Page 10 of Bodyguard Wolf Shifter
"I'm listening," he said when he looked up from the cigar.
"I need this done today. Take it off of what you owe us. I need an ironclad identification for myself. I have the basics you already provided but I'm going to need something more. What I require is something with a little more meat to the bone." I stopped and waited to see how he was going to react.
"I do have somebody in mind. He's a bit of a savant when it comes to anything with a computer. He lives in his own little world. It might be possible. Tell me more," he urged while playing with the ring with his family crest on it.
"I need a back story in the military for two years. I also would like some sort of social media presence. Everybody has one these days. Suspicion is the last thing I need." I stood with my back toward the bodies still lying in a pool of their own blood.
"I think I can accommodate you but there is a matter of the debt you owe me," he said with his head tilted to the left side.
I scratched the back of my neck with my nails digging in a little bit too deep until I drew blood. "Why does it always have to be a negotiation with you? I'm trying to meet you halfway."
"Do you forget who you're talking to?" he asked, jumping to his feet, trying to be intimidating.
"I'll bite. What is this debt I owe you?" I asked curiously with my upper lip curled in frustration.
The wolf inside me wanted to tear him limb from limb until his blood painted the walls. It was a little ironic considering what he had done to those loyal to him without even a second thought.
The man had ice water running through his veins with no compunction to kill when it was warranted in his mind.
"Those men can be replaced but that's not the point. I saw fit to give you some muscle. There has to be a cost for having to put them down like dogs in the street. I'm going to let you determine the punishment. You get one chance and then I'm going to take a finger," he said snapping shut the cigar cutter to illustrate his point.
It wasn't right for him to blame me for what those two men had done. I shouldn't have to foot the bill metaphorically speaking for their failures.
This was not how it was done within the pack. We settled our differences face-to-face in front of a tribunal of our peers.
Getting used to the way things were done in the human world took a toll on me.
I couldn't grow another finger. It was a question of what I could live with. A broken bone was nothing in the grand scheme of things.
A quick glance around made me contemplate a severe course of action.
I put my arm at the threshold of the door and grabbed the handle with the other. I used enough torque to hurt myself for Smith's amusement. It wasn't the pain that bothered me the most. It was a look of elation in his eyes when I had gone above and beyond his expectations.
"I don't think I would have believed it had I not been here to see it with my own eyes. You have a pair on you. Maybe I should consider recruiting you. Not that you would take the job. That was worth the painstaking effort it's going to take to backstop your story. You certainly do know how to brighten up my day. Get out of here," he said before walking back into his office and closing the door in my face.
I had to remind myself he was a means to an end and nothing more. Everything I was working toward was worth the sacrifices.
I couldn't seem to shake the image of those two men dying on the altar of their actions. It seemed cruel and unusual to kill them.
A disturbing sense of satisfaction came from knowing the ones responsible for hurting her could no longer do it again.
I walked a fine line between this world and another. It was a balancing act.
My phone buzzed and it secretly excited me. She was the only one who had the number for my burner phone. A quick check revealed she had sent a lucrative proposition to come work for her as her bodyguard.
Those men didn't die in vain. That was cold comfort considering how they had started and ended their day.
The first part of my plan was on schedule.
CHAPTER 5
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SARAH
Six months didn't seem like a long time, but it was a lifetime in my eyes. The campaign was moving along in the right direction with Jack at the helm of the ship. He was instrumental in getting me the right exposure and press coverage.
A little fat had to be cut from the budget when I hired not only Flex but a couple of his friends from his time serving his country with distinction. A Purple Heart and medal of valor made him the perfect candidate to be in control of my security.
