Ethan looked out the window, surprised to see one of the security guards standing with his arms crossed, looking like an annoyed police officer busting two naughty teenagers. Ethan lowered the window, the fresh breeze carrying in through the car.

“Angela says we need to go. She said she tried calling you both but no one was answering.”

Ethan could hear Crow give a sigh next to him. Ethan’s mind immediately went to the stalker. He was slowly becoming more and more concerned with the stalker over the past few days. At first, Ethan thought that time would sort them out. Trolls get bored, the letters would stop. But now, venues were getting cancelled and Angela was moving them around ahead of schedule. Things felt off, and Ethan didn’t like that. Especially not now, when he was finally finding his happiness again. He didn’t need another threat to something he had an incredibly hard time of finding.

“Is everything ok?” Ethan asked.

The security guard nodded. “Sounds like it. She didn’t give me too much detail. Just wanted us to get back to the bus ASAP.”

“Ok, thanks for letting us know,” Ethan said. The guard left back to the black-out sedan, who had parked on the row of cars behind theirs. Crow looked worried, but not as worried as Ethan felt.

“She’s probably overreacting,” Crow said with a tired exhale. “The other day, when she kicked you out of my hotel room, I thought she was going to tell me something deathly serious with the way she looked. Instead, she talks about some lighting mix-up at the last night’s performance.”

Ethan wasn’t so sure this was an overreaction. The security guards even seemed edgy, and that wasn’t like them. His anxiety was bubbling up but he was determined not to show it. He had to keep calm, just like he would at Sierra View when he was handling a difficult case. He knew that sensing any kind of fear usually multiplied that fear tenfold.

“I guess we’ll have to come back some other time,” Crow said as Ethan pulled out of the parking lot. “Thank you for taking me to the first museum. Honestly, that was more than perfect.”

Ethan gave a chuckle. It was him who reached for Crow’s hand this time. He couldn’t remember a time when he had initiated something like that with Crow. But after opening up about Adam and getting to talk to Crow about him, things felt different. Not only was there a weight lifted, but there was a space opened. “I’m glad I was able to finally say it all. I didn’t want to feel like I was hiding something from you.”

“Not at all,” Crow said. “I understood that whatever it was, it was hard. I respected that.”

“That’s another thing about you,” Ethan said. “Your maturity level is a lot higher than what I would imagine a twenty-six-year-old pop star would have.”

“And your maturity level is exactly what I expect a thirty…”

“Three.”

“A thirty-three-year-old doctor would have.” Crow laughed, spreading it on to Ethan. They continued talking the entire drive back to the tour bus, laughing random things and joking about others.

Aside from talking, they never stopped holding hands either.

* * *

“Remind me why anyone here even has a cellphone?” Angela was clearly upset, and rightfully so. Apparently, there was a third threat and this one was more serious than the others. Ethan understood why her normally pale face was an off-shade of cherry red as she paced the tour bus, unable to sit down at the table with everyone else. There was room, especially now that Crow was sitting with his back against Ethan on the booth, Ethan’s arm draped across Crow’s shoulder.

This was the first time the either of them showed any kind of physical connection in front of the group. Jordan’s glares didn’t go unnoticed, while Tony and Frankie both gave approving eyebrow raises toward the two. Ethan didn’t care what anyone else thought, he was happy to have Crow in his arms.

“Sorry,” Crow said, sounding sincere. Angela didn’t meet his eyes, instead she looked at a letter in her hands. It was the first time Ethan noticed she was trembling.

“This came in an hour ago.”

The bus rattled slightly as the driver kicked it into a higher gear while he entered the highway. The letter was handed to Crow, Angela’s eyes pinned to the crumpled piece of paper.

Crow began reading it out loud, while Ethan read over his shoulder. Immediately, he felt the creeps. The font was in bright red, the grammar was atrocious, and the capitalization was all over the place, starting things right off the bat with an unnerving fear.

“Dear Crow, you’RE PeRFORMancEs have ALL been GreAT so FAR. Seriously., LOVE them. As much as I LOVe yoU!. U complete Me. So, I WAS obvioulSlY Upset when I Heard TONIGhts been CANCELLED.”

Ethan had to look away. He couldn’t keep trying to read the letter, so he listened to Crow instead.

“I was so upset, I made it all the way to your tour bus and I was so close to just talking to you and opening up and letting it all hang out, when… well, I saw you leave with a man. You both looked so happy. So fucking happy. Heartbroken. I watched you both leave, crying the entire time. I’m leaving this letter to let you know how heartbroken I am, and how I need you to stop hurting me. Please. I can’t. You won’t want to keep hurting me.”

Ethan felt Crow shiver against him. He held onto him a little tighter, hoping the added pressure and body warmth would help soothe some of the anxiety he was sure to be feeling. This was no joke, and now Ethan felt like the crosshairs had grown double the size.

“No one saw anyone leave this?” Crow asked.

“The security guards were off with you two,” Angela said, her hand covering her face. “I called the cops, but again, they said there’s nothing they can do. One even said ‘mam, we aren’t CSI, we don’t have fancy light-up machines,’ fucking bitch.”

Crow exhaled. Frankie and Troy were both looking at the letter on the table as though someone had let go of a live python. Jordan drank his vodka tonic, shaking his head almost imperceptibly. The entire mood was nervous and fucked up. This wasn’t supposed to be how Crow’s first national tour went.

Ethan clapped his hands around Crow, surprising everyone. “OK, we know someone is a little batty out there, but right now, there’s nothing we can do about it. Absolutely nothing. I’ll pay for added security at the rest of the venu—“

“No you’re not,” Crow said, cutting him off.

“Yes, yes I am.”

“That’s crazy, I’m not letting —“

“Don’t worry, consider it going toward my bill. The one with the bottle of water I drank in your hotel room.”

That got a laugh out of Crow. A big one. And everyone knows, when Crow laughs, the rest of the room laughs along with him. The shell of fear and anxiety that had been encasing them seemed to have cracked in that moment. Exactly what Ethan wanted to see happen.

“Anyway,” Ethan continued. “I say we play some poker. Get our minds off things. It’s still only seven, we’re going to be on the road until tomorrow morning.”

“Let’s do it,” Frankie said, slapping his hands on the table. “But none of that stripping bullshit. I’m tired of showing off my beer gut. I know it turns you fuckers on.” He got up with a laugh and walked toward the cabinets, opening up the one with the stack of board games and card games. He pulled out the box of cards and walked back, throwing it down on the center of the table.