Page 13 of Snow River

Her eyes blurred as the images swamped her again.A woman dodging prickly branches as she dashed through the forest.She was panting, desperate.She had to get away.She had to tell someone.

And then came the knife.It seemed to have wings as it sliced through the air.How could it be so precise, so direct?It found its home in the middle of the woman’s back and she arched in response.A bird pierced by an arrow.A butterfly pinned to a wall.

She emerged from the “blip” with a gasp.Bear’s hand gripped her shoulder.He was so close she could smell the birch sap on his clothes.“She was trying to tell someone about something.I don’t know what.”

“Okay.Okay.”His murmur poured over her like a soothing potion.Surfacing from one of those episodes was always intensely disorienting.But that hand on her shoulder helped.A lot.“That’s good.That’s good.Cromwell’s here.Can you talk to him?I can tell him you’re not feeling well.”

“No.I can do it.”She drew in a breath, the sipping-through-a-straw type that always helped her reorient.Putting it off wouldn’t make it easier.

“Be right there,” Bear called over her shoulder.“Grab yourself a drink if you want.”

“You two okay?”The voice was sneering and gruff and Lila didn’t like it one bit.

Bear didn’t answer, and a moment later the back door closed as Cromwell went inside.“You ready?”he asked.

“Yes.Ready.”Her heart was still fluttering, but she could deal with that.“One question before we go in,” she said when they were just outside the door.“Do you believe me?About what I told you?It doesn’t sound…woo-woo?”

“Woo-woo?”He glanced down at her with a frown.

“You know, too ‘out there.’Bullshit, basically.”

He shrugged one shoulder.“I’ve never known you to sling bullshit.You’ve always been straight-up with me.I don’t know much about that kind of thing, but if you say you see these blips, why should I doubt you?”

Right.Why should he doubt her?Why had so many other people doubted her?Was it so hard to be open-minded and realize that you didn’t know everything?

“For some people, it’s threatening.”

“Yeah?”He opened the door for her.She ducked under his arm and stepped into the dimly lit bar.The smell of sawdust embraced her.“Well, I don’t feel threatened.”

Her mouth went dry.That might be the sexiest thing any man had ever said to her.She could understand Bear not being affected by a physical threat.He was a large man packed with muscle and experienced with handling both humans and wildlife.But this was not something in the physical realm.Even so, he took it in stride.

Bear was special.She’d known it from the minute she’d laid eyes on him.But he’d kept such a firm distance between them that she didn’t really “know” him.

She had a feeling—not a “blip” but a hope—that that was about to change.

8

Officer Cromwell hada fringe of reddish beard and a bulbous nose that reminded Lila of a stubby pale pickle.He was leaning on one elbow at the bar, but straightened as they approached.“Heya Bear.”

“Officer Cromwell.”

Lila wondered why he made such a point of using the man’s official title when Officer Cromwell had greeted him so casually.

“Lila Romanoff,” she said as she put out her hand.“I work here.”

The officer shook her hand and ran his eyes over her in a very uncomfortable manner.She felt Bear stiffen at her side.Since she didn’t want him to lose it and do something stupid, she kept the handshake short and immediately afterwards stepped behind the bar.“Can I get you something, Officer Cromwell?”

“Can’t drink on the job.”His gaze slid to Bear, as if that was some kind of dig.“Basic policing one-oh-one.”

“Not even water?We have plenty of non-alcoholic offerings.Soda with a twist of lime, soda without lime, orange juice, apple cider?—”

He cut off her recitation of beverages.“No thanks.I like to keep my time in this wasteland as short as I can.”

Wasteland!Lila fought the urge to slap him across the face for that insult to her favorite place in the world so far.

“If you want to keep it short, you can leave out all the trash-talk,” Bear said dryly.

Bravo!That was a much better response than what had come to her mind.

---