4. Nico
NICO
The temporary command center was taking shape inside one of the trailers parked closer to the filming site. It wasn't nearly as impressive as the setup back at my usual office.
I had better equipment there, more space, and a proper network infrastructure that didn't involve running cables through a trailer and praying no one tripped over them.
But the filming site was spread out over a ridiculous amount of land, and it made far more sense to monitor everything from here than from the office.
I hummed quietly along to the Shadowfall soundtrack playing from my laptop. The music usually helped me concentrate, and after spending enough time listening to the same tracks, I'd practically memorized every note.
A heavy leather boot tapped against the metal floor. Tap. Tap. Tap. I turned the volume up a notch. The tapping continued.
I turned it up another notch. A low sound came from behind me, halfway between a sigh and a grunt. It was impossible to ignore.
I was already bracing myself for another question, another criticism. It wasn't as though I wasn't used to it. Isaac had been questioning me since yesterday, and he wasn't even the first person to do it.
Being compared to Tony came with the territory. He was the head IT specialist, and apparently that meant everyone assumed there was a right way of doing things, which was usually whatever Tony would have done.
I was getting pretty good at pretending it didn't bother me. Mostly. Isaac stood with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at the bank of glowing monitors. His expression was as unreadable as ever.
He lifted one hand and pointed toward one of the feeds, the camera showed a patch of woods along the northern edge of the filming site. He made that same low sound again.
“Can we get a clearer image?”
I sighed. He'd already asked me the same question yesterday.
“The camera is picking up exactly what it's supposed to pick up,” I explained again. “That's a long-range feed, so the image quality is going to drop at that distance. I can improve the resolution a little, but I can't magically make a camera see through trees.”
His eyebrows drew together slightly. I could practically hear the next question forming.
Before he could ask it, there was a knock on the trailer door, and Fiona stepped inside. Logan's PA gave me a quick smile before turning her attention to Isaac.
“Sorry to interrupt. Do you have a minute?”
Isaac gave a short nod. I turned back to my monitors. Whatever they needed to discuss wasn't my business, and I had no reason to listen. Unfortunately, the trailer wasn't exactly soundproof.
“We need to confirm Logan's schedule for this afternoon,” Fiona said. “He's still in stunt training, so—”
“How long?”
“I don't have an exact time yet. His instructor wants him to finish the sequence before they call it. It shouldn't be much longer.”
“If he's still in training, I need to know when he's leaving the site and where he's going afterward.” There was a sharp edge to Isaac's voice. I winced and tried to concentrate on the camera feeds in front of me.
“His schedule says he has wardrobe and then—”
“Where?”
There was a brief pause, and I could practically feel Fiona's frustration from where I sat. I tried very hard not to listen after that. It didn't work.
The conversation continued for another minute, with Fiona's patience wearing thinner by the second and Isaac becoming increasingly determined to sort everything out himself.
Eventually, he told her he'd handle the arrangements if she couldn't give him the information he needed. Fiona eventually gave up.
The trailer door shut behind her, leaving Isaac standing there with his arms crossed, his jaw still set. He looked completely unbothered by the fact that he'd probably driven Fiona halfway to a nervous breakdown.
Still, I couldn't exactly blame him. Logan was his brother, and from everything I'd seen so far, Isaac took keeping him safe very seriously.
Unfortunately, he apparently had no idea how to do that without making everyone around him want to pull their hair out. I continued checking the camera feeds.
A few seconds later, something strange flickered across one of the screens. The network traffic had jumped. Not by much, but enough to catch my attention.
I pulled up the diagnostic window and watched the numbers for a few seconds. A burst of interference appeared, followed by another, stronger spike.
“That's weird.”
Isaac looked over. “What?”
I pulled up the local network activity and traced the interference. It wasn't coming from any of our equipment. There was another signal bleeding into the production network, and it was moving.
My stomach tightened. “That isn't ours.”
Isaac was beside me almost immediately. “What is it?”
“I think we have a drone.”
His expression hardened. “Where?”
I pulled up the signal data and tried to narrow down its location, but the signal was masked well enough that I couldn't get a precise fix.
“It's close,” I said. “But I can't pinpoint it yet.”
“How close?”
“I don't know.”
Isaac's jaw tightened. “Then find out.”
I was trying. I switched between the feeds covering the outer perimeter, scanning for anything unusual. Then something caught my eye. A tiny dark shape flashed across one of the screens.
I tried to get a clearer view, but the angle was useless. There wasn't a direct camera covering that section. I pulled up two of the more distant feeds instead, looking for an angle that overlapped with the area.
One caught the back of the stunt site while the other covered part of the service road. Neither gave me a clear view, but together they were enough to narrow it down.
I zoomed in. The image became grainy, but there was enough. A tiny black speck hovered near the edge of the frame.
“There. Behind the stunt area. I think it's close to the equipment storage—”
Movement caught my eye.
“What the hell? There's someone there.”
Isaac followed my gaze.
A man had slipped through a gap in the outer fencing and was making his way toward the stunt area. A camera hung from his neck, and a bag was slung over one shoulder.
Isaac was already moving. “Where?”
“Same area. Back of the stunt site.”
“Is Logan there?”
“Yes.”
Isaac turned and strode out of the trailer.
I pulled up the signal controls and worked to disrupt the drone's connection, my fingers moving quickly across the keyboard as the interference intensified.
The distant camera feed in the corner of my screen flickered with it.
The image was blurred by distance and digital noise, but I could still make out what was happening. Isaac had reached the fence, and the paparazzo was trying to get away.
Isaac intercepted him before he could get far, and even through the blurry feed, the difference in their size was obvious.
The paparazzo fought wildly, managing to land a few blows before Isaac finally grabbed him and pinned him to the ground. Then I saw the blood.
A red mark ran along the side of Isaac's head, with another scrape visible on his forearm. My wolf surged forward with a rush of anger so sudden and fierce that it took me a moment to understand what I was feeling.
What the hell was Isaac doing? Why hadn't he waited for backup?
There was security all over this damn set. He could have called someone. I could have called someone. Fiona could have called someone.
Instead, he'd thrown himself between the intruder and the people he was protecting without a second thought. My wolf snarled. Reckless.
“Come on,” I muttered, forcing my attention back to the screen.
The drone was still transmitting, so I pushed the interference higher until it jerked erratically in the air. “Got you.”
I increased the interference again. The distant camera feed flickered, and then the drone dropped out of sight. The signal finally disappeared.
I shoved back from the workstation and ran.
When I reached the stunt area, set security had already arrived. Isaac was still on the ground, pinning the paparazzo beneath him.
The man was cursing and struggling, trying to push Isaac off, but Isaac barely seemed to notice. I slowed as I approached, taking in the damage I'd only been able to glimpse through the distant camera feed.
There was a cut near Isaac's temple, another shallow scrape across his cheek, and bruising already beginning to darken along one side of his jaw.
His shirt was scuffed at the shoulder, and a fresh scrape marked one of his hands. His breathing was heavier than normal, and standing this close, I could hear his heartbeat beneath it. It was fast and hard.
For one strange second, I forgot what I was supposed to be doing.
I was suddenly too aware of how close I was standing. The clean scent of his cologne mixed with the sharper smell of sweat and adrenaline.
There was an intensity in his eyes that I hadn't seen before, an almost unnerving focus that made it difficult to look away. He looked dangerous. My wolf shifted restlessly.
“Did you get the drone?” Isaac asked.
I blinked. “Yeah.”
His eyes stayed on me for another second before flicking toward the stunt area. Fiona was hurrying back in our direction, and the moment Isaac spotted her, his expression tightened.
“Is Logan okay?”
“He's fine,” she said quickly.
Isaac nodded, then looked her over. “Are you okay?”
Fiona gave him a slightly incredulous look. “I'm fine.”
“Good. Go stay with Logan.”
She hesitated, then nodded and hurried back toward the stunt area.
I watched her go before turning back to Isaac. Set security had finally taken hold of the paparazzo, hauling him away from Isaac and pulling him to his feet.
“Nice job, man,” one of the security guards said, clapping Isaac on the shoulder. “Hell of a tackle.”
Another laughed. “Guy didn't stand a chance.”
Isaac gave them a brief smile, but I barely heard the exchange. My attention had settled on his hands. He flexed his fingers once, then again, and I noticed the faint tremor running through them.
It was so slight I might have missed it if I hadn't been watching. Isaac curled one hand into a fist, and the shaking stopped.
A moment later, he was smiling at something one of the other guards said, slipping easily into their conversation as though nothing had happened.