Falling Angel

by Carmen Richter

  Then I sent out a mass text to my team to meet me in the suite in twenty minutes. That would give me enough time to show this to her and let her break down before they got there.

  When I let myself in, Daphne was sitting on the couch watching a rerun of Castle and sipping on a cup of coffee. She smiled at me, flashing her dimples, but it quickly disappeared. I had no idea what I looked like right now, but if I looked half as terrified as I felt, I was sure it was a sight to see.

  “It’s bad, isn’t it?” she asked.

  I nodded. “I don’t want to show you because it freaked me out, but you need to know what we’re up against. I’m calling our home office and getting in touch with the FBI as soon as we meet with the rest of the team to figure out if there’s anything else we can do to tighten up your security. The guys are going to be here in about ten minutes.”

  “Okay, let’s just get it over with. Let me see,” she sighed.

  Hesitantly, I handed her the envelope and let her look at the contents. The picture and note stayed in her hands for less than two seconds before she dropped them and covered her mouth with her hands, like she was trying to suppress the sob that tore out of her throat. And in another three seconds, she was jumping off the couch and running back into the bedroom—and, from there, I assumed the bathroom. I got up to follow her, but she closed the door before I got there, so I just went back to the couch and waited.

  What seemed like an eternity later, she finally emerged again. I handed her the other bottle of water I’d grabbed from the vending machine.

  “Sorry,” she sniffled as she sat down next to me and took a drink.

  “If it makes you feel better, that was my exact reaction when I saw it too,” I told her.

  I moved closer to her and planted a kiss on her temple, and she immediately put the cap back on her water and curled into my side, sliding her arms around me. I returned her embrace, but it still felt like she was a mile away from me. Apparently she felt the same way, because after a minute, she moved to my lap, curling up against my chest like she was trying to make herself as small as possible while her tears wet my shirt.

  “I’ve got you, angel,” I murmured. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

  “Why me? What did I do?” she sobbed. “What made them decide that they wanted to keep me chained up in that room for the rest of my life?”

  “Whoever this is, they’re sick. It’s not on you. And they’re never going to touch you. Not while I’m still breathing. I…” I trailed off.

  Those three words I’d been wanting to say to her since the first time I kissed her were on the tip of my tongue, but this wasn’t the time. So instead of saying them, I tilted her chin up and showed her. I poured every ounce of love, uncertainty, and fear into the kiss I gave her, and she clung to me like a vice as her lips and tongue tangled with mine desperately.

  We were interrupted by a knock on the door, and I unwillingly backed up, brushing her lips one more time.

  “Let me up, baby,” I whispered. “I’ll be right back.”

  She nodded slightly before moving off of my lap, and I got up to go to the door. Looking through the peephole, I found Hector, Garth, and Frankie all standing there, so I let them in.

  “Hey, boss man. What’s up?” Frankie asked as they walked in.

  “Nothing good,” I muttered as I walked back to the couch.

  I picked up the papers that were still on the floor and handing them to Hector before sitting back down. And the second I did, Daphne crawled right back onto my lap and curled up against me again. Even though no one other than Hector and Garth knew about us yet, I couldn’t bring myself to move her. Truthfully, I needed her right now as much as she needed me. So I guessed they were about to find out. And Frankie just smiled, not even batting an eye.

  “Fucking shit,” Hector gasped, handing the papers to Garth. “What in the hell are we dealing with?”

  “I wish I knew,” I sighed. “I’m bringing the FBI on board. I don’t give a flying fuck what Josh has to say about it.”

  Another knock sounded on the door. I started to move Daphne so I could get up, but Garth put a hand on my shoulder.

  “I’ve got it. Your girl needs you,” he told me.

  Mick, Ricky, Logan, and Brock—the four newer team members—walked into the room, followed by Neil and Pete. Logan and Brock raised their eyebrows when they saw Daphne and I together, but the other four didn’t even look phased.

  “Well, this explains a lot,” Logan snorted.

  “Not the time, man,” I muttered.

  “Exactly. We’ve got way more important shit to deal with,” Garth said. “Like, for instance, not letting Daph get kidnapped by a psycho who apparently plans on keeping her chained in a bedroom until the end of time.”

  Daphne whimpered and clung tighter to me; I tightened my arms around her and kissed her temple.

  “You probably could have worded that a little better,” Hector chuckled weakly.

  “He’s right, mate,” Mick, the only Brit I knew other than Taylor, agreed. “The girl’s sitting right here.”

  “Sorry, Daph,” Garth said, looking at her apologetically.

  “It’s okay,” she mumbled.

  Frankie, who had been looking at the papers, passed them off to Pete, who looked and started passing them around to the rest of the guys.

  “Well, at least we know no one’s going to get to Daph while she’s sleeping,” Pete snickered.

  “You’re hilarious,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “No joke. You should be doing stand-up, dude,” Ricky deadpanned.

  “Am I wrong?” He raised an eyebrow.

  I snorted. “No, you’re not wrong. But what about the other eighteen hours of the day? Is there anything else you guys can think of doing to tighten up her security?”

  “I know we’re operating on the theory that this person is someone who’s on the crew because of some of the pictures they’ve sent her, but it might not be. They might have a friend on the crew who doesn’t know how sick they are and is sending them those pictures,” Neil pointed out.

  “That still doesn’t tell us what to do about it,” Logan said.

  “Daph, I know you’re going to hate this idea, but I think we need to limit the general public’s access to you,” Garth said.

  “What do you mean?” she asked in a small voice.

  “Cancel the meet and greets. No more going out and signing for the masses after the shows. No one gets anywhere near you except the people working on this tour,” he clarified.

  “I’m not canceling the meet and greets,” she said. “Those people paid good money to meet me, and I’m not putting Josh and Hugh through the nightmare of refunding part of their ticket price. And I feel safe during those. You guys are there with me, and they’ve already been through a security screening at the venue too. But I have no issue with having a few more of you there. Maybe one extra person outside the door with Garth and then two more people inside with Ezra and Frankie?”

  As much as I didn’t like it, I completely understood where she was coming from, not wanting to cancel the paid meet and greets. That would be a logistical nightmare and it would mean refunding a shit ton of money to people, which Josh and Hugh definitely wouldn’t be happy about.

  “Okay, we can make that happen,” I told her. “But can we talk you out of signing at the stage door after the show, or at the hotel if people somehow figure out where the crew’s staying? I know you don’t like hearing this, but I think Garth’s right. The less people who have access to you, the less likely someone is to try anything. Especially not when the whole crew knows that at least one of us is with you twenty-four-seven.”

  “You mean, when you’re with her twenty-four-seven?” Hector chuckled weakly.

  I shrugged. He wasn’t wrong. Daphne and I had pretty much been joined at the hip lately.

  “Can I compromise with you?” she sighed.

  “Do I want to know what’s going on in that gor
geous head of yours?” I teased.

  “Probably not, because it means more work for you guys,” she admitted. “If I can’t go outside and sign for people after the show, I want to autograph some swag and headshots from the safety of my dressing room before the show and have you guys give it out to random people when you deliver the news that I won’t be coming out to sign. Kids, especially kids who are obviously sick, get priority, but besides that, I don’t care who you give it to.”

  I smiled and pressed my lips to her head. This wasn’t the first time she’d blown me away with her kindness and generosity to her fans, but it was definitely the most elaborate thing I’d seen her do. She’d be killing her hands on an almost nightly basis signing shit to have us give to the screaming fans at the stage door.

  “It’s not more work,” Brock said. “We’d be going out there with you anyway. I don’t mind giving some free stuff out after the show. I’m sure the masses will appreciate you doing something for them.”

  “Anyone have a problem with that?” I asked.

  All of the guys either shook their heads or gave some version of a no.

  “Okay, then. I’m also going to call the home office and see if we can get a few x-ray machines for bag checks instead of relying on the venue security to have them, or having them do manual checks if they don’t,” I decided. “Minimizes the possibility of someone being able to sneak something they shouldn’t have into a concert. Until we get them, I know you’re going to hate me, but I want a couple of you at the entrance with the venue security supervising the bag checks. We’ll come up with a schedule and rotate out who it is so one person isn’t always stuck with the job. And hopefully the home office can get them to us pretty quickly, so this won’t last long.”

  “As much of a pain in the arse as that’ll be, it makes sense,” Mick said.

  I nodded. “Honestly, other than that, I can’t think of anything else we could be doing differently. I’m going to get in touch with our contacts at the FBI, and hopefully they’ll agree with me about how serious this is and give us some more support.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I growled. “What part of this isn’t serious enough for you? The part where this freak is following her around to practically every stop? Or maybe it was the part where they sent her a picture of a room they’d built for her, complete with fucking chains and handcuffs?”

  “Look, man, I can sympathize with you,” Jack Henry, Eagle’s contact at the FBI, told me. “I’ve done your job. But Daphne DeVille is a world-famous celebrity. She’s got hundreds of millions of fans. There are going to be a few people with screws loose among them. But what you’re describing doesn’t sound to me like someone who’s going to try to cause her harm. And we’re spread too thin right now as it is. I can’t afford to put any of my people on this.”

  I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying not to lose my temper any more than I already had. That wouldn’t help anything.

  “Fine. I’ll keep doing the best I can with my limited resources. And I’ll just pray that she doesn’t end up on the growing list of celebrities who have been hurt or killed by, quote, harmless fans,” I spat, then hung up.

  I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned to find Daphne standing there with bloodshot eyes. She’d been crying for most of the morning, not that I blamed her. I felt like crying too, but one of us had to be strong, and she obviously couldn’t be. Thank God today was an off day, because no way in hell would she have been able to perform tonight after this.

  “No luck?” she guessed.

  I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I feel like I’m working with one hand tied behind my back and like I’m one step behind this person.”

  “Don’t apologize, babe. It’s not your fault,” she said, giving me a much-needed hug.

  I pulled her close, resting my chin on her head, as I tried to calm myself down enough to talk to her. Because if my team was alone in the endeavor to keep her safe, there was a lot more she needed to hear, and I knew she’d be calmer about it if it came from me.

  “Are you up for talking about this some more?” I asked. “If the only backup I have on this is my team and the three x-ray machines that are getting delivered to our next stop, I need to go over some stuff with you. About what to do if, God forbid, this freak does end up getting you alone.”

  She nodded against my chest. “It has to happen sometime, right?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “Then it doesn’t sound like I have much of a choice.”

  “It can wait until tomorrow if you’ve had enough today,” I told her, pulling back to look her in the eyes.

  “I had enough just seeing the damn picture, Ezra. But I don’t want to be dreading this conversation. If I have to stay cooped up in this room with you until we go to the stadium tomorrow, I want to be able to relax and try to calm down enough to perform.”

  I took a deep breath. “Okay.”

  I led her to the couch, opening my arms in an invitation she immediately accepted. She curled up against me and rested her head on my chest, planting a kiss right above my heart. I knew I shouldn’t read anything into it, especially not right now, but I couldn’t help the hope that started to bubble inside me. Hope that maybe this really was as real for her as it was for me.

  “I’m going to give you the phone numbers for everyone on my team,” I told her. “I want you to program as many of us as you can into your SOS notification. Put me, Hector, and Garth in first, and then as many other people as you can. That way if you can get to your phone, you can let us know you need help with the push of a button.”

  She nodded. “Okay. What else?”

  “This is the part that I hate even thinking about,” I sighed. “Have you had self-defense training at all?”

  “Yeah,” she sniffled. “A couple of times.”

  “Good. If you end up alone with this person, use it. Fight dirty. Scratch his eyes, knee him in the balls, go for a throat jab, whatever you can. And make tons of noise. Scream for help and tell him to get off of you. Anything to make someone who overhears it realize that you’re in trouble. Do everything you can to resist, because the last thing you want is to get taken somewhere else. But if you do end up getting taken, leave breadcrumbs if you can. Clothes, jewelry, anything you can leave behind to let the people looking for you know what direction you went in.”

  I felt tears wet my shirt, and Daphne tightened her hold on me. Fuck, I hated this part of my job. I wished like hell that someone else could have been the one talking to her about what to do if this psycho got to her. The possibilities were endless, and I hated thinking about anyone touching even a hair on her head.

  I sat up for a second, grabbing the remote and turning the TV back on. I didn’t even pay attention to what was on before shifting so I was lying down on the couch and patting the empty space next to me. Without a word, she moved so she was lying next to me. I wrapped my arms around her, and she rolled so she was facing me and burrowed as close as she could get.

  “I’m scared, Ezra,” she whispered. “I’m terrified. I don’t know what I did to make them decide to start this, so I don’t know how to stop it.”

  “That’s why you have me, angel,” I murmured. “I don’t know why they started this either, but I do know that I’m going to do everything in my power to stop it.”

  Again, those three words danced on my tongue, desperate to be voiced, but I restrained myself. I couldn’t tell her I loved her now. Not like this. Not until this was all behind us and she knew without a doubt that I meant every word I was saying.

  “So, seems like things are getting pretty hot and heavy with a certain bodyguard,” Samantha teased as we walked back into my dressing room after sound check.

  I chuckled, and I felt myself turning bright red. I wasn’t really sure why. I’d never been nervous talking about my sex life with her before. Hell, she used to be part of my sex life. But this was different somehow. It felt more real.

  “Yeah,” I s
aid.

  “I’ve heard you on FaceTime with his daughter. Aren’t you worried that it’s a little soon for that? I mean, most single fathers don’t let the girls they’re dating meet their kids this soon. I dated a divorced dad once. Never got to the ‘meet the kid’ stage,” she told me.

  “We’ve talked about that, actually. He wants her to get used to me as a person instead of as her favorite singer. If I wasn’t me, he wouldn’t be doing this so fast. But he’s got a point. It’s not like I can just come over for dinner one night and have him introduce me as a friend and she’ll just accept it. You know? It’s a risk, because if we don’t work out, we’ll be hurting her too, but it’s a calculated one. Besides, I can’t explain it, but I just feel like we’re going to work out. It just…it feels right, you know?”

  “Honestly, Daph, I’ve never seen you happier. And happy looks good on you. Both of you, actually. You and Ezra are all kinds of cute together.”

  “Is it really that obvious? The only people who are supposed to know are you, my friends from college, and his team.”

  “Because of your stalker? You haven’t heard from them in, what? Three weeks?” she asked.

  “Yeah. But still. Look what they did to you after they found out I hooked up with you. If they found out about Ezra? I can’t take that chance. He has a kid who needs him. I feel like an awful person for not being able to keep my feelings for him in check while this person’s still out there.”

  “Babe, no one can help who they fall for. And Ezra can handle himself. Plus, it’s really not that obvious. Bailey, Willow, and I could only tell because we know you so well. You guys do a good job of hiding it.”

  “What about you and Garth?” I asked. “I’ve seen you two together when you’re off the clock.”

  She turned bright red. “We’re just having fun. It’s not serious.”

  “Right. And that’s why you’re the color of a lobster right now,” I teased, then I sighed. “I’m still kind of nervous about going home next week. You know? If this person is this obsessed with me, I’m sure they know where I live. And I don’t have security at home. I can’t ask Ezra to come home with me. He and Ari need the time together. Maybe I can see if a few of the other guys are available, though.”