Page 8 of The Tracker's Rage
“He knew I would try to find him,” I said, thinking out loud. “So maybe he wanted to make sure I didn’t ruin his plans, but why not just kill me?”
“Because he likes you,” she said.
I frowned and shook my head.
“He does. But why fake his kidnapping in the first place?”
“Maybe he did it to get rid of his father?” I said, thinking back at how mad Stephen had always seemed toward Ulfen.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “And it worked. Ulfen is in jail now and accused of kidnapping and attempted murder, too.”
That would mean that Stephen had also sent that mage, Jenson Boyle, to fake an attack at the pizzeria. I nodded slowly as several pieces seemed to fall into place.
When I had talked to Ulfen about tracking Stephen, he had seemed genuinely concerned. And after we found him, Ulfen had been relieved, glad that nothing had happened to his son and heir. It hadn’t been a sham.
“If he did kidnap himself, he would’ve had to cut his own finger off,” Rosalina said, cringing.
I shivered at the thought. It would take a truly cold and deranged man to do that, and that was not the Stephen I knew. He was lighthearted, gentle, and carefree. Whoever was behind the cunning scheme, causing unrest in the city would have to be greedy and power hungry, two qualities Ulfen had been trying to instill in his son but that Stephen had adamantly resisted. Or at least, that was the way it had always seemed.
“It makes no sense.” I shook my head.
“Are you going to tell Jake?”
“I don’t know.”
That was another thing I had tried not to think about. I didn’t want to see Jake—not ever again. But he needed to know that the man he thought of as his friend and who he’d moved heaven and earth to help was not who he thought.
We sat quietly for several minutes while the waiter removed our barely-touched food.
“Well,” Rosalina said after a long moment, “if you think about it, there isn’t much we can do. It’s not really our problem to solve. This is something for the police to take care of. Wouldn’t you say?”
I nodded, letting her words sink in. I’d been so immersed in this entire situation that I felt like I was part of it, that there must be something I could do to fix it, but this was much bigger than me. The world had been revolving at this same messed up pace before I got caught in its dizzying dance. There was no reason why I couldn’t leave the party for much slower pastures.
“Yes, you’re right,” I agreed.
“Good, now all you have to do is focus on wolf training for a few more sessions with Eric and on our customers, which brings me to Aaron and Josh.”
I winced. I was still feeling terrible about leading Aaron to Josh, a vampire with a death sentence hanging around his neck like a noose. I couldn’t keep the money Aaron had paid for our services when all I’d done was invite misery into his life. If Josh died, Aaron would be devastated for the rest of his life, and finding happiness with anyone else would be nearly impossible now that he’d experienced love with his true mate.
If I had known that Josh was sick, I would have never introduced them to each other. It would have been unethical and not to mention cruel.
“What are we gonna do about them?” Rosalina asked. “We have to decide something.”
“I know but how do you break the news to them?”
“Maybe before we do anything,” Rosalina started, looking chagrined, “we should talk to Damien. He might know of a way to help Josh. He’s clearly involved in all of this, trying to fight the good fight.”
I frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Rosalina. I don’t trust him.”
“He said he wanted to stop Blake.”
“He was hiding something. Couldn’t you tell?”
She shrugged, looking noncommittal.
“You like him too much. I think you can’t be objective when it comes to Damien Ward.”
“I don’t think he’s a bad guy, Toni. I have a good feeling about him.”
