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all.”
    “Aw! No! Not you! You can’t leave...”
    “I’ll have to take time off, or he won’t go anywhere. He feels responsible for what happened, and he’ll never leave me alone here with Arnie.”
    “What about me? What’ll I tell the boss? Dammit, what about the act?”
    “You can stuff the act. There’ll be no act ever again if anything or anyone hurts Ash. You got that?!” She struck quickly. Her hands wringing his tie choked him, emphasising her seriousness. She saw exactly when the look in her eyes convinced him she meant what she said.
    “Aw, honey bunch, calm down. We’ll warn him, and he’ll lay low for a while. Things’ll die down, I promise.” He patted her shoulders and tried to extract his twenty-five-dollar silk tie from her clutching fingers.
    A man’s dumb answer or a dumb man’s answer, it made no difference. It was the wrong answer! She tightened her hold. “You idiot! Listen closely. I swear! I’ll never work for you again if anything happens to Ash Parks.” The words, spoken slowly and succinctly, got through.
    The redness in his features hinted at his discomfort, but the sorrowful look scrawled across his face confirmed his acceptance. She meant business.
    “Okay! Okay!” Pathetic defiance, since she knew she had him convinced. They both understood his recent success was due to Crystal for producing her hit show. He recognized talent; he had a nose for it. Joey might come across to some as a weak, unimaginative character, but his street smarts and savvy ways flourished in the high-end job as manager of operations in the hotel. She didn’t like the lowlife mobsters he worked for, but Joey treated her with respect, and that went a long way with her.
    She let him go, turned away, and wrapped her hands around opposite arms. Uneasily, he patted her back.
    “Remember, I gave you a job when no one else would. Don’tcha forget that. There you were, with one suitcase, a curly blonde ponytail halfway down your back, legs that wouldn’t stop, and a rotten attitude. I helped you then, didn’t I? I found you.”
    “Oh, stow it, Joey. I came for a job as a waitress, and you needed a girl for the show. My mistake in dressing in the wrong costume and ending up on stage just happened. Having the microphone jabbed into my face just happened. Me remembering the words to the number just happened. But the audience’s positive reaction was luck, pure and simple.”
    “Ya won’t give me any credit for knowing a good thing when I see it? You’re a mean one, right down to your silver-toed slippers, baby. Ya know that?”
    “Yeah! Yeah! I’m a meanie, but I’m serious as a tornado, Joey. If you want the Ice Princess to ever again grace your stage, you’d better do everything to keep that man safe.”
    “Okay, already! Go away with him. Just keep me in the picture. Is that too much to ask?”
    “You got it.” She patted his cheek and pushed him out the door, closing it against his backside. Quickly she opened it again and ordered. “Get security to stop Ash before he leaves, and send him back here. I want him where I can see him until we get out of town.”
    “Right!” He grabbed at the mobile phone attached to his belt under his suave jacket and dialled the number. Mumbled words answered, and he replied. “Stop Ash Parks from leaving the building. Tell him to return to Crystal’s dressing room. And let me know where Arnie is. I want someone watching him at all times.”
    Crystal’s panicky mind was in turmoil from mixed emotions. But one thing was definitely clear. She needed to keep Ash near her at all costs. It was the only way she’d be assured of his safety. If anything happened to him because of her screwy protective instincts, she’d never forgive herself. Ever!
    When he arrived, the pleasure flashing in his shiny-blue sparklers had her hesitating for a minute, but she accepted that the situation had moved out of her hands. Now she had no choice, even if it meant leading him