Then he paused, trying to figure out what felt so wrong.
The sounds of the restaurant were all exactly right; the low murmur of conversation with the occasional laugh, and the clink of cutlery and the sounds of eating. More guests were arriving as the morning grew later, and there were the sounds of chairs scooting as they took their seats. It was busier than it usually was, but that had become the new normal with the booming event business.
Nothing looked out of the ordinary; servers bringing plates of food and speciality coffee drinks, and clearing off tables and refilling coffee and water. The guests varied between bleary-eyed and clearly fighting hangovers, to energetic looking, probably fresh from Lydia’s morning yoga. The early light shimmered over the open deck in ripples through the potted plant leaves.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about the little breeze that blew in over the open dining area, or the birds that sang.
It was the smell. It wasn’t just the food, and the breakfast drinks, and the tang of the jungle plants. He could also smell each person, under whatever cologne or deodorant they were wearing, and whatever they had brushed their teeth with. It was a tangled, many-faceted sense, and part of it was… wrong.
Bear was roaring in his head as Tex dropped his breakfast, shifting as he leaped across the room.
In one swift swipe of an enormous paw, the latte that was being served to Jenny went flying, to shatter against one of the support columns.
After an understandable flurry of gasps and shrieks, the chairs that Tex had knocked over stilled, and the dining room went silent. Tex was aware that he was the focus of absolutely everyone, forks frozen over plates, some of the guests even standing in alarm. Jenny’s latte dripped slowly to the floor in a foamy mess.
He opened his mouth to explain, but it came out in a rumbling growl.
“What is the meaning of this?”
Tex heard the distinctive click of Scarlet’s shoes before he saw her, pacing decisively towards them.
“I had to save her,” Tex tried to say, but it was an ursine whine.
“Would you care to explain this, Mr. Williams? I suspect your human shape would be more useful to communication.” Scarlet crossed her arms and waited.
Tex sheepishly shifted, realizing that he was completely naked and that his staff uniform had been completely destroyed in his rush. He was keenly aware of Jenny, plastered back in her chair in shock, and to some lesser degree, aware of Breck, who was still holding an empty hand out to her, frozen in place. He glanced behind him to realize that he’d broken one table leaping over it, and cracked several chairs. His hat was tottering on the edge of the railing, next to a broken planter littered with shreds of his polo shirt. Graham was going to have words with him about that.
He cleared his
throat. “I apologize for the disruption, ma’am,” he said to Scarlet, with a nod to Jenny without looking at her. “I… ah, smelled something.”
One of Scarlet’s eyebrows inched towards her neat hairline. “You smelled something.”
“Yes ma’am,” Tex said firmly, drawing himself up to his full height despite his urge to grab a napkin from the table to cover himself with. “A bear’s nose is more powerful than a bloodhound’s, and I smelled something.” He pointed at the coffee drink that had puddled on the floor. “That’s poisoned.”
The gasp from the audience was theatrically perfect.
Scarlet’s second eyebrow joined the first. “Poisoned?”
There was the snap of a cellphone camera shutter, and Scarlet’s head pivoted to glare at the photographer. The woman gave a quavering smile against her glower and put her phone sheepishly down on the table at once.
That released a titter of quiet conversation and speculation, and Breck sat down heavily in the empty chair opposite Jenny.
“Damn, Tex. Give a little warning next time you’re going to be a two-thousand pound brown bear and slap a mug out of my hand,” Breck said breathlessly.
“It’s Jenny, right?” Scarlet said to the wide-eyed woman.
At her silent nod, Scarlet extended a hand. “I apologize for the disruption of your meal, but if I could ask you a few questions more privately?”
Jenny stood up, exchanging a brief, terrified look with Tex.
“Breck, please see that we have a record of everyone — staff and guests - that were in and out of here this morning.” Scarlet’s voice was deceptively calm. “Collect as much of the coffee as you can, and keep the pieces of the mug. Get the rest of this cleaned up and make sure that our guests enjoy their breakfast.”
Breck came to his feet smartly, and immediately started getting his dazed staff in order as people slowly (and suspiciously) returned to their meals.
Tex trailed after Scarlet and Jenny protectively, shaken by the stark fear in her eyes. He didn’t know what she was so desperately afraid of, but he knew that he had to protect her.
Chapter 11