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I had my answer before the question was even out of my mouth. A few shouts rang throughout the room. I peered behind him to see something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime. Before my very eyes, three secret service agents were being arrested. The cops wrangled them, ignoring their curses as they forced their hands behind their backs and pushed them toward the exit.
My blood ran cold at the sight. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Since when did the cops get to direct us? If anything, I thought they would be here—
“Where thehellis Mr. Bennett?” I asked, noting that my charge, and a presidential candidate, was missing. “This doesn’t seem right, Ryan.”
Ryan sighed and ran a hand over his tired face.
“In the back of a goddamn cop car,” he said. “Tonight you are in charge of the family. I have five other guys on their way. Direct them how you see fit, but I need to figure out why the fuck my men are in handcuffs.”
I swallowed thickly.Me?In charge?
Ryan stepped to the side and motioned behind him. I was too busy watching my teammates being cuffed and dragged outside to notice the family had been sitting behind him in the small foyer the entire time.
The two children were visibly upset, with tear stains marking their faces. The older girl was clutching the small boy in her arms while leaning on her mother’s side. I had worked with Mrs. Bennett many times, but my interaction with the children had been limited at best.
“I’ll take care of it,” I whispered to Ryan. “When the agents come, I’ll keep one with me and the rest will guard the perimeter. With this many people in and out, we can’t chance any unauthorized people getting in here.”
Ryan gave me a sharp nod before clapping me on the shoulder and disappearing into the sea of bodies.
Steeling myself, I looked over at Mrs. Bennett and the children with a small smile.
As much as you would rather be anywhere else, these people need you right now. You know what it’s like to need someone. Be nice.
“I’ll be looking after you for the time being. I work with Senator Bennett often. My name’s Tiffany.” I said it softly so as not to alarm the youngest. He was only five and his eyes were already bloodshot. No doubt the flood of people scared him half to death.
The older one, who I knew was about twelve years old, looked me over with a sharp eye. I could see she was trying to put on a tough facade, but the red that rimmed her eyes told me she too was scared.
“Thank you, Tiffany,” Mrs. Bennett said with a forced smile. “For this and… earlier. Sorry I didn’t have time to talk to you about it sooner. I know now is not the time with—”
Her voice cut off, and her cool mask fell. The emotion was thick in her voice and clogged her throat. She cleared her throat before whispering a “sorry” to me.
“Don’t worry about it, ma’am,” I said. “I am here to protect. Can you tell me what happened? Only if you are comfortable, that is.”
Her eyes shifted back to the children at her side before she let out a shaky breath.
“We were cleaning up dinner,” she said. “The children were in here, watching TV, when we heard a bang, and immediately I thought it was another one of those heinous men from the internet. I screamed for the agents, but before we knew it, policemen and FBI agents were storming the place. They forced us to this couch before taking him.”
I nodded and reached out to pat her shoulder as her eyes turned glassy.
“And the agents?” I asked. “Were they interfering?”
She shook her head.
“They complied for the most part, so I’m not entirely sure why they are being taken in,” she said.
Someone cleared their throat behind me. I turned to them with a scowl, but the weight on my shoulders lifted when I saw not one but three secret service agents waiting for my command. The other two looked relatively new, both looking toward one off to the side who looked like he hit the gym daily.
“Ryan sent us here,” the one in front said. “Ready for orders.”
I straightened my shoulders and pointed to the quiet one off to the side who looked like he knew more than the other two. “You stay with me and the family, guard the back. You take the back, near the kitchen. You take the front door. Cops and FBI agents are crawling around the place. If anyone wanted to sneak in, now would be the chance.”
The other two nodded and excused themselves without any fight.
I turned to the other secret service agent to ask exactly what the hell he saw out there, but the shuffling of feet and the low murmuring of voices caused me to look at the intruders.
My breath caught in my throat, and my heart pounded in my chest. Panic seized my entire body, and as soon as I met those familiar brown eyes and scowl, I forced my eyes to the ground.
