Ripper(11)

“Back off.” Liv got between us. Her voice was low, but it was full of menace. “You stay away from her, wolf. Jo’s roomie might be a dabbler, but I promise you, I’m the real thing and you won’t like what I do to you if you so much as lay a hand on her.”

“Traitor,” he hissed at Liv. He glared at me and his eyes made a promise. “This is not the end. Maybe we should start turning the tables on you. See how you like being hunted.”

He backed out the door, careful to not let me out of his sights.

“Holy crap.” Liv let out a relieved breath. “Let’s get out of here. I think you have everything you need.”

I swallowed and was sure my face was perfectly composed. I should be upset that I’d been saved by Liv. Sweet, gentle Liv had to get between me and an angry werewolf. I wasn’t pissed at myself. I was a little pissed at Liv because there was a big piece of me that wanted everything Darren’s twitchy hands had been promising.

“Yes, we’re done here,” I heard myself saying. I turned to Cassie, whose eyes were wide. “If you think of anything else, please give me a call. You can also call me if he gives you any trouble.”

I doubted he would. He’d barely noticed she was there, but I wanted her to feel like she had someone to call.

I felt numb as I followed Liv back to the car. I felt like I had missed something essential in the confrontation with Darren, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I was using my every brain cell to block out the images his words brought back. I drove back to Liv’s school on autopilot, responding to her questions, but not really hearing her at all.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Liv hesitated, getting out of the car. “You could come home with me. I’ll make some dinner and we can crack open a bottle of wine.”

I could listen to Scott bitch about the things Liv did wrong and hear him mutter under his breath about how pathetic I was. No. I had other plans.

“I’m fine.” I decided a little truth was necessary to really sell this particular lie. “Well, I’m not fine exactly. He brought back some shitty memories, but I have to move on.”

“You do,” she encouraged. “You aren’t that person. You never were. You can’t blame yourself for something that happened when you were sixteen years old.”

I nodded because it was what she wanted me to do. She didn’t blame me for what happened ten years ago, but she was wrong if she thought I couldn’t blame myself. I wasn’t the only one. There were ghosts that damn sure blamed me, too. But I already had a plan for exorcising those demons, at least for a little while.

“I’m fine,” I assured her. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

She reached out and gave me a quick hug. “Okay, Kels. I’m sorry if I got you into something you aren’t ready for. I was trying to help Helen. I really thought it would be good for you to work a case that meant something.”

I shrugged off the concern. The goal now was to get Liv out of the car. “Everything is fine. I need to get home and get some sleep. I’ll be ready to go in the morning.”

She stared at me, her hand on the door. “You’re going straight home?”

“Yes, Liv,” I said in my best “don’t mother me” voice.

She got out with a sympathetic smile.

Idiot believed me.





Chapter Three





“Wow,” I managed to slur once I pushed my head off the bar and downed my shot. “This is really good tequila. It’s so sweet and smooth.”

Gil looked at me over the bar and he frowned, but I didn’t really process it as disapproval. I was way too far gone.

“That’s because it’s apple juice,” he said with a shake of his bearded head. “I cut you off thirty minutes ago, sweetheart.”

“Seriously? Are you sure because I think this stuff is awesome.”

“I’m glad you like it, darling.” Gil hadn’t been thrilled when I walked in several hours before, but he’d done his job and gotten me nice and toasted.

I wasn’t even thinking about that asshole Darren or how guilty he’d made me feel. I was happy and really horny. I looked around the bar to see if there was anyone worth going home with. The River Bottom Pub was an out-of-the-way tavern in the bottoms along the Trinity River. It was a ludicrously crappy prefab building with a “backyard” filled with plastic tables and a place for horseshoe games. There were several subdivisions that had developed in the area and all the locals came here to forget their troubles. Unfortunately, most of their troubles had to do with wives and kids. I didn’t play around with wives and kids.