“Not even Rick?” Nancy asked.

“Especially not Rick,” Mattie said huffily. “He thinks nothing will ever hurt him. As far as he’s concerned, the whole thing is the work of a single loony fan out for kicks. I’m the only one who’s really worried, and that’s why I need your help.”

“She’ll help you, won’t you, Nancy?” Bess said, not really asking the question. “We’ll stay here as long as it takes!”

Nancy smiled wryly. Bess would have promised anything if it meant she could spend more time with her idols.

“But, Bess,” she said, protesting. “We have a lot of sightseeing planned, and—”

Just then, the door flew open and Rick Arlen burst in. Bess gasped. He really was even more gorgeous in person. A lock of blond hair had fallen over his forehead, and he impatiently brushed it away. He was holding up a black-and-white glossy photograph of himself. The photo had been scratched almost beyond recognition.

“Mattie,” he said, thrusting the picture into her hands, “it’s happened again! Look at this!”

Mattie looked at the photo, and at the message scrawled beneath it. “ ‘If you won’t be mine, you won’t be anybody’s,’ ” she read. She looked up at Nancy. “You see what I mean?”

“At least it’s an old picture,” Rick said, trying to make a joke. “It’s not even very good, actually.”

Bess was standing, absolutely frozen, staring moronically at Rick. Noticing her obvious interest, Mattie hastily introduced the girls to Rick, but it was clear that his mind was on other things. He hardly noticed them.

“Whoever did this has some nerve,” he was saying. “Imagine, tearing up my face like that.”

“Please, Rick,” Mattie begged, “if you won’t call the police, will you at least tell security about this?”

“Come on, now,” he said, waving away her concern. “What are they going to do about it? Shake their heads and wring their hands, that’s what. Anyhow, it’s probably just old man Pappas trying to scare me.”