****
Cody, Wyoming was a small town. Even in the summer, when the borders swelled with cowboys and rodeo fans and tourists passing to and from Yellowstone, the town never exceeded a population of five thousand. Word spread quickly in a town that size, and it spread like wildfire on a windy August afternoon when that word included mention of an animal attack.
A bear attack, Ernesto had said.
“Are they sure it was a bear?” Marisol asked, her breakfast forgotten.
“Well, sweetheart, there’s no mistaking a bear attack.”
“But that close to town? Bears don’t come this close, do they?”
“Only the ones who already live here,” Anna said.
“Now, Anna, there’s no evidence—”
“Evidence? That man was killed only a mile from our home, and you’re talking about evidence?”
“Yes,” Ernesto said patiently, eating his huevos rancheros as though they were discussing their daily business. Watching him prompted Marisol to pick up her fork and she did her best to mimic him, but her appetite was gone. “I am talking about evidence because I need that to make my judgement.”
“Mari, your curfew is eight until this bear is found,” her mother announced.
“Eight? But that means I can’t work the truck. And I’ll miss the bulls.”
“Good. You spend too much time at the rodeo grounds. You should be spending more time studying.”
Marisol looked to her father, but the slight shake of his head told her to cede the battle for now. If she pushed, Anna was likely to ban her from the rodeo entirely—and that would include her friendship with a certain amateur bull rider. They finished their breakfast in tense silence, Mari silently counting down the seconds until she could clean the dishes and flee the house. As soon as she stepped outside, she made a beeline for her best friend’s house. Her father was a sheriff’s deputy, and she most certainly had the inside scoop.
“It’s a bear shifter,” Rachel announced. “No doubt about it.”
“Did your dad say that?”
“Yes, that’s how they’re handling the investigation.”
“But if it’s a shifter, wouldn’t that be murder?”
Rachel shrugged. “Sure, if they could prove motive. Most likely the bear is looking at a manslaughter charge.”
“How do they know it was a shifter and not just a regular bear?” Marisol pressed. As far as she knew, there was only one family of shifters in Cody.
“Well, don’t mention this to anybody because they didn’t tell this to the press, but there were footprints.”
“Footprints?”
“Yep, two sets of human tracks and one set of bear tracks.”
“So maybe there was another victim?”
Rachel shook her head. “No, two people arrived. It looks like one of them turned into a bear and the other one died. And trust me, Marisol, you don’t want to know any more about how that happened.”
“Was it grisly?”
“Uh, yeah, you could say that.”
It might have been morbid, but Marisol’s curiosity was piqued. “Come on, Rachel, you can tell me. I can take it.”
“Well, this shifter, whoever he is, is hungry. Very hungry. Hungry enough that my dad and the sheriff both think he’ll attack again.”
“Don’t tell my mom that. She’ll never let me leave the house.” Marisol wanted to press for more details, but Rachel looked a little green. “I have to be home by eight tonight.”
“You have a curfew?”
“I do now.”
Rachel shook her head. “I don’t know how you do it, girl. I didn’t even pay attention to curfews back when we were fifteen.”
“They let me live there rent free all summer, they’re paying for my school, and my mom only did it because she’s afraid. Who can blame her? It just sucks, though.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Dean asked me to meet him tonight after the rodeo.”
Mention of Dean brought an interested light to Rachel’s eye. “Oh, your handsome cowboy. How is he?” She waggled her eyebrows. “Is tonight the night?”
“He’s great. He won the purse last night. And tonight is not ‘the night’ because I have a curfew at eight, remember?”
“Sneak out,” Rachel said flatly.
“I can’t sneak out. If Mom catches me, she’ll flip her lid.”
“Okay, you must sneak out. Sneak being the operative word. Just don’t get caught.”
Rachel was looking at her like it was the most obvious choice in the world. “Why must I sneak out?”
“He wants to hook up with you, you dummy!”
“Hook up?” Marisol shook her head. “No, he’s just...we’re just friends. We meet after the rodeo all the time. It’s no big deal.”
“If it’s no big deal, why are you so disappointed?”
“Because maybe I want it to be a hook up.” Marisol wouldn’t have admitted it to anybody else, but Rachel had been her best friend since the girls were twelve. Over the past ten years, they shared every dream, confided every secret. “He’s so hot, Rach. And sweet. And talented. And...big.” She sighed. “But he just likes to talk to me about bulls.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Grab his dick and tell him you’d rather talk about that.”
Marisol snorted. “Yeah, I don’t think that’ll go well.”
“It’ll go great. How did he look when he asked you to meet him?”
“I don’t know. He texted me last night.”
“When? Before or after you went to bed?”
“After.”
Rachel smiled. “Oh, honey, this is a hookup. I don’t care what time your curfew is, if you want this man, you can’t blow him off tonight.”
“I wasn’t going to blow him off. I was just going to tell him that I can’t make it.”
“And if he asked you why you can’t make it?”
“I’ll tell him the truth.”
“The truth?” Rachel shook her head. “You can’t tell him that you have a curfew like a child—not if you want to ride him like he rides those bulls! What time will your mom get back from the rodeo?”
“Eleven.”
“Asleep by twelve?”
“Most likely.”
“Perfect. Sneak out your window at 12:30.”
“And what if I run into the bear?”
Rachel’s smile faded. “Oh, right. Well, tell him you can’t make it. Maybe he’ll still be interested in a week, or a month, or whenever it’s safe to leave the house again.”
That was the most sensible thing to do. Sit tight and stay safe, just like her mother wanted. “It’s not that far to the rodeo grounds.”
“It’s pretty close,” Rachel agreed.
“I bet I’ll be back by two.”
“At the very latest.”
“And maybe the bear already moved on.”
“Probably.”
Marisol took a deep breath. “Okay, it’s settled. Now help me figure out what I’m going to wear, what I’m going to say, and what I’m going to do.”
“I’m so proud. Look at my little girl, all grown up.” She wrapped her arm around Marisol’s shoulder and gave her a warm hug. “Let’s get to work!”