He didn't say that. "Then people get hurt," Eamon said.
I watched the crew work. Efficient, professional, with no sign that they saw anything wrong.
"Your call," Eamon said. "But if your gut's telling you something—"
"I'm flagging it," I said.
"Good. Document everything. And Griffin, watch your back."
I ended the call and walked toward the production manager. "Excuse me, I need to raise a concern about the rigging change—"
He held up one finger without looking at me. "One second."
I waited. "Look," the production manager said, turning to face me. "I get it. You're security, and you're doing your job, but we've done three hundred shows with this production design. The rigging is solid. Certified. We don't have time for second-guessing."
"I understand, but the verbal approval means there's no documentation if—"
"If what? Do you think we don't know what we're doing?" It wasn't a hostile confrontation. I saw his bloodshot eyes. "We're on a clock. I don't have time for security auditing rigging decisions."
He walked away before I could respond.
My phone buzzed.
Kang:Security briefing in 10. Production office.
I looked up at the truss one more time. Solid. Professional. Approved. Wrong.
***
I was in the production office when it happened. Kang was mid-sentence, reviewing the airport breach with local security.
A terrifying sound cut through, metal shrieking and tearing free, followed by a crash.
Next, screaming. I moved before the sound stopped echoing.
I was out of the office and down the corridor. Someone shouted in Korean. Someone else yelled for a medic.
A few people ran toward the stage. Others ran away. A lighting technician pressed himself against the wall, a hand over his mouth.
The truss hadn’t fully fallen.
One end still held.
The other hung twenty feet down, caught by the safety cable.
Steel swayed. Lights dangled. Cables twisted. Directly below it, two stagehands were down.
One was sitting up, holding his arm, face white with shock. The other was on his back. Not moving.
I scanned for the band members. They weren't here. They'd been in the dressing rooms. Safe.
For now.
I looked up at the failed truss. Followed the angle of the drop. Calculated the fall line based on the mounting point position and the weight distribution.
Then I looked at the marks on the stage floor. Tape X's in different colors. Red for Jinwoo, blue for Taemin, green for Minjae, and silver for Rune.
The fall line cut straight through the silver X.
