“Damn it, Rich. We have been over this a hundred times! I cannot work with her on this bus. If you are so hell bent on keeping her here, then put her somewhere else!” Haley spat from her seat on the couch. Rich sat on the loveseat directly across from her.
“It’s temporary, Haley. You agreed to give it one month.”
“Move her in with you then!” she yelled.
He sighed. “You just have to get used to the new arrangement. No one expects uninterrupted bliss here. I’m only asking for a smooth transition. Your safety is my number one concern, and honestly, it should be yours too.”
“This is bullshit,” Haley growled.
“He’s right,” Shane said from the entrance to the hallway a few feet away. Neither of them had noticed her presence.
“No one asked you,” Haley spat.
“You didn’t have to.”
“I’m sorry we woke you. Haley is having a little conflict that we are trying to work out,” Rich said with apologetic eyes.
Shane poured a cup of coffee from the machine and sat down next to Rich.
“So I hear,” Shane replied with a raised eyebrow.
“How was your night?” Rich politely asked.
“It was fine,” she answered and turned her eyes to the woman across from her. Haley was wearing impossibly short, cutoff jean shorts and a tight white t-shirt that left nothing to the imagination. Her long unruly blond waves hung forward over her right shoulder.
“What he is saying is true. What does your life mean to you?” Shane sipped from her mug and waited.
“My life is none of your business. You’re here to catch some lunatic who is writing me letters.”
“Quite the contrary, Ms. Nielsen. I am here to protect you. That means your life is my business. And my business means a hell of a lot to me.”
“Your psychobabble bullshit isn’t going to work on me, Shane Crowley.” Haley pierced her with fiery blue-green eyes and quickly stormed off the bus. Shane jumped up and ran after her.
“Haley, Haley, Haley!” a guy in a black t-shirt and jeans was running towards her shouting her name from a short distance away. He had his arms around her in a bear hug, picking her up off the ground before she realized what was going on.
Haley screamed and kicked, but he had a very tight grip on her.
“Let her go or I’ll spread your head all over the pavement.” Shane’s deep voice was steady and powerful.
Haley saw the black gun pressed against the side of the man’s head.
“Now!” Shane yelled.
He let his arms loose, and Haley fell free, barely catching her feet on the ground. She quickly stumbled away towards Rich who was standing between them and the bus twenty yards away. Shane took a step back with her gun still trained on the stranger’s head.
“On the ground! Move it!” she shouted and dove on him as soon as he hit the ground. She snatched his arms back and cuffed him before he could take a full breath. “Get her on the bus Rich, and call the authorities,” she said without turning around to see them.
Haley visibly shook as she was rushed back onto the bus. Everything had come about so fast, she wasn’t even sure what had actually happened. One minute she was walking, trying to blow off steam and get the stuffy, good-looking bodyguard off her mind, and the next, she was being squeezed and lifted up off the ground. Within a split second, Shane was a foot away, pointing a gun in her direction.
“What the hell was that?” she mumbled, looking at Rich as he handed her a glass of something strong.
“Your letter writer, I believe,” he said, sitting down next to her. “Thank God Shane is quick on her feet and knows what the hell she is doing. She may have just saved your life.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t just a fan?” she asked, sipping the burning liquid.
He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Chapter 8
Shane interrogated the man before the Dallas Police Department arrived and took over the scene. She found out his name was Leroy Marvin, and he had no clue about any letters. He was just a ticket holder for the evening concert. He had decided to go to the venue early in hopes of catching a glimpse of the woman he claimed to be in love with. Shane believed he really was a lovesick hillbilly with a warped version of a celebrity crush. She explained what happened to the police and rode behind them to the station to make sure she got a copy of his prints and arrest record.
***
It was after five p.m. when Shane arrived back at the venue. The early rehearsal and last-minute run-through had both been completed. Haley was eating dinner on the bus when Shane walked in the door. Gray eyes met turquoise ones as Shane strode past her without a word. She put her shoulder holster and gun in the nightstand drawer in her room, and shed her clothes while the shower water warmed up.
Twenty minutes later, Shane was freshly showered and dressed in jeans, a pressed black t-shirt that stretched across her athletic upper body, and Doc Martens. The ever-present shoulder holster clung to her body under her right arm. She was glad she’d packed as many pairs of jeans as she had suits. This job had just taken a major turn for the worse. She was hoping she wouldn’t have to get physical, but the rules of the game had changed and she needed to be prepared.
Haley was rinsing her dishes in the sink when Shane walked down the hallway. “I—” she started as Shane walked past her.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Shane said as she grabbed the two-way radio from the table and clipped it to her belt.
“Was it him?”
“No.” Shane spun around and faced her. “The next time you jeopardize your safety because you are rebelling against my protection, I will get on a plane and never look back. Do you understand me? Because the next time…it will be him.” Shane grabbed the black windbreaker from the arm of the couch that had SECURITY written across the back in white letters, and walked out the door.
***
Rich was standing next to the stage, talking to the hired security for the night. “Ah, here is our head of security now,” he said, seeing Shane appear near the back of the stage, walking the path Haley would take. He watched as she circled the full stage, looking for suspicious packages or objects that were out of place. “I was just filling these guys in on this morning’s events,” Rich said.
“We need to set up a perimeter around the bus line and the entrance/exit of the building, now. No one goes in or out of the perimeter without my authority.” Shane pointed to five members of the rented team. “The rest of you will spread out between the entrance/exit point and the stage.” She waited for them to take their posts before she spoke again. “Rich, we have a serious problem.”
“I know.” He blew out a long breath. “I just don’t know how to get a handle on her temper.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. This morning her security was breached and her safety was seriously compromised. That could have easily been the letter writer, here to make good on his promise. We need to beef up the hired security into three groups. One should be in a one-hundred-yard perimeter around the bus line and the path to the entrance/exit point. No one comes within one hundred yards of that area. The second group needs to secure the path from the entrance/exit of the building, all the way to the stage by twenty yards on either side, if possible. The third group will surround the stage. These three groups need to be your personal hired security members. The venue security staff can cover the rest of the building. No one gets near her again without my authority, Rich. Never.” She stared straight into his brown eyes.
“Not a problem. Our next venue is Little Rock. I will call tonight and step it up to a minimum of twenty-five hired security members. They are usually off-duty or retired police officers.”
“Make it thirty.”
“I don’t know if they have enough people available on such short notice,” he rebutted.
“If they don’t, then contact the local armed security companies.”
>
“Alright. I’ll also call ahead to the rest of the venues and get the ball rolling. After tomorrow, we start traveling further out, so our stops will be sometimes two or three days apart.” Rich bit the inside of his cheek. “Has she said anything?”
“No. She tried, but I didn’t want to hear her excuse. Her attitude should not have been the cause of today’s problem. If we’d had the security perimeter set, then that guy would have never gotten close enough to even notice her.”
“That’s why I hired you. You know how to outsmart her and keep her safe.”
Shane shook her head. “It’s not about outsmarting her. I am to blame. I should have known there was no perimeter protection and had it taken care of when I arrived yesterday.”
“It was a little hectic yesterday, especially with Haley in full battle mode. We were all a little distracted. It was the first day.”
“No excuses, Mr. Bergman. Excuses get people hurt or worse…killed.” Shane checked her watch. “I will be in radio contact. I also have my cell with me. Let me know when she is ready,” she said, before walking away to continue her rounds of checking all the points of contact.
Chapter 9
Shane watched the show from her position on the side of the stage behind the curtain. Haley was sitting on a stool, singing a soulful ballad about a broken heart. She quickly kicked the stool out of the way and jumped right into her next song, a fast, ass-kicking jam about a cheating lover. Shane smiled and shook her head at the jagged words about finding her man in bed with a bimbo, shooting them both with the shotgun, then driving off with a bottle of tequila in his brand-new four-wheel drive. Haley was an amazing entertainer. The crowd cried at her ballads and stood in their chairs singing along to the fast songs. Her voice alone caused the hair on the back of Shane’s neck to stand on end. The petite, hotheaded blond was beautiful and dangerously sexy. Add in the sultry smoky voice and the package became borderline illegal.
Shane’s mind wasn’t far from the events earlier in the day and she wouldn’t let them pass until Haley was safely back on the bus, and they were once again on the road. She silently cursed herself for taking this assignment, especially because they were only ten stops into a fifty-stop tour. She hoped this guy would pop up soon. Haley only promised to cooperate for a month, if her actions could even be called cooperating. Shane had no idea how much worse it would get after a month had gone by, and she had no ambition to hang around for another couple of months until the tour was over.
“Shane?”
She heard her radio crackle. “Go ahead.”
“I’m not sure if you have the show schedule down yet, but she wraps in two songs. The next one is the final, but there is a one-minute break and she goes back for the encore.”
“I’ll be ready,” Shane replied, glad Rich had radioed her. She’d only seen one performance and had missed all of the rehearsals and run-throughs so far.
***
The crowd outside was further away than the one from the night before. They weren’t in reaching distance, but still way too close for Shane’s nerves. She wrapped a protective arm around Haley’s small frame and raced her quickly to the bus. Once they were close to the bus Haley pulled away from her.
“You know, at some point I’m going to have to stop and give autographs,” Haley growled.
Shane held her tongue and waited for Haley to board the bus. Then, she closed the door and turned back towards Rich.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Peachy,” Shane replied sarcastically. “Did you happen to take care of my request?”
“No. It was hectic around here once you left with the cops this morning. Why don’t you post one of our extra hands with a radio by her bus door and come with me.”
“Where to?”
“Relieve some stress.” He grinned.
“Huh?”
“Do beautiful, naked ladies offend you?” he asked, hoping he was right.
She raised an eyebrow. “No.”
“Good. There is a very upscale place not far from here where we can have a little business meeting. If the buses pull anchor we will catch up to them.”
“Sounds like the best thing I’ve heard in three days. Let me do a sweep of her bus and post a couple guys out here until they are ready to roll.”
Fifteen minutes later, Shane met Rich at the waiting SUV. She had checked over the bus while Haley sat on the couch, steaming with a raised eyebrow. She’d also posted three of their extra road crew outside of her bus, one of which was the backup driver for Haley’s bus.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Shane said, sliding into the backseat. The rented car service quickly pulled away from the arena parking lot.
“Did she say anything?”
“No. Her attitude seems to be back in full swing though. You would think she’d be a little worried about what happened today, but honestly, I don’t think it affected her,” Shane sighed.
“I’m not sure. She went into her room and didn’t come out for a couple of hours. She barely said two words.”
Shane sat in silence watching the city lights go by. Minutes later, the car service pulled up to a large building that looked like the Bellagio in Vegas. She was glad she’d changed into a black suit and stowed her gun on the bus.
“Welcome to The Palace,” Rich said as he stepped out of the SUV and led her towards the VIP door.
Shane had been to her fair share of entertainment clubs, but this place was like the icing on the cake. The club had three tier levels with a live jazz band. Playboy quality, topless dancers were posted on numerous stages around each level, with a large, main stage for one single performer at a time. Crystal chandeliers and sconces cast diamond shards of light around the open club. Each table had a marble top and was adorned by heavy wooden leather covered chairs.
“What do you think?” Rich asked with a grin.
Shane smiled. “Great place for a business meeting.”
They sat at an open table on the second-tier level, close to one of the smaller stages. A beautiful, topless, mocha-skinned waitress greeted them. She gave Shane the once over with a wide smile.
“Would either of you care for a beverage?”
“Shane, you drink whisky, right?” Rich questioned.
“I’m more of a bourbon drinker than single malt.”
Rich turned towards the beautiful young woman with the perky breasts. “A couple glasses of ice and a bottle of Jameson Limited Reserve.” When she smiled and walked away, Rich turned back to Shane. “Wait until you give this a try.”
Rich noticed many of the women watching Shane, who was oblivious to the attention. “I’ve only been to this place one other time, about five years ago. Haley was still fairly new and opening for one of country music’s superstars. His manager brought me here.”
“It’s a very nice place. I’m not a frequent strip club patron, but I have been to my fair share.” She grinned.
“What was the story on our man-handler today?” he asked.
“Not a whole lot. Leroy Marvin is a fan with a crush, I’m afraid. He swore he knew nothing about any letters and even gave us his fingerprints without hesitation. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t him. The guy we are looking for is not currently a fan, and not lovesick either. He’s more of a loner. He could be married, or perhaps single, but he has what he believes to be deep values and ethics. Haley has somewhat come out of her music shell, and her songs have gradually changed to a style that is more original, and this guy doesn’t like the turn her sound has taken.” Shane paused for the waitress to deliver their drink order. Two dancers stood behind her waiting to offer services to the table while never taking their eyes off Shane. She smiled and politely refused.
“I see what you’re saying,” Rich said as he opened the bottle and poured the liquor into their glasses.
“Wow,” Shane murmured.
“You like it?”
“It’s go
od, smooth.” She smiled. “Not what I was expecting at all,” she said, taking another sip.
Rich grinned and took a long swallow of his own glass. “This is very different from traditional Jameson. It’s actually a three whisky blend that’s aged in bourbon barrels.”
“I like the mix of vanilla and almond with the charred wood from the barrels. It has a nice taste,” she said, taking another long swallow.
“Do you think there will be more letters?” he asked.
Shane nodded. “I’m sure our letter writer will contact her again. He’s unhappy with her, and he wants her to know it.”
“What’s your plan?” Rich asked.
Shane took another sip and sat back in her chair. She glanced at the sultry brunette moving seductively on the stage close to their table. “At the moment, I am waiting on his next move. I don’t think he is ready for real contact, but I’m not letting my guard down either. My plan is to stay close and watch everything around her while she is vulnerable to danger of any kind.” Shane took another sip. “Mr. Bergman, catching a stalker is like playing chess. One of you always has a hand up on the other during the match, until the other player figures out your next move and blocks you.”
“Hmm…are you a religious person, Shane?”
“Not really. Why?”
“Just curious. Philosophy major maybe?”
Shane laughed. “Hardly. I am merely an investigator. Criminal intelligence and profiling skills generally come with the territory.”
“Why did you leave the U.S. Marshals?”
Rebel Sweetheart Page 3
