Free Night Howls by Amber Lynn

see if Clyde is going to sic the human for me, but he is fast asleep. He can be a lazy little jerk some days.
    “I asked around for you and was told you would be here. Did you get my flowers?” he asks walking straight into my office. He looks around and, like most people, his eyes keep trained on my weapons wall.
    “If they were purple roses, yes, they were waiting for me when I got here. I am sure they are very nice. Now that you have assured yourself a hoodlum didn’t come by and steal them, you can go about your business elsewhere.”
    “I am guessing the news hasn’t reached you, but our leading lady was found dead this morning in her trailer. I was hoping I could convince you to reconsider being in the movie. We don’t really have time to find someone else without getting way behind in shooting,” he says settling in one of the chairs I reserve for customers.
    “Jake?” I ask wondering if he has heard anything since he saw her just last night.
    “News to me. She was definitely breathing the last time I saw her.”
    “I am sorry for your loss, but I don’t act,” I inform Will. He doesn’t seem broken up at all by his costar’s death.
    “What can I do to convince you otherwise? I think it is a role you would be perfect for. There is a little bit of fighting you can do when you get kidnapped and you look the epitome of a damsel in distress.” I know we haven’t spent very much time together, but does he seriously think that statement is going to make me change my mind?
    “Look, Will, you seem like a nice guy, but I can tell you right now that you probably should not be sitting where you are at this moment if you want to keep your dick,” Jake says from the other room.
    “He is referring to the fact that I have a crossbow trained on your privates as we speak,” I say cluing the guy in. “I think I proved to you yesterday that I am anything other than a damsel in distress. I believe my demonstration should have also made the point that I don’t play well with others.”
    “I did get that vibe from you, but we are in a bind. I think having a non-human in the movie will also earn some publicity that we are in need of for this movie. The series is starting to get a little played out, but if we can advertise that our leading lady is a paranorm, we might be able to give it a boost,” he says trying to plead his case.
    I should have hit him harder in his head yesterday. It might have knocked some sense into him. “Still not happening. Now, if you don’t mind, I do actually have a lot of work to get done today. I have my own problems and to me they are more important than you needing to find a replacement girl.”
    “Arm up, Sweetie. We have one of those bigger problems getting ready to enter the building,” Walt says and I leap over my desk and Will to get to the waiting room immediately.
    “Holy shit,” I hear Will mumble.
    I look out the window to take inventory of our trouble and see Frank and a group of other Collective agents heading towards my door.
    “Fuck.” There really isn’t anything else to say. I pull out my Beretta and wait for them to enter. I don’t think taking this meeting out to the street is a wise move on my part.
    Frank enters and signals for the rest of his crew to wait outside. “Hello, Nyx. You haven’t stopped by for our weekly dinners for a while now,” he says as he stares down my barrel.
    He looks no different than he did when I last saw him a couple of months ago. He is in his seventies, but doesn’t look any older than Will, who I am guessing is in his late twenties. Frank is 6’2” with a fair complexion, not as light as mine, but pretty close. He has short blond hair and moss green eyes. His nose is bent slightly out of shape from not being properly set after a mark hit him with a brick.
    “When I found out you had been lying to me my entire life, I decided to take them off my calendar. What are you doing here?”
    “There seems to have been an incident