She nodded. “A spell to keep the letter-all the letters-from being stolen by any living being. Presumably someone on the police force was a sorcerer, and cast the spell to protect them. That’s why the buyer hired me.”

“This buyer…do you remember who it was?”

“Of course. He is-or was-a regular customer of mine.”

When she didn’t continue, I said, “Can you provide a name?”

She met my gaze. “I’d rather you did, and I can confirm or deny.”

“And I’d rather you-”

“His grandson continues to be a customer of mine, and I don’t babble about my clients, past or present, unless there is a very good reason. Granted, a zombie-spewing portal is indeed a good reason, but if you took that letter, as you claim, then you already know the grandson’s name.”

“Patrick Shanahan.”

She nodded. “The original purchaser was his grandfather, Theodore.”

“Did Shanahan commission the theft himself?”

“I presume so…”

“But you don’t remember.”

She shook her head.

“Do you remember whether your client wanted this letter specifically? Or just something from the Ripper files?”

“I believe any…no, maybe it was…” A sharp shake of her head. “Something snagged there, but it’s not coming free.”

When I glanced in Clay’s direction, she said, “You don’t need to call in the muscle to work me over.”

“That wasn’t-”

“If you want to call your mate over to get his opinion on my sincerity, go ahead, but I have no reason to block you. You’ve just informed me that my city has an open dimensional portal, leaking zombies. I’ve lived here all my life and have no intention of leaving, so I’d just as soon see this portal closed.”

“That may be so, but I doubt Toronto is about to be sucked into a dimensional portal, and these zombies aren’t after you.”

“That’s just because they haven’t run across me yet. Zombies don’t like vampires very much. Jealousy, I suppose-two kinds of undead, one immune to harm, the other dropping body parts with every sneeze. So I have no incentive to lie about this letter. Let me think about it overnight and I’m sure I’ll remember more.”

I didn’t bother asking about Shanahan. If she knew where he’d run to, she was more likely to tip him off than tell me where to find him.

I gave her my cell number.

“So I leave with a phone number,” she said. “Not bad, but it would be nice to have a name attached.”

When I didn’t respond, she laughed and patted my arm.

“No matter. A smaller challenge before the big one, and something to discuss next time.”

She squeezed myarm, shot a look at Clay, then sauntered into the night.

Clay rolled his eyes. “Vampires.”

Jeremy had struck out with Robert and Jaime too, leaving messages for both, but having heard nothing back.

“God, I hate running in place,” I said, stalking into our hotel room. “This is why we don’t have a treadmill. Energy expended and no destination reached. Frustrating.”

Clay walked up behind me and put his hands on my hips. “Almost as frustrating as hunting with no catch.”

“Or a catch that didn’t mind being hunted.”

He chuckled against my neck. “I thought you liked hunting willing prey.”

“Only one kind. Or, I should say, one specific instance of one kind.”

“Well, then, what if that one specific instance offered to compensate for your loss. It’s not too late to slip back to the park. Change, hunt and…” He nipped my earlobe. “Do as you wish.”

I pressed back, felt him hardening against me and shuddered. “The one problem with that scenario. I can’t do as I wish.”

His hands traveled under my shirt and up my sides.

“Or maybe we could try,” I said. “Just one more time. A change of position perhaps.” I bent forward and thrust back against him. “I know you like it face-to-face, but in an emergency…”

A soft growl. “In an emergency, yes, and if you really want to…”

I slid my pants down my hips and guided his hand between my legs. “Does it feel like I really want to?”

Another growl, harder this time, as his fingers slid into me.

“Maybe if I just…start. Play a bit,” he said. “That couldn’t hurt.”

“Couldn’t hurt at all.”

I reached behind me, undid his jeans and reached inside. As I held him and arched my hips back to meet him, I closed my eyes, imagined him sliding in…and stopping partway.

“Not going to work, is it?” I said.

“I can try, but-”

“Doesn’t matter.” I looked over my shoulder. “You can try stopping, but once we start, I’m going to do my damnedest to get the rest of it.”

He chuckled. “How about we revert to plan A? A jog back to the park, a private hunt, we Change back and you take your forfeit in another way.”

“Once we Change, it’s only going to get worse. The human side might be able to argue logic, but the wolf knows exactly what she wants. Take me for a run tonight, and it’s not rabbits I’m going to want to hunt.”

A growling laugh. “Funny, that’s what I was thinking earlier, watching you run ahead of me. Had a helluva time remembering you were chasing someone, not running away to tease me.”