Page 68 of Grizzly Sleuth
Svetlana crouched, ready to fight.
The portal swung open, and nothing rushed out. Svetlana stood on her hind legs to see over Tanis and her wolf. A man stood in the room, tall but slight of frame, so he couldn’t entirely block the young woman behind.
“Hi,” Tanis said. “Don’t attack. We’re here to help.”
“Am I dreaming?” The older man cocked his head.
“More like waking from a nightmare if you ask me,” Idris rumbled. “You’re Patient Zero, aren’t you?”
A ghost of a smile curved the man’s lips. “Not anymore, if what you say is true. My true name is Hiro Nakai, and I am very glad to meet you all. This is my roommate, Tatiana.” The woman with blonde locks shyly peeked at them.
“What do you say we get out of here?” Tanis asked.
“I would like nothing more. Please lead the way.”
“The chopper is in the courtyard.” Tanis led the way down the hall and hit the elevator button to bring it back from the main floor.
As they waited, Idris asked, “What about Levy? Has anyone taken him out?”
“Not that I know of. We prioritized taking out the soldiers and medical staff first, followed by freeing the prisoners. At this point, the only floor we haven’t seen is the third.”
“Why don’t you and Barrett take Hiro and Tatiana to the chopper? Svetlana and I will go check out whatever’s upstairs.”
“The bombs Freya set will kill anyone left inside,” Tanis reminded.
“Takhi suggested we question Levy to make sure he didn’t keep any of his research notes off-site.”
“Shit, that’s a good point.” The elevator dinged, and the doors to it opened. Hiro and Tatiana got right in, but Tanis hesitated.
Idris shook his head. “Go with them. Svetlana and I will be fine. Besides, if anyone deserves to get out of here, it’s Hiro. He’s been captive longer than any of us.”
“In that case, take this.” Tanis handed over a revolver. “Be careful.”
How Canadian of her. There was no careful when hunting down a psychopath. Just revenge.
The elevator doors closed, and Idris waited for it to begin descending before hitting the button. Svetlana nudged Idris, and when he glanced at her, she angled her head toward the door marked Stairs.
“Good idea. Don’t want to let anyone on the third know we’re coming. Hold on. Let me grab a head.” Because, of course, the stairs had security. Getting the screen to unlock proved easy. Where Idris got stymied was the code.
Svetlana snuffled and, when he glanced at her, began tapping her paw. Three. Pause. Nine. Pause. Two. And so forth until they heard a beep. Good thing she’d paid attention.
“Guess I should bring this so we don’t get stuck.” Idris tucked the head under his arm as they ascended. They emerged into another hall with doors, these fewer in number and set farther apart.
A familiar and hated smell hit, and Svetlana took off down the hall.
“I see I’m not the only one smelling a snake,” Idris murmured as he jogged alongside. Unlike the doors on the lab and prisoner level, the one smelling of Levy could be kicked open.
Svetlana rushed in, only to find the office empty. Drawers left half open on the desk. Papers scattered. Levy had already fled. Svetlana sat her furry butt down and sighed.
Idris’ head swiveled left and right, his nose wrinkled, probably at the stench coming from behind a closed door that could have been a closet or perhaps a washroom. Likely the latter since it smelled like someone had spilled a bottle of something astringent, which roused Idris’ suspicion.
“Be ready,” he murmured as he tiptoed to the closed door.
He flung it open and growled, “Found you!”
“Don’t come any closer, or I will shoot.” A sweating Levy emerged with a bulging satchel draped across his chest. He held a gun aimed at Idris’ head. The one surefire way to kill a shifter.
“There is no escape,” Idris warned.
