Now, hours later, the four of them were back in the hotel, in the small bar across from the restaurant.

Nora kept her eyes and ears open, contributing very little to the conversation but wary.  She was relieved there were only a sparse few wrestlers in the bar - Bradshaw and Jacqueline sat a few booths away, chatting and downing beers, and Torrie Wilson sat at the bar alone.  Nora couldn't help but think the tall blonde was waiting for someone as she daintily sipped a margarita.

"Okay...who do we know who would have cause not to like you?"  Jay's voice was low as he regarded Adam.

"For the millionth time, Jay - I don't know..."

"Shh...it was a rhetorical question."  The shorter blond man sat quietly for a moment, templing his fingers against his head, which was slightly bowed, elbows on the table.  He looked back up and said, "How about Lance Storm?  He didn't seem all that happy to find out he's dropping the Intercontinental title to you at SummerSlam."

Adam smirked at his best friend but was not amused.  "That's stupid...besides, the guy hardly knows me."

"He's right, Jay," Amy put in.  "Whoever it is would have had to know Adam for awhile...and have a legitimate reason - even if in his own mind - to dislike him so much."

Jay looked thoughtful for a moment as he pondered a new possibility.  "Wait a minute...what's to say that this person is a 'he'?  It could be a woman, you know..."

The taller man arched an eyebrow as he regarded his friend.  Jay had a point, and this realization caused him to suddenly glance around the bar at Jackie, then at Torrie nearby.

"Let's not get melodramatic," Amy said, gesturing with her palms facing the table.  "I honestly don't think it's a woman...I don't feel that it's a woman.  And it sure as hell didn't feel like a woman was smashing her car into the side of Adam's rental this afternoon."

"Hey," Jay said, facing Adam, basically having ignored the redhead's reasoning.  "What about Stephanie?  She was really upset when you broke up with her.  Maybe this is her way of taking revenge on you..."

The other man glared at him with disbelief.  "You know what?  That's even stupider than your Lance Storm theory.  Remind me to never let you play detective ever again."

"Well, sorry, but I just thought-"

"It couldn't be Stephanie, Jay," Nora's voice suddenly spoke.  He turned to gaze into her serious face, his eyes locking with hers.  "Don't you remember that she was pacing back and forth in the lobby before?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Whoever did this had to have been on their way back here at that time," the petite blonde pointed out.  "She couldn't have done it."  Not to mention the fact that the brunette had seemed so frantically worried about someone else, but she didn't mention this.

"You're right, Nora...oh, shit!" Jay exclaimed.

"What?" Adam queried.  He was wondering why Stephanie had been pacing the lobby that afternoon.

"I just figured out who's after you," the blond Canadian continued.  Then, while the rest of them eyed him expectantly, Jay said, in a soft voice, "Kurt Angle..."

*

The man had to get hold of himself, or else he would be in even deeper trouble than he already was in.  He didn't like disappointing Mr. McMahon, and it was a rarity when the boss was displeased with him.

He'd done other jobs for the old man in the past, although none of those times had included attempted murder.  He'd scared other wrestlers before though, as Vince had requested of him to "put the fear of God into them."  These were guys, and, occasionally, a woman or two, whom McMahon had found annoying, disruptive or just generally objectionable, for one reason or another.

The last time the man had done such a task had been nearly two years earlier - and, to pay him back, for he hadn't wanted cash that particular time - Vince had okayed an on-screen storyline with Stephanie of which the man had been dreaming for months.

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel of his rental car.  This time, he was not driving the Nissan with which he'd run Copeland and the woman off the road - he had gone back to using the black Ford Taurus he'd been driving since the SUV fiasco.

The man gritted his teeth in fury, knowing that his last chance was coming up.  He had to make it count - because, much like in baseball, three strikes, and then he would be out.  He knew Mr. McMahon hadn't been bluffing when he'd said that.  He was grateful for being given a third chance, but this was it.  He couldn't afford to blow it.

*

"You're nuts!  Kurt?!  You think it's Kurt?!" Adam asked incredulously in sotto voce.  He stared at his best friend as if he were an alien with six heads and four noses and from the planet Jupiter.

"Yeah...it makes sense."

"No, it doesn't!  Look, Jay...Kurt is my friend.  He's your friend, too, so I don't know how you came up with this inane idea that it could be him..."

Jay shook his head with a shrug.  "So?  We have to be discriminating about this, right?  I know he's our friend, but...well, that's my point," he said.  "It could be someone we'd least expect - and he certainly falls under that category."

Adam rolled his eyes, turned to exchange glances with Amy and then faced the other blond man again.  "Okay, Jay...why could Kurt want me dead??"

The Canadian sat thoughtfully for a beat, scratching his goatee, eyes downcast.  Then, "I don't know."

"Well, that's certainly a good reason...thanks for all your help," the taller man muttered sarcastically.  He glanced at his watch.  "Look, it's getting kind of late..."  He reached down to gently squeeze Amy's hand on her lap.  She held onto him firmly in turn.  "...we should be heading back to our room."

"Okay," Jay replied, turning to glance at Nora, whose blue eyes widened ever so slightly.  "I'll walk you to your room."

"You don't have to do that," she said quickly as they all stood up.  She lingered back a bit as the other couple began making their way to the bar's exit.  "I don't...want to risk him possibly seeing you with me," she explained.  Although she hadn't seen her boyfriend pretty much all day, she didn't want to take any chances.

"All right...then we'll say goodnight when we get to the second floor," Jay said softly.

Nora nodded weakly.  "Thank you."

The Canadian reached for her hand, squeezing it gently.  After a moment, they both looked up to see Adam and Amy standing just outside the bar, waiting for them.  They released hands as they walked out to meet them.

*

Later, Jay lay restless in his bed.  He couldn't fall asleep because of all the unbelievable events from that afternoon.  He found it hard to believe that anyone could hate his best friend so much to the point of wanting him dead - much less actually going so far as to attempt to kill him.

Being as close to Adam as he was, going all the way back to fifth grade when they'd been nine years old, Jay loved the guy.  He thought if he ever found out who this sorry son of a bitch was, he might just personally teach him a lesson himself.

He looked up in the darkness as he heard a faint knocking on his hotel room door.  Wondering who in the world could be wanting to visit him at this hour, he rose and answered it.

He was taken aback as he looked out the door at Nora.  The little blonde was dressed in a robe that fell to mid-thigh, and her feet were adorned with a pair of canvas sneakers.

"Nora..." Jay breathed, too stunned to add anything more to the sentence.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Jay," she said softly.  "C-can I come in?"

"Of course."  He stepped aside and she entered the room.  Jay flipped on the overhead light, closed and locked the door and blinked at the woman in shock when he turned toward her.

"Would it be okay if I stay here tonight?"

"Huh?" the blond Canadian asked, even more surprised.

Nora swallowed hard, a frown dominating her features.  "I...I'm afraid to stay in my own room," she explained, her cornflower blue eyes meeting his.  "I just...have this really bad feeling."

Jay moved closer to her, placing one hand gently on her shoulder.  "It's okay...you can stay."  He turned slightly and gestured toward the bed nearest them.  "I got a room with two beds when I arrived here because Adam and I always room together - or at least we did before he got himself a prettier roommate."

The young woman managed a genuine smile, feeling more at ease than she had a moment earlier.  She was amazed yet again at how comfortable and good she felt around this man.  She slipped out of her sneakers, then undid her robe, slipping it off and placing it around the back of the desk chair.

Jay's mouth went completely dry at the sight of Nora in her little pink nightie, which was a tank top and boxer combination.  She looked lovely, he observed, as he tried not to be obvious about checking out her curvy little body.  The blonde seemed oblivious of the scrutiny as she lowered herself to the bed, stretching out on top of the blanket.

Oh, man, Jay thought.  Now, how am I supposed to get any sleep with her so near?  His blue eyes gazed longingly at Nora's bare legs until he forced himself to snap out of it.

"Right...so, are you okay?" he asked her.

"Sure...you can turn off the light now if you want."

"Right."  For some reason, he was suddenly feeling like the most incredible dork that ever lived.  He went back to the door, flipped the light switch and returned to his bed.

After several minutes, his eyes squeezed shut, Jay felt a movement as his bed suddenly shifted.  He would have thought he'd finally fallen asleep and was dreaming, but he knew better.

"Nora?"  The petite blonde had joined him in his bed.  She curled up beside him, and Jay could feel her warm breath upon his face.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Jay...I'll go back to the other bed."

"No, it's okay...stay."

She settled back down and snuggled against him, and after a moment, Jay slid one around around her waist, drawing her even closer.  He was glad she didn't pull away upon the contact.

"Thank you," Nora suddenly whispered.

"What for?"

"For listening to me...for being so nice to me," the diva replied.

"You don't have to thank me for that...I really like you, Nora...I like you a lot."

Although she knew he couldn't see it in the dark, Nora smiled.  "Really?"

"Yes..."

"That's nice to know," she said softly.  "Because I really like you, too...I like you a whole lot, Jay Reso."

Now it was Jay who was grinning.  "I really care about you," he said.  He absently began moving his hand up and down over her waist to her hip as he thought for a moment about what to say next.  "Do you think that...after all this stuff going on is all said and done...you and I can go out?"

"I'd really love that," Nora replied.  She bit her lip as an impulsive thought suddenly came to her.  Then, tentatively, in the darkness, she moved her face closer to his and found his lips.

A sense of relief came over Jay as he tenderly kissed her back.  He'd been hoping she wouldn't pull away or scream if he'd happened to make the first move, but this was better than he'd ever expected.

When the kiss ended, they lay quietly in one another's embrace, both falling into peaceful sleep soon after.