Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
“Okay. I’ll get my coat.” She hustled out of the room.
He waited until she returned and then escorted her down the stairs, making sure to keep his body between her and any danger. The spring day held a blue sky and a lukewarm sun, but at least the rain had finally stopped. Once in his truck, he drove out onto the main road and then around the river, staying quiet as he let her mull through her thoughts.
Nobody followed him.
He found the bear nicely in the cage with frosting all over its mouth. He thanked the neighbors, hooked the cage to the back of his truck, and rejoined Laurel. “We’ll take her about twenty miles up into the mountain and let her go. Be prepared to make some noise.” He glanced at her. While she appeared to be all brain, she had a huge heart. “We’ll scare her but it’s for her own good.”
“I know,” Laurel murmured, watching the trees fly by outside. “We want to associate people and danger to her so she stays away from homes.”
Of course she understood.
He soon reached a good area where the bear could head into the woods where there was plenty of food and a great stream with fish. Huck killed the engine, and an encompassing silence settled, broken only by the distant calls of awakening birds. Turning to Laurel, he instructed, “Stay in the cab until we’re ready. Safety first.”
He exited the vehicle, and Aeneas leaped down beside him, muscles taut with anticipation. Together, they approached the cage. The bear charged the door and bounced off. She was a good-sized one.
Huck glanced at Aeneas, who responded with a focused stance, ready to do his job.
“Okay, Laurel,” he called out. “Go ahead and come out. I want you in the back of the truck, gun out.”
She followed his instructions, curiosity glimmering in her stunning eyes. She climbed into the back of the truck. “I’m ready.”
“Great. All you need to do is jump up and down and make a lot of noise. I’ll shoot into the air.” Huck unlatched the cage door and swung it open. The bear hesitated. Seizing the moment, Huck fired a shot into the air, and the sharp crack echoed through the trees. Simultaneously, he and Laurel shouted loudly, their voices merging into a clamor designed to instill fear. Aeneas barked fiercely, sounding happy to be back at work.
Startled into action, the bear lunged from the cage, eyes wide with alarm. It bolted toward the forest, claws tearing into the earth. Aeneas pursued briefly, nipping at the bear’s heels, reinforcing the lesson, barking wildly with no fear. After a short chase, Huck called Aeneas back, and the dog returned promptly, mission accomplished.
Laurel laughed. “Textbook execution,” she remarked, admiration in her tone.
Huck nodded, scanning the treeline. “It’s about reinforcing boundaries,” he replied. “With luck, she’ll steer clear of human settlements from now on.”
Aeneas sat beside Huck, panting lightly, his gaze fixed on the point where the bear had disappeared. The forest gradually returned to its natural rhythm, the brief disturbance fading into the vast expanse of wilderness.
Laurel looked around. “You asked me earlier? What about you? Where would you hide a secret lab?”
“I’m not sure, but I’d search from the air. Why don’t we take a look around, enjoy the spring day, and then try from a helicopter tomorrow?” If there was even a hidden lab anywhere close by. The lab could be in Seattle.
She smiled, looking more relaxed than she had in days. “That sounds like a nice day. Well, unless we find the lab.” Her brows drew down. “I hope we find it. I don’t like Tyler’s warning.”
“Yeah, me either.” Huck walked down the side of the truck, leaned over, and lifted her, allowing her to slide down him until she reached the ground.
She reached over the side for her gun carrier. “If we take everything at face value, we have a lab creating some sort of dementia cure that might have a side effect of creating lesions in the brain that kill people. So it could be a weapon as well.”
That’s what he thought. His gut turned over. “So an attack would mean . . .”
“They might be trying to test it. On a population.” She paled. “This is just conjecture.”
But it was the only explanation that made sense. “We have to find that lab.”
* * *
The aluminum bat cracked against the ball, sending a line drive straight toward third base. Viv crouched, gloved it clean, and fired to first, the ball popping into the mitt before the runner was halfway down the line.
“Nice one, Viv,” Tatum called from shortstop, her red ponytail bouncing as she jogged toward Viv. She was a cute sophomore with a scattering of freckles across her nose and a wicked arm that was deadly on double plays. She leaned in, smirking. “You know the cop watching from the dugout? Kinda hot.”