without notice until it broke out and went on the prowl.
It was as I left my friend’s art show at 11 pm last night that I spotted the bear sniffing around my car. Unfortunately, he saw me too…
Thanks to Eric, Sierra had her first cover story.
It hadn’t been too hard to fabricate the details. The cops had mostly lost interest after being unable to locate the bear. All Sierra had to do was point a finger at a man who had already changed his identity and moved to Sleuth months before, a man the police were unlikely to find even if they were really looking. Damon and Zeke had set up a cage and other bear wrangling stuff in Gerald’s basement, and tried to make it look like someone had been living there up until last night. The story was all wrapped up with a bow and accompanied by a striking photograph of Eric rearing up over her as she faced him from the ground, the back of her dress in bloody tatters.
Sierra was admiring her byline as she sat in the passenger seat of Joe’s Range Rover. He reached over and squeezed her hand as they bumped along the dirt road towards Sleuth.
“Are you ready for this?” he asked her.
She had her front-page story, she had Joe back, and soon, Eric wouldn’t be a danger to her anymore. Her view of the world had expanded to include mysterious and amazing things she hadn’t thought possible. She had found the excitement she had been searching for. She was definitely ready.
That hadn’t quite been the feeling she had been experiencing the night before when Damon had handed her the phone.
She had taken it from him with shaking hands.
“Sierra!” Joe had greeted her in a panic. “Are you alright?”
“ Now ?” Sierra had asked him.
“What?”
“You’re calling me now ? After I’ve been trying to call you all week?”
And she unceremoniously hung up before he could get another word out. She handed the phone back to a stunned Damon, who looked at her plaintively as it began to ring again.
“I’m not answering that.” she insisted.
After speaking with the police she got patched up by the EMT’s. The scratches on her back were long and wicked looking, but fortunately shallow. His claws had just grazed her, doing much more damage to her cerulean blue silk dress than her skin. The EMT’s bandaged her up, insisted on a rabies shot, and then sent her on her way.
Sierra looked quite the sight as she walked into her office just after midnight. Not having anything else to wear, and not wanting to waste time by going home, she was barefoot with torn and dirty stockings barely concealing scabbed knees. The ripped up dress and bandages completed the look. Sierra was sure by tomorrow every muscle in her body would ache like she had run a marathon.
But tonight she was all adrenalin and excitement and anger. There was no room left for pain.
Her editor met her just inside the door.
“Jesus! You’re a mess! Tell me there’s pictures.”
“Oh, there’s pictures,” James said as he trailed in behind her, camera in hand. “Wait till you see them.”
They got straight to work on the story, racing for tomorrow’s deadline.
Sierra’s phone rang twenty-six times in the next hour as Joe called her again and again. She ignored it each time, focused wholly on her work.
After grudgingly realizing if she wanted to keep Sleuth out of the papers she would need his help, she answered the twenty-seventh call.
“Don’t hang up!” Joe said immediately.
“Wasn’t going to.” Sierra told him.
“Sierra I’m so sorry. I’m going to kill him. I want to see you. I’ll do anything. Just tell me what you want.” he babbled.
“I want a fall guy.”
“What?”
By 4:00 am, the story was finished. James and her editor had gone home. Too exhausted by the night’s events to make it to her car, Sierra had passed out at her desk.
She woke up to the feel of
It was as I left my friend’s art show at 11 pm last night that I spotted the bear sniffing around my car. Unfortunately, he saw me too…
Thanks to Eric, Sierra had her first cover story.
It hadn’t been too hard to fabricate the details. The cops had mostly lost interest after being unable to locate the bear. All Sierra had to do was point a finger at a man who had already changed his identity and moved to Sleuth months before, a man the police were unlikely to find even if they were really looking. Damon and Zeke had set up a cage and other bear wrangling stuff in Gerald’s basement, and tried to make it look like someone had been living there up until last night. The story was all wrapped up with a bow and accompanied by a striking photograph of Eric rearing up over her as she faced him from the ground, the back of her dress in bloody tatters.
Sierra was admiring her byline as she sat in the passenger seat of Joe’s Range Rover. He reached over and squeezed her hand as they bumped along the dirt road towards Sleuth.
“Are you ready for this?” he asked her.
She had her front-page story, she had Joe back, and soon, Eric wouldn’t be a danger to her anymore. Her view of the world had expanded to include mysterious and amazing things she hadn’t thought possible. She had found the excitement she had been searching for. She was definitely ready.
That hadn’t quite been the feeling she had been experiencing the night before when Damon had handed her the phone.
She had taken it from him with shaking hands.
“Sierra!” Joe had greeted her in a panic. “Are you alright?”
“ Now ?” Sierra had asked him.
“What?”
“You’re calling me now ? After I’ve been trying to call you all week?”
And she unceremoniously hung up before he could get another word out. She handed the phone back to a stunned Damon, who looked at her plaintively as it began to ring again.
“I’m not answering that.” she insisted.
After speaking with the police she got patched up by the EMT’s. The scratches on her back were long and wicked looking, but fortunately shallow. His claws had just grazed her, doing much more damage to her cerulean blue silk dress than her skin. The EMT’s bandaged her up, insisted on a rabies shot, and then sent her on her way.
Sierra looked quite the sight as she walked into her office just after midnight. Not having anything else to wear, and not wanting to waste time by going home, she was barefoot with torn and dirty stockings barely concealing scabbed knees. The ripped up dress and bandages completed the look. Sierra was sure by tomorrow every muscle in her body would ache like she had run a marathon.
But tonight she was all adrenalin and excitement and anger. There was no room left for pain.
Her editor met her just inside the door.
“Jesus! You’re a mess! Tell me there’s pictures.”
“Oh, there’s pictures,” James said as he trailed in behind her, camera in hand. “Wait till you see them.”
They got straight to work on the story, racing for tomorrow’s deadline.
Sierra’s phone rang twenty-six times in the next hour as Joe called her again and again. She ignored it each time, focused wholly on her work.
After grudgingly realizing if she wanted to keep Sleuth out of the papers she would need his help, she answered the twenty-seventh call.
“Don’t hang up!” Joe said immediately.
“Wasn’t going to.” Sierra told him.
“Sierra I’m so sorry. I’m going to kill him. I want to see you. I’ll do anything. Just tell me what you want.” he babbled.
“I want a fall guy.”
“What?”
By 4:00 am, the story was finished. James and her editor had gone home. Too exhausted by the night’s events to make it to her car, Sierra had passed out at her desk.
She woke up to the feel of
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