Page 48 of Her Ruthless Protector

11

She was still thinking about Kane’s words twenty-four hours later when Chet, Alistair and Mohammed descended on her as she walked into the arena. Any glimmer of happiness she had been feeling washed away with their words.

“Oh, for God’s sake, you mean to tell me that every single lock on the press room has been glued shut? There is no way in at all?”

They all looked grim as they nodded.

“Why couldn’t they have glued all of the doors and windows shut after the reporters were inside? It would have made our lives a whole hell of a lot easier,” A.J. groaned. “Where are they?”

“Oh, they’re happy as hell, roaming around all of the rehearsal stages and the performer’s trailers. Everybody who shouldn’t be giving interviews is talking to them, and the really big names are hiding,” Alistair said as he wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

No wonder her voicemail had filled up by the time she got back from lunch with Don and a couple of other executives in Muscat.

“We’re having to drill through the locks on four of the doors. It’s ridiculous. I’m going to kill the asshole who’s doing this. Have you heard how Letty’s doing?” Chet asked.

“I stopped by the hospital on my way to the hotel last night. Physically she’s doing better, but it’s sinking in what bad shape she’s in. The good news is that the doctors say she’ll be good enough for a flight in two weeks, which is sooner than they thought. Getting home to Spain will do her a world of good.”

“Another good, or bad, thing we have to report, is that the Oman police is going to get more involved on the sabotage,” Mohammed said.

“Why?” A.J. asked.

“The Oman local television station was upset that they were locked out. Two of our stagehands are Muscat natives so they started talking to the Oman reporters. When they heard about the three different incidents, especially the one where Letty was injured, they were appalled to hear about the lack of assistance the Oman Police Department was providing. I would expect to see more police in the next hour or so.”

“Can you call Ed and give him a heads-up?” A.J. asked as they continued walking. “I’m thinking he’ll be happy. Having the authorities will be a godsend.”

“I don’t know, Ed doesn’t like people in his business,” Alistair said.

“Well, he’s going to have to get over it. We need all the help we can get. Look, I have to go check on a couple of folks. Keep me in the loop. The first order of business is getting the Press Room open. I want those people herded up and fast.”

She pulled out her phone and pressed ‘one’.

“Shell?” she said before Shelly even had a chance to say hello. “I need you to—”

“Already on it,” Shelly said. “I’ve arranged a catering truck. They’ll be here in twenty minutes. Unfortunately, I can’t have booze, but there is going to be a ton of food, all nationalities. The reporters will descend like locusts. It will be parked well away from the stages and trailers.”

“You are my hero!”

“Call me Wonder Woman.”

“How’s Pinky?”

“She is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. I caught her trying to sneak back to Amber. Seriously, A.J., she has told me some horror stories, but she still wants to go back. Anyway, I had your driver take her to the hospital. She speaks Spanish so I told her she has to read to that girl, Letty.”

“Again, you are brilliant.”

“Yes, I am. So, tell me about this guy Kane. When am I going to meet him? Is he anything like Asher or is he more like Cullen? Either one will do, because these guys are prime.”

“Kane’s in a class of his own. Unfortunately, you can Google him and his name still comes up. You’re not supposed to be able to do that because SEALs are supposed to be under the radar. Apparently, they are targets for the enemy.”

“So why can I Google him?”

“Just Google Kane McNamara of KMI, you’ll see. Anyway, great job on the catering truck.”

A.J. hung up the phone then slapped her forehead.

“Really? You can’t even remember to say good-bye like a normal person?”

She headed on over to Sexton’s trailer, muttering to herself.