The All-Seeing Security Guard

Chapter 002

Concentrated sulfuric acid. The words hit Rourke like a blow, and his body swayed.

He started to turn toward the direction Cade had glanced, but Cade caught his arm and stopped him cold. Rourke's voice shook.

"Cade... are you sure about this? This isn't something we can afford to get wrong. If Lila or anyone else in that crowd gets hurt..."

Rourke trailed off, strength draining out of him. Sweat had soaked through the back of his shirt. If one person got hurt today, neither he nor any man on the security team would keep their jobs.

Cade gave a short nod.

"A full quart. It's in her bag. The crowd's too packed, and if we move on her without thinking it through, we'll end up hurting a dozen bystanders."

Cold sweat slid down Rourke's forehead. In the days since Cade came on board, nobody had slipped past that gate, no matter how convincing the disguise, and Cade had never once been wrong about a single one of them. He had stopped more people on his own than the rest of the team combined.

"So what do we do now?" Rourke asked, almost without thinking.

"Don't panic," Cade said evenly. "Go up ahead and guide Lila's car in. Stall as long as you can. Leave the rest to me."

"What exactly are you planning?"

"I'm going to take her down before she can act."

"No." Rourke's voice came out sharper than he intended, and he caught himself, lowering it. "It's too dangerous. Let me handle it."

"Trust me."

The reply was flat and certain, and the calm in his eyes settled Rourke's nerves.

"Be careful," Rourke murmured. Then he lifted his baton and turned to the crowd, voice booming.

"Everyone, move back! Clear the road, we need space for the car!"

While Rourke worked the crowd on one side, Cade eased through the fans on the right, drifting steadily toward Faye Dolan.

She looked barely twenty, a mask hiding half her face, but her eyes gave her away: pure venom, fixed on the road where the car would arrive, one hand gripping something in her bag.

Cade glanced at his right hand. Without Knockout, the ability the system had just granted him, he would never have dared approach her alone.

Three steps away, he jabbed his baton toward the fans beside her and barked.

"Back up! Did you not hear me?"

The die-hard fans bristled at once.

"Who do you think you're yelling at, you jumped-up guard?"

"You've got no right to talk to us like that!"

"We're reporting you the second this is over!"

Right then the star's luxury van rolled up under Rourke's direction, and the crowd forgot Cade entirely, surging forward with LED signs raised high.

A flash of something ugly crossed Faye's eyes as she pushed forward, but Cade was already there, catching her by the arm.

"Don't move. I know what's in your bag."

Her face twisted, and she wrenched against his grip, trying to yank the bottle free and hurl its contents.

Knockout triggered, and her body locked mid-motion. Cade forced her onto the pavement and pulled the bottle from her bag before she could blink.

"Rourke, over here! Everyone back away, this is high-concentration acid!"

The words cleared a ring of space around him. Fans sprinting toward the van froze, staring at Cade.

Rourke rushed over, took the bottle, and barked orders at the other guards.

"Keep this crowd orderly, nobody panics! Someone call the police, now!"

Faye came to, screaming and thrashing on the ground.

"Lila, you shameless bitch! Why does Ethan love you instead of me? And you, you pathetic excuse for a security guard, who the hell do you think you are to interfere?"

Inside the van, Lila watched through the tinted window, hands trembling while the older woman beside her murmured reassurances.

Sirens cut through the noise as two patrol cars pulled up, and seven or eight officers in tactical gear climbed out.

"Make way, make way!"

Once the perimeter was cleared, the officer in charge, a middle-aged man, stopped short at the sight of who had subdued the suspect, and stared at Cade.

"Get the suspect into the car. And get this crowd dispersed, keep everyone calm."

Two officers cuffed Faye and hauled her, still screaming, into a cruiser.

Cade leaned toward Rourke and spoke quietly.

"Get Ms. Sinclair out of here first."

Rourke nodded and headed for the van without a word.

The officer stepped closer. "Cade, what are you doing here?"

Cade smiled. "Chief Brennan, good to see you. I've still got two months before I'm back on duty. Figured I'd pick up some work to help with the bills."

Brennan studied him, something complicated passing behind his eyes.

"Cade, don't hold this against me. I'm just..."

Cade grinned before he could finish. "It's fine. I understand completely. Let me go help clear the crowd."

He turned and walked off. A young officer approached Brennan with the confiscated bottle.

"Chief, this is definitely concentrated acid. If this had actually hit Lila, the damage would have been..."

Brennan watched Cade's back, regret flickering across his face before he sighed.

"Get to the bottom of this fast. And keep it out of the papers as much as we can."

*****

By the time they cleared the last of the crowd, they collapsed back at the security office.

"That was insane, Cade!"

"Seriously, how did you even spot her?"

"No wonder you were a top student at the law university, man."

Cade laughed it off. He could hardly tell them a system in his head had tipped him off. They would think he had lost his mind.

"Just a gut feeling," he said instead. "Something about the way she was looking at the van did not sit right."

Before anyone could push further, Rourke pushed the door open.

"Cade, Ms. Doyle wants to see you."

Cade stood. "Ms. Doyle? What for?"

The other guards looked at him with open envy.

"What else could it be? She's rewarding you. You pulled off a huge win for the company today."

"What do you think that old battle-axe will hand over?"

One of them rubbed his fingers together. "Cash, obviously."

"Yeah, Cade, when you get your bonus, drinks are on you."

*****

Cade headed for the management office with the others trailing behind, still ribbing him. He knocked on the door of Greta Doyle's office.

"Come in."

Greta rose from her chair the moment he stepped inside, beaming.

"There's our hero! Come, sit, sit!"

Cade hesitated, thrown off by the warmth. Greta Doyle had never shown the security staff anything but cold condescension.

"Ms. Doyle, you wanted to see me about something?"

She slid a cup of hot tea toward him.

"We owe you everything for today. If things had gone differently, I don't want to think about it. Are you hurt?"

Cade flexed his hands and smiled. "Thanks for asking, I'm fine."

"Good, good." She nodded, satisfied. "I'll get straight to the point. What you did today for Lila was an incredible showcase of professionalism for our entire property management company. We're going to arrange an interview with the newspaper office."

"An interview? About what, exactly?"

"About how you took down a dangerous attacker single-handedly, saved Lila, and protected a crowd of bystanders. That is exactly the publicity we need, and the company takes it very seriously, so be prepared."

Cade considered it for a moment before nodding in agreement. "I understand, and I'll follow whatever arrangements the company makes."

Greta stood and lifted a thick envelope of cash from her desk, pressing it into his hands.

"This is your reward from the company. It is not much. Fourteen hundred dollars, a small token of our appreciation."

"Thank you, Ms. Doyle."

Cade took the envelope and left.

That night, after treating the team to dinner, Cade lay in his room and pulled up the system.

[Congratulations, user, on successfully subduing a dangerous fan and protecting resident Lila and the bystanders around her.]

[Points awarded: 1,250]

[Current points: 1,275]

[Congratulations, user: a second ability draw is now available. Activate now?]

Cade's pulse quickened. His mind went back to Knockout and the way it had frozen Faye, and he wondered what else might be waiting.

He thought the word clearly: activate.

[Draw in progress. Please wait.]

The floating readout flickered for a few seconds before locking into place.

[Congratulations, user: you have obtained the ability, x-ray vision.]

[Usable twice daily, upgradeable. Effect: the user's eyes can see through solid objects. Each use lasts five minutes.]

X-ray vision?

Cade's heart pounded at another incredible skill.

He activated it immediately.

He turned his gaze to the upper right corner of the room and watched the concrete wall turn transparent, its surface dissolving like mist.

Then his vision passed straight through the wall, landing on a pair of pale, delicate little feet standing on the other side.

Cade's eyes went wide, and he froze completely, staring.