Page 11 of Grizzly Sleuth
Government could only mean KGB. Her worst fear realized. Doubtful she could talk her way out of this, but she tried. “What do you want to know about my bear?”
“We will ask the questions, once we’ve removed you to a secure location.”
AKA somewhere without a hope of escape while they grilled and tortured for the answers they wanted.
“Why all the interest? A bear trained to do tricks is nothing new.” There had been many instances of ursines learning to do tricks. Everyone knew the story of Wojtek, the bear who served in the Polish army during World War II.
Boris suddenly emerged, but he didn’t provide any help. On the contrary… “I’ll take back that money since you won’t be needing it where you’re going.” He held out his hand, and her mouth rounded.
As Svetlana opened her mouth to tell him where to go, a single gunshot rang out.
“Leave and speak to no one of this, or the next bullet will be to your head,” Pockmark snapped.
A pale Boris disappeared back inside.
Pockmark calmly holstered his weapon and acted as if he hadn’t just threatened to kill a man. “I assume the bear is in the truck?”
Before she could reply—and lie—Pockmark reached out to grab her shirt and yanked her close. “Is it caged?”
“Yuri doesn’t need to be confined. He’s perfectly docile.”
“Command him to exit the vehicle.”
“Why?” she blurted dumbly.
“Because you’re both being arrested.”
“You can’t do this. We haven’t done anything,” she exclaimed.
“We are KGB. We can do whatever we like,” his smug reply. “Now, call for him.”
“There’s no point. He’s sleeping.” Another lie, since the gunshot likely roused him. At least he had the good sense to remain hidden.
“Then you will wake him,” Pockmark ordered.
Her mind whirred, as she couldn’t know for sure if Yuri had changed or not. What would happen if Pockmark didn’t find a bear in the truck?
Slap. The hand that struck drew a cry and rocked her face to the side.
“Enough stalling,” yelled Pockmark. “Command the beast to emerge and not attack.”
She licked her swelling lip and tasted copper. Other than the pair of KGB agents flanking her and Pockmark, the rest, four in total, stood facing the back of her truck, pistols in hand.
Terrible odds, but it would be worse if they captured Yuri.
She cleared her throat and called out, “Oh, Yuri, could you come outside for a moment? And be on your very best behavior, please. There are some gentlemen who’d like to meet you.” If Yuri listened, he’d hear the warning.
The canvas flap didn’t move.
“I told you he was sleeping,” she stated with a shrug.
Pockmark scowled. “Maxim, see if the beast is even inside.”
Maxim, one of the smaller of the four, holstered his gun and lifted the flap to clamber inside. He ended up flying out a second later.
It seemed Yuri had woken.
And he wasn’t happy.
