Kiss The Witch Part 18

"Hold him." I said, though I knew Carlos was doing all he could already.

"What do we do now?"

"Let's get him to the floor."

"How do we do that?"

"I don't know."

"Let go," said Carlos.

"What?"

"Let go of him."

"Let go of him?"

"Trust me, Tony. It will work."

Carlos stepped back and threw his hands into the air. I did the same. Ferguson continued thrashing about and eventually bounced himself out of his seat onto the floor. I stared down at him in dismay, his convulsing seemingly more erratic then before. I looked at Carlos, who seemed equally horrified.

"Carlos, how is this better?"

He furrowed his brows. "I don't know. It was your idea to get him on the floor."

"Yes, but I thought"

"Look!" Carlos pointed at him. Blood ran from Ferguson's mouth and down the side of his chin.

"He's chewed his tongue off!"

"Oh, G.o.d.... Oh G.o.d!"

"Give me your tie."

"My what?"

"Your tie, Carlos. Give me your tie." He undid his tie and handed it to me. "Now sit on his legs."

I rolled the tie into a ball and stuffed it into Ferguson's mouth. Next, I grabbed his arms, pulled them up over his head and pinned them under my knees. Ferguson's secretary, having returned to her desk, heard the commotion, barged into the office and screamed.

"Call 911," I yelled. "Now!"

By the time paramedics arrived, Ferguson's convulsions had subsided to an occasional spastic twitch. His eyes were no longer up in the back of his head, but his pupils remained non-responsive. When asked what happened, I told the paramedic I did not know and that Ferguson simply fell into convulsions.

"Epilepsy," said Carlos. We all turned to look at him. He shrugged. "That's what I think."

Surprisingly, the paramedics bought it.

NINE.

We left Biocrynetix Laboratories in a hurry after that. I remember Carlos asking me what went wrong. To be sure, I didn't even know if what happened to Ferguson was my fault.

"Maybe you were right," I said. "Maybe Ferguson is epileptic."

He shook his head. "I don't know, Tony. I think you nearly killed the guy. You don't know your own strength now that you became one with the coven."

"Please. That's ridiculous."

"Is it? You unleashed a double spell on the man. It's possible that's too much for one person."

"Oh, nice you mention it now, Carlos. May I remind you it was your idea I try the whisper box on him first?"

"Yeah, but I didn't say kill him."

"I didn't kill him."

"You don't know that. Did you see his eyes when they wheeled him out?"

"Forget it. Just drive."

"Where to?"

"I think we need to trace things back to the beginning. Do you have Mark Williams' address?"

"Dominic's got it. Want me call him?"

"Yes. I think we should pay a visit to his widow. Maybe she can shed some light on this for us."

"Company."

"Yeah, I suppose she can use the company."

"No. I mean we have company."

I looked at Carlos. His eyes were glued to the rearview mirror. "We're being followed?"

"Yeah. A black sedan."

"You see who it is?"

"Uh-uh. The windows are tinted too dark. You want me to pull over and see if they stop?"

"No, they won't stop. Can you see the plates?"

He sped up a bit to put some distance between the vehicles. "Yeah, I see it now. Ma.s.sachusetts. Charlie-Alfa-Romeo-Echo-1."

"I'll call it in." I got my phone out and speed-dialed Spinelli. He answered on the second ring.

"Tony. 'Sup?"

"Dominic, we are three miles east of Biocrynetix Laboratories. We have a tail. I want you to run this tag. Ma.s.sachusetts, Charlie-Alfa-Romeo-Echo-1."

"You're kidding. Right?"

"What?"

"CARE-1?"

"Huh?"

"That's what it spells."

"Just do it."

He came back thirty seconds later. "Tony."

"Yes?"

"E.I.N.I. is down. Can't run the tags right now, but I called for a unit to drop in behind you to pull him over."

"That's good. Make sure they know"

Carlos interpreted. "Gone."

"What?"

"They veered south down a side street. Want me to double back and follow them?"

"No. Forget it." I got back on the phone. "Dominic, they're gone. Send that unit south. They're heading for Route-1. Be advised, they're probably armed."

Spinelli returned, "Got it."

"One more thing. When you're done, call me back with an address for Mark Williams."

"Sure. No problem."

"Thanks."

I tucked the phone back in my pocket. "He's a good man," I said.

"Dominic?" Carlos nodded. "That he is."

I found my gaze wandering out the window and my mind along with it. Images of the night before followed like shadows I could not shake. I thought of Spinelli. Imagined the look on his face if he knew what I did to his fiancee. What she did to me. It was no big deal for Lilith. She expected it might happen. Accepted it as the price for making me partic.i.p.ate in the ceremony. Spinelli, I knew, was incapable of demonstrating a similar understanding.

As my mind drifted among images of Ursula's oiled body reflecting in the blade of the athame and my own in the black mirror, I heard Carlos ask, "You think?"

I came back to him on a thread of disinterest. "Huh?"

He regarded me with a curious scowl. "Where's your head?"

"What do you mean? It's right here."

"I asked what you thought."

"'Bout what?"

"That car. The one following us. They backed off as soon as Dominic called in backup. You think they had a police scanner? Maybe they heard the call."

I shook my head as if I didn't care. I suppose I did not. "Don't know, Carlos. Maybe."

My phone rang. It was Spinelli with Williams' address. We headed there immediately, arriving around five-thirty. Mrs. Williams let us in and showed us to the living room. I looked around. The TV was on. Volume down. Apparently, we had interrupted a rerun of Judge Judy. Pictures of Mrs. Williams and her husband adorned the fireplace mantle and bookshelves. Most were shots of the two posing at receptions and award banquets, many with Mister Williams holding a drink.

"Mrs. Williams, we're sorry for interrupting," I said. "But this won't take long. I promise."

She came back, "The only thing taking too long, Detective, is you getting to the bottom of this case."

"Ma'am?"

"Haven't you come to investigate my husband's death?"

I stole a glance at Carlos. He seemed equally surprised. "We did want to ask you some questions."

She grabbed a pack of smokes off the coffee table and tapped it against her palm. A single cigarette slid out. She offered it to me. "Smoke?"

I waved her off with a polite smile. She gestured to Carlos without actually offering it to him. Carlos stepped forward and liberated it from the pack.

"Thanks," he said, and slipped it into his shirt pocket. "I'll save it for later if you don't mind."

The look on her face told me she did. She tapped another from the pack, lit it up and blew the smoke in Carlos' face. "You have questions, Detective?"

I crossed the room to an open slider leading to the patio. "Yes. I wanted to ask you if your husband ever talked about his work at Biocrynetix Laboratories, especially lately."

She shook her head, exhausting a lung full of smoke around her face. "My husband never discussed his work, Detective. Least not with me. His contract prohibited him discussing it with anyone outside the lab."

"Do you know what he was working on when he died?"

"No, but it is what killed him. I know that much."

"How do you mean?"

She embraced another drag of her cigarette and expelled it effortlessly. "Of course IT did not kill him. They killed him because of it."