Page 56 of Bears Behaving Badly
“I’m already lost,” David admitted. Caro was, too, maybe. She’d taken one look at Oz and retreated to one of the bedroom cubbies, twitched the curtain shut for privacy, and hadn’t made a peep since.Poor cub.David had seen such behavior before. Caro might be uneasy around unfamiliar males and/or unfamiliar werewolves for the rest of her life. He counted himself lucky that, for whatever reason, she didn’t absent herself from his presence. He and Oz were different builds and different subspecies…maybe that was it.
“So, so lost.” Annette reached out and gave David’s hand a squeeze (assurance? sympathy?), then dropped it just as quickly. A sideways glance showed her intent on Oz’s lecture. Maybe she couldn’t help herself, just had to touch him, however briefly.Yeah, right.“So, so, so, so lost,” he added.
“Hang on, I’m explaining! So this guy Lund, he had money all over the place. And shells for shelters, like I said. But the setup’s all wrong. None of them are in the Caymans, for example. They’re all smack in the middle of huge metropolitan areas. That’s missing the point right there! And then there’s his property. Warehouses, sure, but right on the floodplain? Just to insure them properly would cost more than the buildings are worth. Not to mention accounting stuff accounting stuff shell companies and more accounting jargon, and then jargon jargon, accounting stuff, and more jargon. Right?”
All this while Oz, clad in one of Pat’s aprons (black, with white lettering: THIS SHIT IS GOING TO BE DELICIOUS) and nothing else, prowled around an easel holding an enormous sketch pad. He’d occasionally dart back to it and scribble more nonsense. Sometimes he would draw a box around the nonsense. And arrows pointing to the nonsense.
Annette, at least, seem to be grasping some of the lecture, thank Christ. “So you’re saying Lund was exceptionally shady. To the nth degree.”
“Incredibly fucking shady, yep.”
“But nothing straight-up illegal. Just an occasional gray area.”
“That’s right.” Oz sighed and capped the marker. “It’s just…I can’t think of a legit reason for this random guy to have twenty-two accounts and eleven shell companies.”
“Okay. That’s… Well, I don’t know what that is. But I’m sure it’ll be helpful.” There was a long, almost excruciating pause, and then Annette added, “Thank you, Oz.”
“See? Toldja I could help you. Next time, let me in right away. I don’t have time to chase you all over town.”
“Don’t spoil it, Oz.”
Chapter 22
“So we’re not going to talk about it.”
“No, we are not.”
David shrugged. “Fine.”
“Good.”
“We’ve got bigger things to worry about,” he added.
“Duh.” Annette groaned. “Sorry. This happens when I hang around Pat and Oz too long. I’ll rephrase: Oz has hidden depths, and trying to keep him out of this is looking more and more like a critical error.”
“Sure. Sure. That. Yep.”
“Oh.” Annette blinked at him. “Oh! You were referencing our bloodlust-fueled mack session.”
“Aw. It sounds super romantic when you put it like that.”
“I think we’ve both made it clear there’s nothing romantic about anything the two of us are doing right now.”
Ow.“Noted. Now, about Oz—you gonna let him put his paws in now?”
“Clearly I can’t keep his pawsout,” she replied dryly. “So yes.” When they’d left the studio, Pat was rummaging for something besides an apron for Oz to wear out on the town, while Oz pledged to keep digging, which was great for their case. Though David hoped to God he wouldn’t have to sit through another forensic accounting lecture when it was over.
“And what was Nadia squawking about?”
“Our crippling stupidity and carelessness.”
“Sounds about right. Speaking of, maybe it’s time for burners.” He’d shut his phone off yesterday and wouldn’t turn it back on anytime soon. In all the excitement, he’d forgotten to suggest Annette do the same.
“Out here, maybe,” she replied, waving at the cityscape as they approached the hospital. “But cell phone signals don’t work so well in Pat’s studio. The chance of someone tracking us in there are beyond slim.”
“And out here?”
“Well. Don’t we want them to? Isn’t our new terrible plan awfully like the old one? Except we’re now dodging Judge Gomph? Or are wenotdodging him?” She turned in her seat to face David, nibbling a thumbnail while she thought out loud. “Is this when we concoct a scheme to trick Gomph into incriminating himself, and then the forces of good will pounce, punish him, and exonerate us?”
