Fallen Angel

by Bev Dulson

  Tango was driving her through the city; she’d left Hunter back at the penthouse, she wanted to deal with Roxie alone. They pulled up outside of the hotel, Tango immediately jumping out of the car as it came to a standstill to get Magenta out of the car as quickly as possible.

  ‘Mate, you can wait in the lobby, I’ll be fine with her.’

  He shook his head. ‘I’ll wait in the corridor outside her room and the door will be left ajar.’

  ‘Bloody hell, you’re just as bad as Hunter, I can look after myself.’

  He shrugged. ‘Maybe, but if anything happens to you on my watch, I don’t wanna face his wrath.’

  She noticed his eyes full of mischief as he joked with her.

  ‘Come ‘ead then. I want this over and done with.’

  Magenta banged her fist on the hotel room door. ‘Roxie, it’s Magenta Valentina, we need to speak.’ Stamping her feet impatiently as she waited for the door to open. She banged again.

  ‘Give her chance to get to the door.’

  She glared at Tango. ‘I am in no mood to wait.’

  The door opened slowly, all the anger that had been bubbling away at Magenta since the song had been released disappeared as she took in the appearance of the young women standing in front of her. The TV version of Roxie had been young, sexy, glowing and confident. The young woman staring back at her with eyes full of anxiety, which were ringed in red from either crying or lack of sleep certainly didn’t look like the rival the press were making her out to be.

  ‘Roxie?’ Her voice was softer now.

  The women nodded her head.

  ‘Can I come in? I just want to talk, you don’t need to be scared.’

  Roxie opened the door wider to let Magenta in. Looking around the poky hotel room, she pulled out the dressing table stool to sit on, leaving Roxie to sit on the end of the bed.

  ‘Are you OK? You look a bit upset…’

  Roxie nodded. ‘Just say what you need to say to me, then leave me alone.’

  ‘I just want the truth, how did you get my song?’

  She sighed, flicking her long hair out of her face. Magenta could see the bad dye that had been done on it to try and turn it the same colour as hers.

  ‘I didn’t know it was yours.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘I’ve been such a fool.’ Tears welled up in Roxie’s eyes. Despite everything Magenta just wanted to hug her. If Hunter’s theory was right, Roxie was just a victim in all of this.

  ‘I have a rough idea of what might have gone on, but I’d like to hear it from you.’

  ‘So, I was singing in a bar in L.A., I’d be there at every opportunity, I dreamed about getting away from my 9-5 job and singing for a living, it’s all I ever wanted. One day I’m singing in the bar and this guy comes up to me, says I have the voice of an angel and he could get me into the music business. I didn’t believe him at first, I checked out his card and it was true, he was an A&R guy.’

  ‘What was his name?’

  ‘Jax, Jax Buckley. He was true to his word, he got me signed, but before that he had me doing demos in a studio.’

  ‘Where was the studio?’

  She shrugged. ‘It was more like a warehouse, the equipment was fairly basic.’

  Magenta mulled it over in her mind, she was sure Max could get hold of recording stuff.

  Roxie carried on. ‘Whilst we were recording, well Jax and I, God it sounds like a cliché, we got together. He was like this mysterious stranger who had swooped into my life and set me free. I was intoxicated by him. So when he’d told me they’d picked a song all I had to do was say I wrote it, well it seemed simple. I didn’t see an issue. I thought it was normal.’

  ‘You said, ‘they’?’

  Roxie nodded. ‘yeah, some guy who was supplying the demos. I never met him, Jax just referred to him as Mr M. It was exciting, I felt part of something big and I just wanted to sing.’

  ‘So, you took my song to Highway 65 and passed it off as yours.’

  ‘I swear, I never knew it was yours, I wouldn’t have said if I’d have known. How could I pass of a Magenta Valentina song as my own?’

  ‘And yet, you have.’

  She hung her head. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  Magenta didn’t respond.

  ‘Then it all spiralled out of control. They kept saying they wanted to market me as a ‘young Magenta’, they made me dye my hair, they told me what to say in interviews, they really wanted me to go hard on you. I was too scared not to go along with it, they could stop my career as quickly as they started it.’

  Magenta sighed, Hunter had been spot on, more or less. ‘So, what happened next?’

  ‘Then I found out it was your song, when you belted it out on that video, all that rawness in your voice, I knew everything was over, I could never launch a career on the back of stealing one of your songs, even though I didn’t know it at the time and then to make matters worse, I found out Jax had a girlfriend. When that Erika girl was arrested she seemed familiar, I’d seen her with Jax, the night he introduced himself to me at the bar. I have a great memory for faces. I looked up her social media and I saw a photo of her, kissing Jax. It broke my heart. I’ve been lied to so many times and now I don’t know what to do,’ a sob escaped from her throat.

  ‘Well, at least now you can write your own song about being heartbroken…’

  Roxie put her head in her hands.

  ‘Sorry, probably a bit too soon to make a joke. First thing we need to do, is fix that hair, turn you back into Roxie.’

  ‘What’s the point? Highway 65 will probably fire me.’

  ‘So what if they do, there are other record labels out there and you got me fighting in your corner now.’

  She lifted her head up. ‘What? But I stole your song.’

  ‘Not technically. Besides girl, you can sing, we just need to find you the right song.’

  Magenta picked up her phone. ‘Juke, we have a code red, no not me, but I need your best hair dying skills and products, we have a blonde to rescue.’

  As she spoke she saw Roxie’s eyes search out hers, the anxiety slowly replaced by a look of gratitude. Roxie had been screwed over by Max, she’d be damned if she’d let it happen again.

  ‘Pack your stuff, we’re getting out of here and don’t tell Jax where you’re going.’

  ‘Haven’t seen him since last night, he was supposed to meet me this morning but he’s disappeared.’

  ‘Hopefully back under the rock he came out from.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  ‘You bought her back here? What the hell were you thinking? I haven’t even been able to find Jax yet, what if her story is bullshit?’

  ‘Calm down, Logan. She’s telling the truth, those bastards have completely broken her. Besides, if she’s with us we can control the narrative, she won’t be making any public appearances till we’re ready.’

  ‘Have you lost the fuckin’ plot? You can’t just kidnap her, Deacon will go ballistic.’

  ‘You’re not thinking clearly,’ she folded her arms across her chest. ‘Tell Highway 65 and your mate Deacon to do one, sign her to your label. You know she can sing and if she’s signed to you, Max has no control over her. Whether we can prove he’s behind this or not makes no difference if we take Roxie out of the equation. You make her a star.’

  Logan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘That’s not a bad idea.’

  ‘It’s a freakin’ brilliant idea.’

  ‘What’s to stop Max doing this again? He obviously has more of your demo tapes.’

  ‘We need to get to Jax, he seems to be his only link back into the industry.’

  ‘I’m not hiring him too; I don’t want someone like him in my business.’

  ‘I’m not suggesting that, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.’

  ‘You really should open your own label, you’re one smart cookie.’

  She waved her hand. ‘Ah, who wants that level of shit to deal with every day?’<
br />
  ‘Y’all ready for this?’ Juke’s voice boomed across the penthouse. They turned round to be met by Roxie, now restored to her blonde locks, but with Juke’s expertise, they were now shiny and full of body. He’d also given her a makeover too, those red eyes were long gone.

  ‘Wow, see, told you he was good.’

  Roxie beamed. ‘Thank you so much Magenta, I don’t deserve this kindness.’

  ‘Hey, you were screwed over by a couple of bad guys. How would you feel about being signed by Logan International Music?’

  ‘Are you serious?’

  Logan stepped forward. ‘Welcome to the team, kid, if you want to of course,’ he held his hand out.

  Roxie stepped forward and shook his hand. ‘Hell, yeah.’

  ‘What have I missed?’

  ‘Oh My God, its Johnny Kidd,’ Roxie’s hand flew to her mouth.

  ‘Who is this?’ Johnny screwed his face up in confusion.

  ‘It’s Roxie Meyers.’

  ‘Didn’t recognise her now she’s not Magenta’s doppelgänger, what’s she doing her?’

  Roxie’s cheeks flamed up at Johnny’s comments.

  Fly stepped out from behind Johnny. ‘Don’t be a dick, bro. You’re embarrassing the poor girl,’ he moved towards Roxie and held a hand out to her. ‘Fly McFly at your service.’

  Magenta spoke. ‘Hunter was right, she was just caught up in this mess and Logan’s signed her, so she’s one of us now.’

  Johnny looked over to Fly, who still had his hand in Roxie’s and clocked how they were looking at each other. He’d never seen Fly look at a woman like that. Seriously, what was wrong with the world? ‘Just one big happy family, hey?’ He turned to walk away. ‘Catch you all later.’ He marched out of the room, practically knocking Trine off her feet as she walked into the room. He brushed past her, not even apologising.

  ‘Johnny!’

  He spun round to face her, he had a look in his eyes, those grey eyes going all stormy.

  She took a step forward. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘You really have to ask?’

  She frowned. ‘What have I done? I’ve just walked in. Don’t throw your rock star attitude in my face.’

  He walked back towards her. ‘It’s you.’

  ‘What’s me? You’re not…’ Before she could finish her sentence he’d wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into him so she slammed against his hard body. No sooner had she had chance to let that register through her mind, his lips were on hers, his tongue teasing hers, she responded, her body making choices that her brain wasn’t capable of. It was Magenta’s gasp that brought her to her senses. She moved her hands to his chest, pushing herself away from him. She looked up, his grey eyes still with the dangerous look in them. He repeated himself. ‘It’s you.’ Then he turned and this time he did walk away. Trine was left speechless as she watched him walk out of the door, closely followed by Romeo. She turned slowly, her brain still processing what had just happened, her cheeks were flushed. She couldn’t tell if that was from Johnny’s kiss or the audience of Magenta, Logan, Juke, Fly and Roxie who were all just gawping back at her, well with the exception of Fly, he looked less than impressed. He walked towards her.

  ‘You’ll break his heart.’

  Trine was stunned, she opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

  ‘Oi, drummer boy, pack it in,’ Magenta, she always had her back. ‘Did you see something different to me? It was your mate that just instigated that.’

  ‘Only because your ‘mate’ is leading him on,’ Fly’s attempt at a British accent was nowhere near as good as his drumming.

  ‘Kids, you’re not in third grade,’ Logan stepped in. ‘No fighting amongst my acts.’

  Magenta threw Fly a look, then linked Trine through the arm. ‘C’mon girl, we need a chat.’

  They wandered out onto the balcony, shutting the door behind them. Sitting down on the comfy L shaped sofa, Magenta picked up the bottle of Champagne that was chilling in the ice bucket, ever ready for whoever needed it.

  Magenta pulled her feet up underneath her and curled up on the sofa, crystal Champagne flute in hand. ‘So, now, I’m comfy, fill me in. What’s going on, T?’

  Trine took a sip of her own glass of champagne, letting the bubbles slide down her throat before she spoke.

  ‘Honestly, I have no idea. Dean hasn’t bothered his arse to make any contact with me and I’ll be damned if I’m making the first move, he’s broken my heart and then there’s Johnny,’ she sighed. ‘Keeps popping up to check I’m OK…I found him annoying at first.’

  Magenta chuckled. ‘He grows on you doesn’t he? He’s like some over grown puppy.’

  ‘I can’t deny, there is an attraction there, but it’s all wrong. I don’t want to be just another notch on his bed post, I also don’t want a relationship with him, I’m still married, despite the current situation with Dean. My head is chocka.’

  ‘Let’s deal with the Dean issue first. Do you want to save your marriage?’

  ‘My gut feeling is I don’t want to throw twenty years away, but I’m not sure I can ever trust him again, I don’t want to turn into that person who checks his phone, emails, questions where he is and I can’t see past that.’

  ‘OK, let’s take Johnny then, you’re right, you’d be just another notch, although I’ve never seen him act like that before, If I didn’t know better…’

  ‘What?’

  Magenta shook her head. ‘Nothing. Look, you are attracted to Johnny, your husband has treated you like shit so, despite my initial thoughts, if you want to shag Johnny, do it, but do it on your terms. Make it clear to him he’s bloody lucky to be sharing your bed, not the other way round.’

  ‘So, you think I should just get him out of my system?’

  ‘There is clearly chemistry there, use it and once you’ve stopped thinking about whether you should give into your feelings of lust, then it’ll clear your head and help you to decide what to do about Dean.’

  ‘I’ve only ever slept with Dean, you know that, what if I bottle it?’

  ‘All the more reason to let your hair down. If you take Dean back at least you know what you could be missing out on.’

  ‘I just don’t know, this could be the biggest mistake of my life.’

  Magenta put her glass down on the table and leaned in to Trina, taking her hand. ‘The thing about mistakes is, we learn from them. If Johnny Kidd becomes the biggest mistake of your life, well, there are worse things that could happen,’ she stood up. ‘I’ll let you have some time to think.’

  Magenta went back into the penthouse. Trina picked up Magenta’s glass which was still almost full and walked towards the balcony railings. She reached out with one arm, resting a hand on the railing, with the other she slowly slipped the Champagne. She was in New York and just like her first thought when she landed, just like the song, everything could change in a New York minute, she hadn’t realised how much could change. She felt like a different person to the Trina who had landed at JFK a few days ago, she felt braver. Did she even need Dean? Did she need Johnny? No, but there was a difference between needing someone and wanting someone. She could have Johnny and still be one her own, which, standing here on the balcony overlooking Central Park and the skyscrapers beyond didn’t scare her one little bit. She smiled to herself, New York had really done a number on her. ‘New York, just be gentle with my heart,’ she whispered to herself. ‘New York City, go easy on this heart of mine.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  Hunter was in the study with Tango, he’d missed out on all the Johnny drama, he was too focused on trying to work out who was sending him messages. He was enlisting Tango to help him with his thought process. This was a new experience for him, he’d been very much a lone wolf, only trusting a few contacts, when he was working as a hit man. In that job, the more people you trusted the more chance you’d end up dead. Obviously, Tango didn’t know any side of that part of his life, as far as he knew, Hunter was ex-ar
my, only a half lie.

  ‘So, I read the book, I wondered if there might be a clue in there.’

  Hunter frowned. ‘Why would there be a clue in there, I wrote it.’

  ‘You know what they say about writers,’ Tango sat down behind the desk, dropping the book onto the desktop. ‘It’s how they get revenge on their enemies, they put them in a book and kill them off.’

  Hunter laughed. ‘It’s fiction and anyone who I killed off were incidental characters – I didn’t even kill off the main villain, the army guy who assaulted the girl, I got him locked up.’ He really hadn’t wanted to sail too close to the truth with what really happened to Sergeant Travis when he was writing the book.

  ‘Yeah, I suppose so, better to lock him up than kill him off.’

  ‘Look, you won’t find any clues in the book.’

  ‘Maybe not the book, but your pseudonym on the cover, Jason Lomax, could the person targeting you have you mixed up with someone of the same name? I googled Jason Lomax, turns out he was in the army and then he was sent to prison for assaulting an officer.’

  ‘OK, so I got my inspiration from that event, every writer takes something from real life to use, truth is stranger than fiction after all and the Lomax case, it fascinated me I always thought there was more to it than it seemed.’

  ‘You knew Lomax?’

  Hunter shrugged. ‘He was serving in the same unit as me, but what happened to him, getting locked up, it was just after I arrived on the base, I hardly knew him but it just seemed suss to me.’

  ‘Why use his name as your author name?’

  Hunter picked up the book, flicking through it, he looked up at Tango, could he trust him? Could he tell him the truth, that he was Jason Lomax all along? No, just like the old days of being a hit man, the truth could get you killed. ‘I guess I just wanted the guy to know that someone else believed he was innocent.’

  ‘What? So he didn’t beat the officer up?’

  ‘Yes, he did, he never denied that, it was the motive of why he did it. He argued it was to stop the attack on the young woman…’