by L G Rollins
The door swung open and the Hopkins’ butler showed Ju into the parlor. She walked in with head high and with the confident step of a well-trained dancer.
Jasper hurried over to her, taking both her hands in his. “How is your mother?”
“Tired from a night of no sleep,” Ju said.
Jasper was glad her voice didn’t tremble, nor did she shake. Ju was steady, level-headed. He wrapped her into a hug; she was also very human. Not many had ever fought off a werewolf and lived. “I’m sure you’re tired as well.”
Ju leaned into his embrace. “Thank you for letting her sleep at your place.”
“Of course.” No one could sleep at the Zhi residence right now. The place was probably still packed with officials trying to figure out where the werewolves had come from. Was there a chance that now Brox could take Leng to court? If they could connect the werewolf attack to the ambassador, surely a judge would have to give Jasper’s case some credence.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Ju said. “Wei shu insisted on staying at your place with Mama, as did Dapo.”
“Not a problem at all. It’s good they have a man with them, just in case.”
Ju nodded. “I cannot tell you how relieved I was when Dapo agreed to stay. He’s a far better shot than I am and I know he would do anything to protect Mama.”
“Loyal friends are invaluable.” They were something Jasper had lacked growing up. Until recently, Tressa was the only one he trusted to help him if ever he found himself in a bind, which he had, more than once. It was a relief to know Ju was not so alone as he had been most his life. “I may not know Wei shu well, but she’s struck me as a strong and insightful woman.”
“Yes. She can be quite insightful.” Ju almost sounded sad as she pulled back, her arms drawing away and falling to her sides.
Jasper’s brow creased. Such a reaction didn’t make any sense. What could cause Ju to feel upset by such an admission? Did Ju somehow feel inferior to Wei shu? Or, perhaps . . .
No. He was not going to get distracted by this new puzzle. He would have to piece that one out later. Right now, they needed to stay focused on the ambassador. Though, Jasper’s determination to remain focused didn’t mean he missed that Ju had taken a step away and suddenly seemed intent on keeping to herself.
Yes, this was certainly a puzzle he would piece together later. Any problem that resulted in Ju wanting to keep some distance between them was a problem he was intent on resolving. It felt like he had so many problems keeping them apart. He was going to be a busy man for a long time.
The door opened again. This time Captain and Doctor Hopkins entered the room, Brox close on their heels. Jasper moved over to Brox, but the grim look in his eyes and the wordless shake of his head told Jasper all he needed to know. They still didn’t have a strong enough case to legally fight Leng.
Jasper’s hand tightened into a fist. So help him, if they didn’t find a definite solution soon he was going after Leng with a pistol himself, consequences be hanged.
Ju’s hand covered his closed one. He looked down into her calm face.
“Thank you again for saving Mama,” she whispered, low enough only he would hear. “But, now let’s focus on working together.” Her mouth turned up in a half-smile. “Perhaps you could start by introducing me to everyone and explaining to me why they should care about what happens to me or Mama?”
Gads, but he longed to kiss that half-smile. How was it she already understood him so well?
Taking Ju’s hand and looping it through his arm, he led her into the center of the room. “My dear, I’d like to introduce you to my sister, Tressa Broxholme and her husband, Mr. Broxholme, though everyone just calls him Brox.”
Tressa, still sitting on the couch, inclined her head forward. “Pleased to finally meet you, Miss Zhi.”
Jasper lifted a hand toward his brother-in-law. “Brox is a barrister and a blasted good one, too. He’s here to help us look at this from a legal perspective.”
Ju nodded toward both. “Thank you very much for your time and concern.”
Jasper turned her toward the other couple in the room. “This is Captain Hopkins—Tressa used to serve under him—and his wife Doctor Hopkins, England’s leading expert on werewolves.”
Captain Hopkins bowed politely to Ju as his wife gave her an equally proper curtsy. It wasn’t until that moment that Jasper realized he’d been worried that the Hopkins would treat Ju the same way Brox said a judge would, with condescension and indifference. It was an immense relief to find his unrecognized worries put to rest.
“Now,” Captain Hopkins said in a tone which clearly denoted him being used to being listened to and obeyed without objection. “If you will all please sit, we will begin.”
Jasper lead Ju to the sofa and let her sit beside Tressa while he took the closest available armchair. The Hopkins sat on either side of the fireplace, both looking confident, while Brox pulled over a chair from a reading nook nearby and placed it next to Tressa.
“First of all,” Captain Hopkins said, facing Ju fully. “May we say, Miss Zhi, that we are immensely grateful that you and your mother are safe. It seems Jasper has done well in securing for you a firearm, but we should discuss other precautions that would be wise to take.”
“Precautions won’t be enough,” Jasper blurted out. Resting his elbows against his knees, he leaned forward. “We need a way to stop Ambassador Leng for good.” He swung toward Brox. “Surely the courts will hear our petition now. The man set werewolves loose in the heart of London.”
Brox shook his head. “There are still two problems. First, I met with the constable this morning already, and he was very clear that there is nothing that links the attacks to anyone specific. Second, I’m sorry to say as much, Miss Zhi, but the attack was on a group of people who, by and large, are legally not recognized as citizens.”
“I understand,” Ju said, her voice soft but not in any way compliant. Just, well, understanding.
Jasper huffed. “Well, I don’t understand. These people live here in London same as the rest of us. Why wouldn’t a judge care all the same?”
“It’s not right,” Brox agreed. “But it is our current situation.”
“Well, someone should make them care,” Jasper grumbled. Perhaps he needed to kidnap a judge or two, force them to visit the Zhi’s home. Make them see what had happened there in all its broken-pottery and blood-stained-floor glory. Maybe then one or two judges would start to care.
“Perhaps Doctor Hopkins can find a connection between the werewolves and the ambassador that the officials have missed,” Ju said. “As an expert, she would know things they wouldn’t.”
That was a smart idea. Jasper leaned back in his chair, watching Doctor Hopkins. Like before, her emotions made very little appearance across her face. But her eyes looked as though she was thinking hard.
“Ambassador Leng came and visited me several weeks ago, when he’d only just arrived in London,” she said. “He seemed most interested in my work, particularly in my BLU Elixir.”
That must have been what Leng was hoping Jasper could steal information about as well.
“A couple of months ago,” Doctor Hopkins continued, “my elixir was successfully vetted by the scientific community and its effectiveness published in a well-known scientific paper.”
Brox’s chair squeaked as he leaned back. “What does this elixir do?” Much to Jasper’s surprise, it wasn’t the Doctor who answered, but his own sister.
“When injected,” Tressa said, “it causes a werewolf to change immediately into wolf form.”
Jasper had heard all about the last venture Tressa had taken aboard the Gearhound. The thought of his sister packed inside a tin canister with nearly a dozen werewolves still made his stomach roll with unease.
“And you believe,” Ju asked Doctor Hopkins, “the ambassador is wanting to buy some of this elixir from you?”
“No,” Jasper said. “He doesn’t want to buy a few vials of the stuff. He wants the formula
so he can make it himself.”
“What makes you so sure?” asked Captain Hopkins.
Jasper scratched at his chin. “Actually, Ambassador Leng paid me a visit soon after my art show.” He waved a hand at the Hopkins. “The night we met.”
“Paid you a visit?” Tressa scoffed.
Jasper shrugged, then acquiesced. “He broke into my house, tied me up, had his men use me as a punching bag and threatened to go after my sister and her husband if I didn’t do as he asked.”
Ju’s hand rested atop his arm. Jasper glanced over at her and she mouthed a silent, “I’m so sorry.”
He placed his hand over hers. Her concern warmed him, made him feel a bit hopeful that, perhaps, someday she wouldn’t forever be finding reasons to pull away.
“Gads,” Captain Hopkins said. “That kind of a visit, was it?”
Doctor Hopkins did not appear surprised, concerned, or much of anything other than very thoughtful. “What was it he asked you to do?”
Jasper leaned back in his chair, but kept his hand over Ju’s, hoping she wouldn’t mind too much if her hand stayed there for a while yet. “He wanted me to break into your lab,” he said, speaking directly to Doctor Hopkins. “He said to take pictures of every page of a small book you refused to let him see. I think he’s wanting your formula, not the elixir already made.”
“He wants the ability to make it himself,” Ju added. “Since I first learned he was going after my Mama, I’ve done a lot of research into Ambassador Leng. He is a man hungry for power and he is willing to stoop as low as necessary to get it. As Ambassador, he would have heard about any scientific advancements taking place here in England. No doubt, he came here for the express purpose of getting his hands on the formula to your elixir.”
Ju glanced over to Jasper. “What he didn’t expect to find here in England was a woman who knew his deepest secret. It seems, since learning she was here, he’s stopped pursuing the formula and put silencing my Mama above all else. Though I don’t doubt that if he’s successful, he will go after the formula once more.”
Jasper stroked the hand she still rested against his arm. She was a brave one, sitting here, talking about her mother’s life with not a quiver to her voice, though he could hear the deep sadness behind the words. He gave her what he hoped would be a reassuring smile; they would stop the Ambassador and they would keep her Mama safe. Jasper would make sure of it.
“But why?” Doctor Hopkins said with a huff of indignity. “The formula is useless to him unless he plans to start researching werewolves.”
“I don’t see him as a man who would conduct research for scientific purposes only,” Brox said.
Jasper’s hand squeezed Ju’s tighter. Brox was right; this wasn’t about understanding werewolves better. Leng wanted something specific. What had the man done with werewolves thus far? He’d used to them attack Ju and her mother, and he’d used them to cover up Mr. Zhi’s death.
Holy gears above . . .
“He’s weaponizing them,” Jasper said.
“He’s what?” Tressa asked.
It was the only option that made sense. “Ambassador Leng sent werewolves to attack Ju and her mother. Think about it. Why send werewolves? If Ju and Mrs. Zhi are such a threat to him that he’s stopped everything else to deal with them, he wouldn’t go after them with anything less than a surefire attack. He trusted that the werewolves would get the job done. That means he’s tested this theory before.”
“Could he really do that?” Brox asked. “Train a werewolf to attack on command?”
Doctor Hopkins shook her head. “No. When a werewolf shifts, he remembers nothing of his previous, human life. He wouldn’t remember anything regarding a target he’d been told to attack or kill. A werewolf is driven solely by rage and an instinctual need to survive, heightened by the nearly unbearable pain inflicted by the change itself.”
“Could he be trained, or perhaps tricked, to go after a particular scent?” Ju asked. “The werewolf who attacked me seemed bent on finding a particular scent, one that I had been covered in.”
Doctor Hopkins’ head listed to the side. “I don’t see how. . . Well . . .” Her shoulders dropped the slightest bit and she glanced over at the Captain, her eyes wide. “Theoretically, it might work.”
Tressa swore as Brox dropped his head into his hands.
“Just before the werewolf came for me,” Ju continued, “a man bumped into me at the festival and dumped a liquid across my dress. I figured him for being well into his cups at the time, and went home to change into something else. But when the werewolf showed up, he tore up my soiled dress first, before coming for me.” Ju paused and took a deep breath. It must have been hard for her to recount the experience, yet again, while the panic was so fresh in her mind. “I smelled the same thing on Mama when I was helping her into bed only an hour ago.”
Tressa swore again. She tended to do that a lot when upset.
“Right now,” Jasper said, “the ambassador can only use his werewolves during a full moon. But, suppose he got the formula to your BLU Elixir?”
Captain Hopkins blew out a long breath. “He could turn any werewolf into a weapon; one who could best nearly any man or woman and would willingly fight to the death. Succeed or fail, the incident would always look like a horrible accident. Nothing more.”
Jasper nodded. “He would have the ultimate assassin.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jasper tucked himself inside the shadows lurking against the outside corner of a building.
“You can’t do this.”
Jasper didn’t need to turn around to know that Mr. Zhi had found him. “I have to.”
That morning, after he, Ju, Tressa, Brox and the Hopkins had pieced together what the ambassador was after, they’d spent another two hours tossing about ideas on how to stop Leng.
In the end, everyone seemed set on the same idea: keep their guard up and wait until Leng left a trail that would allow them to take him to court. In Jasper’s mind, there was nothing more foolish, or that left them more open to attack, than sitting back and waiting for the jack-a-napes to slip-up.
“I have seen inside that building,” Mr. Zhi tried again. “There are guards everywhere, especially between the front door and Leng’s personal chambers. You will get yourself killed.”
Jasper looped the cord of his camera up and over his head so that it hung about his neck. He was done. Done waiting, done listening to everyone else, done being told how to protect Ju and Mrs. Zhi.
“Then it’s probably a good thing you don’t care if I live or die,” he spat.
“Don’t be reckless—”
“Tell you what. How about I make you a deal?” Jasper said sharply. “We do this my way, this once, and I promise, if Leng kills me, I’ll not let him hex me as he did you. Then at least one of us can return from the grave and extract justice.”
Mr. Zhi’s eyebrow twitched in amusement. “It’s not a half bad plan.”
Jasper looked back around the corner. There were two guards marching back and forth in front of the door to Ambassador Leng’s embassy. It was going to be bloody hard getting inside. No doubt, all the entrances would be equally watched.
Jasper leaned back against the cobblestone wall. It was cold from the night air. “Zhi,” he said, “have you ever tried your hand at scouting? I’m guessing you’d be blasted good at it.”
Mr. Zhi gave him a single nod, his eyes alight. “Wait here. This will only take me a minute or two.” Mr. Zhi vanished, shimmering away into the invisible.
Jasper kept close to the wall as he waited. True to his word, Mr. Zhi was back after only a few minutes.
“There are two guards in front of each entrance,” he reported, listing off all he’d seen. “And a third guard hidden with a gun. A total of twelve guards patrol the main floor, taking turns pacing about the hallways and checking the rooms. The second floor is the same. The third branches out into two wings. South wing contains Leng’s personal chamber—tha
t one has several guards in front but none inside. The north wing contains offices and another dozen guards.”
“You are good. You discovered all that in under five minutes?”
“There are advantages to being a ghost.”
It certainly seemed so. Gads, what Jasper could have done if only he’d had a ghost for a friend as a child. “If I do die tonight, I’m charging you will teach me all your ghostly tricks.”
“I would be honored. But let us endeavor to avoid that situation regardless.”
Jasper could agree with him on that. “Well, it seems the best point of entry will be the third floor, south wing.”
“There is a servant’s entrance directly below the south wing balcony. It will be hard to scale up that high without being spotted.”
“You couldn’t carry me up there, could you?”
Mr. Zhi’s brow turned skeptical. “I am not a crane.” He glanced over Jasper’s person. “You hardly have any metal on you, besides.”
Interesting. “You mean, if I did have enough metal on, you could carry me?”
“Possibly, but I would have to train for months on end first.”
Lud, there was so much about ghosts Jasper had never known before. Perhaps he should do his next art gallery on ghosts. He always learned most about a topic when he was engaged in expressing it in his art. Not to mention, an art gallery on the true nature of ghosts? Just think. The ton would go ga-ga.
“You’re allowing yourself to become distracted again.” Mr. Zhi’s tone held a hint of warning.
“My apologies.” It wouldn’t do to deny it. They both knew it was true. “I still think that entering through the south wing is our best bet.”
Mr. Zhi nodded. “Agreed, provided we can find a way to get you up there, it is by far the least guarded.”
“Is Ambassador Leng sleeping?” Jasper would absolutely have to avoid him. No doubt Leng could have every guard in the embassy surrounding Jasper in a heartbeat if they crossed paths.
“He is away tonight,” Mr. Zhi said. “I am not sure where.”
“Good. Let us hope that he keeps something condemning in his personal chambers.”