Page 64 of Bears Behaving Badly
“Thanks for that” was the dry reply. “So, again, what are we doing here?”
Nadia tossed her head. “Well,David, if you must know, Judge Gomph was looking high and low for you two.”
“Was?”
“Now he’s simply lying in wait for Annette. He’s clever—he’s picked the one place he knows Annettemustvisit.”
“He’s at Big Bowl? That’s all the way over in Edina. It’s worth the drive because the dumplings are incredible, and their homemade ginger ale is a treat, but—”
“The pediatric wing, you dim darling.”
“Oh. Thatissmart,” she admitted. “Because I’m definitely going there.”
“No, you are not,” Nadia began.
“Waste of time, Nadia,” Oz said. “Waste. Of. Time.”
“Oz is right.”Ow. It physically hurt me to say that out loud.“I have to go to the peds wing. And you know that, too, or you wouldn’t have called and told me Gomph was here.”
“I was warning you! I didn’t want you going in by yourself. David, stop clearing your throat,” Nadia snapped. “You’re not part of this.”
“The hell I’m not! And it’s either pointed throat-clearing or I just start yelling over you, and none of us wants that. Annette isn’t going in by herself. I’m going with her.”
“Again, you are not part of this, David.”
“Again, the hell I’m not, Nadia, so get bent.”
“She means because we’re IPA employees, and you’re an independent contractor.” Annette turned to Nadia. “Right? Because in every other way, he’s definitely part of this.”
“Thanks, Annette.”
“You’re welcome, David.”
“Whoa.” From Oz.
“Oh, my dear Lord,” Nadia breathed. “You let David get a leg over!”
“I did not!”Yet.
“Well, you did something.”
Now Annette was doing the throat-clearing while David remained silent and gave off none-of-your-business vibes. “We’re getting off-topic,” she began.
“Wait, it worked?” Oz asked. “Acting like you were going out resulted in—”
“No,” David snapped. “It didn’t happen, it will never happen, stop trying to make it happen, and Nadia, you’renotcoming with us.”
“I’d like to bloody well see either of you stop me. How can you even consider leaving me out?”
“Oh, for all sorts of reasons,” Annette said, because there were so. Many. Reasons. “But in this case, it’s tactical, not personal. You’re not looking at the trouble David and I are.”
“Such bullshit.” Nadia sniffed. “Of course I am.”
“Annette’s right,” David said. “We didn’t tell Bob you were with us at Lund’s place. And you weren’t with us when we stomped the warwolves.”
“Exactly,” Annette added. Perhaps ganging up was the way to verbally defeat the woman. “You’re clean on this one so far, and we mean for you to stay that way. You’re not the one who hid Caro at your place, and you didn’t drop off the grid.”
“Neither did you!” the other woman pointed out. “You’re full-on trapped in the grid with the rest of us drones. Look, you’re still using your phone. Give it to me.”
