Page 1 of Guarding the Rock Star
Wanda
“All right, all right, quit yer yapping so we can get this meeting out of the way. I’ve got shit to do, you know.”
My boss Lois was, as always, the perfect example of patience and class. The wolf shifter ran her fingers through her short black and silver hair and glared around the table until we all settled down. Every Monday morning the team met with Lois to get the update on assignments and any company news from the other locations.
Sapphic Security was one of the most prominent security companies in the country, with offices in six cities. Rumor had it they’d be opening up another branch soon too. The company was owned by a small team of supernatural lesbians who wanted to create a place for themselves after leaving the military. Goddess knows that there were plenty of us who didn’t fully fit in the civilian world, whether human or supernatural.
Between our military connections and our growing reputation in the human world, Sapphic Security was becoming the go-to company for both protective and investigatory work. We didn’t discriminate against full humans or heteros, but the nature of our work environment meant most people who worked here were supes who were lesbians, trans women, or at least bisexual.
Like most of the vampires who joined the company, I worked at the Seattle branch. It’s not like we sizzled to death in the sun like you see in the movies, but none of us liked being in the sun more than we absolutely had to. Slathering on super high SPF sunscreen all the time was exhausting. Fortunately, Seattle was cloudy and rainy most of the year, the perfect climate for us vampires.
I glanced out the large windows, smiling to myself as I saw the slow misting of rain fall from the gray clouds. I loved this weather, I loved Seattle, and I loved my job. Most of the time.
“Diaz!”
I couldn’t help but jump when my boss called out my name. Lois was scary as fuck, and I was saying this as a person who’d faced down terrorists.
“Yes, Lois?”
Across the table from me, my friend and coworker Angie rolled her eyes at my polite tone. She always called me an ass kisser because unlike Angie and some of the others, I tended to obey orders the first time instead of giving Lois guff. I was a rule follower, there was nothing wrong with that.
“I’ve got a case for you. Protective detail. High profile celebrity has a stalker. Looks like it’s probably someone close to her.”
“Protective detail? Me?”
Lois didn’t usually send me out into the field too often, not for bodyguard work anyway. I was as good an agent as anyone else in the room, but my skills at computer programming and creative research – a.k.a. hacking – were more in demand at the office than in the field.
“Yeah, this is a special case and I need your expertise. Plus, no one else is available right now.”
Well, that was a ringing endorsement of my skills. Lois looked around the table expectantly before turning her attention back to me.
“Our client is Tasha Blue,” she said like that was supposed to mean something to me. Several people at the table suddenly got excited, so I guessed it was.
“Who’s Tasha Blue?” I asked.
“Christ on a cracker, you don’t know Tasha Blue?” Lois asked. “She’s a super famous rock star, one of the top female musicians in the world right now, filling up stadiums whenever she goes on tour. She’s a lesbian icon for the next generation. Beloved by millions of people.”
I shrugged. “Never heard of her.”
Lois looked at me like I was nuts. “She sings ‘Woman I Love’ and ‘Tell Me Now’, surely you’ve heard those songs? They’re on every radio station in town non-stop.”
“I don’t listen to pop rock music, and frankly Lois, I’m kind of shocked that you do. That kind of music is for tweens not fifty-year-old bodyguards.”
Next to me my coworker Martha gasped.
“Lois loves Tasha Blue,” she mumbled out of the side of her mouth. “And she’s only forty-eight.”
Oh crap.
“I’ll have you know that my mate and I are huge fans of Tasha Blue,” Lois boomed, her glare hot enough to singe the eyebrows off my face. “We had our first kiss while dancing to a Tasha Blue song. Personal feelings aside, getting this case is a big deal for Sapphic Security. I expect you to take extra good care of our Tasha. Hell, I’d take the job myself if I was in better shape.”
Lois was in better shape than about ninety-five percent of Americans, but she had softened up some since she left the military and married her mate. Monique was a wolf who was a silent partner in the company, but that’s where the similarities between her and Lois ended. Monique was a very girlie femme who always looked impeccably made up, as opposed to her mate Lois who went through every day in camo pants, white tank tops, and combat boots – one hundred percent masc.
“What’s the story with your rock star crush then?” I asked in a resigned tone.
Lois sent me another withering glare before answering.
“She’s been getting anonymous threats. Started as letters, then escalated to little gifts, usually of the dead and dismembered animal type. Her manager thinks it’s an inside job because the stalker seems to know where she is at all times.”
