Read Ripper for Free Online Page B

wasn’t really afraid of him, but something deep inside said I should be.
    Dave’s smile vanished and I could hear Gil chuckle.
    “Damn, girl, you’ll be seeing UFOs next,” he muttered.
     “Time to go.” Nate hauled me off the barstool.
    I felt bad. It was an unstated rule of our world that we kept quiet around humans who didn’t know about the supernatural. I’d been horribly rude to Dave, but Nate didn’t give me a chance to apologize. He tossed me over his shoulder. Gil slid my keys across the bar and I wondered when he’d taken them from me.
    The world was dangerously upside down and my stomach revolted at the change of perspective.
    “I’ll try to make sure she doesn’t do it again.” I heard the sheepish embarrassment in Nate’s voice. It did more to sober me up than anything else. I hated the fact that Nate was ashamed of me.
    He hauled me out of the bar and the brisk night air hit me. Nate’s sneakers crunched against the gravel as he stalked toward my Jeep. He set me down against the Jeep as he got the door open. The world sort of tilted, but I managed to keep it together. I looked at Dave, whose eyes glittered in the dark, and I knew exactly what he was now that he was in his natural element. The night suited him.
    “I’m sorry,” I said to the vampire.
    He seemed more curious than angry at almost being outed. He regarded me seriously. “How did you know? I’m pretty good at blending in.”
    “She always knows.” Nate opened the back door to my Jeep. He was less than gentle as he hustled me into the backseat. “If you decide to puke, do it out the window.”
    “Maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on her,” I heard Dave say.
    “You don’t know how many times I’ve had to cart her ass out of a damn bar because she’s just got to find the bottom of a tequila bottle. I don’t like to think about the times I didn’t get a call.” Nate opened the driver’s side and angrily started the car. Dave got in on the other side and Nate took off.
    I watched the dark trees pass by as Nate drove toward my house. This part of Hurst was undeveloped mostly because it tended to flood during heavy rains. The trees were thick on either side of the darkened road. I stared into those woods and knew there were creatures out there. I could see their eyes reflecting off the lights from the Jeep.
    “Has she always had good instincts?” Dave asked, his voice quiet.
    “It was like growing up with Scooby-Doo,” Nate replied. “She always solved the mystery. If I lost something, Kels could find it in no time flat. She used to be a big old bundle of potential and then my dad took her on one of his little trips and she started pulling this shit. She was sixteen.”
    “I’d like to meet your father someday,” Dave muttered, his voice dark.
    “Well, if he ever shows up in town, I’ll be sure to make the introduction,” Nate replied.
    And then it hit me. What I had missed before. “Why would a wolf be following a doe?”
    Nate turned down Highway 10 and then made a left into my quiet neighborhood. The houses were all older here and many had been converted to rentals. “Probably hungry I bet.”
    Dave turned and looked at me, but now I wasn’t so sure his name was Dave. Dean? Dale? Something with a D. “You talking about a were?”
    I probably shouldn’t be talking at all, but my defenses were down. “Yeah. I’m working this missing person case. She’s a shifter, turns into a doe. The only lead I have is this werewolf, but don’t wolves date other wolves?”
    “For the most part.” Dave was serious as he thought about it. “Wolves tend to be almost exclusively attracted to other wolves, especially the males. It’s why they make such damn good bodyguards for the rest of us. They don’t tend to have any interest in our women.”
    “This guy was interested.” I wished the world would stop spinning. It was kind of moving to and fro as the car kept speeding on. I concentrated on my line of thought.