Read The Rivalry for Free Online

inside has been soldered? This gun can’t be loaded with anything but blanks.”
    “So you’re like everyone else,” Stevie said. “You don’t trust the referees.”
    Dowling laughed. “I’m different from everyone else,” he said. “I don’t trust
anyone
.”
    They thanked Grace, left the trailer, and walked back inside the stadium. Dowling waved off the security people, saying, “He’s already been checked,” as they passed the screening area.
    To Stevie it seemed like there were cops and agents everywhere he looked. This early in the day, their numbers rivaled those of the fans.
    “So how many guys are working with you on this?” Stevie asked.
    “That I can’t tell you. Or how many women, either,” Dowling answered with a grin. “We don’t release staffing numbers because we don’t want anyone to know for sure what they might be up against or where a potential weak spot might be.
    “But I can say that we’ve had Secret Service agents, stadium security, and local police from all the surrounding counties working together on the pregame clearances, as well as the game-day security.”
    They walked through the hallways of the stadium, Dowling taking him on a tour of every locker room in the building. Squads of officers with bomb-sniffing dogs had checked the locker rooms where the teams, the bands, and the cheerleaders would be. Agents in special gloves checked every locker and every office and filing cabinet. As more agents checked in with Dowling, Stevie found the scale of the job more and more staggering.
    They were heading in the direction of a sign that said REDSKINS LOCKER ROOM when Stevie saw a group of policemen with bomb dogs, rent-a-cops, and two men in suits standing outside. One suit had a walkie-talkie, and the other was clearly an agent.
    “Hey, Pete,” the agent said. “We were about to call you. We’ve got a little problem.”
    Dowling raised an eyebrow.
    “Dude in the suit with the walkie is claiming he hasn’t been given clearance by ‘
Mr
. Snyder’ to let anyone in the locker room.”
    “You’re joking,” Dowling said.
    “I wish I was.”
    “You explained to him that we’re in total control of this building until the president leaves here today?”
    “I did. He said, ‘Only Mr. Snyder is in charge of this building at all times.’ ”
    Dowling rolled his eyes. He looked at his watch. “Well, we made it to ten o’clock before we encountered our first real idiot. Not bad, considering.”
    He walked to the man in the suit, with Stevie a step and a half behind, wanting to hear without crowding Dowling.
    “What do you want?” the man said to Dowling.
    Dowling pulled out his wallet and flashed his badge. “My name is Peter Dowling. I’m the agent in charge of this detail. My men need to get in this locker room and they need to get in
right now
.”
    The man started to say something, but Dowling cut him off. “The president of the United States is going to be here in less than two hours, so I don’t have time for discussion. If you don’t get this door open in thirty seconds, you will be charged with interfering with the United States Secret Service.”
    The dude’s tough look had faded. “Look, give me a minute to check with my boss,” he said, starting to raise his walkie-talkie to his mouth.
    “
I’m
your boss right now,” Dowling said. “Twenty seconds.”
    “Okay, okay,” the man said. He reached in his pocket for some keys and Stevie could see his hands were shaking. “I know I’ll get in trouble with Mr. Snyder for this.”
    “Better him than me,” Dowling said. “What do you think the chances are that Mr. Snyder would come bail you out of jail?”
    The man got the locker room door open. Dowling waved the cops with the dogs inside and told the other agent that everything else on this level was clear. When the man tried to follow them inside, Dowling stepped in front of him.
    “That’s off-limits to everyone except people we authorize to go