Chapter 29
New York City, New York, America, 1891
They had been a few minutes too late; that had been evident in the hurried evacuation of the East River Hotel their suspect made as Aaron and Ward rounded the corner of the poorly lit Manhattan street. After years of investigation, deduction, conversation, and a near miss back in Whitechapel last winter, they had watched the Jack the Ripper case go silent in London. For months, there was nothing, not a peep. It wasn’t until Aaron had finally stumbled into his old informant friend one night about a month ago that he learned Jack was quiet because Jack was gone. Fearing he could not escape their clutches next time, he had taken off for America, New York to be exact, and with permission from the Guardian Leader, Aaron, Ward, Vicky, and Frank had followed.
Aaron had discovered teams operated quite differently here in America, and while it took some getting used to, he appreciated the new experience. From the beginning, he learned that the New York team consisted of hundreds of members, each with different specialties and talents. Whenever they went on a hunt or an investigation, the team members had specific jobs, including someone who “ran interference” as they put it, which consisted of lying to the public or anyone who may have seen the operation.
He was hopeful he’d have the opportunity to meet the Guardian Leader, Jordan Findley, or his wife, the Hunter Leader, Janette, when he arrived, but so far, it was day three, and he’d met neither. He shouldn’t have been too surprised, however, since they generally operated in the middle of the country.
The New York Area Leader, a fellow by the name of Jeffrey, had little interest in the case. While he was familiar with Jack the Ripper, he quickly voiced his opinion that the man they were tailing likely was not the same person responsible for the Whitechapel murders, and while he didn’t mind Ward and his team operating here, he would not lend any of his support.
This made the task at hand quite difficult, since none of Ward’s team was familiar with New York City, all of them having been born in England or Ireland, and Ward the only one who had ever even visited the states, and that many years ago. They were all relieved when Dr. Joplin rejoined them. After the Ripper case began to stall out, he’d been reassigned back to America. Now, though he was from nearby Boston and not New York City itself, at least he could offer some insight as to where Jack might be headed.
It had been on a tip from an informant Vampire that Ward and Aaron had taken off towards the East River Hotel, located on Manhattan’s East Side waterfront. Jamie was able to point them in the right direction, but rather than joining them, Ward sent him to follow another lead across the East River Bridge with Vicky and Frank. They all knew by now stopping the Ripper was going to take not only skill but a whole lot of luck, and if they wanted to increase their chances, they needed to put themselves in as many locations as possible.
Now, seeing the familiar form they’d twice watched disappear into the Whitechapel night sneak out of the hotel with a nervous glance around, the two surveyed the situation, an attempt to determine their best opportunity to capture and destroy the Ripper once and for all.
The man seemed to realize something was out of sorts. Slipping something into his pocket, he went back into the hotel, and before he could disappear from site altogether, Ward took off chasing him, yelling at Aaron to, “Cover the back door!”
As Ward sprinted towards the East River Hotel, Aaron ran around the building. There was more than one door, and it would have seemed ridiculous to arbitrarily choose one while Jack simply strolled out the other. Rather than take a chance and miss him, Aaron positioned himself in the very narrow alleyway that ran between the East River Hotel and the Glenmore Hotel next door.
It only took a moment for him to realize he’d chosen a good position. A noise above him caught his attention. He watched as Jack flew from the roof of the East River Hotel to the Glenmore. Aaron had options again. By the time he found a fire escape, Jack could be gone. But that didn’t seem like a good choice either, and rather than trying to chase Jack from atop the buildings, he decided to track him from the ground, thinking Ward would give chase from inside.
Running back to the street, Aaron positioned himself between the Hudson and the next building. A few minutes later, he saw a figure jump the substantial distance between the two but knew instantly it wasn’t Jack; it was Ward. If Jack hadn’t made the leap, and Ward hadn’t seen him, that could only mean he was still inside the Glenmore.
He couldn’t take the chance to shout to his leader, so, he ran to the back of the Glenmore, which was closer, and kicked in the door as quietly as he could. He tore through the hallway on the bottom floor but saw no one. It wasn’t until he neared the lobby that he heard arguing, and sticking his head out from around the corner, he saw Jack talking to the clerk behind the counter, pleading for a room.
Jack saw him, too, and without another word, he took off out the front door. Aaron blurred past the clerk at such a rate he likely wouldn’t have even seen him go by, but once Aaron reached the street, it was difficult to see which way Jack had gone. By the time he saw him making his way up Water Street, he had a good head start, and Aaron had no idea where Ward had gone.
This was one time when some sort of telepathy or other communication would have been very handy.
