Bodyguard Bear

BARRETT - FAMILY COERCION

“Hello Agent Barrett speaking, what can I do to help you today?” The polite greeting drilled into him by one zealous training officer rolled off Barrett’s tongue though answering his damn phone was the last thing he wanted to be doing.

Penny started right in on him “Barrett, you are still coming for dinner tonight, right? Tala showed up for a visit today and she needs help. The kind of help you can give her as part of the CSEA.”

“Tala as in your old college roommate?”

“Yes, that Tala, now are you still coming to dinner or not? Because you absolutely have to come to dinner. I am sure she needs your help. You absolutely cannot bail on dinner and why are you still at the office anyway? I thought you planned to be home by now, but I tried your house phone first and it rang through to the machine.”

“Penny you need to calm down, you are talking a mile a minute.”

“Oh, right sorry, you just need to get your butt over here to help.”

“Look yes I am still coming to dinner. I am still at the office because the email went down again, and I had to fix it. I am also absolutely headed home tomorrow for a much-needed vacation. Why are you so sure Tala needs help from Shifter Enforcement anyway?”

“I don’t know the details, but something happened with her pack and she said she is on the run from them. You can’t seriously be going on vacation tomorrow; you need to help Tala deal with this. I am not letting my best friend end up on the run from god knows what and you are going to make sure that doesn’t happen”

Barrett let loose a low growl “Penny what part of vacation tomorrow do you not understand? Madden or El can handle any problem she has. There is no reason it has to be me.”

“Yes, it HAS to be you Barret,” Penny let loose a snarl, “Tala won’t trust anyone else to help, she would never talk about personal problems with anyone she doesn’t know!”

“What makes you think she will talk to me then? I have never met her before” enquired Barrett.

“I used to talk about you and mom and dad all the time in college, Tala used to say she felt like she knew you all. She won’t see you as a stranger.” Penny responded so shortly Barrett knew his sister meant business, she rarely used anything less than the maximum number of words possible to answer a question.

“Ok, fine she will talk to me then, but I don’t see any reason one of the other agents can’t handle the issue while I am on vacation.”

“Barrett Gregory August you will do this or else!”

Barrett gave a moment pause at his sister using his full name before asking “Or else what Penny?”

“Or else I will send the video of you singing along to Carrie Underwood from last summer to everyone you work with!” Penny’s triumphant announcement rang through his head for a moment and he sighed. Barrett knew Penny had him right where she wanted him and that his vacation was looking like a distant dream and not an imminent break.

“Fine. I will handle it.” Barrett slammed the phone down and his bear rumbled with displeasure in his mind.

He should have known that Penny would get a video of that stupid dare from last summer. He looked down at his desk for a moment, not seeing what was in front of him and considered what he would have to get done now before supper. He would need to get as much background information together as he could on Tala and the pack she belonged to. He would also need to rebook his vacation time and clear the assignment with Rafe. The rumbling of his stomach reminded him that he still hadn’t managed to have lunch and it was now getting close to 2 o’clock.

That decided him on what he should do first and he picked his phone back up and put in a call to his favorite pub.

“Hey Mitch, I need my usual delivered to the office as soon as you guys can.”

“Sure thing Barrett, give us forty minutes and it will be there, you want us to take it up to you or meet you in the lobby?”

“I will meet whoever you send down in the lobby. Thanks man.” Barrett hung up the phone and decided he better handle Rafe next.

He got out from behind his desk and headed through the door into the large main room. Across from Barrett were two doors; a mirror image of the wall behind him; closed now as neither Madden nor El were in their offices. On his left there was a reception desk taking up the middle of the main room with 3 doors behind it, two of which stood open. The door on the right was the kitchen/staff room, Barrett could hear El moving around cleaning up in there. The leftmost door was closed and behind it the washroom for their offices. Turning left he walked over the middle door which had been left open and knocked on the frame to announce his presence.

Rafe glanced up from his computer, “Come in Barrett. I thought you would be gone already and packing for your trip.”

“Thanks, sir. I need to talk to you about moving my trip. I received a call requesting me on a case.” Barrett said slowly, trying to keep his posture relaxed.

“Oh?” Rafe inquired softly.

Barrett tapped his toe nervously as he looked at Rafe whose eyes had gone an ice-cold grey from his usual chocolate brown, his brow creased in the slightest frown and hand clenched. Barrett knew he had to choose his next words carefully and considered what he had said to rile his boss this much.

“My sister called me and asked me to look into some trouble her friend is having. She told me her friend isn’t the trusting type and is unlikely to be willing to talk to or work with anyone else. Her friend, Tala, is from out of town and arrived unexpectedly earlier today.” Barret carefully explained while working hard not to fidget and keeping his gaze under that of Rafe’s. “I was hoping to put my trip on hold until this situation is resolved.”

“Ah, it is a family matter then. It is understandable your sister would decide to contact you about it.” Rafe’s fist slowly unclenched and he relaxed back into his chair. “I cannot guarantee you the vacation time when the matter is resolved but if there is nothing we require your expertise on then you can take it. If you need any help resolving this matter just call it in and we will back you up.”

“Thanks boss. I am going to look up some background information and will be meeting with my sister and Tala for dinner. I will send you a report on it in the morning.”  Barrett eased himself out of the office while talking and checked the time.

He made a beeline for his desk and grabbed his wallet out of the top drawer. Then he headed out of the Agency office and caught the elevator. He was alone as the elevator descended from the 4th floor of the building their offices were in and down to the lobby. Barrett strode off the elevator and followed the scent of hamburgers and fried potatoes with onions across the lobby to the bag it was wafting from and the delivery guy holding it.

The delivery driver looked him up and down before asking “Hey man, two burgers and fried potatoes, right? That will be $28.50.”

Barrett pulled out his wallet and handed over $35. “Thanks.”

He grabbed his lunch and hurried back up to his office. Opening the take-out box and grabbing the first bite his eyes closed, and his bear hummed with happiness. Then wasting no time Barrett started pulling files from the CSEA database while he ate, trying to find everything he could on Tala and her pack before dinner.