by M. Malone
After this, she’d be on her own.
* * * * *
MATT HELD UP his walkie-talkie, listening to Eli’s update. The first few weeks of his employment had taken a bit of adjustment. To Matt’s surprise, there were few hard and fast rules governing who could be a bodyguard. Most states just required you to go through a short training program and be licensed by the state, so he’d spent a week training in D.C.
It was almost laughable to be required to take an entry-level firearms course since he was an expert marksman. He was used to shooting everything from a 9mm to an M-16. However, it had allowed him another week of being close to Penny, so he didn’t care. It was so natural to go to sleep with her each night.
It made him wonder if he would have been able to walk away from her even if she hadn’t come to him. Likely, he would have gone crazy the first week without her and come back, begging her to reconsider. He had to laugh at himself. He’d teased his friends about being whipped by their women and now he was in the same boat.
He’d been assigned to a security detail for a senator last week. This was his first week working in southern Virginia. He called her every night and they talked for hours, often falling asleep with his cell phone still in his hand.
“Everything okay?” Tank appeared at his elbow. His eyes darted around. Matt had instantly liked the ex-Army captain. He’d been helping Eli on the Divine group’s detail for a few months now, so he’d been helpful in bringing Matt up to speed on their case. All the guys on Eli’s team had been welcoming so far. They treated him like he’d been there all along.
He had a new team now.
“Yeah, Eli was just telling me everyone else is in place,” Matt answered.
Tank nodded. “The show is about to start. The girls decided to add an extra song to the set. I’m not sure why,” he added under his breath.
Matt understood the other man’s disgruntlement. That would mean a slightly longer show. If they were supposed to be on the alert for someone after Kaylee, wouldn’t it make more sense to cut the show short?
“I don’t get it either, but I trust Eli. If they want to do an extra song, I guess a few more minutes won’t make much difference in the long run.”
They did another lap of the backstage area, meeting back at the side entrance.
Eli looked up when Matt approached. “The girls are on in five minutes. After the show, we’ll leave through the back entrance.”
Kaylee stood in the center of the group of girls. Her head was bowed and she looked like she was praying. Spending time with her over the last few days, he’d been humbled by her talent. The first time he’d attended a practice session for Divine, he hadn’t expected the sounds that had come out of her mouth. She’d blasted out a particularly high note and Matt’s jaw had dropped. Eli had let out his deep grumble-laugh.
“I’m guessing you’ve never heard her sing before?” he’d commented.
Matt had just shaken his head and continued watching in awe.
Despite her amazing talent, Kay was one of the sweetest, most humble people he’d ever met. No matter how long their practices ran or what she was asked to do, she always wore a smile.
“Okay, you two guard the separate stage entrances. I’m staying here by the dressing room.”
Tank and Matt spread out, following Eli’s orders. Matt took the left-side stage entrance. A few minutes later, the girls filed past him and out onto the stage. There was a roar from the crowd. He smiled. It was interesting to see the entertainment industry from this side of the stage. Few people knew how much hard work went into the performances they enjoyed. He wasn’t distracted by the show because he’d seen it many times as they’d rehearsed in the days leading up to the event. It was to be their final group event before each of the girls started working on their solo projects.
Matt sensed movement behind him, so he turned. A young man who looked about early twenties with dark, spiked hair walked toward the stage entrance.
“Clearance pass?” he called. The guy stopped, then turned slowly.
“Sure. Here’s my pass.” He handed it to Matt. It was a green pass, which meant he had backstage access. Eli scrutinized the list of backstage passes that were issued and he’d personally manned the door to allow people into the backstage area. So he would have known if the guy was legit.
“Thanks, man. If you’re here to meet the members of Divine, you might want to wait in the Press area.” Matt pointed to a cordoned-off lounge with refreshments. The girls would give several interviews tonight, the most important to Entertainment Weekly.
“I’ll do that. How long until the show is over?” The man’s eyes darted around when Matt turned back to him.
“About an hour. What press outlet are you with again?”
“The local paper, the Virginia Chronicle.”
“Okay, well, there’s coffee and donuts and stuff over there. If you need to leave and come back, you’ll have to go through security again.”
The guy nodded and wandered away, aiming one last glance at the dressing-room door. Matt watched as he ambled over to the press area and sat down. A few minutes later, he glanced around, freezing when he noticed Matt observing him.
Matt pulled his walkie-talkie from his belt. “Eli? Are the girls scheduled to do an interview with the local paper, too?”
Static crackled over the line as Eli responded. “That was yesterday. The only interview they’re doing tonight is for Entertainment Weekly.”
Matt turned back to the press area. It was empty. “Shit. We have a problem. There was a guy poking around backstage who looked a little off to me. He claimed he was from the Virginia Chronicle and had a green pass.”
“Where is he now?”
He could tell by the sound of Eli’s voice that he was running. Probably on his way to where he was.
“He’s gone now. There’s only two ways he could have gone.”
“I know,” Eli interrupted. “I’m heading to the back entrance now to see if I can cut him off.”
Tank interrupted them then. “Should I hold position?”
“Everyone stand fast,” Eli stated. “If this is the guy sending the letters, we can’t let him leave.”
He moved to the side of the stage area and scanned the platform. The club had its own security so if there was a problem in the crowd, they’d handle it. His concern was making sure no one got onstage near the girls. Several people were pointing to the ceiling. Matt looked up and then raised his walkie-talkie.
“He’s in the rafters. I repeat, he’s in the rafters above the stage area.”
“I’m on my way now,” Eli replied.
“I’ll get the girls.” A scream from the audience rang out. Matt’s blood chilled. The guy had jumped from the rafters to a speaker on the side of the stage.
Matt strode out onto the stage and grabbed Kaylee, ignoring her gasp. The girls had been facing the crowd, so they hadn’t even realized what was happening behind them.
He pushed her toward the exit, causing her to stumble into Sasha. The other girl stopped singing mid-lyric and turned to glare at Kaylee. “What is going on?” Sasha cried.
“Security breach. You need to leave the stage now.” The other girls ran over and he herded them toward the other side of the stage where Tank was waiting. “Go!”
“Look out!” Tank’s surprised face gave him a split second of warning, so he moved to the side. The arm that came slashing down had a knife with a three-inch-long blade in it. Another fist crashed into his cheek.
Tank ran out and jumped in front of the girls. Matt shoved the guy and then kicked him in the kneecap. The man fell to one knee with an anguished cry. Then he swiped at Matt’s legs.
Matt jumped back and landed on his ass. He got to his feet and pulled his weapon.
“Stay right where you are.”
The other man chuckled, the sound incongruous with the position he found himself in. “It’s about time you got here,” he rasped.
Matt figured the
guy was delirious until he heard the click of a chamber near his ear. Instinctively, he rolled the other direction and ducked behind one of the large speakers. He peeked around the side, then pulled back abruptly. A bullet whizzed over his head and took a chunk out of one of the stage backdrops. Great, there were two of them.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” a voice taunted.
Matt fired blindly to the ceiling, hoping the noise would scare them. There was a shout and a thud to his left. It sounded like the men falling to the stage as they dove for cover. He couldn’t actually shoot toward the crowd because there were still people in the club.
It was time to assess his options. He pulled out his phone and sent Eli a quick text, letting him know his location and how many assailants there were. He could likely hold them off for a while since he had a lot of ammunition on him. But sooner or later, they were going to lose patience and rush him. At that point it was just a matter of who shot who first.
You’re also assuming there are only two of these guys.
Matt sent up a silent prayer that Eli wasn’t busy holding off any other attackers. Tank had been with the girls, so he could only assume they were safe.
Another shot whizzed over his head.
“Come on, Eli,” he whispered.
* * * * *
WHEN THE FIRST scream rang out, Mara thought it was just the usual crowd noise. Ridley had asked her to come because she wanted to support Kaylee. Mara didn’t know her that well, but Kay seemed like a real sweetheart and she’d been a sport about helping Mara spy on Penny and Matt that day. She’d heard that Eli hadn’t been too happy about how that had gone down.
Mara shivered. She couldn’t imagine having Eli mad at you. He was always friendly when he saw her and she was grateful to him for giving Matt a job, but he kind of scared her a little. There was something about the way he stared at you without blinking.
“I don’t know how Kaylee deals with this all the time,” Mara remarked over the sound of the crowd.
“Well, it’s not always this rowdy,” Ridley yelled back. “But Kay was really nervous about performing today. Things have been tense. The other girls don’t want the group to break up.”
“Why are they breaking up, anyway?”
“Because Jackson thinks Kay will do better on her own. She’s really the one carrying the group.” Suddenly Ridley stopped talking and grabbed Mara’s arm. “Oh my god. What the hell is he doing?” She started pulling Mara backward.
“Where are we going?”
When someone else screamed, Mara clutched Ridley’s arm. She wasn’t much of a concert-goer, so she wasn’t sure what was normal. It was actually kind of strange that she didn’t enjoy them more. She loved parties and concerts were like parties on steroids.
But this was just a little too much for her senses to handle.
“I’ve learned a few things lately. When something weird starts going down, you don’t hang around to watch. There’s a guy who just jumped onstage from the ceiling.”
Mara tried to look over her shoulder as they pushed through the crowd. Matt had come out onstage and was dragging Kaylee to the other side. Then she saw the man come up behind him.
“Matt, look out!” She knew it was useless, there was no way he could hear her over the crowd. But she had to warn him.
“Wait! We have to go back. That man is attacking Matt.” She fought against her friend’s hold, but Ridley tightened her grip and pulled her through the crowd. Mara saw Matt fighting the man and then suddenly they both fell to the ground.
“Ridley, please wait,” she sobbed. The sound of gunshots rang out and the people started screaming and pushing. Tears streamed over her cheeks as she struggled. Ridley wrapped her arms around her and forced her toward the exit.
“Eli and the others are trained to deal with this. We aren’t. Your brother would never forgive you if you got hurt trying to help him when he doesn’t need help.”
Once they were out of the main stage area, they ran past the bar toward the exits. Just as they pushed outside into the cool night air, Mara heard sirens.
“See, help is on the way. Let’s go across the street so we aren’t in the way.”
She followed Ridley to the parking lot across the street where they promptly sat on the curb to catch their breath. Mara pulled out her phone and dialed Penny. Her fingers shook so badly that she could barely bring up the number. All she could see was Matt falling.
“What are you doing?” Ridley asked. They watched as several police cars and a fire engine pulled up outside the theater.
“I have to let Penny know what’s going on. Those guys were attacking Matt. What if he’s hurt? She’ll need time to get here.” Mara broke down into tears and Ridley pulled her into a hug.
“It’s all going to be okay. I know it is.” But she didn’t sound any more confident than Mara felt. She’d seen Matt go down, too.
And they hadn’t seen him get back up.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
PENNY HATED DOING patient reviews. There were a stack of case files on her desk that she needed to get through, and she’d only done one all evening.
One. Freaking. Review.
She sighed. If she was being honest, it wasn’t really the case file reviews making her miserable. She hated everything right now. Matt had only been gone for a week and it felt like an eternity. She hadn’t been sleeping well at all, despite the fact that they stayed up all night talking on the phone like teenagers.
She loved him and she was going to tell him. There was no time frame for loving someone. He made her happy. When she envisioned her future, she couldn’t imagine it without Matt.
That was love.
Her cell phone rang and she grabbed at it eagerly. When she saw the number, she stopped. It was Mara.
“Hello?”
“Penny!” Mara’s voice was a cross between a scream and a cry.
Penny stood, the papers on her desk slipping off and scattering to the floor. “Mara? Are you okay?”
A soft sob came over the line. “We’re at the club where Divine is playing their last show. I don’t know what happened.” She dissolved into tears again. Everything she said after that was lost in a jumble of tearful sounds.
“Wait, Mara, slow down. Who’s hurt? Are you hurt?”
“No,” she wailed. “It’s Matt.”
Penny stopped breathing. “What happened to Matt? Where is he?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what’s happening. I saw him onstage and there was this man and I saw him fall.”
Penny gripped the phone and pressed it closer to her ear, trying to hear. Mara was incomprehensible at this point. There was a loud shuffling sound and then an unfamiliar voice was on the line. “Hello, Penny?”
“Yes, I’m here. Who is this?” Penny plugged her other ear with her finger so she could hear.
“It’s Ridley Alexander. We met briefly at Mara and Matt’s birthday party. I’m so sorry I have to tell you this over the phone, but something happened at the show. There was a guy who jumped on stage and went after the singers. Some crazed fan, I guess. Mara says she saw Matt get pushed down and didn’t see him get back up. We heard gunshots after that, but we couldn’t see who was shooting.”
Penny heard a soft moaning sound and didn’t realize at first that it came from her. She held a hand over her mouth. Matt was facing some lunatic and she had no idea whether he was safe or not. Her every nightmare come to life.
“The police are inside now, but I don’t know what’s happening,” Ridley continued. “Eli knew we were at the show, so he’d contact us if everything was fine. He hasn’t been in touch, so I’m not sure what’s going on. Mara wanted you to know what was happening so you’d have time to drive down here. Just in case.”
Penny understood what the other woman was really saying. Just in case Matt didn’t get back up. Just in case he was dead.
“Thank you. I’m coming now.”
“Okay, we’ll text you if we hear anyth
ing in the meantime.”
They hung up and Penny dropped down into her desk chair. She stared, unseeing, at the piles of paper on the floor.
Matt had called her last night, like usual. He’d told her all about guarding Kaylee and what a nice, humble girl she was. He’d actually laughed at how it didn’t seem right to be getting paid to hang out with his friends. He’d sounded so happy that it had temporarily made her feel better about the separation. It sucked not seeing him every night, but at least he was enjoying himself. He’d found a career that fit him well and gave him the sense of teamwork he’d been looking for. She’d been happy for him.
Briefly, Penny thought about how many years he’d spent in the military and how she’d thought he’d be so much safer in the civilian world. She’d assumed the military was the only danger to their relationship. To her perfect future. By avoiding risk and keeping everything in her life in perfect order, she’d fooled herself into thinking she could control things. That she could ensure she’d never have to feel as helpless and out of control as she had as a teenager.
How had she not learned by now that fate had a way of getting you where it wanted you no matter what you did? Her glee, no matter how momentary, that he hadn’t qualified to stay in the military had brought this down on them. She’d been smug in her triumph and this was the payback. She covered her eyes with her hands.
Fate was such a miserable, catty bitch.
* * * * *
A FEW MINUTES after she’d hung up with Ridley, the door to her office opened.
“Penelope?” Charles stood in the doorway uncertainly.
“I don’t have time to talk right now, Charles. I need to go.” His appearance jerked her from her shocked stupor, and she realized she’d just been sitting in her chair, staring into space. Her man was in trouble and there were one hundred and fifty miles separating them.