Another shout came, then a laugh, followed by the slap-slap of a ball hitting the pavement. Teens setting up for a game of hoops.
"How close?" Jeremy murmured as I slipped over to the window for a look.
"Too close."
"Nick? Clay? Move Shanahan," Jeremy said. "Elena? Find them a place to hide his body. We'll meet you in the gym."
"The gym?" I said. "It's still dark in--"
"We're only using the exit."
The hall closet door was locked, but I broke it open and cleared a place inside.
Clay moved in to help Nick drag Shanahan to the closet, but he was barely able to stand without toppling. Nick waved him back.
"Is it just the fever?" I said. "What about your arm?"
He hooked his left arm over my shoulder in an awkward, furnace-hot embrace. He leaned in to me, lips going to my ear. I could feel the heat radiating from him.
"Don't--don't worry 'bout me, 'kay?" he whispered. "Get this done, I'll be fine. Keep going. You need cover? Tonio and Nicky, 'kay?" A small sound, like a choked growl. "Not me. Can't count on me."
"I'll cover her," Nick said. "You know I will."
Clay motioned for us to get moving to the gym.
Using a skipping rope, we bound Tolliver's hands to prevent spellcasting. He fought like someone seeing the end coming. But he was no match for Antonio, who just heaved the taller man off his feet, ignoring his kicking and flailing.
We took him into the forest.
Jeremy sent Nick, Clay and me ahead to look around. Out of Jeremy's sight, Nick and I sat Clay down on a fallen tree, never going so far that we couldn't look back and make sure he was still okay. When we found a small clearing a safe distance from the path, we collected Clay, and returned to the others.
Antonio sat Tolliver on the ground and we surrounded him.
"Think about this," Tolliver said, struggling to keep his voice calm as a vein in his forehead pulsed. "How could I possibly be responsible for all this? I haven't seen Patrick in years. The letter was in his possession, then it was stolen and this portal--" His head shot up. "You think I stole the letter and activated the portal?"
"No. We know who stole the letter."
"Then why aren't you questioning--?" His gaze flicked across our faces, and the vein started pulsing again. "You stole it? Let me get this straight. You stole the portal letter. You activated that portal. And somehow this is all our fault?"
"The theft of the letter had nothing to do with the portal," Jeremy said. "The person who wanted the letter had no idea what it supposedly contained--"
"And you believed that?"
Jeremy's voice stayed even. "Yes, we do. It was a separate matter, with a human purchaser interested only in the letter's historical value. We did steal it, in return for information that helped us to stop another set of crimes."
Tolliver's dark eyes still fumed.
Jeremy continued. "Perhaps Shanahan did believe that the portal was a failed experiment--in fact, I'll wager he did. But when those zombies came to his door, looking for their master, he saw an opportunity. He knew the story behind the letter, that his great-grandfather had created it and trapped a killer within, a killer whose work was pivotal in those immortality experiments."
"Jack the Ripper?" Tolliver's lip t
wisted. "Don't you get it? There is no Jack the Ripper." He shook his head sharply. "Yes, I'm sure there was one, once, but he has nothing to do with the letter. That's what Patrick was trying to tell you. I stopped him because I didn't want to go off on an unnecessary tangent. Whoever killed those young women is not Jack the Ripper."
Jeremy studied Tolliver's face, and let him continue.
"The whole From Hell thing was a ruse used by the sorcerer who created that portal. He wrote the letter. He arranged for it to be sent, with the kidney, to the..." A sharp shake of his head. "Whoever it was sent to. It's all in the file. I don't remember--"
"Where's the file?"