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“I care about you, too.”

Chapter Forty-Four

“I am not cancelling,” Alex said vehemently. The small dressing room felt very tense with all of the people currently standing in it, all looking very serious and concerned. Francine looked ready to kill. Morgan looked worried.

“It might be the sensible thing to do,” Detective Siba said solemnly. He had actually been in the audience when he’d got the call about the mysterious threat.

“Is it? Or are we all just getting overexcited about a very bad joke?”

“But still,” Siba tried again. “It’s a decision that needs serious—"

“I’m not sure you have a choice,” Francine said firmly. “We have to take this seriously.”

“I’m not ignoring it, but I refuse to—”

“Sasha, it’s a credible threat,” said the officer in uniform who stood closest to her, a tall, thin man with a face that belied his years. He held the note up to make the point. “Everything goes boom!”

Morgan shuddered at the words on the note that had been found by one of the crew doing last-minute checks. It had been stuck to the side of a speaker.

Alex sighed. “There are 450 people out there who have paid ridiculous sums of money to hear me play. An entire crewwho has worked tirelessly to make sure that happens, and who need to be paid.”

“Do you think this has anything to do with that woman this morning?” Morgan mused.

All eyes turned towards her. “What woman?” Alex questioned.

“There was a woman. I didn’t think to mention it because she seemed so ordinary, and she left the moment I challenged her. She said she was a tourist and just looking at the chapel, but I knew the building was closed to that. I had Jessie make sure she left, and she did.”

“What did she look like?” Siba asked, the other officer standing to attention, pen at the ready.

“Attractive, short blonde hair, maybe 5’5” in height, slim, well dressed.” Morgan rattled off a basic description of the woman. “I told Jessie and I assume he dealt with her.”

The thin policeman asked Alex, “Does she sound familiar?”

Alex laughed. “Yes, I’ve probably met a hundred women who could fit that description.”

“I’ll need to speak to Jessie,” Siba said, scribbling details down.

“This is crazy, a threat to kill you isn’t to be laughed at,” Francine said angrily. “We need to can—”

“I’m going on that stage,” Alex said just as firmly, stepping towards Francine. “You can put extra security around, but I’m going to perform. And anyway, it wasn’t a threat to kill me—”

“Will you speak to her?” Francine said to Morgan before pushing past her and leaving the room.

Morgan turned to Alex. “Is there anything anyone can say that will change your mind?”

Alex shook her head, determination written all over her face. “No, I won’t be bullied by anyone.”

“Right, then I suggest we prepare for a show,” Morgan announced. “What do we need to do? It’s too late in the day to hire extra security.”

Mike stepped forward. “I can round up some of the crew. We can do walk arounds, guard doors, etcetera.”

“Well, I can’t say that I’m disappointed.” Siba smiled. “I have a ticket, and my wife is a huge fan. But we’ll make sure to have officers on the door, and we’ll do another sweep of the grounds. Moving forward, I would suggest maybe hiring some more security.”

“Yes, thank you, we’ll look into that,” Alex answered. “You can all go. I’d like a moment to calm myself.”

One by one, everyone filed out, all except for Morgan. She closed the door behind them all and locked it. Turning back around slowly, she watched as Alex pulled a chair over and sat down.

“So, now everyone else has gone—” Morgan spoke quietly.