Page 15 of Bears Behaving Badly
“Never mind,” David replied. “Yank away.”
“Are we going to have to Hannibal Lecter you?” Annette demanded. “Strap you to a gurney and wheel you in and out of court? Where would we even get a hockey mask?”
“I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about—ninguna,nessuna,keine—but I gotta say, it sounds awesome.”
“Stop that. You’re drawing a blank on the pop-culture reference. I get it.” She let go of his ear, and he collapsed back into his chair. “Explain yourself.”
“Hey, you were at the hospital again. What is it with you and para-pediatrics?” Dev leaned in and sniffed. “Who’s the little punk you were holding?”
“None of your business.”
“Impressive,” David commented. “I don’t know how you can scent anything in here.”
“Thanks! And there was some Caesar-looking guy named Oz who was definitely up to no good in here—”
Oz Adway! Dammit, the man simply will NOT stay in his lane. Who leaves the sterile glory of the Accounting break room for this squalid cell?“If anyone would know what ‘up to no good’ looks like, it would be you, Devin Devoss.”
“—and he said he’s your brother, which was just weird. Why would your brother be skulking in the break room? So I told him to get bent.” Dev paused. “No need to thank me.”
Annette rapped on the table. “Focus, you charming jackass. You realize you’ve got a hearing in a few minutes, yes?”
“I’m here, aren’t I? I’m ready to go.Iwas waiting foryou. I feel like you’re not getting this.”
For a second, all she could do was gnash her teeth at him. Which, given how his eyes widened, was gratifying. She silently counted to three (when she was this irked, making it to ten was impossible), then said, “Fine. And shall I suggest to His Honor that you would like to visit your mother?”
The grin fell away. “No.”
“Dev…”
“No.What’d be the point? She can’t use me anymore. It’s why she’s locked up.” The kit’s green eyes were very bright, with anger or tears or both. “Youtold me that.”
“So I did.” Annette lowered her voice and blessed David’s silence from the doorway. “But I’m not suggesting you see her for her sake.”
“You told me this already.”
“I’m suggesting you do it for yours.”
“You told me this already.”
Annette sighed. “Fine, off we go. It’s Judge Gomph, who thinks on time is late, so let’s get moving.”
Dev, always quick to recover his equilibrium, asked, “What the hell is a Judge Gomph?”
“Quiet, you. And you’re combing your hair on the way over.”
“It’s supposed to stick up like this.”
“GoodGod.”
* * *
“I wish you had time to change,” Annette fretted as they walked through the parking garage. She and David had advised they were taking Dev to the hearing and gotten authorization for same. Not for the first time, Annette was grateful the Shifter system allowed more flexibility than the alternative. “But that would entail letting you out of my sight for more than five seconds, so that is, needless to say, off the table.”
“I’ll drop trou right here. I don’t care,” the boy declared.
“Ha!” From David, who was…cheerful? In the last three hours she’d exchanged more words with him than in the past year. Who knew he could smile? And laugh? And joke? There were rumors, of course, but nothing anyone had actually seen or heard. David’s sense of humor was like the Loch Ness monster: there were passionate believers on both sides of the argument. “You don’t know who Hannibal Lecter is, but you’re using ‘drop trou’?”
“Saw it in a movie.”
