log when she reached out and put her hand over mine,
stopping me from scrawling my name on the page.

“Just a second, Mister Gant,” she said.
“Doctor Storm asked to see you as soon as you arrived.”

I was instantly alarmed. “Is something
wrong?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. She just left a
message with the desk to call her as soon as you arrived and have
you wait in the lobby for her.”

I could tell she was lying, but making that
accusation wasn’t going to get me anywhere. However, she didn’t
seem to be trying to hide any excessive concern, so I struggled to
swallow my sudden rush of panic and dropped the pen back onto the
counter.

“Yeah, okay,” I replied. “I guess you’d
better let her know I’m here then.”

“If you’d like to take a seat,” she offered
with a somewhat forced smile, pointing to the side of the
lobby.

I nodded and trudged over to the waiting
area, but I didn’t sit. My initial reaction had been that something
was wrong with Felicity, but I started trying to discount that
because if it were true I would certainly have received a call. I
quickly managed to talk myself into believing that rationalization
then the next thing reached out and slapped me on the back of the
head. It was entirely possible that Helen was going to try to
convince me to lessen the frequency of my visits. She had
grudgingly given in to the twice per day schedule as it was.

If that ended up being the case, I
immediately decided that she was going to need an overabundance of
evidence that could prove to me why I should listen. Of course,
this entire line of thought easily replaced any lingering sense of
trepidation with annoyance, not that trading one anxious emotion
for another was any better. However, it didn’t get a chance to grow
much beyond that, as I only had to pace for a few moments before a
ruffled looking Helen Storm rounded the corner, already shrugging
into her coat.

“Let’s talk outside if you don’t mind,
Rowan,” she said, not even bothering to slow down as she strode
past.

The first thing that struck me wasn’t what
she said, but how she said it. While her tone didn’t seem
completely off-key, it was harried. However, even more glaring was
her choice of words. Helen was very exacting and deliberate in her
speech. I had never known her to use two contractions in the same
sentence if she could help it, so I instantly knew something had
her rattled. Of course, that realization only served to shift me
back to my original fear.

I hurried to follow, lagging several steps
behind as she bolted out the automatic sliding doors and made a
quick right onto the sidewalk. I didn’t manage to catch up to her
until she finally came to a halt beneath the tinted Plexiglas
smokers’ canopy forty or so yards from the entrance.

“Okay, so what’s wrong?” I asked as I came
beneath the overhang with her. “What happened? Is Felicity
okay?”

“For the moment,” she replied
cryptically.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She didn’t answer me but instead set about
lighting a cigarette before giving me a quick glance. After taking
a healthy drag, she said, “Are you still smoking, Rowan?”

“Do I need to be?”

“Here,” she replied, offering me her
cigarette case and lighter.

I had actually been staying away from them
since running out the day Felicity checked into this place.
However, given Helen’s apparent level of agitation, I took one and
lit it then handed the case and lighter back to her.

“Now,” I said. “I don’t want to sound like an
ass, but I asked you a question. Would you like to explain what you
mean by ‘for the moment’? Is Felicity okay?”

“I’m sorry, Rowan,” she replied. “That was
unprofessional of me, and I shouldn’t have said it that way.
Felicity is fine. She’s resting right now.”

“Okay, there you go again.”

“There I go again what?”

“You just used three contractions, Helen,” I
pointed out. “For anyone else, no big deal. When you do it, it sets
off bells and buzzers all over the place.”

“I never noticed.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I apologize.”

“Don’t apologize, just tell me what’s going
on. You’re not acting like yourself, and on top of that you’re
telling me Felicity is resting, and it’s after eleven in the
morning. What the hell happened?”

She regarded me quietly for a moment before
replying. “Felicity experienced an episode with the spirit this
morning.”

“What?!” I yelped. “Why the hell didn’t you
call me?”

“We did, but all we got was your voice
mail.”

“Voice mail? But that’s…” I pulled my cell
phone from my pocket and immediately saw that it was switched off.
Even so, I stabbed at the buttons with my thumb as if I could
somehow change the fact that I had never turned it on this morning.
Finally I muttered, “Dammit!”

“We tried both your lines at home as well,
but there was no answer,” she offered.

“Yeah, I had a breakfast meeting with a
client, so I left early,” I replied, waving my hand to dismiss the
turn of the conversation. “But that’s not important. What happened?
Please tell me no one got hurt.”

“No one got hurt, fortunately,” she replied
with a shake of her head. “We cannot be sure exactly when the
episode started, however it could not have been too long before she
was found. I was first alerted to it when the floor nurse went to
check in on her and another patient because they had not come out
for breakfast. She paged me as soon as she realized Felicity was
not in her room.”

“What do you mean she wasn’t in her room?” I
knew my voice held more than just a hint of agitation, but I
couldn’t help it.

“She was not considered psychotic or a threat
to anyone, Rowan, therefore she was not housed in a locked
ward.”

“You said ‘was’. I take it that has
changed?”

“Yes, I am afraid so.”

“Yeah, okay, but obviously you found her.
Right?”

“Yes, we did, and fairly quickly. She was
located down the hall in the other patient’s room. She had somehow
managed to get her hands on a set of restraints and was strapping
him to the bed with them. Rather gleefully I might add.”

“Gods,” I mumbled, rubbing my forehead, and
then I asked, “You mean he didn’t try to get away from her?”

“No, he actually seemed to be enjoying it
almost as much as she.”

“I can guarantee you he wouldn’t have if it
had gone much further.”

“Yes, I know.”

“So then what happened?”

“We removed her from the situation, and she
was brought to my office.”

“There’s more to it than that, Helen,” I
pressed. “You’re too rattled, and that’s just not you. What else
happened?”

She finished her cigarette then immediately
lit a fresh one from the pack. She offered me another, but I hadn’t
sucked down the first one as fast as she, so I declined.