Free Framing Felipe by Holley Trent

pain,
and
but
Tamara
seemed
unmoved.
She
ground
the
sole
    of
her
combat
boot
against
the
side
of
his
head
and
reached
into
her
back
pocket.
With
a
    grunt,
she
extended
a
pair
of
handcuffs
to
Felipe.
    He
slapped
them
onto
the
man
and
yanked
him
to
his
feet.
    “Still
don’t
like
you,”
she
said,
pulling
the
now-‐bruised
man
along
beside
her,
pointing
a
    gun
at
him
as
they
moved.
    Felipe
clapped
dirt
and
leaves
from
his
palms
and
chuckled.
“Don’t
care. Ingrata .”
    “Didn’t
ask
for
your
help,”
she
said,
loosening
her
grip
on
the
mercenary
long
enough
to
    flick
a
particular
finger
up
at
Felipe.
    With
that
large
distraction
out
of
the
way,
he
turned
his
further
up
the
field,
and
felt
the
    knot
in
his
belly
release
when
he
confirmed
his
opportunity
was
still
completely
in
tact.
No
    worse
for
the
wear,
she
seemed.
In
fact,
she
looked
fresh
as
a
daisy
without
so
much
as
a
    hair
out
of
place
as
she
cuffed
the
injured
man’s
wrists.
It
wasn’t
for
lack
of
a
struggle,

    FRAMING FELIPE
–
42
–
Holley Trent

    either.
The
man
seemed
bloodier,
probably
courtesy
of
one
of
Sarah’s
harness
boots.
The
    women
seemed
to
gleefully
use
their
footwear
as
deadly
weapons.
    “Seen
these
before,”
he
said,
when
he’d
reached
Sarah’s
side.
    Annoyance
flitted
across
her
face,
and
he
knew
there
was
a
sharp
retort
on
her
tongue,
    but
whatever
it
was
she
kept
it
at
bay.
Through
clenched
teeth,
she
grumbled,
“I
assume
    that’s
why
you
got
in
my
way
earlier.”
    “Yes.”
In
Spanish,
he
explained,
“They
can
shift
into
whatever
form
they
imagine
with
    some
effort,
although
each
has
their
favored
forms.
Most
have
one
particular
form
they
    fight
in.
They’re
mercenaries.
They
hang
around
us
weird
people
a
lot.
I’ve
seen
them
    before
at
the
circus,
dealing
with
Jacques.
Fabian
didn’t
trust
them.
Did
some
prying
about
    them.
They
call
themselves Visa after
the
shape-‐shifting
Hindu
earth
goddess
Visahari,
    although
I
don’t
know
their
original
origins.
Given
their
ability
to
become
both
larger
and
    smaller,
you
should
expect
that
those
cuffs
won’t
hold
them
long.
You
need
to
lock
them
up
    someplace
secure.”
    “Okay…”
They
slowed
as
they
approached
the
house.
“Locked
up.
Got
it.”
    Tamara
joined
their
little
clump
along
with
a
couple
of
the
were-‐cats
who’d
been
    momentarily
stunned
by
the
Visas.
They
flanked
the
poachers
and
looked
to
the
ladies
for
    instruction.
    Felipe
chuckled.
Looks
like
they
knew
perfectly
who not to
cross.
    Sarah
handed
her
wounded
captive
off
to
the
cats
and
fisted
her
hands,
propping
them
    on
her
hips
as
she
turned
toward
Felipe.
The
glint
in
her
eyes
was
the
opposite
from
the
    sort
of
passion
he
usually
incited
in
women.
    Here
we
go. He
crossed
his
arms
over
his
chest
and
cocked
an
eyebrow
up
as
she
    approached.
    “Hey,
Felipe?”
    She
used
his
name.
That
was
probably
better
than
being
called asshole, which
was
what
    he
expected.
“Yes,
shrew?”
    “You
were
out
of
line.”
    “I
didn’t
realize
there
was
a
line.
I
knew
I
could
help,
so
I
did.
You’re
welcome,
by
the
    way.”

    FRAMING FELIPE
–
43
–
Holley Trent

    She
drew
in
a
deep
breath
and
let
it
escape
through
her
clenched
teeth.
There
was
an
    eruption
simmering
beneath
that
calm
façade,
but
he
knew
she
was
putting
on
a
show
of
    solidarity
for
the
sake
of
the
Visas.
She’d
never
rage
in
front
of
them,
because
that
would
    indicate
in
a
way
that
the
Shrews
had
been
unprepared.
    His
turn
to
take
a