18. Kendra
18
KENDRA
A my was inclined to snivel about being left inside alone until she realized that Kendra was selecting a beloved program that Mommy was bitterly tired of watching. Then she couldn’t get rid of Kendra fast enough.
By the time Kendra had set Amy up with cartoons on the tablet, Alan had lit the fire and was already deep in one-sided conversation with Ferdinand. Clouds above were lit in the final rays of sunlight, and the sky was deepening into velvet. The van had an outdoor light that came on as it grew dark.
“His name is Bernard Hagen,” Alan announced, when Kendra plopped down in the chair next to him. “I’m running an agency search on him now. And no, my people haven’t come through with clearance on the other case I mentioned. We’re on bureaucracy time.”
Ferdin—Bernard’s ears flickered back and forth and he gave a huff and an eyeroll. “Have you been like this long?” Alan asked.
Kendra could answer that. “He told me it was early winter. Early last winter.”
Alan’s phone buzzed briefly. “That matches a missing person’s report. Failure to…report in with his probation officer.”
Kendra’s heart dropped. A criminal? She’d gotten fond of Ferdin—Bernard, and felt betrayed. But maybe it had been a white-collar crime? Like…illegally camping on federal land or something.
“Murder, first degree,” Alan read, dashing her hopes. “Assault, second degree. There’s a warrant out for your arrest. Assume armed and dangerous. ” He looked at Kendra in alarm, and Kendra remembered his passionate words. I want to protect you.
Kendra thought about how vulnerable she’d been while fixing the bull’s leg, trusting that because he was a shifter, he wouldn’t hurt her. She hadn’t even given him the casual respect that she’d give a big animal. She’d just assumed that because instinct wasn’t warning her, everything was fine, when it wasn’t.
That’s not how instinct works, her owl protested. Everything i s fine.
Everything is not fine . There is a fifteen hundred pound murderer here who has already dented my van.
Bernard didn’t slink away, and he didn’t lower his head in shame or deny the charges with a head shake. His tail twitching was the only thing that betrayed the slightest agitation.
Kendra abruptly realized that her jacket pocket was hot against her side and worried for her phone. It was old; was the battery overheating? When she slipped her fingers in to check, she found the carved white raven there, and was suddenly keenly aware that Alan, beside her, was more alarmed than she was, which was somehow more comforting than it was unnerving.
“He doesn’t look particularly remorseful,” Alan observed out loud.
Bernard snorted, as if he found that funny.
“Were you trying to escape?” Kendra had to ask. She felt more angry than afraid now. “Did you try to shake your parole officer and get stuck this way?”
Bernard shook his head firmly, his ears back.
“You said a person did this to you, who was the person? Is he related to your…jail time?”
Alan glanced warily at Kendra, as if to confirm that they were still helping Bernard at all, and put the whiteboard up where the bull could point to the letters one at a time.
M-I-C-K-E-Y-S-T-R-Y-K-E-R
Alan typed it into his phone. “Are you sure that’s how it’s spelled?” he said, frowning.
Bernard snorted.
Kendra watched Alan’s face as his phone buzzed in response. “Oh, that is interesting. Mr. Stryker is one of several identities used by a certain Clancy Kennedy that is the primary person of interest in another relevant case.” He gave Kendra a meaningful glance, though she wasn’t quite sure what he was trying to tell her. That wasn’t the person who had kidnapped Jackson. Was he involved with the filly shifter and the home invasion?
What had her life come to that it was normal to know about either of those?
“I may be able to use this new information to keep him detained a while longer. Mr. Hagen, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to come in with me for official questioning.”
Bernard backed up several paces and pawed at the gravel, swinging his heavy horns in obvious threat. He planted his feet and snorted in warning.
Kendra and Alan both got to their feet. Alan’s chair fell backwards as he rose, and he thrust one arm out in front of Kendra, who was both annoyed and delighted by the gesture. Chivalry was nice, but it wouldn’t protect her from a charge.
Kendra braced for literal flight, just as Amy gave a shriek of either laughter or outrage from the van, and Bernard seemed to deflate at the innocent sound.
He shook his head and sighed heavily, then walked carefully to Kendra, who had to keep herself from stepping back. He put his nose out slowly, and Kendra elbowed Alan out of the way to lay her hand on it. “If he was going to hurt us, he would have by now,” she said, as confidently as she could. Bernard might not be a model citizen, but her owl was still convinced that he was no threat. Kendra wasn’t sure how good a judge she was of people , but she could read animals really well, and Bernard was a kitten . His actions had been fear, not aggression, and he was obviously trying to express good will.
Kittens did have claws, but Kendra hoped that this trust would be repaid.