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“Pretty sure it was a prank,” I told Laney, my voice tight with frustration. “Told you that kid was up to no good.”
The furious star, who now looked like she belonged on that old TV show where players got covered in slime during the game, bared her teeth at us. “This dress costs $12,000.”
I whistled, knowing that kind of price tag also came with a hefty criminal damage charge.
“Twelve thousand dollars?” Dakota echoed as she joined us, her Southern accent only adding to her disbelief. “That’s more than my car is worth!”
“Someone get Lora,” the singer barked. But none of us moved, and for me, it was because I had no idea who the heck Lora was. “What are you doin’ just standin’ around? I need my assistant to get this mess off of me, and I need someone to find out who did this so I can press charges!”
I sighed, admitting, “I know who did it. Saw him riggin’ the contraption before you came down the hall.”
Laney pulled out her phone, her long nails tapping noisily on the screen before looking up at me. “Adam, I just sent money to your account. You’ve officially joined my security team—as a contractor, don’t worry.”
I nodded once, quickly seeing what she was getting at. Laney clearly knew enough about law enforcement to know I didn’t have jurisdiction here, and that meant any effort to detain the twerp who’d done this to her guest would be considered a citizen’s arrest.
And unlike what the movies made people think, those were frowned upon. Big time.
“Y’all go on and help that poor woman get cleaned up,” I told Laney and Dakota as they started to lead the star away. “I’ll go find our prankster.”
With determination fueling my steps, I set off in search of the kid responsible for this mess. My mind raced with thoughts on how to handle the situation, from lectures about responsibility to discussions of consequences. But one thing was for sure: there was no way that woman was letting him off the hook for a twelve-thousand-dollar prank.
My heart raced as I weaved through the crowd, scanning each face for any sign of the culprit.
“Pardon me,” I muttered, pushing past a couple engrossed in conversation. The large rooms of the mansion were all thick with humidity, and sweat started beading on my forehead. It was as stuffy now as I’d pretended it was when I’d first asked Red to go outside with me, but I couldn’t it slow me down.
Finally, I spotted him—the kid I’d seen earlier.
Standing outside… but notjuststanding outside—standing outside next to the very woman I’d been thinking about seconds earlier.
Panic twisted in my gut as I made my way toward them. Was she in danger? I weaved through the masses of people, wishing my path was clear enough to break into a sprint and cursing myself for not being faster.
“Hey!” I called out, reaching them just in time to see Red wrap her arms around the kid in a rough hug. “Whoa. What’s goin’ on here?”
“Hey,” she said, her expression softening as she glanced at me. “This is my little brother.”
“Your brother?” I asked, trying to keep the surprise out of my voice. My mind whirred, trying to reconcile this new information with the task I’d been given. “Red, we need to talk.”
“Can it wait?” she asked, gesturing toward the very person I’d been hunting. “I need to take care of somethin’ first.”
“Actually, it can’t,” I said, my jaw set. “We need to deal with this now.”
Red frowned, looking between her brother and me. “Did you— Um, did you see what happened or somethin’?”
“What’s your name?” I asked the kid, ignoring Red’s question and trying not to let the concern in her tone distract me from doing my job.
“Tyler,” he said with a shrug.
“Look,” she started, putting a hand on my arm, “I’m not sure why you’re involved in this, and I know it looks bad, but Tyler didn’t mean any harm. He’s just... been going through some things lately. I promise I’ll take care of it.”
“Tyler,” I turned to the kid, trying to keep my tone steady. “Did you rig that contraption that ruined that woman’s dress?”
“Yeah,” he admitted with another shrug, his eyes downcast. “How mad is she?”
I stared at him, not even sure how to answer that. I didn’t wanna scare the poor kid.
Tyler sighed. “Look, man, it was just a prank. She’ll get over it. These rich people shouldn’t care so much about their stuff. They can just go out and buy more.”
Red hung her head.
