Free Guardian by Kassandra Kush

minutes later, I was just beginning to wonder if I was getting ditched when a voice whispered in my ear, “Sorry I’m late.”
    I screamed and jumped off the bench. Rafael stood behind it, looking genuinely apologetic. He wore his usual uniform, dark blue jeans, black T-shirt, black leather jacket. The only thing that disturbed his dark, bad boy look was the demure expression on his face.
    “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said.
    “It’s all right,” I said, hand on my heart. “I just didn’t hear you. You’re really quiet, you know that?”
    “So I’ve been told.” Rafael shrugged. He took a seat on the bench I had vacated, and I was too unnerved to sit next to him. Interesting as he was, he was still big and muscled and sort of scared the wits out of me.
    “So,” I said, unsure of how to proceed. Please, God, give me courage.
    “So, Friend,” Rafael said as well.
    “So, what brought you to Columbus, Friend?” I asked. It went without saying that he wasn’t from around here.
    Rafael shifted uncomfortably. “Business,” he finally settled for saying.
    Not very satisfactory. “What kind of business are you in?”
    “Can I plead the Austin?”
    I frowned inwardly, wanting an answer, but knowing we had an agreement. “Yeah, sure. It’s not illegal business, is it?”
    “In most countries, no, it’s not.” He was smiling that infuriating smile, the I-have-a-secret-you-don’t-know smile.
    “Have you traveled a lot?” I asked wistfully. I was pretty sure he was joking about the illegal thing. Pretty sure.
    Rafael’s answer was, for once, very serious. “I’ve been around the world more times than I can count.”
    “For your… business?” I clarified.
    He nodded. “For my business.”
    “This business… is it the hunting, or whatever you were talking about when I tried to thank you for saving me from Austin?”
    I could tell I had surprised him. He obviously hadn’t thought I was very observant at the time we’d had that particular conversation, and it felt a little satisfying to finally have an advantage.
    After a very long pause, he nodded his head again.
    “And what is it that you’re hunting?”
    “Austin.”
    I gave an annoyed sigh and began pacing back and forth before the bench. “Where are you from, then?”
    “Austin.”
    “Texas?” I asked, surprised.
    He shook his head, smiling a little. “No, I’m refusing to answer the question. Austin.”
    I looked at him. “Are you serious?”
    “Yes.”
    I resumed pacing. “Do you have any family? Brothers or sisters?”
    “Austin.”
    “Where did you grow up?”
    “Austin.”
    “Did you go to college?”
    “Austin.”
    “Are you Catholic?”
    “Devoutly so.”
    “Then why don’t you ever come to mass?”
    “Austin.”
    I stopped pacing and faced him, hands planted firmly on my hips like one of the sisters at school. “Well,” I said sarcastically. “Since that leaves out pretty much anything to do with you, what would you like to talk about?”
    Rafael shrugged. “You said we would have a secret word for secrets. It’s not my fault I have so many.”
    I squinted at him. “Whose fault, precisely, is it then?” I asked.
    “Austin.”
    “Uhhh!” I threw my hands up in the air in aggravation. “You’re telling me that I’m supposed to be friends with someone that I know basically nothing about?”
    “Take it or leave it.”
    I huffed again and resumed my pacing. After a moment’s hesitation, I asked, “Do you have friends, back home, wherever that may be?”
    Rafael looked up into the sky, and he got that sad look on his face, though this one was nowhere near as heart wrenching as the one he’d had outside of the church. “Thousands upon thousands,” he whispered.
    “Oookaaaay,” I said, and more quietly, “I’d hate to see your Facebook page.”
    But Rafael heard me anyway, and laughed a little. I brightened considerably after that.
    “My turn for questions,” he said brusquely.