by Kylie Walker
Each of them was like a brother to him, all in unique ways. He couldn’t imagine having to go through all this turmoil without them by his side. They kept him sane and grounded in more ways than he could ever explain to them in words.
“Who do you think he is then?” Lucas quizzed suspiciously.
“I don’t know.” Roman tapped his foot on the floor with impatience. He ran a hand through his hair, struggling to keep his band brothers up to speed, and yet be able to fully process the complicated situation on his own.
“He might be a family member,” Trevor suggested.
Roman met his gaze, his elbows now propped on his knees. “Whoever she was talking to was definitely someone that she was closely connected to, and most likely romantically involved with.”
“How can you be so sure?” Asher was pacing around the room, an impulsive habit that drove Roman crazy. The constant movement was only making his agitation worse. Keeping his comments about it to himself, he opened a drink for himself and wet his lips.
“She kept calling whoever it was ‘baby.’”
“Maybe it’s a woman,” Colton grinned.
Roman rolled his eyes. “You’re an idiot,” he retorted. “As hot as that would be to picture, it wasn’t a woman.”
“Are you really picturing her with another woman right now after all the shit she admitted on the phone?” Asher scrunched his face in an appalling way.
Roman laughed, straightening back up to a sitting position. He rubbed his palms on his jeans. “No, I suppose not. That evil bitch makes me want to push my fist through a wall.”
“I can understand your anger,” Trevor responded sympathetically. “But until we know exactly what we’re going to do, you have to pretend everything is fucking unicorns and rainbows with her.”
“I know.” Roman sighed, standing up as he walked over to the windows. He glanced down at the Dutch city below them. “I’m tired as shit of being in this godforsaken town.”
“I hear ya brother,” Colton nodded.
Roman smiled as a thought popped into his head. “I’m going to follow her.”
“Say that again.” Asher crossed his arms, giving Roman his full attention.
“I’m going to wait until she leaves our hotel room, then I’m going to follow her. From there, I don’t really know. I’ll wing it. I just want to find out where she goes.”
“Oh dude,” Asher exclaimed. “I am so in.” He extended his hand into the air, waiting for Roman to approach him for a high-five.
He didn’t return the favor. “I said I’m going to follow her; not the rest of you.”
Colton took him by the shoulders. “Let you go into the streets alone and risk you getting jumped again, for real this time? Or worse? Fuck no.”
“She’ll never know we’re there,” Lucas said.
“Witnesses.” Trevor pointed to everyone in the room.
“Great.” Roman smiled. His heart raced. This was going to be a difficult challenge, but he was up for it. It was now or never. He had to catch Alexis in the act before she tried to destroy him. He wouldn’t allow her to burrow under his skin. The trap would unfold. He had a great feeling about this one, and it excited him. Adrenaline waved through his bones. She was going down. The walls would start caving in, but he would make sure he got the hell out of the way before the collapse.
_____________________
“ARE YOU NERVOUS?” ASHER glanced at Roman.
He was always ready to be somebody’s wingman, jumping at whatever chance he could to chase after excitement. Roman had teased him in the past, saying that if he hadn’t become a rock star, then he would probably have been a tornado chaser just for the adrenaline rush.
The five of them were standing in Roman’s hotel room. Alexis had only left moments ago. Roman had called each of them down, but it didn’t take long because everyone was already waiting for the time to pounce.
“Well, are you? Because I am. A little. I mean, how can we not be when...”
Roman pushed open the heavy hotel room door. “Come on,” he beckoned with his chin. “We don’t want to lose her.”
When Alexis had been in the bathroom before, Roman had gone into her phone and downloaded an application to trace her location. He would be able to pinpoint her general area, but not to an exact location, which meant it was vitally important for them to still be able to see her or be within range to guess where she might be headed.
His heart raced with electric energy as they followed her out into the hotel lobby. He glanced back at Trevor. “Do you think we should all go?” He whispered apprehensively.
Trevor shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
“Don’t you think she’s more likely to pick up on the fact that she’s being followed if its five celebrities who can’t step two inches outside of a building without being ambushed by paparazzi and fan followers?”
Trevor glanced between the rest. “I suppose he’s right.”
Asher slapped his hands together. “No way man, I’m not missing this.”
“Okay fine,” Roman relented. “You can go, but the rest of you need to hang back.”
Colton and Lucas groaned, but in the end, the relented. “Just promise to give us all the scoop when you get back,” Lucas called out as the trio walked away, out into the open Amsterdam night.
Luckily for them, going out into the streets at night was substantially easier than it was during the day. Fewer people were out and about, and they were harder to detect, blending in with the rest of the people on the streets.
To Roman’s relief, there were no cameras aimed at them. They were alone on the street, a bit odd. In Amsterdam, most everything was within walking distance, especially in the center of town.
“There she is,” he pointed to Alexis happily waltzing down the street, utterly oblivious to anything being amiss in her screwed up and delirious little mind.
“Okay come on,” Asher said and jogged a few strides ahead to narrow the gap between them and her.
“Dude,” Trevor puffed after they had bolted down the street. “It’s not a damn marathon. Can we ease up a little?”
Roman glanced at him with a snicker. “Sounds like somebody needs to work out,” he teased. “Letting yourself go now that you have a fiancé or what?”
“Shut up,” Trevor grumbled with a roll of his eyes. “If you guys want to be speed racers, then go right ahead.”
“I prefer ‘The Flash,’” Asher shrugged.
“Would you focus,” Roman quipped.
“We’re losing her,” Trevor pointed out as they watched Alexis duck down another street at an intersection.
“I guess we need to sprint some more,” Roman chuckled, fondly slapping Trevor’s back. “On the move, soldier.”
They followed her down a heavily trafficked intersection where tall buildings sat with modern windows and architecture.
“Where the hell is she going?” Asher frowned.
“It looks like she’s heading towards that hospital,” Trevor mentioned as they watched her cross the street.
A neon sign was lit on the side of the building with a universal hospital sign. She pushed through the revolving doors and out of sight.
“Shit,” Roman hissed through clenched teeth, barreling down the sidewalk. “We can’t lose her.”
He didn’t care if Trevor and Asher couldn’t keep up. He was determined to get to the bottom of Alexis’ shady behavior and put her in her place once and for all. He slipped into the hospital through the revolving doors. Keeping his head down, he stepped into the lobby.
That’s when he realized he had made a vital mistake. He was out in the open, under the fluorescent and extremely well-lit lobby of the hospital’s main floor. Thinking on his feet, he turned his back and edged close to a set of tall, bushy plants by the windows.
Glancing over his shoulder, he watched Trevor and Asher skirting through the revolving doors a few seconds later. His heart pounded in his chest with wary apprehension when he noticed A
lexis standing only a few inches away from the two, talking to a receptionist.
Her back was turned away from Trevor and Asher as she asked for directions. Roman knew precisely what her motive was now. It was apparent that she was there to visit the same man he’d beaten up, who was still recovering in the hospital.
She spun around, and Roman held his breath, just waiting for her path to collide with Trevor and Asher but, she curved and went in the opposite direction. He waved to Trevor who had also been frozen in place, anticipating a collision.
Beads of sweat broke out along his hairline, but he didn’t have time to collect himself. He had to continue following Alexis before he lost her trail. Even with the cell phone tracker, he wouldn’t be able to determine exactly what floor and room she went into without discreetly trailing her.
She walked to the elevators and pressed the up button. She put her hands in her back pocket, waiting for the cart to shuttle down and open the doors. Roman knew that they would have to linger behind for a few moments, waiting for her to actually enter the elevator before they were able to continue following her.
He made a point to keep a watchful eye on the numbers on the top of the elevator as they lit up. When it halted on the seventh floor, that’s when he knew she had gotten off, because she had been alone in the elevator.
They caught the next cart up. As soon as the elevator doors opened, they spilled out onto the seventh floor. Roman glanced back at Trevor and Asher. “Split up, carefully. Keep your heads down and for Christ’s sake, don’t talk. Just look.”
“What if we run into her?” Asher’s question was casual as if this were no big deal.
“Tell her you’re here for a migraine.” Roman refused to think the worst. He was determined, come hell or high water to trap her.
“Get your phone ready,” Trevor said and glanced at Roman’s pocket. “Just in case we catch something we can use.”
“Right.” Roman nodded and plucked his cell phone from his back pocket as they set off in different directions.
Roman froze in his tracks when he noticed Alexis reaching up to hug a broad looking dude with huge muscles and close-shaved brown hair. They stood outside a room, probably where the badly beaten perp was.
“Thanks for meeting me here,” she smiled with a relieved tone.
“He’s my cousin and your friend. I’m here to support you both.”
Roman turned on his cell phone camera and began recording as soon as they were close enough to hear the pair’s conversation.
“Are you any closer to getting any money from the rock punk?” The probable-boyfriend asked.
“Not yet, but I promise I’m close. I have him wrapped around my finger. You should see it.” She shook her head like it was funny.
Roman clinched his fists. He knew that Alexis wasn’t smart enough to be the mastermind behind the plot and that the boyfriend had most likely put her up to the task. He could tell by the way the boyfriend persistently asked her about stealing from Roman over and over, any chance he got.
After a few minutes of gaining incriminating evidence against Alexis, Roman had heard enough, an earful to last a lifetime.
“Come on,” he whispered to Trevor and Asher. “Let’s bring this to the police.”
“Good idea,” Asher agreed. “This is out of our element now. The police should handle it from here.”
“Unbelievable,” Roman said spitefully. He hoped she got arrested. He wanted to be there as soon as it happened. He had to witness her being handcuffed for himself. It would help eliminate some of the suffering he had endured when he was locked behind bars.
______________________
SEVERAL GRUELING HOURS later, Roman got his wish. He watched as the police poured through the evidence, the case being aggressively stacked against Alexis. She didn’t stand a chance. As the local officials handcuffed her and her thug boyfriend, he smiled.
Finally, something had gone right.
He waved as she was escorted by him. “See ya, bitch.”
She glared maliciously. “I fucking hate you!”
He and Trevor stood side-by-side as she was walked away.
“I’m just glad I used a condom.” He said to Trev, who burst out a short laugh.
They walked outside. He needed to cool off. He didn’t want to get into any further trouble himself. It was better to just let this one go. At least Alexis was locked away, where she belonged and couldn’t hurt him, or anyone, again.
Chapter Nine
“Now you’re just stalling.” Ashley hiccupped through tears as she wrapped her arms around Chloe. “You really need to go.”
Chloe glanced apprehensively over her shoulder to where her father sat on the couch behind them. He hadn’t moved much in the past half hour as he blankly stared at the television. Sometimes, he appeared to be sleeping, but then his eyes would open, and he’d laugh at something on the screen. Cancer sucked. She couldn’t count how many times she’d said, “Fuck you, Cancer,” in her head over the past weeks.
“Are you sure you are okay, Daddy?” She asked. Ashley was right; she was just hesitating, grasping at straws for reasons to stay. A huge part of her dreaded when she thought about leaving. Yet the tiny other part of her said she needed to go.
Her father coughed, but it was through a smile. “I promise; I’m fine, sweetheart.”
Chloe gave her mother a wary glance, but she just returned it with a coaxing smile.
“Go along sweetheart. We are so proud of you.”
Chloe choked back her own tears. The day for her to fly to Europe to meet up with the band and the rest of the crew had come. Her dad had come down with a bad cough, so she’d asked Emelia if she could skip Amsterdam and meet them for the next show, in Ireland. Her flight left in a few hours.
Her father was feeling better, and honestly, he had made significant improvements in his health over the past couple of weeks. Chloe should have felt confident about her overseas journey, but she couldn’t stop the, ‘what if’s.’
“I just feel guilty,” she blurted out, her heart speaking for her mind.
She walked over to her father where he gently tugged her hand. “There’s nothing to feel guilty about sweetie.” He gave her a warm smile. “I want you to go and experience your life. You are young, and you have amazing opportunities. Your future is bright.” He laughed and then gave her a grin. “How many more platitudes do I have to shell before you finally get the picture?”
Chloe laughed. “Alright, Daddy. I get it. I’m going.” She playfully rolled her eyes as she stepped a few inches closer to the front door. “Well,” she stated breezily as she waved her hand abstractly into the air. “I guess I’m off.”
“Have a safe trip.” Ashley gave her one more bear hug and then, she was out the door, climbing into the taxi that would take her to O’Hare International Airport.
As her house became smaller and smaller, finally disappearing from view entirely, a mixture of excitement and regret filled her heart. It was time to embark on another adventure. She was excited to see how the future would unfold.
In the meantime, she could always call and FaceTime with her family to check in on her dad and see how things were going at home. She had options. Her father was right. Her future was bright. Now all she had to do was learn to embrace it.
_______________________________
CHLOE STEPPED OUT INTO the Ireland afternoon. The air was different, crisper and fresh. She wrapped her cardigan around her arms and smiled, already feeling more awakened in this beautiful country. She hadn’t even left the airport yet.
She glanced up and down the drop-off and pick up area, looking for Emelia who was set to retrieve her in a rental car. Chloe couldn’t wait to visit the countryside and escape reality. She needed a fresh perspective, and along with it came a new landscape for her to appreciate and absorb.
A few seconds later, she spotted Emelia waving her hand out the window. Chloe beamed and walked towards the little maroon colored car, placi
ng her bags into the trunk.
“We’re in Ireland!” She squealed delightfully as she climbed into the passenger side. She was already distracted and loving every minute.
“Isn’t it wild?” Emelia’s eyes danced with the same awed joy that pounded in Chloe’s heart.
“How have things been going?” Chloe asked, making conversation for the ride back to the hotel.
“Crazy.” Emelia shifted her weight in her seat and gripped the steering wheel. “You know that woman that Roman was dating? Alexis?”
Chloe swallowed hard. She nodded but wouldn’t meet Emelia’s gaze. She hadn’t known her name before, had preferred to just call her the sexy brunette.
“Yeah...sort of,” she trailed off.
“Well as it turns out, she was an ice-cold bitch.” Emelia waved her hands animatedly as she told the story of how Roman almost received the brunt end of an extortion plot against him for his money.
“Holy shit! I can’t believe it.” Chloe shook her head, ultimately dumbfounded. “Poor Roman can’t catch a break.”
“He was pissed,” Emelia stated, hashing out all the details of the plot to catch her in the act and get her to admit everything. “She ended up in jail” Emelia finished.
“Good.” Chloe scoffed. “It sounds like that’s where she belongs in the first place.”
“Uh-huh,” Emelia nodded as she pulled into the hotel parking lot.
It was tucked away down a charming cobblestone street and looked more like a quaint little bed-n-breakfast than a high profile, modern hotel. Things were looking up already. Chloe was relieved to know that Roman’s dashing fling with the sexy brunette was finally over and had ended quicker than it had begun.
Not that she was looking to hook up with him, but she was grateful that he was back on the market and hopefully on the mend. She couldn’t predict the future, but she knew that her heart would be more open to being pursued by him if things ventured down that path. She knew it was probably crazy to fantasize about Roman’s arms draped around her. He was busy with the tour and all the chaos swirling around him. He probably didn’t have time to entertain the idea of dating anyone right now, much less her.