“The old H.L. Lili labs,” Bradley filled in.
“I don’t know. I never went there.”
“You didn’t know that the girls were being held there?”
“Held there? They were still alive?” she gasped, sounding both incredulous and relieved.
“Yes. Let’s go back, Clara. What happened with the girls?”
“Me, Trevor and Deacon followed the girls out to the woods. They were just out there smoking a little weed and talking. We came up and told them we were hiking, asked if we could sit for a while. They seemed a little concerned, but I guess my being a female made them more comfortable. We sat down and smoked with them and then Trevor brought out the meth.”
“So, they didn’t buy it on the streets somewhere?”
“No. He made it and brought it with us. They hadn’t ever smoked meth before, but he told them it was no big deal. He told them it was laced with something that would make them see fuzzy rainbows or some weird shit like that.”
“Okay. Then what.”
“Once the girls were drugged up, we shifted in front of them. It was supposed to scare them, make them think they were hallucinating. Instead, they were all laughing. They thought it was funny. Then, the one girl suddenly stopped laughing and started screaming something about her soul being on fire and being consumed by Satan. She started running and Trevor chased her.”
“Over the cliff and into the river.”
“Yes. He didn’t know the area and didn’t see it until it was too late.”
“Then what?”
“The other girls started screaming and Deacon told them to shut up, but they wouldn’t. So, they grabbed them and tied them up, wrapped bandannas around their mouths to stop the noise.”
“What were you doing?”
“I was watching. I didn’t do anything. I was scared.”
“Okay. What happened then?”
“Trevor said he couldn’t let them go, because they had seen us as humans. He said they could identify us. They told me to get the car from where we had parked it nearby.”
“Then what?”
“I got the car and when I brought it back, they put the girls in it. They told me to go home. I didn’t ask questions. I shifted and came home alone.”
“So, you just thought what? That they took the girls home?” Bradley growled.
“They didn’t tell me what they did. I didn’t hear anything else about it. I thought they killed them.”
Bradley’s fist came down hard on the stack of books at the corner of his desk, the force sending them skidding sideways onto the floor. Clara looked terrified.
“So, you saw them kill one girl and thought they killed three others, but you didn’t think you should tell anyone?” Kay gasped.
“I was scared they would kill me, too, if I told. So, were the others.”
“The others?”
“There were five of us that helped them with the fields and the cave. After what happened with the fields getting burned and the girls, they told us they didn’t need us anymore. We didn’t want anything to do with it. We were fine with getting out of that mess.”
“Who are the others?” Bradley barked at her.
“I don’t want...,” she began to stammer.
“No! You don’t get to be selective anymore. Who were the others?”
Carla looked from him to Kay and sighed, her voice sounding distant as she rattled off the names of four other bears in their clan. Bradley glared at her. He was angry, but she hadn’t hurt anyone, at least, not directly. He paced back and forth for a moment, contemplating what she had told him. Finally, he turned back to her and spoke, his voice deliberate.
“You are to leave this ranch and not ever step foot on it again. If I see you on the grounds, near the grounds, or attempting to associate with anyone on the premises, I will not be so kind. Got it?”
She looked as though she wanted to protest but then thought better of it. The only fate worse than death in a clan was getting kicked out of it. There was nowhere to go. Most clans were wary of strangers and would check into why you had left your home. Bradley would not cover for her if they did. So, she would be on her own, other than the four others that might stick by her.
Clara nodded and left his office. Bradley followed her out, making sure she went directly to her car before walking to the barn. Three of the other four were still there, pretending nothing was wrong. Bradley stormed in, grabbing each by the scruff of their neck and tossing them out, one by one. Kay had never seen him like this, furious and ranting as he dispatched them with much the same speech he had given Clara.
“You know what you did, and you know why, so I’ll leave it at that. Don’t let me see your faces again, or you’ll really wish I hadn’t. My suggestion is that you get as far away from here as you possibly can, just so we don’t cross paths again.”