The three of them looked at each other and then back and me, shaking their heads. “No,” Elijah said. “We didn’t see anything.”
“Well, crap.” I screwed up my face in frustration and surveyed their space with my hands on my hips. “Thanks, guys.” I turned to go but reconsidered and spun back around. “Everybody doing okay? Need anything?”
“Nah,” Eli said, dropping onto a bean bag chair. “We’re good… unless, of course, you have more beer. Levi here drank the last one.”
I raised an eyebrow at the abundant beer bottles scattered around. “Nope. I’d go bankrupt if I tried to keep you guys in beer. You’re on your own for that one.” I turned and grabbed the door handle. “I’ll see you guys at six for warm up.”
“Later!” Dylan called as they turned back to their instruments.
I left the trailer, and the hulk was there again. He dogged my every step as I crossed the twenty feet back to my own bus. I have to figure out how to get rid of these guys. Then I can get Julie to call back the old security team. They can handle this. Couldn’t they?
I couldn’t take it anymore. Mason’s goons followed me everywhere. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom without a silent shadow falling into step behind me, checking the stall before I entered, and standing right outside until I was done. I wanted to scream, but then they would have come running.
Every night, I returned to my bus as soon as the show was over. I ate, slept, and left just long enough to sing, and then I’d go back to my bus and repeat the routine in the next city. If I wanted to go running, it took an act of congress and a second team to clear my route. I was allowed nothing spontaneous or creative. I loved singing outside at night with only the stars above me. That was how I did my best work, but I hadn’t been able to sing outside even once since this all started. Instead of being my safe haven, my bus was starting to feel like my prison.
Afraid things would get worse, I kept a folder hidden under my bathroom sink. It was stuffed full of letters and photographs I continued to find like Easter eggs around the trailer. No way was I showing anybody. God only knew the lengths these guards would go to for my protection.
I wasn’t cancelling this tour. I had a hard enough time making it in the cut-throat music business with my mediocre talent. Julie never let me forget that. I had no time for complications.
“Hey, Mags,” Julie called just outside my bus door. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.” I held it open for her to enter. “It’s so good to see a friendly, unarmed face.”
“You’re funny.” She chuckled, spinning and plopping down on the couch, stretching her arms along the back. “The boys and I are heading to a local sports bar to blow off some steam. You want to come?”
“Ugh, I can’t.” I flopped backwards on the carpet, lying spread-eagle, and stared up at the ceiling. “I’d love to, but the goon squad won’t let me. They say public spaces ‘can’t be controlled.’”
“Oh, come on! Don’t be a spoilsport.” She threw a pillow at me, and it bounced off my chest.
“Really, I can’t.” I rolled to face her with my chin propped up on my hands and my feet kicking behind me. “I won’t be paroled until they catch this guy.”
“Oh, fine.” She huffed and stood to go, but then stopped and spun on her heels to look at me, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Wait. What if we played a prank on them?” She tapped a finger on her lower lip and paced back and forth.
“What do you have in mind?” She’d caught my attention, and I sat up to focus.
Julie looked cautiously toward the door where my guard stood just outside. Then she knelt down to whisper in my ear. “What if we trick them?” She flicked her eyes at the door again as if she was afraid they could hear us.
I looked back at her, intrigued. Would they really fall for that? Could I pull it off? God, I wanted out of that gilded cage so badly. “I’m in.” I crawled on my knees, the student to the master. “What do we have to do?”
“Here.” She pulled her top over her head. “Swap clothes with me.”
“But—” Before I could ask questions, she pushed her shirt into my hands, kicked off her heels, and shimmied out of her pants. “I don’t think—“
“No, no. You’re a performer. This is so simple I’m sure even you can pull it off. They’ll never suspect a thing!”
At her insistence, I stood and started undressing too. Then I pulled her clothes on, thankful I had skipped breakfast—Julie always was skinnier than me. She had way more self-control around the snacks and massive deli trays the band surrounded themselves with, and which always appeared backstage.
“What about our hair? We’re the same size, but you’re not a redhead.” I looked around for a ball cap or something, but remembered she hadn’t come in with a hat, so she couldn’t go out with one either.
“Really, Mags?” She put her hands on her hips and gave me a disgusted look. “You’re a performer. You’re telling me you don’t have a box of wigs in a closet somewhere? A box of disguises to go out? I know you do.”
“Oh!” A lightbulb finally went on in my head. Thank God she’s here to keep me organized. I would forget my name without her. All that confinement was really turning my already-scattered brain to mush. I turned and started digging through a box in the bottom of the hall closet. “Here!” I held up a brown wig triumphantly. “This will work!”
“That’s perfect!”
Julie and I crammed ourselves into the small bathroom. I was no stranger to costumes, and I soon had my own red hair tamed, tied back, and covered with the mousy brown wig. “Here are my sunglasses and my purse,” she said, handing them to me. “Here! Look in the mirror!” She turned me to the reflection of her handiwork.
I stood and stared at the person looking back at me. Julie had made me up in her signature style with the brown wig pulled back in a messy bun and a pencil stuck through it. Her black-rimmed glasses were perched on my nose. We weren’t exactly twins, but I didn’t look like me, either.
“Pick a fight with me.” She bumped my shoulder with hers.
“What?” I looked over at her with my eyes wide and brows raised. This night was getting weirder and weirder.
“Pick a fight with me. That way you can storm out of here and no one can look too closely.”
“God, Julie, you are way too good at this.” Julie was so straight-laced, always the designated driver, her demeanor so buttoned-up and proper. She was even a little nerdy.
“I just watch a lot of made-for-television movies.” She chuckled and gave me one long last look. “I pronounce you ready.”
“Here we go,” I murmured, taking a deep breath. Then I shouted so loud the guard outside could hear me. “Dammit, Julie, I can’t do any more than I’m already doing!”
She shouted back, “Your fans expect it, Maggie! Suck it up, buttercup! This is your job!” She smirked at me, gesturing it was my turn.
“I can’t! You do it!”
“You wanted this! You left me behind and became the star. I can’t do it for you!”
“I’m exhausted! Quit pushing me!”
“It’s my job to push you! It’s the scrap you’ve thrown me! I’ll be back in the morning! Get it together, Maggie! This is pathetic!”
Julie pointed at the door and nodded at me. I took a deep breath and shook my hands out before blasting through the trailer door. I ran past the surprised guard hunched over with my head down and Julie’s clipboard clutched to my chest.
“You alright miss?” The startled guard barely got the words out before I was up the steps and safely inside the bus Julie shared with several other roadies. I slammed the door behind me for effect.
“Fine,” I yelled with a sob from the other side of her door. I leaned with my back against it, my chest heaving.
I looked around at the space. Julie shared it with two other girls, but thankfully, neither was there. I think we pulled it off!
Chapter Five
Liam
“Boss,
you’ve gotta come deal with this. We’re out of our depth with this one.” My eyebrows rose. I had never heard Ben admit defeat before.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I kicked back in the hard wooden chair and propped my feet up on my desk. “One tiny woman is outsmarting my best guys? Really, Ben? You want to go with that?”
“I’m not kidding, boss. She’s running rings around us. She ignores everything we tell her. She won’t work with us. We can’t protect her if she won’t cooperate.” He paused, probably choosing his words carefully before continuing. “I thought you were finding a flight back to the states?”
“I am. I just…” I tried to come up with a convincing reason to delay going back.
“Boss, it’s time,” he said, his tone brooking no argument. I sighed, closed my eyes, and rested my forehead on my closed fist. I needed to move past it; I just didn’t know how.
Click.
“Ben? Ben?” I stared at the sat phone in my hand. He was right—it was time. Shit.
I walked out of the small wooden shack into the steamy jungle heat. The ramshackle building was at odds with the sight that met my eyes. The heart of our camp, the shack was the center of a wagon wheel of tents we’d camouflaged to blend in with the abundant flora. Formerly a hunting cabin for some unknown individual, we’d stumbled upon it while looking for a place to set up our base camp.
I stood at the entrance of a nearby tent, and my man Leo slipped out from under the flap. “Hey, boss.”
“Leo.” I nodded as he came up and walked next to me. “Ben called. I’m needed back in the states.”
Like all of us, Leo was a man of few words. “When do you leave?”
“I’ll fly out tonight.” We walked into the shade of the tree line and I stared into the dim jungle. “You’re in charge while I’m gone. Can you wrap things up here?”
“Everything is under control, boss. All the kids are gone but one. We are still trying to find his family. When’ll you be back?”
“As soon as possible.” I turned to squint back at camp. “This job shouldn’t take too long. Some celebrity stalking thing.”
“Roger that. The ambassador gave us a nice bonus.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.
“Thanks, Leo.” I thumped him on the back as I turned to go.
“See you when you get back, boss,” he said, watching me through hooded eyes. Every one of my guys was a cold, calculating bastard. Just like me.
Maggie
Thud, thud, thud.
Heavy boots stomped up the stairs of the tour bus, causing the coach to bounce up and down with the weight. Three big men—one in a black ski mask, one with an eye patch, and the third with a red bandana over his face—shouldered through my door, slamming it back against the wall. The bobble-head on my desk wobbled, the smile on its sunny countenance never slipping.
Rifle in hand, Ski Mask supported himself against the frame of the doorway and looked around the interior of the coach. “Find the girl,” he ordered the others. The three spread out, moving in and out of my line of sight as they began to search for me.
Laughter, loud and jeering, echoed through the bus as I huddled in the master bedroom under a pile of costumes and daywear. I tried to scoot further under the low-slung king sized bed, but my slender frame couldn’t quite fit. I prayed they didn’t spot me hiding beneath the dust ruffle, amidst the pile of discarded designer fabrics.
The hinges of the foldup couch whined as Eye patch lifted it to check inside the folded mattress. I could hear muffled voices move from room to room.
CRASH!
Something breakable, probably my potted orchid, smashed to the floor and shattered into a million pieces. Then I heard the sounds of their boots crunching through the debris.
“She’s not here, boss!” Red Bandana announced.
Ski Mask turned his head toward the back and my heart stopped. “Search the bedroom.”
BANG!
I heard the door of the bus slam against the wall again as I lay quivering under the edge of the bed. Only one of my eyes had an angle to see down the hall and into the living room. A tall, sandy-haired, blue-eyed stranger appeared, and his broad shoulders blocked all the light from the doorway. He leapt into the room smoothly with the moves of a jungle cat.
From my position, I could barely see Blue Eyes throw a liquor bottle at Eye patch. The bottle hit him in the head with a thunk and bounced into the mirror behind the minibar, sending another giant CRASH reverberating through the bus. Blue Eyes kept advancing. He pulled the fire extinguisher from the wall and hit Eye Patch in the midsection, making him fall to his knees and then collapse to the floor. As the man scrambled to get back on his feet, Blue Eyes swung his black boot back and launched it forward into his jaw, knocking Eye Patch out cold with a sickening CRUNCH.
“You bastard!” Red Bandana’s face reappeared in my view as he ran to help his cohort. He lashed out at Blue Eyes and tackled him to the floor. With lightning-fast reflexes, Blue Eyes reacted, pulling a knife from his belt and jamming it between the advancing man’s ribs. Red Bandana crumpled back with a shout, twisting in a desperate effort to remove the shiny blade jutting from his chest.
The look on the blue-eyed stranger’s face spoke of adrenaline and danger as he threw a swift punch, forcing Red Bandana into the wall and sinking the blade even deeper in his chest. The bandana slipped up and bubbling blood appeared over the gutted man’s lips as he slumped into a heap next Eye Patch. His eyes slowly fell shut as blood pooled on the floor around him.
Hearing the battle, Ski Mask, who had almost made his way to me, thundered back into the living room with a roar. He jumped on Blue Eyes, starting an impromptu wrestling match that sent them both crashing into the minibar. Grasping blindly for anything to use as a weapon, Ski Mask grabbed a heavy liquor bottle and smashed it against the bar with a BANG. The remaining shattered bottle neck served as a wicked weapon in his hand.
Blue Eyes staggered a moment, steadied himself against the wall, and grabbed a thick glass bottle of his own to swing back with. Ski Mask thrust the jagged glass at Blue Eyes, slicing open the stranger’s arm, but Ski Mask’s further jabs were all blocked. Soon, the two were on the floor, grappling for the broken bottle. Then, as quickly as it had begun, the fight was over, and the coach went quiet.
I had no idea who the blue-eyed stranger was. Is he a good guy? Is he on my side? It wasn’t until I saw him nearing my bedroom door that I realized he’d won the battle.
I scooted as far back as I could, surreptitiously pulling more clothes over my head, which accidentally blocked my view of… everything. Left in the dark, my other senses were heightened. My mind was consumed by the thump of combat boots approaching. I wished I hadn’t slipped those annoying guards again. I should have sent the crew to the bar without me. So stupid! I cursed myself for having shrugged the threats off as nothing more than nonsense from another crazy fan.
All of a sudden, a shadow passed over the clothes that concealed me. Peering through the silky fabric, I could only vaguely make out the large form standing over me. One… two… three… four heartbeats passed before I felt strong hands grab me by the arms and yank me from my hiding spot. Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Rising through the air, I found myself pressed against a broad, muscular chest and eye-to-eye with Blue Eyes.
“Hello, Maggie.”
Chapter Six
Maggie
“Are you hurt?” The blue-eyed stranger ran his hands up and down my arms and legs and turned me around to look me over.
“Stop!” I shouted. “Stop! I’m fine!” I shook him off and backed up. “Who the hell are you?” My voice shook, and I had to brace myself against the wall to stay upright.
“I’m Liam. Mason sent me.”
“Mason sent you?” Relief flooded through me, followed by exhaustion as the adrenaline drained away. I had to fight the urge to throw myself at him. I started shaking. I wanted somebody to hold me, and I realized I had no one.
> “He said you had a stalker.” Blue Eyes glanced back over his shoulder and then back at me. “This looks like a little more than a stalker.”
“I am so stupid. I am so, so stupid.” I slid down the wall, my legs no longer able to support me. “I can’t believe I was so stupid.” I wrapped my arms around my knees, and my head fell to rest on them.
“Are you sure you are okay?” He knelt down by me, pushing my hair off my forehead. “Maggie? Is there someone I can call?”
Who would he call? Julie? She was my manager. Even though we’d been friends since high school, I didn’t want anyone I had to pay to spend time with me.
“Maggie?” He crouched down next to me. “There are dead guys in your living room. I need you to talk to me.” I lifted my head, and it felt like a lead weight attached to my neck. I was suddenly so tired. “Come on, Maggie,” he said, “snap out of it.”
It took a minute for my eyes to focus. “I have no idea who these men are. Why did they break in?” My voice rose at the end.
“They were looking for you. Talk to me, Maggie.” Blue Eyes grabbed my hands and stood, pulling me to my feet and walking me over to the bed. “You’re in shock, Maggie.” Obediently I sat down where he put me and gazed at the blood-drenched wall in silence. Can you paint the inside of a tour bus? What would the room look like in lavender? I started to rock, and the soothing movement slowed my racing heart.
“Maggie? Stay with me, Maggie.” He yanked the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around me. Then he pulled a phone from the pocket of his black cargo pants and paced back and forth. From another pocket, he produced a crinkly foil and plastic pack of gum, pushed out one piece from the case, and popped it in his mouth before shoving the pack back where it came from.
“Where is your security team?” Blue Ey—er—Liam looked around as if expecting them to pop up from the shadows.
Liam: The Lost Billionaires, Book 3 Page 3