Slowly she lowered her gun to the floor.
“Kick it aside,” the security guard growled.
She did. She glanced at Everett who looked back at her terrified.
Devin closed her eyes.
It was over.
81
Sis sat back in her chair and stared at the monitor in front of her. They were sending out a shot from the green room. All the celebrities sitting around looking various stages of unhappy to terrified.
Sis wondered for a moment how she got here. She had a flash of what am I doing? The reality of what she saw there struck her. Something woke her up. She wasn’t sure what it was. She couldn’t change what she’d done. And she wouldn’t. Then she looked down at her wedding ring and the familiar black rage overtook her heart again. The fury and the rage that her losing her Andy had irreparably caused in her flared up and she remembered viscerally why she was here.
They would pay. They would pay for what they took from her. The whole world would pay for taking her world away. All those sheep out there who went to see these stupid movies. These masses who loved their Hollywood and didn’t care that it had all gone to shit. Or whose lives were ruined. Everyone was going to pay for what was taken from her.
Sis looked up. The door to the director’s booth opened. And Richard came in.
He plunked himself down on the corner of the console where she was sitting.
“What do you want, Richard?”
He smirked. “I’ve got something for you…”
“What?”
Richard pressed his radio talk button. “Come in please.”
The door opened and a security guard came in with his gun to the head of Devin Jones.
Sis smiled. She turned to Richard. “Well done.”
The security guard sat Devin down on the couch.
“Len, you can go,” Richard said.
“You sure, boss? She’s pretty dangerous.”
Richard laughed. “You don’t have to tell me.” He pulled his gun out of his holster and trained it on Devin. “Besides, she tries anything, Everett Cale who is right outside that door dies.”
Len let himself out.
Sis looked at this beautiful young woman sitting on her couch in her black dress. Andy. Sis suddenly thought. Why did she think of Andy?
Devin felt a bead of sweat fall down the back of her neck. She glanced at Sis Warren then at the Richard guy.
“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Devin said.
Richard laughed. “Like what? Like we kill you on National Television in front of all your new fans?”
Devin felt the blood drain from her face. She knew she was next.
Devin took a deep breath, she unclenched her hands. She looked at Sis again.
“I know about Jorge.”
Richard laughed again. “Who the hell is Jorge?”
“Sis knows…” Devin looked at Sis again. “Your diamond… from your ring…I found it by the body. It won’t take my partner long to put it together.”
Sis leaned back in her chair. “That’s nice. Good luck going after Sis Warren. Everyone saw her die. She’s dead, sweetheart. And when this place goes up in about,” she looked at her watch “Half an hour…they won’t be able to identify anyone’s body… so there’s no Sis Warren.”
“I see…”
“Do you?”
“Why did you kill Jorge?”
“Because I had to know I could do it.”
“And…I guess you could.”
“It was easier than I thought… Amazing when you lose everything in the world how nothing else in the world much matters.”
Devin looked at Richard. “I want to talk to Sis alone.”
Richard laughed. “You’ve got moxy. I’ll give you that much.”
“I’m serious.”
Richard looked incredulous. “Sorry, honey.”
Devin held his gaze. “Give her a gun. Go ahead. If I try anything she can shoot me.”
“Why would I do that? Why would I possibly leave you alone with her?”
Devin looked at Sis. “97 WIV… That’s why.”
Sis looked like she’d seen a ghost.
Devin just kept looking at her.
“No? Nothing to say, Sis?”
Sis snapped to it a little bit. She looked at Richard, distracted. “Um, fine. Richard, give me a gun.”
“Sis, this isn’t a good idea.”
“Richard. Just do it.”
He shrugged. Handed her his gun, which she took and held pointed at Devin sitting across from her. Richard headed to the door.
“I’ll be just out here if you need me…”
Sis didn’t bother responding. She was looking at Devin.
Devin waited for something to register. “You remember me, don’t you? I know you do.”
Sis felt her heart start to race. She felt her stomach flip flop. She looked across at this lovely young woman and remembered her as she’d known her.
“No…” Sis lied.
“You do,” Devin said. “I can see it. I know you do. You didn’t before… but you know now.”
Sis looked at her again, she slowly shook her head in disbelief. She looked at the woman in the black dress with the shining blue eyes and saw those eyes looking at her in a world she remembered. She looked at Devin’s hands and remembered her hands. Those hands wiping her tears away. She remembered that face. She remembered the sound of her voice. “You will get through this… You will get through this… Is there someone I can call?”
She remembered the kindness of the pretty policewoman who sat with her on her floor in her foyer for over two hours, the spot where she’d gotten the news about Andy. The spot where she sank to her knees and couldn’t move. And the female police officer didn’t even try to move her because she didn’t want to be moved. Sis remembered this beautiful soul who held her while she cried. Who turned off her police radio when she kept getting called from her supervisor. She knew the girl was in trouble staying with her that long. But the girl didn’t care. She showed Sis compassion and she showed her love when all the love in the world disappeared. No. Not her. It couldn’t be her.
“No…” Sis said.
“You remember. I know you do. You know who I am. 97 WIV, that was your husband’s license plate. You know it was me. I was the one. I was there.”
Sis shook her head. “No…”
Devin leaned forward on the couch. “You know, Sis. I know you do.”
Sis closed her eyes. Her head was suddenly spinning. What the fuck was she going to do now? She couldn’t kill this girl. She had been the only good thing in the world she had found. No one had asked the police officer to do everything she did but she did it. In Sis’s darkest moment, she was light.
Devin felt her throat tighten with fear or something stronger like resolve. “Please, Sis. You can stop this… You can. There’s time. Please.”
She saw Sis hesitate.
“How… how could I possibly? I can’t.”
“You can…”
“No.”
Devin thought of Everett. She thought of Sally Bixby. She thought of Glynn Fielding. “Sis, please. End this now.”
“The plan is in motion.”
“End it.”
“I can’t.”
Devin shook her head. “You can.”
Sis stood up. Took a deep breath. “Look. I want you out. I want you to go… There’s a way out.”
“I know about the way out.”
“How do you…”
“It doesn’t matter… But I do. And I’ve gotten two people out already. I want to take the rest with me.”
“No. Just you.”
Devin shook her head. “I won’t.”
Sis sighed. “If you don’t leave, I’ll kill the rest of them right now.”
Devin closed her eyes. An impossible choice. “Sis… I know you have no intention of anyone getting out but you and him.”
“That was the plan.”
Devin loo
ked at Sis, “That’s not you…”
“It is now.”
“Sis, please. Trust me. I can help you. Just let the others go.”
“Why should I trust you?”
Devin looked right into her eyes. “Because you know you can.”
Suddenly the whole building rocked with an explosion. The next moment, the door flew open and Richard came in.
“Richard,” Sis said, “What the hell was that?”
He looked at Sis and then looked at Devin. “That was the roof door exploding. And probably taking the whole third floor with it…”
“How’d that happen?” Sis demanded.
Richard looked at Devin. “Because she probably arranged it that way. Cops.”
Devin’s heart sank. Fucking Bronco Bennett. Jesus.
Sis’s face hardened. “I can trust you, can I?”
“Sis, that wasn’t me! I told them not to!”
“Yeah, right. Whatever…” She picked the gun up, waved it in Devin’s direction while talking to Richard. “Her and the other girl. They’re next.”
Richard came and picked up Devin from the elbow.
Devin looked at Sis. “Sis, it wasn’t me. I swear to God.”
“I don’t believe in God, sweetheart. Not anymore.”
“I want to help you.”
Sis narrowed her eyes at Devin. “You’re no different than the rest of them.”
Richard ported Devin out into the hallway where Everett was standing looking shaken, for the first time. Instinctively Everett reached for Devin’s hand, which she took for a second until a security guard grabbed her arm.
“Come on,” Richard said, “Take them backstage. These two are next. I’ve got to see what’s happening on the roof.”
Devin looked at Everett who looked back at her with a helpless look in her eye.
Devin felt so much emotion well up in her she could hardly breathe. Jesus, this was really it.
82
Caitlin came back to her couch, having finished nervously pacing in the kitchen. She looked at the TV again. No change. A bunch of fancy people sitting around in gowns and tuxes in a green room. She changed the channel to the news covering the story. There was that Pammy Gonzales, the newswoman they always chucked out onto Ventura in a puddle when it was raining. She was standing outside the theater.
“We heard the explosion about two minutes ago. We’re not totally sure what it was or if anyone has been injured. We see from the feed, that the celebrities are not affected.”
Caitlin leaned forward on the couch towards the television as if her proximity could help the situation. “Explosion… Jesus. Devin where are you?”
Caitlin walked over to the table where he laptop was open. She had been following Devin’s messages on Twitter. At least they were kind of real time. But there hadn’t been one in awhile. Caitlin had hastily set up her own Twitter account hoping to send Devin a message but she couldn’t think of what to say.
She could think of what to say if she was in person. She would say everything she hadn’t been able to say all the times she saw her on the street or talked to her.
She would say she wished they could be together but if they couldn’t she would understand. She would say that she loved the way Devin smiled and the way she listened, like she listened with everything she was. It was very sexy. She would say she loved the way Devin laughed. It was like the sun came out and who even knew it was cloudy. She would say she loved that she read books and that she cared about things and that she was brave enough to be a cop. She would say that Devin coming home from work with her sunglasses on and her hair up in a ponytail and that smile of hers was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. She’d say that she loved her hands. Her hands were soft and strong and so lovely. That she loved her shoulders, she’d seen Devin in a tank top a few times and it almost induced a coronary. She’d tell her that if Devin could love her back she’d make her feel like she was the only person in the world who had ever been loved. Caitlin wanted Devin for everything she was with everything she was. Caitlin had loved her from the moment she met her. That there was more than the beautiful everyone else could see. There was a strength and a sorrow and a sweetness and a brokenness and a hope. She saw a lovely sadness deep inside Devin Jones, a sorrow for something Caitlin couldn’t really know but that she wanted to hold and protect and love into disappearance. She longed to know what caused that sorrow. And longed to be the salve for that very pain.
There was so much to say, but Caitlin could only sit and stare at the computer screen and pray for words to pop up indicating the love of her life, whether she knew it or not, was safe.
“Devin, please… just say something.”
83
Devin Jones mentally added up all the times in her life she had loved someone. She added up all the times she had been loved. She thought of Brad. She thought of Nadia. She thought of Caitlin. She stopped herself. Why did she think of Caitlin? Caitlin… Someone lovely to think of as she weighed the possibility she was going to die.
She felt the burly security guy’s hand grip her arm as she walked. She went through her Russian Self Defense training. She was practicing the breathing now. She knew she could take the guy down in four moves. Turn, grab, twist, pop the gun out of his hand into hers, break his arm, kick his knee, knocking the patella loose, as he went down shoot him in the back of the head with his gun.
But what about Everett? Could she do it in time to take out her guy before he shot Everett? Maybe. Maybe not.
They were being guided through the backstage corridors to the stage.
Devin searched her mind for something. Anything. As she walked she felt Everett’s hand, Everett was in front of her. Devin felt her hand subtly reach back, Devin offered Everett hers. They managed to intertwine just two fingers for the briefest of moments.
Devin knew she just needed an advantage. She knew she could do it if she had a few seconds head start. She could take out her guy and kill the other one. But there was nothing. No found weapons. No advantage. And the stage entrance was in sight about 20 feet ahead. It was now or never. She couldn’t allow them both to be marched to their death.
The feeling of Everett’s hand on hers sparked an idea. Devin suddenly stopped walking.
“Wait.” she said.
Everett and her guy stopped in front a couple of feet.
The security guard next to Devin nudged her. “Move.”
“One second. Look… we’re about to die. Can you just allow me one second to say goodbye to my girlfriend?”
“Your what?”
Devin didn’t even wait for permission. She had to cause a stun grenade. It’s all she could think of to do. After all, she had been an actress. This was still Hollywood.
She looked into Everett’s eyes, just like they were starting a scene together. Devin said, “Go with me,” with her eyes. Everett nodded almost imperceptibly.
“Forget it,” The security guard said. “Let’s go.”
Devin ignored him, half expecting to get shot in the back. She walked over to Everett, gently brushed the back of her fingers across Everett’s lips, looked into her eyes and went for it. The most passionate and obviously tongue filled kiss she’d ever given her. Everett in turn, slipped her arms around Devin’s waist and then for extra oomph slid her hands down to Devin’s ass. They were going for it.
Devin knew in that moment of lack of protest from the Security guards they had let their guard down. Devin’s heart started pounding, she slowed down her breathing, she got ready. She was ready.
Like lightning, she reached over and grabbed the gun of the guy standing next to Everett, she curled around into him, like a dance partner, using his arm as her own, she shoved her finger into the trigger, breaking his index finger in the process, turned at a 30 degree angle and shot the other security guard right in the head. No time for two shots. One would do. Next in one continuous move, she twirled out of the grip of the security guard, flipped the gun into her own hand, be
nt his arm backwards, and without anything else fancy, just shot him twice in the heart.
As he fell, Devin didn’t wait for anyone else to find them. She grabbed Everett’s hand. “Come on. I have to get you out of here.”
Devin led Everett as they ran down the corridor to the stairway that led down to the orchestra pit where she’d been earlier. “We can’t go back to the only way out they know I know about it. They’ll be waiting.”
She opened the door to the stairway to the lower level.
“Down here.”
Devin shoved the door open and led Everett down the stairs.
At the bottom, she led them through the big metal door and into the low ceilinged hallway below.
She looked around. The bad guys knew about the orchestra pit, so it would buy them some time but not much. She just needed a few minutes to think. Get herself together.
Devin went into the orchestra pit entrance, leading Everett. Then at the back she saw a barely visible black door.
“Come on…”
She went through the door and it was a small prep room. Hard to see from the main orchestra pit. You wouldn’t know it was there. There were music stands and some discarded instruments in open cases or just lying around and a few small plastic chairs.
Devin looked at Everett. “We should be okay in here till I can figure out what to do.”
Everett walked over to her. She brushed the hair out of her face. “Wow, were you as good an actress as you are a cop?”
Devin laughed.
Everett moved in closer. She put her hand on the side of Devin’s face. Looking into her eyes.
“Aren’t you getting married?” Devin said.
Everett leaned in to kiss her. “Maybe.”
Devin pulled back; she was taken aback by Everett’s response. She had just come out in front of a billion people. What the hell was she saying? “Wait, what?”
This is Devin Jones Page 18