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“Yes. We cover her cubs and the newly introduced one with it. She’ll lick it off of them, replacing it with her own scent. Then it’s far more likely she’ll accept the orphaned cub.” Cate smiled.
“Cool.”
She finished up her work and handed him one of the cubs. They moved quickly to cover the cubs with a thin layer of vapor rub. The distinct menthol odor filled his nostrils. Then all three cubs were placed up against the sow where they quickly got back to suckling. The cubs had only spent one night at his place before being taken to the wildlife rehab center, but knowing he wouldn’t likely ever see the little fuzz balls again was bittersweet. They were getting the care they needed and each one would be placed in a den with a loving mama bear, but he’d never again get to feed them their bottles.
“Won’t the medication you gave the sow to knock her out hurt the cubs?”
“It’s a short-acting tranquilizer. She’ll be coming out of it any minute now, which means we need to skedaddle.”
They quickly packed up their things and headed back the way they’d come. Cate walked beside him, and he slowed his pace to get a moment alone with her.
“Thanks for inviting me to come along.”
“You’re welcome.” The light in her eyes attested to the truth of her words. “I’m glad you came. You’ll see what, if anything, happens to the poacher who killed our orphans’ mother, but I guess you don’t get to see this side of things as often.”
“You’re right, I don’t. From time to time I get to be there for a release, but this case was my first bear-cub encounter in the wild.” He had the ridiculous urge to push the hair that had fallen out of her braid back behind her ear, but he fought it. Yes, they’d formed something of a friendship, but a move like that would be far too intimate. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll call you if we arrest the poacher. You deserve to see justice done, too.”
She tilted her head to the side and twirled one of her braids around her index finger. “You would do that for me?”
“Most certainly.” He grinned. And it would give him an excuse to call.
“I’m glad we were on it together.”
Jack turned around. “Cate, you have a second?”
“Guess I better see what he needs.”
Malachi nodded. He hated to see her go, but she had a job to do.
Joey, the college-aged kid on Cate’s team, pushed his dark-brown glasses up on his nose with his index finger. “I heard this place was more than a munitions factory. Some say radioactive material from the Manhattan Project was stored here.”
“You don’t say?” Malachi said. He’d read as much on the internet, but didn’t know how much of what he read was fact and how much was fiction. What he did know was that he had a case file sitting on his desk, and the longer he spent out here, the colder it would get.
Becky perched on a tree stump and fiddled with a pine cone while the men set up camp. The site was close enough to the park where Malachi worked that she might occasionally catch a glimpse of him, but if she was going to gain her rightful position, she needed him to rejoin the community. Convincing him to do so might prove challenging. He didn’t trust her, and once he learned she was his mother, he’d trust her even less. As much as she wanted to get to know him as a person, that couldn’t be her top concern. She needed him here. Once he was back home, they could take their time getting reacquainted.
She took a deep breath of cool air laced with the scent of earth and pine.
If she’d known she wouldn’t be able to have any more children, she would’ve taken him with her. Time had proved her unable to conceive, and thus useless for the purpose of procreation, she’d been given other tasks. They’d treated her like a grandmother before she was thirty. Here she was, forty-six years old. If she didn’t find a way to change things, she’d wind up a lonely old lady living in a homeless shelter. The community didn’t have members over fifty. In her early years, it hadn’t occurred to her that it was odd. Now she grew closer to that magic number. What had become of those who aged out? Was that even a thing? Or did they leave on their own? There was no doubt in her mind what happened to those who chose to leave. She’d seen firsthand what Reece did to defectors. Shutting her eyes against the vision of the execution-style killing, she rubbed her thumb and forefinger over her furrowed brow. The last thing she needed was to develop more wrinkles.
Soft footfalls sounded behind her. She turned to see Dorcas.
“Reece would like to speak with you. He’s over by the van.”
Becky stood. Time to face the consequences of sharing with Malachi what she knew about the cubs. She chewed on her bottom lip as she trudged over rocks and tree roots.
Reece leaned against the driver’s door, his arms crossed over his chest. She stopped a few feet before him. “You wanted to see me.”
“We have a rat." She swallowed the lump in her throat and forced her breathing to remain calm. “We do?”
“Someone let the authorities know about a trade we were making. The last thing we need is people nosing around our business.” His pale-blue eyes pierced hers. “What I need from you is your listening skills.”
Her heartbeat steadied. He wasn’t confronting her. What he wanted was her help. This was perfect. “Okay.”
“You’re practically invisible around here. A fixture. You can listen to conversations without being noticed.”
The truth of his words slammed into her, but she rubbed her hands on her skirt and remained quiet.
“Do what you do best. Listen to conversations. Find out if someone here is plotting to bring me down.”
