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“Oh,” she said. Relief flooded her system. He thinks the footage is fake!
She knew Arnold was ambitious. She’d been afraid that he’d try to grab her discovery to become famous and finally get the scientific recognition he craved.
“I, uh, got bored while I was snowbound during that blizzard last week,” she lied. “I was just fooling around with some, um, gaming animation software. It was supposed to be, um, a practical joke. I deleted it from my laptop. I swear I did!”
Holly hated lying, and she knew she sucked at it. She could only pray that Arnold would believe her.
Of course he’s going to believe me, she reassured herself. Why would he think that sabertooth cats were real and wandering around Bearpaw Springs National Park?
Arnold’s mouth thinned. His gaze pinned her. “Those kinds of practical jokes could damage this department’s reputation, and provide fuel to all the cryptozoology and conspiracy crazies out there,” he said harshly. “Holly, you know you’re not supposed to use department-issued equipment for personal use. And our regulations specifically forbid you from installing unauthorized software packages on our computers.” He leaned forward. “What on earth were you thinking?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, hunching down in her seat. Her face burned with shame at the reprimand. “It won’t happen again.”
She fervently thanked all of her lucky stars that he didn’t believe the sabertooth footage was real.
“You’re damned right it’s not going to happen again,” he said in a soft voice that was scarier than if he’d yelled at her. “Because I’m going to terminate your contract on grounds of misuse of government equipment and attempted scientific fraud.”
She gasped, feeling like he had just kicked her in the stomach. It was suddenly difficult to breathe.
This was the only job she’d ever wanted. Plus, wildlife biology was a small, tight-knit professional world. Once Arnold fired her for faking footage, she would have zero credibility with future employers. Her career would be tanked. No other reputable organization would ever hire her.
“Please, Arnold,” she begged. “It was a mistake. I’m so sorry. I never planned to show anyone that video! Please don’t fire me.”
His expression twisted in disgust. “Why don’t you go get a job at Mythtrust News?” he asked cruelly, naming a famous paranormal investigations site. “They’re based here in town, and I hear they’re always looking for a good cryptozoology story.” He gave her a flat stare. “That’s all. You can go. Tell Swanson I need him to review all the data you’ve collected so far, in case there are other… irregularities.”
Reeling with shock and despair, Holly couldn’t remember putting on her crutch, or leaving the conference room.
The next thing she knew, she was standing in front of her desk and staring down at the laptop that had ruined her life.
The office was deserted. Everyone else had already left for the day.
Except for Evan Swanson.
“Holly, are you okay?” he asked, suddenly appearing next to her. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What did Arnold say to you?”
“He fired me,” she said, still unable to believe it. “And he wants you to review my hibernation patterns data.”
“Fired?” Evan asked in disbelief. “Why the hell would Arnold fire you?”
She shrugged. “It’s my fault. During the storm, I, uh, did some stuff on my laptop I wasn’t supposed to. And a video got uploaded to the department’s cloud that shouldn’t have been.”
“Porn?” Evan looked appalled. “You?”
She shook her head. “No, no, not porn. But something just as bad, if you ask Arnold.” Tears welled up, and she fought to control them. “It was just a stupid joke, okay? And now I’ve ruined everything! No one will ever want to hire me again, not after Arnold tells them what I did.”
Evan peered down at her, then put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“This is about those sabertooth cats living at the Cougar Creek Ranch, isn’t it?” he whispered. “Did your trail cams capture some footage they shouldn’t have?”
She stared at him in fresh shock. “How did you know?”
He gave her a wry look. “Didn’t Ice tell you that I’m a grizzly bear shifter?”
“No.” Holly blinked, but shock had dulled her capacity for surprise. “Um, so, Steffi’s a bear shifter, too?”
“Nope. She’s an Ordinary human, just like you.” He patted her shoulder. “You need to tell Ice about this, ASAP.” He peered out the window. It was already dark outside. “He just drove up, and he’s sitting in the parking lot, waiting for you.”
“What is he supposed to do about Arnold firing me?” she asked, bewildered. “We’ve only been together for a week, and this is my problem, not his.”
