Fractured Beat (Meltdown Book 1)

by RB Hilliard

  As he fought to catch his breath, I dropped my head to his shoulder and whispered, “I love you. Thank you for the song tonight. It was beautiful.”

  Once we straightened ourselves up and were somewhat presentable again, he pulled me close, placed a gentle kiss on my lips and said, “I’m going to love you forever, Mallory Jane Scott.”

  With a heart full of love and a backside covered in fluorescent green fuzz, we walked hand in hand down the hall to greet the fans who were waiting for Grant in the VIP lounge.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  High Noon

  Grant

  The entire crew, roadies and all, were having brunch the next morning in a private dining room at the hotel when we finally got the call. Hank was in the middle of a heated argument with Mallory about how Bob Barker and Dick Clark were not the same person. Interested in hearing Mallory’s rationale behind thinking they were one in the same, when in fact they were vastly different, I wasn’t paying attention to the fact that Hank was no longer participating. That is, until his eyes lifted to mine and he held up his phone indicating he had a call. My whole body tensed. Please let this be it.

  “This is Hank,” he answered. After a short pause, he stood and nodded his head toward the door before heading in that direction.

  I stood and kissed the side of Mallory’s head. “This is it, baby. I’ll catch up to you in a bit,” I told her. On the way out the door, I caught Nash’s eye and indicated for him to meet us in the lobby.

  “It’s a go,” Hank said, as he ended the call. “Garrett and Cas both want to be here for the moment of reckoning. I assume that’s not a problem for you?” he asked.

  “Nope.” I rubbed my hands together and smiled. “I’ll call Jim and Steven. Jim Heart and Steven Short were the top dogs at Shart, one of the top entertainment industry law firms in Texas. Jim was well known in the music industry and it didn’t hurt that he thought Kirkland was a pompous ass. All we needed now was a time, a place and Kirkland.

  Two hours later the arrangements were set. Our next stop was Maine, but on Wednesday we would be in Ohio. According to Blane, Kirkland was planning on joining us in Ohio. Unbeknownst to Kirkland, Blane was flying in Happenstance’s lawyer, Karl, and told us not to worry about a thing. He’d make sure Kirkland was present.

  The night before the meeting, Nash and Hank helped me break the news to Chaz and Luke. To say they were surprised was an understatement – try surprised and pissed off. Neither one of them understood why they’d been cut out of the loop. Chaz seemed particularly bent out of shape. I tried to explain it wasn’t anything personal, but he stormed off muttering something about always being treated like an outsider. I was on the verge of telling him exactly how I felt, when Nash stopped me. He was right. Chaz was a hot head and felt slighted at the drop of a hat. He would eventually come around.

  The morning of the meeting we had a planning session with our lawyers. Cas and Garrett had flown in from Charlotte the previous night and joined us. I wanted Mallory nowhere near Kirkland when he blew, so I left her hanging upstairs in the room.

  We all agreed it was best to let the attorneys handle the talking. If need be I would step in, but I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. I was afraid that if Kirkland pushed me, which was more than likely going to happen, I would lose my shit and pop him one. Once we nailed down the details we took a forty-five minute break. Since we didn’t want Kirkland to catch wind that his world was about to be rocked, we moved down the hall to a smaller room to wait for Blane’s text. While Jim and Steven stepped out the side door for a smoke, we shot the shit with Cas and Garrett. That’s when Garrett told us about Sarah. I’m not sure what got us talking about her, but when Garrett described his visit with her across the street neighbor, my blood went cold.

  “Whoa, hold that thought for a second,” I told him. I snapped my fingers at Hank, who was across the room talking on the phone. Once I had his attention I motioned him over.

  “What’s up?” he asked when he reached us.

  “Listen to this shit,” I told him.

  “I was just saying that I took a look around Sarah Harmon’s place and noticed an elderly lady sitting on her front porch, which directly faces Sarah’s front yard. When I asked her if she’d been interviewed by the police concerning Miss Harmon’s death, she laughed and said there was no way in hell the police were going to mess with that house. I asked if she’d seen anything unusual the day Sarah died. She said she’d seen a nice looking blonde haired man leave the house just half an hour before the ambulance showed. She said she’d seen him a handful of times over the past six months.”

  “Fuck,” Nash quietly exclaimed.

  “What if it’s Blane?” Chaz asked. Those were my thoughts exactly.

  I opened my mouth to ask what in hell we were supposed to do now, when the man himself texted. My gut churned as I stared down at the text. Kirkland was in the lobby and heading for the conference room. What if I had it all wrong? What if this was a set up? My eyes met Hank’s and I could tell he was thinking the same thing. So was Nash. We may be about to walk into a huge ambush. I had a sinking feeling we were about to get fucked.

  “Look, even if that was Blane, this,” Cas pointed to the file on the table, “is all Kirkland. It’s Kirkland’s signature on those checks, Kirkland’s email address and Kirkland’s relationship with The Meadows. Let’s take one thing at a time, here. Right now, it’s all Kirkland. Worry about Blane tomorrow.”

  “Plus, Blane isn’t the only nice looking blonde haired man in existence,” Garrett added. He was right. I was being paranoid.

  With Jim and Steven leading the charge, we headed out the door and down the hall. As we filed into the conference room, one by one, Kirkland blustered, “What is the meaning of this?” As rehearsed, Hank, Luke and Chaz carried in chairs and strategically placed them around the table. Once we were all seated, Blane strolled in with Karl.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Kirkland asked again. Steven waited for Blane and Karl to sit before he pulled a file from his briefcase and slapped it on the table in front of us. Kirkland was clearly agitated.

  Steven slid the file over to Jim. Jim opened it, pulled out a document and turned it around so Kirkland could see it. “This is a list of the board of trustees of The Meadows. Do you see your name anywhere in this list?” he asked.

  “You know I do,” Kirkland said between clenched teeth.

  Jim whipped out a second document. “These are the by-laws pertaining to how a board member must conduct himself. Do they look familiar?” He turned the document so Kirkland could see.

  “Yes, yes,” Kirkland waved it away.

  Jim flipped the page and said. As you can see, I have highlighted each portion that you failed to adhere to.”

  Kirkland laughed. “Oh for Christ’s sake, are you kidding me? It’s a code of conduct, not a penal code.”

  “So you admit that you used your position on the board to fit your own agenda?” Jim asked.

  “Everyone does,” Kirkland replied. What an idiot, I thought. I glanced over at Nash and he shook his head.

  Jim handed Steven the document and pulled out a third piece of paper. “Here is an email between you and Dr. Whitfield instructing him not only to admit Mr. Hardy into his facility, but to diagnose him as an addict, whether or not it happened to be the truth. For the record, I stated this much less crudely than you wrote it,” he added.

  No one said a word.

  “I didn’t write that,” Kirkland stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

  Jim pulled out a fourth piece of paper and flipped it around for Kirkland’s viewing pleasure. “No? So I assume this isn’t your handwriting or your signature on this check made out to a one Frederick Whitfield?”

  I leaned forward and squinted at the piece of paper. “C’mon, man, I’m worth way more than that,” I snidely commented.

  Kirkland visibly paled before his eyes shot to Blane. “Why you ungrateful little shit,” he hissed.


  “Would you like for me to continue?” Jim asked.

  “I would,” Nash interjected.

  “Same here,” Luke chimed in.

  Kirkland glared at Karl and said, “Do something.”

  “I’m sorry, but my hands are tied here,” Karl told him.

  “What do you mean your hands are tied, you’re my lawyer,” Kirkland waved his hands in the air, “So…help me. Explain how this is all hearsay or something.” I could tell by his trembling lips that he was about to blow his lid. I couldn’t fucking wait.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t work for you Mr. Hamilton,” Karl stammered. I wasn’t sure what he meant by this and by the expressions on everyone’s faces, they didn’t either.

  “You damn well work for Happenstance. Being that I own the company that means you work for me!” Kirkland shouted at him.

  “You’re correct, I do work for Happenstance. However, by my records, you only hold the company stock as collateral. Mr. Hamilton, Blane that is,” he corrected, “is still the shareholder of record. Unless and until you foreclose he still owns the company.”

  The whole room froze. Holy shit. This was better than I’d ever imagined.

  “What?” Blane asked. Clearly he was as floored as everybody else was. All this time he thought his dad had him by the short and curly’s.

  “This is ridiculous and you know it.” Suddenly his face split into an evil smile and I braced. “You owe me, boy. I bailed your ass out. Now you and I both know that you don’t have the means to pay me back. If you don’t immediately sign those shares over to me, I’ll foreclose and you’ll never get another penny from me or from Happenstance,” he threatened.

  “Not if we pay his debt,” I said out loud. All eyes turned to me.

  With a flushed face and balled fists, Kirkland stammered, “I will hold your ass up in litigation for years and drag Happenstance along for the ride.”

  “You can try to hold him up in litigation, but do you really want to do it from prison?” I countered.

  “You have nothing on me,” Kirkland blustered.

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong. We have proof that you drugged me, planted drugs in my hotel room, falsely sent me to rehab, paid people to keep me there under false pretenses as well as tampered with my medical records. You had an innocent girl killed, for fuck’s sake.”

  Kirkland’s face lost all color. “I did no such thing,” he gasped.

  “Don’t fight this, Dad. They promised not to prosecute if you peacefully walk away,” Blane urged.

  Kirkland pointed a bony finger at Blane. “You are no longer my son. In fact, as of right now I disown you.”

  Blane lunged for his father, but Garrett and Hank stopped him before he got to him. “I fucked up! I admitted it, but you, you took the only thing I had, the only thing that made me happy, and tried to ruin it.” He shook off Hank’s hand and screamed, “Happenstance was mine!” he slapped his chest and screamed, “Mine!” He pointed at me. “You went so far as to drug my fucking friend. Who does that?”

  “For the last time, I did not drug him.”

  “God, Dad! Just stop,” Blane hissed.

  Kirkland’s eyes flitted to me. “I may have taken advantage of a situation, but I’m telling you, I had nothing to do with the drugs.”

  “From where I’m sitting, there are two choices. Blane can sign his Happenstance shares over to us, we can pay his debt to you and you can walk away or with a little help from our friends in this room, we turn this file over to the police and let them take it from there. Even if you don’t get convicted of a crime, we can certainly extract civil damages for false imprisonment and make sure your shady business practices end up on the front page of all the major newspapers. You’ll be ruined. And, at the end of the day, we’ll own Happenstance. I’m okay with that. Are you guys?” I turned and stared at my bandmates.

  “Yep.”

  “Yes.”

  “Works for me,” they all three answered.

  All eyes turned to Kirkland. After a long very pregnant pause, he growled, “Where do I sign?”

  And like that, it was finally over.

  * * *

  Two months later

  “Four days is too long.” I was trying not to sound like a whiny bitch, but seriously, four days away from my girl was going to feel like an eternity.

  Placing her hands on her hips, Mallory asked, “What are you going to do when I’m on a job?”

  I pulled her in and planted a kiss on her lips. “I’m going to miss you. I’m going to whine daily. I’m going to –”

  She placed her hand over my mouth and smiled. “I was going to tell you this Friday, but I talked to CiCi and, as of yesterday, I have a new position.”

  “Mmfktyjd,” I responded under her hand. She laughed and removed her hand so I could speak. “Babe, I told you I’m okay with it. Will it suck being away from you? Fuck yeah, but it’s your job.”

  “I’m going to branch off and open an office in Austin, only I’m not traveling to clients anymore, they’re coming to me,” she spoke over me. I didn’t know what to say. Not only was my girl moving in with me, but she was changing her job for me as well. I’d been worried about how we were going to handle the distance and was relieved it was officially off the table. Would she end up regretting it? I hoped not.

  The remainder of the tour had flown by. Once Kirkland was out of the picture and the papers were signed, making us all four equal owners of Happenstance, everything changed. Like in the good old days, pranks were played, jokes were told and, once again, laughter was a huge part of our daily existence. Chaz was less surly and Luke lightened way the fuck up. Blane was still technically our manager, but his authority was seriously limited. Was I one hundred percent sure he had nothing to do with what happened to me? No. Would I ever be sure? Probably not.

  The night Kirkland signed the papers, I asked Mallory to move in with me. Without any hesitation, she said yes. Today was the day. The tour was over and we were heading home. Well, I was heading home in a few days. Mallory was on an afternoon flight to Dallas. I wasn’t going to see her for four fucking days.

  “We’ve talked about this. You have to wrap up here. I need to pack. I promise I’ll leave bright and early Friday morning and be home by lunch.” My heart stuttered in my chest when she called my house her home. “I can’t wait to move in. I have the prettiest pink pillows that will go great on our bed,” she teased. I pulled her in and kissed the laughter from her lips. Then I stripped her bare and slid deep inside. The last time I’d spent four days away from her was one of the worst weeks of my life. What if she changed her mind? What if she didn’t show?

  I guess I’d just have to wait and see.

  Chapter Thirty

  I-35 South

  Mallory

  Today was D-day. I was officially moving in with Grant. In order to surprise him a day earlier than expected, I had to pack and ship all of my belongings in three instead of the four days I’d been allotted. As I stared down at the two bags I’d missed, I tried to recall what was in them and couldn’t. My car was full, as in Beverly Hills Hillbilly out of room full, and I was ready to hit the road. I contemplated tossing the bags in the outside dumpster, but at the last second relented. Five extra minutes wouldn’t kill me. Just as I thought, the first bag held clothes. I spotted the top I wore the night I arrived in Houston and smiled. That was the night Grant scolded me for arguing with Blane on the side of the stage. It was hard to believe that was only five months ago. Bag two was full of what looked like junk. To the dumpster it goes. As I was zipping it back up, a flash of silver caught my eye and I paused to see what it was. Grant’s notebook! I’d completely forgotten I had it. I’d found it the morning we were leaving Austin.

  “Oh, Mallory, it was so nice to meet you. Promise me you’ll take good care of our boy,” Ava said, as she hugged me.

  “I promise.”

  “Babe, we have to go or we’re going to miss the plane!” Grant called from the dri
veway.

  “That boy is always in a hurry,” Ava muttered. As I turned to leave she asked if I was aware that I was missing an earring.

  The night Grant and I were fooling around in the studio I lost the back to one of my earrings. I’d placed the earring on the end table beside the sofa and had completely forgotten about it.

  “Hang on! I’ll be right there!” I shouted to Grant, before racing down the stairs to retrieve it. Had it been any other earring and I would have left it, but these belonged to my grandmother. Thankfully, it was right where I’d left it. After shoving it in my pocket, I turned to race back up the stairs and spotted Grant’s notebook peeking out from under the sofa. He’ll need this, I thought, as I scooped it off the floor and crammed it inside my purse.