"Are you all right?" he wheezed.

"Yeah," she gasped. "You?"

"Never better." He groaned.

He pressed his forehead to hers and Lindsey closed her eyes, thanking her lucky stars that Sully was as quick-thinking as he was.

The cast and crew surrounded them. Beth was the first to ask, "Are you all right? Lindsey? Sully?"

Sully pulled away from Lindsey and gave her a small smile. She got the feeling he would have preferred to stay in their cocoon for a while longer and she realized she would, too.

"We're okay," he said.

He sat up and helped Lindsey to sit up, too. Together they got to their feet and made sure that all of their parts were in fact still working.

The cast and crew broke into applause and Violet came up to them, looking pale with her hand clutched over her chest.

"You scared the life out of me, Lindsey Norris," she said. "What the heck happened up there?"

The crowd went silent and Lindsey felt all eyes on her. She realized that whoever had pushed her was probably in this crowd now, so there really was no use in lying.

"Someone pushed me," she said.

25.

The crowd emitted a collective gasp. Sully immediately put his arm around Lindsey's shoulders and pulled her close as if he could protect her from further harm.

Lindsey appreciated the gesture but knew that whoever had pushed her wasn't going to be put off by Sully's presence.

"But who would do such a thing?" Nancy asked.

"Why Lindsey?" Mary echoed.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Violet asked. "Someone wants to stop this show."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd like the wind warning of a bad storm on the way.

"First, they murdered Robbie," she said. Violet's voice shook with outrage. "But we refused to let our fallen thespian down and we persevered."

She paced around the mattress where Sully and Lindsey stood, still holding one another close, as the adrenaline rush of the near-death experience hadn't diminished quite yet.

"But this evil person will not rest until they have destroyed our show. Now they are attacking our crew. You must each ask yourself if you are willing to put yourself at risk for our show. I cannot tell you what to do, and I will respect your decision whatever you choose. For my part, I will not be bullied or terrorized into quitting even if I have to play all the parts myself."

There was a beat of silence.

"I'm in," Ian said with a raised fist. He was wearing his donkey head mask, so it took a little away from the moment, but it was heartfelt nonetheless.

"Oberon stands with you," Milton said. He looked at Ms. Cole and she gave him a regal nod. "As does my queen."

Sully gave Lindsey a bemused look and she shrugged.

One by one, the cast and crew vowed to give the show their all. Not one of them bowed out. Lindsey thought it spoke well of Violet and her considerable talent that they were all willing to risk bodily harm and possible death to put on the show.

"Excellent. Shall we all resume our places, then?" Violet asked. Everyone started to move away when Violet turned to Sully. "Except you two. I want you to take her to the police station and file a report with Emma."

Sully nodded as if he'd been thinking the same thing. Lindsey blew out a breath. She knew they were right, but oh, she couldn't help but feel as if somehow she was responsible.

"I'm so sorry, Violet," she said.

"Whatever for?" Violet asked.

"I'm the one who told Emma that Dylan could be Robbie's son," she said. "And now, I was pushed off of the balcony and I just feel like I'm messing up your show."

"You listen to me," Violet said. She cupped Lindsey's face with her hands. "Dylan is going to be fine. Whoever pushed you, it is probably the same person who poisoned Robbie, which makes it quite clear that it wasn't Dylan. So, see? You did him a favor by having him go with Emma and not be on the premises."

"Violet, who do you think is doing this?" Sully asked. His voice was gruff, and Lindsey knew that meant he was fighting to keep his temper in check.

"I wish I knew," Violet said. "But whoever it is, they have no reason that I can think of to go after Lindsey, unless she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Another death would shut the show down for sure, so I have to think that's the motive. Unfortunately, I know several people who would be oh so happy to see the show close before it even opens."

"Buchanan?" Sully asked.

Lindsey studied his face. His jaw was set. His blue eyes were snapping with anger. She was surprised he didn't start cracking his knuckles.

"Now, you listen to me, Michael Sullivan," Violet said as she wagged her finger at him. "Don't you even think about approaching that man in anger. You can't fight him. He is protected by layers of lawyers and weaselly minions, whom you will never get through. He is one of the most powerful men in the country and he's not afraid to use that power. If he decides to make your life a misery, he will. Believe me, I know."

Lindsey looked at her friend and noticed the worry lines that creased the corners of her eyes seemed deeper than they had a few weeks ago. She wondered how many of those wrinkles had been put there by Buchanan, and she suddenly had to fight the urge to crack her own knuckles.

"Do you think he murdered Robbie?" Lindsey asked. The thought that they were all just targets because some billionaire was mad made her a little queasy.

"I hate to think that the father of my baby is a killer," Violet said. "But I can't think of anyone else who would try to cause trouble just because he can."

"You know, if I just happened to run into him, say, on the pier, it could be a total coincidence that he falls into the water," Sully said.

"And he will sue you and you will lose your business," Violet said. "You'll be lucky if they leave you with an oar to a rowboat when his lawyers are through with you."

Sully glowered, and Violet patted his arm.

"Go," she said. "Emma needs to know what happened."

Not waiting for their answer, Violet turned back to the stage, where the cast and crew were doing a mad scramble to begin the dress rehearsal again.

"You ready?" Sully asked her.

"As I'll ever be."

They cut through the lobby and out the front doors. The ticket takers and ushers stared as they passed and Lindsey felt her face get warm. She felt like an idiot, like she was some sort of bad-juju magnet.

How could she not have known someone was up there with her? And who was it? Was it one of these people? They had all been in the lobby when she went into the balcony to look for the headpiece. The thought sent a shiver of fear down her back.

Sully pushed open the door for her and she stepped back out into the brisk evening air. They crossed the courtyard to the sidewalk and then turned left toward the police station.

"Didn't we just get here?" she asked. "It feels like we just arrived and now we're leaving."

"I disagree," Sully said. "In fact, I think I've aged five years since I saw you clinging to the edge of the balcony."

"There is that," she said. They passed under a streetlight. "I really thought I was going to go splat."

He leaned close so that his mouth was near her ear and he said, "I would never let that happen."

Lindsey glanced at him and gave him a small smile. "You saved my life-again."

They were both silent. The last time Sully had saved her life, he had also saved her ex-fiance. It had caused the end of their brief relationship because Sully believed there was unfinished business between Lindsey and her ex. There wasn't, but he had refused to believe her when she told him that.

"It is becoming a habit," he said. His tone was light but there was so much unsaid between them that Lindsey felt as if each of his words was weighted with the heft of their unspoken expectations.

She pressed her arm against his as they walked. There was so much she wished she could say, but she didn't know how.

"'Thank you' seems awfully unsubstantial," she said.

They were in front of the police station now and she paused. She turned to face him. The desire to throw herself at him and plant a kiss of gratitude on him that would make his knees buckle was almost more temptation than she could resist.

"Well, what did you have in mind?" he asked. As if he was reading her thoughts, Sully raised his eyebrows at her.

Lindsey was pretty sure he was offering up a dare. The only question now was whether she was brave enough to take it. She took a half step toward him and he hit her with his patent-worthy grin. Oh, how she had missed this man!

She took another half step toward him and was just about to grab him by the front of his jacket and pull him close when the front door to the police station banged open and out stormed Dylan Peet. He looked furious.

Lindsey took a hasty step back. She had no doubt that Dylan had a few harsh words for her, and she knew she had to accept responsibility for talking to Emma about him.

She felt Sully step up behind her as if to give her backup and she appreciated the gesture but knew that this was her problem.

To her surprise, Dylan didn't even slow down and appeared to be planning to blast right past her.

"Hey, Dylan." Lindsey reached out and grabbed his arm. "Are you all right?"

Dylan glanced up as if seeing them for the first time. He looked as if he was visibly trying to get himself under control.

"Hi, Ms. Norris, Captain Sully," he said. "Sorry, I didn't see you."

"So I gathered. Are you all right?" she asked him again.

Before he could answer, the door to the station opened and his mother came out. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked just as angry as Dylan.

"Dylan Thomas Peet, you will not walk out on me when I am talking to you. Am I clear?" Joanie asked-although it was pretty obvious that there was only one acceptable answer to her question.

Joanie's eyes widened as she noticed Lindsey and Sully standing there, and then her gaze went to where Lindsey's hand was still on Dylan's arm. Lindsey removed her hand, knowing that it looked awkward as she did so.

"Why should I stay and listen to you when you don't care what I want, Mom?" Dylan asked.

Joanie walked toward them. She put a fake smile on as if she wasn't having a scorching fight with her son.

"That's enough," she said in a clipped tone. "We'll finish this discussion in the car."

"What's to discuss?" Dylan snapped. "You told me I have to quit the play. What more do you want to take from me?"

"Dylan, I said we'd discuss it in the car," Joanie said. Her cheeks were bright red and her mouth was clamped in a thin, tight line.

"There's nothing to discuss!" Dylan exploded. His arms went flying up into the air in a gesture of perturbed exasperation that Lindsey had never before seen from the usually low-key teen. "And do you want to know why?"

Joanie looked as if her eyes were about to pop out of her head. Lindsey was sure Dylan had never spoken to his mother like that-ever.

"Because I'm not going to quit!" Dylan yelled. "I'm doing this for Robbie Vine, and nothing you can say or do is going to stop me!"

26.

Dylan spun on his heel and took off running. Joanie looked as if she'd just been slapped. Clearly embarrassed, she cleared her throat.

"You probably think I'm too harsh, but I had to draw the line. It is just too dangerous at the theater. Look what happened to you. As his mother, it's my job to protect him even if he doesn't like it," Joanie said.

"It's okay, Joanie," Lindsey said. "Of course you just want him to be safe."

"He's my baby," Joanie said. Her voice sounded strained. She sniffed and then seemed to pull herself together. She gave them a brisk nod and strode toward the parking lot.

"Wow," Lindsey said. "That was tense."

"Dylan is seventeen, almost eighteen," Sully said. "She's going to need to loosen her grip or lose him forever."

"Do you think Emma told him?" Lindsey asked. "Do you think he knows that Robbie might be his father? For that matter, do you think Joanie knows?"

Sully shrugged. "There's only one way to find out."

Together they made their way into the police station.

Emma was pacing in the front lobby when they entered. She didn't look happy.

"Hi, Emma," Lindsey said. "Is everything all right?"