Page 26 of Grizzly Sleuth
“This doctor is only offering payment if you bring information about bears. Planning to use yourself as bait?” Svetlana’s asked it mockingly, but Idris nodded.
“I might, as a last resort. Me being captured and turned in for a reward would definitely bring him out of hiding, but I’d rather not take the risk if it means I can’t accomplish my mission.”
“The mission being killing Dr. Levy?”
Idris’ slow smile, both deadly and sexy at once, matched his cold promise. “He deserves to die. How much it hurts will depend on how quickly he spills the location of his lab. In this case, cutting off the head of the snake might not be enough. Everything, his serum, his research… All have to be destroyed.”
“You’re insane.” Yuri pursed his lips. “Even if you find this lab, I guarantee it will be guarded. You planning to Rambo the place?”
“I’m desperate, but not stupid. If I find it, then I’ll put out a call to my friends to give me a hand, or should I say, paw?”
“What makes you think your friends would risk themselves?” She couldn’t help but sound skeptical. While she would do anything for Yuri, she couldn’t say as much for anyone else.
“Because we all know we’ll never have a chance for a real life until all traces of Project Therianthrope are eradicated.”
While Svetlana did approve of his dark plan for vengeance, she couldn’t help but point out the obvious problems. “What if your hunt for this doctor and lab lead to you being captured instead?”
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take. What other choice do I have? So long as Project Therianthrope exists, anyone who can shift isn’t safe. They won’t ever stop looking for us. And that includes Yuri now. Even once you make it out of Russia, I’d highly recommend you keep Yuri’s bear under wraps. That means no more circus acts because they will be scouring social media waiting for you to pop up.”
While Svetlana wanted to scoff at his dire prediction, she feared he spoke the truth.
Yuri didn’t like it one bit. “There goes my acting career,” Yuri exclaimed dramatically, leading his sister to glare at him.
“This isn’t funny.”
“No, it’s not.” Yuri turned serious. “But we have a more pressing problem we should address, which is, we need to finda new place to hide. When Boris doesn’t open the bar tonight, people will notice.” Yuri raised a point she’d not even thought of.
A weaker person might have been crushed by the daunting forces arrayed against them. Not Svetlana. She straightened her spine. “Agreed. We need to move, but first, we need to outfit ourselves. The pair of you are much too obvious in those clothes.” The eye-popping colors and clashing patterns would draw too much attention. “Along with proper garments, we’ll need hair dye and makeup. Transportation as well, since we no longer have the truck and we shouldn’t risk getting Idris’ car.” A block away might still be too close to the hotel to risk it.
“Not to mention, I kind of lost the keys when I shredded my clothes,” a sheepish Idris admitted.
“You’re talking about pretty much eliminating all the cash we’ve got left,” her brother reminded.
“I’ll bet Boris has some stashed somewhere in this house.” He wouldn’t trust it all with the bank—or so she hoped. “Let’s see what we can find of value.”
Initially, it seemed as if they’d fail. The dirty home contained mostly junk, but Yuri’s blessed nose caught a scent, which led to them prying up one of the paving stones set in front of his pot belly stove. Inside, they found a box holding stacks of rubles and a gun. Idris found a set of keys, which he tossed to Yuri.
Her brother dangled them. “This one’s for a car, but I didn’t see one parked out front.”
“Check the garage at the back,” Svetlana suggested as Idris snared the gun and checked the chamber for bullets.
“Is it loaded?” she asked as Yuri left through the back door.
“Yes. The small caliber won’t do much damage, but it’s better than nothing.”
She slumped into a chair and sighed. “This all feels rather pointless. We are woefully underequipped to evade the KGB and this doctor.”
“Have faith that good will win over evil.”
Laughter burst from her. “I would have never expected you to be religious.”
“I’m not. However, I’d like to think that the world is inherently good and that, sometimes, if people have the courage to stand up and do what’s right, they’ll prevail.”
“Bravery won’t stop them trying to arrest or kill us,” was her dour retort.
“Then what do you suggest we do?” Idris eyed her seriously. “We have two choices. Either give up, or fight.”
“Fight, obviously,” she muttered. “But I’m allowed to vent. I hate that we have to live like this.”
