Project Rescue - A Shifter Novel (NaNoWriMo19)
Chapter 3 - Fools

I was excited to be going by boat to the Amazon Rainforest. It was a three day journey in the heat but how could I not go by boat? It was the part of the experience and I didn’t think the monster or his men would think to look for me at the boats slips. Plus, I figured he would look for me in Peru or Colombia. I hoped I was right. If not I was going to be in deep shit without a paddle or a fucking boat.

I make it to the docks and found Greg, the boss of our operation, to sign in with him. The first thing he asked was ‘where Daisy was.’

Oh, this will be fun explaining it to him. Not.

I ended up telling him the truth. I told him how bad she was snoring, to which he agreed. I told him how she broke the flight attendant's jaw, how I set it, and how she was taken away by air marshal but would be back in two days.

He stared for a minute, shook his head, crossed his arms, and said, “Huh?”

Smart he is not.

I told him what happened, speaking as I would do to a child, slowly and with clear dictation. Hey, don’t judge, I’ve never spoken to a child.

I could tell he was waiting for me to add anything else to my very true story. I watched as he dropped his hands from his chest and stuck out his hand for a handshake. I shook his hand and back up a little.

“Do you have any weapons with you?” Greg asked, looking at me and waiting for my answer.

“Yeah, I have my carry gun permit also. Do you need to look at all of them?”

“Yes, please. I need to make sure that you don’t shoot your foot off or any of the volunteers,” he remarked with a laugh.

I handed him my fake carry license - one good enough to pass the gun dealers and security. He looked at it and wrote down the name and asked to see my weapons. I opened my lockbox and showed him, to which he sucked in a breath.

“Are you sure you can handle the knives and guns?” Greg asked. “As I said before, I don’t want you to accidentally shoot yourself or the other volunteers.”

I picked up my blades and threw both of them - barely missing Greg. I stood there and smirked. I hated to be questioned. I wouldn’t carry them if I didn’t know how to use them. “Do you need me to show you that I can shoot too?” I asked sickly sweet.

“Uh, uh, n-no, that’s okay. Thank you for, uh, showing me that you know how to wield your weapons,” he said with a tremor in his voice.

I could read every emotion on Greg’s face. He was wondering what talents I held with weapons and how, something he would never replace out. I couldn’t tell him how I knew weapons. Hell, I can’t tell anyone or their lives would be in danger. Terrible danger.

“What other weapons do you have, Seri?”

I was about to answer when one of the guys, who walked up, reached over and slapped my ass. Hard. I knew he was there but wanted to see how he would treat me. Now, I was mad as hell. I grabbed the stranger flipping him over my shoulder. I used the power in my butt, hip, and one arm. “What is wrong with you?” I shouted.

“I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else. My bad,” the new guy huffed out.

I turned toward Greg, looked at his pale face, and crossed my arms. “You asked me if I had any other weapons? I am a weapon, Greg.”

I turned back to the bitch on the ground and held out my hand to pick him back up. He grabbed my hand and I pulled him up, almost tossing him again. He was wincing at the tight grip I had on him. “Sorry,” I said, drawing the word out.

“Hi, my name is sorry and I’m Tiny. I meant, my name is Tiny and I’m sorry,” he said completely making a fool out of himself.

The other two guys were laughing their heads off.

I turned to the two laughing hyenas, raising a brow. “Do you have something to say?”

“Um, no. I’m good,” one of the fools said.

“Well, my name is Seri, and as you can tell I’ve had some training in my lifetime. No, you won’t get me to sleep with you, not now, not ever. And, please don’t touch my weapons, okay?” I told the new guys sweetly.

Greg snorted. “I like this girl. She’s going to make sure you three knuckleheads don’t bother the females of our group.” He walked away laughing loudly.

I looked around slowly, trying to see if I could replace any of the monster’s men around, nothing. He could have hired local talent but he liked to handle things internally. He never wanted to look weak in front of anyone.

When Greg made it back over by our things, I asked, “What do you need me to do?”

He looked up quickly. “You want to help?”

“Yeah. I like to feel useful,” I explained, scuffing my shit-kickers in the dirt. “I don’t like to stand around and let the grass grow under my feet.”

“We need to get this stuff to the boat and pack it in the small space we have.”

“I’m the queen of packing things in a small space. Lead on.” I put my belt on for my guns, putting the guns into the holster and my knives into their slots. I tied down the holster to my thigh and I grabbed as much as I could carry, following Greg to the boat. Greg was looking at me, probably wondering how I could carry so much, something I didn’t think about but I needed to watch to fit in. I stumbled on purpose, catching Greg’s eye. “Picked up too much stuff,” I said as I put some of the boxes back.

“I was surprised you could pick up that much,” Greg pointed out.

“I forget that I’m not a machine at times. Go figure,” I teased, causing Greg to laugh.

I followed Greg, looking around the docks. I felt as if I was being stared at and I didn’t like the feeling. Not at all. I slowly looked around, scanning faces, but not looking straight at anyone. I finally figured out who was staring. It was one of the guys I had met earlier.

They aren’t going to like me soon. No, not like me at all.

We made it to the boat if you could call it that. It was the worse boat I had ever seen. I sure hoped it stayed afloat, even though I could swim as if I were a fish, I didn’t want to swim here. I stepped into the boat and started packing things in a little at a time. I had an idea what was left on the docks, so I made room for everything, packing it tight.

“Damn, you can pack. I thought it was something you just said but I’m glad to see you live up to your word,” Greg said, eyeing my packing job.

“Yep,” was all I said.

The rest of the lug-heads brought the rest of the stuff to the boat, surprising Greg. “So, you guys can work, huh? What’s different now, hmmm?”

“We just thought we should help,” the guy lied.

“We didn’t know Seri was helping,” the other guy also lied.

I let out an un-ladylike snort. “Right,” I said sarcastically. “I can always feel if someone is staring at me. Plus, I caught you.” I pointed at the second liar.

“How? You never looked at me.”

“Didn’t need to look straight at you. My ex-husband looked at me the same way. It’s creepy,” I pointed out.

“Sorry about that. I won’t do it again, especially if you are uncomfortable. I guess I kinda seemed like a creeper,” he explained.

“No problem. Let’s get this packed up,” I turned towards the boat but quickly turned back. “Hey, what do I call you two?” I don’t want to call you creeper and him liar.” I pointed at each one.

“I’m not a liar,” the liar said while pouting.

I rolled my eyes. “Hi, I’m a China doll and I’m not dangerous at all,” I lied back to him.

“Okay, my name is Ted,” the liar finally said.

“My name is Bobby,” the creeper stated.

I turned back to pack the rest in the boat. “Quit looking at my ass!” These boys were looking to be terrified by my jaguar later. I knew I couldn’t really do it but I wanted to. I was tired, hungry, scared, nervous, and ready to be in the Amazon Rainforest. I was ready to be away from all the people standing around.

“That’s it,” Greg commented. “You do a fine job, Seri. We’ve never had anyone who could pack everything so neatly. You gave us some more room in the boat.”

“No problem. As I said, I like to stay busy and learned along the way how to pack,” I explained again. “When do we leave?”

“In another hour. I was hoping Daisy would get here on time but I doubt she will.”