Fieldwork

By Charles Payseur

Agent Ignacio Ritter is happy serving the CXO, the Central Xenomorph Organization, from the safety of his desk. He has good reasons for avoiding field work like the plague: his parents died in the field, leaving him to be raised among wolf-shifters. Because of his adopted family, everyone thinks he is a wolf, a lie that protects him from the ridicule he'd face if he revealed the truth.

When the charming and dangerous tiger-shifter Agent Reed Daily chooses Ignacio to help close the book on a gang threatening to tear Chicago apart, Ignacio can’t refuse. Perhaps it’s the chance to avenge his parents, or perhaps it’s the tight fit of Reed’s suit and heat Reed's smile ignites in Ignacio. When the chips are down and whole city's depending on him, will Ignacio prove himself man or ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: May 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781685503994

Book preview

Fieldwork

By Charles Payseur

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2023 Charles Payseur

ISBN 9781685503994

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Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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Fieldwork

By Charles Payseur

Chapter 1

Ignacio’s hands fidgeted above the keyboard, fingers typing phantom sentences that never made it to the screen.

It is with great sadness that I tender my resignation to the CXO, but circumstances…He frowned, nose twitching, hands freezing a moment over the keys before once more taking up their dance.

When I joined the CXO, it was to make a difference. But a difference from behind the safety of a desk. I must therefore regretfully…He bit his lower lip, imagined the look on Mama Tasha’s face at seeing him on her doorstep, suitcase in hand. That understanding, that love, but also that disappointment.

Why the fuck can’t you just put someone else on this damn case. I do not do fieldwork! His finger accidentally tapped the keys on the last character, and a lone exclamation point appeared on the screen, in the body of the e-mail addressed to Sofia Martinez, director of the CXO, the Central Xenomorph Organization.

Hey, Nacho, you ready for lunch? came Kev’s voice from behind him.

Ignacio jumped, shielded the monitor with his body, and moved desperately to delete the draft. Fingers fumbling, he clicked at the Discard button only to miss, saw the Send icon depress, and before he could do anything, the message was gone. Ignacio stared at the screen, mouth gaping open.

Hey, Nacho, I asked if you were ready, Kev said.

Ignacio made a sound low in his throat, a squeak mixed with a groan. He took a deep breath and swallowed. In his mind he could picture Director Martinez receiving the e-mail, of course with no subject line, with only a single character. He looked down at the phone on his desk like suddenly it would transform into a spitting viper. He stood jerkily, his chair skidding back against the wall of his cubicle. With a shaking hand, he grabbed his coat, then turned and hurried out of the office, Kev following in his wake.

Chicago had more pizza places than streets, but in his heart, Ignacio only recognized Lou’s Pizza off LaSalle, just a few blocks from the CXO headquarters. New York might be bigger, older, and flashier, but Ignacio was grateful every day he sat down with a Chicago deep dish that the

Reviews for Fieldwork

[serenayates · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Whenever some super-secret organization fighting for the good of anyone who is an underdog is mentioned, I sit up straight. Make it a paranormal or otherwise nonhuman group and I become all ears, leaning forward in my seat to make sure I don’t miss anything. So ‘Fieldwork’ pretty much had me at “CXO” – the Central Xenomorph Organization. Then there is Agent Ignacio who insists on doing a desk job and not just because he is great at tracking financial transactions – he keeps the kind of shifter he is top secret. Then pair him with the CXO’s most dangerous, successful, and utterly charming Agent Reed, a tiger shifter who is merciless in his dealings with terrorists and criminals, and you had me hooked before I read the first sentence of the story.

Ignacio lost his parents to the same criminals he is now helping to bring to justice. The one thing he refuses to do is fieldwork – his parents died during an assignment in the field, and Ignacio believes, due to the type of shifter he is, that he is not suited to working anywhere but in the safety of his office. So when he gets paired up with Reed by a boss who knows his issues, Ignacio is in shock. But his quiet courage, determination to overcome his fears, and mind-boggling ability to save the entire mission prove that appearances are not always the sole deciding factor in someone’s choice of profession.

Reed is self-confident to the point of arrogance, a top agent, and always works alone. His record is the stuff of legends, and he has the attitude to match. But in this case he needs Ignacio’s help –financial transactions and “computer stuff” are not in his arsenal of talents. He respects Ignacio not just because he thinks his fellow agent is a wolf, but when Ignacio has to reveal what his shifter animal is, Ignacio proves he is a bigger man than his somewhat shallow reputation led me to suspect. Absolutely perfect!

It is fair to say that my expectations were pretty high, but Charles Payseur managed to exceed them by far. The combination of a somewhat shy agent with one who could not be more outgoing is very well done, and not just based on Ignacio and Reed’s personalities. The way they think, the secrets they keep, and how they work together all add to the atmosphere of the story. The initial mystery around what Ignacio shifts into, if not a wolf, keeps up the tension until the second it is revealed – only to have the entire mission succeed based on Ignacio’s shifter nature. Very well played indeed!

If you like stories about secret agents and their missions, if you think that two men who could not be more different might just be perfect partners on and off the job, and if you’re looking for a read that is entertaining, full of mystery, suspenseful, and touching, then you will probably love this short story as much as I do. All I can say: more Ignacio and Reed, pretty please!


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.