Page 89 of Bears Behaving Badly
“Sorry, sorry. ‘Exotic pets importer and exporter.’ Which he was weirdly proud of.” A snort. “But, yeah. Glorified pet-shop owner.”
David couldn’t believe the waves of animosity coming off the guy. Was it possible Brennan could be an ally? Had he found out something unsavory about Lund but was constrained from action by attorney–client privilege? He glanced at Annette, then forced warmth into his tone. “That’s the drawback to being a lawyer, man. Can’t always pick your clients, even from the defense side.”
“Tell me about it.”
“No wonder you wanted to be an investigator, too. I don’t have any fancy suits,” he added, faking admiration for Brennan’s wardrobe choices, “but on the other hand, I don’t have to take on any client I don’t want.”
“Damned straight!” Brennan held up a hand, and for a second, David didn’t think he’d be able to do it.If there was any doubt this guy is a bad guy, that doubt has disappeared. Who high-fives a stranger?David managed a listless high five. “And I’ll tell you something else. Lund was a pain, but what happened to him? That was a real shame.”
“Oh yes.” From Annette. “Hopefully the police will be able to catch whomever did it.”
“That Caro girl did it.” Shrug. “At least, that’s the word.” Brennan popped out of his chair like a wolf-in-the-box. “Anyway. If you want to leave your contact info with my receptionist, we can meet up tomorrow. Eight o’clock okay?”
“Of course,” she replied. “We appreciate you taking the time to do this.”
“No prob. Nice meeting you. Both.”
“You too.” Annette shook his hand and smiled. David shook his hand and smiled. Brennan smiled back. Everyone looked at each other and smiled and smiled.
3When souls collide, danger lurks, and love is the most dangerous weapon of all, fall into…The Darkest Hickey. (Don’t steal that, it’s mine!)
Chapter 28
Annette inspected her palm as David hung up one of the burners and tossed it in the back seat. “There’s not enough hand sanitizer in the world. And I need half-a-dozen Jolly Ranchers to get the taste out of my mouth. We only shook hands but I feel filthy.”
“Not a fan, huh?”
“The opposite of a fan. Ugh, thatsmile. I’m betting the caption on his yearbook picture read Most Likely to Date Rape.” She popped another red candy into her mouth. “Who’d you call?”
“Nobody,” David said with a distinctly guilty look.
“You called Oz? Is he okay?”
“Seems to be. And he’s checking on Caro and Dev.”
“I wish we didn’t have to use him like that.”
“Is it using him if he’s the one in a hurry to stick his head in the noose?” David cleared his throat. “I’ll rephrase…”
“Please don’t.”
“Annette, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed—”
“Oh, good God. Anytime someone says that, it’s always sarcastic and it always prefaces pointing out something that I have, in fact, noticed.”
“—but our allies are thin on the ground. We’ve got Nadia running all over town for us, but she’s just one person, and he wants to help. For Christ’s sake, he bled for us.”
“Because he is stupid! He is a stupid man who thinks he can handle real trouble, right up until the moment it whips around and gets him by the throat! And I am aware I sound heartless but I can’t do anything about that right now!”
“Oooooo-kay,” David added after what felt like a five-year silence. “Upside is he’s had plenty of time to turn us over to Gomph and he hasn’t.”
“Oh, he’d never dothat,” she said at once. At David’s look, she added, “All right, yes, he drives me nuts. I’m not sure ifyou’venoticed, but I’ve got a bit of a food attachment issue—”
“No. Nope. Uh-uh. Never noticed. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about food. Or seen you eat. At all. At any time. Not once.”
“—but Oz would never do anything to hurt me. On purpose, I mean. Just inconvenience me. All the damned time,” she added in a mutter. “When he was staying at Mama Mac’s, he’d never bust me for sneaking in late, but if I left so much as a piece of cake lying around, down his gullet it went. Half the time he wasn’t even hungry, just…he’d get spite munchies.God,he’s irritating.”
“Like a little brother.”
