“You don’t know that,” Theresa said, her voice full of distress. “You can’t know that.”
“No, I don’t, but you didn’t hear her last night, Terry. It felt like someone had kicked me in the gut. She told me things last night that she didn’t tell me ten years ago. I think they were things she would never have told me if she hadn’t been so far down that she resorted to doing that to herself.” His eyes were on his ex-wife as he begged her to understand. “How can I not help her? I owe this to her, and I’m gonna be there for her no matter what it takes.”
“Even if it takes your career?”
Skyler looked at her for a long moment, as if surprised that she’d actually brought that up, then nodded slowly.
Two hours later, Skyler drove Billy to the Foothills Rehabilitation Center. He’d had a long conversation with the director the day before, and he liked the man’s attitude. Jerry Reese had told Skyler that everyone had problems; his patients just used more obvious ways of dealing with them. Billy would have to deal with the one-week dry-out period, but after that, Skyler, Jerith, and anyone else who wanted to could come to support her during certain visiting hours.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” Billy said, already looking nervous. She was sitting in the passenger seat, looking over at him as he drove.
“You can do it,” Skyler said. “It’s too important for you not to. That is, unless you want to find a whole new career,” he said with a grin.
“That’s not the only reason. If I don’t get clean, you can’t be with me, can you?”
Skyler looked at her, then shook his head. “No, I can’t.”
Billy nodded.
They rode in silence for a while. Skyler flipped through the radio channels and finally pushed a CD into the player. It was Savage Garden, and when the song started, Skyler reached across and turned it up, looking over at Billy. “I heard this song the other day. It reminds me of you.”
Billy listened intently to the words.
The song was “To the Moon and Back.” It spoke of having been let down and waiting for just the right person to come along to take her to the moon and back.
Billy looked over at Skyler as the song played on. “Are you the right kind of pilot?” she asked. Her voice was light, but her heart was pounding.
Skyler didn’t answer at first. He knew what she was asking, and wasn’t sure he wanted to give her that kind of commitment right then. To hell with it. He nodded. “If you want me to be,” he said softly.
Billy reached over, taking his hand and squeezing it. She was afraid to say anything, sure it would wake her up from what had to be a dream. She wasn’t sure what Skyler had just committed to her, or just how much, but it was more than she’d really hoped for. She decided she’d get clean for him, because he was worth the hell she would go through over the next few weeks.
“Skyler,” she said hesitantly as a thought occurred to her. “Jerith only gave me a month. Is that long enough?”
“It’s a good start.”
“Yeah, but he said clean, and I know Jerith—he meant totally clean. What if I can’t do that?”
“I told you I’ll talk to Jerith about it, and I will, I promise. But I want you to be serious about this, Billy. This may be your last shot.” He drove into the center’s parking lot, and after he parked up he turned to her. “Last night scared the hell out of me. I don’t want to go through that ever again.”
Billy nodded. “I know. And I am so sorry. It scares me to think that I cut myself again during a blackout. It scares me to think what else I’d be capable of when I’m high, or coming down…” She trailed off as she thought of all the things that could have happened. Skyler hugged her to him, and she held on to him like he was a lifeboat on a sinking ship.
A little while later, Skyler walked her into the center, and an hour later he left again.
Skyler called Jerith’s cell phone later that day.
“Jerith, this is Skyler Kristiani.”
“Okay…” Jerith said, not sure why Skyler would be calling him.
“I found Billy cutting herself last night.”
“She what!” Jerith all but yelled, paling instantly. Nicolette moved to his side, touching him on the shoulder. He looked over at her, but shook his head. “Where? How?” was all he could think of to ask.
“At my house, with a mirror she broke,” Skyler said calmly. “I stopped her before she did a lot of damage, but I checked her into rehab this morning. I thought you should know about it.”
“Yeah, man, thanks. Shit.” Jerith felt guilty all of a sudden.
“Jerith,” Skyler said, his tone changing. “It wasn’t you, okay. Actually, I think it was me again.” He sounded quite discomfited. “So I guess I owe you an apology. I guess I’m not a very good influence on her.”
“Only because she’s never gotten over you,” Jerith said simply, without any accusation. “Don’t blame yourself. She’s a big girl—she makes what she does out of her life.”
Skyler agreed wholeheartedly with that statement. “Well, the place I got her checked into is pretty up-to-date. They’re into a lot of self-help, not all that quit cold turkey and suffer crap. She’ll be okay there. She should be able to come home in about two weeks.”
“Yeah, but where will home be?” Jerith asked pointedly.
Skyler was silent for a long moment. “Here with me for as long as she needs me,” he said finally, sounding determined.
Jerith nodded. “I think that’s what she’ll want.”
“Yeah… Whether it’s the best thing, I don’t know. I’ll let her decide,” Skyler said; he wanted to be fair.
“Just make sure she knows she has the option,” Jerith said, knowing his friend and lead singer well. Billy had never gotten over Skyler James Kristiani, and he knew she compared every man she met to him. Jerith knew Skyler was right in a way. He was either her savior or her executioner; it was a lot for the man to have on his shoulders. Jerith didn’t envy him in the slightest. He thanked him for calling, and also gave Skyler the number of the hotel he and Nicolette would be at the following week, in case Skyler needed him.
They hung up and Jerith turned to Nicolette. She looked very concerned, and he told her everything. She agreed with him that Skyler’s role in Billy’s recovery was going to be black or white. They both agreed there wasn’t anything they’d be able to do, having considered putting off the trip. Nicolette had told him she’d be fine with doing just that; she knew how important Billy was to him. Jerith appreciated her compassion for someone she didn’t even really know. He had no idea what would happen with Billy. He knew things were getting dangerous and Billy needed help. On the one hand, he felt guilty that someone else was having to handle Billy and her problems; on the other, he was relieved to finally have some help. Of course, the relief caused its own guilt.
He looked at Nicolette and knew he was doing the right thing, taking her away from everything, and at the same time he was happy to be getting away as well. He’d left word that he wasn’t to be bothered. He knew that was likely to piss a few people off, but he didn’t really care.
****
Four hundred miles away in Los Angeles, California, Brenden James Sparks, commonly known as BJ Sparks, drove his Silver Smoke Gray ’65 Shelby GT500 at breakneck speeds along the 405 freeway. His phone rang and he answered using the speaker, leaving the phone in the console cup holder.
“Yeah?”
“Mr. Sparks, I have Mr. Rothe,” said his ever-efficient assistant.
“Put him through,” BJ said, glancing over at Jordan, his sometime girlfriend, who sat in the passenger seat. He braced himself; Rothe was Billy and the Kid’s manager, and BJ found him fairly annoying.
“Mr. Sparks,” Alan Rothe said hesitantly. “You, ah, wanted to speak with me?” He practically squeaked; BJ Sparks had always scared the shit out of him, and the fact that he held Alan’s future in his hands only served to make that feeling worse.
“Yeah, I want to know wha
t’s going on with my latest talent,” BJ practically snapped.
“I, uh, well…” Alan stammered, his mind racing.
“Spit it out, Rothe.”
“Well, as you know, Billy was arrested, but we managed to avoid a lot of press on that front.”
“Yeah, and now I’m hearing shit about her partying and getting into fights with hotel managers. What the fuck are you doing up there?”
“Well, sir, I’m trying, but you know that Billy is very highly strung…” Alan trailed off, hoping BJ would understand.
“Don’t give me that crap,” BJ said, his light blue-green eyes narrowing dangerously. “I thought Michaels had a handle on her.”
“Well, normally he does,” Alan said, seeing a way out for himself.
“But now?” BJ replied, his tone darkening.
“Well, he’s chasing this skirt up here in Sacramento…” Alan trailed off again; he didn’t really want to tell BJ about it.
“I guess it’s time for your ass to step up then. You’re their manager, Rothe, so fucking manage them!”
“I, uh, I will,” Alan said, swallowing convulsively.
“And I want this bullshit with her drug use to stop, or they’re going to find themselves out of a record contract fast.”
“Don’t worry, sir, I’ll take care of it.” Alan felt his back stiffening as he heard the sound of money being flushed down the toilet.
The deal BJ Sparks had made with Billy and the Kid to sign with his record label, Badlands Records, was something most managers only dreamed of. The band was supposed to be cutting their first album in BJ’s own recording studios, Wild Irish Silence Studios, in less than a month. Alan knew he needed to get on the stick and get things handled.
“See that you do,” BJ said simply, then broke the connection.
Alan hung up the phone in his hotel room and proceeded to yank it out of the wall. He threw it across the room with a yell of pure frustration. He was losing control here, and he couldn’t let that happen. He needed to get Billy in line.
Back in LA, BJ looked over at Jordan and saw her shake her head.
“What?” BJ asked, his English accent clear.
“I seem to remember how often you and I got high together,” she said pointedly as she raised a dark eyebrow at him.
“Yeah, well, you aren’t new to my label, and what I do is none of their fucking business.”
Jordan wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. She just shook her head, rolling her eyes.
“Besides, you’re all clean now, right?” BJ said wryly.
“Don’t start…”
“That new cop boyfriend is keeping you clean.”
“Just shut up, BJ.”
“That’s what I thought,” BJ said with a crooked sneer.
He’d signed Billy and the Kid because he’d seen some real genius in their music. He expected them to get even bigger than they were before, and he planned to take them there. But if they couldn’t get Billy straightened out, they were doomed, and he had no intention of pouring resources into a sinking ship.
Reaching down, he made another phone call.
“Badlands Records,” answered BJ’s assistant.
“Allison, get me the Billy and the Kid contract. I want it on my desk when I get in.”
“Okay. Should I get ahold of the lawyers?” Allison asked, never surprised by her boss’s sudden mood changes.
“Not yet. Just get me the contract.”
“Yes sir,” Allison said crisply.
Billy and the Kid could be an amazing band, but Billy Montague needed to get ahold of herself and straighten up. BJ had signed them to make hits, not misses.
You can find more information about the author and series here:
www.sherrylhancock.com
www.facebook.com/SherrylDHancock
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Also by Sherryl D. Hancock:
The WeHo series follows a group of women from Los Angeles as they navigate the ups and downs of love, life, work, and everything in between.
www.vulpine-press.com/we-ho
The MidKnight Blue series takes us on a journey with Midnight Chevalier, the tough ex-gang leader who switches sides and works to put away those she used to fight beside.
www.vulpine-press/midknight-blue-series
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