“The guy had a sign with her name on it.”
“Did you see him?”
“Just briefly. He was short, skinny and had a big smile when Dana approached him, I remember that. He was really excited. Oh…and he had kind of an odd shaped nose.”
Suddenly a light went on in Jonny’s head. The letter. The picture. The poem. The caller ID. “I think I know who might have done this.” He grabbed Sharon’s hand. “Come with me.”
Together they ran upstairs to Dana’s office. It was locked. “Damn it…who has a key?”
Jonny thought quickly. Ted. He flew into his office. “Ted, Dana’s missing, I gotta get into her office.”
Jonny never saw Ted move so fast in his life. He opened Dana’s door and they went in.
“I know it’s here somewhere,” Jonny said as he rifled through Dana’s desk.
“What?” Sharon asked, pacing the floor.
“There’s this listener, this crazy listener…I can’t remember his name. He sent Dana some weird stuff…and a picture.” He flipped through her desk drawers, pulling papers out as quickly as he could. Finally, he found where she kept her listener stash of letters.
“Help me,” he said handing a stack to Sharon.
They methodically stared going through the papers. There were so many letters and cards, notes and liner cards. They moved as quickly as they could, tossing the papers aside as they moved from pile to pile.
Soon Jonny found what was he was looking for. He was staring at the card with the picture of a rose on it. He opened it. The picture spilled out. He showed it to Sharon.
“Is this him?”
She looked at the short, thin man with curly hair.
“I…I…don’t know, the guy was wearing a hat.”
“Look harder Sharon.”
She pulled the picture close to her eyes and looked long and hard at it. “It could be him. I think it could.”
Jonny reread the card. It was signed only by Larry, no last name.
Jonny ran to the computer and opened up their listener file. Whenever someone entered a contest, their info was logged into the station database.
Jonny did a search of listeners named Larry. Twenty-five names popped up.
“Dammit!” he said, combing through the names. “How are we supposed to find this guy?”
Sharon continued searching through the papers.
“Jonny,” she said holding up a red envelope. “I think I found him.”
Jonny grabbed the envelope and copied the return address. “Sharon, call the police and give them this information. I’ll call Cody.”
He grabbed his keys and ran toward door.
“Where are you going?” she said.
“To get Dana.”
Chapter 72
Dana regained consciousness, but didn’t open her eyes. She could sense the light through her eyelids. Her head hurt worse than before, only this time she remembered what happened.
The struggle.
The fall.
The blood.
She heard Larry muttering about her being out of it. She knew he didn’t think she was awake…she guessed that’s why he hadn’t put her back in that tiny room. The strong scent of cleaning fluid roused her from her uneasy slumber. She knew Larry was close. Her skin crawled as she felt him brush past her time and time again to get more cleaning supplies. The key now was to figure out how to escape.
She could feel that her hands and legs were still tied. She let her eyes flit open briefly to assess the situation. From the floor she could see she was lying on linoleum, and could make out what looked like the bottom of an appliance. Okay, she was in the kitchen. She thought hard back to when she was first able to look around. The kitchen was in the back of the house near the sliding glass door. It would be hard to get out that way. She needed to hurt him and then run…run free. But how? There were no blunt objects around her and her limbs were bound.
It was hopeless.
Dana wanted to cry. No one would find her. How could they?
Bang. Bang. Bang. There were three loud raps on the door.
Larry ran to look out the peephole. Fuck! He recognized the guy from the radio station.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Could he pretend he wasn’t home? Yes. He’d have to. He fell to the floor and crawled across the room. He didn’t want to risk his shadow being seen as he moved past the front window.
The banging became more insistent.
“Larry, open up!” Jonny yelled. “Open up now!”
“Help! Help!” Dana yelled instinctively.
“You bitch, you’re awake!” Larry whispered loudly.
“Help me! Help me!”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” His body shook violently with anger. Dana obviously wanted to get away from him, too, just like The Bitch. They were all alike. He grabbed the knife that earlier he had used to free her and pressed the blade against her throat.
Dana stopped yelling. The cold steel was painful and frightening against her skin.
“Please Larry, don’t hurt me.”
“Why not? You hurt me.”
Bang. Bang. Bang. “Open this door now!” Larry heard the doorknob jiggle, then the noise of someone pushing their weight into the door. The loud thwack was rhythmic. He could hear the door start to splinter from the incessant force.
Larry pushed the back of the blade into Dana’s neck. “Do as I say and you won’t get hurt.”
Her eyes welled with hopeless desperation. She couldn’t form the words. Her mouth made some sound of agreement. Panic was taking over. She tried to breathe, her heart leaping out of her chest.
Larry pulled Dana up from the floor, angled her body and dragged her to the little room under the stairs.
“Oh, no, no, please don’t put me back in there!” she begged. Tears she could no longer hold back streamed down her face.
Larry turned the knife letting the tip slide against her skin. Dana saw drops of blood begin to fall. “Do as I say.”
Helpless, she obliged and let him put her into the cramped space. He then took a large piece of duct tape and pasted it over her mouth. “Don’t do anything dumb or I’ll really be forced to hurt you when he leaves and he will leave,” he flashed the knife in front of her eyes, “one way or another. I’ve come too far…you’re mine.” Larry had completely cracked. The pressure, the magnitude of what he had done pushed him beyond the limits of sanity. He’d lost it.
Larry locked the door behind him, stood up and calmly caught his breath. He could hear the front door start to give way. He ran to the back of the room and pressed his body up against a side wall so he was hidden from view. He held the knife at attention. He was ready.
The door splintered loudly. He heard it give way. Someone was in the house. He held his breath to keep his location secret.
Jonny felt the door give beneath his body and forced himself inside. It was quiet. Too quiet.
“Dana!” Jonny yelled. “Dana!”
Dana could hear everything from inside the room. She was paralyzed with fear. She wanted to warn him, but was afraid if she made a sound Larry would go after Jonny.
“Dana!” he called moving through the townhouse, his eyes darting back and forth looking for something, anything.
Larry’s heart raced in his chest. Jonny was getting closer and closer to him. But he was ready.
Jonny stopped in his tracks. On the floor in front of him was a large bloodstain. “No…no…” he said frantically.
The distraction was the window Larry had been waiting for. He burst from behind the wall catching Jonny completely off guard.
Before Jonny had time to react, he could feel the knife against his back.
“This was a big mistake, Mr. Disc Jockey,” Larry growled pushing the blade into his skin just enough to scare him.
Jonny felt the sharp point. “Larry,” he said as calmly as he could, “Look man, I don’t mean you any trouble. I’m just looking for Dana.” He tried to steel himself. Fear
was taking over and he needed to keep a clear head.
“Dana’s not your concern, man,” Larry spat. He deftly moved the knife to Jonny’s throat. “I think you should go now.” Larry wrapped his arm around Jonny tightly. “Stop moving or I’ll kill you, I will.”
Jonny was physically much bigger than Larry. He knew he could take him down. He just had to figure out how to maneuver around the knife.
“You don’t want to do that Larry,” he said trying not to raise his voice.
“Yes, I do…you’re ruining my life!” Larry could feel the hot, fast breath of Jonny on his arm.
“Larry, you can’t be with Dana if you do this. Right now, you’ve done nothing wrong.”
“You must think I’m an idiot! I’m not stupid!”
“No one said you were Larry,” Jonny said, feeling Larry’s grip start to loosen. He prepared to pounce.
“You shut up!” Larry yelled, pushing the blade closer to his neck. “No one understands me. No one except Dana and now you’re going to take her away from me!” Larry began to cry. “You can’t do that!” His behavior became more erratic.
With that, there was a crash through the back sliding glass door. Cody burst into the room, leaping toward them. He pushed Larry away from Jonny, tackling him to the ground.
“Jonny, find Dana!” he shouted. Larry struggled beneath him, no match for Cody’s strength. He began stabbing the knife forward, trying to hit Cody.
Dana heard the commotion and flung the weight of her body forward against the door of the small room under the stairs.
The noise was the perfect distraction. Larry looked toward the sound. Cody grabbed the knife from Larry, the blade slitting the palm of his hand. He winced at the pain, but managed to toss the knife away. Cody flipped Larry onto his stomach and pulled his hands above his head gaining control of the madman.
Dana was panicked in the darkness. Unable to see, her senses were heightened. She heard Cody and Jonny’s voices and the commotion that ensued. She didn’t know what was happening…if they were okay.
Sirens wailed in the distance, the noise growing louder.
Suddenly the door opened. Her eyes, blinded by the bright light, slowly came into focus.
She saw Jonny and Cody.
And she was free.
Epilogue - One Year Later
“So now ladies and gentleman…one more time…Cody Blue!”
The arena erupted with cheers. “Cody! Cody! Cody!” they chanted, then broke into screams and applause as Cody Blue Smith took the stage for his encore. A single white spotlight followed him as he strutted to the microphone in dark blue jeans and his signature starched white button down shirt.
“Thank you, Los Angeles!”
The crowd went wild. He took in the applause and adoration…loving every minute of it. After all, he’d worked very hard for it.
When Alex left the band the other guys decided to go their separate ways. Bobby and Harper felt the magic was gone without their friend who helped to start it all.
Cody refused to quit. As a band they had made it to the edge of fame. Success was in his grasp. He couldn’t give up his dream now.
Then came Dana. For her he wrote the song, “Love you, Love me.”
She loved it.
So did all of America.
The song shot up the chart to number one and after years and years of small gigs in cities he couldn’t name, Cody Blue Smith was an overnight success.
The lights dimmed and the band began to play the first strains of his hit song. The crowd erupted again. He was in his glory.
Cody scanned the crowd. In the front row were Jonny and Sharon. Jonny waved at Cody and took Sharon’s hand. His divorce went through months ago. It was a giant wake-up call to him. He realized he was acting like an immature child, hurting not just the people he loved, but himself. So he eased off on his ego and stopped looking so hard for perfection. Taking a step back helped him see a person close to him.
Sharon.
Their friendship blossomed into romance. They worked in different departments so the boss was okay with their relationship. Jonny snickered to himself, hating that he needed anyone’s approval to date…but, at least he had it. Jonny now was all about playing by the rules. He was still doing afternoon drive, live, every afternoon, and had found some peace in his life.
Cody began to sing, “And love is yours for always.” He looked to the side of the stage at Dana. She looked gorgeous tonight in a short black dress. Her ebony hair was shiny and piled atop her head. She beamed back at Cody. It had been a crazy year. After her rescue she spent a few days recovering in the hospital from the drugs Larry had given her and from the concussion she sustained from the fall. It was a harrowing time. She was distraught over the kidnapping and her injuries. She had been taken so easily…it was terrifying. But Cody was there with her through it all. He gave her happiness. He gave her hope. He changed her life.
Larry Carter was promptly arrested by the police who arrived shortly after the takedown. He declared his undying love for Dana as he was handcuffed and taken away. He was now spending his days and nights behind bars at the state penitentiary.
That offered Dana some comfort.
Cody started the last verse of his signature song, his deep voice warm, emotion dripping from every word. When he got to the last chorus, he had the band stop playing so the crowd could sing it with him.
Love you, love me
Always we will be
Forever…
Forever…with you
He sang the last words to Dana.
His manager.
His wife.
And soon to be mother of their child.
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Table of Contents
To Mom and Dad who taught me
Before iPods and mp3s,
The NinetiesChapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23“Hello, WORR.”
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32Fireworks.
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
> Epilogue - One Year Later
Rock Radio Page 27