Page 25 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
“Son of a bitch!” I yelled as I pulled the man from Raymond’s back. I was used to slinging grown men, but that guy felt like he weighed a ton. Still, I flipped him onto his back and, as his head slammed against the ground, I stomped him in the gut.
I reached for the zip ties, prepared to secure him with his buddy, but when I looked up, the guy I’d already taken down was gone.
“What the hell?” I quickly scanned the area but saw no one. That was when I heard Raymond yell out, and when I shifted my weight to look at him, I lost the leverage I had on the guy beneath me.
That one moment was all he needed to take advantage of me. After seeing Raymond flat on his back, I turned to look back at the man I had on the ground and met his fist with my face. He punched me square in the jaw, and when I fell back, he hopped up and ran away. I quickly jumped back to my feet, but he was already gone.
“How the hell are these guys so damn fast?” I rubbed my jaw, looking back at Raymond, who was alone on theground.
At least I wasn’t the only one who took a hit. I walked over to him and stuck my hand out, an offer to help him up from the ground.
“Where did they go?” I asked as he dusted himself off.
“I don’t know, but we should get a few more people out here tomorrow night.”
“What did they even want? They took nothing, and the lots back here have nothing of value anyway.”
“They don’t know that.” He sighed. “Might have been trying to scope the place out and see if there was anything worth snagging. Wasn’t expecting us to be here.”
“Well, whatever the case, we need to file a report.” I checked my pockets and belt to make sure I had everything then pointed to the flashlight he dropped on the ground. “We’ll have to tell the team to be on the lookout and let the studio heads know. They should be aware. Did you see any weapons on them?”
“No.” He shook his head. “One had a rope but nothing meant to harm anyone.”
“Good; then we’re just dealing with common thieves.”
“Yeah, sounds right to me,” Raymond said, but something felt off in the way he spoke, like he suspected something he wasn’t telling me.
“You think it’s something else?” I asked as we walked back to the golf cart. “You don’t sound too sure. What are you thinking?”
By the time we made it back to the post after doing a thorough check of the grounds, our relief was already there. We gave the report of what happened and told them to keep a close eye on the back lots.
“Starting tomorrow, we will double the night shift team. Luckily, we have a few more members coming off a contract and looking for the extra hours.”
“Sounds good,” Piper confirmed. “I’ll make sure all the team knows. Do you want me to write up anything?”
“No, I’ll handle it. It should be a first account. Thanks.” I shook her hand and headed out. “Where’s Lucky?”
“He’s about ten minutes out. There was an accident that’s backing things up.” Piper nodded, giving me the sign to go home. She knew I would find any reason to stick around.
I’d sent Raymond home ahead of me, but when I made it to my car, he was standing by the door.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Making sure you go home and get some rest.” He nodded. “I know how you are.”
“How sweet of you.” I laughed. “I’ll go home after I file the report. Right now, I’m going to the office.”
“At this hour?” He shook his head. “You’re unbelievable.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know I had a curfew. Wait.” I pulled out my phone and opened the calendar app, showing it to him. “According to the date, I’m a grown woman who can do what I want.”
“That’s very clever of you, but you should rest,” he repeated. “The report can wait for morning.”
“That would be irresponsible.” I insisted.
“You’re the boss.” He held up his hands. “Who’s going to punish you for it?”
“True.” The smile stretched across my face. It was good to be the boss.
