And she stepped around Sheriff Armstrong and marched towards the door.
“Tell me where my sister is!” Clover screamed, blinded by rage. Fur shot through her skin and long, thick claws curved from her fingertips. She grew taller, feeling animal fury ripple through her body. She exploded out of her clothes, and Bonnie did the same. Clover lunged at her, and the two bears rolled on the floor, roaring and growling, until Sam shifted and pulled them apart. The women turned human again and stood there, glowering at each other, with the shreds of their clothing hanging off their bodies.
“She assaulted me without provocation! Everybody saw it! Arrest her at once, if you want to keep your job!” Bonnie shouted at the sheriff. “I work for the state, and they will not tolerate this type of behavior.”
“I’m not arresting her. Something stinks about this, and I intend to find out what,” Sheriff Armstrong said to her.
Bonnie turned and stomped out, with the shreds of her clothing hanging off her, purse clutched in her hand and head held high.
Clover swallowed her panic and, blinking back tears, turned to Sam.
“We’ve got to find her,” she said, her voice shaking.
“I swear to you, I will find her and bring her back,” Sam said. “And we’ll find out what the hell is going on here.”
“I need to go to the summer camp to be with my brother and sisters,” she said. “I’ll kill anyone who tries to take them from me. Please call me the minute you find out anything.”
* * *
Moonlight and Twilight sat on the bed in the motel room, looking out the window. They were two hours drive from Blue Moon Junction. Lennon sat gloomily tapping on his laptop, his shoulders hunched.
Autumn was looking in the mirror above the particleboard dresser and brushing glass out of her tangled hair. She’d escaped by climbing out the window of the bathroom at the DCF office, shifting, and running for it. Then she’d run into town, borrowed someone’s cell phone, and called Clover.
Clover had taken her three siblings and gone to pick up Autumn. They’d hastily packed their bags and headed out of town. Nobody was taking her family away from her ever again. She felt sick about leaving everyone behind, felt sick about leaving Sam, but nothing came before the safety of her brother and sisters.
Autumn turned back to look at Clover. “I know this is all my fault,” she said. “You were all better off in Blue Moon Junction. You’re better off without me.”
“Are you insane?” Clover said, shocked. “It’s not your fault at all, and I am never leaving you.”
“You should.” Autumn went back to brushing her hair.
Clover wanted to ask Autumn why she’d felt the need to go for a run so far away from the boarding house, but she didn’t want Autumn to feel like she was blaming her for anything, so she decided that question could wait for later.
“So where are we going now?” Lennon asked, his voice resigned.
“I’ll decide in the morning. Far away from here,” Clover said glumly. Far away from Sam, far away from the possibility of building a new life here.
She’d left a note with Sam asking him to give her salary to Imogen to pay for their stay at the boarding house.
“I guess I can’t be a security consultant now,” Lennon said glumly. “It’s too bad. I liked it.”
“Me too,” Moonlight said. “It was the first time in my life that I actually felt like I was helping people. It felt better than I expected.”
“You can be security consultants somewhere else,” Clover said, stricken. “You are still a bunch of criminal masterminds with hearts of gold, and don’t you forget it.”
“Nobody’s going to want to hire a bunch of kids,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “That was our best gig ever.”
Clover glanced over at Autumn, wincing at her pained expression, which reflected back from the mirror.
Then she tensed. She’d been listening nervously every time a car came and went in the parking lot outside their room, expecting Bonnie Rhoads and her goon squad to show up and crash through their door. She had paid for their room in cash, and the clerk hadn’t asked for her ID, but her heart still jumped to her throat every time she heard a car pull into the motel parking lot.
Someone parked nearby, and then she heard footsteps pounding down the walkway towards them.
She leaped up. There was no way that she was letting anyone take these kids from her. A hammering on the doorway made her start.
“It’s me! Open up!” Sam yelled.
“Hold on,” she said to her siblings. “Stay here.”
