Page 45 of Grizzly Sleuth
“I had to tread carefully, lest Olga get suspicious, but I did gather a few tidbits after a few glasses of wine.”
“Such as?” Svetlana asked as she flipped on the television, muting the sound so they could watch the morning news.
“For one, they don’t seem to be aware of me. The manhunt is concentrated on the pair of you, which is why your littlestroll”—Yuri finger quoted—“last night was foolish.”
“We were careful,” Svetlana huffed.
“Careful would have been staying in the room where no one could see you,” Yuri’s harsh rebuttal. “At least you managed to change your appearance enough to not be easily recognized,which is surprising, given this one’s hulking size.” Yuri jerked a thumb at Idris. “What were you thinking?”
“Don’t blame Idris. He only went out in public because of me. I wanted to make sure you weren’t walking into a trap.”
Yuri took a step forward and glared at his sister. “Your actions almost jeopardized my mission.”
A disdainful sound escaped Svetlana. “Is that what we’re calling getting laid these days?”
“You should be thanking me for sacrificing my virtue.”
The light comment eased some of the tension in Svetlana. “Such a hardship, I’m sure. Other than the color of her panties, what did you learn?”
“That the KGB have been told to cooperate with Dr. Levy. As of right now, they’re looking specifically for Idris, Svetlana, and two bears. Although Levy has apparently stated that it’s possible Svetlana is travelling with someone other than Idris.”
“I thought you said they weren’t aware of you,” Svetlana accused her brother.
“They aren’t. Olga says she’s not sure why Levy thinks there’s a third person since they’ve yet to find any conclusive evidence indicating one.”
“Doesn’t sound as if Levy has informed them that Svetlana’s male companions can shift into bears,” Idris murmured.
“So it seems. I did also find out the KGB agents have been armed with tranquilizers with orders to capture the bears, not kill. Needless to say, many of them aren’t happy about that, and Olga says a few have stated they’ll shoot a bear in the face before getting eaten.”
An understandable sentiment. Idris leaned against a wall. “Did Olga say how long they plan to stay in town looking?”
Yuri shrugged. “She didn’t know. I did find out the doctor got flown in by chopper.”
“From where?”
“I didn’t dare ask, lest I rouse her suspicion.”
Idris’ brow furrowed. “Can’t be too far. Most choppers can’t travel more than four hours before needing to refuel, meaning his lab must be within a six-to-eight-hour driving radius, depending on their speed and flight time. This all assuming he didn’t have to refuel the chopper to get here.”
“From what Olga said, I got the impression he came straight from his lab.”
“If it’s within a few hundred miles, we might be able to find the location via an internet search,” Svetlana mused aloud.
“Too risky.” Idris shook his head. “A search like that might get flagged.”
“Shouldn’t be hard to find this chopper. I can’t imagine there are many in town.”
“To do what?” Idris asked.
“For its flight plan, duh.” Yuri rolled his eyes.
“Unlike planes, they don’t necessarily have to file one, but if we could get the pilot to talk…” Idris rubbed his chin in thought because it just so happened, he could fly a chopper. He’d just not clocked enough hours for his full license.
“I wonder if Olga knows where it is. I’ll see if I can squeeze that info during lunch.”
“What lunch?” Svetlana’s lips pursed. “You can’t seriously be thinking of seeing her again.”
“Why not?”
