Read Online The Law Of Three: A Rowan Gant Investigation by M. R. Sellars - Free Book Online Page A

twisted into the back of my
coat.
    I was stiffly swung in a shallow half circle,
and after that I didn’t see much of anything other than the seat of
the van rushing headlong toward me. I twisted and fought to step
upward into the vehicle as I was propelled at it and in the process
raked my shoulder hard against the frame. The door was already
being slammed behind me as I fell in a twisted heap with my torso
lying across the engine cover. Toward the rear, I heard the side
door groan in a discordant harmony with my own as it was quickly
forced open. The rush of activity was instantly followed by
Felicity climbing in and slamming the opening shut.
    I pushed myself up from the shadows and into
a sitting position, twisting in the seat as I rose. The stark
lights now filled the interior of the Chevy from the front and
sides as video cameras were brought to bear on it. I squeezed my
eyes tightly shut and twisted my head, throwing up my hands to
shield my face, but I still saw spots from the brief glance into
the man-made suns.
    We were parked outside the cordoned area of
the crime scene proper, and therefore, fair game. Now that I had
called down their unrelenting attentions upon us, we had become the
main course.
    The muffled exterior noise jumped in
amplification as the driver’s side door of the van opened, and a
chaotic mix of voices began ricocheting around us.
    “I said, NO COMMENT!” I heard my friend shout
over the unintelligible questions as he folded his large frame in
through the opening and levered the door shut.
    The intensity of the clamor was once again
suppressed, but the beams of garish light still sliced through the
shadows. If they were to be denied a sound byte then they were
intent on fighting like a pack of wild dogs for the best clip of
video.
    “Thanks, Rowan,” Ben snarled at me with thick
sarcasm in his voice as he thrust his keys into the ignition and
started the van. “Thanks a whole hell of a lot. Just what the fuck
did you think you were doing?!”
    “Giving them what they want!” I barked in
return.
    “Have you lost your goddamned mind?! Where
the hell do ya’ think that’s gonna get ya’?!”
    “Someone has to tell them what’s going
on.”
    “That’s for the public relations officer to
handle, not you.”
    “I’m talking about that bitch upstairs!
Someone’s got to tell them what she’s doing!”
    “Don’t you get it?!” he declared, thumping
his fingertips against his forehead and gesturing angrily. “Have
you suddenly gone stupid on me or somethin’? You run off at the
mouth about Albright, and you’re screwed! Like it or not, in this
situation, you’re the odd man out. They’ll spin the whole fuckin’
thing to make you look like a freak, and the way you’re actin’
right now it wouldn’t be hard!”
    It took a moment for what he said to sink in,
but I knew he was correct. I was as out of control as I had ever
been.
    “I’m sorry,” I exclaimed. “But there was no
call for what she did. It was a power play, and you know it.”
    “Yeah, it was,” he admitted as he pulled the
gearshift down into drive and pounded his fist twice on the horn
before letting off the brake. “I told ya’ how she was…” He took a
moment to direct an exclamation toward the windshield. “Get outta
my way you friggin’ asshole, or you’re gonna get run over!
Jeezus!”
    My friend twisted the steering wheel and
nudged the vehicle slowly forward through the group of reporters
and camera operators as they began parting. As he brought the van
around and rotated the wheel back toward center, he shot me a quick
glance.
    “Listen, Kemosabe, I had no idea that was
what she had planned, but it doesn’t surprise me. I told you what
she thought of ya’.”
    “But that whole exercise was done for no
other reason than to get under my skin.” I asserted.
    “Uh-huh,” my friend grunted. “That’s how she
plays the game.”
    “Well, her rules suck.”
    “Aye, but that doesn’t