The next week and a half passed relatively trouble-free. Don managed to escort Tate to the Russian Tea Room in a manner that was acceptable to Josh on Monday afternoon. Then on Tuesday, Tate had a round of telephone interviews to complete, which she did in the relative safety of her suite's bedroom while Don watched TV in the living room, before an afternoon press conference held in the hotel's business centre. After dinner in the restaurant that evening with Tate and Josh (generously paid for by Tate's agent), Don walked them both up to their adjoining rooms, made sure they were inside safely, then went home to his depressing-by-comparison apartment. He was just glad to be home without having encountered Tate's stalker – that fact that he had been a no-show so far was definitely making his job easier. The rest of the week progressed in much the same way – drive around for a few hours, eat, drive some more or stand around while Tate was interviewed (on Wednesday it was for NBC, on the following Monday it was for the Rachael Ray Show), maybe eat again depending on the time, go back to the hotel, then drive some more; his days usually ended with the eleven o'clock news, a beer and then bed.

By the time he arrived back at the hotel the following Wednesday, he was surprised to see a small group of photographers congregating in the lobby, obviously waiting for something. As he rode up to the 32nd floor, he realised who they were waiting for – none other than Tate Ellis. Today was the day her book was released, which was why he was there – to take her to the first, and most likely the biggest, signing at a nearby Barnes and Noble.

Don had a keycard to Tate's suite, but he didn't like to just go in unannounced, so when he stepped off the elevator and got to her door, he knocked and waited for her to come and open it. When she hadn't answered after thirty seconds, he knocked again, his mind quickly switching to cop-mode. This time she answered, looking flustered and still in her bathrobe, before her eyes widened when she saw that he was preparing to unholster the gun at his hip.

"Sorry, it's been kind of a manic morning. Come on in," she said, stepping aside for him and shutting the door. "I'll be ready in, like, five minutes."

As she hurried off into the bedroom, Don sat down on one of the couches. "Everything alright?" he called after her.

"Just freaking out a little bit!" she replied in a higher pitch than usual, and he could hear the tension in her voice.

"She's worried no one's going to like the book," Josh added as he bustled through the door to his room. "Which is crazy," he added a little louder so she could hear him. "You need me to zip you up?"

Tate grunted in the affirmative, and Josh waltzed in to help her. They both came out of the bedroom seconds later, Josh looking excited and Tate looking like she was about to throw up. "Tell me honestly, do I look like a serious author or someone who's trying to look like a serious author?" She gave a half-hearted twirl, demonstrating that her casual knit dress fit in all the right places.

"Would you relax? You look great, right, Mr Flack?"

"Great," Don agreed, hoping they couldn't tell in his voice that his throat had suddenly gone dry.

Don appreciated a good book as much as the next guy, but this was not something that he would ever understand – as he stood behind Tate's chair, pulled up to a table, beside which was a large cardboard cut-out of the front cover of her book, at least one hundred people were forming a line that snaked around almost the whole of the lobby of the store. As much as he liked Tate, he wasn't really sure why anyone would wait in line to get her name scrawled on the inside cover of a book they had just paid a premium for because it had only been released hours before.

That disdain firmly ingrained in his mind, he scanned the crowd for anyone who looked a little too excited to be there. The line was mostly made up of middle-aged women and college-aged kids looking to make a quick buck by putting a signed copy of the most hotly-anticipated book of the year on eBay – no one to be too worried about. He saw Josh hurrying in, laden down with a Styrofoam tray holding three Starbucks cups, and a large paper bag.

"Sorry I took so long," he said apologetically to Tate and Don, handing them their coffees. "I read in Time Out New York about this sushi place a couple of blocks away, but never have I seen such a long line that wasn't for shoes!" Seeing their identical looks at the mention of the word 'sushi', he reached into the paper bag and pulled out deli sandwiches for his less cultured companions. "Relax, you two." He motioned for Tate to stand, ushering her towards the staff's break room and stuffing napkins in her hand in one smooth movement, and turned to address the crowd. "Ms Ellis is going to take a short break; she will return to sign books for the rest of you in fifteen minutes."

When the last customer had their book signed and Tate's crazed fan still hadn't made an appearance, she and Josh got in the back of Don's car to go back to the hotel. Talk naturally turned to the fact that Tate had effectively been stood up by her own stalker.

"Maybe he's a long-distance kind of stalker, or the kind that has a fear of flying..." Josh proposed, sounding almost disappointed that he hadn't witnessed any drama.

"Or he saw the line and decided I wasn't worth the wait?"

"If he can face going backstage at The View, and risk running into those clucking hens they call hosts, he can fly across the country and wait for a few hours to actually meet you."

"I don't even know what I would have done if he had come – do I act like it's the most normal thing on earth to be obsessed with someone, or do I flat out tell him he's a psycho?" she asked, catching Don's eye in the rear-view mirror.

"You thank him for coming out to see you, then you call me over so I can kick his ass," he replied with a little more enthusiasm than he had intended.

"Where can I get me one of those?" he heard Josh mutter to Tate with a wink. "It's nice to see someone who's so… passionate… about their work, Mr Flack."

Don rolled his eyes, glad to see they were almost back at the hotel. "It's what I'm paid for."

Once they were parked up and on their way through the doors, Josh announced that he was going to stop by the bar for a drink. "To celebrate launch day, and making it through alive. You're more than welcome to join me, Mr Flack."

"I'd better escort Tate to her suite. Maybe next time." He hurried across the lobby to the elevators, closely followed by the weary writer. And he hoped he was wrong, but he was sure he heard Josh's shrill voice call 'behave' after them.

"He'll hold you to that, you know," she said with a smile. "He's got a thing for tough guys."

"Well I'm flattered, but he's not exactly my type."

"He has a little too much Y-chromosome for your liking?"

Don laughed. "Just a little."

They stepped into the elevator and rode up to her floor in a comfortable silence. When they reached her door, she unlocked it and allowed him to go in first to do a sweep of the rooms before she went in – he had done so each time he had dropped her off this week, but tonight as he stepped over the threshold, something immediately struck him as being off. The room seemed brighter; Don realised that the light had been left on in the living area. It hadn't been on that morning when they had left – the sun was out and beaming right in through the window, so they had no need for the light to be on.

"Wait here," he instructed her, reaching for his gun for the second time that day.

A/N Thanks to sassbox for being a loyal reviewer, and a total sweetheart!