Page 9 of Shifter For Hire (For Hire 2)

“No, no, my friend. What I want you to do is far more important to my plan. There is an organization whose sole purpose is to kill off every dragon shifter. I want you to get me the names of all of them and then deal with them in accordance to my directions.”

Chapter 4

Lachelle turned up fifteen minutes early to take the physical for becoming a police officer. A couple years ago, she passed the test and was just about to join her fiancé, who was already an officer, but he was killed. Her world fell apart for a while, and it was just coming back together.

She hadn’t discussed the desire to become a police officer with Skip, certainly not after their fight. A big part of her wanted to believe him and the excuses he gave. That was the desperate longing she had for becoming a mother. It shamed her, but she couldn’t deny wanting a family of her own more than anything.

And here I am about to try for a job that could put my life in danger. Good move, Lachelle.

She looked down at the jogging pants she wore. The sleek purple material gloved her skin, showing off her curves. She stretched her arms over her head and bent side-to-side and rolled up to her toes. The sneakers she had purchased not too long ago didn’t go to waste. While she didn’t get into running as she hoped, she could perform some mean yoga moves and a few Pilates ones.

“Hello, everyone.” A man strolled up to the group wearing shorts and a T-shirt with the name of the city and the police department on the front. He offered them his name and title with a smile as he explained the program for the test. “Behind me is our testing grounds and the track you’ll use to run both the three hundred meter sprint and the mile and a half run.”

Lachelle relaxed a bit more. The track didn’t look any different than her old high school one about a block from the home where she grew up. She had this. Even if she’d only been running for a couple weeks, it wouldn’t be hard to do a mile and a half.

“In a minute my partner will be here to help assess each of you.” The officer, who was just under six feet if she had to guess, didn’t look all that intimidating. Fit yes, but not bulky.

Lachelle looked around at the other candidates. Everyone appeared to be strong and healthy. A man about mid-thirties caught her eye. He flexed his muscles as he stretched and listened to the instructor. Every now and then, he tried to catch a woman’s eye and winked at her. Lachelle turned away.

While the instructor droned on about the integrity of the police department, another man sidled up to Lachelle. Tall with dark skin and tight rough coils on his head, the man offered Lachelle what she could only term as a smoldering look. He couldn’t be serious.

“Hey, how are you doing, sis?” The man’s gaze slipped up and down Lachelle’s form and lingered on her legs. “You sure you want to get into this line of work? You look too good to be messing around with thugs.”

“I think I’ll be fine.” She wanted to hurl at his sexist comment.

“Well I can give you a few pointers.”

“No thanks.”

“Don’t stop running when they start the clock, or they’ll disqualify you.”

“I’ve got it.”

“If you have to rest…”

She sighed.

“Most import

ant,” he continued, ignoring her protests.

“Be quiet!”

Every head swung in the direction of the barked command. Lachelle peered around the fool talking to her and drew in a sharp breath. Yards from where she stood was none other than the big guy who had dropped down on her in the alley. He looked right at her.

His linebacker’s chest was encased in a T-shirt identical to the instructor’s and the dark gray sweatpants matched as well. A whistle on a string hung around his neck, and he carried a tablet in a fist so tight, she expected to hear the screen crack at any moment.

What is he doing here?

At first she thought the big guy was another candidate and then she registered the outfit. He couldn’t be a cop, could he?

A woman near Lachelle fanned her red face. “Goodness, if I knew they built police like that, I would have signed up years ago.”

Lachelle doubted that was true as the woman looked far younger than her own twenty-seven years. It was more likely she was just barely old enough to drink legally, let alone join the police department.

Big-and-Overbearing moved up next to his partner, and the first man introduced him. Lachelle was so distracted watching him she only recalled his first name—Gerard. The name suited him.

“I volunteer to work with Gerard,” the woman next to Lachelle yelled and waved her arm in the air. Several people laughed. The two officers weren’t amused.

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