by Hope Stone
My stomach lurched in fear. The parking lot was basically empty and there wasn’t anyone around to help me.
“Leave me alone.” I quickly reached up to grab the hatchback so I could get the hell out of there.
“What’s the matter, blondie? You don’t like Mexican food?” He laughed at his own joke and held up the beer bottle. “I saved you a drink.”
My hands were shaking as I grabbed my keys. I’d seen a video where you could punch someone in the eyes with keys that were wedged between your fingers. I just wanted to get in my car and leave, honestly.
My free hand reached out to grab the car door and he slammed me up against the car, facing away from him.
His hot breath was on my ear and I could feel him pressing against my back, pinning me against the car. “You’re being rude, blondie. Don’t be a bitch.”
My mouth went dry with fear. “Please let me go.” I didn’t like how scared I sounded.
He grabbed me by the waist and pumped his pelvis into my rear end a few times, like a dog dry humping a pant leg. He took one hand and grabbed my throat so hard I thought I was going to choke.
“Trust me, blondie. You’d be begging me not to let you go. But I ain’t playing like that.” He let me go, staggered back a few feet, laughing and looking at me.
My whole body was shaking as I pulled open the car door and climbed inside, locking it behind me. I could see him still standing there, just laughing and drinking beer.
“It’s your loss, blondie. You go and tell all your rich bitch friends that you had some prime Mexican meat and you threw it away.” He then went back into the shadows as I started my car.
I was hyperventilating and crying by the time I pulled out onto Berry Avenue. I didn’t want to pull over. I just wanted to get home.
Ryder
I opened the door to the floor section of the convention center just as MCR were coming onstage. Because of that, the whole place was sheer madness. Everyone was standing and screaming and holding up phones. The room was dark, except for laser lights flashing. The sights and sounds were intense.
There was no way I’d be able to find Lily and Bailey in this chaos. They did have assigned seats, but every single person in the venue was out of their seat. It was a security nightmare.
I retreated back into the relative quiet of the hallway. I figured I’d try and contact them another way, so I pulled out my phone.
Having fun? Text me and show me how great your view is!
Unfortunately, the reception here was terrible and there was a red check next to the message that told me it hadn’t gone through. I’d have to go outside and retry it, but for now I was just going to have to trust that Lily and Bailey were fine, that they’d made it here okay.
Time to get back out and find Padre to see what was going on. Even though everything seemed to be going smoothly, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to happen. I didn’t know what, and I didn’t know with whom. But my spidey sense was up.
The air smelled like burning rubber when I stepped outside the doors of the convention center. “What’s up?” I asked Swole as I passed her checkpoint.
“That fire is still burning by the waterfront and half of the LPPD are out there. It’s a good thing we’re here, because as of the moment, there’s not enough cops if something did go wrong.”
“That’s the thing that concerns me, Swole. I can’t help but wonder if the explosion and fire were some kind of diversion for something else that’s about to happen.”
She nodded in agreement. “Exactly.”
I patted her arm and mentally marveled again at her rock hard biceps. “You keep an eye out. I’m gonna go talk to Padre.”
“Sounds good.”
Since the concert was in full swing, there weren’t very many people outside the venue. I could hear thumping and applause coming from inside, and sirens coming from the waterfront fire.
As I approached him, Padre’s back was to me and he appeared to be alone. Where the hell was Trainer? Someone was supposed to be with Padre at all times.
I was about to ask, but I heard his voice speaking softly and he was on the phone.
“Yes, it’s under control. I told you it would be. You just handle things on your end and let me worry about mine.”
I stepped on a soda bottle and it made a crunching sound, which alerted Padre to my presence. He whipped around and then said, “I’ll bring some milk on the way home.” Ending the call, he said, “What did you find, Ryder?”
Where was Trainer? Was Padre really on the phone with his wife, or was he pretending? What was under control? The lack-of-milk situation didn’t seem to warrant hushed tones.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Inside. With Pin. Is everything okay there?”
“Oh, yeah. Fine.” I looked around. “Where’s Trainer?”
“He had to go take a leak.”
I shook my head. So much for keeping an eye on Padre.
Just then, Trainer walked up. “There you are!” he said to Padre. “Where the fuck did you go?”
“I was using the can. You got a problem with that?” Padre said.
The whole scene was confusing me. Trainer was looking for Padre, but Padre said Trainer went to the bathroom. Who was looking for who?
Suddenly, all of our walkie talkies lit up at the same time.
“Something is happening. Get in here NOW!” Swole said. “I heard three pops, like gunshots, and everyone is screaming and running!” That sounded like Chalupa but I couldn’t be sure.
Sure enough, people were starting to pour out of the exits, running and screaming. My heart froze and I instantly sprung to action. Lily. I needed to find Lily.
I didn’t even wait for Padre. I just started running toward the first door I could get to.
If the outside of the convention center was chaos, the inside was ten times worse. All of the lights were up and a voice was speaking over the sound system. “Please exit the building in an orderly manner. Do not panic or run. Proceed to the nearest exit.”
No one was listening. I was pushing my way through the crowd, but there were so many people trying to get by me that I was being pushed backward anyway.
Finally, I stood flat against the wall and crept forward that way.
“Was it a shooter?” Trainer asked on the walkie talkie. “Has anyone been shot?”
“I don’t know yet. The LPPD are securing the scene. I am inside and don’t see any injuries except for some people who fell while running. There are gonna be some broken bones and stuff.” That was Hawk.
I had no idea how I was going to find Lily in this mess. Part of me wanted to just take off and go to the meeting point, but I also knew I couldn’t leave until we knew what was going on.
“Please exit the building in an orderly manner. Do not panic or run. Proceed to the nearest exit.”
People were panicking and running. Finally, I made it to the internal door of the arena and pushed my way through the throng of people coming up the stairs to get out the door. I was on a higher level and could see the floor seats below me. People were scrambling to get out, but I saw no evidence of anyone who’d been shot or was bleeding. Swole was down there guiding people out, and I could see several of the other guys doing the same thing.
Still no sign of Lily.
“Help me!” A young woman was pinned against a barrier. “I’m stuck.”
“I’m on my way,” I shouted, grabbing people by their jackets and shirts and literally throwing them to the side. As I got close, I saw that the woman had a child with her that she was shielding from getting trampled. They were both pressed tightly up against a barricade and the crowd was pressing them into it. The little girl was crying.
“Here, let me have your hand,” I said to the girl. She appeared to be about eight years old or so and had black braids all around her head. I pulled her close enough to grab her waist and then lifted her up over the crowd. “Put your legs on my shoulders and I�
��ll give you a piggyback ride out of here, okay?”
Her mom was cradling her left arm with her right and I asked, “Are you hurt?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I think my arm is broken.”
“Okay, let’s get you out of here.”
“My friend. My friend is still missing,” she said, looking around frantically.
“That’s okay. We need to get you out of here and to see a doctor. MOVE ASIDE,” I said in my most commanding voice. “We need to get through.”
One of the main advantages of being six feet tall and covered with tattoos is that people pretty much do what you say. They took one look at me with the little girl on my shoulders and her injured mom and made room for us.
Just outside the entrance to the venue, there were police cars set up in a perimeter. We walked up to one of the officers and I said, “This lady is hurt and needs medical attention.” He took the girl from me, nodded, and then escorted them to a nearby ambulance.
I was relieved that there had been no more reports of gunshots, or what sounded like them. But the scene was still crazy and no one had any idea what had happened.
For a moment, I stood there torn. I wanted to rush off to the Starbucks where Lily and Bailey and I were to meet up. But there was no way I could leave now, so I headed back inside to see who else needed my help. Before I did, though, I sent Lily another text.
Are you guys okay? Please text back.
Unfortunately, my first text hadn’t gone through, and this one came back “undelivered” too.
Where are you, Lily?
Paige
I couldn’t catch my breath. I’d managed to drive the short distance home from Southgate, but I was having a full-blown panic attack in the car. I couldn’t even get out and go into my apartment. I was just sitting there, frozen in fear, with my hands covering my face as I tried to regulate my breathing. I couldn’t stop feeling his hands on me.
Knock knock knock. Someone rapped on the car window and I almost jumped out of my skin. I was surprised I didn’t scream.
“Hey, are you okay?” It was the woman who lived on the first floor, directly under my apartment.
I couldn’t move and so I just shook my head no. I was definitely not okay.
“Hey. Unlock the door. Let me help.” She was standing right outside my window, crouching down. “It’s okay. I can help you.”
My hand felt around on the car door for the lock and I pressed the button. As soon as she heard the click she opened the car door and kneeled down, facing me.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
I shook my head no, and she touched my arm. “Come on. Let’s get you inside. You can come to my place for a few minutes.”
Her words and her touch woke me out of the shock I was in. I unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed my bag and purse. “Thank you, I’m sorry. I just…”
She put her arm around me protectively and we walked into the building together. My knees were weak and my legs were wobbly, and I was very happy when she locked the door behind us at her place.
She took my bags and set them on a small metal card table in the living room. “Your name is Paige, right?”
I nodded. “Yes. I live right above you.”
“I know! My name is Maria.”
I’d seen her a bunch of times coming and going, but we’d never actually talked.
“Come sit down. I’ll make you some tea.”
As I crossed over to the plaid couch, I got a look at her place. It was the same layout as my apartment, but of course it looked different with her furniture in it.
She had a television going with a Spanish channel on it, and on the bookshelf next to the TV were pictures of Maria with a young boy I’d seen with her before and had assumed was her son.
My apartment hardly had any furniture and felt bare, but hers felt homey and lived in. “How long have you lived at Banner Manor?” I asked.
“Oh, about five years. I came right after Mario was born.” She nodded to some photos on the fridge. “He is with his Tia this weekend. His dad may have run off on me, but his family has been good to us.”
My heart rate was starting to calm down as she handed me the tea. “Thank you.”
“So what happened to you?” she asked, sitting down next to me on the couch.
“I was…attacked in the Southgate parking lot.”
Her eyes flew open wide. “Ay dios mio! Are you all right?”
“Yeah, he just scared me. That’s all.”
“You should call the cops. Or see a doctor?”
I didn’t need a doctor, but I did wonder if I could call the police. Then again, it had been about half an hour and I wasn’t even sure I would be able to recognize the guy. On the other hand, there might be cameras in the parking lot of Southgate.
“I don’t know. Maybe…”
Just as I took my first sip of tea, some breaking news interrupted the show that was on the TV. I didn’t understand what they were saying, but there was a reporter standing outside the La Playa Convention Center. There were a ton of cops and fire trucks and ambulances there.
“Oh my God.” My heart started pounding again. “My sister is there.”
Maria looked at the TV and grabbed the remote to turn up the volume.
“What are they saying?” I asked. It appeared to be sheer chaos.
“They are saying that there was a shooting at the concert. They don’t know how many casualties there were but that the shooter has not been captured.”
I started shaking uncontrollably. “I have to go. I have to get to my sister.”
“You are in no condition to drive, Paige.”
I had my phone out and my hands were shaking as I tried to text Bailey. The message didn’t go through, so I tried to call and it went straight to voicemail.
I was full on panicking now, so I tried to call Ryder. Same thing. It went straight to voicemail.
“I’m sorry, Maria. I have to go.” I stood up and was patting my pants to find my keys. “Where are my keys?!”
“Paige. Look. If you must go, let me drive you. You really are too upset to drive. You were upset when you got here.”
She was right. “Okay, thank you. But please, let’s hurry.”
What a terrible night. I’d insisted on listening to news radio on the way downtown. Maria had a Toyota truck and I was in the passenger seat, flipping from station to station trying to get news on the shooting. Every station had a different story.
One station was saying that it was a gang-related shootout. Another was saying it was a lone shooter. A third station said that there was no evidence of a shooter at all, that no one had been reported at local hospitals with gunshot wounds and it was likely all a hoax.
A hoax? Who would do such a terrible thing? I kept trying to contact Bailey and Ryder. If I’d had Lily’s number, I’d have called her too.
The freeway was jammed because the exit to the convention center was closed off. Not surprising, really.
“Maybe if we take the next exit and circle back we can get close.”
We got off the freeway and were going down Pacific Drive and I could see some building burning in the distance. The sky was filled with helicopters—probably both news and police. The air smelled like burning rubber.
The inside of the truck lit up from an incoming call. It was my mother. As much as I didn’t want to talk to her, I knew she’d probably heard the news and was worried. I had to take the call.
“Hi Mom.”
“Oh my God, Paige. I’m so glad you both are all right. What’s going on? Did you and Bailey see anything?”
“Hey. Yeah. There’s something I need to tell you…”
Ryder
We were all standing outside in the parking lot. We’d helped get everyone out of the convention center and then the LPPD took over, working with venue security. Our night here was over.
“Did they ever catch the shooter?” Chalupa asked.
“There’s not even evidence that ther
e WAS a shooter. Witnesses said they heard three loud pops that sounded like gunfire and then everyone started screaming and running.” Hawk lit up a cigarette.
“So no victims with gunshot wounds?” Trainer asked.
Hawk shook his head. “I can’t say for sure, but it doesn’t seem like it.”
I was listening, but I wasn’t. I needed to get to the Starbucks to meet up with Lily. “Look, guys. I need to take off. I’m supposed to meet my sister at that Starbucks.”
“Oh my God, that’s right. Your sister was here!” Swole said. “Have you seen her?”
“No. And her phone is going straight to voicemail.” I’d tried so many times that I killed my own battery.
“No worries, Ryder. See you back at the shop. Take care of Lily,” Chalupa said.
Padre was strangely silent and for a minute I remembered the conversation I’d overheard. But I didn’t have time to worry about that. I needed to find my sister.
Not for the first time tonight, I was regretting that I had the car instead of my bike. If I’d had the bike, I would have already been parked and inside Starbucks. But, because of everything that had gone down tonight and the streets being blocked off around the convention center, it took me half an hour to find a spot four blocks away.
The clock in the car said it was 11:30 pm. I hoped the Starbucks would still be open and that the girls knew to stay safely inside until I got there.
Judging from the number of people milling around outside, it was a good chance that the place was still open. Hopefully, I could find the girls, get back to the car, and be at Paige’s place within the hour.
Paige… I wondered if she had heard the news. If so, she must have been so worried. There were tons of helicopters still overhead and news vans everywhere. Plus, given the number of rumors flying around, who knew what she thought happened?
It was a terrible time for my phone to be dead, for sure.
As I approached the Starbucks, I had my eyes out for Bailey. She was tall and blond like Paige and would be easier to spot than my dark-haired sister.
