“Tough night?” Phillipa asked.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Agent Murphy said. “The last thing I need is you fucking with me, too.”
“I promise I’m not here to fuck with you. You think we’re on opposite teams, but we aren’t. Anyway, I just wanted to inform you that someone had hacked into the external security systems protocols. It’s entirely possible someone got in with something they shouldn’t have.”
“Fuck!” she heard Murphy scream. “How do you know this?”
“Becausewewere hacking into those external security system protocols and found them.”
“Why are you telling me this? You just broke—I don’t know—how many federal laws?”
“And you should know by now that I don’t care how many of your laws I break to get the job done. That’s what I’m for.”
“Dr. Hennigan,” Ms. Wilson interjected.
“Who’s that?” Murphy asked.
“You don’t need to know,” Hennigan responded.
“Something is seriously wrong,” Ms. Wilson said. “We just lost both drones keeping eyes on the gates.”
“Agent Murphy, keep your eyes open,” Hennigan warned. “Whatever is about to happen is going down soon.”
* * * *
Ethan
The concert was going precisely as planned. When an assistant stage manager came to give him his ten-minute heads up, he was dressed and ready for their first set. The group was to perform a pared-down version of their full concert, just three of the five sets. That meant only three costume changes, but the show was anticipated to end by eleven-thirty, provided no unforeseen issues arose.
“Break a leg,” Blayne whispered in his ear before he kissed him goodbye. “We’ll be in the greenroom tent. Well, I may let my security detail secret me onto the grass if I can do it without causing too much of a scene.”
“You better not steal the limelight away from me, buddy,” Ethan yelled as Blayne, Kira and Ethan walked away.
“Dude,” Ric said, coming up from the side of his trailer, “you’ve got itsobad.”
“Yep,” Orr said, popping up on his other side. “You’ll be next to perform the post-engagement press tour.”
“We’ve barely started dating. We’re not even talking about marriage yet,” Ethan said. “It’s way too soon to have that discussion.”
“Uh-huh,” Rick said. “I give it less than two months before you’re engaged.”
“I’ll give them six,” Orr said. “Let them take things a little slow.”
Suddenly, Zach appeared, having been eavesdropping on their conversation from the shadows. “I doubt they’ll last the month. Our two are practically honeymooners, as it is. And they’ve already gone through more than most married couples do in their entire marriages.”
“True,” Ric agreed. “Three assassination attempts?”
“Four,” Zach said. “Plane, Blayne, Pennington and Rose Garden.” Zach turned to Ethan and asked, “Am I missing any?”
“Well, there was the ambush with the missile, but I’ve been assured that wasn’t an actual attempt on my life.”
“All joking aside, it’s been a hell of six weeks, but you two seem to fit together well,” Ric said.
“Okay, let’s cut it with the touchy-feely crap,” Ethan said. “You’re gonna make me cry, and I just put on my makeup.” He had cracked the joke to stop himself from tearing up.
“Let’s do this.” The four guys placed their hands in the center of their circle and together they yelled, “Three, two, one, ZERO!”
They jumped, slapped each other on the backs and made their way to the stage. ZERO found their positions underneath the set for their launches onto the stage for Act One. They got there just as the voiceover for their concert was beginning.
