The End Of Desire argi-8

by M. R. Sellars

  “Oh, she’ll agree,” Felicity assured her. “And she will show, I can guarantee it.”

  “How?”

  “You have absolutely no idea what Miranda gives her. Unfortunately, I do.”

  “Is it really that good?” Constance asked, a mild curiosity in her tone. “I mean, I’ve studied sexual predators before…but to risk being caught, all over sexual release?”

  “Like I said…” Felicity replied. Her voice was a half whisper filled with an almost wistful longing. “You have no idea.”

  *****

  Annalise finally called just before three in the afternoon. As expected, the verbal exchange between Felicity and her was heated for the duration. However, my wife played it well. Of course, when it came right down to it, there was really no acting required. Everything that came out of her mouth was real and uncensored.

  Just as Felicity had predicted, it didn’t take much for Annalise to agree to a meeting between them. Still, as expected, she remained cautious and unwilling to relinquish control. She refused to commit to a time or place, except to say we should expect another call when she was ready.

  The wheels spun quickly into motion, and I could feel the situation gaining speed. Even though Constance and the resources of the FBI were now on deck, deep inside I could feel that none of this was going to go according to any earthly plan, theirs or Annalise’s.

  I only hoped that when the crash finally came, we would all be walking away from it in one piece. Unfortunately, I couldn’t shake the feeling that some breakage was about to occur.

  CHAPTER 41:

  “How do I look?” Constance asked, inspecting herself in the large mirror hanging over our dining room buffet.

  Agent Parker had just finished helping her pin a long, bright auburn wig to her head, and she was primping the spiral curls into position around her face and across her shoulders.

  She was clad in a pair of jeans and a button down shirt, much like Felicity would normally wear for a casual night out. The notable exceptions were that my wife customarily didn’t have a bulletproof vest beneath her clothes, a wireless transmitter on her belt, or a 40-caliber Sig Sauer riding in the small of her back.

  “Close enough,” I said. “At a distance, definitely passable. But, once she gets close to you though, I don’t know.”

  “Once she gets that close,” she replied. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “Aye,” Felicity added. “Don’t worry. You look good.”

  “So,” I asked. “What if she’s seen Felicity since she changed her hair?”

  “Then we’re screwed,” Constance answered in a purely matter-of-fact tone. “The choice on the wig was a judgment call. They did a psych analysis on the recorded conversations and determination was that she probably would have mentioned something about Felicity’s hair if she knew. The behavioral analyst said she would have felt empowered by causing Felicity to make a change in her appearance and therefore would have felt a need to gloat about it.”

  “I hope they’re right.”

  “They almost always are.”

  “Almost?” I asked.

  “Nobody’s perfect,” she replied.

  The front door opened, and Ben stepped into the house, shoving his cell phone back into his pocket as he entered.

  “Hmmmm… Firehair junior,” he said once he set his eyes on Constance.

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  “Can you maybe keep it for later?” he quipped.

  “This isn’t really the right time for jokes, Ben,” she replied.

  “Who says I’m jokin’?” he said then turned serious and asked, “She call?”

  “No,” Constance replied. “Just getting prepared.”

  “Yeah, okay.” He made a show of heaving his shoulders and feigning a shiver. “Friggin’ cold out there.”

  “Aye, you should have worn your coat,” Felicity told him.

  “Wasn’t expectin’ it ta’ take that long.”

  “Problems?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No. Just stuff.”

  “Stuff?”

  “Yeah.” He gave me a nonchalant shrug. “You know, stuff.”

  “Okay,” I replied.

  I didn’t press him any further. Whatever the phone call had been about, he felt it necessary to step outside to take it. He wasn’t acting particularly concerned, so I had to assume it was nothing earth shattering.

  I glanced around the room as the short spate of conversation waned. For all the silence that ensued, there was still a good deal of activity, some important, and some just to expend nervous energy.

  Constance was busy hooking the receiver for her wireless around her ear and hiding it beneath the temporary hair, while Agent Parker was helping out by threading the wire down the back of her shirt and making the connections to the small transmitter at her belt. Felicity had her arms folded beneath her breast and was pacing back and forth. The dogs, not wanting to miss anything, were laying in the living room following her with their eyes. Ben was still eyeing Constance but not saying a word. Judging by the look on his face, I had a feeling his initial comment about the wig really hadn’t been a joke at all.

  I turned and looked over at the pendulum clock on our dining room wall. It was edging toward seven, just like it had been when I checked moments ago. Four hours had gone by, and we were still waiting, a fact that wasn’t helping my sense of foreboding in the least.

  “You two should relax,” Constance said, glancing between Felicity and me as she brushed more hair down over her ear. “This could be a dry run. She might not even call tonight. She might wait until tomorrow, or the next day.”

  “No… She’ll call soon,” Felicity replied.

  “You need to be prepared if she doesn’t,” Constance offered.

  “No,” my wife said confidently. “I don’t.”

  The clock made a loud thunk as if to punctuate her statement. The minute hand had completed its upward journey and the internal spring automatically engaged. The winding released and chattered through the house as it drew back the hammer then proceeded to launch it against the chime. Before the fourth bong had finished reverberating, the telephone started to ring.

  “Goddamn Witches,” Ben muttered.

  Felicity stepped over to the table and picked up the handset. Constance gave her a quick nod, so she thumbed it on and placed it up to her ear.

  “I was beginning to think you had second thoughts,” my wife said, her voice coated with a thick frost. “Where do you want to do this?”

  The last chime of the hour echoed from the clock with a dull finality as we stood waiting. I don’t know about everyone else in the room, but I was holding my breath.

  “Are you sure?” Felicity finally said. “I thought you’d want it to be someplace more private… I see… Well, that’s a big place. Where should I meet you once I’m there? Uh-huh… Aye… I can’t wait.”

  She switched off the phone and laid it back on the table as she turned to fully face us.

  “The zoo,” she said. “In one hour. She told me to wait for her by the carousel. She also said she’ll be watching, and I’d best come alone or she won’t show.”

  “Dammit,” Constance muttered. “The zoo has their holiday light displays running, and it’s going to be crowded.”

  “Prob’ly why she picked it,” Ben grumbled. “Easier ta’ disappear into the crowd than to be out in the open.”

  “Did you hear anything in the background?” Constance asked. “Anything that might indicate she’s already there?”

  “No,” Felicity replied, shaking her head. “It was quiet.”

  “She might be there but sitting in a car on the parking lot,” the other agent offered.

  “Probably,” Constance said with a nod.

  “Your call,” Ben huffed, nodding toward Constance. “Whaddaya wanna do?”

  “I don’t like it,” she replied after a moment. “Not at all… But, who knows if we’ll get another chance.” She
turned to the other agent. “Parker, call it in. Get as many bodies as we can into the crowd, and get SWAT on standby. Also, have someone notify the zoo’s park security. Tell them to go about business as usual, but let them know what’s going on. Tell them do not approach. We don’t need some rent-a-cop blowing this and getting someone hurt. Once I leave, give me about five minutes, then head out, but take a different route out of the subdivision. Catch up with me on Highway Forty, but hang back in case I’m tailed.”

  “Got it,” Agent Parker replied, pulling out her cell phone and starting to dial.

  Constance stepped into the dining room then pulled her coat from the back of a chair and quickly slipped into it. Picking up Felicity’s keys from the buffet, she turned back to us.

  “Ben, you still have two local units outside. If you need…”

  “Go,” Ben said, cutting her off. “I’ve got it covered here.”

  “Constance…” Felicity spoke up with a bit of hesitation in her voice. “Thank you…”

  She gave her a nod and replied, “I’ll call as soon as this is over. You can thank me then.”

  She turned and headed toward the back of the house where Felicity’s Jeep was parked. Just before she reached the kitchen doorway, Ben called out, “Connie…”

  She stopped and looked back, a surprised expression on her face. I suspected it was due to the nickname, since I’d only seen one other person get away with calling her by it, and this was the first time I’d ever heard Ben use it when she was present.

  My friend just stared at her for a second then said, “Be careful. ‘Kay?”

  She gave him a quick smile then disappeared around the corner. A few seconds later, we heard the Jeep moving alongside the house as she backed it out of the driveway then sped off down the street. As ordered, Agent Parker followed along behind several minutes later.

  Ben stood silently at the window, peering through a small crack in the blinds. Every now and then he would glance up at the clock then return his gaze to the opening. After a few minutes, he turned and pulled his jacket from the back of a chair and started shrugging into it.

  “Something wrong?” I asked.

  “Get your coats,” he replied.

  “Why?” Felicity asked.

  “‘Cause it’s cold outside,” he told her.

  “Why are we…”

  “Just get your coats,” he repeated. “We’re goin’ ta’ break some rules.”

  CHAPTER 42:

  Ben exited the highway and pulled the van into Forest Park then moved with the flow of traffic until he could swing into the zoo parking lot. He hadn’t been particularly forthcoming with answers to any of our questions, so both Felicity and I had eventually given up and simply rode along in silence. It was obvious to us where we were going. What our taciturn friend had in mind, however, remained a mystery.

  He slowly pulled around the lot, bypassing several empty spaces until he came back around and located one with a halfway decent view of the zoo entrance. Nosing in, he shut off the lights and engine then cracked his side window to keep the windshield from fogging over. He simply stared through the glass, watching the entrance without saying a word.

  After about a minute, I said, “I take it we aren’t getting out.”

  “Nope. Not yet, anyway,” he replied then glanced over his shoulder and said, “Felicity, hand me that bag that’s in the seat next to ya’.”

  My wife felt around in the dark and then passed a paper bag forward. I twisted in my seat and took it from her then handed it to Ben.

  “Dinner?” I asked with a note of sarcasm, as he took it.

  He opened the top of the bag then pulled out a handheld walkie-talkie and switched it on.

  “No. It’s stuff,” he grunted as he ramped up the volume into the audible range then started clicking through the preset channels.

  “…ear so far,” a familiar female voice crackled from the speaker. “How’s my signal?”

  He stopped and listened intently.

  “Reading you loud and clear,” a male voice replied.

  “Okay, I’m approaching the entrance,” Constance’s voice came back across the air.

  “Lawson has a visual on you,” the man told her.

  Ben upped the volume on the walkie-talkie a bit more then laid it on the console between us.

  “Okay, I see you,” the man responded a few seconds later. “Washburn will pick you up once you’re inside. He’ll hand you off to Frye at the Bayou Bullfrog display.”

  “Good. Any sign of her yet?”

  “Negative.”

  The radio crackled with a burst of static then fell silent for the moment. I looked over at Ben who had directed his stare back out the windshield.

  “Where did you get that?” I asked.

  “It’s police stuff,” he replied.

  “That isn’t your regular radio, Ben.”

  “I got a new one.”

  “In a brown paper bag?”

  “Recycled packaging,” he returned.

  “That’s not police stuff. It’s FBI stuff,” I said.

  “Real cops got ‘em too,” he said, verbally hinting at his selective lack of respect for the federal agency.

  “Yeah… Why am I not buying that?”

  He gave me a half shrug but didn’t avert his gaze from the entrance. “Hey, she wasn’t gonna be usin’ it.”

  “You stole that from Constance?” Felicity asked.

  “Borrowed,” he replied. “There’s a difference. Besides, ain’t you the one who wanted us ta’ break the rules?”

  “So we came here to listen?” she asked.

  “We came here so when they take ‘er down, I can get ya’ a few minutes with ‘er before they throw ‘er in a really dark hole.”

  “Are you serious?” I asked.

  “Look, Constance’ll try ta’ make it happen, just like she said she would. But, I ain’t countin’ on it. Once the Feebs got their hands on ‘er, things are gonna get real tight. She off’ed a federal judge, remember?”

  “Yeah,” I replied.

  “So, the real deal is this might be the only chance ya’ get. I’m just evenin’ the odds.”

  “So, how much trouble is this going…”

  The radio crackled and he held up a hand to shush me.

  “Mandalay is in line at the gate,” the earlier voice announced.

  “Ten-four,” another voice responded.

  The device hissed then settled back into silence for the moment.

  “What?” Ben asked, glancing over at me.

  “How much trouble is this going to cause for you?” I repeated.

  “Didn’t ya’ say this’s what it’s gonna take ta’ get rid of the ghost bitch?”

  “In theory.”

  “Well, then let’s hope your theory’s right.”

  “You’re still going to get into trouble though, aren’t you?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” he replied. “I’m pretty much already suspended.”

  “The phone call earlier?”

  “Yeah. S’posed ta’ have a meetin’ tomorrow mornin’. But, that’s just a formality. Unless I’m completely off base, it’s pretty much all over except the paperwork. Lookin’ like thirty days, no pay.”

  “I really appreciate this, Ben,” Felicity said.

  “Yeah, I’ll remember that.”

  “Just remind me if I try to bite you again,” she quipped.

  “Uh-huh,” he grunted. “What was that you told me? Oh yeah, like that’d work. Why don’t ya’ just make sure ya’ invite me over ta’ dinner a lot for the next month. And, maybe get me somethin’ real nice for Christmas too.”

  The radio crackled and hissed, then Constance’s voice issued from the speaker once again. “I’m in and I see Washburn. Heading for the carousel now.”

  A new voice followed. “I’ve got Mandalay. Everything’s clear.”

  My head was starting to throb with a fresh round of stabs in the back of my skull. While, as usual, the ch
ronic ache had never fully subsided, it had at least faded into the background for the most part once Felicity was back on an even keel. Now, it was returning with a vengeance.

  “She’s here,” I said.

  “Where?” Ben asked, scanning the distant crowd of people who were still waiting to enter through the gates. “Do ya’ see ‘er?”

  “No,” I replied. “But, I feel her.”

  “Fuckin’ wonderful,” he replied. “Well, at least we know she wasn’t blowin’ smoke about showin’ up.”

  A handful of minutes oozed by, and the radio crackled again.

  “Frye, you should be able to see Mandalay in about ten seconds.”

  A female voice answered a moment later. “I’ve got her. Clear so far.”

  “Who’s covering the carousel?” Constance’s voice blipped in.

  “Book is on the left at the concession stand,” the earlier voice replied. “Tamm is in the seating area making like a mommy.”

  “I don’t like it,” Constance replied. “Too many civilians. Especially children. Where’s our takedown point?”

  “When approached, try to lead her back the way you’re coming in. We’ll move when there’s an opportunity.”

  “And, if she doesn’t follow?”

  A long span of silence filled in behind her question. Finally, the radio crackled again and the man replied, “We follow her.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  The radio hissed then fell quiet. We simply waited since there was nothing else we could do.

  After a couple of minutes, Ben asked, “You still feelin’ ‘er?”

  “Yeah,” I replied. “Like a hammer to the back of the head.”

  “What about you, Firehair?” he queried.

  “Mmhmm,” she hummed.

  I turned and gave her a curious glance. She had been especially quiet for the past few minutes, and a wordless response wasn’t like her at all. She caught my gaze and simply raised a questioning eyebrow.

  “Are you doing okay, honey?” I asked.