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Skeeter gri
The handcuffs he slipped out of his pocket weren't real. He'd picked them up cheap from a station outfitter's bin of discount toys. But they were functional enough for Skeeter's purposes. He slid forward between the Californian and the pickpocket just as the latter slipped the wallet into his own jacket. Skeeter tapped the thief on the shoulder. "Hi, there!"
And clicked the cuffs around the guy's wrists before he could blink.
"Hey! What the—"
"Security!" Skeeter bawled, grabbing the guy's jacket lapel. "Got a pickpocket over here! Say, mister," Skeeter got the victim's attention, "this guy just lifted your wallet."
The tourist gasped, hand flying to his extremely empty pocket. "Good God! I've been robbed! Why, you sneaking—"
Security arrived before the irate Californian could take a swing at the struggling pickpocket. "What's going on?" The uniformed security guard sported a bruise down one cheek from the previous day's riot.
"Caught this guy lifting a tourist's wallet," Skeeter explained. "It's in his front jacket pocket. Oh, those cuffs are toys, by the way. Just thought you might want to know."
Skeeter indulged a grin at the look on all three faces, then melted into the crowd, leaving the stu
"That was impressive. Kids' toys!"
"Yeah, well, sometimes you gotta make do."
"As far as I'm concerned, you won't have to `make do' with toy handcuffs any longer. You're definitely hired. I was watching close, following your gaze, and I didn't see a thing."
Skeeter's face went hot, but it was a proud flush. He'd done a good job and Kit knew it. High overhead, the returning tour started pouring through the open gate. A Time Tours guide rushed down the stairs, well in advance of the tourists, clutching a heavy pouch. Waiting newsies mobbed him.
"Who is it—?"
"—that a videotape?"
"Has the Ripper Watch Team solved—?"
The grim-faced guide vanished into the Time Tours ticket office and slammed the door, leaving the newsies screaming at sound-proofed glass.
"You know," Skeeter mused, "that guy didn't act like an excited courier carrying the news of the decade, did he?"
"No," Kit agreed, expression thoughtful.
A moment later, the rest of the tour reached Commons floor and word spread like racing wildfire: Two killers!
"James Maybrick, after all—"
"Complete unknown! Some doctor, nobody has the faintest idea who—"
"Working together—!"
And hard on the heels of that shock, yet another, potentially fatal to the entire station: Missing tourist!
"—shot two up-time baggage handlers to death—"
"—said he vanished over in SoHo—"
"Oh, my God," Skeeter groaned. "Another missing person!" And another shocking murder spree for TT-86 to explain to the press and the government agencies and Senator Caddrick.
"Who was he?" a woman dressed as a Roman matriarch demanded at Skeeter's elbow.
"I don't know!"
"Someone said he's a graduate student..."
"... heard his name was Be
Be
That name rang alarm bells in Skeeter's memory. Lots of them. Big, fat, warped ones. Be
He narrowed his eyes, wondering just what Be
And that was a decidedly uneasy thought. That a serial killer as seriously depraved as the Ripper could pass through society looking and behaving like a completely normal person, while inside... Skeeter shivered. And was damned glad he hadn't stayed in London, after all, which he'd pla
He didn't want to understand serial killers.
Not ever.
"Skeeter?"
Kit's gaze was centered squarely on him, brows twitching downward in concern.
"Yeah?"
"What's wrong?"
"I think I saw Catlin, the day the gate opened last week."
"Really? What do you remember about him?"
Skeeter described Catlin, then added, "He had too much luggage for a grad student. Five big steamer trunks. Expensive ones."
"He's not the guy whose steamer trunk almost went off the platform, is he?" Kit asked abruptly, eyes narrowed.
Skeeter blinked in surprise. Then rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Uh, yeah. I think so. That was the name on the luggage tag. And he was white as any ghost, trying to keep it from falling."
"I think," Kit said in a tight, dangerous voice, "we'd better tell Ronisha Azzan about this, because it looks to me like Catlin may well have been one of the Ansar Majlis goons on Armstrong's payroll. I find myself wondering what—or who—was in that trunk. And I'll bet Ronisha Azzan will, too."
"Aw, nuts... Kit, I heard she was meeting with Senator Caddrick again this morning, trying to figure out where his kid went. And if he sees me, he's go
"Nonsense," Kit said firmly. "Nobody's going to jail the guy who figured out where his kid's kidnappers went."
Skeeter had a terrible feeling he would find himself dragged down the Brita
"Well," he muttered, "I guess I'll just have to play it by ear, won't I?"
"That's the spirit!" Kit gri
Skeeter managed a weak grin of gratitude. "Okay. Thanks."
Wondering if he knew what he was doing, he followed Kit Carson's lead. Just go with Kit, he told himself, and tried not to think too closely about where the grizzled old scout would end up leading him. He was quite sure he did not want to find out.
Mary Jane Kelly was afraid of the man she'd come to visit. Black magic and demon worship and an appetite for the unholy...