Page 70 of The Bodyguard

Andi blinked, shifting instinctively into public mode. "Yep, I’m Andi. What's your name?"

The girl glanced behind her, then back again. Her voice was a whisper. "Lacey. I... I think I need to tell you something."

Andi felt the shift in Mitch before he moved. He was at her shoulder in a blink, gaze locking on the girl with quiet intensity. She nodded once to reassure him, then turned back to Lacey.

"Don’t mind him. He’s big, hunky and absolutely one of the good guys. What did you want to tell me?"

The girl looked like she might bolt. She wrung the flyer in her hands until it bent. "Someone offered me money. Last week. To say I saw you buying something. Drugs. I guess. Said all I had to do was go online, make it sound real. They even gave me the words."

Andi went still. The crowd noise dulled to a low throb in her ears.

Lacey swallowed hard. "I didn't do it. I couldn't. But I thought you should know. They said if I changed my mind, they'd still pay. They gave me a number."

Mitch was already pulling out his phone, snapping a quick photo of the number Lacey held out on a torn scrap of notebook paper.

Andi took the girl’s hands in her own, ignoring the trembling. "You did the right thing coming to me. Are you okay?"

Lacey nodded, but tears welled in her eyes. "I didn’t know who else to tell."

Andi took Lacey’s hand in hers, squeezing gently. "You told the right person. You’re safe now. I promise."

Mitch handed off the note to one of the other Cerberus agents with a quiet instruction, then looked back at the girl. His voice was calm. Measured. "Do you know what the man looked like? Or the car he drove?"

Lacey nodded quickly. "Black sedan. Dark windows. He never got out. Just rolled down the window. He wore a hat. Glasses. I think he had an accent."

Andi felt her stomach twist. Someone had tried to use this girl as a pawn. Some kid from the South Side with probably no political stake in the game beyond a few bucks for rent or groceries.

Mitch caught her eye, and she knew. This wasn't just smear tactics. This was coordinated. Ongoing… and it wasn’t over.

But Lacey’s hands in hers were real. Her fear was genuine. And so was her courage.

Andi leaned in. "You matter, Lacey. And I won’t let them use you."

The girl nodded, wiped her nose with her sleeve, and turned to go, one of the Cerberus agents following discreetly behind.

Andi didn’t speak for a moment. Neither did Mitch. But when she turned back toward him, her voice was steady.

"We’re not just fighting for headlines anymore. This is about legacy. About who gets to own the truth."

Mitch looked at her like he was seeing her all over again.

Andi straightened her spine.

"They tried to use her to take me down. I’m done playing defense."

She turned toward the car. She headed toward the next fire to be put out. And Mitch? Mitch was already moving in step beside her.

* * *

The loft was silent when they returned. Not the tense kind of silent—just still, like the space itself was waiting to exhale. The weight of the rally lingered on her skin like the last bite of adrenaline, still burning beneath the surface.

Andi dropped her bag by the door and kicked off her boots. Mitch followed in silence, locking the door behind them, double-checking the alarms out of habit. He had said little since the car ride. Just watched her the way he always did—carefully, intensely, like every breath she took mattered more than his own.

She turned to face him.

He looked like sin in shadow. Black T-shirt stretched across his chest, veins in his forearms raised from tension he hadn’t let release. His jaw was tight. That muscle by his temple twitching again. Still keyed up. Still scanning.

“Mitch,” she said softly.

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