Page 26 of Her Ruthless Protector

A.J. stepped up. “I hope we find out something, because I’m mad as hell that those kids were injured. But I have to tell you, what really frightens me is the thought that something even worse could happen. That’s why I need all of you working together to make sure that this shit stops. Ed, Don, and I are just the management here, you’re the guys on the ground, therefore you’ll have the best ideas on how to prevent this from happening again. What do you suggest?”

Kane rubbed his jaw to hide his smile. Damned if she wasn’t doing the same kind of thing, he’d seen Max and Liam do for the last few years. She was a natural.

“We need to be paired up,” Chet said. “Not with our normal buddies.”

“One of us with a stagehand,” a security team member shouted out.

“Good. That’s good,” Ed said.

Kane would bet his bottom dollar that Ed had already planned to do that, but instead he just wanted to get the men to collaborate.

“We need to find out if someone has a beef with the show,” one man shouted out.

“All of the performers are talking, so I’m going to work with the other executive producers and we’re going to question them to see if they have any ideas,” A.J. explained.

“We need to set up a watch,” Chet said. “Make sure that the equipment isn’t messed with again.”

Kane looked around and saw every head nodding in agreement.

“I’ve already started calling in additional men so we could do that,” Ed said.

“What about the Omani police?” Mohammed asked.

“They already started investigating, but they said that their resources are limited.”

“Damned Yemenis,” somebody muttered.

Kane looked sharply up in the audience, but he couldn’t pinpoint where that came from. The policing was taken up a little more due to the influx of Yemenis, but it wasn’t because they were causing problems per se, it was because there was the same number of police but a larger population to contend with.

“Anything else, any other ideas?” A.J. prompted.

Kane looked over at Don Salise—as the guy who ran the whole shebang, he sure as hell didn’t do much talking. Then, as if he read Kane’s mind, Salise stepped forward.

“The last thing we need is bad press. People might be tempted to talk to reporters for a little extra cash, but here’s the deal. Bad publicity for this event will impact sales, and all of you are on a bonus structure, right?”

Kane saw all their heads nod.

“Well, there isn’t going to be much of a bonus if we don’t make money on this damn show because the acts pull out and nobody wants to attend. I’m depending on your discretion to keep your mouths shut and help figure out what’s going on. Got it?”

Heads nodded even more vigorously.

A.J. smiled. “Now that we’re all on the same page, go get your buddy assignments from Ed, and get moving.”

A man in the front row stood up with a clipboard and immediately glued himself beside Ed as a line of men began to form. Don whispered something into A.J.’s ear and she nodded, then he walked off. A.J. scanned the seats and her gaze zeroed in on him and she grinned. She gave a head tilt and started walking slowly in the direction that Don had gone, and Kane followed.

“How’d you think that went?” she asked when Kane had caught up to her.

“About as good as it could. Does your boss always leave it up to you to do most of the talking?”

“Don’s the money man. I can balance my checkbook, but try to secure financing and making sure everybody gets paid, no how, no sir.”

“So that’s his entire job?”

“Pretty much,” A.J. said. “It’s a big one.”

“From where I’m sitting, yours is the big one.”

“Oh, I grew up organizing everything, so this is second nature. I really enjoy it. I’m psyched to be doing it here in Oman.”