Dawn arrived quietly the next day, the pale light of the morning sky casting an illuminating glow to the waking earth. Inside the resort it was the beginning of another busy day. Crews and assistants ran around getting everything organized. Helen had called an early morning meeting, and almost ruthlessly loaded them with work, completely ignoring the fact that all of them looked like they were floating six feet above ground. They knew better than to complain, however.

It was a bad start for the disastrous day. They could see that the photographer was holding her temper in check just by a thread by the time they were finished. Can’t help it if I can’t move that fast enough, Nick thought sourly. The bossy woman was really getting up his nerves. He had had almost no sleep at all, due to the nightmare that kept him tossing and turning through his short hours of sleep.

Ashley was no help either. She was worse then Helen herself, fixing his position until his limbs ached, then snapping at him for getting it all wrong, starting again, until by the time they got one photo right, he was about to strangle her.

“Nick, what IS your problem?” she snapped finally. They were doing a sequence of positions over a bluescreen. She stepped away from the camera and placed her hands on her hips crossly.

“Sorry,” he mumbled dully.

“I told you for the fifth time that that wasn’t the right way!” she riled at him. “No, not there, just turn and- no, the face has to be blank! Now you lost the position again!” suddenly she made her way across the set and grabbed him roughly, thrusting his shoulders back. “That way!”

For a moment their eyes clashed, one filled with frustration and anger, the other with shock and bewilderment. Nick’s mind flickered with fear- was this her?

“Take you hands off him, Miss Wilburn.” Rachael’s voice seemed to crack dangerously in the sudden silence.

Ashley must have realized it as well, as she let go of him and turned around. “Oh, I see, so you can’t stand another girl touching him? Talk about an over-protective girlfriend,” she said in a loud voice, her pretty face twisted into a sneer. “What are you anyway? You’re always hanging around the sets and nosing in. Don’t you realize this is a professional set? You shouldn’t be in here without the special privilege.”

“This gives me all sorts of privilege I need,” Rachael said shortly, showing her badge. “Since you must know, Miss Wilburn, I’m not Mr. Carter’s over-protective girlfriend, I’m his bodyguard. So kindly step aside before I take you in for harming my client’s person.”

Ashley looked stunned, then mortified, and then warily stepped back before fleeing the scene, her colors high. People hastily went back to work as Rachael’s eyes scanned the crowd. Then it finally landed on Nick. The look spoke volumes before she turned away without another word and left the set.

“What happened?” Helen demanded, striding in with the rest of the group. “Why is Ashley so upset?”

Without Rachael, he had to defend for himself. “It’s nothing, really…”

“Nothing?” Kevin demanded. “Nick, the girl’s crying hysterically. What did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Nick lashed back, finally losing his temper. “She was yelling at me for no reason at all, then suddenly grabbed me and-” he faltered, the unreasonable fear making him shiver.

Brian went over to him and patted his shoulder. “It’s okay, man. I guess we all lost it,” He said soothingly.

“This is not helping at all,” Helen said exasperatedly. “The way that we’re going, I don’t think we’ll get anything done. Let’s wrap up for the day. We’ll start the sequence again tomorrow morning.” Angrily she strode off.

“Amazing Nicky,” AJ drawled. “You managed to make one woman cry and piss off the other in the matter of two minutes. Where did we get such a genius, man?”

“Hey, knock it off,” Howie told him. “You weren’t so nice and talkative to Helen yourself.”

“That’s different.”

“Oh yeah? How? The way you were going I suspect you would’ve got more then just a grabbing.”

“Okay, okay, guys,” Kevin cut in. “Stop it and let’s get out of here. I don’t’ think we should hang around here.”

“Good idea.”

Julian was in the large dining room when they came to have something to eat. He frowned. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you on set?” he asked.

“We got the day off,” AJ replied. “Something happened.”

Julian frowned, but didn’t press the issue. “By the way, Nick, I’ve got something for you.” He said.

Nick looked up dully. “What is it?”

“It’s in my office, so after you’ve eaten, just drop in for a sec.” The manager rose to leave.

“Not another letter, is it?” AJ asked in a bored tone.

“Shut up, AJ!” Brian hissed.

Julian looked at Nick. “No, it’s not a letter.” He stopped. “Remember to drop in, Nick.”

Nick nodded tiredly. “Yeah, whatever,” he muttered. He was sick of it all.

Rachael wanted to break something. She normally kept her temper in check, but the last 24 hours have been absolutely the limit. And now this to top it off, she thought furiously, her eyes narrowed in anger staring at the blank space on the wall. Damnit all!

The forensic department in CIAB had given her the call that she had been waiting for weeks.

“Sorry it took so long, Harrison,” Hank Martin, the director of the department and her close friend, apologized over the phone. “But we had no idea where the hell you disappeared off to with that pop star. It took a while to find you-”

“Never mind that, Hank,” she cut him off shortly. “What is it? Or rather, whose is it?”

“You’ve been duped, Harrison. The blood on the note isn’t human. Whoever it was, she or he was damned clever. The blood sample test turned out to be a farce. It’s from a cow down in one of the Southern regions. Probably Texas, but it could be from anywhere.”

Rachael listened, chagrined, as the weeks of chasing up the details flew out the window. “Are you sure?” she demanded.

“Would you like to know the breed?” Hank asked dryly.

“You must be mistaken, Hank. I know human blood when I see it. “

“Sorry. You must have overlooked this one. The test confirms it.” Hank paused. “I gather you’ve hit a dead end?”

Rachael swore silently. “Yeah.”

“Never lose faith in yourself, Rock,” Her friend joked.

“Very funny.”

“Meanwhile, I’ll do some more testing- see if I come up with anything more. I’ll keep you posted, okay?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

That had been three hours ago. Now Rachael had to think. So far, nothing has happened. Since the letter, everything has just quieted. She had several alternatives. She could be more active and do some work- she was getting nowhere on this island- or she could call Frank and tell him that there was no threat on Nick Carter. Or, she could stay with her client and keep watching and waiting. She looked at the half-finished report on her laptop and sighed. By the look of things, there was only one thing she could do. Defeat was hard to admit, but Hank was right- she had hit a dead end. Her trail was cold. There was nothing more to do.
She had a disturbing feeling that there was.

It was nearly three in the afternoon when Nick went to see Julian at the office. There were signs of a storm brewing, but sweltering heat remained like a thick fog. Nick hoped that the weather would break. He hoped he was home.

“What is it?” He asked as he entered the office.

Julian looked up and saw him. “Oh. There you are.” He sat up and reached for a yellow envelope sitting on his desk. Nick averted his eyes, remembering the time he got one like that.

This mail was, though, bigger than the one he got before. And thick. For a moment he wondered if it was all of the blood-written mails he had received during his ‘absence’. He took it wordlessly and tried to rip open the mouth of the envelope, only to find that it had been already opened neatly.

Seeing his surprised look, Julian explained, “I know I’m not supposed to open private mail, but with the situation and all, I thought it would be better if I had a look first.”

Nick sighed. All for the best, he thought wearily. He took the thick bundle out and blinked. It was the information he had wanted about Rachael. He had made a phone call to his friend in New York- he had some connections, after all- and had totally forgotten about it until now.

“If you were so curious about your bodyguard’s history, all you had to do was ask me,” Julian’s voice sounded amused.

Nick’s head shot up. His manager was smiling wryly. “I must say though, it’s pretty detailed.” He added.

Nick shook his head and stood. “Thanks for keeping it.” he said, turning to go.

“How are you feeling, though?” Julian asked casually.

Nick turned back. “What do you mean?” he asked suspiciously.

“I heard about the episode this morning.” Julian replied placidly. “I thought the holiday would do you some good, but I guess I was wrong.” He shrugged as if to say, ‘I’ve tried’.

Nick gave him a long look. “I’m fine, Jules.”

Julian smiled faintly. “If you say so.” I don’t believe you.

“I am.” Nick turned and left the room. He had no idea why, but the hand that held the document was slippery with sweat.