The hardest part of protection detail is keeping the target alive when the target is constantly trying to undermine your efforts.

Maddie warned Logan not to leave the grounds. He agreed. But he also had a history of escaping, and Maddie had very little faith in his ability to stay put and follow directions. In fact, Maddie thought the odds were pretty good that she'd be standing between Logan and an outside threat again in the very near future. But she had to threaten him anyway. What kind of agent would she be if she didn't? Not one who belonged at the Gallagher Academy.

Logan hadn't even noticed their tail. The thought was simply astounding to Maddie. How could he not have seen her? Because he'd been too busy kissing Maddie and deciding she was his girlfriend, and announcing it to the entire sophomore class, that was how.

Maddie felt vaguely nauseous at the thought that right that very moment, the 143 other students of the Gallagher Academy were no doubt gossiping about her. It had been a long time since Maddie had enjoyed being noticed. In Alaska, being noticed got you killed. Maddie suspected it wasn't all that different here.

"There you are," Casey skidded into the doorway and jolted Maddie from her thoughts. "I've been looking all over for you too," she said breathlessly. "I even went to your room, Maddie. Wow was that a mistake."

Maddie was quiet, but that rarely stopped Casey from rambling on about something. Maddie had learned it was far better to let Casey finish a rant than interrupt it.

"Soooo," Casey finally demanded. "Are you guys dating or what? Don't tell me you got the entire school gossiping over a legend."

Casey looked to Logan, but Logan looked pointedly at Maddie, his expression stating clearly that he would follow Maddie's lead, no matter what she decided.

Maddie considered carefully. They had told the entire school they were dating two hours ago. They spent all their time together. They kissed. They held hands. How much could putting a name to it change anything? Maddie said the word in her head, and surprised herself when it still came out in Stefan's sneering voice.

So Maddie looked at Casey and rolled her eyes as dramatically as she could. "Can we focus on the bigger picture here?" She asked. "Someone knows where Logan is and just followed us around Roseville."

"That guy in town square?" Casey asked. "Pretty brazen for any kind of professional," she shrugged. "Probably just the papparazzi."

"No," Maddie said, trying not to sound annoyed. "This woman."

Maddie pulled the sketch from her skirt pocket and slowly unfolded it, laying it on the bed between them.

"Whoah," Logan whispered in admiration. "I didn't know you could draw."

"I had a lot of free time in Alaska," Maddie said pointedly. "I'll ask you again, have you ever seen this woman before?"

Logan studied the sketch, but then slowly shook his head no.

"Casey?"

She shook her head too. "Only in Roseville today. That's a very good sketch, Mad," she continued. "Maybe even good enough to run through a government database."

"Maybe," Maddie said. "But I don't want to call attention to the situation and potentially alert anyone who might have access. Whoever was there today knew we'd be in Roseville."

Casey nodded. "It's probably best for us to just let the adults handle it," she agreed. "You're pretty safe inside the walls, after all."

Logan rolled his eyes. "What if I don't want to stay safely inside the walls forever?" He asked.

"I'm sure it won't be forever," Casey responded. "The adults are good at their jobs. That's why they're still here. Goodness, you're so dramatic."

"You know what they say," Logan accused. "If you can't do, teach."

Casey rolled her eyes in a pretty solid impression of Maddie as she said firmly, "Let me clarify. I didn't mean 'here' as in 'at the Gallagher Academy,'" she continued with liberal air quotes. "I meant 'here' as in 'alive.' So sit your spoiled ass down and stop whining."

Maddie grinned, and applauded quietly. Logan was silent.

"Is there anyone at Gallagher who could run our sketch through a government database undetected?" Maddie asked Casey. "I wonder if there's a way to do it but also and keep it under wraps."

Casey shook her head. "Not that I know of. I'll ask around though. Why? Don't tell me you're doubting the abilities of our intelligence community too?"

"I just think we should be proactive," Maddie said. "That woman today wasn't a paparazzi stalker. She knew too much. She saw way too much. And I don't like it at all."

Maddie didn't say what was truly on her mind. That it was obvious after meeting with the adults that they weren't taking the threat seriously. That they thought Maddie was overreacting.

Honestly, Maddie wondered if she'd been overreacting too. And yet, her mind kept coming back to a single thought.

Whoever had followed Logan this morning had known they would be there. Had known Logan would be there, even though Maddie hadn't known herself.

A shiver ran down Maddie's spine as she made the final connection.

Whoever had followed Logan had eyes and ears inside the Gallagher Academy.