Chapter 7 #2
She hadn’t meant to interrupt. The question just slipped out. It was a measure of how much his mere presence took over her brain that she lost all awareness of everything but him. And while the room went silent, Carl set his hand over hers.
“I have no idea,” he said.
Then Officer Bitch answered. “That’s a bullet hole, Miss Weitz. By someone who doesn’t understand how to shoot shifters.”
A bullet. Right. The guy with the gun who had missed her when Carl roared.
She felt bile roll through her gut, thoughts mixing with memory, and all of them leading up to horror.
“Oh, shit,” said Alan as he grabbed the wastepaper basket. He was just in time. She barely missed him as she emptied her stomach, ginger tea and crackers pouring out of her in choking gasps.
And while she was still retching, Tonya fired rapid questions at Carl. “Who shot you? What do you remember?”
“There was one guy in the tree. I took care of him. Then I heard the others but couldn’t circle back in time. Too fucking slow.”
“You were hit by eight tranquilizer darts,” Alan said as he helped Becca stand and head for the bathroom.
“Then three guys on motorcycles. They were slowing down. Heading for Becca and Justin.”
“Why?”
“What?”
Becca was in the bathroom then, listening through the open door.
“Why did they want Becca? Who shot you?”
“I don’t know. And I don’t remember. I was fighting. Did you get any of them?”
“Three escaped. The other is in pieces. We’re working on an ID, but it’ll take a while.”
Silence.
Pieces? Oh. She meant torn apart by a bear. By Carl. Who was a bear. She was going to be sick again. Meanwhile, Officer Tonya wouldn’t let it go.
“What was Miss Weitz doing when you were shot?”
“Tonya, she didn’t shoot me. She was already down when I got this.”
“You sure?”
“I… yes. I felt her go down.”
Becca could tell by the silence that the woman didn’t believe it.
Meanwhile, she dried her hands before turning to where Alan waited by the door.
He was taller than Carl and had golden brown eyes instead of green, but she could see the family resemblance in the square jut of his jaw and the odd perk to his ears.
But most important to her was the way he seemed to understand all the nuances without judgment.
Of everyone she’d met in Gladwin, he seemed the most approachable, simply because he listened.
So she touched his arm and spoke in a soft undertone.
“What does she mean by someone who doesn’t know how to shoot shifters?”
Alan’s eyes were on the others, but at her question he turned to her. “Extremities shrink down when a bear shifts back to human. We don’t know how it works, but only a shot to the torso will do permanent damage. The rest just seems to disappear.”
She looked through the doorway at the stark white bandage on Carl’s arm. “His didn’t.”
“It was a pretty big shot. Lethal on a human. And he took it in the meat of his upper arm. It’ll be gone the next time he shifts.”
What did she say to that? Lucky him? Except he didn’t look so lucky.
And she still felt sick at the idea. Meanwhile, Carl was arguing with Officer Bitch, who seemed to think the worst of Becca.
And as soon as Becca could breathe without fearing she’d hurl, she was going to give the woman a piece of her mind.
“She didn’t attack me, Tonya. I got distracted. It was stupid and irresponsible, but that’s on me.”
“Maybe you were drugged.”
“With an aphrodisiac? Do you even hear yourself?”
“It makes no sense, Carl. Why the hell would guys on motorcycles attack you?”
“Not me,” Carl said grimly. “Justin.”
“What?”
Becca had come back into the room and Carl wasted no time in looking straight at her. His eyes were hooded, so she had no clue as to his emotions, but at his words, that didn’t matter so much anymore.
“Someone’s been taking shifter kids right around their First Change. That’s why Bryn was in Kalamazoo. The wolves have lost two already.”
Becca didn’t react. She couldn’t even process the words. That didn’t seem to be a problem for Officer Tonya, though.
“Abductions, Carl? And when in the hell were you going to tell me about it?”
“I just found out yesterday!” he snapped. Then he frowned. “Er, two days ago.”
“You could have—”
“It was just the wolves east of here. Even Bryn thought it might be coincidence. You know there are always a few who shift and never come back. I honestly thought the wolf was being paranoid. You know how he loves conspiracy theories.”
Becca abruptly found her voice. “And what do you think now?”
Carl grimaced. “I think we need to find those other three bastards. They had a net. They weren’t some yahoos out on a drunken hunting party. They were coordinated and they had a net.”
Alan’s voice was low with horror. “They wanted to capture Justin. Why?”
“Bryn thinks they’re being studied.”
“Studied?” Becca gasped. “Like rats in a cage? Like why you can shift into a bear and we can’t?”
“Yes.”
“And you think they’ve taken Theo?”
He didn’t answer, but when he met her gaze, fear was in his eyes.
Which is when Becca lost what little was left in her stomach.