Page 20 of Grizzly Sleuth
Off bounded Idris, his fat butt barely squeezing through the door. While he went to her brother’s aid, Svetlana began rocking the chair she sat in. Not easily, the damned thing weighed more than she did. It fell over, and she grunted at the impact.
Yay, another bruise. Except this one came with no benefit. She’d hoped to crack the armrest holding her left arm prone. Alas, unlike the movies, the chair remained intact. Even worse, she was eye-to-eye with Ivan as he regained consciousness. Not dead as she’d hoped.
Ivan blinked, confusion clouding his gaze before his eyes widened and he exclaimed, “That man! He tuned into a bear.”
Uh-oh. He’d seen and, worse, remembered. And here she was still bound tight, unable to do a thing about it. Unlike the Canadian, she had no qualms about killing.
Ivan rose to his feet, swaying as he put a hand to his bloodied temple. He zeroed in on her, and she saw the calculation as he finally understood why he’d been hired to capture Yuri.
“Your bear is a shapeshifter!” An accusation she didn’t reply to.
Ivan crouched. “Are you one as well?
“Don’t be silly. You’re hallucinating. People don’t turn into bears.” She lied, but Ivan shook his head, which caused him to wince.
“No wonder they were so keen on me capturing it,” he murmured. His focus narrowed. “Where did you find the bear-man?”
She wasn’t about to admit any relation, or anything else for that matter. “Rather than asking me that, shouldn’t you be running? Once my furry friend is done mauling your men, he’ll be coming back for you.” She let him think he’d seen Yuri rather than let him know there were two bear shifters roaming the hotel.
The threat had Ivan turning his head sharply toward the open door just as a distant gunshot rang out, followed by a lingering scream, which abruptly cut off.
“Sounds like you might be next,” she taunted, doing her best to make Ivan scurry because she remained very much tied and vulnerable.
Ivan took a step toward the hall, hesitated, and switched his glance between her and the door, probably gauging how much time he had. The silence didn’t bode well—for him—and neither did the distant wail of sirens.
Ivan came to a decision and blurted out, “You haven’t seen the last of me,” before sprinting for the door.
“If I see you again, I’ll kill you,” Svetlana muttered as she wiggled, trying to loosen the ropes. She did not want to be in this room when the police arrived.
Snuffle. A bear, make that two bears, returned, Yuri’s muzzle stained red, whereas Idris left bloody paw marks on the carpet. At least the Canadian could do harm when needed.
“Help me,” she demanded.
Yuri plucked at the rope with a claw, but while they were great at stabbing, they lacked the sharpness for slicing.
He shifted, crouched on his knees, and began working the knot. As for Idris, he smacked his head hard against the wall before he shifted as well into a big burly naked man that she couldn’t stop staring at. The man might be thick, but it was all muscle.
He went to work on the rope binding her feet while her brother attacked her wrists.
“Hurry,” she uselessly urged. They could hear the sirens and, worse, raised voices in the hall. The ruckus had woken some of the hotel’s patrons.
One hand was freed, followed by a foot. Soon, Svetlana was being hauled to her feet, but before she could urge them to leave, someone gasped. Peeking between the two naked male bodies, it wasn’t hard to imagine what the gaping woman wearing curlers thought.
Svetlana winked at her as she purred, “Wanna join in on the fun?”
The woman fled, and Yuri gagged. “Must you say such things?”
“What? What did I miss?” Idris had no clue since she’d spoken to the woman in Russian.
“Nothing. We have to go.”
“Like this?” Idris dropped his hands to cup his impressive endowment.
“We don’t have time to find clothes. The police will be here any moment.” Actually, given the sirens stopped, most likely they’d already parked downstairs.
Yuri glanced at Idris. “We need to change again.”
“Won’t us being bears make things worse?”
