Page 70 of Bears Behaving Badly
“You know how,” Tilbury said quietly. “It’s only happening to the little ones nobody cares about. That one?” She pointed to the premature werefox Annette had fed the other day. “Abandoned. No name or pack affiliation. So once she’s off the oxygen therapy, into the system she goes. And we’ll hope she gets adopted by a nice family and maybe she will, but…” She shrugged.
“We’ve all got so much work, who’s got time to follow up with every single kit discharged out of here? That’s exactly when westopbeing involved, and when IPA takes point. It was a miracle we noticed the ones we did, which is a disgrace. But who can we tell?” For a moment, she looked as distressed and helpless as Annette felt. Sharon stood silently, but reached out and took her colleague’s hand. “We have to keep it in-house, we can’t have Stables sniffing around.”
“That’s what they’re counting on,” David muttered.
“Can you give us any names? Anything at all?”
Sharon let out a breath. “So youareinvestigating. And not just the Lund thing. You’re looking into all of it.” To the doctor: “That explains a lot, wouldn’t you say, Tilly?”
Dr. Tilbury nodded, looking at them over the tops of her glasses.What is it about a werewolf in spectacles that always makes me smile?“I’d say. The word is that you’re obstructing an investigation to cover your own incompetence, and that the missing kids are on you.”
“On…us?”I can’t breathe. There’s not enough air in here. Why are they keeping cubs in a room without enough AIR?“They’re saying it’sourfault?”
“Keep it together,” David said, giving her arm a squeeze. “It’s a shitty lie, and a stupid one, because anyone who’s spent more than five minutes in your company won’t believe it.”
“Right.”Deep breaths. In, out.She had to keep calm, or Tilbury would start givingheroxygen therapy. Which, while tempting, would just slow everything down. “Right. Okay. Well, I can assure you both that we aren’t trying to cover our tracks.” Except for dodging Gomph. And staying mum about the dead bodies in her kitchen and living area. And not disclosing Caro’s new location. Or Dev’s. Or Pat’s involvement and the ensuing injuries. Or Nadia stalling Gomph. Or Oz doing whatever the hell he was doing. “What’s ‘the Lund thing’?”
“That guy signed himself out, and the first thing he did was come up here. Tilly had to politely kick him out.”
“Here? Where the babies are?” Why? Was he so desperate for new blood he was going to snatch them right out of their cribs during daylight hours? Or was he getting a head count by subspecies? Making note of the most vulnerable of the vulnerable?
And then after his head count, he went home and one of his partners killed him. And that’s all. That’s all we’ve been able to figure out. And there’s so much more, and it’s so much worse.
The thought made her want to bite something. Or someone.
“What about the ones who are still here?”
“That’s the question,” Tilbury replied. “We can’t keep them indefinitely, but once word got around that you guys were looking into it, I decided my discharge plans were premature. None of these ailing cubs are going anywhere just yet. But that’s just a temporary fix.”
“Yeah, but they know you’re watching now. And they know Annette and I are poking around. I don’t think they’re gonna dare snatch any kids right now. So we’ve got a window.”
“A narrow, rapidly closing window,” Annette pointed out. “Time’s not on our side, either. Sharon, did you happen to keep the investigator’s card?”
For the first time, Sharon smiled. “As a matter of fact, I did.”
“Excellent, hand it over.”
“It’s on the chart you’ve been staring at for the last five minutes.”
“Oh. Good. Sorry, being accused of kidnapping and child abuse and obstruction of justice was distracting. At least we don’t have to worry about the Spencer cub for a bit. Now we’ve got to…Ouch!” David’s hand had clamped down on hers, which was when she heard the telltale sound of Judge Gomph’s tread. Along with the telltale sound of Nadia in crisis mode.
“…cannot imagine her doing any such thing, Judge! David Auberon, sure, one look at that reprobate and you can see he’s a clear sociopath…”
“Jesus Christ,” David muttered.
“—but Annette, while dangerously and stupidly naive, has too much respect for our terrible system.”
Gomph must have answered, but all they heard was low muttering neither of them could quite make out.
“As you yourself know, sir, she was raised in it. And I am horrified,horrified, that anyone could insinuate she’s involved in such repellent acts. Whomever is spreading these ugly rumors deserves a strict talking to and perhaps a kick to the seat of the pants, you’ll pardon my impertinence.”
Quick as thought, David and Annette dropped to all fours and scooted back until they were against the wall. They probably looked ridiculous, not that it mattered. What did matter was that Gomph could see into the room, but he couldn’t see them unless he came in through the door and looked to his right and then down. And even if he did that, unless he got kissing close (or stomping close), he wouldn’t be able to see them clearly; he was notoriously far-sighted.
“Not to mention, sir, that I am troubled by your seeming eagerness to believe unsavory rumors!” The closer Gomph got to their hiding place, the more high-strung Nadia sounded. Annette’s eardrums throbbed in sympathy. “Yes, that’s right, and I shall say it again! Unsavory! Rumors! Would you have us live in anarchy, Judge? Because speaking for all who live in a free society, I should bloody well hope not!”
She must have looked rattled, because David leaned close and murmured, “He won’t be able to scent us. Too many other odors to sort out.”
“True. But how’s his hearing?” she whispered back.
