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“Do you think the threats are serious?”
“Nothing has happened so far,” Snow said, remembering the way Mr. Bradley had said the same thing earlier. “But that doesn’t mean it won’t.”
“You should back out,” Lily said. “Trust me, nothing is worth risking your life over. Go to the police. Make it as public as you can. Hiding away things like this will do you no favors, and you can’t mess around when you’re dealing with psychos with hidden agendas.”
“You would know.”
“Yes. I’m serious. I wish I’d taken action sooner than I did. I kept everything Damon was doing—the threats, the demands for money—to myself out of fear, but really, I should have been straight-up about it all. People could have helped me. I’m telling you, you need to walk away. Talk about the threats. Tell people what’s been going on. The more light that’s shed on this situation, the less likely the nutcase doing this will actually follow through.” Her tone was insistent and vehement.
Snow appreciated her friend’s opinion, but she still didn’t see how she could leave now. “Honestly, what can I do? Go home? Always wonder what might have happened? What if it turns out to be nothing?”
“What are the producers saying they’ll do about it?” Lily asked.
“The owner, Mr. Bradley, and Eloise, the producer, are discussing it. At first, Eloise suggested we cancel the show, but the owner is inclined to let it continue, if only to show whoever this is that he can’t be bullied. He’s already gone to the police with this. He’s going to have an officer on set—and there’s already security in the building, but he wants to make sure police are with me on all my dates and…”
“And?”
“And Mr. Bradley is going to come too.”
Lily paused on the other end for so long Snow thought the call had dropped. Then she said, “Why does it sound like something is going on between you two? Is he one of your contestants?”
What had made Lily think that? Mr. Bradley was—he was just— “He’s going to be my bodyguard.”
“Your—bodyguard?”
“He’s head of security like Ethan, that’s all.”
“But Ethan wouldn’t offer to be someone’s bodyguard. It sounds like this Mr. Bradley is into you.”
Heat smashed into Snow’s cheeks. Mr. Bradley was good-looking, but so were each of her bachelors. He wasn’t doing this because he was into her. “He is not!”
Except…was he? “It’s just because he’s made of iron,” Snow said.
Lily’s tone was incredulous. “Made of iron?”
“I mean, he’s thick. Muscular.”
“Hot, you mean.”
More heat in the face. “Stop. He looks intimidating, not like someone you want to mess with. That’s all.”
Lily’s mouth gaped open with bemused skepticism before she closed it as if to say,Sure, that’s all it is.Thankfully, she changed the subject.
“Is intimidation going to be enough? Maybe he can find out what this person wants. Maybe you could do an episode about it, about encouraging whoever is making the threats to create a list of their demands so you have a better idea of who you’re dealing with.”
That wasn’t a bad idea. “And it might be something the studio—or the police—can track.”
“Exactly.”
“Although, this person has been pretty discreet so far. We haven’t been able to track anything. No fingerprints, no saliva on the envelopes.” Eloise had verified as much in a text she’d sent after Snow had left the studio. Snow had asked for more details, and Eloise had answered her questions with succinct replies.
“What do you want to do?” Lily asked. “We can send Ethan out there, if you want.”
“No thanks,” Snow said. Lily’s brother Ethan had been protective of them when she and Lily and been growing up in Vermont. He’d done brotherly kind of things, joined the military, and then it was no surprise when Ethan had come home from active duty and taken up a job as a security guard. But one security-guard-turned-bodyguard was enough.
“It’s fine, really,” Snow said. “And I’m not quitting. I’m staying.”
Lily’s expression turned steely. “As long as you think you’ll be safe.”
