Vanishing Act by John Feinstein Read Free Book Online Page B

hurt.”
    Kelleher was shaking his head. “If she’s hurt, what’s with all the security people around Walsh? Something’s up. Come on, guys, we need to get out of here.”
    â€œNow?”
Susan Carol said.
    â€œYup,” Kelleher said, “right now.”
    He pointed at the two walkie-talkie guys who were talking intently to the umpire. “Soon as they make an announcement, all hell is going to break loose here. We need to get moving so we don’t get trapped in the stampede for the exits. Come on.”
    â€œI need to stay,” Carillo said. “I’ll see you guys later.”
    â€œI better stay too,” Collins said. “You young guns start chasing this down.”
    Kelleher shrugged and made his way to the aisle. Stevie kind of wanted to stay too, but he trusted Kelleher’s instincts. Susan Carol seemed to agree, because she was standing, ready to move. The three of them started down the steps while others in the media section were standing up and consulting with one another. They bolted past Max Shapiro and down the steps leading under the stadium. They were under the stands and sprinting through an almost empty concourse when they heard what had to be the umpire’s voice on the PA system. She wasn’t calling out any score.
    â€œLadies and gentlemen, we regret to announce that the scheduled match between Joanne Walsh and Nadia Symanova has been postponed until a later time.” Stevie could hear groans and shouts coming from inside as the umpire forged on. “More details will be announced when they become available. Thank you for your patience and indulgence.”
    Kelleher turned to Stevie and Susan Carol, shaking his head. “There’s
nothing
in the rules about postponing a match. If she’s hurt, she defaults. Something crazy’s going on here.”
    They made it out onto the courtyard between the two stadiums. There were security people and police all over the place, blocking the most direct path back to the main stadium. When a security guard stopped Kelleher, he held up his media badge. “We’re media,” he said. “We have to get back to the media center.”
    â€œI don’t care who you are,” the security man said. “You can go through the food court like everyone else and you’ll get there eventually. This area’s frozen right now.”
    Stevie could see two cops right behind the security guy, ready to back him up. People were being herded from the area very quickly by security and police, all of them being pushed toward the food court. Kelleher could clearly see this was an argument he wasn’t going to win—even if Collins had been there.
    He took one swipe at getting something accomplished. “Can’t you at least tell us what in the world is going on?” he said.
    One of the cops answered, stepping in front of the security guard. “Here’s what I can tell you, pal: if you don’t get moving right now, you’re going to jail. How’s that for telling you something?”
    Stevie could see Kelleher redden a little and bite his lip. He turned to Stevie and Susan Carol. “Come on,” he said, pointing them toward the food court. The good news was that because they had beaten the crowd out of Louis Armstrong, they were able to maneuver their way through the food court fairly quickly.
    â€œI’m not sure who is worse to deal with,” Kelleher said when they finally reached the other side and were back within sight of the entrance to the media center. “The security guys are just rent-a-cops, know-nothings given a little bit of authority. The cops know what they’re doing, but they see a media credential and it’s like waving red at a bull.”
    â€œWhy is that?” Susan Carol asked.
    â€œIt’s just a natural adversarial thing,” Kelleher said. “Sometimes cops help reporters, but they also like to remind you