M Sellars - Harm none

“Yes,” she answered. “They chased after Devon. I don’t know why they came. I guess Felicity called them.”

By now she had returned to fully involved sobbing, and no amount of reassurance from me was going to convince her that she was not to blame. I glanced back at Allison and motioned for her to trade places with me, which she did assiduously. This done, Ben and I quietly retreated from the room.

“I thought Felicity knew we had the place covered,” Ben stated low-voiced once we were in the hall. “Why the hell did she go over there?”

“I don’t know,” I puzzled. “Maybe she forgot? Maybe she just wanted to help Cally. Only she can answer that. Do you think they caught the bastard?”

“I’ll call in and find out,” he replied. “He couldn’t get far if he was on foot. Whaddaya make of that bit about the ASPCA?”

“Yeah, I noticed that. The ASPCA,” I echoed, “like maybe he thought the police were after him because of the whole incident with sacrificing the dog.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“If he committed the murders, it seems like that would be the furthest thing from his mind,” I ventured.

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Ben agreed. “We’ll still talk to him though.”

“You still think R.J. did it, don’t you?”

“I think I’ve got a lot of evidence that points straight at ‘im. A lot of it is circumstantial I admit, but there’s the fingerprint on the candle, the blood type, and the hairs. DNA test’ll show for sure if he was with Ellen Gray.”

“But that’s just on the latest victim, and we know he was having an affair with her,” I maintained.

“He never admitted to that.”

“Come on, Ben. You saw how he acted when you mentioned her name,” I pointed out.

“What I saw him do was clam up and ask for a lawyer.”

“I would have too,” I contended. “Besides, you still can’t connect him with Karen Barnes.”

“I can connect him with Ariel Tanner,” he shot back angrily. “Shit, we’re obviously dealin’ with a psycho, maybe the kid’s got a fuckin’ split personality or somethin’!”

I stared back silently, stunned by his sudden outburst. I knew this case was wearing on him, but something else was there too. His hand went up to his neck, and he let out a heavy sigh.

“Listen,” Ben’s voice was much calmer. “I’m sorry, man. I shouldn’t be snappin’ at ya’. It’s just that…”

Ben was unceremoniously interrupted by the shrill tone of his beeper as it demanded his attention. He automatically pulled it from his belt and quickly perused its liquid crystal face.

“It’s a call from the coppers I had sittin’ on Cally’s house,” he told me. “I’d better get in touch with ‘em.”

“Go ahead,” I urged. “I’ll be with Felicity.”

“Look, Rowan…” Ben struggled with the words as he wagged his finger back and forth between us. “Are you and me okay?”

“Yeah,” I reassured him. “We’re fine. Go make your call.”

“How’re you feeling?” I whispered as I leaned forward and brushed the hair from her face.

“Aye, tired,” she murmured, “and sore.”

I returned a half-hearted smile. “I’ll bet.”

“Rowan…Has anyone told you…About, you know…”

“Yeah, I know about it. Allison told me. I’m sorry.”

A small teardrop glistened in the corner of her eye and slowly rolled across her cheek to wet the pillow.

“I’m the one who should apologize, then,” she returned. “I never should have gone over there. Cally just sounded so frightened…”

“Shhhh.” I brushed away the next tear as it began to journey down her face. “It’s all right. You did exactly what I would have done. It’s okay.”

She blinked rapidly then took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She lay there in silence, just looking back at me for a few short moments as she regained her composure.

“Is Cally okay, then?” she finally asked.

“Physically, she’s fine. He never laid a hand on her,” I answered. “Mentally. About as well as can be expected. She blames herself for what happened to you. Allison took her down for coffee a little while ago.”

“It wasn’t her fault.”

“I know,” I assured her. “I know.”

“Aye, what about Devon? Did they catch him?”

“Ben went to check on that. The officers that were watching Cally’s place just beeped him.”

Watching her face, I could see that the tranquilizer had not worn off and was creeping up on her once again. Her breathing became easier, and she began sliding backward into relaxation.

“I’ve got a shoot to do this afternoon,” Felicity told me groggily.

“No you don’t. I’ll call them and re-schedule for you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“I love you” was the last thing she whispered before drifting into the arms of sleep.

“I love you, too,” I returned and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

I waited a few more minutes before deciding to go in search of Ben. I attempted to retrace our steps in coming to this room and as I had not paid attention, quickly became lost. As I rounded a corner, I came upon what resembled a small break room and was almost immediately bowled over as a red-faced Allison Storm rushed angrily past me. I looked after her then peered into the open doorway, only to find Ben, hands in his pockets and hangdog expression creasing his face. Something was definitely wrong between the two of them. I assumed it was the amount of time he was spending on this case and that I had just witnessed the tail end of an argument it had caused.

“You okay?” I queried as I stepped through the doorway.

“What? Yeah.” He looked up and noticed me. “Yeah, I’m fine. How’s the squaw?”

“She woke up for a minute or two,” I replied. “She’s doing okay, considering. Oh, and I guessed right. She went over there because she wanted to help Cally.”

“Sounds like her.”

“You sure you’re okay?” I asked again and hooked my thumb over my shoulder. “You seem a little preoccupied, and Allison looked kind of irritated…”

“Yeah, I’m good.” He pulled his hands from his pockets and straightened from where he had been leaning against the wall. “She’s okay. It’s just been a rough day for ‘er. Hell, for all of us.”

I decided not to push any further out of respect for my friend. If he and his wife were having problems, it was none of my business unless he chose to tell me. If he made that choice, I would be there to listen, no questions asked.

“So,” I changed the subject, “that phone call get you anywhere? Did you find anything out?”

“Oh yeah.” He brightened noticeably. “They were in the lobby. Seems the son-of-a-bitch is in surgery right this minute, in this very hospital.”

“Surgery?” I puzzled. “What happened, did they shoot him?”

“Nope.” Ben explained, “Seems the idiot went over a fence when they were chasin’ ‘im and landed smack in the middle of a dog pen. Apparently, the pit bull livin’ in it at the time was not pleased.”

“How bad?” I grimaced.

“Sounds REAL bad,” he answered. “It took ‘em awhile ta’ get the dog off ‘im. Unfortunately, they ended up havin’ ta’ drop the hammer on it.”

“Is he going to live?”

“Don’t know. Benson-that’s the copper that I talked to-told me the doc said he’d lost a lot of blood. It’s pretty much touch and go right now.”

“The threefold return,” I muttered under my breath.

“What was that?” Ben asked.

“The threefold return,” I pronounced more clearly. “It’s a belief we Witches have, that everything we do will return to us threefold. Good or Bad.”