Page 6 of Guarded By A Savage Shifter

“Hades! Apollo!” Cerberus barks to no avail. They do not like me and my bear on their property. We walk down the steps toward the barn where the barking is a little less disruptive.

“So, you’re Maddox’s nephew, right?” Cerberus says as he looks me up and down. “Ever do security before?”

“No.”

He laughs and smacks my shoulder. “Well, you’re big enough to scare anyone straight. I think you’ll do just fine.”

A horse wanders over and Cerberus pets its neck. “You looking for light work or something a little juicier?”

“What do you have?”

“If you want something light,” he says. “I have a pub in town looking for a bouncer. If you want something a little more exciting, I have something for that too.”

“I want some action,” I tell him. “I want to get my hands dirty.”

He grins as he looks me over. “That’s what I like to hear. Just like your uncle. Do you have a valid passport?”

“I do.” I got it three years ago when I was logging up in Canada.

“Perfect,” he says as he lets the horse go. “Let’s go back inside. I could use a coffee and I’ll get the contract ready.”

We walk back into the house and the three dogs growl at me the entire time. Whenever one gets close, I glare at them and let my bear come a little closer to the surface. They must smell the grizzly because they wisely keep their distance.

“Want a coffee?” Cerberus asks as he fiddles with this huge brass coffee machine. “I roast my own beans. I got a new shipment in from Costa Rica yesterday. It’s to die for.”

“Sure,” I say as I sit at the kitchen table. “I take it black.”

“Good,” he says with a chuckle. “You put cream or sugar in my coffee and we’ll have some problems.”

“So, what’s the job?” I ask as he turns a nob and a hiss of steam shoots out of the machine. “And why the passport?”

“You ever hear of El Nicanduras?”

“The country? Yeah, isn’t that the one overrun by drug cartels?”

“Viciousdrug cartels,” Cerberus says as he fiddles with the machine. “But there’s none worse than Los Lobos de la Muerte led by Hector Contreras. These fuckers terrorize the localpopulation. I’m talking torture, murder, extortion, and they makebillionsin drug trafficking.”

“I’m not working security for a piece of shit like that,” I say as I stand up, ready to march out. I’m surprised my uncle would vouch for a guy who takes jobs like this. I’m going to let him hear it as soon as I get in my truck.

“Not for him,” Cerberus says with a laugh. “It’s for a reporter. She has an exclusive interview with Hector Contreras and she needs some muscle.”

“Sounds like she needs a whole army.”

“Or someone who knows what he’s doing. You want action, this is it. It doesn’t get hotter than this.”

I look at him for a long moment as the coffee starts brewing into a glass container and then I sit back down. The dogs growl from the other room. My inner bear continues pacing angrily.

“I’ll have to fly to El Nicanduras?” I ask.

He nods. “You’ll be pretending you’re her cameraman, but you’ll really be there for her protection. Although, you’ll probably have to videotape the interview too since it will just be the two of you.”

I can point a camera. How hard can that be?

“If things go well,” he says, “you’ll do the interview and leave. A quick thirty grand for a couple days work.”

“And if things don’t go well?”

He grins as he pours the coffee into a cup and hands it to me. “Then your bear is going to get one hell of a workout.”

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