“Callense el hocico,” King hissed for everyone to shut up under his breath, noting my lack of amusement. After what had happened to Adrian, he more than any of the others understood the stakes involved. King cranked up the music. Cannibal Corpse blasted out the Monsoon sound system, and Sager swiveled back around. Everyone was quiet for a while. But the closer we got to Coquitlam the more apprehensive I became.
“Drive faster,” I said leaning forward to tap King’s shoulder.
“Orale.” King stomped so hard on the gas that I was pressed back into my leather seat. I glanced behind me. There was enough cargo space in the rear of the H1 to hide four people who didn’t want to be found under blankets, but we were going to have to be more than lucky at the border. And we were counting on La Raca Prima to come through for us. But I had my boys with me. I might need them and the bullet proof transmission if things got dicey.
When King pulled the Hummer into the driveway, I was the first one to climb out, but my brothers weren’t far behind. No one had hesitated when I asked them to help me out tonight. Growing up the way we all had looking out for each other in a place like Southside, we’d always been more a family than just a band. I suddenly realized that though I envied April the closeness of her family, I actually had one, too. The guys with me right now were just as much a source of strength for me as her family was for her. That’s the way the five of us had always rolled, and that’s why it’d cut so deep when things had gone so bad, and War had split us up at the end of the last tour.
The crew were pushing and shoving each other as we hurried up the walk so I didn’t see the busted in door at first. When I did, the blood in my veins turned to ice.
“Chingada Madre!” King exclaimed.
I agreed. This was all kinds of fucked up, but couldn’t speak as I stepped inside, staring at the overturned furniture and the busted lamps. I felt like I was going to vomit.
My cell rang. I answered it, my voice shaky.
“You fucked me over, asshole.” It was James. I heard April’s brothers sobbing in the background while she desperately tried to soothe them. “Come on down to the lobby, or I’m gonna fuck her up good.” He clicked off.
“He’s got April,” I said, my gaze sliding to King. I motioned to the guys, and we ran back out to the H1. “Fucking shit. He’s got all of them. We’ve got to get to the hotel. He thinks I’m upstairs. He sounded psychotic.”
“He won’t care about anything if he’s knows Campanella’s onto him.” War pointed out the obvious. I wished he hadn’t.
“Shit, brother,” Bryan said, and the guys silently closed ranks, moving in closer to me.
My cell rang again as we were pulling out.
“Diz.” Her voice was so soft I could barely even hear her,and I didn’t care to. Not right now. Not after what she’d done to April and me. “Don’t hang up,” she begged.
“I don’t have time for this.” She’d betrayed April. She’d lied to me. As far as I was concerned she’d ceased to exist. “Things are really bad right now. James has April and her family, and he’s threatening them.”
“I know.” I could hear the distinct sound of crying now.
“They’re here,” she said in a raw voice.
“Are you at the Sutton?” I was afraid maybe he’d found out I wasn’t upstairs and had moved them somewhere else.
“Yes. He just came in the lobby with them. He’s yelling and waving a gun. He says he’s going to kill you. She said he’d have to kill her first.” She started sobbing louder, and I hit King on the shoulder telling him to go faster while trying to keep from cracking apart under the fear. “Call the police. We’ll be right there.”
“They’re on the way. I’m sorry,” I heard her whisper before she hung up. “I didn’t know.”
We went up on two wheels a couple of times on the drive back into the city. King hit the straightaways at insane speed, well over the posted limits, but I didn’t care. I don’t think any of the guys did. We just held on, and I was pretty sure we were each saying silent prayers for a miracle.
We had to park on the street. The front driveway in front of the Sutton was already taped off in yellow and full of flashing lights when we arrived. I slipped through the crowd, ducking behind a group of EMT’s pushing a stretcher and followed them inside.
The lobby was complete chaos, swarming with Vancouver police, hotel staff, and witnesses. But the shock and horror I saw on all their faces was the same.
We were too late. I was standing in a crime scene. The room seemed to spin as I scanned the lobby for some kind of clue as to what had happened. I saw a broken vase and a pool of blood near it. I swayed feeling short of breath and then I saw a blood soaked sheet someone had draped over a body. My heart stopped as someone shook my shoulder. I couldn’t even process what they were saying. Motes of multicolored light were dancing at the edges of my vision. And then there were no colors anymore. My whole world was painted black.
I leaned against the doorframe and watched April as she talked to Mary and Beth. I was trying to act more cool. I’d lost a lot of cred after I nearly passed out.
The Black Cat CEO and her VP of Public Relations had definitely pulled off a major miracle keeping the media out of the hospital. They were also taking an active role as intermediaries with the Vancouver Police. The Queen had connections of her own, it seemed. On the right side of the law.
She might be a hard ass, but I was beginning to suspect that beneath Timmons’ tough exterior lay a heart of pure gold.
The chief investigator nodded his head at something April was saying. This was the second time they’d been around. I hoped they’d finally gotten all the answers they needed. Every time she talked to them, her eyes stayed haunted for hours afterward. I hated that. Hated that she carried any guilt at all.
I watched them for a couple more minutes, but when it appeared as though the conversation might go on for quite a while longer, I turned and went back inside the room.
I skirted the foot of the bed, and Brandee Barrie’s eyes met mine over her magazine. She smiled softly before returning to her reading. I think she was seeing me in a different light these days. I hoped they’d let her go home soon. I was tired of the hospital; the antiseptic smell, the constant activity, the lack of privacy. We all were. Luckily, the boys had gotten a break and were hanging out with Carter this afternoon.
I took a seat in the chair, pulling my guitar back onto my lap and strumming though the chords again. The music obscured the incessant beeping from the monitors, and it seemed to relax her.
I looked up when April walked into the room, her hips gliding, her loose hair swishing around her shoulder. I gave thanks for our good fortune. I didn’t think I was ever going to take anything for granted again.
“Don’t stop,” April chided. “Keep playing.” She perched on the armrest of my chair, and I inhaled her sweet fragrance as she smiled over at her mom. “It’s good, isn’t it?”
“It is. I like it.” Brandee Barrie agreed, placing her magazine on her lap and fiddling with the bandages around her head.
“Leave it alone,” April chided.
“It itches,” her mom complained.
“Yeah, well, I imagine it will for a while. How’s your heart rate been today?”
“Good,” her mother replied. “The EKG was normal. No atrial fibrillation since the ablation.” Brandee had been the one to break the oriental vase in the Sutton’s lobby. The trauma from her fall had caused her heart to go into the irregular rhythm.
They talked softly about the possibility of her going home soon, and I worked my way through the whole song while enjoying the view of the beautiful woman who’d inspired it.
“It’s beautiful,” my mom told Dizzy when he had finished the song.
I agreed, swallowing hard as I looked up at the handsome man by my side. I couldn’t believe he was mine. I was grateful for the gift of being able to wake up beside him, even if it had been in that uncomfortable fold out chair for the pa
st several nights. Nothing in my life brought me more joy than he did.
“Not half as beautiful as your daughter,” he insisted.
“Yeah, well, I’m pretty partial to her myself. Scares me to think what could have happened.”
Dizzy nodded, a shadow crossing his face, one that had crossed all our lives and left its mark. Thank God in their struggle it had been James that had been killed and not her. It was just like her to put herself in harm’s way to protect her kids. It was strange to contemplate that he was dead and in the ground. He would never harm me or any of us ever again, though Dizzy still woke up in the middle of the night in a panic reaching and calling out for me, reliving the scene, when he’d thought at first it had been me under that bloody sheet.
Though I was so thankful for the way everything worked out, anger still simmered in my heart. I’d never forgive my former best friend, even knowing she’d been one of the first ones to call law enforcement and that she’d called Dizzy, too. I’d overestimated Mel’s loyalty to me and underestimated the depth of her obsession with my man. I was pretty sure she’d probably been on her way up to see him that night though I couldn’t prove it. I didn’t want to go anywhere near her, and I wouldn’t forget her betrayal anytime soon.
Nor would I easily forget the fear that night. How crazed James had been as he snarled and yelled threats. And that last terrible moment of tension when my mom and James had fought over the gun. That had been his fatal mistake. He should never have pointed it at me with her standing so close nearby. He had underestimated the love we had for each other. Love was something he had never understood. I realized that now.
Remembering that malevolent look he’d given me even as his life ebbed away, I shuddered, wondering if the nightmare would ever truly be over. Could our lives ever really be normal once they had been touched by the kind of darkness that permeated James’ world?
Dizzy stroked my arm soothing me. I exhaled shakily. He was so in tune with me.
“I love you, Rhythm Man.” I had faith in us. Together we’d proven that we were strong enough to handle anything.
“I love you, too, Kitten, always.”
“Ow. I hit my knee against the toilet,” she complained.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” I stroked the smooth skin of her bare ass. “Remind me why I agreed to do it this way when I can have you in a comfortable bed with plenty of room to play?”
She ducked her head. I couldn’t see her face but I heard her mutter the protest in her tone, “Because I did it your way earlier.”
Yeah, I guess she had. She’d been underneath me on the bed, hands on my hips, me pounding into her to the rhythm of ‘My Way or the Highway’ my SG strapped to my back. My guitar, me, and my woman. It’d been a new experience for both of us. In the middle she’d asked me for a Brutal Strength song instead.
“Babe,” I’d told her, “Not doing it to some other guy’s tune!” I’d chastised her between breaths. “That’s just wrong.”
“Fine, but you owe me,” she’d bargained.
Not that I wouldn’t do just about anything for her. So here we were in the bathroom stall at the Mine.
She threw her ponytail over her shoulder and peered at me through her lashes. “As if it’s really such a hardship for you,” she teased. I loved that she could tease during sex. Hell, I loved everything about her.
“It’s hard all right, and I know you can feel it,” I teased back while sliding my hand inside the cups of her bra, palming her breasts and tugging on her nipples.
She moaned her approval.
“Apparently you’re ready, too,” I breathed stirring the fine hairs near her ear.
“Yes,” she panted the teasing lilt gone from her voice. “Now, please.”
I spanked her ass. She yelped, and then moaned as I erased the sting with a circular caress. “Now please, what?” I prompted.
“Now, please, Sir,” she panted and I obliged her. It only took a couple of purposeful thrusts before she spasmed around my dick. She turned her head, and I covered her beautiful lips growling into her mouth as I found my release.
Sex in the stall had been all her idea. She had wanted me to forget ever taking a woman back there but her. What she didn’t realize was that I already couldn’t remember any of them. Only her. But I figured it was my duty and my privilege to go along with whatever she wanted. That was the plan because all I wanted anymore, my heart’s desire, was to make sure that happiness remained a permanent fixture of her life. Along with me, that is.
“You think it’s ok that we’re making such a big fuss?” April asked me, her gaze glittering with uncertainty after we’d finished up, and she’d returned to her station, she gazed continuously at her mom who was at the other end of the bar talking to Tan.
“Don’t stress.” I covered her hand, stopping her drumming. Sometimes when she really got going she could tap those fingers faster than King could hit the snare with his sticks. “She looks happy. She’s glad to be out of the hospital, and she and Tan seem to be getting on well.” I raised a brow.
“You think?” Her forehead creased and she studied her mom and Tan more intensely.
“Leave her be.” I caught her chin gently and turned her to face me. “What will be will be. You need to give her some breathing room. She’s gonna be ok. We all are. Now come out from behind that bar. Let Ryan take care of it. Have some fun. I’ve met your family. Tonight’s about you really getting to know mine.”
She made a face, but nodded, both of us ignoring the pixie sized problem in the room.
Bluebelle.
Mel had shown up for the party. She’d been out on the ski cross circuit, but was back in town today. April was still not talking to her former best friend. I’d hoped in time they’d sort things out. It seemed obvious to me that they were both suffering and missing each other, but then again what did I know? I was just a guy. What would I know about girl girl emotional crap?
“When are you guys gonna play some of your new stuff?” April asked.
“As soon as Justin gets here.” I frowned. Our lead singer was late, and it wasn’t the first time. He’d been late to rehearsals on more than one occasion and he’d started leaving early, too.
I felt for the guy. He had a lot going on. His father’s illness. His engagement to a hotel heiress. His sister’s looming wedding. Being the key witness in Campanella’s trial since his ex had backed out of testifying. That was a lot of stress for anyone. Enough to fill a book.
It was obvious to everyone that Bridget and Carter were his priority. Not the band. The guys were starting to complain. Especially with War being around again. Like he was right now. Up on stage, messing around on the piano with Shaina on the bench beside him. There was a lot of second guessing going on, but I didn’t think it would amount to much. War was good and stuck in his contract with Charles Morris at Zenith.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the three of them arrive. John and Michael quickly pulled Carter aside to play, and that was probably a good thing because Bridget’s eyes were blazing blue fire.
“Hey, Lace.” I grabbed my sister’s arm as she walked by. “What’s up with them?”
“Who?” she asked, squeezing my woman’s hand in greeting before grabbing a handful of nuts from the bar.
“Your buddy JJ and his fiancée.”
She followed the direction of my gaze. “Yeah they’ve been that way all day. Neither will talk about it.”
They were obviously out of sorts with each other. Frowning, Justin held Bridget’s arms. Her platinum hair swung around her shoulders as she shook her head. Even though it wasn’t me she was directing that anger toward, the situation still made me tense.
“No Justin. I won’t let you throw away your career. This is your big chance.” Her voice rose. They both seemed to have forgotten where they were, and that they had a captive audience. “It’s not a big deal. The doctor said it’s common to get a little hypoglycemic in the first trimester.”
<
br /> Whoa. I pulled my piercing between my lips, my eyes widening. Bridget is pregnant? Lace and I exchanged looks. She seemed just as surprised as I was.
Never mind enough drama to fill a book.
We were talking major motion picture material here.
Maybe April could write the screenplay.
And since all that drama goin’ down was someone else’s shit, I suddenly got hungry for popcorn.
“I understand the situation you’re in, but you’ve got other options.
You don’t deserve to be treated like that. No one does.” – Dizzy Lowell
Sexual violence is a real and serious problem. The CDC website has definitions, prevention resources, and a hotline available. The CDC is your online source for credible health information and is the official Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC is committed to achieving true improvements in people's health. CDC applies research and findings to improve people's daily lives and responds to health emergencies
Here’s the main landing page link, along with a couple of sub-links.
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/index.html
Begin the dialogue.
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/svprevention-a.pdf
Preventing Child Maltreatment.
http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pub/PreventingCM.html
Preventing intimate partner and sexual violence.
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/ipv-sv_program_activities_guide-a.pdf
Strange Magic – the first book in a new Black Cat Records paranormal trilogy.
Planned release. February 2015.
Unforgettable – a Brutal Strength, Tempest crossover novel.
Release date. Soon.
Relentless Rhythm (Tempest #4) Page 22