Beverly, Joannes' former sister in law, was still HR director. She and Barb had flown Joannes' ashes back home and helped her mother pour them into th... ocean. She often said it was her favorite memory of California."Jimmy, we hate to see you go. You've been a model employee, and several times you've been considered for advancement. But you've made no secret of your desire to finish your education, so we left you alone. If you remember, when we first hired you I mentioned scholarship. I couldn't tell what those words were, exactly, but I instantlyknew I wanted to, and I began to creep closer. One of the voices washusky and deep, and very male. The other was whispery and softer andgentler, and almost feminine, but with a similar unknown urgency as thefirst.As I got to the corner of the building, I stopped. A quick peek to myleft told me the noises were coming from inside, as there was no one onthe deck outside or the hot tub, and I caught enough from my furtiveglance to. .. and this is Detective Lamm from Liberty County. Please, sit down. This won't take long. Sorry for this mess but you know how the press is."Larrousse was all smiles, Linda noticed. She didn't understand why he was so nice to her. She had seen his gluttonous eyes meandering over her uncovered legs, examining her, making her uncomfortable. She hated it when men acted like that. It was their hormones, they said, but now she was in no forgiving mood. She sat down on the chair across from. The bear was slowing. Rael had cut it in a dozen places. None of them were deep enough to bring the beast down, but its blood was flowing and seeping away, taking its terrible strength with the warm red rivers spattering the chilled cave floor. Silmaria put another arrow into the huge predator, catching it in one of its rear legs this time. The bear had enough. With a great huff it turned away from Rael to charge the small, determined Gnari. Rael saw the bear’s focus shift. He screamed a curse.