Tough Luck (A-List Security 1)

“Yeah. I suppose.” In the past, my agent or someone else would have handled disturbances. And even if they didn’t, I likely wouldn’t have been in shape to notice much about my fan interactions anyway.

“Even superfans don’t get to make threats.” True to his word, Cash was right next to me on the bench, leaning forward to spear the cops with a hard glare.

“That’s the thing, Mikey…er…Danny—”

“Daniel,” Cash corrected before I could.

“Daniel.” The cop’s tone said she was getting bored already. “Daniel is not reporting any threats, per se. Disturbing messages, yes, but the ones you’ve shown me on your phone didn’t include threats of violence.”

They’d taken a cursory look at my screenshots, which was good in that they didn’t do a deep dive into my pictures but maddening in how easily they dismissed the messages.

“What about the letters you mentioned? Are they worse?” Cash asked.

“No.” My voice was as miserable as the rest of me. I’d undoubtedly overblown this whole thing. Never should have called Duncan and should have just begged Cash to throw away the rat for me. “The letters are the same sort of rambling, creepy expressions of love. Talking like we’re going to be together. Long stories that read like dreams. One-sided conversations that act like I know the writer when I definitely don’t. That sort of thing.”

“You’re sure you don’t know anyone with a grudge? Disgruntled ex-girlfriend?”

“Or boyfriend,” the other officer added, a little too gleefully. Clearly, he hadn’t missed my coming out where I’d shocked my fans by being spotted kissing a guy and then confirming the rumors. My publicist at the time had quit over my handling of the situation, but whatever. Yes, folks, little Mikey Poindexter is gay. Gay, gay, gay.

“No exes,” I said woodenly, not daring to glance at Cash. I couldn’t afford to care what he thought about that tidbit. “No friends either. I keep mainly to myself.”

Officer fanboy snorted at that. Fine. Let him not believe me, but it was true. My circle of real, trustworthy friends had always been small, but now it was microscopic. Ezra was on tour. Gloria was busy with family, as always. And after that, my contact list grew sparse. My new lack of interest in the Hollywood game had driven the last of my acquaintances away. No one was that hyped about hanging out with a sober Danny Love.

“Look. We’ll file a complaint.” Officer Montgomery clicked the pen she’d been using to take notes with. “We’ll try to investigate what we can, but usually, these fan cases go away on their own.”

“And if they don’t?” Cash’s tone was far more commanding than I could ever manage, a natural leader like Duncan.

“If the threats escalate, a detective may be assigned to the case. More resources.”

“So you need more of a threat. I knew this wasn’t a big deal.” My clammy palms and churning stomach begged to differ, but I wasn’t about to show the officers how freaked I truly was.

“I didn’t say to not be worried.” Officer Montgomery adopted more of a mom voice. “You still need to be smart and stay safe. Start with putting in a high-tech security system. I can rec a firm.”

“I have one.” I gestured at Cash, meaning that Duncan wouldn’t let me use some random security place. Also, now that it was clear the cops weren’t going to be much help, I was ready for them to move along.

“Oh, good, you’ve already got a guard.” Her tone was the verbal equivalent of a pat on the head. Good job, Danny. Way to make the right choice.

“He isn’t—” I started to protest, but Cash cut me off.

“Yup, I’ll handle the system.”

“Excellent.” The officers were already turning back toward the cop car. “We’re shorthanded, so while I’ll put in for extra drive-bys for your street, personal security is the way to go.”

“Absolutely.” The younger officer gave me a wink. “Let your dude upgrade your…system.”

Cash wasn’t my dude, and that wink would probably ensure he’d beat a retreat to safer, straighter territory as soon as the officers left. In my limited experience around military guys, they didn’t usually take kindly to implications that they might be into other guys. But in yet another shocker, Cash didn’t slide away from me, didn’t tell the officer to fuck off, and didn’t spring up the second the cop car pulled away.

“Finally.” He groaned and stretched. All that glorious bulk rippling truly was a thing of beauty, and I had to work to not lick my lips and focus on what he was saying. “I didn’t expect them to be quite that useless.”

“I did.” I let him be the first to stand, giving me more chance to ogle his thick thighs and meaty ass.

“Fair enough. Still, it was good to get the incident on record. And now our next order of business is to do a thorough sweep of the premises. That little walk-around the fence line the cops did doesn’t count.”