M Sellars - Harm none

The atmosphere in the room had stiffened with morbid tension the moment Roger’s name became associated with the murders. The original response had been one of sympathetic horror at the prospect of him working side by side with the killer. That feeling was almost instantly replaced by disbelief, followed by disgust the moment the light of suspicion fell directly upon him. Stunned as I was by the revelation that a member of Ariel’s coven, poser or not, might in fact be the killer, I could only imagine how Cally and R.J. were feeling. They had stood in circle with him, and if I were either of them, it would be making me sick.

“…Tell me we actually do have a warrant, Deck,” Ben was continuing his conversation with Detective Deckert now. His query didn’t surprise me, as there had been no such document when we left the MCS Command Post, and this was the first contact he had had with them since. “Good, good. Better get the prosecutor on the phone, and have Benson tell the judge not ta’ get too comfortable, ‘cause I’m bettin’ we’re gonna need another one.”

Ben proceeded to outline the events of the last hour that had caused the few remaining pieces of the puzzle to slip easily into their respective places. The picture was becoming clearer every moment, and I had the distinct feeling that my friend was preparing to frame it and hang it on the wall.

“…Okay, so you get everyone back in. Let’s see…” Ben glanced at his watch. “It’s seven-ten now, so I should be back no later than seven-thirty… Yeah, I know. Yeah. Yeah. Just tell ‘em ya’ can’t find me or somethin’… Yeah, see ya’ in a few.”

“If you don’t mind my asking,” I queried as he settled the handset back onto its cradle, “what was that last bit about not being able to find you?”

He looked around the room letting his gaze flicker uneasily past Cally and R.J. before once again locking with mine. “I guess it doesn’t matter who knows. The media’ll be all over it soon enough. Seems that since there’s an abduction involved, the Feds are all over this thing.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“Don’t know yet, but I can tell ya’ one thing for certain…” He let out a frustrated sigh and directed his index finger at me. “They ain’t gonna be real excited about you.”

“Have they taken over the investigation or something?”

“Not yet, but they’ve apparently been callin’ every ten minutes lookin’ for me. Hell, I’ve been expectin’ it since the beginning. I’m surprised they waited this long.”

“How do you plan on handling it?”

“Right now?” Ben reached up to smooth his hair in his distant manner that bespoke of intense thought. “Right now I need ta’ get back and help Carl take care of all this shit with warrants. As for the FBI, I’ll just hafta cross that bridge when I get to it.”

“What do you want us to do?” Felicity interjected.

“At the moment, I doubt there’s anything that ya’ CAN do,” he answered. “Since no one here knows where this guy lives, and accordin’ to the DMV, he never got a license in the state of Missouri, we hafta wait until we get that employee file.”

“How soon do you think that’ll be?” R.J. posed.

“All depends on El Presidente,” he sarcastically referred to the bank official. “He wasn’t too excited about leavin’ his little shindig. If he doesn’t screw around, then we should have it within the hour.”

“What’ll you do once you get it?” I queried, though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.

“Check his work schedule against the presumed time of the abduction,” he detailed. “Plus, see if anything matches up with the info from the Seattle PD. If he’s got half a brain though, I’m sure he’s usin’ an alias.”

“And if it looks like he’s the one?” I pressed.

“Then we get the warrant and go kick his fuckin’ door down.”

“I’m going with you,” I declared flatly.

“Wait a minute, I don’t know about that…”

Coming quickly up from the couch, Felicity joined his protest, “What do you mean you’re going with him?”

“I mean exactly what I said. I’m going along.”

Our two guests fidgeted nervously in their seats but remained silent. If either of them had an opinion on the subject, it appeared that it wasn’t going to be voiced in the immediate future. Having anticipated the objection, I steadfastly held Ben’s gaze and allowed myself to relax. I knew it was going to take more than just words to convince him.

“Listen, Row,” Ben put on his best sympathetic cop voice and began his explanation. “I realize you’ve been involved in this thing almost from the beginning, and without you, I don’t know if we’d have gotten as far as we have-at least not this fast-but, servin’ a warrant is a lot different than goin’ over a crime scene. Besides, I still hafta figure out how I’m gonna explain you to the Feebs.”

“Listen to Ben, Rowan,” Felicity agreed. “It’s too dangerous.”

“She’s right man,” he added. “What if this asshole has a gun or somethin’? I don’t need to worry about you gettin’ hurt.”

While the two of them were pleading their case, I was focusing my internal energies. My unwavering stare never left Ben’s own, and as they remained locked, I set mystical wheels into motion.

“I don’t need to worry about you either,” I told him in a tranquil, even voice.

“Whaddaya mean?” Ben blinked and looked over at my wife with a questioning glance. “What’s he talkin’ about, Felicity?” His gaze almost immediately returned to mine, drawn back by an unseen force. “It’s my job. I’m trained for it, you ain’t.”

“You’re trained to deal with normal criminals,” I maintained in the same even tone. “This one definitely isn’t normal. We still don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“We know he’s capable of torturin’ and killin’ four women-maybe five if you count Seattle. Plus kidnapping.” He shot back, but his eyes stayed locked with mine. “So I think we pretty much have the bases covered there.”

“That’s not what I mean, Ben. I’m talking about The Craft, or even more likely, ritual magick. He hasn’t played any of those cards yet. Not for real.”

I felt Felicity ease away from me as she realized what I was doing. To her, and anyone in the room other than Ben Storm for that matter, my speech probably sounded like a dull monotone. To my protesting friend, nothing would have changed. In his mind, we were simply carrying on a conversation through which he would explain to me the reasons I wouldn’t be joining him. He had no idea that in a way, he was being hypnotized. He was experiencing the true meaning of being bewitched.

“That stuff again?” he asked. “Look, you’ve made a believer outta me with some of this… You know, like the dreams and all that, but gimme a break. What’s he gonna do? Shoot fire out of his eyes or somethin’?” He chuckled lightly. “Even better, turn us all into frogs and make his getaway? Come on Rowan, get serious…”

“I never said anything like that,” I returned. “And I am serious.”

“What then?” he demanded. “What’s he gonna do?”

“I can’t say for sure, but I know there are any number of things that he might be able to do. I doubt you’d believe me if I told you what they were.”

We had been down this path before. I knew for a fact he wouldn’t believe me. The only way I was going to prove my point was with a demonstration, and as much as I hated to do so, that was exactly what I had been preparing. Through the practiced use of both my voice and my eyes, in the past few moments I had set the stage. I had transfixed him on an ethereal level. Within the next few seconds, I would use the power of suggestion coupled with just a dash of the supernatural to put on the show.