by Pink, Nikki
(1) He's gone into rehab.
(2) He's in luuuuuuurve with a beautiful woman (not me :( ) and run off with her.
(3) He's been kidnapped by aliens.
(4) He finally tried an In and Out burger for the first time and now he's dedicating his life to spreading the message of their deliciousness.
(5) He's gone to join Chris Martin, Trent Reznor, and Dave Grohl in a brand new rock supergroup.
(6) This is all a publicity stunt to get y’all to read my blog and he'll be back again tomorrow.
And… the best and craziest theory yet…
(7) He’s going to an underground MMA fight!
Where do YOU think he is, my loyal rock kittens?
Leave your answers in the comments. Whoever turns out to be right will get a super-secret special prize!
xxxRockItGirlxxx
20
Lonnie
Can't get enough. That's obviously it. American chicks love British guys. That Ava, she had one taste of the Lon-meister and now she's back. The sister stuff is just an excuse. I laughed to myself.
"What's so funny?" asked Ava.
"Nothing," I said as we walked through the rather dingy lobby and I jabbed the elevator button, "just thinking about this hotel."
"What happened at the last place anyway? I saw a picture of you on some blog with the cops."
“No choice. The manager thought the boys were a bit too energetic in their use of the suites last time. That, and they didn't like the security they brought along."
"You mean you?"
I laughed. "Me? Look at me, who couldn't love me?" I patted my chest and gave my best boy-next-door cheeky grin. She shook her head in amusement.
She definitely couldn't get enough of me.
We rode up to our floor in the rickety elevator and I saw Ava wince with each creak. I guess she didn’t appreciate antique rides. We went down the hall to the room Chad had staked out for himself.
"London! Good to see you," Chad Chad Price was all grins when we entered.
"Alright, Twatface. This is Ava. We think Si is with her sister."
Chad ran his eyes up and down her a little too slowly. Before I knew what I was doing I'd put a protective arm over her shoulder and was giving him eyes. Not that a greasy little gobshite like that would have much chance with her anyway.
"So Lonnie, it looks like you're the point man on this."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you've gotta get him back. You know him better than anyone."
I frowned. "I haven't seen him in years. Neal, Johnny and Rabbie all know him better than me these days."
"Well, better than anyone except them. They've got shit to do. We're going to have to audition tomorrow."
"They're replacing him? Already?"
Chad shrugged. "Not replacing forever. Just until we get him the hell back. We've got four shows coming up back to back."
"Three. There are three more."
Chad looked like he was about to say something then thought better of it and stopped. He opened his mouth again and said, "Right, right. Three more. And we need to get a session musician in until he gets back. So we’ve got to audition, and you’ve got to get Si back."
I could never put my finger on it, but there was always something a little off about Chad. As if he was always scheming something, his mind hours or days ahead of whatever was going on now. I put it down to too much stress, too much shit on his plate, and far too much cocaine. The usual.
"How are we going to find them?" asked Ava.
"You're intending to help out too, huh, little miss?" asked Chad, his eyes flickering up and down her body again.
"I am not a little miss. And you're damn right I'm going to be helping out. She's my goddamned sister."
Chad looked at me and grinned. He raised his right hand in the air and raked it through the air with his fingers outstretched like claws. "Meow, feisty."
My eyes shot to Ava just in time to see her hand whip through the air and slap Chad across the face. I probably could have stopped her. If I’d wanted to.
"Yep," I said to Chad who was rubbing his hand against his cheek.
"So where do we think they are?" asked Ava calmly, her anger sated for now. This girl was feisty and I loved it. I like chicks with balls on them. Not literally, of course.
"Come on. I'll show you the note," said Chad without a hint of humor. He'd been cowed for now.
We read the note together.
"So any ideas where he might be?" asked Chad.
"This bit," I jabbed at the paper, "he says he’s going to pursue his destiny."
“His destiny? That really sounds like he’s on drugs,” said Ava.
"Wasn't that becoming a rock star? Aren't I helping him with that right this very minute? Isn't Chad Chad here the daddy of helping young rockstars pursue their destinies of rock stardom?" Chad was shaking his head in disbelief, at the sheer ungratefulness of Si toward what he had done for him.
"I think... and I may be wrong, but I think I might know what he's talking about."
"What?" asked Ava.
"When we were young he used to talk about his granddad a lot. He never met this granddad, just heard stories about him from his uncle. But he was foreign, from Burma--"
"You mean Myanmar?"
"He called it Burma. Anyway, his granddad was some kind of Burmese boxing champion. There was a word for it, Luwei. Lethway. Some shit like that."
"Lethwei," said Chad.
I looked at him with my head tilted giving him a how the fuck do you know that look.
Chad shrugged in an uncharacteristically modest gesture. "I used to do a lot of bar quizzes."
"Right, Lethwei. Anyway, even while he used to sit there, strumming the bass away, he used to talk about how we was going to be a kickboxer too. A rock star kickboxer. Said he was going to win tournaments and shit. Said it was his dream."
"You've got some weird friends," said Ava.
I shrugged. "He was the least weird of us. Anyway, that's it. That's what he used to say was his destiny or some shit."
"So... did he ever take any classes or anything? Can he actually fight?"
A snort of laughter escaped at the thought of it. He couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag. He was all talk and no trousers when it came to that stuff.
"In a word, no. We used to watch kung fu flicks though. Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris shit. That's about the extent of his training."
"So what's that got to do with the note?"
"Well, it's the only thing that makes any sense. At least from back when I knew him. Maybe he's found a new ‘destiny’. But I doubt it. I bet it's something to do with that."
"So should we look for him in the UFC?"
I laughed. "I don't know. Let's see what we can dig up. Unless anyone's got any better ideas?"
Chad shrugged.
Ava looked at me. "I know Lily's online banking details. I can log into her account and see if she makes any purchases or registers at a hotel or something. Maybe we can track them that way. My laptop’s in the car."
"Awesome. Bring your computer up here. Chad, you got a room for her?"
"You guys can use the first one on the right. That's not been claimed yet."
Chad had just set me up with her again. Noice.
Ava nodded and went to head down to her car. I went to go find some beers and a cell phone charger. I was going to work the phones and see if I couldn't find Si pursuing his stupid destiny.
21
Ava
I pulled the laptop out of the trunk of my car. You can't keep them in the front - especially in the kind of quiet, open parking lots I often have to leave my car in.
I couldn't believe this was happening to me again. What was up with Lily now, it was so odd. The girl had broken up with her long time boyfriend a few weeks ago, sure, but it seemed since then she'd been acting strange.
She'd locked herself away for hours on end in her room, however that was pretty norma
l for a girl going through a breakup. But she hadn't even seemed that upset. She wasn't crying all night or watching rom-coms with a bucket of ice cream for company. She'd withdrawn somewhat but hadn't been all that upset.
But now she'd met this musician and it was like she'd completely flipped! How long had she spent hanging out with him, half an hour? An hour? And now she was running off with him. I mean, I've heard of love at first sight but this was ridiculous.
Lonnie said it wasn't drugs, but I wasn't sure if I entirely believed him. What else could explain Lily's erratic behavior?
I walked into the hotel room to find Lonnie making himself right at home. His leather cut was hanging on the back of a chair and his toned torso was just covered by a well fitted white t-shirt. He didn't need anything fancy to look good. Just some slightly ripped blue jeans (naturally ripped, not designed) and a simple white t-shirt.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, proffering a bottle of Miller as he did so.
"Nothing. What's the plan?"
"I'm going to make some calls. See if I can find out about any underground fights he might be embarrassing himself at. That poor guy if he's found one..."
"You really think he'd get his ass whooped?" I asked as I took a welcome sip of the cold beer. Drinking beer two nights in a row, during the week? Shit, there were some benefits to my sister's antics.
"Of course. He will get a proper walloping. No doubt about it. This ain't the movies, he's not going to pull out some mystical bullshit because his granddad was some big time kickboxer back in the day. Hell no. I'm not saying he's a pussy or anything, but he sure as shit ain't a trained fighter."
"Good. I hope he gets his kidnapping ass kicked."
He let out a chuckle. "Yeah, well. Check your sister’s bank accounts. I'm going to call some of our contacts out here and see what I can dig up about underground fights."
I sat on the edge of the queen sized bed with my beer on the bedside table next to me and my computer propped up on my lap. Lonnie was sitting at the table with a pen in one hand and the hotel's complimentary stationary sitting in front of him ready to scrawl notes on.
I turned it on. Low battery. Of course. I swear this computer had a permanent low battery since the company gave it to me. Use it for an hour? Low battery. Leave it in the car for a day? Low battery. Unplug it from the wall? Low battery.
I pulled out the charger from the carry bag and luckily there was an outlet built in to the bedside table. It's so annoying when you're staying in a hotel and have to scramble around, pulling things out or rearranging furniture to find a convenient outlet.
Once I'd fed the starving computer some of the delicious power it had been craving it was time to get to work. Lonnie finished a phone call and snapped his cell phone shut. He was still rocking a decade old Motorola and he was tapping it against his beer bottle with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Got something?" I asked.
He turned around and grinned, popping another bottle of beer open. "Not got something. But got something that might get us something that'll lead us to getting something."
I nodded, confused. "Sounds good, Sherlock."
"It's kind of fun, isn't it, Watson?"
I snorted. "You've got a weird idea of fun. Chasing down two runaways isn't my idea of a good time. Especially when-- shit--"
"What?"
"Work. Goddammit. I've got to call in and tell them I won't be there again tomorrow."
"Ooh. Is your boss going to be an arsehole about that?"
I finished off the beer and nodded. "Yep. We work hard, we earn hard," that's what he always says.
"Not, work hard and play hard?"
"Nah. He doesn't like to give us time off to play. Even weekends there's always shit to do."
"Good money though, huh? Gonna retire at 30?"
I shook my head at him like he was an idiot before I realized he was teasing me. "Yeah right."
I looked at him, sat there in the hotel chair, dressed exactly how he wanted to dress, apparently having fun chasing down these runaways. Shit, this was his job. At least, as much of a job as he had.
"How does being a biker pay?"
He laughed. "You know, it depends on the economy. It has its ups and downs."
"The economy? Really?"
"Sure. Everything's economics, love. Of course the way economics works is a bit different in our line of work, but there's ups and downs, fat times and lean times."
"So is this a fat time or a lean time?" I asked. In my job it was definitely a lean time, at least for my company. Shit, it had been lean since I started in 2011. All I'd heard was about the glory days back when they'd earned a tonne of money before 2008- days they kept promising would be back soon if we kept our nose to the grindstone.
He laughed. "Pretty fat right now. Let's just say I ain't worrying where the next rent payment's coming from. Not that I pay any."
"No rent?"
"Not at the moment. I've got a room at our clubhouse."
Shit. No rent? Half my damn paycheck went on rent and related property expenses to find somewhere good enough for me and Lily to live. For the thousandth time that year I came to the realization that life wasn’t fair.
"Got another beer?" I asked.
"Thought you were going to call your boss?"
"Yeah. Well I need another beer first while I think of an excuse."
"Why don't you just tell him the truth? That your sister has run away with an English weirdo and you're worried about her?"
I pondered the situation as I also pondered the absurdity of taking advice on honesty from someone who, if he wasn't an outright criminal, at least lived on the fringes of law abiding society.
"You think he'll buy it?"
Lonnie looked at me, head askance. "Why not? If I was your boss I'd let you take the week off to come ride with me."
I grinned at him as I imagined him as my boss, sitting in Mr. Wickham’s office, boots up on the desk and a bottle of beer in one hand while he managed the company. It'd probably be more fun to work there then.
"Well you're obviously less of an asshole than him. He’s gonna bitch out my ass to Sunday."
"I'm glad I’m no longer the worst bastard in your life then," he said flashing his cheeky boy grin.
He was standing in front of me now, having stood up smooth like a cat and sidled over without me barely noticing.
My head shook slowly. "Not too much of a bastard." The room was a million degrees all of a sudden. How could men do that? Or rather, how could this man do that? Most couldn't. Not like that.
He handed a beer over. Oh. That's why he was there, in front of me. I'd forgotten about that.
"Thanks," my voice came out strange. Slightly husky. I cleared my throat.
My left hand grabbed the beer and my right hand touched his waist, the top of his thigh as I thanked him. I wanted to pull him toward me but we had work to do.
"Let's get back to it," I said
He nodded. "Yeah. Let's do that." His eyes said it all though. I knew he wanted me. Still. Again. It's a nice feeling to have.
My hand trailed down and left the warm denim but I couldn't help but let my fingers run down over his tight buttocks as I did so.
He turned and walked away. Cocky. Like he knew he was going to get some.
I wondered what would have happened if instead of pushing him away I'd pulled him toward me, undone his pants, taken him hot and hard into my mouth...
But Lily needed me and we had things to do.
While he got back onto the phone I went through Lily's accounts. Nothing. No withdrawals, no purchases, nothing. It was like she wasn't spending any money at all. What the hell was she doing?
22
Lonnie
There was an excited whoop and then she jumped to her feet. I stopped dialing the number I'd started to dial and gave her a look. "What?"
"This bitch knows something. Listen to this..." said Ava.
She read out to me part of a post fro
m RockIt Girl’s blog. She was some fan of the band who seemed to have access to inside information. Ava had walked over to me and was standing triumphant before me.
"Well done, love," I said to her as I stood up. I patted her on her delicious arse and as her eyes flashed I had a sudden desire to push her onto the bed and take her. I just kissed her on the lips instead though.
She pushed me off, but it was a playful push without complaint. "Come on. Let's get her."
"Get her?"
"Yeah. She obviously knows where the hell they are. Let's ask her nicely. And if she doesn't answer... maybe you can ask her less nicely."
Ask her less nicely? What, does she want me to rough this girl up, I wondered.
"I don't think so love. She's a girl."
"Sexist. So I'll have to do it?"
"I'm not beating up some girl who writes a blog. That's really not my style, you know? I'm a gentleman."
"A gentleman? You?" she asked.
She was teasing me, wasn't she? "You're damn right I'm a gentleman. Anyway, maybe we don't need anyone roughing anyone up. Why don't we just ask her nicely?"
"Yes. Of course, we'll try that," she said, "first."
"So you know where she is?"
She twisted her computer to show me. Huh, I thought, maybe it wouldn't be hard to track this girl down. She'd kindly taken a selfie showing herself in all her blue haired and black-lipsticked glory - she'd stand out like a yank in a South London pub. Even better though was where she'd taken the selfie - right outside our hotel, just a few minutes before.
"I think we can find her."
I grinned and gave her a squeeze on the arse. Why'd Si have to go off fucking everything up? It'd be much more fun to just stay in the hotel and bang this girl all night again. She gave me a smack on the arm in response to my lecherous hands. Not a fuck off smack, but a fuck-off-for-now smack. That'd do.
A couple minutes later we were outside the hotel scanning the small crowd that had gathered here. They were waiting for the tour bus to get back but it hadn't yet. I guess the boys were hanging out in that club, or maybe they'd gone somewhere else to get in trouble. Shit, I wondered if Chad had even told them about Si going missing? That guy was the most unpredictable little twat I’d ever met.