“Get used to it, baby. This is your life now.” Vance straightened his shirt collar and ran his tongue over his front teeth. “You’ll love it!”
A second later the door swung open. There was a horde of screaming fans waiting, pressed up against a velvet rope lined by uniformed security guards. Vance jumped out first. I was next in line, so I clambered out and reached back to help Anya from the car.
As she straightened up, I glanced around, checking to see if Joe was here yet.
Instead, I spotted something small and white flying out of the crowd—straight at Anya!
Fandemonium
The scene outside the hotel was wild. At least fifty people were waiting to greet us.
Well, not all of us. Nobody gave me a second glance as I hopped out of the limo. But as soon as Harmony appeared, people started shouting her name and her television show character’s name, too.
I glanced at the next limo. Frank was helping Anya out when I saw movement from the corner of my eye. My ATAC training taught me to assess and react quickly, and it didn’t let me down. I leaped forward, throwing my body between Anya and the object zipping toward her.
“Look out! Incoming!” I howled.
I felt something hit me on the shoulder. Okay, definitely not a bullet. Not even close. It felt more like a …
“Paper airplane?” I muttered, glancing down.
Weird.
Frank had already reacted too. He dove into the crowd, grabbed the guy who’d thrown the paper plane, and took him down.
“Hey!” the guy cried, sounding surprised.
There was a moment of chaos. Jaan hustled Anya and the others toward the hotel entrance. Several bodyguards and security people waded into the crowd to help Frank. Good. It looked like that guy wasn’t getting away.
I reached down and scooped up the paper airplane. It was made out of white construction paper, but it was surprisingly heavy.
Flipping it over, I saw why. There was a tiny motor attached to the bottom.
Double weird.
Frank and the guards dragged the guy forward. He was in his early twenties, tall and average-looking. But his outfit was far from average. His brown hair was slicked back, and he wore a polka-dot bow tie, flared red pants, platform boots, and a lab coat.
Then I spotted the name tag on the coat. Now I got it. The kid was dressed as Dr. Brayne.
“You don’t understand!” he exclaimed breathlessly. “I wasn’t trying to cause trouble. I’m sorry if I scared anyone.”
“Then why’d you throw that …” Frank hesitated, glancing at me.
“Motorized paper airplane,” I finished for him.
Frank blinked. “Huh?”
The fan looked pleased. “It worked really well, didn’t it? I wasn’t sure it would. Even though I tested the design thoroughly, I wasn’t able to predict certain variables, like wind shear and such. But I mostly just wanted to make sure it would go far enough for Anya to get my note. Adding a motor seemed like the only way to do it. And since I have dabbled in robotics, it was an easy matter to—”
“Hold on,” Frank interrupted. “What note?”
“My message to Anya,” the guy said. “I wanted her to know I support her and all. You know, before she goes inside and has to deal with the losers who don’t approve of her casting.”
Frank and I looked at each other. This guy was definitely odd.
“What do you mean?” I asked him. “Who disapproves of Anya?”
“And why?” Frank added.
“Tons of people, for all kinds of reasons,” the guy replied earnestly. “Deathstalker fans are passionate. Some preferred different actresses for the role. There was a huge online poll about it and everything. Others have seen interviews and profiles and such and think Anya’s too meek to truly embody Deathstalker.” He shrugged. “But I believe in giving her a chance. That’s why I wrote my note.”
“I don’t see a note,” rumbled one of the bodyguards.
“It’s the plane itself.” The guy sounded proud of himself. “Look!”
I unfolded the plane. Sure enough, there were words scrawled on it.
“Yeah, it says pretty much what he just told us,” I confirmed, scanning it.
The guy was babbling again, something about different philosophies of acting. I wasn’t too interested. The rush of adrenaline had passed. Anya was safe. Actually, she’d never been in danger. At least not from this geeky fan.
Frank seemed to be on the same wavelength. “I think this guy is harmless,” he told the guards. “Might as well let him go.”
My brother and I have faced down a lot of scary situations: hardened killers out for our blood, mysterious secret societies, runaway subway trains, and even a cage full of killer tigers.
But nothing prepared us for the convention.
It was insane. People in crazy costumes were everywhere. We passed six dudes in matching Superman outfits. A bunch of amateur musicians were wandering around singing a song about time travel. A cute girl in a bikini walked by in a Darth Vader mask. A throng all dressed as robots crowded into something labeled the “signing room.” A world-famous science fiction writer was perched atop a stack of his books, chatting with a teenage kid about government conspiracies. A mock swordfight among people in homemade knight outfits was in play. A woman wearing a hat shaped like a spaceship walked arm in arm with a dude dressed as a vampire.
“Wow,” Frank said. “This is quite a scene.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I wonder where the Deathstalker crew went.”
A passing geek in a manga T-shirt heard me and stopped. “You mean the movie people?” he asked. “I saw them heading toward the hospitality suites.” He pointed toward a hallway off one side of the room.
“Thanks,” Frank said.
“Live long and prosper.” The guy saluted us, then wandered on.
We found the hospitality suite just in time to see Zolo coming out. “Oh,” he said when he spotted us. “It’s Anya’s secret boyfriend and his own personal superhero.”
Was it my imagination, or was there a hint of suspicion in his expression? “Are Anya and the others in there?” I asked.
Zolo nodded. “See you later. I’m going to wander around and soak up the atmosphere.”
Yeah. That made sense. Zolo was just as weird as the rest of this place.
Stan poked his head out of the room just in time to hear him. “Hold on, young man,” the producer said to Zolo. “You’d better stay put. We’re due at the press shoot in ten minutes, then the first Q & A right after.”
Zolo shrugged. “I’ll meet you there.”
“Wait!” Stan said.
But it was too late. Zolo had already disappeared behind a passing Chinese dragon costume worn by half a dozen giggling convention-goers.
Stan sighed. “Typical,” he muttered.
“What was that all about?” I wondered as Stan ducked back inside.
“I don’t know,” Frank said. “But I already contacted HQ for more info on Zolo. I’m thinking he’s worth putting on our suspect list.”
“Really? Why?”
“There was this weird moment in the car when Vance mentioned something about Zolo writing a screenplay,” Frank said. “Zolo went a little berserk. It was kind of scary.”
I shrugged. “So the kid is weird; seems pretty obvious.”
“I know. But worth keeping an eye on. Just in case.”
We went inside. The bodyguard at the door gave us the hairy eyeball, then recognized us and waved us through. Anya was sitting on a plush sofa with Harmony while a makeup artist touched up their faces. Vivian, the grandmotherly agent we’d met that morning, was hovering nearby, keeping an eye on them.
Vance was standing by a table of food near the door, tossing pretzels into his mouth. “Hey,” he greeted us. “I thought we lost you. What was up with the psycho throwing stuff at Anya?”
We quickly explained. “The guards let him go,” Frank finished. “They just told him to keep away f
rom her.”
“Hmm.” Vance grabbed another pretzel. “I’m surprised anyone would go out of their way to support Anya like that. I mean, it’s not like anyone has seen her act in anything before.”
Before we could respond, Jaan called for attention. It was time to head out for the first scheduled event.
Anya hurried over to us. “You’re coming with me, right?” she said, grabbing Frank’s hand.
His face went kind of red. “Um …”
“Sure,” I said. “We’ll be there. Right, lover boy?”
We all followed Jaan out of the room—and were instantly mobbed by fans. The bodyguards did their best, fending off the excited nerds and ushering us toward a different hallway.
As we neared the press photo room I spotted a familiar face in the crowd. It was him— Mechanized Paper Airplane Guy. He was shouting Anya’s name and jumping up and down.
“So much for staying away from her,” Frank murmured.
I started to answer. But just then the people in the Chinese dragon costume returned. It looked like they were having some kind of disagreement about steering, because the back end was going one way while the front end went the other. In the chaos, Frank got separated from the rest of us by the dragon’s midsection.
“Frank?” Anya sounded anxious.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be back,” I said, putting a protective arm around her. “And I’m here.”
“Thanks, Joe,” she said, pausing in the doorway of the photo shoot room to smile at me. “That makes me feel a lot—”
“Deathstalker!” someone wailed.
I turned my head just in time to see a skinny young man in an Asp mask fling himself toward Anya. “We’ll never survive this world without each other!”
Cover Me
“Excuse me!” I pushed against the Chinese dragon, trying to find my way back to Joe and the others.
“Ow! Dude!” someone inside exclaimed. “Watch your hands!”
“Sorry.” I took a step to the side.
Just then I heard a shriek, then someone yelled, “Deathstalker! We’ll never survive this world without each other!”
Uh-oh …
“Sorry,” I muttered again, before giving the tail end of the dragon a hard shove. I still couldn’t get past it. But now I could see what was going on.
Anya’s face was pale. Joe and a bodyguard were peeling a skinny guy in a mask off her. Or trying, at least. The guy had his arms wrapped around her and was hanging on tight.
Then a teenage girl with straight brown hair stepped forward. Reaching for the scraggly pony-tail sticking out from under the attacker’s mask, she gave it a quick, hard pull.
“Ow!” the guy howled, letting go of Anya and grabbing at his hair.
Joe took the opening and tackled the guy, knocking him to the ground. Then he yanked off the mask.
“Good moves, bro,” I whispered.
I finally got past the dragon and hurried over. But by then everything was under control. Joe had the guy pinned, and he and the guards were shouting questions at him.
Harmony and Vivian had already swooped Anya off into the press room. A couple of beefy guards were at the door, so I figured she was safe.
The brown-haired girl was standing there, watching the action. “That was quick thinking,” I told her. “How’d you know that would get him off her?”
“I didn’t.” She shrugged. “But I know Oliver is crazy about his hair.”
“So you know him?”
“Unfortunately.” She shook her head. “He’s a total creep. He’s always trying to smooch the female stars at cons and posting obnoxious comments on the big Stalker blogs.” She shot the guy a look, a flicker of amusement in her brown eyes. “People always told him it’d catch up with him someday.”
Stalker blogs? I’d have to ask her more about that. I smiled. “I’m Frank.”
“Janice,” she said. “You a Deathstalker fan?”
“Something like that.” I’d just noticed that Vance and Zolo were hovering in the doorway right behind the guards. Both were staring at Joe as he continued to interrogate Oliver.
Uh-oh. The last thing we needed was to blow our cover over something like this.
I hurried forward and grabbed Joe. “Ease up,” I hissed into his ear. “I don’t think this is the guy we’re after. Janice says he’s just some random convention creep.”
Joe backed away, surrendering Oliver to the bodyguard. “Who’s Janice?”
I glanced around, but Janice had disappeared. “She’s the one who pulled that guy’s hair to get him off Anya,” I explained.
“Oh. I didn’t get a good look at her.” Joe shrugged. “Is Anya okay?”
“Think so. The others took her inside. She should be okay in there—I don’t think this photo shoot’s open to the public.”
Joe looked at the throngs of fans nearby. Several guards were holding them back. “Yeah. Looks like you’re right. Come on. Let’s find somewhere private to talk.”
That wasn’t easy. The convention was packed. Who knew there were so many people who liked dressing up as aliens?
Finally we found a spot in a corner of the main room where no one would pay any attention to us. We sat down and pretended to watch a costume parade going on nearby.
“So that was exciting,” I said. “And here I thought this convention was going to be boring.”
Joe grinned. “I know, right? You think any of it’s connected to our mission?”
“No.” I shrugged. “Seems like a couple of random weirdo fans to me.”
“Me too. I was kind of freaked out when I heard what that guy said to Anya before he threw himself at her. Sounded like a threat. But then I remembered it’s a famous line from the comics. It’s even in the trailer for the movie.” Joe paused, watching as a guy dressed as an elf danced by in the parade. “Still think Zolo could be a suspect?”
“Maybe.” I thought about seeing him watching us from the doorway. Him and Vance. “What about Vance? I’m wondering if we should add him to the list too.”
Joe looked surprised. “You mean Mr. Hollywood? Why? I wouldn’t think he’d have the mental energy to harass Anya. He spends all of it on admiring himself.”
“Yeah, he seems pretty shallow,” I said. “But I just remembered something weird Zolo said in the car. He said something about how Anya might be bringing me in to take over Vance’s role, but how that was more Vance’s style or something like that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I didn’t think about it much at the time. But Vance mentioned later that he’s dating an actress. What if he wanted her to play Deathstalker and is holding that against Anya?”
“I guess that could be a motive. If it’s true …” Joe looked unconvinced. “Should we ask HQ to look into it?”
I pulled out my phone. “I’ll text them now.”
As soon as I finished, Joe checked his watch and stood up. “We should get back,” he said. “It’s almost time for the Q & A session.”
I nodded. Unlike the photo shoot, the Q & A was open to the public. Anya would definitely want us there.
We headed back across the convention space. The Q & A was taking place in one of the smaller meeting rooms off the same hallway as the press room. As we reached the corner, my cell phone buzzed.
“It’s HQ,” I said. “That was fast.”
“What’d they find on Vance?” Joe asked.
I scanned the message. “Our guess was right. His girlfriend auditioned and didn’t make it. So there’s his motive.”
SUSPECT PROFILE
Name: Vance Bainbridge
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Physical description: Age 19, 6′2″, 190 165., blond hair, hazel eyes. Voted hottest teen actor three years in a row at the Big Apple Awards.
Occupation: Actor; has appeared in nine major motion pictures since making his Hollywood debut at the age of thirteen.
Other relevant details: Has been dating succ
essful actress Amy Alvaro for a little over a year. Convinced Jaan St. John to consider her for the title role in the Deathstalker film; however, St. John ultimately decided to cast Anya.
Suspected of: Trying to scare Anya into quitting the film.
Possible Motive: Getting his girlfriend the part of Deathstalker.
Just then I heard raised voices from farther down the hall. Glancing around the corner, I saw Jaan facing off against a red-haired guy who had to be twice his size.
“… must try to understand, it’s all a matter of simple psychology,” Jaan was saying. “It’s nothing personal.”
“Nice try, St. John,” the big redhead snarled. “You’ll regret this. You and your precious so-called actress. Count on it!”
Then he whirled around and stalked off with his huge fists clenched at his huge sides. Joe and I hurried forward.
“Whoa,” Joe said. “What was that all about?”
Jaan looked startled. “Oh! There you are,” he said. “Anya was just asking for you. The Q & A starts momentarily.”
“Who was that man?” I asked. “Was he threatening you?”
“What man?” Jaan smiled vaguely. “Listen, I’d better go set up for the panel….”
He hurried off and disappeared through a nearby doorway. “That was weird,” Joe said. “Why was he playing dumb?”
“You got me. I figured we didn’t need to put him on the suspect list, since he’s the only other person here who knows we’re ATAC agents,” I said. “But now I’m starting to—”
“Hello there, boys,” a voice spoke from directly behind us.
Whirling around, I saw Zolo smirking at us. Those knowing green eyes were boring into mine.
Shooting a panicky look at Joe, I realized I’d just mentioned ATAC. How much had Zolo heard? Had we just totally blown our cover?
Q & A
I held my breath, not daring to meet Frank’s eyes. I could practically hear Zolo’s snarky voice now: Check it out, children, he’d sneer. We’ve got a couple of secret agents in our midst.
Instead he glanced over his shoulder. “Your girlfriend’s waiting for you, amigo,” he told Frank. “She won’t go into the panel room until you show.”
Movie Menace Page 4
