The Last Witch Hunter (Witch Hunters) (13 page)

“It is.” He inhaled deeply. “But that isn’t why I called you over here. Steps need to be taken-” He was interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

“Sit,” he ordered
his uncle. “I’ll get it.”

Two officers stood in the hallway. The badges attached to their belts seemed to catch the light. One had dark brown hair and was tall, though still a foot
shorter than Ronan. The other was average height with graying black hair and a bushy mustache. “Hugh McKinley?” the taller officer asked.

“No.
I’m Ronan McKinley. Hugh’s my uncle.” He backed away and allowed the officers to enter.

They each approached Hugh and shook his hand. “I’m Detective White and this is my partner Detective Gates,” said the graying officer.

“Please have a seat, detectives,” Hugh said. “Can I offer you something to drink?”

They both declined. “Sir, I imagine you know why we’re here?”

Uncle Hugh looked tired and Ronan had never seen him look older as he faced the detectives and sighed. “You have questions about my son? When I talked to him, he said he wasn’t going to deny anything and that he was going to tell you the entire story.”

“Well, he did, but we still have questions.”
Detective White placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. “Mr. McKinley, do you have any idea of your son’s whereabouts?”

Ronan started. “What do you mean? Don’t you have him custody?”

Detective White’s brown eyes swung around to him. “No. As of an hour ago, Brian McKinley is once again on the streets. And what we want to know is where he might be headed and if either of you has had contact with him. Because I talked to him before he somehow escaped from a locked cell. He displayed not one bit of remorse. If we don’t catch him and soon, he
will
do this again.”

Chapter Ten

The day was waning and she hadn’t heard from Ronan since this morning. Nikita was beginning to worry. She was anxious and jumpy and she wasn’t entirely sure the feelings originated with her. For the third time in an hour, she found herself standing in front of the window, staring at the street beyond for any sign of Ronan’s return. She’d taken her hair down, washed it, moisturized it, and braided it into one thick plait. Her attempts to read a book or watch a movie had proved futile. She couldn’t concentrate. Inevitably, she found herself in front of the door or one of the windows as though her feet and legs had a mind of their own.

She had no doubt that Brian was guilty. The look in his eyes the night before when he’d tried to force his way into the house had been pure evil.
Envisioning him as a killer was no big leap. But she wondered if Ronan had come to that realization yet. While he didn’t seem to harbor illusions as to his cousin’s nature, Brian was still family. That was a strong pull. Familial ties tended to complicate matters.

After lunch, she sat on the porch for a while, telling herself it was for the fresh air and not so that she could watch for Ronan. But after an hour, during which she realized that white trucks were really popular with the men in this town, she couldn’t continue to lie to herself.
Minx had fallen asleep on the porch railing. The cat viewed her through golden eyes that barely opened to slits as she rose from the porch bench and moved toward the door. “Are you coming?” Minx rose to her small feet and arched her back in a leisurely stretch. She hopped down in an effortless display of feline grace. But she advanced only a few steps before stopping in her tracks to look over her shoulder. Nikita sighed in impatience. Then she saw him too. The stray that had invaded their area loped into the yard. Minx hissed as he approached.

“Come on,” Nikita urged, having no interest in witnessing a catfight. Plus, what kind of house sitter would she be if she let her charge become injured? She bent and scooped up Minx. Holding the cat in one arm, she used her other hand to open the door. To her surprise, the stray shot up the steps and streaked between her feet and straight into the house. “Shit,” she muttered.

***

Ronan was chomping at the bit to be alone with his uncle. The police had questioned both him and his uncle. Despite the fact that he told them that he hadn’t been close to Brian since before they were teens, they still considered it a possibility that he might know of his cousin’s whereabouts. He didn’t care for the way they were badgering his uncle either, but there was a peculiar furtiveness to Hugh’s responses that put him on edge. It was past lunch when the detectives finally left them alone.

“Okay,” Ronan said as soon as he was alone with his uncle. “What’s going on? What aren’t you telling me?”

“I knew this would happen.”

“You knew Brian was a murderer?”

“No, of course I didn’t. I knew he was a philanderer and that he’s never treated his wife with the respect she deserves. I knew he would escape. And I know how he did it.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“No. He’s probably on his way out of town. But wherever he is, we’ve got to find him before the police do.
If we don’t, we risk exposure to our kind.”

Ronan was growing impatient with his uncle’s evasiveness. “
Why?
Just tell me.”

“You know Brian was born a dud. He’s never gotten over that. He felt like fate had cheated him. And it pained me to see him struggle with his life as an ordinary human. So I gave him a gift.”

He struggled to understand where his uncle was going with this. “You can’t make him a witch. Witches are born. What could you give him?”

“I gave him
the gift of transmogrification.”

Ronan inhaled. “Great.” He didn’t bother questioning his uncle further about why he would give such a gift to Brian.
Hugh already seemed to be dealing with guilt about giving Brian the gift on top of his regrets about the way he’d raised his son. No doubt, Brian had preyed upon his father’s remorse to wheedle such a fantastical present out of him. “So what are we looking for here? A dog? A wolf? A bird?”

“A cat. To be specific, a rather large tabby with green eyes.”

***

Nikita had visions of the stray
racing through the house and catapulting itself from surface to surface, knocking over Mrs. Williams’s legion of framed photos and tiny ceramic figurines while simultaneously spraying every surface with his urine. Instead when she entered with Minx tucked beneath her arm, she found it sitting calmly on the floor waiting for them. Minx dropped lightly to her feet and launched herself at the invader. She wasted no time with facing off or posturing. She went straight for the kill, knocking the other cat off balance with a full bodied attack. Nikita had to admire her style. The stray regained his feet and ran.

And that was when the ceramic figures and orange fur began to fly.

The two cats were not much more than a blur of orange as Minx chased the invader around the room. Nikita bent and pulled her sheathed dagger from the inside her boot, but quickly realized she wouldn’t be able to use it. In motion, the cats looked much the same. There were a couple of pauses during which there was some furious clawing. Loud hisses and yowls rent the air. “Shit,” Nikita said again. She had to get the stray out of the house, but there was no way she was going to stick her hand in between those to clawing kitties.

As they rolled, their fight made its way back towards the door. Bracing herself
, she grabbed the middle of one feline and held on tight despite its vicious contortions and spitting. Opening the screen door, she tossed it onto the porch and managed to get the door closed. Of course, it landed on its feet and whipped around to leer through the glass.

The cat at her back emitted
a deep and menacing eerie purr that seemed to echo through the suddenly silent house. Nikita frowned down at it as it lifted its head. It had green eyes. “Shit.” She’d thrown out Minx.

***

“Uncle Hugh, do you have any idea of where Brian may have gone?”

He shook his head. “None.” Ronan was beginning to worry about him. The events of the day were taking their toll on him.

“You look tired. Why don’t you take a nap?”

Hugh scoffed and sat straighter in his rocking chair. “Do you think I could sleep? No. The sooner this is done the better. Then I’ll
nap
.” He spat the last word derisively. Hugh had always been active, but damn if he didn’t look every bit of his age at the moment. “We should call his wife. Maybe he said something to her.”

“Are you sure? They’re not exactly a loving couple.”

“Yeah, but he may have let something slip.”

Ronan shrugged. It couldn’t hurt. He pulled out his cell and keyed in the number his uncle gave him to Brian and Natalie’s house. She answered on the second ring. “Natalie, this is Ronan. How are you?”

“Horrible. The police are staking out the house. And probably listening in on this call.” Her voice sounded stressed and tight. Ronan sympathized with her. She didn’t ask for any of this and none of it was her fault.

“I’m here with Uncle Hugh. Is there anything we can do for you?”

“Give me Brian’s nuts on a stick. Don’t feel sorry for me. The kids are the ones who are going to suffer with everyone calling their dad a murderer.”

“I’m really sorry, Natalie.”

She sniffed. “I’m sorry I’m being such a bitch. I should have left his ass years ago, but I stayed to give the kids a father. He can’t even get that right.” She sighed. “I should have listened to my mother. The funny thing is the only reason I ever dated him was because I was trying to get close to you.”

That was a shocker. “Um.”
He didn’t know what to say.

“You tried to warn me. But I thought you were jealous and I liked that. By the time I figured out you were just being nice, I was stuck with Brian. There was a brief moment when I thought we were in love, but it soon became apparent that he only wanted me because of you.”

Ronan rubbed his neck. This was getting them nowhere, but he didn’t have the heart to interrupt her. “Me?”

“Brian has always been jealous of you. I don’t know why. Some crap about life being so perfect for you. He only wanted me because he th
ought I might have been yours. He enjoyed the idea of taking me from you.”

“Natalie, I
—” The breath caught in his throat. If Brian went after Natalie, what would he do to the woman he knew was his soul mate? Surely, he didn’t hate him that much? But then he’d gone after Nikita before. “Natalie, I’ve got to go.” He disconnected and was heading for the door.

“What is it? What did she say?” Uncle Hugh was on his heels.

“I think I know where he is.” It wasn’t a long drive from his uncle’s apartment to his house, but all of it was in town. The speed limit was thirty-five at the fastest points and he couldn’t risk the cops following him home. Sure enough, there was a police car parked across the street. Fighting down panic, he tried to act normal as he approached his truck.

Hugh got in on the passenger side. “So where are we headed?”

“My place. He’s going after my mate.” He hit his steering wheel in anger. And because of his uncle’s gift, Brian would be able to get through the safeguards he’d placed on Mrs. Williams’ house. They were designed to keep out humans, not animals.

***

Nikita’s eyes widened as she watched the cat begin to grow. Its fur receded and its bones lengthened. In no time at all, a man was huddled on her floor. That was enough for her. She whipped around to make a hasty exit but he was quick. He was on his feet in seconds and caught her by the tail end of her ponytail. Pain tore at her scalp and she was forced to stop. She turned to face Brian McKinley. He grinned at her. “Now we’re going to have us some grown up fun.”

She allowed her gaze to flicker down his pale body and arched an eyebrow. He was aroused. Average size but overall the package was not impressive when compared to his cousin. “Not
much
fun,” she said, indicating his groin. His slap was fast and carried enough power to make her head turn.

His smile turned gloating. “Bitch, I hope you’re a fast learner. Or maybe not.” He shrugged. “Makes me no difference.”

“I see some things haven’t changed. You still hit like a pussy. This is what a hit should feel like.” She pulled her fist back and let him have it. Her punch to his jaw had him reeling. She didn’t give him the chance to recover. She followed that punch with another to his kidneys. When he doubled over, she kicked him in the side of his head. He crashed into an end table and went down. As he was slumping towards the floor, she landed a kick to his groin.

Her dagger was at her foot. She slammed the heel of her boot heel on it to pop it in the air. As it flipped up she gave it a boost with her foot. Catching the ornate handle in her palm, she landed on Brian’s chest
, knocking the air out of his lungs, and pressed the blade to his neck. She smiled at his stunned expression. “
Now
we’re going to have us some fun.”

“What the hell kind of woman are you?”