Page 83 of Protecting the White Bear

"You've got to be quiet," Monica said, "or he's going to come looking for us."

"You got to arm me." Denny pulled on his socks.

They had both Wendell's and Denny's guns, but arming Denny, even if they were facing a wild bear, was out ofthe question. Monica could imagine him shooting them and uncuffing his girlfriend, and they would leave Monica and Andy for the bear to eat.

"What...what about Wendell?" Eloise sounded shaken up over the whole situation.

"We had to get away." Monica knew he couldn't be dead, but sharing that wasn’t a good idea. “He wouldn’t cooperate with us, and we didn’t have time to do anything but run.”

"We'll never leave here alive," Eloise cried.

"No, you just need to keep your wits and lower your voice."

"You have to release us," Denny pleaded. "I swear I'll help you kill the bear."

"Killing polar bears is illegal," Andy said.

"Hell, he's going to kill us. It's self-defense."

"I tell you what. I'll leave you here, handcuffed, and Monica and I will take Eloise out to my vehicle and bring help when we can."

"No, no, I don't want to go outside with the bear out there," Eloise said. "He'll rip us to shreds."

"Let's get the handcuffs on," Andy told Denny. "Then we'll all check out the downstairs. Once we lock the door, the bear will go away. He's outside, isn't he?"

Eloise was watching out the window. "Yeah. And he looks...ohmigod, he's growling at me. He's got huge teeth."

"We have to secure the front door and check on Wendell," Andy said. "Put your hands behind your back, Denny."

Denny looked mutinous, scowling at Andy. Monica figured he didn't want to comply because he felt more vulnerable to a bear attack, more so now than before, because he didn't want to be taken into custody. She totally understood. He knew he could fight a man. A polar bear? There was only one outcome for that.

"I swear I'm going to lock you out of the bedroom, and you can face the bear on your own," Andy said.

Denny frowned at him. "Are you recording all this?"

Nope. Not this time.

Then Denny finally turned around, but Andy knew that trick. "Get on the ground. Lie on your belly."

If he tried to cuff Denny while he was standing, he could swing around and try to take the gun from Andy.

Denny reluctantly knelt on the floor and then got on his belly.

Andy put his knee to his back and cuffed his hands together. "All right. Let's go.”

"We can't go down there with the bear roaming about," Denny said.

Monica quickly put Eloise’s socks and boots on.

If they had been all polar bear, no. Then Andy helped Denny up. "All right, you go first."

"Me?" Now, Denny didn't have so much bravado. Not when he faced a polar bear instead of a man or woman.

"Yeah. You're not going behind us and shoving us down the stairs." Andy didn’t trust him in the least.

"What if you did that to us and we were left at the mercy of the bear?" Denny asked.

"We have our cameras on, remember?" Though Andy had never said he did.

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