and took a tone she reserved for her suppliers when they brought her the wrong fruits or the wrong brand of flour. “Now, you do your job and find out if it was an accident. Meanwhile, I’ll stay here and compete like Roberto and all of the other contestants.”
Greg sighed. “It would be really good for ratings to add in the letters and everything. Of course, we could pay you for agreeing to deal with it. We could even get some of the writers to draft you some lines for your interviews.”
Ember narrowed her eyes at Greg. It was embarrassing to realize that she was actually contemplating his words. If the network was willing to pay her for the danger of adding her would-be killer on the show, who was she to stop them?
But that was not how she wanted to get her bakery. It was low and underhanded.
Not to mention just how stressed out she was about the whole thing. Was someone after her? Who? And why couldn’t she find it in herself to walk away and try to find another solution to getting her bakery? She couldn’t bake if her stalker ended up killing her.
She should walk away.
She heaved out a sigh, saddened by the realization.
“What if we use me as bait? To catch the attacker?”
“Okay,” Greg said at the same time that Kai growled out a resounding, “No.”
Kai stepped away, leaning down to the light. He picked the heavy object and inspected the wire. Ember saw his shoulders tense and his nostrils flare. The look he gave Greg could have curdled milk. “You asshole.” His voice was cold and full of anger. “This was not cut.” He showed Ember the wires.
They were not cut smoothly, as she had been expecting. Instead, the metal wires were twisted pulled taut while the protective rubber sleeves were all jagged. The wires had been frayed over time.
“Oh. So they weren’t cut,” she exclaimed, turning toward Greg. “But, you said they were cut.”
Greg paled and opened his mouth to deliver an explanation. He didn’t get the chance. Kai pushed past him to retrieve a workman’s ladder that was pressed up against the wall across the room with a wide array of other tools, all of which had been used to build the soundstage and adjust the lights and audio equipment.
Kai arranged the ladder right under the spot where the light had hung.
Ember was truly ashamed of herself when she caught herself staring at the man’s butt. Oh, what a butt it was. His legs were long and powerful. With his arms up over his head to fiddle with the fixture equipment, his shirt raised up an inch or so, giving her a clear view of his smooth, tanned abs. It made her breath catch and her mouth water.
She had never, not once in her life, seen a man this good looking in person. It wasn’t fair to the rest of the humans. It led her to distraction, making her forget that someone had sent her threatening letters and that a heavy light had fallen on her head, nearly braining her.
“Just as I suspected,” Kai said from above them. “The light didn’t fall because someone cut the wire. These weren’t installed properly. The bracket that is meant to hold it in place isn’t the right size. This one,” he pointed to the ceiling, “This one is only rated for fifteen pounds maximum. This light was bound to fall. It was just really bad timing.” He climbed down the ladder and went to stand in front of Greg.
His arms were crossed, making his biceps bulge and pull at the sleeves of his shirt. A nerve ticked in his neck as he aimed an angry and terrifying look at the production assistant.
“Care to tell me why you made up the story about this being sabotage?”
Greg struggled to answer, but another look from Kai and the man lowered his clipboard in defeat. “It was just convenient, a good way to hike up the ratings, right out of the gate.
“By scaring one of your contestants?” Kai demanded to know.
“Well, she was not going to be in any real danger.”
“Right. So I’m guessing that the convenience was even sweeter because of this.” Kai plucked the threatening letter Ember had received from her hand and all but shoved it into Greg’s face.
“You have to understand,” Greg started. “We’re competing against a lot of reality television shows nowadays. Everyone and their brothers are releasing reality TV. Each is more dramatic