Audra drove the distance across town in relative calm as she tried not to see the image of Margret in Ethan's arms.
"Love stinks," Gwyn said as she appeared in the passenger seat beside Audra.
"Yes, ma'am," Audra agreed as she turned down Main Street and headed to the B&B.
"I just wanted to give my… sympathies before you made it to the specter repelling B&B," Gwyn said. "For what it's worth, he didn't follow Margret. He waited a moment, cursed to himself, and then followed you. That has to mean something, right?" Gwyn disappeared as Audra pulled into the B&B parking lot.
Audra took several steadying breaths before getting out of the car. She looked at the photo albums and letters that Renee had given her and shook her head since she was certain she didn't have the heart to look through any of it. She popped the trunk and retrieved all of the bags from the day's shopping trip. She carried them into her room and went about putting them away nice and neatly. When she came to the bag with her costume for the night she snorted, tossing it in a chair. When she finally crashed onto the bed she looked at the clock. It was just shy of seven.
She set the alarm for ten before stripping naked and getting under the covers. She wasn't sure how she would feel once she woke up, but she was sure that she needed to rest if she were going to be of any use to Magic or Yolanda that night at The Scoop. Before falling asleep she thought about Gwyn's purple candle and wondered if specter love would be less complicated.
Audra awoke three hours later and, while well rested, the impact of finding out about Ethan's obvious feelings for Margret still weighed on her. She stepped into the shower and let the hot water run over her. She told herself that she could not think about Ethan any more and had to focus on getting ready for the night and going with Yolanda to meet Magic at The Scoop. She forced herself into the black shorts that were two sizes too small and seemed like a good idea in the dark corner mirror at Fashions Today, then contorted her arms to lace up and tie off the black corset just tight enough not to fall off and still leave her room to breathe.
She piled her upper eyelids high with thick black eye shadow and ran a stick of blood-red lip color over her mouth. She already didn't recognize herself and half smiled as she pulled her hair into a bun at the nape of her neck and placed a hair net over it. She took a moment to look at the short black wig and wondered why she didn't pick the red one instead, then shrugged, placing the wig over her hair and adjusting it to fit properly. She painted her fingernails, alternating black and blue, before switching on the television and watching the ten o'clock news.
She was careful to sit slowly in the tight pants in order to avoid ripping them. She perched on the edge of the chair, blowing her nails dry when the news anchor announced a twenty-five year old mystery behind the death of Abigail Stevens of Specter, Georgia.
"Oh no," Audra murmured as she pressed the volume upward, careful not to smudge her nail polish. A man on the scene in front of the hospital appeared in front of the camera.
"We don't know much, but what we do know is that the body of Abigail Stevens was exhumed from her place of rest at the local cemetery and brought here to this hospital for further autopsy and examination."
The scene changed to footage of the camera following AD Cordero and Ethan Cole from the hospital to their cars. The man on the scene asked for comment but neither obliged.
"We were unable to get either local Sheriff Ethan Cole, or Jonathan Cordero, Assistant Director of the FBI out of New York, to comment on this case however, we do know that FBI Special Agent Audra Wheeler drove into the town of Specter nearly a week ago to investigate the strange death of another local woman, Gwyneth Miller."
The image on the television changed to that of Audra speaking at the town hall meeting.
"We also learned that Agent Wheeler came in from Savannah investigating the death of Regina Fowler, a woman who looks much like Gwyneth Miller, in a case of circumstances that are very similar to those of Ms. Miller."
The image on the screen flashed to pictures of Gwyn and Regina, alive and smiling, side by side.
The image changed again to the man on the scene interviewing the Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, Harold Spinks.
"Nobody informed the Governor's office or myself, the State Bureau of Investigation, or even the southern FBI office in this matter. I was told that Agent Wheeler was sent to investigate but was not expected to take up residence, or start an onsite task force. I for one would love to speak with Agent Wheeler and see who gave her the authority to pursue this investigation in our jurisdiction."
"Lieutenant Governor, is it plausible that the FBI is investigating a serial killer?" the man on the scene asked.
"Please don't answer that," Audra murmured to the television.
"Well, anything is possible. I simply don't know because, as I said, no one informed the Governor's office or myself."
"Shit!" Audra spit out as she continued to watch the speculations of why she and her team were in Specter unfold. The man on the scene managed to talk to any and everybody he could and got a spectrum of comments that were not nice regarding specters, the FBI, and herself from town residents.
"While we can not give you any answers, we can leave you with this number to call the FBI if you have any information, and these final words of the specter Gwyneth Miller caught on camera."
"No," Audra breathed in disbelief.
She watched as the footage switched back to the town hall meeting. A camera zeroed in on Gwyneth Miller's shaky specter manifestation and the microphone caught her auditorium-enhanced voice perfectly.
"I was not killed by a specter." Gwyneth's voice echoed before her face melted into an expression of fear and horror. "I was killed by one of you!" Gwyneth phased out but her final words, set in a hollow tone against the walls of the auditorium, were crystal clear. "I will find out who."
"Perfect," Audra said as she watched the end of the report for any other damaging information. Other than a little more speculation there was nothing.
She turned off the television and there was a knock on the door. She opened it to find Cordero standing with a file. He paused for a moment taking in Audra's Scoop inspired transformation.
"Should I be worried?" he asked.
"Yolanda and I were invited to The Scoop. A dancer there knew Abigail."
Cordero nodded. "Did you see the news?"
"I sure did."
"According to Thomas the damn thing has already gone fucking viral," Cordero informed her.
"Are we authorized to be here?" she asked.
"Of course we are. If there were a real problem then the Governor would have come himself to say so," Cordero brushed away that bit of speculation and held the file up for Audra to see. "The autopsy report."
Audra took the file and waited for Cordero to give her the summary.
"Her neck was broken," he said. "Chances are she was asphyxiated but the killer made sure she was dead by breaking her neck. There were also traces of a truth serum in her bones and sleeping pill fragments in her teeth. I figure if the night nurse did rounds every hour, she was quietly questioned before she perished."
Audra took a deep breath and let it out.
"Also, Thomas came across a few interesting facts in his perusal of vital statistics. While neither Kendra nor Margret's births were recorded accurately, they did manage to find Abigail's wedding license with the name Raj Kapure. He was in the Navy as part of an exchange program of some sort but was discharged shortly after they were married."
"But Renee said he died," Audra said, confused.
"No, it seems he was set to go back to India, except marriage to a US Citizen made him eligible to stay in the States. Thomas found that he received his green card a few months before Gwyneth was born. The best part is, he turns out to be a prince."
"As in royalty?" Audra asked.
"Yes. She filed for divorce a month after he got his green card but it doesn't appear that the divorce was ever finalized," Cordero answered. "He's still alive. Living in Boston."
"Wow," Audra said. "Has anyone called him?"
"Not yet."
"Any theories?" Audra asked.
"I'm thinking he married for a green card. Maybe it was love that didn't work out. Maybe she ran away from him. If he's responsible, a professional hit could be some sort of honor killing. She did get pregnant with another man's baby while married to him. Eric pointed that possibility out."
"Shit," Audra said, disappointed by this possibility. "I'll call him tomorrow," she promised as Yolanda came into view, strutting up in her fishnets, tapping her riding crop against her open palm.
Cordero turned to see the young woman pause in the middle of the hallway and do a three-sixty spin. He turned back to Audra.
"Should I send Neil and Kane?" he asked.
"It's a good idea, just tell them to keep their distance unless it's obvious that they're needed."
"Anytime today, Wheeler." Yolanda was already in her needed persona.
Cordero lifted an eyebrow.
"She's good at her job," Audra said as she reached for her room key and boots.
She saw her specter shield waiting on the side table but opted to leave it and her specter zapper there. She grabbed a purse and inserted her gun, room key, and a small wad of cash. She exited the room to see Yolanda leaning against the wall, annoyed, chewing a wad of gum.
"Come on, old lady," she said.
Audra turned an offended eye on Yolanda who broke character and laughed. "I'll meet you in the car," she offered apologetically.
Cordero shook his head as Audra stepped into her knee high boots. "Neil and Kane will be there in the hour."
"How do you do it?" Audra asked Yolanda as they headed to The Scoop. "How do you change into different people so easily?"
Yolanda was quiet for a while.
"If I tell you, I don't want you to feel awkward or treat me any differently," she said.
"Okay," Audra agreed.
"I'm a borderline narcissistic sociopath," she revealed. "I'm borderline because I don't display overtly anti-social pleasure seeking behavior, but it's easy for me to get people to say and do what I need them to through quasi manipulation. Telling them what they want or need to believe; that I'm just like them."
"Do you feel emotions?" Audra asked.
"I do feel emotions," Yolanda replied. "However, I'm able to hide my feelings and emulate emotions that I do not feel, very well. Borderline also means that I'm able to feel empathy. This keeps me from harming others without a really good reason."
Audra nodded.
"A really good, socially acceptable reason," Yolanda clarified.
"I get it," Audra assured her.
"Good."
"Did you find the FBI or did the FBI find you?" Audra asked.
"Long story," she answered with a mischievous smile.