“Don’t know anything about him,” Kimball said. “Helene never saw him before today. She just said he’s a big muscly guy.”
“Probably a gym rat.” The tall guy’s tone was dismissive.
“That Helene, she’s got a hell of a rack.” Nosebleed guy sniffled, wiped his hand under his nose, then onto his pants.
“Shut the fuck up.” Kimball shoved him.
“You fuckin’ her yet, Vin?” the third man over the gate chimed in.
Kimball punched him in the gut. The guy doubled over and coughed.
“What”—he gasped for air—“the hell?”
“You don’t talk about her like that.” Kimball pointed at his face, then turned and pointed at the other men. “None of you mooks talk about her. Ever! You got that?”
They held up their hands and spoke at the same time.
“Yeah, okay.”
“We got it, Vin.”
“Shit, I didn’t know it was like that.” The guy he punched straightened, his hand on his midsection.
“Well, itislike that.” He seemed to calm himself, then put his hand on the shoulder of the guy he just punched. “Sorry ’bout that, man, but you can’t talk about my girl that way.”
“Check in.” Cole’s whispered voice interrupted their little spat.
“Hawk, I’m about ten meters in front of you,” Eddie said.
Hawk lowered his NVGs and slowly surveyed the area. He picked up his teammate’s heat signature, held up his hand, and gave him a thumbs-up to signal he’d spotted him. Eddie did the same.
“I’ve found a perch about halfway up Carl’s tree, and I can see all four men,” Viking said. “Don’t worry, Carl isn’t home.”
His teammates and their significant others had all been out to his place multiple times and knew about Carl. Some had even seen him.
“What’s the plan, Hawk?” Cole was letting him take the lead because this was personal.
A branch snapped to his left. He spun, and a massive bright green image was standing on all fours about fifteen feet away. He raised his NVGs, and he and Carl stared at each other for a good solid minute as some sort of unspoken understanding passed between them.
The bear started to turn away, and Hawk let out a silent breath. Then Carl stopped and turned back at the sound of strange voices in the distance.
“Where the hell are we going?” the tall guy whined.
Carl rose up on his back legs for a better look. He lifted his brown nose into the air, and it twitched back and forth.
Uh-oh.
“Shut the fuck up, Toby.” Kimball finally called the tall dude by his name. “Don’t be such a little bitch.”
Black bears weren’t known to be maneaters, but they were definitely territorial. And, in Carl’s opinion, these guys had just invaded his territory.
“Um, is that Carl next to you?” Eddie whispered.
“Affirmative.” Hawk kept his voice low, barely audible, hoping the bear would lose interest in all of this strange activity and just leave.
Unfortunately, he did not.
Carl dropped back down to all fours started lumbering toward the men. Branches and twigs snapped with each heavy step of a paw, and Hawk was sure the men would hear him.
