Dangerous Minds

Chapter Tweleve

-Dangerous Minds Chapter Twelve-

-Katherine-

"How much longer are we going to be stalking Alaric Saltzman?" I ask him, tossing down a file that I got from the one of the largest police department archives in the city. "Says here that after Tatia was buried, Alaric was brought in as a suspect of interest. They didn't have enough evidence to hold him. So, they released him just hours later. He said he was at the school for a bit and stopped to get gas before meeting up with his wife. According to him they were all night long until the early morning when they found my cousin's body."

"We're going to keep stalking him until we find him, Katherine. Listen, he is bound to slip up soon enough. His wife will kick him out, someone will rat him out. We know his name and the state he's in now. All I need to figure out is where this guy works. Pay a visit to his job or his home, become a real stalker." He says, leaning back into his chair and staring down at his wedding ring.

"I'm sorry." Whispering out my words causes Damon to look at me slowly, his eyes lift up finally after a few minutes as he's eye level with me.

"About what? About us talking shit out and me telling you that my wife's engagement ring was supposed to be yours? Don't worry about it. Bonnie and I got drunk a few weeks ago and it fell into the toilet, she lost it in there. Flushed it actually. Look," He pauses, licking his lip and shrugging his shoulders back. "You and I had something amazing. But, you're right. I'm a married man and even though you're divorced. I know you love your ex-husband. So, I'm going to make things better with my wife and you should do the same with Kol. And, let's drop this topic so that we can just focus on the case."

"What else do we know?" He asks sternly. I can't look him in the eyes as I flip open the file folder and turn it towards him. He's right, we did have something amazing together. But, he is married now and I still do love Kol. What Damon and I had should just remain a distant memory and nothing more. Reminding myself of this, I lean forward and clear my throat. "I found his address. I think we should pay him a visit."

"What?" Damon questions with a surprised tone, watching me run my fingers through my hair, I smile at him.

"2356 NE River Lane." Biting on my lower lip nervously, Damon grabs his phone while telling me that we'll need a tactical team before we go after Alaric.

"We just have theories and Elijah's word. We can't just go after him without probable cause." He hears me state as I place my hand over his, stopping him from dialing Elijah's number so that he can set up our back up team.

"So, what are we supposed to do, Katherine? Wait until he goes after another girl, until he nearly kills someone else? Is that when we're supposed to go after him. Because, if that's your answer, that isn't good enough for me. We need to scoop him out and we need to do it now!" Damon snarls out, shoving up from his seat and taking the file with him as he starts storming out of the small coffee shop we're in. Glancing around when he walks away from me, I grab my jacket and follow him outside.

"Wait! Damon, stop fucking walking and talk to me. What do you want to do? How are we supposed to prove he killed her when no one else in this damn town thinks he did. Alaric was her professor, that's all." He's angry, clutching the folder into his hand, Damon turns back to me and scoffs.

"That's what you believe? After all these years, you still think he was just your cousin's professor?" Shaking his head, he exhales deeply. "He was fucking her behind his wife's back, Katherine! They were having an affair. All the fucking signs of one where there in the evidence. It's just the stupid local police are too dumb to put these things together. The hours they were seen together by a few witnesses were all outside of his office hours after a few months, they were seen going to her dorm!"