Page 607 of One More Kiss

Ranger’s Duty

a Texan Devils novella

Sofia Aves

COLE

“Texas Rangers dealwith a higher level of criminal on a daily basis who—”

“No!” A stout, round man dressed in a black vest over tweed pants and a black beret approached me, looking for all the world something out of a horror film, or reality TV show. He raised his hand and waved frantically, even though silence had already fallen all around the small crew gathered in a Texas field. “I need you standing here. Yes. No, no, no Yes. In the spotlight, please sir.”

The Director with a capital D that stood something a lot less kind in my mind pushed me in an awkward as fuck two-step, manhandling me until I was sick of the physical contact with another human being.

When he was finally happy with poking and prodding me, I ended up standing in the same spot I’d started in the first place.

I gritted my teeth and counted backwards from twenty, running through my remaining jobs left of the week, and realized that with the documentary crew in town for the duration of the season, I had no chance in hell of getting anything done.

I stared over his head and caught the eye of a pretty blonde girl clutching a clipboard. Dark glasses framed her face, giving her a pre-Harley Quinn-esque sort of look, all long hair, high cheekbones, and intelligent eyes.

Soft lips formed a natural pout that fell in a pretty rose bud bow. I swallowed an insta-attraction, and blamed it on the pure boredom of filming from day break ‘til sundown, having uttered the grand total of eighteen words for the day, and no break for lunch.

The girl watched everything around her through bright eyes her Clark Kent style glasses couldn’t disguise, and scratched something fun out on her clipboard. A grin tugged at the corners of my lips as I watched her work. That woman should be the person running the show while Director Dandypants pranced about like a semi functioning unicorn in a brown suit even an accountant wouldn’t wear.

I’d seen her running around the impromptu set, helping everyone in sight for even the most trivial issues and my respect for her grew. More than once her comments had been incredibly insightful and far more useful than the D-words’s pomp and pandering.

Someone save me, I mouthed, barely moved my lips. I thought no one noticed until a pink stain spread across her cheeks. She pursed her lips. I wanted to kiss her just for the hell of it, indulging in my mini daydream fantasy.

Director D stepped back, cutting his hands across my field of vision. “Bellissimo!’

Bellissimo? Who the fuck says Bellissimo?

“You might be new to our world, but I believe you have the sparkle of a star. Just like that. Stay right there. Smile! And do not move.”

“I fucking hate this show.” I spoke to my teeth soft enough for the cameraman at my back to hear, but fortunately the director missed.

“And, action…!”

It was like the man expected me to do something after telling me to stand still, say nothing, and do nothing except pose.

“Well?” The little man stood in front of me with his hands pressed to his pudgy hips. His gaze slipped sideways, and his hands shifted to his middle, rolling over each other in the universal get going motion. “Do something,” he hissed.

“Oh.”

Eloquent Cole, real fucking eloquent.You’re painting the Rangers in a brilliant light.

Archer had told me about the doco on my first day in his office. As a transfer from one of the border Texas Rangers units focused on narcotics entering the US and people trafficking, I was used to dealing with Brody in his undercover capacities and infiltrations inside the cartels. What I wasn’t used to was being throw in the spot light and spending hours doing very little except standing around.

Brody spoke highly of Archer and his unit, and I knew he’d done the same for me. I had a feeling that the stocky Ranger’s recommendation had got me where I stood today.

In the spotlight, posing like a bodybuilder on stage. All gym-based muscles with nothing of true value to offer than looking pretty. The double standards placed on the film industry and other genders had never hit me so damn hard.

Maybe I could pull an upside from the experience after all, and draw on a little more empathy in my day to day dealings. It was tenuous, but I’d take it. Anything to feel useful after standing around all day. Hell, my feet even hurt for the wrong reasons.

Archer threw me in the deep end with his trademark grin and informed me that if I didn't show up the Ranger’s in the very best light, I’d find myself back on the border force with little chance of seeing Austin again for a very long time. Maybe around the time he retired.

Director D-bag gave him the feeling the small man would take delight in ruining the Austin based Texas Ranger elite unit’s reputation Archer had worked so hard to preserve. Even I knew there was no coming back from that, and I got the impression that rat Archer’s gut was absolutely correct.

My respect for the man grew even as he shunted me out of his office door with a brief pat on the shoulder and a ‘Good luck, son.’

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