Hatcher jumped to his feet and grabbed Heather by the hair. With his free hand, he snipped the soft cartilage between her nostrils with the wire cutters. Heather’s entire body jerked from the pain. She screamed as blood poured from her nose.
“Shut up!” he shouted at her. “Shut up! Didn’t I tell you not to scream? It’s your fault, yours!”
Heather continued to wail.
“Don’t make me give you something to scream about.”
“Why? Why are you doing this?” She rocked her head back and forth, tears streaming down her face, mixing with the blood above her lip.
“I love her,” he said simply. “Can’t you see that? I didn’t say anything at first because she was with Michael.” He scrunched his face up at the name.
“Kate was always so nice to everyone. To me. She actually talked to me every once in a while. Michael knew I had a thing for her. Made fun of me about how I followed her around and how Kate didn’t even know it. Like I didn’t even register on her radar. Like I was a nobody to her. I didn’t believe him. And then he screwed up. Big time. He came to me with a proposition I couldn’t resist—to follow Kate around. Let her see she was being followed, but not see a face. Make a few phone calls, write a few letters, tape them to her gate.”
Heather’s face was still tight with pain. Was she even listening to him? This was important. Kate would have questions later; she’d wonder why he’d done the things he had. If he explained, they would understand.
He shrugged. “Michael wanted to scare her. He thought she’d come running back to him, that he might convince her to come stay at his place, or let him stay with her. And then she’d forgive him.” Hatcher chuckled. “But I knew differently. See? I knew Kate better than he did. Kate isn’t afraid of things like that. She and Peyton are a lot alike. So where is she?”
“Peyton is a fictional character. A role she played. I’ve told you, I don’t know where she is,” Heather said. Her nose was beginning to swell. Long strings of mucus mixed with blood dripped from it, and the sight disgusted him.
“Why do you think Kate was able to play the part so well?” he shot back. “Michael was doing stupid things, showing her just how obsessed he was with her. I started setting him up. Telling him she wasn’t home when she was. Made him think she was seeing someone else. But then . . .” He clenched his fists. Heather flinched, like he was about to hit her again. Or worse. She had him all wrong. He wouldn’t hurt her without reason. What sort of animal did she take him for? All she had to do was tell him the truth. Hatcher set down the wire cutters where she could see them. If she made him use them again, he’d start with her toes.
Yes! The toes! the voice in his head cried.
“Anyway, it backfired. Apparently Michael’s plan worked,” he said. If he told her that Michael was dead, Heather wouldn’t tell him where Kate was. He picked up the wire cutters, knelt down next to her, and slid off one of her shoes.
“They’re back together. Don’t you see? I’m doing her a favor! I’ve got to stop them. I have to warn her how dangerous he is. How manipulative. He’ll only hurt her. He’ll ruin her career. If you love her half as much as I do, then help me, Heather. Help me find Kate.”
He brushed her hair back. “You love her, right? We’re both on her side, Heather. Please. Please tell me.” He eyed the wire cutters again. “Don’t make me beg.”
“NO!” Heather shrieked. Then, quieter, she added, “You . . . You’re right. I’m sorry. So sorry. We’re her friends.”
Now he was getting somewhere. She was still crying and still scared, but he’d reasoned with her. She understood him now. “Then you know why I had to do this.”
Heather nodded. “I was only trying to protect her,” she said. “Michael is crazy. He’s jealous. But she really is seeing someone.”
Rage filled Hatcher’s lungs until he couldn’t breathe. “You’re lying!”
“No! Please! It’s . . . it’s an old boyfriend, I swear! He called her up.” She sucked in air, her breath catching. “After the thing with Michael, she needed someone. Just like you said. Just like Michael thought. But she hid it. Didn’t tell anyone except me. They’re supposed to be together tonight.”
If he showed up on my doorstep tomorrow . . .
He’d been wrong about the note. She’d been writing about someone else. Someone she couldn’t stay away from. He’d waited too long to put his plan into action, and now he’d had to kill Michael. Of course, Michael had made him do it. And he had taken her to the wrap party the other night. Hatcher had seen them leave Kate’s house together. He had chosen not to go. Wrap parties were too snobby for his tastes. But the thought that Kate had found someone else proved she didn’t love Michael.
So Michael hadn’t been with Kate at some romantic getaway last night. She hadn’t been with a friend, either. She’d been with this other guy. Someone who had come crawling back to Kate when he heard she was available again.
This new guy would only hurt her, too. He couldn’t let that happen.
“Please.” Heather was sobbing again.
Fury unlike anything he’d ever felt before coursed through him, threatening to explode from every cell in his body. “I know where they’re meeting.”
Heather jumped at the sound of his voice. “So you have to hurry, right? You have to find this guy.”
He studied Heather’s bloody and swollen face. Could he trust her now? Should he kill her? A loud knock came from the front door.
“It’s that customer,” Heather said. “I didn’t tell you before because I thought he’d catch you, but he’s . . . he’s a cop. If I don’t answer, he’ll come around back. He’ll see your car. So you have to hurry. You have to leave.”
She was lying again. Just jerking him around. But if she were telling the truth, Kate would never forgive him later for killing her friend. Not without good reason. “Fine. I’m leaving you like this. Tell him that Michael broke in. That he was upset about Kate and her new boyfriend.”
Heather eagerly nodded, but she didn’t look at him.
Kill her anyway!
He stood behind her, stroking her hair, felt the weight of her head in his hands. She trembled beneath his touch. He could do it. Just snap her neck. He’d seen it done on the set. Kate’s character, Peyton, had done it.
Do it! Or use the cutters again! Start with her . . .
Another thundering knock made him reconsider. He didn’t have a lot of time. He had to get back to Kate’s before her new boyfriend showed up. He had to hurry. Kate was about to make a huge mistake.
He’d have to be there to stop her. She’d thank him later.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Ian
Ian glanced around, trying to get his bearings. Then he picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off. He was in a yard at the side of an expensive two-story house. Kate’s house? Praesus stared up at him expectantly.
“Well, this might be an everyday thing for you,” Ian said, “but I need a minute.”
Kate. Where was she? He looked up at the house, searching for signs of her in the windows, then cautiously made his way to the front in time to hear a door close.
He inhaled deeply, putting his newfound werewolf abilities to work. While smells weren’t nearly as strong when he was in his human form, he could tell it was Kate. She was alive, but the faint smell of fear tickled his nose.
“Kate?” Ian called hesitantly as he rounded the corner to find her standing up against the house, looking pale and wielding a knife. “Hey, hey. It’s just me,” he said, eyeing the knife.
It took her a second to recognize him. The knife slid from her hand. “Ian!” She ran toward him. “I’ve never been so happy to see anyone.”
He took her in his arms, cradled her head against him. “Everything is all right now. We’re here.”
“We?”
Praesus made a chortling sound at her feet, and Kate stared down. “Is that . . . a gargoyle?”
“Declan’s. It’s lik
e his pet or something. Calls him Praesus.”
“Ian, we have to go, we have to—”
The bark of a nearby tree exploded, sending Ian and Kate scurrying for cover behind a stone planter. Someone was shooting at them! The sharp scent of gunpowder carried through the air. Kate wouldn’t notice it, but he did. Praesus stood beside them, growling.
“Who’s shooting at us?” Ian asked, his heart hammering.
“I’ll tell you later. Can Praesus do something about it?”
“Him? Um, no. But—”
Another shot rang out, and they both cringed. The shots were coming from the front of the house.
“We have to get out of here!” Kate said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him toward the back of the house. She tapped in the entry code on the keypad under the doorknob, and they ran inside. They were in her kitchen. Kate slammed the door closed and locked it.
“What—”
Kate grabbed her cell phone from her back pocket. “Shit! Gimme your phone. My battery is dead.”
“I didn’t bring it!” Ian said as they scrambled behind the center work island. Praesus snarled at the back door like the world’s weirdest attack dog. Which gave Ian an idea. But that idea involved telling Kate his news. Now might not be a good time. Kate was in shock enough. Maybe he could get her to hide somewhere. “Hey, I think I might be able to take care of whoever is shooting at us.”
Kate sat with her back against the cabinets. “Do you have a gun?”
“No, but—”
“Then we’ve got a problem,” Kate interrupted. She called Praesus to her side, and the little gargoyle trotted over to her.
“He’s fuzzy,” she said as she patted him with a trembling hand.
“Yeah. Fuzzy. Unfortunately, he’s not stone. Hate to interrupt you two, but what kind of bullets do you suppose those are?” Ian asked. Were they silver? Did it matter?
Kate shot him a confused look. “The lethal kind? I have no clue! Since he’s no longer using my gun, I didn’t stop to examine the shell casings. Where is Declan?”
Kate had a gun? “The guy shooting at us had your gun? Had? What’s going on?”
“Declan. Where’s Declan?” Kate repeated. She wiped a hand across her forehead. “Calm. We have to stay calm.”
Which was a lot easier said than done, but anything else would get them killed. “At some old church. Saint Luke’s, downtown. We need to meet him there. Something about the gargoyles. He sent me to get you. Said you were in trouble.”
The kitchen window shattered, spraying glass everywhere. Great. Now the shooter was in the backyard.
Kate let out a tiny yelp, then took a steadying breath. “Yeah,” she said, sounding much calmer. “My ex-boyfriend is upstairs, and some crazy fan is outside trying to kill me. I’d call that trouble.”
If the circumstances were different, Ian could have almost smiled. Even in a dangerous situation, Kate had her wits about her. Wait. What was Kate’s ex-boyfriend doing upstairs? “Something I should know about the ex?”
“Yeah, you probably should,” Kate said. She closed her eyes, then opened them again and scrambled across the floor, reaching up onto the counter to grab a set of keys. “He’s dead.”
“Dead? What do you mean he’s dead?” On hands and knees, Ian followed her and Praesus down a short hallway, anxiously glancing around as they passed a laundry room and crawled into the garage. A black BMW Alpina B7 chirped and blinked its lights.
A dead ex and someone who was shooting at them, but not with Kate’s gun. Where was Kate’s gun? And which gun had killed the ex? Ian’s chest tightened.
Fuck! This was not cool. Not cool!
“Get in,” Kate said as she ran to the driver’s side. Praesus hopped in, ran across the center console, and sat on the backseat.
“Kate, just do whatever you do that gets you to Shadow Wood. I’ll . . . I’ll think of something,” Ian said.
He had no idea what that would be. But he had to get Kate out of here.
“Get in!” she shouted. “I can’t. I can’t focus. And I’m not leaving you here!”
Ian slid into the passenger seat. Kate started the BMW, and the engine roared to life. She pressed the button for the garage door opener and threw the car into reverse. The BMW shot backward, barely missing the still-rising garage door. The car continued in reverse down the driveway. Kate spun the wheel and turned onto the grass. A split second later, Kate punched the accelerator and pressed a second button over the rearview mirror. The car barreled toward the gates, picking up speed at an alarming rate.
Ian buckled up. “Is now a good time to fill me in?”
The gates weren’t opening fast enough.
“Now would be a good time for us to get to a police station.”
The BMW slid in between the gates onto the street, tires squealing.
Praesus chattered to himself in the backseat. “Think we can explain our fuzzy friend?” Ian asked.
Kate was gripping the steering wheel. “Probably not.”
“Impressive skill set back there,” he said.
“I took lessons,” she replied. “I only used a stunt double for a few shots.”
“How far is Saint Luke’s?”
“Depends on how fast we drive.” Kate slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a car pulling out of a driveway. The driver stopped and stared at them. Kate blew the horn. “Hurry up!”
Finally the driver pulled out and headed in the opposite direction, but not before giving Kate a dirty look.
“I knew it! I knew it wasn’t a photographer. But you’ve got to be kidding me!” Kate screamed. “He’s behind us. We’re being followed.”
Ian looked in the side mirror. A black Mercury Marauder was behind them. Not close, but clearly trying to make up for lost ground.
Kate didn’t let off the gas as she careened onto the main road. “How’d you get here?”
Ian shrugged. He had no idea. He just was. He clutched the door handle. “Declan did it. So, any idea who this lunatic is?”
“None. But he killed Michael.”
“Your ex?”
“I came home and found him in the tub. Shot through the eye. Whoever killed him tried to make it look like a suicide, using my gun. Wrote what was supposed to be a suicide note on the mirror. But it wasn’t Michael’s handwriting. I thought his killer might still be around, so I ran. You showed up with Pint Size here, then someone started shooting, so it turns out I was right. And here we are.”
“And here we are,” Ian echoed as Kate wove around a pickup truck, the black Mercury in pursuit. She was in full flight mode, and he couldn’t blame her. Apparently he’d survived a vampire attack and a werewolf bite only to be killed in a high-speed car chase.
“Besides finding Declan, do we have a plan?” Ian asked.
Kate switched lanes. “Live.”
Ian held his breath as the cars blurred past them. “I like that plan.”
“I’m guessing Saint Luke’s has gargoyles nearby,” Kate said. “I’m starting to like them. A lot. Hopefully the psycho behind us won’t. If not, maybe Declan has an idea.”
“I like that plan, too.” Ian tried to ease his grip on the door handle.
The Marauder was no match for the BMW when it came to speed, but traffic proved to be a hindrance. Praesus, who was now perched precariously on the back of Kate’s headrest, chattered wildly.
“OKAY!” Kate shouted.
“Huh? I didn’t say anything.”
“Not you. Him!” She motioned toward Praesus. “It’s weird. I completely understand him. He wants us to open the moon roof.”
“I’ll do it.” Ian pressed the switch. “You keep your eyes on the road.”
Praesus continued to shriek. The roar of wind filled the car. “Better now?” Kate asked without peeling her eyes from the traffic in front of them. “We’re almost there.”
Praesus leaned over and began to make high-pitched cries that threatened to rupture Ian’s eardrums.
“What is he doing?” Ian asked.
“He’s calling the others.”
“Well,” Ian said, “make him stop!”
“Too late,” Kate said.
Praesus seemed pleased with himself. He made more whirring and chuffing noises, squinting up through the moon roof.
Ian glanced up. Lots and lots of gargoyles. It was definitely too late. “Check out the wingspans of those mothers!” Ian called out. “NO! On second thought, keep driving.”
“Why don’t they do something?” Kate asked.
Ian glanced at her. “Beats me.”
Three huge dragonlike gargoyles with long, spiked tails and wingspans of twenty feet or more flew past them, dipping down and tucking in their wings as they entered a tunnel.
“The Massey Tunnel,” Kate explained, as though she were a tour guide, and it was nothing special that drivers shared their commute with gigantic stone gargoyles. “So why don’t they do something about the guy behind us?”
“They’re glad to reunite with the family?” Ian said.
“Great! They had to pick now to be bluebirds of happiness?” Kate said.
Ian glanced skyward. One of the gargoyles appeared to be snarling. “Define happy,” Ian replied.
When they emerged from the tunnel, the gargoyles soared upward, and Kate slowed enough to take the exit ramp. The Marauder wasn’t giving up. As soon as she left the ramp, Kate punched the gas, and the BMW picked up speed once more.
“Look out!” Ian yelled.
There was no way to stop the car fast enough to keep from hitting the eighteen-wheeler crossing the intersection in front of them. There wasn’t anywhere to go off road, either.
Praesus screamed into the night, and Ian and Kate joined him. As the side of the eighteen-wheeler grew far too close, two of the gargoyles swooped in and snatched up the truck with their talons. Ian wasn’t sure if the sound of bending metal was coming from the BMW’s hood colliding with the truck or from the truck itself. The creatures flapped their wings, shifting their bodies upward, lifting the truck from the pavement.
The driver had to be shitting bricks.
The BMW slid under the belly of the truck. Ian could see the undercarriage, the tractor unit, the fuel tank, the dirty underside of the cargo, and the spinning tires as the gargoyles carried the truck into the sky. Kate punched the accelerator again. Ian glanced at the side mirror. The Mercury was still behind them.
Of Shadow and Stone Page 22
