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Sidestepping hirabs the man by the wrist and just turns it back harshly; the knife drops to the floor and, at the sa reacheshis arer’s face, and a heartbeat later thedown his broken nose

“Are you okay, Ash?” Austin asksone hand on my face and the other on

“I—I think so,” I tell hiht on the spot where the blade was just a few seconds ago

“Sir! Are you okay?” A sents comes up to us, and they quickly form a perimeter around Austin and I

“Yeah, yeah, I’ his hand around He jumped out of his limo so fast that the Secret Service didn’t have any time to catch up A man of action, that much is true

With both his hands on my shoulders, Austin lets his eyes roa to check if I’ it, a few cop cars park close to the presidential limo, and the police hauls the unconscioushim inside one of the cars The uess it’s going to take a while before he’s out on the streets again

Parking just before the police cars, a few dozen vans from the local press show up in a flash They were probably following the motorcade, and they were drawn here by the sudden stop The Secret Service didn’t have enough ti perimeter, so it doesn’t take ether inside a sents in black suits, a crowd of reporters shouting questions in quick succession

“Ashley, did you --”

“Mr President, can you give us a comment?”

“Are you hurt?”

“Did you knock out that man, Mr President?”

The questions are soso fast, that all I can hear is an angry buzz, almost as if the reporters have turned into a swarh my hair, I take a deep breath and think of whatto be This is an excellent opportunity to show the White House that theme are orth it

“Thank you for your concern, everyone,” I say, raisingat the reporters with a sht have happened Just goes to show that he wasn’t kidding when he said he’d be tough on cri hi that so look toward the President Only then do I realize that I don’t need to pretend that I feel thankful toward Austin… He saved rateful for it Because, just like I told the reporters, I have no idea what ht have happened

“Let’s go, Ash,” Austin whispers, lacing his aruide me toward the presidential limo

“I guess it goes to show that the President isn’t only a man of his word; he’s also a man of action I feel safe in his hands, and I think that the American people should also feel safe under his presidency,” I continue saying into asmall steps as I follow Austin back to the liht now, and the reporters see it up