Disconnected

by Bethany Daniel

  I catch Katy's eyes again and crook my finger at her to get her to walk to me.

  "Yes?" She asks putting on her most innocent face while she grabs a hold of my hand.

  "What the hell is he doing here?" I ask through clenched teeth.

  "He's my friend and I invited him, and you are not allowed to be angry about that."

  I raise an eyebrow, really? She expects me to not be angry she brought her ex-boyfriend with her, a guy that she dated for almost two years and was in love with, and I'm not supposed to be mad?

  "Oh, I'm not. And why is that?" I ask crossing my arms over my chest.

  "Because you have me now, and if you play your cards right, forever. So be nice."

  Yeah, being nice is so an option. I narrow my eyes towards Lucas and as Katy turns to walk back that way I grab her and kiss her deeply holding her tightly against me. I'm claiming her. She is mine and I want everyone, especially him, to know it.

  When she pulls back from me she has to catch her breath. “What was that for?”

  I grin and kiss her one last time, “Just showing everyone that you’re mine.”

  She rolls her eyes and shoves my shoulder and I pretend she actually knocked me off balance. “Unnecessary. Does that mean I can pull you out in front of a group of your adoring fan girls and kiss you senseless?”

  I raise an eyebrow, my kisses make her senseless. Mmm, I like that. "Senseless, huh?" I whisper and pull her closer as I start trailing tiny kisses along her neck.

  She lets out a soft sigh before shaking herself out of it. “There are like a thousand people all around us right now, Liam.”

  I laugh and tuck a stray hair behind her ear. “I could always take you back to my trailer, baby. No one could disturb us there.” I grin mischievously at her. That would definitely be a good plan right about now.

  Katy just shakes her head at me and I watch her brown hair swish back and forth. “As tempting as that sounds, you have a job to do.” She gives me a look then a quick kiss before pulling me towards the group of people that contain Krista, Scott, and Lucas and to my dismay, Alexia.

  I go stand over to the side and keep my hands gripped in fists watching Alexia interact with Katy. I don't want them in the same place, much less standing that close to each other and talking.

  Alexia saunters over towards me with a smug smile on her face. The next thing I know she has her hand on me and starts tracing her fingers south, "Oh, really nice to see you again too, Katy. We get to shoot a very hot love scene today. I have to go to wardrobe and get my lingerie. Black silk; Liam's favorite."

  I growl and shove her away. My whole body is on edge until she waves and walks away.

  "I wish I never touched that woman. She makes my life a living hell!" I clench my jaw. "I'm this close to speaking with the director. She may be a woman, but she sexually harasses me all the time."

  "She doesn't seem that bad," Lucas says from beside Katy and earns dirty looks from everyone.

  "What? She's just...flirty," He says shaking his head.

  "She's creepy," Katy says shaking her head. "Do you really have to do a love scene with her today?" She asks scrunching up her nose.

  "Unfortunately, after this, I'm turning down any project that even has a mention of her name on it." I sigh. Alexia used to be nice enough, and she is a really good actress. But she has stepped over one too many lines and I can't be waiting on the other end of those lines anymore. I can only hope there's someone else out there that she'll set her sights on.

  "Sounds like a good plan," Katy says as she hugs me. I squeeze her tight and just enjoy the moment until Mr. Phillips walks over and interrupts it.

  Katy wishes me luck and kisses my cheek before turning and going to the sidelines away from the main set and Krista dutifully follows behind her, tugging Lucas with them. I keep an eye on him, I really don't want him being all buddy, buddy with Katy. I glare in his direction. Alexia skips her way over but stops to wave and blow a kiss towards Lucas. Rolling my eyes I turn my attention back towards the director as he gives us directions for the scenes. Alexia sidles up next to me and I discreetly go on the other side of Mr. Johnson.

  I look over at Katy and smile when I catch her watching me and blow her a kiss. She smiles back at me and acts like she catches it. That used to be our thing when I was on stage. I'd blow her a kiss at the end of a show. I'm sure all those other girls probably thought I was aiming it at them, but those are reserved for my Katy, always.

  "Ok everybody, ready?"

  As I'll ever be, I think taking a deep breath and making myself mentally prepared to be up close and personal with Alexia in a minute.

  I walk over to my mark and Alexia adjusts her skimpy little robe so she has plenty of skin showing and smiles over at me as she goes to her spot.

  "Action!" is yelled and I slip into the mind of my character. I'm not me and she isn't Alexia anymore. We're two totally different people. I stride towards her and rip away the robe and lift her easily into my arms and press her up against a wall and then just as quickly I hear, "Cut!"

  I drop Alexia inelegantly and hurry over to Katy's side. I can't imagine that was fun to watch for her.

  "Hey baby, you ok?" I ask pulling her closer.

  "Yeah, I'm good. You did a really good job." She puts on a smile and I frown at how fake it is. She's really not ok. Maybe this wasn't a great day for her to visit.

  "Don't believe her, Liam. She's freaking out on the inside." Krista glares putting her hands on her hips.

  "I'm fine, really."

  "No, you're not. I can see it in your eyes, Katy. I don't want you to have to feel uncomfortable."

  "Well let's see, would you be comfortable if you had to watch her kiss me?" Lucas pipes in and I step closer tightening my muscles up with each step. "Try it and find out."

  "Hey! Ok, that's it. We're leaving, now, ok? No fights. I just wanna go home."

  Home. Yes, we need to go home, together. I smile. "You know what? That's exactly where we need to go."

  She gives me a curious look.

  "Huh? What are you talking about?"

  "We need to go home, where both our families are. They don't know yet we're working things out right? If we go home, we can be away from the madness for a little while and just be with family."

  "What about your movie stuff though?" She asks and she seems to be thinking it over.

  "This is our last shoot. I get some time off before my next project. See if you can get your class work for the next two weeks and come home with me, baby."

  "I...I don't know, Liam."

  "Think about it, ok? I'll call you tonight and if you decide it's a go, I'll call and make the reservations."

  She nods and looks over at her friends before standing on her tip toes to kiss my cheek but I quickly turn my head to get her lips instead and smile down at her.

  "Ok, I think it's time for us to head out. I'll talk to you later." She fidgets with her hair glancing at a perturbed looking Lucas.

  "Think about it," I whisper by her ear and tuck a loose strand of hair back.

  "I will, I promise." She squeezes my hand.

  "I love you, Katy." I sigh and lean down to kiss her forehead.

  She smiles softly and beams up at me. "I love you too, Liam."

  Chapter 11

  My eyes widen when I hear those words, and a grin breaks across my face. She really does still love me.

  "I never thought I'd hear those words out of your mouth again," I tell her in disbelief.

  She just laughs. "Well, now you have."

  I shake my head, watching the three of them leave together. I was so scared this relationship was too fragile, but I think I've wormed my way back in to her heart-hopefully to stay.

  "Liam, would you mind coming to watch this footage?" Mr. Johnson yells over to me.

  "Oh, yeah...sure, no problem," I walk over and sit in a chair next to him and sigh, watching the scene we just shot mixed with some other ones we shot previously.


  Scott walks over and sits next to me. "Having fun yet?"

  "Oh yeah, loads of it," I roll my eyes. "Did you get called over to watch footage too?"

  He nods, "Yep. Apparently Mr. Johnson is very particular about how his shots are, and if something isn't the way he envisioned he will make us do a re-shoot." He runs his hands through his dark hair and sighs.

  "Are Aria and Alexia nearby?" Mr. Johnson asks.

  "I'm right here!" Aria pipes in and sits across from us. "Sorry, had to get out of that bikini. Lounge wear is more my thing." She smiles over at the director.

  "Yes, that's fine." He frowns looking around us. "Where is Alexia?" He motions for his assistant to come over. "I need Ms. Dalton brought around right away. I want her to see these shots along with her co-stars."

  "Yes, sir," he mumbles, and takes off at a jog to Alexia's trailer.

  "So, boys, what are you doing after filming is done?" Aria asks us, curling up in her chair.

  I shrug. "We're planning on staying around here for a few extra days to spend time with the girls. Find a way of just relaxing away from the cameras."

  "Good luck with that one." She smiles over at us.

  "Maybe once filming is done the paps won't be as on-their-toes looking for us." Scott says with a shrug. "We can have a life, too."

  Aria nods and then Mr. Johnson's assistant runs over with a frown on his face. "Sir, Ms. Dalton is nowhere to be found."

  Mr. Johnson draws his eyebrows together. "She can't have just left; we still have scenes to shoot!" He raises his voice. "Find her, or call her and find out where the hell she is. I won't have one of my stars being unprofessional."

  The assistant looks down and nods. "Right away," He turns on his heel and starts dialing on his cell phone.

  I frown, watching his retreating back. "Where did Alexia go?"

  Scott shrugs. "I don't know, last I saw her was when you dropped her after that scene." He smirks.

  "Same here," Aria says with a shrug and looks towards Mr. Johnson.

  "Ok, since Ms. Dalton couldn't be bothered to be with us, the three of you can help me decide which take comes across the best."

  We all circle around him and lean in to get a better view of the screen. We watch scene after scene play out and point out to him which one might be better than the other.

  "Mrs. Warren?" I hear a deep voice say over in a far corner, and my head snaps in that direction. That's Nate. Why the hell is he still here when he's supposed to be with Katy and Krista at all times?

  I glare and start moving towards him, listening to the conversation as I go. I notice Scott following me after a minute.

  "We're at set. Aren't you and Ms. Quinn still standing by?"

  Nate has a panicked look cross his face and looks behind him. "Track the GPS in the Warren vehicle, NOW! They're being chased!" He hangs up the phone and shoves it into his pocket. He takes off at a run and I chase him down.

  "Nate! What's going on? Why do you need to track the car?" My breath is coming out in huffs. I'm beyond mad right now; if something happened, so help me... I don't care if this guy has at least a hundred pounds of muscle on me.

  He gulps and takes a deep breath. "Mr. Warren, Mr. Adams." He addresses Scott standing behind me. "There seems to have been an incident."

  "What kind of incident?" Scott asks, harshly pushing in front of me.

  "Mrs. Warren said they were being chased. I...I could hear a scream when the line went dead."

  Everything around me disappears. Katy is in danger. Someone is trying to run them off the road and I'm nowhere near her to help with this.

  I step up toe to toe with Nate and glare at him. "You get us to where they are, right now," I grit out through clenched teeth. "Get that damn GPS working and drive us there right now or I will not be responsible for my actions."

  Eric steps up looking between Scott and me and points to a dot on his phone screen. "They're heading east, but it looks like they've stopped." He presses his lips together. "That could be for any reason."

  "I don't care the reason!" I yell at him. "Which car is yours?"

  He points to a large black hummer and Scott and I run to get in the backseat.

  Scott looks over at me with a determined look on his face. "They're ok, man. They probably lost whatever camera man and pulled off to recover."

  I tap my fingers nervously and try dialing Katy's cell phone. Nate and Eric finally get in and start speeding out of the parking lot and down the road while the line continues to ring and ring.

  "Come on, Katy," I whisper to myself and try to call her over and over every couple minutes. I finally give up and throw the phone onto the floor with frustration.

  "Call Krista," I tell Scott, "Katy's not answering, call Krista, right now!"

  "I have been." Scott shakes his head. "She isn't answering either."

  I put both hands through my hair and squeeze. Something's wrong. I can just tell. One or the other would have answered the phone if everything was fine. At this moment, I actually wish I knew Lucas' number. I'd gladly take the reassurance from him that they're just driving back to campus and everything is fine.

  We skid to a stop finally and I can't get out of the car fast enough. But as soon as I do, I'm frozen in place. I hear Scott run up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.

  "Oh, God," is all he gets out, seeing what's in front of us.

  There are ambulances all around and the police are looking down into the ditch as some paramedics are working on removing everyone from the car. This can't be happening. Katy can't possibly be gone, I would know. I would feel it. I just got her back; I can't lose her like this. That's just not fair.

  Scott reaches over and grabs my arm and when I look over at him I notice his eyes are now red rimmed. "Come on, let's go find out what's happening."

  I follow behind him numbly and gulp, seeing them pulling someone onto a stretcher. I hold my breath and have to keep myself standing.

  I see brown hair draped over the side and nearly lose it. Please, God, don't take her from me. When Katy is finally pulled all the way up I try to run towards her but am blocked by a police officer.

  "I'm sorry, sir. I can't allow you over there."

  "That is my wife!" I point to where they are getting further away with her. "I need to be with her. I need to see that she's ok."

  "With all due respect, she's in really good hands right now, sir. They're going to take care of her."

  I yell out in frustration and turn to find Scott, who I see watching someone else being pulled out and strapped onto a stretcher looking battered and broken. Before even seeing the blonde hair, I know its Krista. Scott rushes forward and yells. "No! Bring her back here! I need to see her…please." He squats down and puts his face in his hands.

  I go over to comfort him as Eric and Nate make their way towards us. This is their fault. They were supposed to be with the girls at all times. If they did their job correctly, this never would have happened. My hands ball into fists and I rush forward.

  "You...this is all your doing!" I yell into the air at them. "Consider yourselves fired, and I will call every damn connection I have in L.A. and everywhere else in the world to let them know you are not to be trusted with anyone’s well-being!" I get closer, and before I can make a move to send my angry fists flying I feel Scott grab hold of me from behind.

  "Don't," he whispers. "That won't help the girls."

  Eric steps forward and clears his throat. "Sir, I apologize for us not being at the top of our game. We thought Mrs. Warren and Ms. Quinn were still watching you film and we took a short break. It was careless, and we accept full responsibility."

  "You should," Scott speaks up. He watches as Krista is loaded into a waiting ambulance and drives away.

  "Give us the keys to the car; we're driving to the hospital. You're done."

  Chapter 12

  The drive to the hospital is tense and unnerving. All kinds of thoughts are running through my mind, every "what if” situation
possible. I don't even talk to Scott as I drive; I think his mind is running just as fast as mine.

  One thing is nagging me, though. We saw Katy and Krista being pulled out of the wreckage, but we didn't see Lucas. I assume he could have been pulled out first and already be at the hospital... I hope all the pieces of this puzzle will be put together when we get there.

  Once I finally pull into the parking lot, I feel like I'm on auto pilot. Scott and I rush in through the Emergency Room entrance and immediately go to the nurse’s station.

  "How may I help you?" the nurse on duty asks us.

  "We need to know where Katelyn Warren, Krista Quinn, and Lucas Austin are. They were just brought in because of a car wreck," I answer, and anxiously tap my fingers on the desk.

  "Are you family?"

  "I'm Katy's husband."

  She turns to Scott, who looks like he's ready to bust down some doors. "And you sir?"

  "I'm Krista's boyfriend."

  "May I see both your IDs?"

  I sigh, frustrated that this much time is being wasted. Doesn't she know this is important?

  Once she looks them over she turns to her computer and types some things in. "I'm sorry, it looks like they are in surgery. Well, Katelyn and Krista are. I have no record of a Lucas Austin."

  I frown before punching my hand on the desk. "Where do we wait for some kind of information?"

  "The waiting area is right down the hall."

  We walk down and I take a seat while Scott stands and paces. I'm not sure how long passes before two police officers walk into the room.

  "Mr. Warren, Mr. Adams. Your security men informed us of where you were and of bringing you to the scene of the accident. We have some questions for you, and we'll fill you in on what we know. Your director has informed us that your co-star, Alexia Dalton, was missing from the set, correct?"

  I nod. "Yeah...yeah, Mr. Johnson’s assistant couldn't find her. What does that have to do with all of this?"

  "Upon initial investigation of the vehicle, silver paint was observed in the damage along the driver's side of Mr. Austin's SUV. We searched Alexia's trailer on the movie set and believe we have evidence that she wanted to harm Mrs. Warren. Alexia owns an silver 2012 Tahoe. We believe she is the one who ran them off the road."