Down in Flames (Silver Tongued Devils Series Book 1)

by Samantha Conley

  “Hey, you fucker! Drop my friend.” The gun goes off. I can hear the sirens in the distance. I try to stand, but I can’t put any weight on my leg.

  “Stay there, Camryn. I’m going on the other side to check on Kris. Looks like the Calvary is on its way.” I can see the lights from the cop cars. Mallory moves around to the other side. “She’s breathing, but she’s bleeding pretty badly. I can’t tell from where. It’s pooling underneath her. I can’t move her by myself. I think my wrist is broken.”

  I pull myself up and try to stand. “And Josh?”

  “I don’t care about that fucker, but I don’t think he’ll make it with that hole in his head.” The cops are running toward us now. Mallory puts her gun on what’s left of the car, and I breathe out a sigh of relief.

  Chapter 32

  Derek

  We’re on the bus, headed to our last stop in Tulsa for our last gig this tour. It won’t be over soon enough. My last night away from her. But I still haven’t shaken the bad feeling I had last night, and Brett’s acting like a bug crawled up his ass. Every time I look at him, he’s giving me the stink-eye. We finally pull up outside the venue and get off the bus. The roadies have been unloading the stuff to get us set up, and we head in so we can do a sound check.

  I check my phone, but Kris hasn’t texted me back from last night. The equipment is ready and I pull out my guitar. I run through a few chords, and so does Isaac. Jason gets behind the drums and warms up. We’re just waiting for Brett to get on stage so we can get this done. I realize that my phone is in my pocket, so I take it out and lay it on the amp next to me. I’m moving my guitars around when Brett finally graces us with his presence. About the time he walks by me, my phone dings with a message and my heart stops. I stare at him and he stares right back. Then he glances down at my phone, grabs it up and swipes his thumb across the screen. I begin to walk toward him when he looks at me with hate in his eyes. I stop in my tracks. I can only assume that Kristen texted me back.

  “You cocksucking motherfucker!” He throws my phone at me, and I see the text that Kristen sent me. Son of a bitch. Not that I don’t appreciate a naked pic of my girl, it’s just that the timing really sucks. I put the phone in my pocket and look at Brett.

  “Brett—” I start to say, but he cuts me off.

  “How long have you been fucking my girl, Derek? How long have you been betraying me? Have you been fucking her all along?” He’s seething, and his chest is pumping up and down with his heavy breathing.

  “She’s not your girl anymore, Brett. That’s on you. We didn’t get together until a few months ago, and don’t you fucking dare insinuate that she has been doing anything wrong. You were the cheater in y’alls relationship. You fucked up the best thing that has ever happened to you.”

  He lets out a primal scream and charges me. I try to block him as much as I can, but he lands a shot to my jaw that rattles me. I step back and hit him with a left hook. We continue to exchange blows until Jason and Isaac pull us apart. Jason is holding Brett back.

  “I fucking trusted you, and you took her away from me. Why? Why would you do that? You’re my friend! My brother!”

  I shake Isaac off. “I didn’t take her from you, Brett. You lost her all on your own. We never meant to hurt you, but we love each other.”

  Jason lets him go. “Fuck you, Derek.” He walks off the stage. I hang my head and run my hand across my face. Fuck. This is not how I wanted him to find out. Jason and Isaac are just standing there, not knowing what to do or say. I move my hand to my jaw and try to work out some of the soreness.

  “You’re gonna have a black eye, man. We need to get you some ice, and we need to track down Brett.”

  “Why do we need to track down Brett? Why are y’all not doing your sound check?” Brian asks as he heads on stage. “What the fuck happened to you, Derek?”

  “Brett happened.”

  “Fuck. What set him off?” He looks at me. “Found out, huh? Told you this might blow up in your face. I’ll get security looking for him. We have two hours before those doors open.” He turns around and walks off stage.

  “Wait, let me get this straight. You and Kristen are together? Since when? And how the hell did you keep this from us?” Isaac looks at me, then Jason. Jason is looking away from Isaac and rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “Fuck, Jason. You knew? Brian obviously knows. I guess it was just me and Brett outta the loop. I can understand why you left him out, but why me?”

  “We hadn’t planned on anyone knowing for a while. We wanted Brett in a better place before we told him. We were worried that it might send him off the deep end. Jason found out by accident.”

  “Jesus, what a clusterfuck of epic proportions. We need to find him and get this concert over with. Then we can get all this straightened out.”

  We finished as much of the sound check as we could without Brett, but with fifteen minutes until show time, Brett is still nowhere to be found. Brian comes and tells us that he’s canceling the show, and we’ll have to reschedule for another night. I hate to disappoint our fans, but we can’t play without our lead singer. We start to head back to the green room as we wait for Brian. I decide to call Kris, to warn her that the cat is out of the bag, so I grab my phone out of my pocket and scroll through my contacts. I touch the button to call her.

  “Hey, babe.”

  “Hey, Kris. Um, things kinda came to a head today. Brett saw the picture you sent me and he went off the deep end.” I can hear her saying something about a truck. “Kris? Babe?”

  The next thing I hear is metal on metal and someone scream.

  “Kris!”

  I hear the metal scraping and glass breaking. Girls screaming. All I can do is scream her name into the phone as I sink to my knees. Jason and Isaac have rushed over, and each have a hand on my shoulder. Finally, there’s silence.

  “Kris, baby, answer me, please. I need to know you’re okay. Please, baby.” Tears are streaming down my face. “Baby, please, I need you. Don’t leave me, baby. It’ll kill me.”

  Jason takes the phone away from me and continues to listen. I’m beyond being able to. I can’t lose her. She’s my everything. Please, God, don’t take her away from me. I can’t remember the last time I prayed, but I’m on my knees praying now.

  “I can hear Camryn talking…and there’s Mallory. I still haven’t heard Kris, though. Camryn said there’s someone walking toward them. Motherfucker, it’s that fucker Josh! He hit them. I don’t know what he’s doing, but Camryn’s cussing him out.”

  He puts it on speaker so we can all hear. All I can see is red. He’s trying to get my girl. I can hear Camryn yelling at him, her voice breaking as she can’t do anything.

  I feel so helpless. There’s nothing I can do for her. I’m failing her. Then I hear the shot and my heart stops. I can’t breathe. All I can hear is the pounding of my heart and can see nothing but Kristen’s face.

  One of the guys slap me on the back and I take a breath. I look up into Jason’s face. “I think Mallory shot him, but I’m not sure. I can’t make out what’s happening, but I can hear the girls’ voices.”

  I finally tune back into what’s happening. The sirens are getting louder and louder until it’s all we can hear.

  Jason hangs up the phone and throws it back to me. “Call your cop friend. I’m gonna find Brian and tell him we need to get the hell home right now.” He hurries out of the room.

  I don’t know what’s happening. I’m walking around in a fog. All I can think about is Kristen. I’m staring at the pictures I have of her in my phone when Denny calls to tell me that the girls are alive and being taken to the hospital. Mallory and Camryn have non-life-threatening injuries, but Kristen was seriously injured.

  Somehow, Brian got us a car and we’re heading from Tulsa to Dallas. Now we’re hauling ass down I-75 toward home.

  Jason and Isaac have come with me. Brian stayed behind because Brett was still MIA, not answering his phone or returning messages. But
I don’t care about that. All I can think is that the love of my life may be dying and I’m not there. I’m not holding her hand, telling her I love her. Telling her everything will be okay. At this point, I can only hope and pray.

  Denny is keeping us as up-to-date as he can. He’s at the hospital with the girls. Kristen is currently in surgery. Apparently, when she was pulled out of the car, a piece of metal lacerated her liver, reopened her previous wound What previous wound? She also has some bleeding on the brain. The more he tells me, the more I cry. He doesn’t have any more details than that. It’s just a waiting game now for the surgeon to come out.

  Jason asks about Mallory.

  “Mallory has a slight concussion and a broken wrist. Camryn has a broken ankle and a laceration to her face. They’re both gonna be fine. I’m trying to keep the questioning to a minimum until Kris gets out of surgery. I’ll call you with any updates that I get.”

  The drive home is the longest of my life. I check my phone every few minutes, but there are no calls, no texts, no updates. Finally, we roll up into the drive for the hospital. Before the car has even come to a complete stop, I’m out the door. The automatic doors can’t open quick enough, and I clip my shoulder on it on the way through. This late at night, there’s no one manning the front desk, so I grab my phone and call Denny.

  “What floor?”

  “Surgery is on second. Mallory and Camryn are on the fifth.”

  I run down the hall to the elevator, earning me a dirty look from a lady with a trash cart. I can hear footsteps pounding behind me. I slide to a stop in front of the elevator and push the button, just as Jason and Isaac come to a stop behind me. It takes forever for the doors to open. If I knew where the stairs were, I would have gone there instead. Finally, they open.

  “Kris is still in surgery on two. The girls are on five.” I push the two and one of the others push five. We reach the second floor and I hurry off down the hall, trying to find the waiting room. I can hear someone behind me. I figure it’s going to be Isaac, with Jason going up to see the girls. I find the waiting room and Denny is sitting there.

  “Any word?”

  “Someone came out a little while ago to say they were getting close to finishing. She’s hanging in there.” My knees go weak with relief and I collapse in the nearest chair. Now, we wait.

  After an eternity, the doors finally open and a man in scrubs walks through.

  “Family of Kristen Davidson?” We nod our heads. “I’m Dr. Blankenship. I’m one of the surgeons who operated on Miss Davidson. She made it through. It was touch and go for a while; she lost a lot of blood. From what we were able to see, she was cut by a piece of metal from the car. It was very deep. It reopened her previous injury and nicked her liver. We got the bleeding from her liver stopped, and she also had a very large hematoma that was pushing on her brain. More than likely a result of the impact during the accident. We had to drill a small hole in her skull to drain the blood and relieve the pressure. We’re going to place her in ICU and keep her in a medically-induced coma to allow her brain to heal. We’ll keep her medicated and pain-free, and will be monitoring her for any signs of bleeding or infection. She will be kept comfortable. After forty-eight hours, we plan to take her off the medications that are keeping her asleep and allow her to wake up naturally. But I want to warn you, she’ll be on a ventilator. There will be lots of tubes and machines that she will be hooked up to. After we take her off the medications, she may not wake up right away. The brain acts differently with each person. When she wakes up, we’ll know the extent of the damage to her brain.” He shakes our hands and tells us that she’ll be in recovery for an hour, then transferred to ICU on the third floor.

  Instead of heading to the third floor right away, we head up to the fifth to check on Camryn and Mallory. I text Jason, and he lets me know that Camryn is in 504 and Mallory is in 506. The elevator arrives quickly and we head up to five, going to Mallory’s room first. Jason is sitting in the chair beside her bed. She’s sleeping, with her splinted left arm elevated on a pillow.

  “I’m heading to Camryn’s room,” Isaac says as he backs out the door.

  “Okay, Denny, what the fuck is going on?” He takes a deep breath.

  “From what I can tell, somehow the power got knocked out at Kristen’s apartment. Someone broke the back slider onto her patio and the girls went out the front. One of them called 911 and Kristen called me. I was out on patrol, but I was close. They decided to head to Mallory’s apartment when they were struck by a truck, which was found at the scene. From initial reports, the truck struck their car, causing it to go off the embankment. It flipped several times. Mallory was driving, Kris was in the passenger seat, and Camryn was in the back. Now, until we talk to the girls, we don’t know exactly what happened after that. When the responding officer arrived, Camryn was on one side of the car and Mallory was on the other with a body lying on the ground. Kristen was lying halfway out of the car. There was a gun lying on the ground, and the man from the truck was deceased. He was identified as Josh Anderson. He was DOA. One bullet through the head.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ. What were they talking about, a previous wound that Kristen had?”

  “Fuck. She was gonna tell you when you got back. She got knifed in the parking lot the night before and had to get stitches. They kept her overnight for observation. She went home yesterday.” He glances at his watch.

  “I shot him in the head because that was the only shot I could get. The rest of him was hidden behind the car. I just knew I couldn’t let him take Kris.” All of us turn to look at Mallory. Jason moves to her side and picks up her hand. She looks at him, then at us. “Is she okay? What about Camryn?”

  “She’s fine. I checked on her a few minutes ago and she was sleeping. Isaac is in there with her now.”

  “Kris had to get her liver fixed, and something about relieving pressure in her brain. I’m going to head down to ICU. The doctor said she would be in recovery for about an hour before they moved her. It should be about that time. I want to be there when they roll her in.” I go and give Mallory a quick kiss on the forehead. “Thank you for saving her.” I turn and head out of the room.

  I make it to ICU, and they direct me to the room she’ll be in. It’s a nice big room, with a little couch that spreads out into a little bed. I sit down and one of the nurses brings me a pillow and blanket. I give her a smile and thank her as she quietly walks out. Eventually, I can hear the squeaking of shoes on the linoleum and the door opens so they can wheel the bed with Kristen inside. Four others come in with her and I can’t get a good look at her with them hovering around. I finally give up and sit down so they can finish what they need to.

  Finally, the room quiets, and I look up. Only one nurse is left in the room, and she’s on her computer. I stand up and move toward her bed, and my breath catches in my throat. She’s so still, but I can see the even rise and fall of her chest. Her head is wrapped with some white dressing and her eyes are black. She has a tube coming out of her mouth that is attached to one of the machines. The blanket is drawn up to her chest so I can’t see the rest of her. Her arms are lying on top of the blankets, tubes running in both arms; one clear, one red.

  The nurse begins to explain to me what is happening. The tube is helping her breathe. She’s receiving the last unit of blood that was ordered. One of the machines she is hooked up to will monitor her blood pressure, respirations, and oxygen levels. She tells me to call her if I need anything and that she will be monitoring from a station down the hall. I thank her and she leaves the room. I grab a chair and pull it up next to her bed. I hold her hand and I pray.

  Chapter 33

  Brett

  I storm off the stage with the knife stuck in my back. That motherfucker. How the ever-loving fuck could he do this to me? Betray me this way? All I can see in front of me is red. With every step I take, the knife twists deeper. I see a side door and slam into it, making my way outside and toward the back. I flag down a
cab and tell him to take me to the closest bar. We go a couple miles and he lets me out at a pretty popular looking place, judging by the number of people going in. I head in and take a seat at the corner of the bar that’s sort of hidden in the shadows. The bartender comes over to me pretty quickly.

  “What can I get ya?”

  “Patron. Make it a double and keep ’em coming.” I get my wallet out and lay a hundred on the bar top. “Keep me in drink and that’ll be your tip. And I’m not driving anywhere.”

  She nods her head, turns around and grabs a bottle and glasses. She pours one glass and I slam it as she pours the next. She then hands me another glass and sets it down. “That’s just water.” She pours me another.

  I can feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. I know the guys are trying to reach me, but right now, I don’t give a flying fuck what they want. Fuck them. Fuck the fans. Fuck Derek. Fuck the world.

  I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here, but I’m drunk as hell. I don’t think I can get off this stool and not fall straight to the ground. And I’ve got to take a piss. I start to slide off the stool and a hand on my shoulder stops me from sliding to the floor. I glance up and see two of Brian. Or is that three?

  “Jesus, Brett. What the fuck? How much have you had to drink? And you can’t answer your fucking phone?”

  “Didn’t want to answer it,” I slur. He helps me stand up. “I gotta take a piss.” Brian leads me toward a hallway and through a door. Luckily, there’s no one else in the bathroom with us.

  “I’m not holding your dick for you. Don’t piss all over yourself. I have to ride in the car with you and I don’t wanna smell you.”

  I fumble around with my jeans and get them down. When I finish, I work to adjust my clothing. When I finally manage to zip up my pants, Brian leads me outside, to the car sitting at the curb. He shoves me in the back and says something to the driver. I feel us move, and I lay my head against the seat. The more the car moves, the more nauseous I get. We finally stop in front of a hotel. Brian opens the door and gets out, so I scoot along the seat to follow him, but I can’t get my legs under me. Brian grabs my arm and hauls me out. He leads me to the elevator and we get on. As we start to move, I try not to puke. We finally get off the roller coaster ride of an elevator and Brian leads me down the hall, opens the door, and shoves me inside.