Read Lion And The Falcon (Furry United Coalition) for Free Online Page B

him or he’d caught fleas again. Given he’d just had his mane groomed and kept up to date on his shots, the latter seemed unlikely.
    S lowing his pace, he turned halfway as if to peer in a storefront window. In reality, he flicked a glance behind him. However, too many people milled on this stretch of sidewalk rife with fashionable boutiques and cafes for him to confirm his paranoia. Probably just a bunch of drunken secretaries again, trailing him at a distance, giggling. It happened more often than he wanted to admit.
    Straightening his already impeccable tie, he took off again, sauntering as if he didn’t have a care in the world, whistling a jaunty air, smiling at the ladies, and tipping an imaginary hat. As the traffic thinned near the brownstone and the buildings tapered from business to more residential, he gave no warning and darted into a shadowed space between two buildings, flattening himself against the wall.
    Footsteps pounded on the pavement. He waited until the person, with no heed to stealth, flew around the edge into the alley . Quickly, he grabbed his pursuer and slammed him up against the brick wall.
    “Why are you following me?” Nolan showed some teeth as he snarled in a most menacing fashion.
    “Don’t eat me. I’m a FUC agent,” squeaked his follower.
    “Eat?” Nolan wrinkled his nose. “That’s even more offensive than the cologne you’re wearing. Really, Old Spice? What are you, fifty?”
    Actually , the young fellow shadowing him probably wasn’t even legal to drink. “It’s my father’s, sir. I mean, doctor, um, sir.”
    “Let’s stick with Dr. Manners and an explanation of why you’re following me , and not very well, I might add.”
    “It was the office’s idea.”
    “Office, as in FUC?”
    “Yessir, um, Dr. Manners. ”
    “And exactly what are you supposed to accomplish? Or let me guess. For some reason they pulled you from you regular job working…”
    “In the mail room.”
    “To follow me around in order to what? Make yourself bait? Try my patience? Make the humans suspicious?” With each rebuke, the young shifter slumped. Nolan sighed and let him go. “Boy, you are much too young and ill equipped for this type of work. Much as I appreciate the concern of my coworkers, if I spotted you so easily, then anyone shadowing me would as well. I’d hate to see you come to harm. Go home.”
    “But— ”
    “Go home. I’ll call the office and let them know. And next time they want you to play bodyguard or field agent, insist they pair you with a senior operative so you can at least learn the basics.”
    The young pup, a water mammal judging by his scent, probably on loan for an internship, scampered off and Nolan shook his head. What a joke. Sure, he wasn’t the handiest of men when it came to battle, or so he let people assume, but still… A wet behind the ears teenager to guard him? Even his littlest sister could have kicked his ass. Hmm. Bad comparison. Even when kitten-sized, his youngest sister was a vicious, spitting thing.
    Whipping out his cell phone , Nolan dialed as he resumed walking toward the parking garage where he kept his car stashed, not trusting to leave it parked on the street, even though he had a designated spot.
    Kloe answered on the second ring. “Nolan. I take it you’re calling me to inform me our latest patient expired?”
    “No, although I expect it to happen before morning. I’m actually calling for another reason. I have a complaint about your choice of shadows. Is the boy even legal to drive?
    “ Are you speaking of Ethan, the otter?”
    “ An otter? Really? You do realize I am a lion, as in king of the jungle.”
    “Not the concrete jungle.”
    “Perhaps not, but still more capable than that teenager you sent.”
    “I am going to assume you spotted him. ”
    “ Spotted and sent him home before he missed his bedtime. I don’t need a babysitter.”
    “I didn’t think so either, however, several of our other agents were