Ripper (38 page)

My brain worked overtime the entire drive to SMU. I was willing to forgive myself for not seeing clearly last night. I’d been riding the adrenaline high of meeting Jack the Ripper and then fighting for my life. The beast that seemed to be inside me didn’t think analytically. She seemed to run completely off instinct. If Marcus hadn’t been able to talk me down, I would have gleefully killed Peter Hamilton and then I would have gone after Alexander Sharpe. It had been there in the back of my mind that I should kill the vampire before he tried to kill me. I would have dropped Hamilton’s corpse and turned to start in on Sharpe. The need, the urge to kill had been a strong force. I hadn’t even let Gray reach me. Marcus had helped me turn from it. I could still feel the peaceful push of his magic calling me back to myself. Marcus had known what to do. That vampire knew a hell of a lot more about what was going on than he let on, and I intended to get answers out of him, too.

The campus was already starting to look empty as I pulled into the faculty parking garage. I pulled up to the second level and found a spot in the back where hopefully no one would notice I didn’t have the right pass. If I got a ticket I would have to deal with it. Before I got out of the car, I shoved the gun Gray had given me in my bag. I had been forced to shove it under the driver’s seat of my car earlier because they don’t let anyone but law enforcement carry in a courthouse. I doubted there was a metal detector at the admin building, and even if there was, I had a permit. I only cared about getting to the administration building and looking over those class rolls. Hamilton had promised to send them to me, but he must have forgotten in the midst of all his murders.

I hurried along the pathway, not paying any attention to what was around me. When I emerged into the late afternoon sunlight I saw that the last classes of the afternoon were starting to let out. I slipped into the door of the admin building and prayed that they stayed open until five. That would give me an hour to convince someone to let me look at the rolls.

In the end, it was a cinch. The news of Peter Hamilton’s arrest on murder charges was all anyone could talk about. He was only being charged with the murder of Joanne Taylor, and the official story was that he had killed her accidentally in a fit of rage brought on by his brain tumor. Did Gray have an assistant who came up with that bullshit or was it the work of the Council? Whoever it was, they’d done me a massive favor. When I explained who I was and that I was merely tying up some loose ends for the victim’s mother, the girl working the registrar’s desk pulled up the rolls and started to print them out for me.

“Could I have everything from the last three years?” I asked as she typed. She bombarded me with questions and I answered because it seemed to keep her working.

“And you were there when they arrested him?”

I went into the whole story, albeit a highly edited version. If the Council could make up crap, then so could I. I kept talking right up to the point that I got the printouts in my hand. I thanked the girl kindly and then dashed off. I waited until I was out on the steps to take a look at what I had in my hands. The sun was low in the sky and I kind of hoped I wouldn’t find anything. If I didn’t then I could happily go along with whatever Gray wanted. I could tell Quinn that we were being paranoid, give him back his check, and get ready for my honeymoon. If I didn’t find anything out from this line of questioning, that was exactly what I would do, I promised myself as I looked down at the lists of students.

But that wasn’t how it worked out. Right there on page three, I found the one name I had sincerely hoped I wouldn’t find because I was in serious trouble. I stood up, shoved the papers into my bag, and took off for my car because I was going to see Quinn early. The king had a much bigger problem than he could have imagined.

My cell phone in hand, I walked briskly toward the parking garage. I called Gray first, but it went straight to voice mail. It wasn’t surprising since I knew he was scheduled to be in meetings all afternoon. I left a message and decided that maybe it was time to give some new friends a call. Gray might not be thrilled with the Council, but they served an important purpose, and if someone was trying to take down the king, then I had to try to stop it. I clicked the button to call that Zack guy I had met the other night. He told me to call him if I had any trouble, and he seemed pretty competent. He could also get a message to Quinn if I needed him to.

He answered on the first ring.

“This is Owens,” a deep voice said expectantly.

“Zack?”

“Kelsey?” His voice went from professional to concerned in no time flat. He also had excellent ears since he knew my voice and we’d only met the once. “I’m so glad you called. How are you?”

“I’m fine. I need to talk to Quinn.” I walked into the parking garage. It was far emptier than before. Faculty left at the first opportunity around here. A little like the students. “Tell him I know who the killer is and he’s got some cleaning up to do.”

“Kelsey, you’re breaking up.” The phone crackled and if he said something else, it got lost.

“It must be the damn parking garage.” A deep chill swept over me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I knew someone was watching. “Zack?”

“I can barely hear you,” he practically shouted.

I spoke as clearly as I could. I wanted someone, anyone to know where I was because that feeling wasn’t going away. “I’m in the faculty parking garage at SMU.”

Out of nowhere a hand batted the phone out of my hand. It clattered to the ground. I spun from the force of that hand hitting me and looked straight into the cold eyes of Darren Castle.

“You had to keep looking, didn’t you?”

I backed up. He’d been the name on the list. The one name I hadn’t wanted to find because it meant I was knee deep in the mud. “You killed her and she was your friend.”

“She was a pretty girl,” Darren said, but I heard the hesitation in his voice. “Unlike every other wolf alive, I like some variety. I enjoyed chasing her. I would have enjoyed catching her if she hadn’t forced us to kill her.”

I needed to keep him talking. My phone was face up and the lights were on, indicating the call was still live. There might be some shot at Zack hearing the conversation. My heart was starting to pound. Gray was going to be so upset if I got myself killed three days before our wedding.

“No.” I’d seen the way he treated her even after she was dead. “You loved her. You didn’t want to kill her. You hated yourself for doing it. It’s why you buried her separately, why you took care with her.”

He stood there, blocking the way out of the garage. Even in his flannel shirt and jeans, he radiated power. His build was stocky and muscular and there was no doubt he was an alpha. He didn’t lead any pack today, but he would someday. He would lead them by right of tooth and claw. He would lead them because he would be able to kill anyone who questioned his right.

“I accept her death,” Darren said with a righteous tone to his voice. “And I didn’t kill her. My father did. I haven’t killed anyone, though I did watch a couple of times. He killed Jo because she saw Hamilton with that vampire. She was going to give up the entire game. Dad had to strangle her or she was going straight to the king with news that Sharpe wasn’t the killer. Everyone would have known and then it would all have been for nothing.”

I breathed, patiently waiting. He seemed willing to talk. If he wasn’t lying, he hadn’t actually killed anyone before and likely wanted to put it off. Just because he’d helped his father didn’t mean he was ready to move up in ranks himself. Killing isn’t easy. Not the first time. Not even when you’re a predator. “What did you expect to get out of this?”

Now I had him on a subject he really liked. His face came alive with passion. “Freedom. Ever since McKenzie sold us to the vampires for a seat on the Council, we’ve been slowly becoming their slaves. We are wolves. We should rule ourselves. We shouldn’t have to watch as our women become whores.”

“Have some of the she wolves chosen to stay with the vampires for more than a night?” I thought about that couple I’d seen going into the club. They’d been together for a while, I would guess. That must upset someone like Joseph Castle to no end. It made me wonder what other rules the king had tossed out. Traditionally, the alpha of a pack was practically a god. He made all the important decisions for his group. “Does the king not allow the alpha to select mates anymore?”

Darren practically spit his answer at me. “We’re allowed to make suggestions, but if a female chooses not to mate with our selections, then we have to back down. He can also shut down our business ventures whenever he pleases.”

I bet he could. According to Gray, the king shut down a drug ring the wolves had been running. “So the king won’t let you rape women or run drugs. You have it hard, man.”

I should have watched my mouth, but I was starting to agree with the king more and more.

His eyes began to take on the predator inside him. His features elongated as he struggled to control his urge to change. “It will all be over once the Ranger finds your body. He’ll have to believe it was Sharpe since the idiot professor is in custody. I’ve already written the note. When he raids Sharpe’s apartment, he’ll find traces of you everywhere. Dad’s taking care of that. I have to bring you in and we can finally be done. When Sloane tries to bring in Sharpe and the king saves him, the rest of the wolves will finally see him for what he really is.”

I saw a few problems with the scenario and wondered if the Castle men weren’t every bit as crazy as Peter Hamilton. “What if the king allows the arrest?”

“He won’t.” Darren’s hatred was thick in the air. “Vampires protect each other. They expect us to do what they tell us, but they only care about their own rules. Otherwise, why would they let some scum like Sharpe live after everything he’s done?”

I didn’t point out that they’d done the same things as Sharpe. I chose another tactic because I wasn’t so hot on becoming victim number seven. “You’re underestimating Lieutenant Sloane. He won’t arrest Sharpe.”

“Of course he will. He doesn’t play favorites. He’ll arrest anyone he thinks has done something wrong. Look how he fucked with Quinn last year. That was sweet. My dad laughed the whole time Sloane was hauling that pervert out. Too bad he couldn’t make it stick.”

“I assure you if he thinks Alexander Sharpe killed me, he will not arrest him. Sharpe will die and there won’t be anything left to identify. He loves me. He won’t leave it to the justice system.”

“He’s a Ranger.”

“He’s a man first. We’re getting married,” I explained logically. “Would you calmly arrest the man who killed your mate? If he kills Sharpe, then the king might have a problem with it, but everyone else will think justice is done.”

That seemed to flummox the younger man. He frowned as he thought about it. I felt my back touch the concrete barrier of the small elevator that led to the second and third floors. Darren was thinking and generally growing more panicked as he considered the angles. I considered the angles, too. Even if Darren decided I was right, he couldn’t call a mulligan and get a new hand. He had to play the one he’d dealt himself, and that included getting rid of the obnoxious PI who screwed everything up.

Very cautiously, I slipped my hand back and hit the button for the elevator. As I heard it start to ding, I reached into my bag and pulled the .45 Gray had given me. Without hesitation, I shot him squarely in the shoulder and watched as he was blown back by the impact. His entire left side flew around like he was attached to a chain someone had yanked. I threw my body into the open elevator and immediately hit the number
two
button and then punched
close doors
as many times as I could in the few seconds it took to work.

Even as the doors were closing, I watched Darren’s body jerk up from where he’d fallen. He turned to the elevator and he growled low in the back of his throat. It started as a growl, but before the doors were fully together, it was a howl that shook the garage.

It was the single, longest elevator ride in the history of time. I’m pretty sure of that. The whole time I stood there, holding the gun and waiting for the doors to open, I fought the instinct that threatened to take over. It was stronger, possibly because I’d let it loose the night before. There was something inside me, like a caged wolf, clawing to get out. Adrenaline rushed through my system, seeming to feed it. I couldn’t lose control. I’d been insane the night before, nearly unstoppable. Marcus wasn’t here and I wasn’t sure I could get control back without him. The first time someone had knocked me out with horse tranquilizers and the next time Marcus had been there. What if I went crazy? We were in a public place. No, it couldn’t happen.

I needed to get to the Jeep and drive like the wind to Gray’s office in Garland. I had the address. I would go there and dump everything in his lap. He would handle it and I wouldn’t have to find out how far gone I was. I forced that twitchy beast down. I shoved it away with every ounce of will I had.

When the doors opened, I ran. I ran as fast as I could toward the dark blue Jeep that represented freedom and safety. I might have made it if a big brown and white wolf hadn’t been between the car and me.

Wolves are way faster than elevators.

The force of stopping on a dime nearly set me on the ground. I managed to stop my fall, but the gun clattered to the floor. The wolf snarled and I wondered briefly if his clothes had ripped and torn around him or if he’d taken the time to unclothe before becoming the big, toothy predator in front of me. It’s funny the things that go through your brain when you know you’re going to die. Darren Castle was going to get his first blood and it would be mine. He wouldn’t knock me out and take me to a convenient location. He was going to kill me right here and right now.

What was more important? Survival or keeping my conscience clean? It was no question at all. One way I died and the other I had a chance at staying alive and being with Gray. That was all that mattered to me in that moment. I wanted to see Gray again. As the brown wolf leapt through the air, I let down every defense and let the beast take over.