by J. A. Owenby
“It’s tough,” Gemma agreed, strolling leisurely across the stage toward us. “Some fans are nice about it when they realize we’re in a relationship, but then there are the others who honestly don’t give a rat’s ass. Those are the ones I want to smack as hard as I can.”
“I’ll help,” I muttered.
“Are you jealous?” Cade teased, a mischievous grin easing across his face.
My eyes narrowed at him. “How would you feel if some guy approached you and asked what my name was?”
“No big deal.” He shrugged.
“Uh huh. And what if this guy then talked about how much he’d like to take my shirt off and grab my tits? Oh, and bury his big dick in me.”
Cade’s jaw visibly tensed with my words.
“Well said, Mac,” Gemma said, snickering slightly.
“I have to hear similar comments about Gemma, and it sucks,” Hendrix said, joining us.
I glanced around for John, but he and Pierce were over to one side of the stage, speaking quietly. I assumed it was security stuff for the concert. It was still strange to know John had worked for the same company as Pierce and kept it secret for the last few years. To me he’d always be the same ol’ John I’d known in high school, though.
Pierce and John joined us a few minutes later.
“We’re all ready,” Pierce said to Hendrix. “We have security around the perimeter as well as in the crowd.”
“Thanks, man.” Hendrix patted John on the back and smiled at him. “I have to admit it does feel better knowing you're more than our drummer.”
“I literally have you guys' backs,” John said, laughing.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready to wrap up and head home tomorrow. I miss Franklin, too. He’s the only parent I have left,” Gemma said.
Hendrix slid his arm around her waist. “He called me earlier and wished us luck on the last performance. He has a nice dinner planned for us tomorrow night at his place.”
“Do you want to come over?” I asked, glancing up at Cade.
“I’d love to babe, but I need to spend some time with Mom and Missy.”
I chewed my lip in disappointment. We’d been in our cocoon for so long, I’d forgotten about his responsibilities.
“But I’ll be over as soon as Missy goes to sleep. I’ve decided to keep the caregiver.”
“Really?” I asked, bouncing up and down clapping. This meant he’d have more freedom for us to spend time together.
“Yeah. Mom and Missy really like her, plus it allows me to have some time for practice, and most importantly you.”
I pushed up on my tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss.
“I’ll talk to Franklin before you come over then. I’m not sure how he’ll react, but I think he will settle down once he sees we’re serious and not playing around.”
Cade traced his fingers down my cheek, his eyes softening. “No more playing,” he said.
“You two are perfect for each other,” Gemma said, walking across the stage and moving the microphone stand back. “It’s too bad you guys didn’t figure it out sooner.”
“I wouldn’t have been ready,” I admitted. “I was still hung up on the idea Asher would grow up. I think if people realized we can’t change someone else, we’d be better off. I mean, I don’t know what I was thinking. It would have been so much easier if I’d taken his words and actions at face value.”
“Mac, I think it’s a huge lesson everyone has to learn.”
“Yeah. It would have saved me a shit ton of heartache for sure if I’d figured it out sooner.”
Hendrix looked at his phone while the first audience members showed up.
“Guess we’d better get ready.” He took Gemma’s hand, and a sad smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “It’s been a great tour; let’s give them a show they’ll never forget.”
An hour later, I hugged my bestie, brother, John, and my boyfriend for good luck. I smiled as they strolled out on stage and waved to the audience. The crowd went wild, and I was grateful we weren’t inside an auditorium. The noise would have been deafening.
“Hello, Denver!” Hendrix yelled into the microphone.
“Are you ready to get home?” I asked Pierce, who was standing next to me side stage.
“Yeah. I think we all are. Touring night after night can definitely take its toll.”
The band began their first song, and I peeked over at Pierce. He was in full work mode, but without his sunglasses.
“We should find you a girlfriend or someone special when we get home. You’re always working, and you’ve got to have some fun, too.”
“I don’t have time. This job takes up every minute of every day,” he responded without looking at me.
“Does it help that we’re friends and not just a job? I mean, don’t you get lonely?”
Pierce shifted his weight from one foot to the next, his attention continually scanning the crowd and area around us.
“I’ve always been a loner, Mac. This life fits me well.”
“Oh. If you ever change your mind, I’m sure we can get you a date. I mean, you’re hot as hell, make good money, and how old are you?” I asked.
“I’m twenty-six.”
“Ah hell, you’re only four years older than I am. For some reason, I always think you’re older. It must be the constant stoic expression you wear so well.” I wondered what Pierce had been like as a kid and if he ever relaxed even when he was off duty. Hell, we didn’t even know anything about his background. Maybe one day I’d get some real deets.
“Thanks,” he replied dryly.
Pierce and I stood in silence and enjoyed the band’s next few songs. My pulse raced when I realized it was almost time for Cade’s solo. No matter how many times I heard it, my insides turned to jelly. Each time he sang it, he owned another piece of my heart.
Cade’s attention drifted over in my direction and he mouthed I love you. I blew him a kiss, beaming at him. The last thing I’d ever expected when Hendrix had asked if I wanted to spend a month on the road with them was to fall in love with my brother’s best friend. But I had. Hard.
The lights in the outdoor arena shut down and the curtain closed. The stage crew scurried around and prepared for Cade’s song.
“I never get tired of hearing him sing,” I said to Pierce.
A worry line creased Pierce’s forehead as the curtain opened, and his focus darted across the stage. John raised his glow in the dark drumsticks then tapped a rhythm on the rim of his snare drum.
Pierce’s hand went to his earpiece, and before I could ask him what was wrong, a rapid popping sound rang through the arena. Pierce dashed out from the side stage and jumped in front of Cade as the spotlight singled in on him. Cade stumbled backward, then dropped to the floor. Pierce’s body jerked and he tumbled to the stage while John ran in front of Gemma, but it was too late. She staggered back, grabbed her side and collapsed. To my horror, Hendrix fell to the floor next and my shrill cry ripped through the night. Terrified screams rang through the audience. Too stunned to move, I stared in disbelief as everyone I loved lay still on the stage.
Chapter 22
Violent trembles traveled through my body as my addled brain pieced together the situation in front of me. Although I was side stage, I had no idea where the shooter was, and I sank to my hands and knees. There was no way to tell if the shots had stopped either because the auditorium echoed with screams and shouting.
Dropping to my stomach and lying flat, I slithered on my belly across the stage until I reached Cade, who lay crumpled up next to Pierce. The bitter taste of bile filled my mouth, and I willed it down as my heart thumped against my chest. Everyone I loved was now motionless on the floor. Were they dead? In a split second, had I lost everything important in my life? What the fuck had happened?
“Cade,” I called through my tears, scrambling forward. A pool of blood was quickly collecting next to him on the floor. “Baby?” I cried. “Hang on,” I sai
d, grabbing his hand. “Pierce? Are you okay?” I called in his direction. “Goddammit, Pierce, please help me!”
A groan escaped from him, and a flicker of hope ignited in my chest. “Pierce? I need your help! Are you alright?”
“Mac, I’m fine. The bullet hit my vest.” He rolled over on his stomach and grimaced.
“He’s bleeding,” I said, near hysterics. I peered through the semi-darkness and sat up slowly.
Pierce cautiously glanced around and crawled toward us. “Stay down, Mac.”
I flattened myself against the cool stage floor, my eyes never leaving Cade.
“Is he going to be okay?” I asked. “I don’t know where he’s bleeding from.” I held up my hands, staring blankly at Cade’s blood that now stained my fingers bright red.
“It looks like a chest wound,” Pierce replied, raising up enough to tug his shirt over his head and revealing his bulletproof vest. “I need you to stay calm. We have help on the way, and the entire arena is full of security and paramedics. He’s going to be okay.” He wadded up his shirt, placed it over Cade’s chest, and pressed down.
Tears flowed down my cheeks as I stared at my boyfriend. How could this have happened? He’d just told me he loved me, and the next second, he was bleeding out on the floor.
“Listen to me. Mac!” Pierce yelled at me over the noise and hysteria of the crowd. I flinched and looked up at him. “I need you to get to the others and check on them.”
Fuck. I’d seen Gemma, Hendrix, and John drop like flies. Were they alive?
“Stay low and be careful,” he ordered.
I wiped my cheeks and crawled as quickly as I could to Hendrix.
“Hendrix,” I said near his ear. “Hey, it’s Mac. Can you hear me?” Hendrix’s eyes fluttered and slowly peeled open.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice so soft I almost couldn’t understand what he was saying.
“I’m fine. Help is on the way, but you need to be still, Hendrix. You’ve been shot.”
“Gemma? Is she alright?” he asked, his tone thick with fear.
“I’m on my way to her, now.” I squeezed his hand reassuringly. I wasn’t sure who I was trying to console more, Hendrix or myself. “I’ll be right back.”
I worked my way to the back of the stage where Gemma and John lay unmoving. Tears blurred my vision, and I blinked hard, attempting to stay focused.
“Gemma! Gemma!” I searched frantically to see where the blood was coming from. There was so much. Suddenly, my chest tightened, and nausea swelled in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t see the rise and fall of her chest. “No, no, no. Best bestie, you have to be alright.”
“Pierce!” I screamed. “It’s Gemma! I don’t think she’s breathing,” I hiccupped, sheer panic coursing through me. Where were the paramedics and why the hell was it taking so long to get here?
Fear flickered across his face as he continued to apply pressure to Cade’s wound. “Check for a pulse, Mac! On her neck or wrist.”
I took her limp hand and flipped it over. Nothing. I couldn’t find it.
“You listen to me right now, Gemma Thompson. If you kicked Brandon’s ass, you can survive this. You’re a strong person. You’re fine. Do you hear me?” I placed my first two fingers on her neck and held my breath.
Chapter 23
“I got it!” I yelled at Pierce and Hendrix. “Gemma’s got a pulse!” Even though I'd found a pulse, it was weak. Not a good sign. I had no idea where she'd been shot.
“Now John,” Pierce ordered. Thank God he had training for these types of situations. My brain had completely blanked out.
I held onto Gemma’s fingers and my focus traveled to John. My other hand flew to my mouth as a small whimper escaped me. John’s blank eyes stared at me, his mouth gaping open. A fresh bullet hole had torn through his forehead. He was gone.
“Mac?” Pierce asked.
I turned toward him and shook my head. It was John’s blood all over the floor.
The next minute, everything around us was a flurry of activity as the EMTs swarmed the stage and loaded Hendrix, Gemma, Cade, and John on gurneys. Pierce ran over to me, his attention landing on John while the EMTs pulled the white sheet over his body.
“Goddammit,” Pierce muttered and pulled me to him. I shivered against his body, my brain scrambling to make sense of the bloody scene in front of me.
“Are they going to make it?” I hiccupped.
“They’re all fighters, Mac. Let’s get to the hospital. You’re not to move out of my sight, do you understand?”
I nodded numbly, my legs threatening to give out as I stumbled to keep up with Pierce.
“Hang on,” he said, swooping me up in his arms. “This will be faster. I think you’re in too much shock for us to move as quickly as we need to.”
Pierce followed the EMTs, my boyfriend, and my family down the back stairs and to the ambulances.
Without a second thought, Pierce hopped into the emergency vehicle they’d loaded Gemma in.
“I’m her bodyguard, and this is her sister,” he said to the EMT. They nodded, closed the door behind us, and the wails of the sirens filled the night.
Over an hour had ticked by agonizingly slowly while Pierce and I waited in the emergency room. The shrill cry of a baby filled the bustling room, and I attempted not to chew my fingernails down to the quick while we waited for some news. I fought back an overwhelming urge for a few Xanax. Dammit. I needed something to help me through this. Why the hell had I ever admitted my prescription use in the first place?
Frantically, I reviewed the night’s events, the ball of anxiety growing inside me. I inhaled sharply and willed myself to remember why I’d stopped the pills in the first place. I loved Cade. I loved my family, and for the first time in my life, I was beginning to love myself. The desire for the pills eased, and I turned my attention to Pierce.
“What happened, Pierce? I thought we had extra security. I thought the place was locked down!" My tears had been nearly nonstop since I'd watched my family drop like rag dolls.
“We were trying not to tip off Dillon, waiting for him to make a move. My guys had him in their sights and then poof, he was gone." Pierce shook his head and stared into the distance. Defeat and anger flickered across his otherwise stoic expression. "I should have insisted the show be canceled as soon as he showed up in town.”
“How many of our loved ones are we going to bury, Pierce?” I asked, the pitch in my tone rising. “We’ve already lost John, what if no one is left?” Sobs shook my shoulders, and I curled into the chair. Pierce wrapped his arm around me, and I clung to the clean T-shirt an EMT had given him. His original shirt was now soaked in Cade’s blood.
“You can’t think like that, Mac. They’re strong. They’re all going to pull through.” He took my hand and held it tightly. “I talked to Franklin and he’ll be here shortly. It’s a two-hour flight from Spokane and he was already on his plane.”
I nodded, the rush of fear and intense emotions making my head pound with each movement.
A reporter’s voice on the TV pulled my attention toward it. I pointed to the caption scrolling on the bottom of the screen. ‘Shooting at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre Stage.’
“Hendrix Harrington, Gemma Thompson, John Cooper, and Cade Richardson of the band August Clover were shot earlier tonight while performing at the outdoor arena this evening in Denver, Colorado. At this time, we don’t have confirmation as to the number of injuries or fatalities. Shortly after opening fire on the band and audience, the alleged shooter was located at a nearby building. He’d apparently taken his own life.”
I bolted out of my chair. “No! Now we won’t know anything,” I said, crumbling down in my seat again.
“Mac, you have my word I’ll find out who was behind this, and I’ll personally take them down.”
I peered at him through swollen eyes. “Promise?”
“Yeah,” he said, taking my hand in his. “I suspect it was someone hired by Dillon,
but we can’t confirm it yet.”
Although my body was exhausted, my mind raced on overdrive with a million thoughts. Not one of them was good. What would my world be like without Hendrix and Gemma if they didn’t survive? I didn’t think I could make it without them. And Cade. What if I was the only one that lived? How would I deal with it?
“Mackenzie Worthington?” A female doctor asked, approaching me.
I hopped out of my seat, my chest tightening while I waited for an update. Pierce stood silently by my side.
“I’m Doctor Lynn. Hendrix and Gemma are fine, you’re welcome to come on back.”
“They are?” I cried. “They’re not going to die?”
A soft smile eased across her face, reaching her large brown eyes.
“That’s correct.” She patted my shoulder reassuringly.
“Did you hear that, Pierce?” I asked, unable to hide my excitement.
“Yeah, it’s great news.” He released a breath, reached for my hand, and gave it a tight squeeze.
We followed the doctor down the hallway to where Gemma and Hendrix were.
“They’re in the next to last cubicle,” Doctor Lynn said.
“Thank you,” Pierce replied to her.
The room was overflowing with patients and their families, and a woman’s wail reached my ears. I spotted Gemma’s red hair immediately and burst into tears. Oh my God, they were alive.
Tugging on Pierce’s hand, I hurried toward them as fast as I could maneuver through the people without being rude.
Hendrix and Gemma’s faces lit up with huge smiles at the sight of us. I was about to tackle them for a hug, but Hendrix held his hand out, halting me from throwing my arms around them.