Chapter 10 #3
Julie looked down at her food, feeling completely mortified. But that only brought her gaze to the cupcake and the über-friendly grizzly face on top. With a sigh, she pushed it back toward Becca. “You should probably eat this.”
Becca picked it up and peeled off the wrapping. “How about we split it?”
Julie stared at the beautiful confection, her mouth watering at what had to be a killer amount of calories. And yet, it really looked delicious. “Sure.”
“And don’t worry about what everyone else thinks. We all just want a happy ending for Mark, you know?”
No, she didn’t know. What the hell— Oh, right. In all the bizarre happenings of this morning, she’d completely forgotten about what started the whole kissing thing this morning. Mark had told her he was dying. And how the hell had that slipped her mind?
She stared at her food, unable to move. And now the sight of Becca cutting that cute bear face in half chilled her down to her bones. “Do all…Do they all die young?” God, the idea was horrifying.
“What? Oh, no. Just the…um…really unlucky ones.”
Mark. She slumped back in her seat and rubbed her hand over her face. “I don’t understand any of this.”
“No reason you should,” a cold voice said over her shoulder. Julie spun around to see the female officer from this morning. Her tag read “Kappes.”
Meanwhile, Becca sighed. “Hello, Tonya.”
“Hello, Ms. Max,” the woman returned without much warmth. Clearly, there wasn’t a whole lot of love between these two. Meanwhile, Officer Kappes turned to Julie. “Glad to see you back here. I was worried when you took off this morning.”
“My dad’s in the hospital. I had to go see him.”
“So I understand. But I’d really like to talk to you about this morning.”
“Can’t right now,” Julie said as she grabbed her cheeseburger. “I’m eating.”
The woman showed her teeth and slid right into the booth beside Becca. “No problem. We’ll have girl talk while I wait.”
Becca rolled her eyes. “Like you girl talk.”
“Hey!” the officer said, sounding insulted. “I have girly parts. I talk.”
“Not the same thing.”
Definitely not. She couldn’t imagine this officer as anything but prickly, cold, and…
and hell, now she remembered Tonya Kappes from summers in Gladwin.
She’d been a tall tomboy with no time for Becca.
And once during Becca’s first summer here, Tonya had dressed slutty and made out with Carl’s younger brother Alan at a birthday party.
The gossip had been loud enough that even Becca had heard it.
But that was years ago, and the woman had obviously grown up to be all business.
Which was exactly what Julie had been wishing for just a moment ago.
She hadn’t wanted all the small-town gossips poking their noses into her love life.
And so like an answer to her prayers, in comes a woman who could give Joe Friday a run for his money.
She practically embodied, “Just the facts, ma’am.
” Which meant that if anyone could give her straight answers, it was Officer Kappes.
Thinking hard, Julie swallowed down a bite of pretty amazing burger and grabbed an onion ring.
The other two women had degenerated into small talk.
How’s the new bakery coming? Fine. How’s the keeping-the-peace business?
Not so peaceful. And while those words were being exchanged, Julie came to a decision.
When the small talk eased, she gestured to the sliced-in-half bear cupcake. “Obviously, you know about the bears? Are you one of them?”
Becca shook her head, but the officer nodded.
“Became furry with my first period.”
Julie winced. That certainly painted a picture. But come to think of it, this was just the type of information she needed. Simple facts, uncomfortably graphic. “Okay. I need answers.”
“So do I. Need to know why those things attacked you.”
“Haven’t a clue. Why is Mark dying?”
“He’s not dying. He’s just becoming furry way too much. Eventually he won’t be able to go back.”
Oh. Well, that sucked. “But, um, he’ll live out a natural life then? As a—”
“Not likely. Someone who can’t go back tends to go crazy. Someone will have to put him down.”
Julie stared at the officer in shock. “That’s murder.”
“Ever seen an enraged grizzly? One that is out of control? It destroys everything around it. It roars like it’s in pain, probably is because it’s using teeth and claws to tear everything apart.
Buildings, cars, people. The paws get torn to shreds, the muzzle is next.
But even after that, it’s still hundreds of pounds of bone and muscle lumbering around like Godzilla.
It’ll snatch up a person like a doll and squeeze until the ribcage pops. ”
“Tonya!” Becca hissed. “There are children here.”
Julie belatedly realized that while she’d been gaping in horror, the rest of the café had been listening in. The whole place was silent, and when Julie looked around, people dropped their gazes to their food. No one was eating anymore.
Then the waitress piped in, her voice loud in the awkward silence. “Always a pleasure having you visit us, Tonya. Do let me fix you an order to go.”
The officer looked up, her cheeks stained a dull red. “Uh, yeah. Sorry, Robin.”
Then Becca spoke up, her gaze on Julie, but her voice pitched to everyone around them. “But there’s lots of hope, too. There’s your father’s research, for one. That’s why we’re all so glad he’s feeling better. When’s he coming home, Julie?”
Julie frowned. Her father’s research? What did fairy tales have to do with this? “Um, a few days.”
“That’s great. So are you here to get things set at the cabin?”
“Uh, yeah. What about Dad’s research?”
Becca popped a bite of cupcake into her mouth. “Well, Carl said that there was some promising stuff in the old stories. That’s why he asked everyone to help your dad collect them. You know, tell him whatever Great-Grandpa Jones ever said about anything.”
“Promising—”
“You want me to box that up for you?” interrupted waitress Robin as she held out a Styrofoam box.
“I’m sure you’ve got lots of things to do.
Market down the street is having a sale on hot dog buns.
I swear your father lived on hot dogs and my burgers.
” Then her expression softened. “Also got all sorts of beer and wine, too. Just in case.”
Julie bit her lip, her mind whirling. Thoughts jumbled around in her brain, but they all landed with the two women across from her.
They had information she wanted. It wasn’t just the history of shifters, but answers about Mark and what happened this morning.
These were questions she wasn’t ready to ask Mark, but she could ask these two.
Especially if there was a little extra lubricant with the discussion.
“Dad has a blender,” she said. “And I sure as hell can’t face that backyard without a margarita or three. Anyone care to join me?”