In Plain Sight

by Sherryl Hancock

  “You’re Memphis McQueen, aren’t you?” said a female reporter who’d followed her, putting a microphone in her face.

  “Yeah, and you need to get that camera out of my face,” Memphis said as she pulled her hood up over her head and walked away.

  Memphis was decidedly tense for the rest of the tour. Kieran noticed that she seemed to pull away more and go further into herself. They had ceased making love after San Francisco; Memphis was sleeping more and more.

  “She’s going into a depression,” Cody said when they called back to Los Angeles. “You guys need to watch her like hawks. When are you back here?”

  “We have one more show tonight, and then we’re headed home,” Remington said, sounding as exhausted as they all felt.

  “Okay. Hopefully being home will settle her some too, but I’ll try to check in with her when you guys are back.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Cody,” Remington said.

  That night they had a show in Sacramento, California. Fortunately for everyone, it went off without a hitch. It was a seven-hour bus ride back to Los Angeles, but everyone unanimously agreed that they were happy to be headed home. They had a show in LA the following night, the fundraiser for the LGBT Center.

  Memphis was curled up on the bunk in minutes, with her headphones in and her back to the opening. Kieran decided to leave her alone for a bit and went back up to the front of the bus to sit with the other four, her constant companions lately. They were talking about the show the following night when they heard a yell and a clattering of something hitting the wall. Kieran was up in an instant and running back to the bunks. Memphis was curled tightly in a ball on the bed, and Kieran found her phone on the floor. She picked it up and could see a call was still connected; it was Memphis’ voicemail. Kieran put the phone up to her ear and heard the voicemail instructing how to delete the message or replay it. She touched the number to replay.

  “You need to come home, Cassidy,” said a man’s voice, low and with a threatening edge. “You need to come home.”

  Kieran handed the phone to Remington, who’d walked up with the rest of the girls. Kieran climbed onto the bunk and reached out to touch Memphis’ shoulder. Memphis jumped and let out a slight yelp.

  “It’s me, honey,” Kieran said, smoothing her hand over Memphis’ back. “It’s just me, it’s okay.”

  Memphis turned over, wrapping her arms around Kieran’s waist and burying her head in her lap, shaking from head to toe. Kieran grabbed the blankets, gathering them around Memphis as she did her best to soothe her.

  Remington listened to the message, as did Quinn. They exchanged a look, nodding. Memphis was indeed Cassidy Lassiter. Now they just needed to figure out if the man in the message was her father or someone else.

  “Memphis, who is that?” Remington asked.

  Memphis didn’t answer, only wrapping her arms tighter around Kieran’s waist and shaking her head, still trembling horribly.

  Repeated attempts to find out who the man was failed to get any response; Memphis wouldn’t say a word. Eventually she had to push her way past them to run to the bathroom and throw up again and again. That was when everyone backed off. Kieran went back to check on Memphis and screamed for Remington, who came at a run, followed by Quinn. There was blood on the edge of the toilet, and on Memphis’ chin. She was out cold, lying against the wall of the bathroom.

  “She’s throwing up blood now… Jesus,” Quinn said, looking at Remington.

  “She hasn’t been eating in the last few days; she’s got nothing to throw up,” Kieran said, as Remington moved to pick Memphis up and carry her back to the bunk.

  “God, how much weight has she lost?” Remington said as she noticed how light Memphis had become.

  Kieran shook her head. “I don’t know, but I know she doesn’t ever eat enough.”

  Remington shook her head, looking at Quinn. “We need to get her checked out when we get back to Los Angeles.”

  “Yeah,” Quinn said.

  When they arrived in LA, however, Memphis flatly refused to go to a hospital.

  “Memphis, please…” Kieran begged.

  “I’m fine, hon,” Memphis said.

  “You’re not.” Kieran reached out to touch Memphis’ cheek. “You need to eat, you need to get better.”

  “I eat,” Memphis said, her tone cooling significantly. “I’m fine.”

  Kieran looked at Remington and Quinn as Wynter put her arm around her shoulders.

  “God, will you people chill out already?” Memphis said with a look of annoyance as she picked up her gear bag and turned to walk toward the Escalade that had come to take them home.

  “She’s getting really agitated,” Quinn said.

  “I know,” Remington said. “We just need to leave her alone for a bit, try again tomorrow, maybe. Maybe Cody can talk to her.”

  The group agreed and told Cody by text what was happening.

  The next day, Memphis shocked everyone—she seemed completely normal. Kieran found her in the house office late in the morning, working on music downloads and new mixes. She had coffee and the remains of a sandwich on the table next to her.

  Kieran walked over to Memphis and sat straddling her lap, looking down into her face. Memphis looked up at her, smiling warmly and leaning in to kiss her.

  “Good morning,” she said.

  “Good morning,” Kieran said, smiling too, her eyes searching Memphis’.

  Memphis kissed her again and continued until Kieran was writhing on her lap. Reaching down, Memphis pulled Kieran’s shirt up, bending her head to take a hard nipple in her mouth, sucking at it and pulling Kieran closer as she moaned.

  Kieran wrapped her hands around Memphis’ head, holding her close as she writhed at the sensations Memphis was causing. It had been too long since they’d made love. Kieran realized she’d missed this closeness with Memphis.

  “Make love to me,” Kieran begged, climbing off Memphis’ lap and taking her hand to lead her back to the bedroom.

  Memphis made love to her that morning, taking her time and bringing Kieran to orgasm over and over again before allowing herself release. Afterward they lay together, and Kieran felt like things were getting better. They spent the rest of the day relaxing, then made their way to the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre to prepare for the show.

  Sound checks were a challenge due to the open venue, but Memphis persevered and got through them. The show itself was a triumph, and included an appearance by Sparks. And much like the show in Las Vegas—even more so—it was attended by all the stars.

  Two days later, Memphis and Kieran went to Badlands to do some work. Memphis went into the sound studio, still working on her mixes for BJ, and Kieran finally started as BJ’s assistant. At the end of the day Kieran went to look for Memphis and found her in her sound booth, doing exactly what she loved. She had her headphones on and was essentially dancing in her chair, her head moving to the music. Kieran stood in the doorway watching her, an amused smile on her face.

  Memphis finally noticed her and grinned, reaching up to take off her headphones.

  “How long have you been standing there?” she asked.

  “Just a few minutes,” Kieran said, smiling as she walked forward and moved to straddle Memphis’ lap, leaning in to kiss her.

  Memphis’ hands slid up her thighs, grasping at her slightly as they kissed.

  “Let’s get out of here before we get ourselves into trouble,” Memphis said, grinning.

  Kieran laughed softly, nodding as she stood. Memphis put her personal gear in her bag and reached over to save everything she’d been working on, then shut everything down.

  “Alright, let’s go,” Memphis said, putting her bag up onto her shoulder.

  “Did you want to stop to get groceries on the way—” Kieran started to say as they walked toward the car, but realized Memphis had stopped.

  Kieran turned around and saw that a tall, dark-haired man was walking toward Memphis. As she watched, he reached out t
o grab her left hand. Kieran started to walk back the few steps toward them.

  “You need to come home, Cassidy. Now,” the man said.

  Memphis yanked her hand away from him like he’d just burned her. She strode around him, grabbing Kieran’s hand and marching to the car.

  “Who was that?” Kieran said as Memphis unlocked the doors to the Porsche and threw her bag in, looking over the car at the man, who was simply standing there, staring at them.

  “Just get in!” Memphis practically yelled.

  They got into the car and Memphis started it with a roar. She pulled out of the parking lot, making a wide arch around the man, who was still standing there and grinning. He watched them the entire time.

  Memphis sped down the street. Kieran could see she was near tears. She also noticed that she was rubbing her left hand against her jeans, over and over again.

  “Memphis, who was that?”

  Memphis shook her head, her breath coming in gasps. Kieran could see she was forcing herself not to be sick.

  “Memphis, you’re scaring me…” Kieran said, trailing off as Memphis careened down the road, zipping around cars and missing them by mere inches.

  “I gotta get out of here,” Memphis said, her voice so full of terror that Kieran looked over at her, shocked by the sound.

  “Who was that!” Kieran said, yelling it in her fear.

  Kieran’s fear must have made it through the haze of Memphis’ own, because she finally looked over at her.

  “He’s from my past,” she said gravely.

  “Why are you afraid of him?”

  Memphis shook her head.

  “You’re afraid of him, Memphis. I want to know why,” Kieran said, her voice strong.

  Memphis pressed her lips together, breathing out heavily through her nose. Her mouth trembled.

  “Because he’s here to kill me,” she said.

  “What!” Kieran exclaimed.

  Memphis shook her head vehemently and yanked the wheel, pulling off to the side of the road. She leapt out of the car and started throwing up. Kieran grabbed her phone and called Remington.

  “Hello?”

  “Remi, it’s Kieran. We have a problem.”

  “What’s happening?” Remington said, immediately on alert.

  “A man confronted Memphis outside the studio. He grabbed her hand and called her Cassidy, and said that she needed to come home.”

  “Bondye! Is she okay?”

  “She’s throwing up on the side of the road at the moment,” Kieran said tearfully.

  “Okay, you get her back in that car, and you drive her over here. You know where Wynter’s house is?”

  “No,” Kieran said, tears spilling over now.

  “Okay, it’s okay. I’ll text you the address right now… You should have it—just hit the link and it’ll give you directions. Come straight here, Kieran, okay? Don’t make any stops. I’ll rally the troops. We’re going to make her tell us what the hell is going on this time.”

  “Okay, okay,” Kieran said. “I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

  “Drive carefully.”

  Half an hour later Kieran pulled the Porsche up to Wynter and Remington’s house. At the gate she buzzed the intercom, and the gate opened. She drove inside.

  Remington was waiting for them when she came up the driveway. There were already a lot of other cars there. Kieran recognized Quinn’s Fastback, Rayden’s Jaguar, Jericho’s red Hellcat Challenger, both Skyler’s and Harley’s Zs, and both Cody’s and Dakota’s Ferraris. Remington opened the passenger door and saw Memphis curled up on the seat, nearly catatonic. She knelt next to the car, reaching her hand out to gently touch Memphis on the shoulder.

  “Come on, baby girl. Come inside,” she said softly.

  Memphis reluctantly climbed out and followed Remington and Kieran into the house, glancing at all the cars gathered in the long drive. Inside, she had to race to the bathroom again.

  Remington grimaced, hearing Memphis throwing up.

  “I’ve called Jet and Fadiyah, and Lyric and Savanna too. They’ll be here soon,” she told Kieran. “Wait for her, and then meet us in the living room, okay?”

  Kieran nodded. She waited outside the bathroom. When Memphis came out, she looked gray. Kieran reached up and brushed her hair back, leaning up to kiss her cheek softly.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Kieran said.

  Memphis shook her head, looking far from convinced.

  Kieran didn’t respond; she just took Memphis’ hand and led her toward the living room. The group gathered there turned to look at them as they entered. Kieran saw more than one grimace of concern.

  Kieran walked Memphis over to the sectional. Memphis sat down in the far corner of it, immediately taking the small pillow there and holding it in front of her.

  Remington sat on the ottoman in front of Memphis.

  “You need to tell us what’s going on now, Memphis,” she said, her tone gentle but serious.

  Memphis blinked a couple of times, looking at the others. They all nodded in agreement with Remington’s statement. Cody moved to sit next to Memphis. “Who was the guy that approached you?” she asked.

  Memphis’ lips trembled as she closed her eyes. “His name is Trent Malcom,” she said, her voice sounding very haunted.

  “And who is he?” Remington said.

  “He’s part of The Family,” Memphis said, in such a way that it was unmistakably different from what everyone knew as a family.

  “What is The Family?” Remington asked, her face filled with trepidation.

  Devin Googled it; the results were terrifying, and she handed her phone to Jericho.

  Memphis caught the movement. She glanced at Jericho and saw the look on her face as she read. Jericho looked over at her, her bright blue eyes sad as she winced, shaking her head.

  “They’re a cult,” Devin told Remington. “With a ‘prophet,’” she said, using air quotes.

  Remington looked back at Memphis for confirmation; Memphis nodded. “His name is David Ronning,” she said tonelessly.

  Remington took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. She looked pained. “Okay, so you were part of this group. Why are they after you now?”

  Memphis pressed her lips together, training her eyes on the floor in front of Remington.

  “My mother was always unhappy with my dad. I always remembered that—she wanted something else, something different. Even as a little kid I knew that. She met people from The Family one day in town, and they convinced her that she would be welcome as a member. She took me and my sister in the middle of the night, and we went with these new friends of hers.”

  “So your father didn’t know where you had gone?” Cody asked.

  “My mother said that he wanted us to go, that he didn’t really love any of us,” Memphis said, her expression tremulous.

  “Memphis, he’s been searching for you for almost twenty years,” Harley said.

  Memphis looked at her, disbelief obvious on her face. Then she looked back at the ground.

  “When I was twelve they decided I had talent, because they heard me singing in the kitchen. They had me sing for… him…” She trailed off as she fought back a wave of nausea at the memory.

  Kieran grimaced, sensing easily that this was not a happy memory for Memphis. She realized just as Remington did that it was why Memphis was terrified when people heard her sing.

  Memphis’ lips twitched in disgust and she sneered. “He liked my singing. That was when he decided that I would be one of his wives when I turned sixteen. It was also the first time he molested me.”

  “Jezi,” Remington murmured in Creole. She reached out, putting her hand on Memphis’ knee.

  Memphis nodded, acknowledging Remington’s gesture. She swallowed a couple of times, then continued. “It didn’t take him long before he was… raping me regularly. And he wasn’t the only one. The men knew that once I was married to him they couldn’t touch me anymore, so…” She shrug
ged. She looked devastated.

  Cody closed her eyes, remembering the feeling of being raped by men and not having any control over what was happening. She felt Dakota’s hand on her shoulder; she glanced over at her and nodded.

  “How did you get away?” Remington asked, too sickened to hear more about that part of it.

  “I was three days from turning sixteen,” Memphis said, her lips trembling. “My wedding day. We were at a dairy in Arizona that he wanted to buy. I was left alone for a minute—I took that chance and ran like hell. I ran and walked for days till I came to a town that was far enough away that I figured I was safe going into it.”

  “What time of year was this?” Quinn asked.

  “Late spring, early summer.”

  “And you walked in Arizona? Land of deserts?” Quinn said.

  “I wouldn’t have cared if it was full summer. I needed to get away from those people. I didn’t care if I died doing it, either,” Memphis said firmly.

  Quinn and Remington exchanged a look, both feeling their protective instincts step up another notch. This kid had been through hell, and they were going to protect her at all costs.

  “What happened then?” Kieran asked. “How did you end up here?”

  “I hitchhiked, walked, ran, and even managed to get a bus ticket to get to LA,” Memphis said. She looked pensive, her gaze shifting to the police officers in the room and then to the floor.

  “How did you make it once you got here?” Rayden said, seeing the way Memphis had looked around.

  Memphis chewed on the inside of her lip, shrugging and shaking her head.

  Remington glanced over at Rayden and Jericho. Both of them looked speculative.

  “It’s okay, Memphis. Tell us,” Cody said.

  “It’s why they’re after me,” Memphis said. Her expression was pensive as she picked at the strings on the pillow in her lap. “I took bank information, and once I got here I managed to find a guy to get me a fake ID. I tapped into the account then and took… money…” she said, trailing off as she glanced at Jericho and then back down at the floor.

  “How much did you take?” Jericho asked.

  Memphis pressed her lips together, looking afraid again.