Ripper (Hunter #1)(97)

“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?”