Page 42 of A Bear's Secret

“Despite the absence of any of this woman’s features, you somehow got a warrant to search my client’s belongings and her room at the Double Moon Ranch,” Julius went on.

“What?” said Sloane. “You went through my stuff?”

“Noted among the items, as though it’s important, is a pocket knife and a bottle of ibuprofen,” Julius said.

He gave the officer a long, hard look.

“Are you really going to make an argument that those are unusual for someone hiking over two thousand miles?”

The officer said nothing. Sloane fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him.

“Finally,” Julius said. “You’re probably aware that the syringe itself was dusted for fingerprints,” Julius said.

The officer just nodded. He looked very much like he didn’t want to be there.

“You’re also aware that the only fingerprints found on it were James’s own?”

“I was not aware of that,” the officer said stiffly.

Julius leaned forward, across the table.

“You have no reason to continue holding my client, and if she’s not released within the hour, every media outlet in Cascadia will know that you’re holding innocent human tourists while a real attempted killer gets off scot-free.”

The two men just looked at each other for a few beats.

“Thank you,” Julius said. He sat back in his chair, and the officer grudgingly got up and left the room.

Julius looked at Sloane and winked.

“So you know Austin, huh?” he asked.

It was fairly obvious that it was a loaded question, and Sloane’s head spun with the transition from hardass laywer-Julius to nosy-question-asking Julius.

“Yeah,” she said.

“He was pretty concerned about you,” he said.

“Yeah, he’s really nice.”

Julius laughed out loud.

“Well, it’s about time,” he said, though Sloane didn’t really know what he was talking about. “When you get out of here, tell him that RSVPing to his cousin’s wedding isn’t fucking optional, will you? That thing was due two weeks ago, and we’ve got seating charts to make.”

The officer opened the door again, a scowl on his face.

“You’re free to go,” he said to Sloane. Then he left.

Julius walked her to the waiting room, where Austin was still sitting. He jumped up when he saw Sloane and wrapped her in a giant bear hug, his warm strength totally enveloping her.

Peeking around his shoulder, Sloane could see Julius grin, like he knew something that she didn’t.

* * *

As Austin drovethem back to the ranch, the magnitude of what had just happened finally hit Sloane. She rested her head against the cold window of the truck.

“That was almost really bad,” she said, mostly to herself.

Austin looked over at her, concern filling his handsome face.

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