Free All Acts Of Pleasure: A Rowan Gant Investigation by M. R. Sellars

and pulled his
hand from his shoulder, stiffly jabbing his index finger toward me.
His eyes glowered as his face hardened once again, and his mouth
opened in preparation to deliver some manner of angry ripost.
However, no sound issued from him even though his jaw slowly worked
at forming the words.
    After a tense exhale he lowered his hand and
shook his head. With a sad note underscoring his words, he mumbled,
“Yeah, Row. Damn me. That’s fine. If it makes ya’ feel better, go
ahead an’ damn me all ya’ want.”
    We stared at one another in almost total
silence for a handful of heartbeats. I couldn’t think of anything
else to say. I wanted answers I wasn’t going to get, even from my
friend. With that avenue closed to me, I was suddenly feeling very
flustered. I suspected the only thing keeping me from losing any
semblance of rationality I still maintained was the seething anger
that filled my very being.
    For that very reason, I clung to the outrage
like a lifeline.
    Ben turned and glanced out the fogged door
once again, pushing it open for a moment to get a better view. When
he looked back to me, he broke the silence. “The guys from the CSU
just pulled up. They’re gonna hafta search the house.”
    “I pretty much got that from the handful of
papers. What are they looking for?”
    “Look at the warrant. It’s all listed.”
    “I did and it’s pretty goddamned ambiguous,
Ben.”
    “Yeah, well that’s how they write ‘em.”
    “Obviously. So what are they really looking
for?”
    “I can’t tell ya’. You should know that.”
    “Uh-huh, that seems to be your answer for
everything right now.”
    He shook his head. “They’re lookin’ for
evidence, Row. Evidence.”
    “Dammit, Ben. This is wrong and you know
it.”
    “Call your lawyer,” he said. “And light a
candle…or burn some incense…or whatever the hell you Witches do.
‘Cause I’m tellin’ ya’ now, Felicity’s gonna need it.”
    “This isn’t over, Ben.”
    “Jeezus, Row, believe me…I hope like hell
you’re right.”
    “I want to talk to her before you go,” I
demanded.
    “She’s already in custody.”
    “Yeah. No shit.”
    “What I’m sayin’ is that means I can’t let
ya’ talk to ‘er. Not now. Not yet.”
    “Bullshit! Get out of my way. I’m talking to
her.”
    “I just told ya’, you can’t,” he replied in a
far more stern tone, punctuating it with a shake of his head.
“Don’t make this any harder than it already is.”
    “The hell I can’t!” I shot back as I started
forward.
    I didn’t get very far.
    I was stopped cold as the palm of Ben’s hand
thudded hard in the center of my chest. I wasn’t surprised that he
would do something of the sort, but I also had no intention of
letting it stop me for very long. I instantly lashed out, swinging
my right arm wide in a roundhouse punch.
    Of course, I should have realized that he
would be expecting it. As turbulent as the past few minutes had
been, he had probably been waiting for me to do something stupid
all along. And, stupid was putting it mildly.
    My friend’s left arm shot upward out of
trained reflex, sliding against mine and deflecting my angry fist
harmlessly away. With a quick thrust of his right, he pushed me
hard. Since my wildly careening punch already had me off balance,
it didn’t take much for him to launch me backward across the
room.
    I stumbled a pair of steps before completely
losing my footing, and a split second later sharp pain shot through
my buttocks as they impacted the floor. That sensation was almost
instantly followed by a stab of agony lancing into my left elbow
when it came down against the hardwood, and finally there was a
dull thunk on the back of my head from striking the arm of the
chair. That last blow didn’t exactly do wonders for my already
throbbing grey matter.
    I heard myself yelp, and then I started to
scramble upward but only came a few inches off the floor before
dropping back down with a heavy thud.