by Every, Donna
He wondered how to answer. Maybe she had a gun in her bag and had waited three years to take him out.
“Uh, yes.” He paused to let her explain why she was there.
“I need to talk to you for a minute about what happened before. Can I come in?” Don’t, Nick. “Please. I really need to get this off my chest.”
She looked so distraught that he didn’t have the heart to say no. “Sure, although I’m meeting with the band soon.”
“Thanks.”
He stood back to let her precede him into the living room. He followed her, unable to avoid the long legs that were in his line of vision. She wore a short, flirty-looking dress. Her hair was longer than he remembered, almost to her back, and she wore quite a lot of make-up.
“I know that this may seem really weird for me to turn up after all of these years, but I remembered that you guys meet here every year and I have a friend at the hotel who I asked to let me know when you checked in. I know he’s not supposed to do that, but he knew that I really needed to talk to you.”
“So, what’s so urgent?” The woman had tracked him down to talk to him. Was she a stalker?
“I’ve been doing some soul searching recently.” You and me both, thought Nick. “And I know there are areas of my life that I need healing and closure in if I’m to move on. I feel that I’ve been attracting a lot of negativity because of a lot of negative energy in my life. Some of that is because of that incident with you.”
Nick almost squirmed as he remembered it. He saw himself shouting at her to leave him the hell alone and to find some other celebrity to –. He couldn’t even bring himself to repeat the vile and insulting word he’d used.
“I’m really sorry about that,” he began.
“No. I’m the one that’s sorry. I want to ask you to forgive me because I’ve hated you for what you said for years. Now I realize that all that negative energy is stopping the flow of positive things that the universe wants to send my way.”
“I should be the one asking for your forgiveness, not the other way around.”
“I’ve forgiven you and I need you to forgive me to complete the circle of forgiveness so that I can begin to emit positive energy.”
Nick didn’t know what she was on about, but he nodded and assured her that he had forgiven her. To add to the discomfort he was already feeling, she grabbed his hand and started to cry, thanking him for his compassion and his forgiveness. He gently pulled his hand away and stood, encouraging her to do the same. Her mascara had run all down her cheeks and the rest of her make-up was smeared.
“Thank you so much. Do you mind if I wash my face before I go?”
“Sure, there’s an in suite bathroom in the bedroom.”
She pulled the strap of her bag back to her shoulder and headed for the bedroom that was visible from the living room. Nick picked up his drink that she’d interrupted to finish it. This was the weirdest thing ever.
Within minutes she returned with her face freshly made up and wearing a bright red lipstick.
“Thanks so much for giving me your time. I know that you’re really famous now and everything, but you’re a lot nicer than you were back then. You’ve obviously changed as well. Can I give you a thank you hug?”
“Sure, why not?” Nick opened his arms to Angel and invited hell into his life.
He gave her a quick hug and pulled back to take her to the door. He was surprised for the second time when she reached up and pulled his head down and kissed him. Revulsion rose in him at her forced kiss and he pushed her away. She used the opportunity to rip the top buttons of her dress open and ran to the door which she yanked open and ran into the hallway screaming “Help!”
Nick was shocked into immobility for a moment until he snapped back to reality and ran after her.
“What the hell are you doing?” He shouted at her as she grasped at an elderly man who was waiting by the elevator.
“Help me,” she begged the man. “He tried to rape me.”
Both Nick and the man looked dazed; Nick, because he couldn’t believe what was happening; and the man, because he found himself caught up in the drama.
The lift opened and the man helped her in, glaring at Nick accusingly. Nick stood there, not sure if to follow her or go back to his room and call Brad. In the end, he decided to go back to his room.
He was on the phone to Brad trying to explain what had happened when he was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. He wasn’t about to answer it in case it was the psycho woman again. The words “Open up! This is the police.” caused his heart to stop and restart at a dangerous speed.
“Brad, you better get to my room. The police are at my door.”
“How did they get there so fast? Don’t say anything, Nick, or it could be used against you in a court of law.”
“Brad, you’ve been watching too much TV. I’m not being arrested.”
Nick opened the door to find two police officers and Angel Bell on the other side.
“The cops are here,” he said into the phone before disconnecting the call.
“Are you Nick Badley?”
“Yes.”
“This woman has accused you of attempted rape.”
“What? That’s absurd!”
“Was she in your room earlier?”
“Yes, but that was because –” he stopped, remembering what Brad had said.
“Have you been drinking?” Where did that come from?
“I had one drink when I got here.”
“We understand that you have drugs here.”
“Drugs?” His eyes swung to Angel Bell, who had the same vacant look that Shari had had when Tim tried to rape her. For a split second he wondered if he’d had a black out and really tried to rape her; she looked so convincing. Then he remembered that she was an actress.
“Why would I have drugs?”
“Are you prepared to let us search the place?”
“If you have a warrant.”
The elevator opened to let out a harassed-looking Brad who sped down the hallway to join the group at Nick’s door. He’d taken longer than he’d planned because he had stopped to call their lawyer whose office was nearby. He said that he’d be over as soon as possible.
“What’s going on here?” demanded Brad.
“Who are you, sir?”
“I’m Nick Badley’s manager. What the hell is this about?”
“He tried to rape me.” Angel spoke up for the first time since she’d come back.
“That’s crap,” said Brad without hesitation.
“And I saw drugs in his room.”
“What?” Brad and Nick spoke at the same time.
“That’s a lie!” Nick exclaimed. “Look for yourself. Brad, you know that I don’t do drugs.”
“Nick –” Brad started to caution him. Too late. The officers pushed their way in and headed towards the bedroom followed by Angel, Nick and Brad.
“Do you have a warrant?” Brad asked as the officers began to open drawers. “Can’t you see that the room hasn’t even been slept in yet?”
One of the officers went into the bathroom and came out seconds later holding a small packet of a white substance.
Nick stared at it in disbelief. Not that it had been found, but that he had foolishly allowed them to search his room without a warrant because he didn’t consider that Angel Bell could have planted the cocaine to set him up.
“This is a set up.”
“That’s for your lawyer to prove. You have the right to remain silent…” Nick’s ears blocked out the officer’s voice. “Stunned” was not the word to describe how he felt. “Numb” might be more applicable.
The officers escorted him down in the elevator, keeping him separated from his accuser. It was probably just as well, before he added murder to the other charges. Brad stayed behind to call their lawyer to say not to come but to arrange bail instead.
When they stepped out of the lift, people stared at him with blatant curiosity, making
him feel like a criminal. The automatic doors slid back and a barrage of reporters began to snap photos and throw questions at him.
“Nick, what happened?”
“Have you been arrested?”
“Was it drugs?”
“We heard that you tried to rape the lady.”
Where had they heard that and how did they get here so fast? In that moment Tim’s words dropped into his head like a bomb: “If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me.” He hadn’t taken him seriously even though Shari had told him not to underestimate him.
Shari! His parents! Hayley! He closed his eyes as the officer opened the door to put him in the back of the police car and the reality of his situation set in. Meanwhile, cameras snapped every single image of his downfall.
Nick would never forget the humiliation of being photographed and charged at the police station. He was in a state of shock and barely heard the words “possession of cocaine and attempted rape”. His watch and wallet had been taken away and he was shown to a cell. Officers passed by and looked in often as if he was on display. He guessed it wasn’t often that a rock star got thrown into jail. He felt angry and helpless. He hoped that Brad and their lawyer would soon get there and get him out of that cell.
He couldn’t believe that Tim would do this; after all, they’d played together in the band for years. He’d noticed the change in him when the label decided to drop the name of the band and promote him, but it wasn’t as if anyone earned less money. If anything, they all began to really rake it in. Had he somehow caused Tim to resent him? He wasn’t a saint. Hell, none of them were, but he wasn’t a prima donna either. He didn’t insist on the best suites or anything. If that was how it turned out, it wasn’t his doing.
He ran his hands through his hair and stood up to pace. He couldn’t stand the inactivity. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to spend the night in the cell. His heart leapt in hope when he heard Brad’s voice and his lawyer’s in the corridor.
“Hi, Nick. How’re you doing? I’m here to arrange for bail.”
“Thanks, Mike. I would really appreciate if I don’t have to spend the night in here.”
“He’s a flight risk. They’re not going to go with bail.” That was from the arresting officer who accompanied them.
“You’ve got no case. This is clearly a case of my client being framed. I’m going to make a couple of phone calls. I’ll be back in a few minutes, Nick. Don’t worry.”
Michael Bryant was well connected. With any luck he’d know someone who could get him out of there. In less than an hour, Nick was walking out of the station, flanked by Brad and Michael. He didn’t know who had been called and he didn’t care; he was just glad to be free.
“I can’t believe what just happened. I feel as if I’m in the twilight zone and I’ll wake up at any time and find that this was a bad dream.”
“We’ll go back to the hotel and you can tell us everything.”
“It’s Tim. I’m sure he’s behind it. He promised that he would bring me down. I need a phone. Has Lily called my parents?”
Brad nodded.
“I left her to call them and do damage control.”
“What about Shari?”
“Well no, I didn’t tell her to call Shari. I didn’t know that she was on the list to call in case of emergencies.”
Nick desperately started to pray that Shari wouldn’t see anything on TV before he had the chance to call her.
Lord, how could this happen? You know that I’m innocent. You and that crazy woman, Angel Bell. Help me to clear my name.
Shari finished tidying up the last of her notes to send to the narrator of the documentary. She was very pleased with the work she’d done to capture Nick’s journey in the documentary. It had only been a few days since she came back from Barbados and she was yet to think about their last night without cringing with shame. She knew that she’d been forgiven, but that didn’t mean she had forgotten how she had tempted Nick, almost to the point of losing control. She didn’t know what stopped him. More likely, it was who.
“Shari, you better come and see this.” One of her work colleagues called her to a TV screen mounted on the wall near their cubicles.
“To repeat, in breaking news, rock star Nick Badley was arrested at an upscale hotel in Hollywood today on charges of attempted rape and possession of cocaine. No further details are available at present, but we will share them as they come to hand. This is Crystal Denning reporting.”
Shari felt as if someone had slapped her in the face and punched her in the stomach. The air rushed out of her and she blindly looked around for a chair to sit in before her legs gave out.
“I’m so sorry, Shari.”
“Surely you don’t believe that garbage, Brit,” snapped Shari.
“Well, I don’t know him like you do, but these celebrities sometimes believe that they can have any woman they want and they’re usually into drugs.”
“Nick is not like that!”
“Shari, Gerry wants to see you in his office. He doesn’t look too happy,” one of her other colleagues informed her.
He’d probably just gotten the news and was freaking out about what it would do to the documentary that they’d just spent a fortune making. She sighed and rose on her still shaky legs not sure what she could tell him. She knew that Nick didn’t do drugs. And he would never try to rape anyone.
Chapter 32
Shari unlocked the door and pushed it open, dropping her bag on the hall table. Her cell phone began to ring and she quickly dug around in her bag until she located it. It was Nick. Her hands shook as she connected the call while she walked to the sofa that she and Nick had sat on only a few weeks ago.
“Nick! What is happening? Where are you?”
“Hi, Shari. I see you’ve heard.”
“It’s hard not to when it’s all over the news.”
“You know that it’s not true, right?”
“Of course, Nick.”
Nick let out a breath that he didn’t realize he’d been holding. He thanked God that Shari believed him without question.
“I can’t go into all the details now, but Brad called my lawyer who got me out on bail an hour ago so I’m back home. But I’ve been charged with possession of cocaine and attempted rape.”
“I heard, but that’s ludicrous!”
“I think Tim has something to do with it.”
“Tim. My God.” She had told Nick not to underestimate him, but she still hadn’t expected anything like that. “Do you want me to fly out? I can probably sell it to Gerry as an exclusive.”
“I actually forgot that you’re a journalist for a minute. I would love you to fly out. You can stay here. My parents and my sisters are coming to offer support, they said. They would be glad to see you again.”
“OK. How are you doing?” She asked softly.
“At first I was in shock and then I was really angry, now I can’t believe that this is happening. I’d love to call Tim, but my lawyer has cautioned me not to make any contact.”
“How strong is the case?”
“I don’t know yet. The police found cocaine in my bathroom at the hotel, but it was planted and it’s my word against hers that I tried to rape her. I can’t believe I fell for that sob story. I’ll tell you all about it when you get here.”
“OK, I’ll see what flights are available and I’ll send you a message when I know. I’ll be praying for you. Remember that ‘all things work together for good...’ ”
“Yeah, but I don’t know if that applies to me anymore.”
“It can again, Nick. Don’t lose hope.”
“Thanks for believing in me, Shari. I love you.”
“I love you too.” She disconnected the call and flew into action. Nick needed her, but more than her he needed God.
Nick sat on his deck staring blindly at the bubbling water of the pool. He felt that he should be doing something, but he didn’t know what. He’d already written down exactly what had happened
for his lawyer who felt that he could get the case dismissed. He hoped so because the alternative didn’t bear thinking about. Just being shut up in the cell for that short time today made him crazy. He couldn’t live that way for months far less years and for something he hadn’t done.
Shari had messaged him to say that there was a Delta flight leaving just after seven, but it wouldn’t get into LAX until after 11 because it would stop in Minneapolis first. She would take a cab from the airport so that he didn’t have to leave home. It probably wouldn’t do him any good to be seen heading to the airport, anyway.
At least he would have company tonight and his sisters and his parents would be coming tomorrow. Considering that he sometimes got frustrated that he had no privacy and that there were always people around him, tonight he needed company because he felt very alone and, he had to admit, scared. Suppose his lawyer was wrong and he lost the case. What then?
Father, I’ve gone my own way and, like the prodigal son, I’m not even worthy to be called your son. But I’m throwing myself on your mercy and I pray that, like the father in the story, you will welcome me back. I’ve tried everything and nothing has satisfied me. I need you. You’re the answer to my question.
I will never leave you nor forsake you. The almost forgotten words popped into his mind, giving him comfort.
No weapon forged against you shall prosper and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
Wow! Those words of promise that came to him, almost as naturally as breathing, stunned him.
“Oh, God.”
The words tore from him, revealing the depth of the agony in his soul. He’d gone his own way and done despicable things and yet God was promising not to leave him or forsake him. He had promised that the plan that had been concocted against him would fail and that he would disprove every false accusation.
A sense of peace and certainty that everything would be all right flooded him and he shamelessly dropped to his knees in a prayer of thanks.
By the time Shari arrived close to midnight, she was surprised to find him in high spirits and certain that everything would be fine.