Page 24 of Her Ruthless Protector

“It feels better,” she admitted.

He nodded in satisfaction.

“I want to talk to the riggers and see what in the hell went wrong,” A.J. said.

“That’s a good idea,” Ed nodded. “In the meantime, I’m going to collect the statements my men are acquiring and see what I can ascertain. I’ll report to you and Don later.”

“A.J., I’d like to look over the mechanics, would that be all right?” Kane asked.

She looked him up and down. “Do you think you could find anything?”

“I might.”

“Go for it. It would be good to get an outside set of eyes on this, that way I can go brief Don.” She jumped nimbly off the stage, and he watched her ass as she headed back to where the trailers were located.

Kane scanned the stage and immediately saw men up top who were clearly looking things over. He climbed up the scaffolding to join them.

“Who are you?” one of the stagehands asked in a belligerent tone.

“I’m doing some security. A.J. and Don brought me on board. I know a little bit about a lot. I’ve worked on ships and planes and helicopters. The name’s Kane McNamara.”

“Military, huh?” The man had a Southern accent. “What branch?”

“Navy,” Kane answered.

“I’m Chet Hodgkins,” the man held out his hand as he straddled a beam. Kane shook it. “Check this out. The guys and I were looking at this cable. It wasn’t worn, it was fucking cut.”

“Bloody well right. I’m Alistair by the way. I’m from Dunkirk. I like you Yanks. But our Navy is a hell of a lot better than yours.”

Kane grinned.

“Have you checked the rest of the equipment?” he asked.

“We’re in the process right now. I’ve also called over to the hands at the other stages. Everyone is going to do a thorough check,” Chet said. “But what really chaps my hide is how in the hell anyone could have got up here without us noticing.”

“We’re not up here day and night,” a third stagehand had said from the opposite end of the rigging. “There are so many damn people running around here now, of course we wouldn’t have noticed.”

“Yeah, but these little prima donnas wouldn’t know how to actually get their hands dirty,” Chet said.

“Don’t be so sure,” Alistair disagreed. “It’s not just performers running around, there are a lot of managers and assistants and boyfriends. We don’t know fuck-all about their backgrounds. Some of them could have been working on lighting in their country for all we know.”

“Shit, you’re right. But it still doesn’t explain why someone would want to do this. This cut on the light isn’t precise. They wouldn’t know when it would come down. There have been acts rehearsing all day.”

“We just need to let the Major know. He’s got to be shitting bricks,” Alistair said.

He wasn’t the only one, Kane thought.

“So, Kane, why are you here? It seems kind of odd that we have a Navy man in our midst. Is there something we need to be aware of?” Chet asked.

“Yeah, color me curious,” Alistair agreed.

Kane snorted. “What color is curious?” he asked.

“For your sake, it isn’t pink. Now answer the damn question. You’re special ops, right? What the hell is going on? We’re not going to rile up the wankers, you’re dealing with the people who can help.”

“He was looking pretty chummy with A.J. from my vantage point,” Chet said with a smirk. “Seems to me he’s got his head on right because that woman has her finger on the pulse of everything that goes on in this place.”

Alistair and the third man nodded. “It’s true. She’s one of the most intelligent women I’ve ever met,” the third man said.