Free Sealed with a Hiss: Book Four Supernatural Enforcers Agency by E A Price Page B

favor.” 
    Maybe she had, his python thought, viciously .  Vaguely, he was reminded of the case they had before Christmas - another case with a revenge motive.  They were similar but different.
    Jessie looked at him expectantly.  Say something, his beast urged.  Get her to change her mind.  Show her we’re worth all the baggage.  He was going to; he was psyching himself up for it when his phone rang.
    He answered; it was Edith informing him that the cops had picked up her brother.  This time, he was fighting with his girlfriend’s husband.  Gerry had never known a more tempestuous python shifter than his brother-in-law.
    He turned back to Jessie and saw her scurrying away.  She must have heard Edith’s voice.
    His python roared.  Great, just fucking great.
     
     

Chapter Nine
    “Jessie!”
    Her heart almost leaped out of her chest, and her squirrel let out a tiny growl.  She clutched at her chest as a smiling Director Sayles somehow managed to sidle into her office.  It wasn’t easy to sidle when you were built like a tank.
    “Oh, Director Sayles, you frightened me.”
    “I apologize, and please, call me Barry.”  The oily smile directed at her didn’t look in the least apologetic as he tried to perch on the edge of her desk.  It creaked ominously, but it didn’t deter him.  “So, Jessie, how are you getting on?  I always like to check on my staff personally.”
    Jessie took a sip of tea to try and stop herself from scoffing.  According to Robbie, he went out of his way to not talk to any of the staff in his own department.  He sent his assistant to pass on his asinine orders. Cora told her she only recognized him from seeing him the break room trying to aggressively flirt with some of the field agents.
    “Great, I’m really enjoying working here.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    She hadn’t said thanks, and he actually had nothing to do with her being hired – something else he delegated – but she let it slide.
    His smile oozed.  “So, how are you getting along with Gerry?”
    His eyes narrowed as she breathed in.  He knows something; she thought in a panic.  There isn’t that much to know grumbled her beast.  “Well, I’m not really working with him directly, but we seem to get along well.  Is everything okay?”
    “Yes, of course.  Congratulations on your sudden promotion.  Director Sanders must like you.”  He added a laugh at the end, but the leer on his florid face said it all.
    “Well, you’d have to ask him that,” she replied, coolly.  “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get on.”
    His smile slipped an inch, and she sensed the anger beneath.  She tried not to shrink away, but the urge was there.  Her squirrel didn’t like the idea of being in a rampaging rhino’s way at all.
    Barry mumbled a goodbye and lumbered away.  Jessie felt her tiny claws flex.  She didn’t know why she was surprised.  Of course, people were going to think she was sleeping with the boss.  People preferred to believe that kind of thing – it was much juicier than the truth.  It didn’t mean she had to like it.
    “Ugh!” she grunted, and her animal seconded that as she threw a marker pen across the room.
    “Jeez, what’d it do to you?”
    Jessie managed a half-hearted smile for Robbie.  “It called me a dirty name.  I’ve lost all respect for it.”
    He grinned.  “So listen, some of the guys downstairs are going to the old arcade across town, apparently they’re decommissioning the old Pac Man machine.  We thought we’d get pizza after.”
    “Ah, a farewell to arms and waistlines with the pizza.”
    “Exactly, you fancy tagging along?”
    Jessie hesitated.  It may be nerdy but to her, it sounded kind of fun.  She went out with her last boyfriend for six months because he owned an original Space Invader’s machine – she was trying to get the high score.   “I’d love to, but…”
    His face dropped, and she thought about it.  Actually, why shouldn’t she