Kiss Kiss

by Various Authors

  “Can I talk to you for a minute,” Mary asked Beth in a low voice. “In private?”

  “Sure.” Beth nodded, and they exited the meeting room together. Outside the door, Mary turned to Beth with a look of concern. “I realize this is a colossal cluster, but I know you can fix it.”

  “Sure, Mary. I’ll just wave my magic wand. It’ll be a piece of cake.”

  Mary raised a manicured brow at the atypical sarcasm from her second in command.

  “Sorry.” Beth sighed. “As you know, it’s been a day.” She pulled down on the hem of her suit jacket and straightened her shoulders. “I’ll take care of it. Business as usual at Black Cat, right?”

  “Not quite,” Mary said, putting her hand on her friend’s arm. “But I have a tremendous amount of faith in you. Well placed, I may add.” She glanced down at her watch. “I need to talk to Sam. I’ll leave you down here to work out the details with the band.”

  “Stop distracting me, woman!” Chris laughed as Sara made a face and stuck her chest out at him and wiggled her boobs. He glanced back at the road just in time to keep from crashing into the median. “I shouldn’t have told you how good you look in those tight western shirts,” he muttered.

  She giggled like a school girl. It was such a novel sound he could hardly believe he’d just heard it. His lips curved up into a smile.

  She arched a brow.

  “Sara Daniels, you’ve already got your hooks into me and good. Stop being so damn cute. I’m trying to drive here.”

  She apparently thought that sounded like a challenge that was too tempting to resist. She leaned over the console, placed her lips on his neck, and left a long lingering tongue tracing kiss below his ear.

  “Ughh, woman.” He gave her a heated look before jerking the steering wheel to bring the car back into the correct lane.

  She smiled.

  “You’ll be the death of me… of both of us if you keep doing stuff like that. You told me you’re already gonna be late for your sound check. Let me drive. You can do your concert thing, which I’m looking forward to seeing by the way. Then it’s just you and me babe, and we’ll see who’s best at distracting whom.”

  “Ok. I’ll behave.” She winked. “For now.” She settled back in her seat, grinned, and sat on her hands.

  When they arrived at Billy Bob’s, Chris was a little underwhelmed at first. The building was rather generic with adobe beige walls and a low roof. Knowing its larger than life reputation as a make or break venue for everyone from Willie Nelson to Jason Aldean, he’d expected it to be more impressive.

  Several interconnecting parking lots surrounded the place. He parked the rental car in the lot closest to the building. Entering through the nondescript side door, the first thing he noticed was the smell of cow manure and hay. His lip twitched as he followed Sara past an indoor arena. Only in Texas would they have competitive bull riding in a bar.

  It took a couple of minutes for his eyes to fully adjust to the dim lighting inside the world famous honky tonk. He was surprised by how much room there was inside. Parquet wood floors stretched out at least a hundred yards in each direction. Long wooden bars lined the outer walls and smaller rectangular ones held positions of prominence toward the center. He counted at least ten. There were a couple of dance areas and two stages, a smaller one up front and a larger raised stage in the very back surrounded by banquet style tables and folding chairs. All in all the seating area probably held a thousand. Neon signs glowed colorfully, advertising everything from the Dallas Cowboys to Shiner Bock, the local beer. Framed hand imprints of famous past performers, western style lanterns, and wagon wheel chandeliers provided additional decorative touches, but the centerpiece of the building had to be a rhinestone encrusted saddle chandelier that spun and reflected light in place of a traditional disco ball.

  “Sara, darling, I’m so glad you could make it.” Chris turned toward the masculine voice, frowning as Sara was lifted and spun around in the muscular arms of an extremely good looking guy about his own age. He wore a Quiet Mon baseball cap turned around backwards and flashed a dimpled smile at Sara. “This your new bodyguard?” the man asked in a deep southern drawl.

  Ok, Chris thought, recognizing him now. The baseball cap had thrown him off for a minute. He was usually pictured with his trademark battered straw cowboy hat. Cash Beaumont. This guy had a reputation with the ladies almost as infamous as his. He gave Cash the proprietary stare down while simultaneously throwing his arm around Sara’s shoulder and pulling her to his side. And just so he was absolutely certain Cash knew the score, Chris extended his hand and said, “Hey, Cash. Chris Alex. Sara’s boyfriend. Nice to meet you.”

  Cash glanced back at Sara his face cracking into a wide smile. “Nice, Sara,” he drew out, shaking Chris’ hand. “He’s a bit possessive, but that’s understandable. About time you settled down, though. The boys are ready to go whenever you are,” he told her, extracting his hand from Chris’ firm grip.

  “You bet. I’ll be there in just a second.”

  Cash walked away with a swagger and a wave.

  “Territorial much,” Sara said with a bemused smile on her face.

  “Just keeping it real, Sara. Its guy stuff,” he said, pulling her into his arms, and deciding to silence her with a searing kiss…lest she forget where they stood. After several long moments of exploration, he almost forgot what his original intent had been. When he eventually ended the kiss, Sara clung to his shirt. Oh, yeah, he still had it. Mission accomplished. “Mine.” He tapped her on the nose. “Go knock ‘em dead, babe.”

  Chris got a beer and took a chair near the front. Bareheaded, he was alone in a sea of Resistols and Stetsons that began to bob in time to the introductory bass beat. Sara came out onto center stage, and Chris almost choked. Drenched in light, the woman looked hotter than hell in a black backless halter top, a frayed jean miniskirt and matching black boots and hat. He leaned forward in his chair while surreptitiously glancing at his watch. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on her.

  After the first song, Chris was sure that anyone who wasn’t already a fan had become one. Sara was mesmerizing. She played her redwood McPherson acoustic expertly. Her voice was sultry and seductive as she strutted around on stage. Chris was pleased to see that Cash kept things between the two of them professional, meaning even during the ballads he kept his hands to himself.

  By the time she and Cash took a break from their first set, the place was packed wall to wall, standing room only.

  Ears ringing, waiting for her to come back out, Chris was making his way through his second beer when his cell phone lit up with an incoming call. Seeing Mary’s picture on the display, he knew better than to ignore it. “Hello?”

  “Chris. It’s Mary Timmons.”

  By the tone of her voice, he knew immediately something was wrong. “What is it, Mary. What’s going on?”

  “I need to talk to Sara. She’s not answering her cell. I was hoping you might know where she is?”

  “Yeah, I do. We’re at Billy Bob’s together. Hold on a sec. I’ll go find her.” Chris headed backstage and spotted Sara in the far corner, talking to some of the band members. He made eye contact with her and pointed to his phone, waving her over.

  Noticing the concerned look on his face, Sara was frowning when she reached him. “What is it Chris?”

  “Mary Timmons is on the phone.”

  “What…”

  “I don’t know,” he interrupted. “She didn’t say.” He handed her his phone.

  “Hello,” Sara said, brows knitting together.

  In the span of one short moment, Chris watched her relaxed body tense. He put his arm around her, listening to the one sided conversation with a growing sense of dread.

  “What? That son of a bitch. No, I haven’t heard from her. That worries me, too. Yes, call me back.” She blinked and handed Chris back his cell.

  “What the hell is going on?” he asked.

  “JR, the bastard, called my
sister a whore in front of everyone at the BS press conference today.”

  “Why the hell would he do that? I thought the two of them were pretty tight?”

  “They were… until yesterday. Sam was crushed. She had no clue what went wrong.” She shook her head. “Apparently, Danny set both of them up. Made JR think Sam slept with him.”

  “What a lying asshole! Needless to say, I’ll be looking for a new drummer.” Chris scowled. “He’s going to have a hard time playing anyway minus his thumbs.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Mary’s concerned because she hasn’t been able to get a hold of Sam.” Sara pulled out her cell phone and punched in her sister’s number with a shaky hand. “I don’t understand. None of this makes sense.” The call went directly to voicemail. Her shoulders slumped. “Beth saw her right after it all happened and said she seemed ok. But now she’s not answering the door or her cell.” She looked at Chris, her eyes filled with foreboding. “Sam loves her job. She would never ignore calls from Mary Timmons.”

  “Maybe she just needed some time to herself and turned off her cell,” Chris said, trying to console her.

  “That’s not like her. I’m really worried. I need to go back to Vancouver. I never should have left when she was so upset.”

  “Stop worrying.” Chris pulled her into his arms and rubbed his chin on the top of her hair. “They’ll find her. Finish your set with Cash and then if you still want to go back to Vancouver we’ll go straight to the airport. But I’m sure Mary will call any minute and tell us that they found her.”

  “Ok, Chris. I hope you’re right.”

  After JR had learned the truth from Fred, he stormed out on a mission to find the douche that was responsible for getting him into this whole mess. He found Danny in the lobby putting the moves on Cynthia. He had murder on his mind, but Dwight managed to pull him off before he could do any serious damage.

  Unfortunately, the altercation didn’t go undocumented. Several opportunistic photographers caught the entire thing on film.

  “Dammit, JR!” Marcus hissed, his face filled with rage. He gave JR a shove.

  “Don’t Marcus,” Dwight rasped. “Don’t give the parasites more ammunition.”

  Marcus glared once more at JR before pushing his way back out through the growing crowd. Looking disappointed, Dwight shook his head and turned to follow his brother as hotel security arrived.

  JR managed to slip out as well. Without even pausing to think, he took the elevator up to Sam’s floor, planning to beg her to forgive him. Unlikely, but he had to at least try. He knocked several times, but she didn’t answer. He paced back and forth down the narrow hallway feeling restless and uneasy. He tried her cell, too, but the call went directly to voicemail. Fear tightened his throat. He was beginning to think she wasn’t even going to hear him out. The thought of being completely shut out of her life made his stomach roil.

  Hearing the elevator ding, JR glanced up and saw Mary step out.

  “Still not answering the door is she?”

  JR shook his head and rubbed his neck. His expression was desolate.

  “I’ve already been up here once myself. I’m starting to get more than a little concerned,” she confided, frowning. “Her sister hasn’t heard from her, either. With the emotional state she was in, I just hope she hasn’t done something rash.” She flashed JR a stern look.

  “Oh, please God, no.” Not being a part of her life was one thing. JR pulled his hair through his hands. This was entirely his fault. “Shit!” He sighed dejectedly and slid to the floor, draping his arms over his raised knees.

  “Security is on their way up. They were delayed clearing reporters out of the lobby. I’ve talked them into letting me into the apartment, and I also asked them to start looking through surveillance tape. I want to know where Sam is, right now. I don’t like this. She’s not an irresponsible girl. She wouldn’t want to worry anyone unnecessarily.” She knocked on the door again, frowning when no one answered. She glared down at JR. “I can’t believe you…and Danny. What a psycho. When I’m done with him, he’ll be lucky to get a job sacking groceries.”

  “I’m sorry, Mary.” JR swallowed. “I really screwed up this time. What I said about Sam,” he shook his head, “I don’t know what came over me.”

  “Really, JR. A little thinking before you act would save us all a lot of grief. Beth said you got into it with Danny, too. Not your finest day, for sure.” She gave him a long look. “You’re a talented drummer, and I’ve made a lot of allowances for your behavior in the past, but that ends today. When we find Sam, the first thing you’re going to do is make a public apology. And from then on, you’d better toe the line.”

  A tense silence filled the narrow hallway as they waited for security to arrive.

  “I love her so much, Mary.” Staring down at the floor, JR’s voice was raw with emotion. “It’s not a feeling I’ve had before. It’s very unnerving. With just one word, she could destroy me.”

  Mary nodded. “Welcome to the world of real relationships.”

  Chris had a grim look on his face when Sara came off the stage.

  “What’s going on?” Sara asked with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  He took both of her hands in his and squeezed. “Sara, you need to sit down.”

  She gulped.

  Guiding her gently to a chair, he sat down across from her. “I’m so sorry, babe. They still haven’t found her. But there was evidence of a struggle in your apartment. The phone was off the hook and a lamp was knocked over.”

  Sara gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. She felt like she might throw up.

  “Mary’s called the police.”

  “Hey.” Startled by the interruption, they both looked up.

  “I’m sorry I missed the concert, Sara. Traffic was a bitch on thirty five.”

  “Oh, Leann,” Sara croaked to her manager with eyes brimming. “Sam’s missing.”

  “No!” Leann turned pale. “Oh, no, Sara, you don’t think it’s your…” She stopped and glanced at Chris.

  “Leann, please. It’s ok. Whatever news you have, you can tell me in front of Chris.”

  Despite the dire circumstances, a sudden surge of emotion clogged Chris’ throat, making it difficult for him to swallow. He knew for a fact that Sara was not a woman who gave her trust easily.

  Leann knelt down and took one of Sara’s hands. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, honey. They’ve got a new guy in the DA office. He just now called me. Your father made parole several days ago. And he never checked in with his parole officer. You don’t think he could have taken her, do you?”

  Sara face drained of all color, and she slumped forward. Leann glanced over her shoulder at Chris.

  He slid between the two women and scooped Sara into his arms. He sat and cradled her limp body in his lap, not knowing what else to do or what he could say. Her back pressed against him and then she began to shake.

  “Leann, I think she’s going into shock. Could you go to the bar and bring back a whiskey?”

  “Absolutely.” Eyes wide, Leann nodded and scurried off.

  Chris began rubbing Sara’s arms. She looked up at him. Her grey eyes were large and her teeth chattered. “He’s got her, Chris. I know he’s got her.”

  Sara spent a long time on the phone with the Vancouver city police, telling them everything she could remember about her father. Then she called Gram to tell her the bad news. After that she’d been so emotionally exhausted that she’d fallen into a restless sleep on the chartered jet Mary had arranged to get her and Chris back to Vancouver.

  Suddenly, she bolted awake. A nightmare featuring her sister in her mother’s place had her shivering all over again. She closed her eyes tightly trying to shut out the images. Her tossing and turning woke Chris and he looked at her with concern.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” Sara climbed out of his lap and moved to the other seat. She pulled out her cell and tears silently fell down
her face. No new messages. Terrifying scenarios whipped through her thoughts, snapping the thin thread of control she had over them. The more time that passed the slimmer her hope Sam would call and say that everything was ok. It had been way too long now since anyone had seen her.

  Chris reached over and took her hand. She held onto him like he was her lifeline.

  When they arrived at Vancouver International and stepped off the plane, the major crime unit lead investigator was waiting on the dark rain slicked tarmac along with Mary. The news wasn’t good.

  In a voice filled with foreboding, the uniformed officer told Sara what they’d found on the surveillance tape at the hotel. “We’ve got video of him taking her out of the building. He hid her in a linen hamper and took the service elevator out of the building. There was blood on her face.”

  Sara gasped.

  “The video quality isn’t great, but it appears she was just unconscious. Unfortunately, the bottom line is that he has her.”

  Sara closed her eyes, swallowed, and said another silent prayer for Sam’s safety. When she opened them she noticed JR standing in the background behind the others. Her eyes narrowed. She walked over and shoved him in the chest, putting all her anger and fear into it. “You bastard! I blame you,” she sobbed and started hammering against his chest with her fists. Though he visibly paled, JR made no move to stop her. “If, if you hadn’t…”

  “Sara, come on,” Chris interrupted, taking her by the shoulders and gently leading her away. “He was an asshole, I agree, but you know this isn’t all his fault. I blame Danny the most.”

  “Mary’s already on that problem,” Beth said succinctly.

  “I’m so sorry,” JR said shoulders stooped. “You’re right. It is my fault. I screwed up really bad. Sam never told me about your father. If I had been with her, I could have stopped him.” His voice choked to a stop. A moment later his gaze lifted, and his expression was somber when his eyes met hers. “I love her, Sara. If anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself.”