Page 21 of Grizzly Sleuth
Yuri shook his head. “I doubt we can escape without being seen. While I am photogenic, I do not wish to see my face plastered everywhere.”
“Me either. I already stand out too much.” Idris glanced at Svetlana. “What about her, though?”
“Don’t worry about me. This isn’t our first time escaping a tricky situation. Now quickly, change into your bear.”
Idris wisely didn’t question and, once more, smacked his head off the wall until he morphed. Yuri simply had to think it andpoof.
Yuri crouched down, and Svetlana climbed onto his back. As he stood on four paws, she buried her face in his fur and held on as they raced to escape.
Chapter Six
Holy shit.What a night thus far. Idris hadn’t actually held out much hope they’d find Svetlana, let alone rescue her. However, the whole scent-tracking thing proved crazy useful, not only letting them know what floor she was on, but even figuring out which room. A room with too many people. From the hall, they could hear a raised voice and the apologetic replies from four men.
“If we barge in, we’ll get shot,” Idris had whispered to Yuri.
“Then we should draw them out where they’ll be easier to pick off.”
“Draw them out how?”
“What’s the one thing that would have someone opening the door at this hour in a hotel?”
“I don’t think we have time to look for a hooker.”
Yuri snickered. “Pity, I guess we’ll have to pretend to be room service.”
“Won’t they be suspicious since they didn’t order?”
“Yes. Either way, someone is going to open that door, though.”
He had a point.
Yuri stripped and stashed his clothes in the stairwell, and while Idris stood tucked around the corner, Yuri knocked on the door, replying to the person on the other side in Russian.
The room service trick actually worked. The door opened onto a shifted Yuri, who attacked and fled, leading to a bunch of men racing after him in the hallway that split into a T. Idris waited until they’d cleared the hall and then raced to Svetlana’s rescue. A rescue much needed, judging by the blossoming bruises on her face. Once he knocked out the guy left behind, on her order, he’d gone to give Yuri a paw taking out the KGB agents. It wasn’t hard to kill this time, seeing as how they shot at him, which made him morph back into a human, and then, while the guy was still gaping, Idris tackled him to the floor. He shifted again when the asshole bit him. Rather than spit out blood, he used his claws.
Idris met up with Yuri and returned to Svetlana, his stomach grumbling. He could only change back and forth so many times before he got weak—and hungry. So very fucking hungry. He couldn’t imagine the calories it took to shift.
Freeing Svetlana proved stressful, and not just because of the sirens indicating cops. The guy he’d knocked down was gone. Bad news, since he’d witnessed Idris changing. Nothing Idris could do about it now, and, besides, he needed all his focus on escaping the hotel. Easier said than done.
They must have been a sight. A grizzly Idris leading the way to the stairwell, the more golden Yuri on his nubby tail with Svetlana clinging to his back. Not something he’d have ever thought of doing, but he could appreciate the genius of it. With her face buried in her brother’s fur, no one saw her face. A good thing, since they bolted past several rooms with their doors open. Curious guests of the hotels peeked out, some with their phones recording, others screaming at the sight of two bears.They didn’t need to worry. These two predators weren’t hunting. Not anymore.
The stairwell door had a knob, and Svetlana lifted her head only long enough to grasp and turn it, giving them access.
Down they flew, encountering no one until the second-to-last floor, where a pair of uniformed police were climbing.
At the sight of them, the pair did the smart thing and flattened against the wall, not moving, barely breathing. The bears rushed past them, and Idris, still in the lead, slammed the bar on the last door, spilling them into the hotel vestibule, where two more police officers stood questioning the now-awake clerk.
Rounded eyes watched but did nothing to stop the furry predators from heading for the exit, the weight of their tread enough to trigger the sliding glass door. Outside, the night air provided a cool refreshment after the dusty indoors.
Initially, they headed for Idris’ car, only to veer into an alley as they spotted more flashing lights arriving.
The area would soon be cordoned off. They needed to slip the net before it closed.
Yuri galloped ahead of Idris, obviously having a destination in mind. Good, because Idris didn’t have the slightest clue where to go next.
They ran for a long time, occasionally illuminated by the headlights of the rare motorist on the road. What must they think to see two bears racing through town? Their journey left Idris tired and huffing. The red edges of dawn had begun to color the sky when they arrived at their destination.
Boris’ house.
