by Elaria Ride
“No,” I interject. “No, it’s fine. She might be onto something.” I clear my throat, steeling myself for the words I’m about to say. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with, but Mariah is nowhere to be seen.”
“And she hasn’t just—?”
“No,” I interrupt firmly. “She’d never leave her family, Rod.”
There’s a murmur of assent on the other end of the line as he infers my unspoken conclusion: Mariah would never leave willingly, at least.
I draw a deep breath. “Standard protocol for an ab-abduction,” I continue, stumbling on the word, “is to tap the phones, assemble the family, and reconvene in a safe place. This stalker’s got a personal obsession, so chances are he’s taken her somewhere that’s significant or memorable. Matthews Mountain. Mark and Sabrina’s house. Anywhere in between. Bring the updated blueprints of the studio, and I’ll be there after I do a quick sweep.”
I stride over to inspect her dresser and vanity, but they both look fine. Totally undisturbed from her normal routine.
But when I turn to her bed, my blood runs cold in my veins... even before Rod responds with a confused, “What updated blueprints?”
Because sitting right on Mariah’s duvet is a manila envelope.
28
Mariah
The room swims in front of my eyes as I blearily blink them open through the pounding in my head.
Wherever I am, the walls are black — pitch black. I shift my head, just a little, and immediately regret it; a harsh fluorescent light stings my eyes, the only light source in the room. My thoughts feel slow and sluggish… if I could think faster, I’m sure I’d be able to figure out what the hell is going on.
Just like always, I need to center myself. I draw a shaky breath in through my nose, taking in the smells of the room, and that’s when it hits me. Sawdust and linseed oil. My eyes fly open again. I’m in the studio… but why—?
“Wakey wakey!” squeals a high-pitched voice near my ear.
Fuck. My breath freezes in my throat. Everything comes swirling through my mind in a pained flashback… getting into the car with Russ. The hand gripping my skull just before I’d felt a needle, right in my neck…
I moan against the roiling and pitching of my stomach, but this only makes the voice behind me chuckle in sick delight. And try as I might, I can no longer deny the source: Tori.
“I said,” she trills, her face sliding into view, “wake. The. Fuck. Up, bitch.” Tori’s pretty face contorts in rage, and she raises her hand to hit me — but another voice sounds from the corner of the room.
“Now, now,” drawls Russ, clucking his tongue. “There’s no need for that language, Miss Wilson.”
No…
Tears of confusion and betrayal slip from the corners of my eyes. The wheels are finally turning in my drugged-up brain, the thoughts coming together to explain what I’ve spent months denying: Russ is behind all of this.
The rapid staccato of my heartbeat pounds in my ears.
Russ… the man I consider a second father. The man I’ve known my whole life. One of the few people I trusted with my darkest secrets, a true confidant, a friend…
The cold, hard truth hits me with the speed of a freight train: he’s been my “stalker” all along. Just like Luke said, everything has been too perfect. He’s staged this entire thing.
Tori, oblivious to my turmoil, just replies with an indignant snort. “Fine,” she allows frostily. “But one term of my employment was that I’d finally get to beat the shit out of Miss Piggy.” She punctuates her statement with a slam of her knee into my side. I cry out, shifting away from the pain — but the sharp, biting sting from my ribs throws the room into stark relief.
I must be in the studio's basement, a part of the building I’ve never heard of before. I squirm and glance down my body, blinking against what I see but don’t understand. Thick brown ropes are binding my feet to… a rusty cot? I swallow, allowing my eyes to trail up the rest of my body. I’m dressed in a white nightgown, the sort that belongs in a creepy cult or a nursing home. My arms are unbound, and a quick glimpse to my left confirms why: a female bedpan sits on top of a nightstand. Gross.
Russ crosses his arms over his chest.
“Victoria,” he admonishes, his voice dripping with fatherly disappointment. His tone makes my stomach churn so forcefully I gag. How many times has he spoken to me that way? How many times have I thought he was genuinely concerned?
“Back when I… sought your employment in the first place,” Russ says delicately, “I thought I was abundantly clear: we are on a mission to restore a sense of wholesomeness and family values to an industry that is sorely lacking. You’re not to sully things with that language!”
Tori scoffs. “Well, sir, I’m sorry that people in the cutthroat music industry aren’t exactly the law-abiding type. And when you hired me, you knew I hated this cunt!”
She knees me in the ribs again, but Russ storms over in three quick steps. The stupid, hopeful part of my brain expects my lifelong father figure to protect me. To keep me from getting hurt. It’s not until he forcefully shoves Tori’s wiry frame against the wall that I realize he couldn’t care less about what she does to me.
“I SAID!” Russ bellows, his voice louder than ever, his face inches from Tori’s. “WE WILL NOT USE THAT LANGUAGE!” He draws a few deep, rasping breaths, his eyes locked on hers. “Am I clear?”
Tori nods reluctantly, and Russ releases her with a sigh. “Good. Now, as we’d planned, she needs to be staged perfectly. We don’t have time for errors.”
“Whatever,” Tori huffs, staring at her bootie-covered feet. “This is just an awful lot of work, Russ. Why can’t we just kill her now?”
“Because,” Russ says firmly. I get the impression he’s explained this several times. “We’ll kill two birds with one stone, and I mean that literally. The whole point of this is to ensure that Carter pays for his betrayal of my trust. He killed my belief in the sanctity of his career the moment he started fornicating” — he spits out the word with a shudder — “with Mary. I gave him a test, and he failed. Hard. Despite my many warnings to keep things chaste, he gave in to both peer pressure and the sins of the flesh.” Russ shakes his head. “Now, we’ll have one less fornicating sinner in the world when you take center stage as the model of country purity!”
Shit. I shudder. Luke wasn’t lying. Someone had set him up. Tori beams at Russ like he’s the second coming. Which, I idly realize, he’s probably convinced her he is…
“Now,” Russ says gently, wrapping an arm around Tori’s shoulders. “We’ll get to punish him, even beyond the grave. Can you imagine the publicity? Can you imagine how pure and decent we’ll look when the public learns that America’s Hottie Guard murdered his charge and then killed himself?”
A glassy, faraway look steals over his features. I feel sicker than ever. That’s the same expression he used to make when I was a little girl… he’d sit me on his lap with a playful tap on my nose and promise that I’d see my name in lights one day, if I played by the rules.
It’s just taken me until now to realize that failing to play by his rules didn’t mean I’d be unemployed… it meant I’d die. And he’d ensure it.
Tori sighs. “He’d better get here soon. We have places to go. Tours to perform. Book deals to secure. The sooner Miss Piggy gets out of my life, the happier I’ll be!”
“He will be,” Russ assures her. “We’ve confirmed he’s at the apartment. It’s a matter of time until he finds the letter and arrives.”
“And you’re sure he’ll come alone?” Tori asks, narrowing her eyes. “Because you’ve messed up other parts, Russ. Like leaving enough glue residue for them to trace the purchase to that pharmacy.” She giggles, her hand over her mouth. “We just caught a lucky break that Brannon happens to live nearby!”
Russ spreads his palms. “I apologize for that tiny oversight, but I can assure you, Carter will arrive alone.” He clasps his hands at the waist. �
��The letter contained very explicit instructions. He knows that if he doesn’t comply precisely, I’ll tell the world exactly why he was terminated from his last mission. We may disagree about what honor means, but I know that Carter would never go that far. Never.”
“Can I at least pull the trigger?” Tori pleads. “It’s the least you can let me do! You know how much I hate her.” She glares over at me.
Russ chuckles again. “Perhaps.” He gestures around the room. “But we need to ensure they’re both securely inside. Ok?”
It’s not until now that I notice the plastic tarp all over the floor. The gloves they’re both wearing. The hairnets.
Fuck… they really are going to kill me.
They’re going to lure Luke here and make the whole thing look like a murder. But as bleak as things appear, there’s a voice in the back of my head telling me to keep going. To keep them talking. To keep them distracted. I shudder. I both love and hate that the voice sounds like Luke. Then again… how much of this was actually his fault?
“Why do you hate me, Tori?” I ask softly. “I… think I deserve an explanation.”
Tori’s face twists in a scowl. “I hate you,” she says, her eyes filled with malice, “because you’re the cheating whore who seduced Colt. You took cold-blooded advantage of him. You stole him away from me.” She gives me a pointed stare as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Who wouldn’t hate the woman who delayed my reunion with the love of my life?”
I cock my head, confused. What the… she’s in love with Colt?! But even as my head spins, I’m embarrassed to admit this makes sense. When she told me that my abilities pale compared to his, she hadn’t been getting in a dig; she’d been conveying the truth — at least as she sees it.
“I hired Tori as a backup singer because I knew she had a soft spot for Colt Waverly,” Russ clarifies, shooting Tori a wink.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says stiffly. “There’s no soft spot. Colt and I are in love. And he’ll realize it, someday soon — hopefully after this fat-ass bitch is in the ground, where she belongs!”
Tori purses her lips, about to spit at me — but in a flash, Russ steps in front of her.
“Language,” Russ notes, wagging a stern finger. “If you’re going to be a replacement clean superstar, it’s never too soon to work on your image.”
Despite the cold fear in my chest, I’m dying to know what she’s getting out of this.
Tori straightens her back. “Fine. I’ll play by your rules. Just remember to live up to your end of the bargain, here.”
Russ crosses his arms over his chest. “Have I let you down yet?”
“No,” she begrudgingly admits.
Russ gives her that same condescending smile. “That’s my girl. Russ will always be there for his girl — if she’s there for him, that is!”
He shoots me a disappointed look. “Tori,” he says, gesturing to her, “knows how to play by the rules. I bailed her out of jail when the tour started. She was in there for… what exactly?” He turns to Tori.
“Technically, aggravated stalking,” she says, rolling her eyes. “But Colt and I were in love! Even he knows that charge is bogus!” She throws her hands in the air as Russ gives her a comforting pat on the arm.
“We met after his open mic night while he was still with you,” Tori elaborates, narrowing her eyes. “I performed, too, and he listened to my whole set! He said I was talented. He said I was special. And obviously he wasn’t satisfied with your fat ass because he went home with me that night.”
The admission that Colt was cheating on me barely even registers. I’m so, so beyond caring about that now…
“Language,” Russ chides again. He must decide there are more pressing issues than profanity, though, because he continues with his explanation. “I still held out hope for your purity, Mary. But I wanted a backup. Just in case.” He gives me a sad smile. “Tori fell into my lap. A backup singer with a penchant for threats and a chip on her shoulder? God sent me that combination for a reason!” He beams at Tori. “Our goal was to force you into behaving by placing threats appropriately. When you broke rules, of course.”
“Yeah. Too bad you failed,” Tori sneers. “Luckily, as soon as you’re in the ground, Colt will beg at my feet. He knows he’s the only man I’ve been with. He’d never pass that up!”
Russ chuckles, patting her on the head. “Yes, dear. I know. You saved yourself for Mr. Waverly. Granted, you didn’t wait until marriage,” he adds, wagging his finger. “But you did much better than Miss Piggy over here!”
Tori giggles. “I know! Can you imagine the headlines now?” She bounces on the balls of her feet, delight evident in her face. “First virginal superstar pair…”
I almost laugh before I catch myself. Neither one of them is a virgin. She just admitted that Colt cheated on me! What the fuck kind of sick, twisted logic is this?
The two of them stare at each other for a second, their eyes locked and dreamy. Ugh. They continue to chatter to each other, lost in conversation… but something in the far corner of the room catches my attention.
There’s an almost imperceptible scratch coming from behind the door. My breath seizes in my throat. I know it’s Luke. I don’t know how I know… but I know. And more than that? I know he loves me. I know he wasn’t lying. That familiar voice rumbles in my subconscious. We’ll get you out of this if you keep them talking, it says. Please, Mariah. Keep them talking.
So with a shudder, I do the one thing I once hated so much: I follow Luke’s instructions. Fortunately, Russ and Tori are engaged in a discussion that gives me a natural segue.
“But I want to pull the trigger!” Tori pouts. “Please! I’ve waited so long!”
Russ chuckles. “Not so fast! Being too emotional is how I nearly got in trouble the first time, Victoria. Not that I did anything wrong then, either. Just trying to uphold some standards of morality and decency, for once!”
“First time?” I ask weakly. Their heads snap over to me as a catlike grin spreads across Russ’s face.
“Yes,” he admits, clasping his hands behind his back. He peers at me for a few moments, his lips twisted in a sad smile. And then: “I suppose you deserve to know the truth about your mother, Mariah. After all this time.”
“Spoiler alert!” trills Tori, grinning even more broadly. “She was a whore, too!”
I think Russ is about to comment on her language, but it seems “whore” is an acceptable word.
“She was, indeed,” he confirms wistfully. “She wouldn’t agree to marry me. To replace your father, once and for all. And for that?” He shakes his head. “I punished her insolence.”
There’s a sick, hollow feeling in my stomach. I don’t want to think too hard about what he’s confessing. It’s clear neither one of them has a firm grasp on reality. My only regret is that I was so focused on myself I didn’t realize just how far they’d sunken into insanity, right in front of my face.
Then — all of a sudden — what had once been a scratch at the door turns into a deafening, surging explosion. Debris sails across the room, followed by a bright, blinding light. There’s a burst of activity, a flurry of movement that happens too fast… much too fast… I hear Russ shouting. I hear Tori’s muffled scream. And then the sudden, unmistakable sound of a gunshot piercing through the air followed by even louder shouts… just as hot, heavy pressure slams through my chest, sucking the air from my lungs.
“Luke!” I plead into the dust and debris. “I love you!”
And that’s the last thing I remember before the world goes black.
29
Mariah
Wherever I am, it’s bright.
I blink open my eyes, blinded by what I see above me. Lights… so many lights. Ouch. I wince against the ache in my head. Most of all, I’m just tired. So, so tired.
My head feels heavy and my hips ache, even though I know I’m lying on something soft and cushioned. If this is heaven, why am I
in pain? I clear my throat, running a tongue over my cracked lips.
“I died?” I croak into the white void around me.
There’s silence followed by a bustle of activity on all sides. Someone’s warm hand clutches my wrist, but it’s not until Sabrina’s tear-stained face appears that I know who it is.
“You’re back!” she cries, her voice filled with equal parts of relief and joy. “You’re finally—”
“Wait, what?!” booms a voice from the far side of the room. “Why does she think she—”
“Mr. Carter!” snaps another voice.
Carter. My lips split into a delirious grin. He’s here. He’s here!
“This isn’t the first time I’ve warned you not to disturb my patient!” adds the voice. “If I have to remind you again, you will be escorted—”
“—Escort away!” shouts Carter. “I know the whole damn force. Not a single one of them would dare!”
His proclamation is followed by a reluctant sigh… and then footsteps, marching straight across the room. Sabrina shoots me a wink and leans over to prop some pillows beneath my back. Oh. I blink around the room. Flowers and cards cover nearly every surface. The harsh smell of antiseptic stings my nose. Definitely not dead. Definitely in a hospital.
And then there’s Carter… approaching my bed. Sinking to his knees beside me. My dad, standing sentinel at the door, rushes up to get him a chair. Carter ignores this, eyes serious, laser-focused on me.
“You’re absolutely fine,” he insists, clasping my hand. “You’re here to stay. I won’t let anything happen to you. Nothing at all.” Luke’s face softens into a weak smile that reveals the lines of exhaustion around his face.
Sabrina clears her throat. “Earl, let’s get some coffee. We need to tell everyone she’s awake, anyway.”
I don’t even look up as she and Dad scuffle from the room, ignoring the halfhearted protestations of the nurse as they do. She must scurry after them, because a second later, the door closes.