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He recalled reading or hearing something about making yourself big and loud when facing a predator. But maybe that was a wolf. He couldn’t remember.
Parker’s back was to his front. “Where are its claws?”
Moe zeroed in on the giant mitts as big as his head. He couldn’t see any. “Maybe that’s why he’s not having luck opening the MRE ration.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
The bear shoved the top of the bag into his mouth and shook its head willy-nilly.
“Do you see any teeth?” Moe asked.
“No. A bear with no claws and no teeth? Is he old? Did they fall out or something?”
Moe eased the semi-automatic around until it was across his chest. “You’re asking me?”
Twigs snapped as someone approached and instinct took over. While the bear continued to wrestle with the stubborn packaging, they backpedaled to the nearest set of trees.
“No need to worry,” a gravelly voice called. “Unless you’re with them assholes down in the mine.”
An older guy with long, stringy hair contained by a bandanna, emerged into the clearing. His chin sprouted a week’s worth of beard, and he carried a walking stick. He made a noise in the back of his throat, raising a hand to the bear. Reluctantly, the animal dropped the ration with a groaning noise, and the man retrieved it. “Don’t complain about having to give up your prize,” he told it, tapping the end of the stick on the ground. “You’ve already had your breakfast.”
Moe and Parker exchanged a look.
The newcomer faced them. “This here is Oscar. Former circus performer who ended up dumped out here to survive on his own. He won’t hurt you unless you’re an asshole. You assholes?”
A heartbeat of silence passed while Moe and Parker exchanged a glance. She seemed as stymied as he was. He eased forward and tipped his head at her, ditching his British accent to sound as American as possible. “She’s not, but I can be.”
The crow’s feet around the man’s eyes deepened as he flashed a grin, his attention falling to the weapon strapped across Moe’s chest. “You look like trouble. Your lady friend need a medic?”
The use of the term, along with the U.S. Navy patch on the guy’s dirty jean jacket, gave Moe hope that he might be their ticket to get out of there. “You wouldn’t happen to live around here, would you?”
“Maybe. Saw you two pass by on horseback.” He glanced around. “Did Oscar chase off your rides?”
“No, one of the assholes,” Parker told him. She moved to lean heavily on Moe and he wanted to slide his arm around her waist, but needed his hands free. “Our communication devices are destroyed, and the one cell we have won’t get reception. How can we contact our friends to pick us up?”
It seemed as though the effort to speak took all of her energy and she listed to her left, going down on one knee. Moe reached for her before he could think, and the bear opened its giant mouth and roared.
They both tensed. The man smacked the ground with the stick and the bear grumbled, then resumed looking bored. A distinct odor coming from it engulfed all of them.
Keeping an eye on Oscar, Moe helped her stand and wrapped an arm around her. “You’ve got him well trained.”
“Goddamn shame, taking wild animals and making them perform in some shoddy circus.” The man ran his gaze over the bear. “Fine specimen until they yanked out his claws and incisors.”
Sucked for the bear, but Moe was a touch relieved. “About our lack of communication,” he said.
The bloke turned a quizzical eye on him and Parker and jutted his whiskered chin toward the quarry. “What are you doing here, if you’re not one of them?”
With Parker fading with every passing second, Moe saw no reason to keep the generalities of their op a secret. His only goal at this point was getting her to a hospital. “They’re Russian terrorists and we’re trying to stop them. The mission went sideways, as you can see. Our team is walking into a trap, my CO here has a concussion, and as she said, I have no way to contact the others.”
“What the hell do Russian terrorists want with that mine?”
“To lure in a genius who they plan to turn into a weapon to use against our country. Probably a lot of countries. Right now, they’ve kidnapped an innocent woman to get him here. They’ll abduct him and blow the mine in order to kill our team who are coming to rescue her. If there’s anything you can do to help us stop them, I’m all ears.”
Parker hissed, unhappy with his confession. Moe hugged her tighter. He knew without checking his watch that he was running out of time and was damn short on options.
The man glanced at the bear and ran his attention around the perimeter of the horseshoe-shaped quarry. There were noises coming from below suggesting at least one of the terrorists was on his way. While Moe’s impromptu explosion had closed the main exit, the Ringers had found another way out. He could hear distant radio static and voices, although they were too far away to understand.
“On the other side of this ridge, there’s a place,” the man told him. “A ghost town.”
