Fiona jumped to her feet and poured him a cup of coffee. “How is your arm?”
He showed her the pink mark on his biceps.
“Wow,” she said, running her fingers over his injury. “You heal fast.”
“Which is why it was better that the bullet struck me rather than you,” Stig replied. “We can’t keep Fiona locked up inside the warehouse. That’s not living. Besides, whoever shot at us might have intended to hit me. Maybe he hates polar bear shifters. A lot of the humans fear us. Shooting isn’t that big a leap.”
Kirk frowned. “What do we do then? I don’t want Fiona hurt.”
“My suggestion is that we continue with our day. Two of us can accompany Fiona around town. Now that we know something is amiss, we’ll be more prepared. The RCMP will make their presence obvious too.”
Leif plonked his empty mug on the table. “As much as I hate to admit it, Runt is right. We’re making guesses about who is the target. We’ll take one side of the street and approach the owners. Runt, you and Kirk can go with Fiona and approach the business owners on the other side. All of us will keep watch for signs of anything amiss.”
“And this afternoon, we’ll go out to search for polar bears,” Fiona said, rubbing her hands together. “If we don’t see any, you can all shift and strike a pose.” She winked at Josef. “If the humans turn their backs on your business, you can start up a polar bear tour company. You’ll always find bears, and you could take turns being a model for the tourists.”
An appalled silence fell, and Fiona held her breath, wondering if she’d teased past the point of good bounds. She stared at each of them, taking in their impassive expressions with increasing dread.
Josef broke first, his bottom lip quivering until he roared with laughter.
“Our girl has a sense of humor.” Leif tweaked her nose. “If you’re not careful, we’ll put you over a knee and spank you for misbehavior.”
“Pooh,” she said in dismissal. “You wouldn’t hurt me.” An understatement. She knew—just knew—the Swenson brothers would protect her to the death and gnaw off their paws rather than make her unhappy. They gave her a sense of safety and this bustling home above a warehouse felt like the heart of something important.
Food for thought.
With their meal finished, they piled into what she privately dubbed the monster SUV. It needed to be large to fit the entire family.
As they passed the airport, two buses pulled out in front of them. A blue van waited to exit the parking lot.
Fiona piped up from the back seat, which they’d deemed safer than the front. “Oh, it’s a regular traffic jam. I didn’t think Churchill was big enough to have those.”
“One of the charter planes has arrived,” Stig commented. He sat beside her in the rear seat and held her hand. “They’ll fly out again this afternoon with a load of tourists.”
“Will this direct approach to grab customers work?” she whispered.
“It’s better than sitting on our backsides and waiting for business to meander to us.”
She nodded and promised herself she’d try extra hard to persuade some of these prejudiced humans that the Swenson brothers were reliable and wanted Churchill to survive.
Stig expected the human store owners to turn them away. In retrospect, Ma was right. The humans weren’t ready to accept the other species who lived amongst them. They should’ve remained anonymous, and would have if the old bear shifter hadn’t indulged in a boozy party and tried to impress the human woman he’d had his eye on. They now reaped the rewards of that fubar with suspicion and fear from the locals.
As he, Kirk and Fiona approached the first shop, a souvenir and bookstore, Fiona gripped his sleeve and tugged.
“Let me do the talking,” she said. “Kirk, you stay out here and wait for us. Stig, you remain silent and hand me the paperwork should I require it. Okay?”
Kirk grinned and offered a snappy salute.
Stig shrugged. “My turn in the next store. We’ll see who gets the most business, eh?”
Fiona thrust out her hand. “Deal. Shake on it.” Her blue eyes glittered with challenge, and she glowed with so much vitality, he toyed with the idea of tossing her over his shoulder and going somewhere private.
Bemused, Stig took her hand in a gentle clasp and she shook with enthusiasm.
“Do I get in on this bet too?” Kirk asked.
Fiona wrinkled her nose. “Of course, but I reserve the right to make you both take turns if you scare the people too much.”
Stig pushed open the door to the store and waited until Fiona entered.
