Chapter 5
“MR.Hill is in the back room,” said Vadim. “This way.”
As Vadim and Seb escorted John Page through Royal Hill’s taxidermy establishment on the mainland, John tried to mask his disgust. The store was full of Hill’s taxidermy projects. Birds dotted the shelves, lurking as if they’d flown in by mistake and were biding their time until they could fly out again. Larger creatures were posed around the room, many of them with paws raised and mouths open. Beady eyes shone from the faces of whooping cranes, spotted owls, wolverines, gray foxes, and grizzly bears. John was pretty sure Hill specialized in stuffing endangered and threatened species. It probably gave him some sort of sick thrill.
A new addition stood in the corner near the door to Hill’s office. It was the mother bear Hill had slaughtered in the woods. It stood on hind legs, teeth bared, her infant cubs conspicuously absent.
Seb opened the door to the office and pushed John in. Hill sat at his desk. Vadim and Seb flanked him, standing next to his chair, no doubt ready to crack a few more bones.
“Have a seat, John.” Hill smiled. He perused some papers at leisure. “I thought it was a good time to touch base. You’ve been working for me for a while now.”
“Yes, Mr. Hill.”
“And yet you haven’t quite held up to your part of our little bargain.”
“I’ve been collecting information on my coworkers. I sent you those documents.”
“A few, but not as many as I’d hoped. The Ursa Resort is a big place. You’ve only provided me with information on a handful of people.”
“I, um, I’m still working on it.”
“Oh, I see.” Hill’s head dipped in a patronizing nod. “That can’t be easy when you’re spending all your free time at the casino.”
“Excuse me, sir?”
“I have connections at the casino, John. My associates there tell me you’ve been spotted numerous times. Still gambling, it seems, and with my money.”
John shut his trap. He had nothing to say.
“You really should see someone for your addiction. It pains me to think you’ve neglected your promise to me. And what about all that interest? It compounds every day. Do you enjoy living with that sort of stress?”
“No.”
“I’d hate to think I was wrong about you,” said Hill. “I’m not sensing a lot of enthusiasm for your work. That’s disappointing.”
“It’s not that. I’ve just been so busy.”
“Let’s review what you’ve sent me so far.” Hill nodded, and Vadim walked over to a filing cabinet at the side of the room. Vadim opened a drawer and retrieved a pile of photos. He spread them out on a table in front of Hill so that all the faces in the photos were visible.
John snuck a look. They were printouts of the photos he’d emailed Hill, photos of a few of the people who worked at the Ursa Resort, taken at long distance so he wouldn’t be caught. The faces in the photos seemed to follow John, silently accusing him. There were photos of Ryland, his wife Lia, Soren, Gioia, Bart, Charlotte, those weird Moon twins, Percy and Byron, the ones who shared a mate. John had also managed to take photos of the elusive Elaine Gleason and her kids, although Connor Church seemed to be in the background of every single one.
Rummaging through the photos, Hill stopped moving when he saw the photo of Elaine. He paled. His jaw dropping, he plucked out the photo from the pile and held it with shaky fingers. “Jinny?”
“No, that’s not her name, sir.”
The man’s face grew even whiter. “What is her name then?”
“Elaine Gleason. She’s a bear shifter. Her mate used to work at the resort.”
“Usedto work at the resort?”
“Yeah. From what I hear, he was killed.”
Hill’s eyes took on that strange cast again, a brightness that made John want to shrink and hide from the light. “Recently killed?”
“It’s been almost a year, I think. I didn’t know him.”
Hill returned his gaze to the photo, and his eyes widened in wonder. He gulped. “Fascinating. And these are her cubs?”
