Fractured Beat (Meltdown Book 1)

by RB Hilliard

  I wasn’t sure how the notebook got from my purse to the bag, but I knew that Grant would be happy to see it. I did a quick flip through the pages and recognized Grant’s handwriting. I also recognized Nash’s writing on a few of the pages. I paused on a page full of what looked like chicken scratch and noticed Chaz’s name at the bottom. That’s when I realized it wasn’t just Grant’s notebook, but Meltdown’s. About halfway through I found Unravel. Like a lovesick groupie, I pulled the notebook to my chest and sighed. How many girls can claim they’ve had a song written for them? I traced my fingers over the words and thought back to the night Grant sang it to me on stage and smiled. In a few short hours we’d finally be living together. I was just about to close the notebook when I noticed Luke’s name on one of the pages. Grant said Luke was a decent songwriter, but I couldn’t recall a single song he’d written. The top of the page said, For Dale. Poor Luke. My heart really hurt for him. Dale’s death was tough on all of the guys, but it had been especially hard on Luke. As I skimmed over the words of the song two things stood out. One, the song seemed really angry. Two, Luke couldn’t spell worth a damn. It was when I saw the words “dont” and “certanly” that recognition hit…recognition followed by a cold chill. Not only were they the same words used in the email sent to Kirkland from my phone, but they were misspelled in exactly the same way.

  “Shit!” I exclaimed out loud.

  As I stared at the page full of angry, misspelled words, I thought back on what Grant said the day they’d nailed Kirkland once and for all. “He admitted taking advantage of the situation, but he never copped to the drugs.”

  What if Kirkland didn’t drug Grant?

  “No,” I said to the empty room. “Luke wouldn’t do that. He just wouldn’t.” There was no way that the playful, funny, incredibly good looking Luke we all knew and loved would hurt Grant, right? With that thought, I slammed the notebook shut, slid it back into the bag and zipped it back up. Then I carried the bags to my car and loaded them in. I did one final sweep of the place before leaving the key under the mat. As I pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto the road, doubt swirled through my head. What if I’m wrong? My head and heart agreed, but my gut protested. Maybe I should call Grant, just to make sure he’s okay. A few miles passed and I couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to talk to Grant. Pressing the hands-free button on my steering wheel, I said, “Call Grant.” When Grant picked up on the third ring I let out a sigh of relief, “Hey baby, whatcha doing?” I asked.

  “Well, right now I’m hanging with your boy,” a voice that was definitely not Grant replied.

  “Hey Nash, is Grant around?”

  “Nash? You really think I sound like Nash? I’m offended,” the voice replied, and I felt as if someone had poured ice into my veins.

  “Luke?”

  “The one and only,” he replied. “So, I hear tomorrow’s the big day. I bet you’re excited.” He sounded normal, like…Luke, but what was he doing in Austin and why was he answering Grant’s phone?

  “I am. What are you doing in Austin? Will I get to see you tomorrow?” I casually asked. I didn’t want him to think I was pumping him for information, even though that was exactly what I was doing.

  He paused for a moment before saying, “You’ll have to wait and see.” It wasn’t the words he said that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck as much as the way in which he said them.

  Trying not to sound freaked out, I said, “Oh, darn. I was hoping to see you. Can I speak to Grant real quick? I need to ask him a question about the movers.”

  “Sorry, sweetheart, Grant’s a little tied up at the moment. I’ll make sure and tell him you called. Bye now.”

  “Funny, Luke. Let me talk to Grant.” When he failed to respond, I said, “Hello?” All I got was silence on the other end, so I snagged my phone from the cup holder and checked the screen. It was blank. Luke had hung up on me. Something was wrong. I couldn’t say how I knew it, I just did. “What do I do now?” I asked out loud, and then I remembered Ava. Pressing the hands-free button, I said, “Call Ava.”

  “Hello?” Ava answered after the second ring.

  “Hey Ava, this is Mallory. Are you by chance in the main house?”

  “Hi, dear. Didn’t Grant tell you? I’m visiting my niece in Colorado this week. I’ll be back tomorrow.” My stomach lurched. Ava wasn’t there.

  “Okay, Thanks, Ava. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  “Was there something you needed?” she asked.

  “Not really. It can wait. Hey, I’ve got another call coming in. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I told her before hitting disconnect. “Shit,” I said under my breath. As I beat back the panic that was threatening to take over, I thought, this is getting worse by the second. I couldn’t reach Grant. Ava couldn’t check on Grant. I was two hours away. What do I do? Whatever I did, I had to be careful. Luke was my friend and like a brother to Grant. Just because I had a bad feeling, it didn’t mean I was right…but it also didn’t mean I was wrong. Maybe Hank could help.

  Taking a deep breath, I hit the hands-free button once more and calmly said, “Call Hank.”

  “Hi Mallory,” Hank answered almost immediately.

  “Hi Hank, have you spoken with Grant today?”

  “No, but I talked to him last night. Why? What’s up? Is everything okay?”

  “Did he by chance mention anything to you about Luke coming to Austin?”

  “Not that I recall. He was getting things ready for your arrival. Why?” he asked again. My heart warmed at the thought of Grant getting things ready for me.

  “It’s probably nothing. It’s just that I called Grant a little while ago and Luke answered his phone. He was acting kind of weird.”

  “Huh, Luke told me he was heading to Houston to hang with his sister. Grant probably talked him into taking a road trip to Austin to play video games. They do it all the time when they’re not on tour. Did you try Nash? I bet he’s up there with them.”

  I mentally banged my head against the steering wheel. Why didn’t I think of that? “Good Idea. Thanks, Hank. Have fun on your break.”

  “You, too, Mallory.”

  I disconnected and called Nash.

  “Yo,” Nash answered.

  “Hey Nash, it’s Mallory. I’m looking for Grant. Is he by chance with you?”

  “Hey Mallory. Grant’s at his house getting ready for you,” he replied. Thank God, I thought.

  “So you’ve talked to him today?”

  “I talked to him late last night, why? Is something wrong?” Engulfed by an overwhelming sense of helplessness, I thought about what to tell him. I decided to go with the partial truth.

  “I called Grant earlier and Luke answered his phone. He was acting kind of strange and then he hung up on me. I called Ava to see if she’d check on them, but she’s in Colorado. Hank said they were probably playing video games and to call you.”

  “Nice to know I’m first on your list,” he sarcastically replied. We both laughed and I felt myself marginally relax.

  “What’s really going on, Mallory?” Nash asked.

  “I have a bad feeling, Nash. If I’m wrong, I will happily admit it and eat crow for the rest of my days, but my gut is screaming at me right now that something isn’t right.”

  “Right, like how?” he asked. I couldn’t tell if he was skeptical or concerned and I wasn’t about to tell him what I was thinking, so I said, “I’m not sure. I can’t really explain it, but I’m worried.”

  “Look, Kirkland seriously fucked with all of our heads and it’s going to take time to move past it, but this is Luke we’re talking about. He’s family. I realize you haven’t known him all that long, but seriously, he’s one of the most level headed goofballs I know.” I bit my lip to keep from screaming in frustration. All I wanted was for him to get in his car and drive thirty measly minutes to check on Grant. That’s all. “How far away did you say you were?” he asked and tears sprang to my eyes. Please, please, please sa
y you’ll help me.

  “As of this minute, I’m about an hour and fifteen away.”

  He sighed loudly. “Would it make you feel better if I drove up the hill to check on them?”

  “Please?”

  “Will it move me to the top of your list of people to call when you have a future breakdown?”

  “Number one,” I answered through my smile.

  “That’s what I like to hear.”

  “Thank you Nash. Oh, and could you not tell Grant I’m coming. I want it to be a surprise.”

  I ended the call and exhaled. Please God, let him be okay.

  Why does it always seem like things slow down when you want them to move quickly and they move quickly when you want them to last longer? As my car ate up the miles between Dallas and Austin, all I could think was, hurry. It wasn’t until I hit the two lane road leading up to Grant’s house that I remembered I needed a code to get though the front gates.

  “Shitdamnmothereffinggate!” I screamed, as I turned onto his drive. I’d forgotten to ask for the code. When I saw the gate standing wide open, I was initially relieved, but then I thought, why is the gate open? I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I call Nash and see if he’s here? Should I call Grant and see if he answers? Should I call the police? What should I do? If I called the police, what would I even say? I think my boyfriend’s best friend is hanging out with him… and might have him tied up….and it could be dangerous, but then again I might be wrong. I could just picture the looks on Grant and Luke’s faces when the police busted in. Definitely no police. That said, one thing was for certain, I was not going in without protection. Call me paranoid, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. I shifted into park before opening my door and circling around to my trunk to retrieve my lockbox. Once safely back in the front seat, I punched in the code and extracted my .38 caliber revolver. Shifting back into drive, I tossed the box on the floorboard and set the gun next to me in the passenger seat.

  Three cars were in the driveway when I arrived. I recognized Nash’s, but the other two I’d never seen before. As I turned off the ignition, I stared at the house. This was the beautiful house that I couldn’t wait to move into. As I looked at it now, all I felt was fear. Before exiting the car, I snagged the .38 from the passenger’s seat, shoved it between the small of my back and the waistband of my jeans and adjusted my sweater.

  For a split second I contemplated entering the house through the pool door, but then I remembered all of the windows in the back of the house and changed my mind. While I was out here playing MacGyver, the guys were probably inside playing video games. Please let them be playing video games, I thought, as I made my way up the front steps. When I first tried the handle and the door didn’t budge I started to panic. The second time, I put a little weight behind it, and squeaked in surprise when it suddenly flew open. With a giant lunge, I caught it right as it was about to slam into the wall and announce my not-so-subtle entry. I let out a shaky but relieved breath as I stepped the rest of the way inside and quickly closed the door behind me. The house was quiet, too quiet if you asked me. With no lights on and the living room curtains closed, it was also abnormally dark. Thank God for open floor plans, I thought, as I crept into the kitchen. From there I could see the living room and both hallways. I checked down the left hallway first and then the right. Nothing. The rooms were all empty. By this point I was starting to sweat. I was just about to head upstairs when I heard a loud noise. I pulled the revolver from my jeans, stepped back into the dark hallway and flipped off the safety. After a moment’s pause, I realized the noise had come from the downstairs studio. As I crept across the kitchen floor, I couldn’t think about anything except for getting to Grant. The door leading to the studio was partially cracked. With both hands on the gun, I quietly toed the door open and listened to see if I could hear anything. When I didn’t hear a sound, I began my descent. It wasn’t until I hit the bottom step that I heard shouting.

  My first instinct was to charge in, but then I heard Luke say, “I told you I would shoot! See? This is exactly what I’ve been talking about. You don’t take me seriously. You’ve never taken me seriously!”

  “You just fucking shot him!” Grant screamed. The fear and anger in his voice made me pause.

  “Are you listening? Do you believe me now?” Luke shouted.

  “Fuck you!” Grant shouted back at him. I needed to see what was happening, but I was terrified of getting caught. Before I lost my nerve, I slid the safety back on, shoved the gun back into my waistband and dropped to all fours. Very, very slowly, I peered around the banister. I spotted Nash first. He was lying on the floor in a puddle of blood and didn’t appear to be moving. Grant was tied up on the floor by the sofa. Luke was standing in front of him waving a gun back and forth like a lunatic. Spots danced before my eyes and I quickly pulled back to catch my breath. Oh, God. Luke just shot Nash. The acrid taste of fear coated the back of my throat. I was so far out of my depth here it wasn’t even funny.

  The whole time I was busy panicking, Luke continued to rant. “You took Dale from me! Sure, you say the right things and you always have, but your actions, man, they’re all wrong. For months I watched him snort his life away. What happened when I finally got him help? You pulled him back in! All you had to do was say no. Instead, you left him there with those whores and their drugs that night! And as if that wasn’t bad enough, you fucking kicked him out of the band! The guy had a drug problem, Grant. He needed our support, not our judgement!”

  “Luke, man, it was Dale’s choice to hang with those girls that night. It was Dale’s life. I admit that I could’ve done better. No, I should’ve done better, but you knew Dale. Once he made up his mind, there was no changing it.”

  Shock mixed with fear raged through me as I contemplated what to do. Time was wasting. I didn’t know whether Nash was dead or alive. What do I do? I dropped back to my hands and peered around the corner. Luke was pacing back and forth like a madman, but at least he was no longer pointing the gun at Grant.

  “I honestly thought if I could make you feel even a tiny bit of what I was feeling, then you would understand. But fuck….you’re Grant Hardy. You have no feelings. Everything you touch turns to gold. I mean seriously,” he laughed. Chills shot up my spine. This guy was completely unhinged. “You should have died that night. If anything, you at least should have gone to jail, but noooooo. You’re Grant Hardy. Instead, you get sent to rehab, where you spend two weeks fucking the nurses and writing number one songs. Then you come back, fall in love and fucking pull a coup.” I slapped a hand over my mouth to keep from gasping out loud. It was Luke!

  “Holy fuck, it was all you,” Grant said.

  “You’re damn right it was!” Luke cackled with glee.

  “The drugs?” Grant asked.

  “Yep,” Luke gloated.

  “The email sent from Mallory’s phone to Kirkland?”

  “You have to admit, that was genius,” Luke snorted.

  “Sarah Harmon?”

  “Whew, I almost got caught there, didn’t I?”

  “You fucking killed her. And why? Because you wanted to teach me a lesson?”

  The hurt in Grant’s voice made my heart ache. It also made me so damn mad I couldn’t see straight. Luke had to be stopped. I had to do something. As I pulled the gun from my waist I lowered myself onto my stomach. In all my years of shooting, I’d never missed a shot from this position. Instincts from long ago began to kick in as I slithered forward on my stomach and once again peered around the banister. Nash still hadn’t moved. I prayed he was still alive.

  “Lesson fucking learned, Luke. You act as if you’re the only one who cared about Dale. Well, I hate to break it to you, but we all cared about Dale,” Grant proclaimed.

  Luke pointed the gun straight at Grant’s head and shouted, “I fucking loved him!” Instinctually, I flipped off the safety, dropped to my elbows, steadied the gun and lined him up in my sights. Suddenly Luke went ballistic and started shouting,
“Don’t judge me! Don’t you dare fucking judge me! I hate you! I hate how you have it all! While the rest of us skitter around behind you picking up scraps of your golden boy leftovers, you fucking have it all! For once in my life, I had something that was mine! Dale was mine and you fucking took him from me! Well you know what? It’s my turn now and I’m taking it all from you.”

  As soon as those words left Luke’s lips, Nash lunged for Luke and Grant dove forward. I pulled the trigger just as Luke’s gun discharged.

  As the three guys fell to the floor, I screamed, “Noooooooo!”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  And So It Goes

  Mallory

  One month later

  “Do you think he’ll like it?”

  “He’ll love it,” Ava answered.

  “What if he hates it?”

  “He’ll love it, uh…at least he’ll love most of it,” she repeated.

  After another bout of laughter, I said, “I just wanted to do…something.” As the two of us stared at the rugs, the chair and the brand new leather sofa, I tried not to think about its purpose for being there.

  Luke.

  The day I killed Luke Brose was one of the worst days in my entire life. He’d planned the whole thing. Through conversations with Grant and Nash, Luke knew that Ava was in Colorado for the week and that I wasn’t due to move in until Friday. According to Grant, Luke showed up out of the blue around ten that morning with donuts and coffee in hand. He was in a great mood and couldn’t wait to show Grant the new “modded controller” he’d purchased for his X-Box, or so he’d claimed. Grant never saw the controller. He said one minute he was eating donuts and drinking coffee with Luke and the next he was tied up on the studio floor with no clue as to how he got there. When he tried to talk to Luke, Luke ignored him. And then Nash appeared. Grant said that he didn’t hear Nash arrive. He also didn’t realize Luke had a gun until Luke pulled it on Nash. When Grant screamed for Nash to run, Luke shot Nash before he could get away. Apparently the bullet only grazed Nash’s side, but the amount of blood on the floor made it seem much worse than it actually was. Nash knew that if he moved so much as a muscle, Luke would kill him.