Free Trouble Bruin by Rebekah Blue

painfully towards the cave, every movement slow and agonized. Titch was urging him along, alternately tugging ineffectually at his shirt, and crouching to whisper urgently in his ear.
    Charlie turned quickly back to the approaching men, knowing her face was completely drained of color and hoping it might be masked by the sunburn on her nose and cheeks. She plastered a broad, manic grin on her face and prayed they wouldn’t glance past her and see the bear shifter and the teenage girl making their slow progress towards shelter.
    The CEO of Dynamic Earth, Dr. Atkins, was a big man – not fat, just solid, like a granite block in a suit. She’d heard he was a jackal shifter. Should that have tipped her off that he might not be all he seemed? She supposed even jackals probably had mothers who loved them. He was smooth, projecting a balance of polished charm and bluff amiability that made him instantly appealing. His suit had probably cost more than she earned in a year. She was pretty sure his doctorate was honorary.
    Professor Stanhope, on the other hand, was the real deal. He looked it, too. He’d almost certainly got more degrees than he’d had girlfriends. He was head of research for Dynamic Earth, overseeing half a dozen different projects. His personal pet project was something to do with DNA cloning, but he was involved in everything, and equally brilliant in every scientific field. He was skinny, bespectacled, and dressed in a labcoat. Next to Dr. Atkins, he almost faded into the background. He was a charisma pit, but a nice one. Charlie had always found his nerdy enthusiasm for science rather endearing.
    Dr. Atkins extended a large, square hand with beautifully manicured fingernails and said, “Charlotte. We’re so pleased to see you safe and well.” His touch was warm, firm and reassuring, and Charlie found herself relaxing in his affable presence. He projected an aura of having everything under control.
    And he did, she reminded herself with a brief chill. He was in charge of everything Dynamic Earth did, and that meant he was the one responsible for a plot to eliminate all the Starweed in the Badlands, leaving Art and others like him to die a slow, painful death. And all so they could harness that incredible strength and resilience, distill it into a pill or a shot, and use it to grab more power, more money; buy more designer suits and glossy manicures and hired muscle.
    Professor Stanhope hung back a little. The pulsing wind from the rotor blades had mussed his sparse hair, and sweat patches bloomed under the arms of his labcoat. “I’m excited to hear about the data points you’ve generated—” he began.
    “But there’ll be plenty of time for that,” Dr. Atkins interrupted smoothly. “Charlotte has been through quite an ordeal, and I’m sure she’d like the opportunity for a cool shower and some clean clothes before we interrogate her.”
    He said it with a jovial twinkle in his eye, but knowing what she did, Charlie thought being hooked up to a polygraph would be child’s play compared to persuading Dr. Atkins she was still marching to Dynamic Earth’s rhythm. She’d do it, though, for the man she loved.
    Dr. Atkins swept his arm out towards the helicopter in a courteous gesture that invited her to walk with them. Charlie didn’t miss the fact that this left her flanked by the two Dynamic Earth bosses. The large, muscular man she’d previously marked down as security walked behind her. She was being, very politely and without a lot of fuss, escorted to the helicopter.
    She didn’t dare look over to where she’d last seen Art and Titch – she’d give them away.
    Then her heart stuttered in her chest as she realized what she’d just thought.
    The man she loved.
    Art.

Chapter Thirteen
     
    Charlie’s ears popped as the chopper climbed. Perhaps she should be nervous about flying after her recent brush with death, but she wasn’t. She had so many other worries tangling her guts into knots