Of course he wouldn’t understandwhy I’m bothered. He’s never understood me before, so why would he magicallyunderstand me now?
“Whatever,” I say since this feelslike an argument we would’ve had when I was sixteen. I look to either side ofthe street at all the fans taking pics with their iPhones behind the fencedbarriers. I can only imagine the video that will pop up on TMZ if we keep ongoing like this. I smile for the cameras and wave before continuing towardtransport, where several security guards stand before the line of SUVs thatawait me and my teammates.
I catch something in my periphery andturn.
A guy in a hoodie races toward me.
Shit. Some overzealous fan.
As he reaches into his pocket, Bryceruns up and tackles him from the side, throwing him to the ground. “Shit,” Isay. He flips him over, restrains him, and reaches into the guy’s pocket. ForBryce’s sake, I’m hoping it’s a weapon, but it’s a Sharpie.
Kiernan’s face turns bright red asseveral iPhones in various fans’ hands continue snapping pics. And I’m sure thatsomeone’s got this on video, too.
Kiernan grabs Bryce by the arm andyanks him to his feet.
“Really?” he asks. “Really?”
The expression on Bryce’s face isguilt-ridden. I can only imagine how foolish he feels right now, but Kiernanpulls us along to the transport SUV.
Darren races over.
“We gotta go,” he sings. “Gottago.”
I’m so gonna end up on TMZ forthis.
Nine
Bryce
“What the fuck was that?” Tad asks.
“I was protecting you,” I say.
“You assaulted a fan,” Kiernansays.
“That fan should have been alittle more careful. You can’t just go up to someone and…”
“Pull a fucking pen out of yourpocket?”
We’ve reconvened back in Tad’shotel room, where I knew Kiernan would have at me, because he’s been holdingthis in the whole ride back.
“He obviously snuck pastsecurity,” I say. “He was in the wrong. How could I have possibly known thatwas a pen?”
“Agent Finnegan, this is not howwe do things around here,” Kiernan says. “You could have blocked him. You couldhave escorted him back to the roped off area where he probably snuck in from.Not tackled him to the ground so you could make a fucking production out of thewhole thing.”
“I’m sorry, Kiernan, but this ismy job and my expertise, so I think—”
“Carson?” Kiernan asks, turning tohim for his opinion.
Carson eyes me uncertainly. Helooks like he wants to have my back here, but I can tell by the expression onhis face that he won’t.
“I think you need a little moreexperience with gauging the situation. That kind of shit happens all the time. LikeKiernan said, you could have stood in front of the guy. Blocked him from Tad,but—”
“Oh, and waited for him to pullout a gun, shoot me, and move on to Tad? Carson, I respect what you do, but I’mnot here because he has a few nutty fans. Does everyone get that? Are we stillon the same page, because three weeks ago, when I got here, I figured you guysunderstood that Tad is at risk. And whoever’s doing this will be waiting for usto let our guard down before they strike.”
“But Tad’s going to get a lot ofheat for this,” Debra adds. She sits at the bar in the hotel room, a cocktailin hand—one I think we all need considering how upset everyone is. She wasalready at the hotel when we arrived, as she had to schedule some new publicitygigs for Tad here in New England. “You know what they’re going to be saying onsocial media? He’s going to look like he has some psycho bodyguard who can’tkeep his shit together.”
“People are going to understand thatsomeone has to protect Tad.”
