Page 38 of Taken By the Ripper
She wiped her sweaty palms on her apron, her heart racing as she strode down the hallway and stood in front of the door without opening it. Someone knocked a second time, and she knew she couldn’t ignore it. Claude usually walked right in. He was offering her more time, more warning. It was all he seemed willing to give.
Taking a deep breath, she reached for the door handle and turned.
However, when she opened the door, it wasn’t Claude and his team on the other side but the regular police on her doorstep.
And each wore grim expressions.
The room spun around her. Her mind buzzed with dizziness. For a moment, she could hear nothing other than the roaring in her veins and the pulse in her ears. A chill climbed over her spine, down her arms, and to the very tips of her fingers.
No, no, no. Please, no.
“I’m sorry,” one of the officers said as he took off his hat and held it to his chest. “Your sister… Mazie…”
Her head spun. Breaths became shallow and rapid. Nothing could have affected her so much. Not blood, death, or the macabre. But the thought of anything terrible happening to her sisters was enough for her to lose all sense of control.
The world spun, and the last thing she saw with clarity was the officer’s look of regret on his face before she tipped precariously to the side and her surroundings turned dark.
A
n officer fanned Clara’s face from where she sat within the arms of a cushioned chair, her mind still spinning as she tried to listen to another officer’s report. With her mind spinning and her heart pulsing through her ears, she only caught bits and pieces of the situation.
But it was enough.
Mazie had escaped outside to get fresh air during her break at the Ten Bells Pub. Or that was one account from a patron, drunk at that. Another testimony claimed she’d left with someone, lured outside by a handsome stranger.
When her sister had been absent for too long, the owner had gone out looking for her, only to find splotches of fresh blood and a scene in the alleyway that appeared to be none other than a scuffle.
Now, Mazie was missing. Presumed dead. But Clara’s disbelieving heart refused to acknowledge their presumptions in the slightest. Mazie may be stupid sometimes, but she wasn’t entirely lacking wits.
“She’s missing,” the officer with the thin, curled mustache repeated for the second time. “And based on all the blood at the scene… She’s presumed dead.”
“There is no body,” Clara argued, defiance burning in her eyes.
“No, but—”
“If there is no body, you cannot prove her death.” Until she saw her sister’s lifeless corpse with her own eyes, she refused to believe she was gone. “Was anything left at the scene?”
The officer grimaced. “Nothing a lady should hear about.”
She stood on surprisingly sturdy feet and poked the man repeatedly in the chest. “I have seen things that would make a grown man cry. Tell me what you found.”
Again, he grimaced as he glanced over his shoulder. When another officer nodded his permission, he said, “A torn scarf, a bloodied glove, and…”
“And?”
“And, well, something that appears to be a canine tooth. It’s currently in evidence to figure out what we’re dealing with.”
A canine tooth…
Suddenly, all the blood rushed from her face when she realized what a sharp, elongated tooth might mean.
Vampire.
Mazie was taken by vampires. It was the only logical solution. Had they infected her? What would happen if they had?
She was going to be sick.
Another realization hit her, and she covered her mouth with her hand when she truly thought she might retch. In the alleyway, the vampires had tried to infect her. Jack had come to her rescue. If they wanted Jack, they were getting to him by getting to Clara. Or perhaps they were angry that she’d gotten away in the first place.
