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When I arrived at the ballroom and headed backstage, I noticed Captain Davis and Lieutenant Anderson talking onstage. Surprised to see Davis at the hotel, I walked by without acknowledging them, not to break character should someone be watching. I felt his eyes on me once I’d passed him. Seeing no one around, I turned and gave him a wink. I heard him let out a light chuckle. Knowing he’d never seen me in a getup like that, with makeup on no less, I could only imagine what he was thinking.

I greeted two other makeup artists as I went to my station to set up. It was too early to be doing any touch-ups on the contestants, so it freed me up to walk around and assess things when I was done. A familiar voice approached, and knowing who it was, sent a chill through me. I needed to stay in character, so I put on a cheerful smile, fighting the urge to throw him to the ground and cuff him.

“Good morning, GG,” Sami said as he walked up in his stilettos.

“Well, good morning to you, too. More coaching sessions lined up today?” I asked.

“I have a couple. I’m actually working with Miss Orange County in a few minutes. She needs a bit of help with her poses. It’s pretty simple,” he replied, looking at his nails in disgust. “Do you have a nail file by chance in that bag of yours?”

“Let me check,” I said, rummaging to the bottom. “Voilà! Here you go.” I handed him the unused, wrapped emery board, which he plucked daintily from my hand.

We continued to chat as he filed down a ragged nail. While he was paying attention to his nails, I’d opened a hidden evidence baggie inside my backpack. He dramatically handed the file back to me with a thank-you, and I placed it in the baggie as DNA evidence, if needed. Just then, a beautiful redhead with green eyes walked up, immediately triggering what he’d said yesterday about a woman matching her description.

“Hello and good morning,” Sami said, giving her an air-kiss on each cheek. “Are you ready to get to work?”

“So ready,” she replied. She turned her attention to me and then back to Sami.

“Oh. This is my friend, GG. He’s one of the makeup artists here,” he said, introducing me with a wave of his hand.

“I’m Veronica. It’s nice to meet you,” she replied with a dimpled smile.

“GG Deveraux. Oh, you must be Miss Orange County?” I asked, wanting to make sure it was her.

“That’s me.”

Sami took hold of her elbow and said, “I hate to cut this short, but we have work to do, dear.” He waved his fingers at me goodbye. “We’ll chat later, GG.”

“It was nice to meet you,” Veronica said as he ushered her away.

Out of earshot, I addressed Sean. “Did you see her clearly? Miss Orange County?” I asked.

“Sure did. Another beauty,” he replied.

“I want her escorted at all times. She’s probably the redhead with green eyes Sami mentioned to Callahan. We need an officer with her. They’re heading to the ballroom stage right now.”

“No sweat. I’ll contact Anderson to assign someone right now.”

“At least we may stop another abduction,” I said, feeling we could get ahead of whatever they had planned.

Noticing that Davis and Anderson had walked backstage, Davis said something to Anderson when they both saw me. As Anderson continued walking, Davis held back, giving me a slight head tilt to follow him in the opposite direction. When I caught up to him, he’d ducked back behind some props backstage.

“Nice getup,” Davis said with a smirk once we were tucked away.

I snickered. “It’s the job, Cap’n… may I ask why you’re here at the hotel, sir?”

“Since we’re closer to shutting this trafficking ring down, and hopefully closing the case on the murdered contestant, I wanted to be here. And I thought it would be helpful to have someone else here to identify Callahan.”

“I don’t understand. Who else could identify him? It’s pretty cut and dry thanks to Craig,” I replied.

“Come with me,” he said. He guided me to the door behind the backstage curtain, opened it, and there stood Lieutenant Anderson, with my boyfriend at his side. They had been hidden from prying eyes in a back corridor.

Dumbfounded, I looked at Davis, then back at Craig. “Why is he here?” Irritation grated in my voice.

Craig huffed. “Not happy to see me?” he quipped.

“I told you we’d handle things today. You should be home resting, as we talked about. And you agreed to.” I didn’t mean for my comeback to be so biting, but there it was.

Davis cut in. “Craig called me this morning and explained all that. But to give him credit, he thinks he’d be able to spot Callahan should he be in some sort of disguise. I think he could be a great asset today.”