OZ #2
“We’ll train you for a day or two, and then you’ll be on your own for the rest of your shifts.
The job we have you in mind for is only looking after one guy, starting when he leaves work.
He does night shift, so it’s all daytime.
Super easy, and so far we haven’t had any issues. Mostly we just escort him to places.”
I frowned. It didn’t sound terrible, and my badger was practically jumping up and down. Plus, like Cassandra said, it was only for a week. I could talk to Rafferty about an electrician job after the week was up.
I nodded. “Okay.”
Both of them opened their eyes wide in surprise. “Great!” Harrison gave me a rueful smile. “Any chance you can start tomorrow morning?”
Harrison and Cassandra had wasted no time taking me to meet Roman, the pack member who ran Lupine Moon Security.
He’d pulled out a bunch of forms for me to fill out and had asked me gently if I still had my ID after my kidnapping.
Remarkably, the Hunters who’d rescued us had found everyone’s ID cards in a drawer somewhere in the building where we’d been held.
My cash and credit cards were gone, of course, but at least I’d gotten my driver’s license back.
One of the other survivors speculated that the traffickers had planned to give our IDs to whoever bought us, in case that person wanted us to drive or travel commercially.
I’d shuddered, imagining myself memorizing the phone number on the anti-human trafficking posters in an airport restroom.
Would the human authorities have even been able to help me?
Nothing I wanted to dwell on, so I focused on filling out the new hire paperwork.
When I’d finished, Roman had texted me a link to an online spreadsheet labeled, “Manuel Moreno” and made sure I could access it.
He showed me a tab where the team had documented Mr. Moreno’s home and work addresses as well as other places he frequented.
Then his work schedule and other appointments were on the second tab, along with instructions on how to access his home security cameras.
The other tabs were sorted by month, from February to now, and tracked Mr. Moreno’s whereabouts and movements in fifteen-minute intervals.
Roman pointed at the previous months. “When you have downtime, read up on these. Harrison and Cassandra might’ve told you this is the world’s most boring protection job, but we do fully expect someone to make a move on Mr. Moreno eventually.
” He looked at me significantly. “We think most of the danger to him comes from the same people who were responsible for your kidnapping. The Hunters didn’t find the big boss of that operation.
” He hesitated, searching my eyes. “Will it cause you any issues if they show up?”
I shook my head. My badger snarled, and I struggled to keep my claws from emerging. When I’d been kidnapped, they’d attacked me from behind. I hadn’t noticed anyone or anything off, and they’d injected me with a sedative almost immediately. I hadn’t stood a chance.
I wouldn’t let the same thing happen to Mr. Moreno.
At 6:00 a.m. the next morning, I met Roman at the apartment complex’s parking garage.
I wanted to ask about Mr. Moreno, but I wasn’t sure if it was allowed.
Most of my questions were around why he was more likely to be kidnapped than anyone else, enough that he needed bodyguards.
Was he some sort of rare Wonder? Like a unicorn shifter or something? I guessed I’d find out at some point.
We took the stairs to the roof level of the parking garage. Ten or so nondescript cars and SUVs were parked in the last row. Roman waved at them. “We use these for protective detail. Make sure you never take the same car more than once a week.”
The door to the stairwell banged open, and Harrison jogged toward us. “Sorry I’m late!”
Roman gave him an up-nod. “Harrison’ll show you the ropes today, and then you’ll be on your own for the rest of the week.
” Shit, that wasn’t much training. But it might be alright.
I’d see how today went. Roman clapped me on the shoulder.
“Call or text me if you run into anything you don’t know how to handle. ”
He left, and Harrison pointed out which cars he and Cassandra hadn’t used in the past seven days. He let me pick out a silver Hyundai sedan, but when I headed for the passenger side, he redirected me. “You’ll learn the route better if you drive.”
The keys were in the glove box. I hadn’t driven since before the kidnapping, but I figured now would be as good a time as any, especially with Harrison in the car.
Mr. Moreno was scheduled to leave work at the hospital, and his current protection agent would hand him off to us there.
Harrison and I would take Mr. Moreno home and wait outside his house or drive him to any errands he had today.
Someone would take over from us when our shift ended at 3:00 p.m. No problem.
I entered the hospital address into my phone, and we set off.
Traffic was light at this hour, even on a weekday, and after a few minutes I felt at home on the road.
Harrison showed me a patient drop-off entrance where we could pull in and wait.
He shared a contact for a guy named Geordie to my phone, and I texted Geordie to let him know we’d arrived.
A couple of minutes later, two men came outside through the sliding glass doors.
One was a shifter of some type, probably wolf, based on his working for Lupine Moon.
The other was... not a shifter. I couldn’t tell if he was a magic carrier or what, though, because something was strange about his magical core.
I squinted, trying to get a better look.
When he turned to face us, I was shocked at how young he was.
Mid-twenties, if that. I didn’t know what I’d been expecting, because I still didn’t know why he was so special.
He was wearing cartoon character scrubs and had a black backpack over his shoulder, just like any other nurse getting off work.
Harrison and I got out of the car to greet them, and as Mr. Moreno came closer, I could see his magic more clearly.
What the actual fuck?
Every shifter, every Wonder, and every magic carrier had a magical core, a spinning wheel of magical energy that was used, depleted, and restored as we went about our lives.
It created connections and bonds between us, the foundations of our relationships with friends, family, and mates.
But Manuel Moreno didn’t have a magical core.
He had magic throughout his entire body, like it was infused into his very cells. His whole body glowed with it.
Harrison waved. “Hey, Mr. Moreno. Hey, Geordie. This is Oz. He’s taking over day shift while Cass and I are on another assignment. Oz, this is Geordie. He’ll be on overnights all week with you.”
Geordie, a tall guy with curly brown hair, stuck his hand out for me to shake. “Nice to meet you. And don’t worry about the seven days in a row thing. Normally we only work five days a week, but this is an all-hands-on-deck situation. At least the overtime’ll be good!”
Dropping my hand he turned to Harrison. “Everything’s been quiet. No issues.”
“Thanks, man.” Harrison clapped him on the shoulder, much like Roman had done to me earlier. “Have a good day.”
“Will do. See you tomorrow, Oz! Bye, Mr. Moreno!” With a wave he turned and jogged down the sidewalk toward the parking garage.
“Would you prefer to ride in the back or the front, Mr. Moreno?” Harrison’s question made me jerk my gaze back to Mr. Moreno’s face. I’d been staring at his magic again. The guy was attractive, with perfectly styled dark hair and brown eyes.
He ignored Harrison’s question, examining me like I’d examined him. Then he blinked and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Oz. You can call me Manny.” He glared at Harrison. “Both of you.”
Harrison sighed. “No can do, Mr. Moreno. I told you our boss doesn’t allow that.”
He huffed. “Stupid rule. Well, let’s go.” He walked over and got in the back seat of the Hyundai.
Harrison and I got in the front, and I put Mr. Moreno’s home address into my phone. The drive would only take fifteen minutes. I had a ton of questions, but they’d have to wait until Harrison and I were alone.
Harrison took the time in the car to send Mr. Moreno my cell phone number. Mr. Moreno checked the screen then put his phone down. “So, Oz, what’s your story? You’re not a wolf; I can tell that much. How’d you join the security company?”
I shook my head, wishing we weren’t at a stoplight so I’d have the excuse of focusing on driving.
Harrison looked over his shoulder at Mr. Moreno. “Oz isn’t much for talking, sorry. But don’t worry, if you call him, he’ll come immediately.”
I tried to appear competent and trustworthy as Mr. Moreno’s stare burned through the back of my head. Then he nodded. “No worries. I’m good with quiet.”
We arrived at Mr. Moreno’s home soon after. He lived in the Second Ward, a residential area full of older homes. Like really old, maybe from the early 1900s. Mr. Moreno’s house had white wooden siding and a covered front porch. A carport sheltered an old Subaru Forester.
A six-foot high chain link fence surrounded the property, but it’d be easy to climb over. I parked in front of the house, and when we got out of the car Harrison pointed out the security cameras under the eaves of the roof. “I’ll have you download the app to access them here in a minute.”