In slow motion, I see the front of the stage explode, wood and metal flying into the air as billowing flames leap from underneath. The sound of the explosion is deafening, the groan of the stage as the foundation shakes vibrates throughout my body. My eyes are glued to the woman in the audience, still holding her shirt up, still smiling wickedly. Only now she has a metal pipe pinning her body to the rail behind her, her eyes staring lifelessly back at me. A lick of flame dances along in front of her, illuminating her last moments of carefree fun.
“Sefa!”
Ray stares helplessly out at the chaos and carnage, fear and devastation rendering her motionless. Dammit, I need to get her out of here. I reclaim her hand and tow her through the curtain just as a second explosion takes out the main stage.
Where we had been standing just seconds before.
The air is thick with smoke and people are frantically running, trying to get to safety and all thoughts of calmly leaving the building have disappeared. I run down the layout of the place as quickly as I can, trying to get my bearings and get us the hell out of here. There in the corner, I see the flashing green of the fire exit, breaking through the dense smoke and drag Ray along with me.
“Where’s Sydney? We need to find Sydney?” she yells hysterically.
I don’t answer her, just keep pulling her along with me. Every cell in my body wants to turn and search for Blue, but I have to make Ray safe first. It would kill Syd if anything happened to her sister. She would have made it out, she had to.
With one focus, to get Ray out of this fucking building, I power towards the exit and burst out into the night. She stumbles after me, quietly sobbing, her hand trembling in mine. Gasping for breath, I double over and try to calm my racing heart.
“Sefa please, we need to find Sy-” Ray cries, her voice cutting out as the door behind us bursts open again, smacking me straight in the side of the head and sending me reeling to the ground.
“Sefa!” I hear her cry and I stumble to my feet, clutching my head.
The alley is full of roadies and crew, and the noise level is out of control. Feeling frantic, I start shoving through the bodies, calling for Ray. With my height I can see over the crowd better than most and a scream of panic knots in my gut. There are no blond curls in this crowd.
“Ray-Ann!”
No one turns, no one stops. Hysteria is at an all-time high, and with each plume of acrid, black smoke that billows from the blazing building, the communal panic grows.
I drop to my haunches and look through the legs of the crowd, fear that she had been trampled making me feel sick. There’s nothing, and the stark reality that something more sinister could have happened to her in the few seconds she left my sight finally sinks in.
A hand grabs my shoulder and I react without thinking. Spinning, I wrap a hand around the man’s throat and pin him to the wall.
“Cross, please,” Dave wheezes, his fingers clawing at my fingers squeezing his windpipe.
I loosen my grip, but don’t let him go. Him being here right now when Ray is gone can’t be a coincidence. “Where. Is. She.”
He splutters, the red in his face lessens but the pulse in his neck still thrums erratically. He’s afraid.
He fucking should be.
“I need to tell you…”
“Where the fuck is she?” I roar, slamming him back into the wall with such force, his eyes roll.
“Cross,” he groans. “He took her.”
“Who? Who the fuck took her?”
“I don’t know!” He screams back, a tear leaking from his eye. “I don’t fucking know.”
I back away, still on edge but I release him none the less. “Start talking.”
He rubs at the angry skin of his throat and sinks back into the wall for support. “When the explosion went off, I was on the other side of the stage. I managed to herd as many out through the side exit as possible before escaping. I had just made it through the door when I was grabbed from behind and had a knife digging into my ribs. I don’t know who it was, but he had a message for you.”
Dread unfurling its coils, my throat bobbing as I swallow. “And?”
He looks at the ground, silent tears coursing down his face. “He said to tell you, It’s time for the finale. He gave me an address and said we had to come alone. They’re being watched Cross, he said they have eyes on your little PI crew. And if you give a heads up to anyone…”
I didn’t need him to continue, I knew what would happen. Death, carnage, people I cared for would be hurt.
“What’s the address?”
He points absently. “There’s an abandoned theater on West Coast drive, it’s a twenty-minute drive from here.”
I know the place, vaguely at least. “Then let’s go.”
His eyes widen. “Are you fucking crazy? Whoever this guy is, he’s gone to great lengths to keep his identity a secret. He’s not gonna let us walk away from this and you want to walk in there without backup?”
Standing straight, I head towards the road, pushing people out of my way. “I will have backup.”
“How?” He shouts, racing to keep up. “How the fuck are we gonna have backup?”
I don’t break stride when I reach the mouth of the alley, just make a left away from the sirens and the screaming. The back lot has all the cars and trucks used for the tour. I can see the black explorers the PA’s use and make a beeline for them. As I thought, one of them was unlocked, the keys sat in the ignition.
He knew I would do this, knew I would look here. This guy wasn’t just a puppet master. He knew us, really knew the people he was playing with. That made him the most dangerous of all.
“Cross! Fucking tell me! I can’t take the risk of something happening to Ray-Ann, I just can’t. We need help.”
He jumps up into the passenger side as I pump the gas, ready to get the hell out of here. “We have backup already. You don’t honestly think my team wouldn’t know how to find me if I went missing?”
He grips onto the seat as I swerve through the traffic. “So you’re bugged? Have a tracking device? Is it your phone?”
Chancing a glance in the rearview mirror, I gave a small shrug. “Something like that. Trust me, they’ll find us.”
His eyes widen comically. “If they don’t come for us and she dies, I swear to fucking God Cross…”
The car screeches to a halt, my foot heavy on the brake. It lurches to the side, horns blaring around us as they swerve to avoid rear-ending me.
“Listen up Dave, and listen fucking good.” I turn to face him, my body leaning towards him, intensity rolling off me in waves. “We’re the fucking best of the best. This is what we do. We’ve never backed down from a case or a challenge, and we’ve never given up. So when I tell you, they will find us, I mean they will fucking find us. You hear me?”
He nods quietly, thoughtfully as I hold his stare. “She will fucking find me.”
Pulling back out into the traffic, I feel the calm wash over me. Whatever was coming, we would end this tonight.
“You mean Sydney? How can you be so sure she will?” he questions quietly, cautiously. Obviously not wanting to push my buttons again.
“Because,” I state, smiling at the road ahead. “I am hers.”
Chapter 34
Sydney
Fear slices through me as my head is bombarded with horrible thoughts. We managed to tap into the video footage that thankfully was kept in the database at the venues security company off location. We track them from the stage all the way until escaping from the fire.
Then Ray’s capture.
“One more time.” I command Sky to play the video once more to make sure we don’t miss anything.
Cross gets whacked by the door landing hard on the ground. It makes no difference that I’m watching it for the hundredth time, it has the impact of the first. The only solace I find is from him getting up a second later trying to find my sister.
What he misses is during the stampede of bodie
s slamming through the door, Lucy Taylor holds a cloth over Ray’s mouth until her legs give out, then drags her away.
“Why the fuck is she involved?” I ask the room trying to make sense of it.
“Unresolved issues? Jealousy?” Sky says with a shrug of her shoulders.
“It would make sense. She wants Ray out of the way, so why not send threatening letters to scare her into leaving the spotlight.”
For her sake, she better not be behind all of this. I plan on ripping her a new one for manhandling my sister, I’ll fucking kill her if she’s been behind this the entire time.
I reboot my phone for the millionth time, same as everyone in the room. We’ve been trying to get Ray or Cross’s tracking devices that are on their phones to come in for over an hour.
“Why the hell do these things malfunction when we fucking need them?” Marcus barks out in frustration.
“Got them!” Sky yells jumping up from her seated position. “It looks like they’re thirty minutes outside the city. Ray is staying put, but Cross is getting closer and closer to her.”
“It’s safe to assume he’s on his way to her, but why hasn’t he reached out to us?”
“Maybe he’s not alone.” I say to the room and it gets eerily quiet.
“Or he’s being watched.” Sky chimes in. “Maybe whoever’s pulling the strings wants him alone.”
I think on that for a minute. I find little relief in Cross making his way to my sister because we don’t know what shape he’s in. We saw him get into a car with Dave and drive off, but what if there’s something we’re missing?
“Suit up and head out. God knows what you’re walking into, make sure you’re packing.” Colby commands from the speaker phone, his voice tense. I know it’s killing him and Bri, not being here when shit’s going down.
When we’re all ready and hanging out, I look towards the team one by one. Marcus is sliding on his leather gloves, his expression stone. He helps Sky with her gun holster as she slaps his hand away stating she knows what she’s doing. There’s only the three of us, Chantel is still with her mom recuperating. Marcus and Sky are chomping at the bit to get this party started. I’m as eager as they are, ready to get Ray and Cross back.
I pull out my phone and quickly shoot off another text to Cross, hoping to God he answers this time.
Sydney: You good?
Cross: Fun Fact - Eagles can see eight times farther than humans. I guess they’re always watching.
“Fuck, we’re being watched.” Marcus walks over and looks at my phone over my shoulder.
“How the hell did you get that from a fun fact? If he told you the male penis ejaculated chocolate milk, would you think they were being held at Willy Wonka’s lair?”
“Shut the fuck up. Does Cross ever say anything without meaning? If he’s heading into a fight, why would he give me a random fact about eagles? Christ, Marcus. Sometimes I wonder about you.”
“If we’re being watched, we need to figure out how to get out unnoticed.”
No one has any great ideas, then I get a crazy one. Walking over to the double doors that lead to the balcony, I pull them open and step into the warm night air. I notice there are balconies for every room, all the way down the length of the hotel. Bingo.
They’re looking at me questioningly as I walk back inside. “We jump the balconies. They’re probably watching our door, not anyone else’s. Plus, we’re not too far up. If we climb over to the end, we can drop down a floor and go in through someone’s room.”
“And if they’re watching the lobby?” Sky asks.
“We’ll go through the freight entrance.”
“Let’s do it.” Marcus agrees.
Jumping down a floor gets a little dicey once we make it to the end of the building, but we do it with precision and ease. Before we know it, we’re in two cars barreling down the highway towards the building we pulled up from Ray’s tracker.
“Cross just got there. He’s too close to still be driving.”
I feel a warm hand land on my shoulder and when I look up, Sky’s smiling at me. “They’re going to be ok. You know Cross will protect Ray, he won’t go down without a fight.”
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”
***
We decide its best if Sky hangs back while me and Marcus approach the old theater. I feel a weird sense of déjà vu remembering the last time I was in this building. It’s crazy to think after a short period of time the building crumbled, remaining here desolate and abandoned. This is the last place me and Ray ever performed before we were kidnapped by Lyle.
Gravel crunches beneath my shoe as we run through the parking lot trying to remain unseen. We’re going for the element of surprise in this case. Tipping them off that we’re here could be detrimental for my sister.
“Tell me something good Sky.”
“I’m in. Fucking finally. Whoever owns the place set some precautions to keep hackers out. But you know, I’m so damn awesome.”
“Fuck you’re hot when you talk nerdy.” Marcus says and I wish I could whack him upside the head.
Thank God Sky’s all business. “In a moment you’ll be coming up on the back of the theater. There aren’t any ways to get inside that I can see, so you’ll have to go off to the side of the building. There’s an emergency exit in the alley to the right.”
“Trap?” Marcus asks.
“Not that I can see. There’s no one hanging out near the door or in the hallway you’ll be entering.”
As we come upon the building, we slow to a jog and continue to where Sky directed us. Sure enough, there’s a large door right around the side that we cautiously enter. I’m almost expecting to be met with resistance, but Sky was right. Not a soul is to be found.
Marcus gestures with his hand towards the stairs. We quietly make our way to the top and onto the landing. The eerie silence sets me off and now things aren’t adding up. How can they be here and nobody guarding them?
“I see them! Two doors down on the left. There doesn’t appear to be anyone in there with them, but be careful. There are blind spots in the room. It’s an old dressing room with a ton of old shit in it.”
“Got it.” I confirm and head for the room that’s holding my sister and the man I love.
“Any sign of Dave?” Marcus asks, sliding in front of me and checking the hallway.
“Nothing yet, but I’ll keep looking.”
“This could be a trap.” Marcus states quietly, looking me straight in the eye. “This is too easy.”
“Then we’ll worry about it when that happens. Right now, my main focus is getting them out.” I jiggle the handle and find it unlocked. When I push the door open, my eyes search the dimly lit room to find Ray sitting tied to a chair and Cross lying on the ground with a huge gash on his head.
I run for Cross needing to make sure he’s ok. With his head in my hands, I stroke his cheek and check out the wound. He’s breathing and appears to be knocked out.
“Someone got him good. I’d say it was with the butt of a gun or some large object.” I place his head in my lap and try shaking him awake. “She good?” I look over and see Marcus already has Ray untied.
“Stay quiet,” he tells her before slipping out the room, checking to see if the coast is still clear.
“Is Sefa ok?” Ray whispers in a small watery voice.
I’m about to answer when a throat clears towards the doorway and when I look up, Marcus walks the rest of the way into the room…but he’s not alone.
His hands are held up in surrender as Lucy follows him in with what I’d assume is a gun at his back. Marcus doesn’t surrender to anyone, she must be threatening him.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here? You almost spoiled the surprise.” She kicks Marcus until he’s kneeling and shoves his back until he hits the floor.
I gently place Cross’s head on the ground and jump to my feet. If it’s a fight she wants, it’s a fight she’ll get.
“You�
��ve messed with the wrong person.” I walk towards Lucy as she trains the gun on me.
“Uh, uh. Not another step Syd. You know, I was surprised to hear you were touring with your sister. Are you missing the spotlight? Not getting enough attention from your man? He is quite the man, isn’t he? When we were in bed together, he did things to my body I’ve only dreamt about.”
I laugh. “You can keep your thoughts in your dreams because I know you’re lying. Cross wouldn’t touch you if your tits were made of gold.”
“Fuck you Syd. I think it’s time to move onto the next portion of our evening.” Lucy walks around Marcus and stops in front of Ray.
“And what would that be?” I ask, my voice full of snark.
“You never were good with surprises Sydney. I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know I have several in store for you, so I suggest you buckle up.”
My body slowly turns to the voice unable to believe it. There, at the door, is Randy.
This can’t fucking be happening.
Chapter 35
Cross
“I don’t like this Cross,” Dave whispered, gun in hand as we approach the back of the aging building.
I have to agree. It was all too… easy. We drive past the front, watching the public walk by not even paying the slightest bit of attention to the old boarded up theater. Not wanting to draw attention to ourselves, we take the next left and circle round until we run parallel to the back. There are enough alleys to sneak through, and when we hit the back, we find ourselves in an empty lot. Where are the getaway cars? How had they managed to get Ray-Ann in here without being noticed?
The building shows no signs of life, but somewhere in there, Syd’s sister is being held against her will. We have to do this right, I don’t know how many people were involved and that makes the situation unpredictable. I need the crew to be cautious…
Whipping out my phone, I ignore the copious notifications where they have all been trying to contact me and pull up the last text from Syd. It has only been seconds since she sent it and I breathe a sigh of relief that she’s right there, waiting for my response.
Deception (A Stalker Novel Book 2) Page 16
