“Right back at you. It’s been forever. I saw all the craziness with Sam online. Are you holding out on us? Are you and Sam a thing now?” she asked.
I chuckled. “Nope. She’s just a friend. With occasional benefits. I’d tell you guys if I had a girlfriend. I promise. How are you and Aaron? And the baby?”
“We’re good. But I am so ready not to be pregnant anymore.”
“Only, what? Another month, right?”
“About that, yeah. So, what’s up? Not that it’s not awesome to catch up, but I know you’re way too busy to just call out of the blue without a reason.”
My eyes stung. God, I hated putting this on her while she was eight months pregnant. But I literally didn’t know who else to talk to about it.
“I’m sorry to dump on you,” I sniffled, unable to stop the tears that leaked out. “But I don’t have anyone else I can talk to about this.”
Ezra’s arms tightened around me for a second, which only made me cry more.
“Daph,” she said sympathetically. “Babe, what’s wrong?”
“I, um…someone’s following the tour. Stuff went wrong at my shows in London and Paris before what happened in New York. And I’ve been getting really creepy notes and gifts. Telling me to, quote, be a good girl and talking about how we’ll be together soon. And when that picture of me and Sam leaked online, she got jumped at a nightclub we went to that night. Then the person sent me a message about how I made them do it because I was theirs and I betrayed them.”
“Oh, my God,” she gasped.
“I’m sorry to call you, but I don’t know anyone else who’s been through something like this before,” I said, wiping my eyes. “I’m scared and I don’t know what to do or how to stop this. I don’t know who’s doing this, but I think it might be someone who’s still on the tour. Because that picture that got leaked of me and Sam was backstage, right outside my dressing room.”
“Hey, Daph, Aaron just walked in the door. I’m going to put you on speaker, okay?” Reagan asked.
“Yeah, of course. Actually, Ezra’s here with me. So I’m going to put you on speaker too,” I told her.
I pulled the phone away from my ear and put it on speakerphone, using my shirt to wipe the tears and makeup off of the screen.
“Okay, you’re on speaker,” Reagan’s voice rang through the phone.
“So are you,” I chuckled, sniffling. “Hi, Aaron.”
“Hey, Daph,” Aaron said.
“Aaron,” Ezra said. “Been a minute, man.”
“Ezra. Hi. Yeah, it’s been a while,” Aaron agreed.
“Daph, tell Aaron what you just told me,” Reagan said.
I repeated everything I’d just told Reagan. I actually went into a lot more detail about what exactly the gifts were and what the notes said, since I was talking to a cop now rather than just a friend. When I was done, there was silence on the other end of the phone.
“Anyway, I don’t know. I guess I just hoped you might be able to tell me something that can help me stop this,” I sighed.
Aaron took a breath. “I’m operating on the assumption that what I did with Reagan isn’t an option for you. Since you’re in the middle of a world tour and all.”
“Yeah, I can’t really go hide out in a house in the woods,” I agreed. “I wish I could. Honestly, having no contact with civilization for a little while would be amazing even if I didn’t have a stalker.”
“You need a vacation after this tour,” Reagan said. “Or just some time at home with your friends who love and miss you.”
“Option B and then option A sounds amazing. I miss you guys something fierce,” I said. “But in the meantime, I feel like firing the other half of my crew, since obviously firing the first half didn’t work.”
“I get where you’re coming from, Daph, but I’m not sure if that’s a good idea,” Aaron said.
“Why not?” Ezra asked before I could. “If it gets her stalker out of here, why wouldn’t that be a good thing?”
“Because if you’re right and her stalker is someone who’s working on the tour, doing that is going to do two things, neither of which are good. First, it’ll piss them off. And you’ve already seen what happens when they get pissed off. They get violent, like they did when they jumped Sam. Second, it’ll give them a whole lot more free time to devote to their new hobby of stalking. Yeah, maybe firing them will remove their backstage access to you, but a lot of good that does if they decide to come to your next stop with a gun. Ezra, I assume you’ve got eyes on her twenty-four-seven?”
“We’re putting protocols in place that’ll take care of that,” Ezra said. “We didn’t have someone standing guard outside her hotel room at night, but we’re going to start taking shifts with that. That’s the only time someone’s not with Daphne.”
“And everyone on your team is licensed to carry, right?” Aaron clarified.
“Yep. And we all had to re-qualify before we joined this tour. We’re also personally vetting any gifts for Daphne, no matter where they come from, before they get to her. We’re telling her about everything, in the interest of maintaining transparency, but we see it first so we can re-assess her security protocols if we think she’s in more danger,” Ezra explained.
“Okay, good. In that case, I think you’re doing everything you can for right now. Just make sure you’re keeping a log of everything that happens. Even if Daph tells you she feels like she’s being followed, but you can’t see anything. And keep everything for evidence. Every note. Every gift. Every text message, Facebook message, or Tweet. I think you know this goes to the feds since this person is crossing state lines, right?”
“Yeah. Her tour manager isn’t letting us call them,” Ezra muttered.
“But I already told him that if he feels like he needs to, I don’t give a crap what Josh or Hugh have to say about it,” I chimed in.
“Good,” Aaron said. “That’s smart. But, Ezra, if you do call them, you need to make sure you have a good, solid case that Daphne is in actual danger to present to them. Otherwise they’re going to blow you off because they’ve got bigger fish to fry than a celebrity with an obsessed fan. They’ll say it’s harmless and it happens all the time.”
“Yeah, tell that to John Lennon and Selena,” Ezra bit out.
“I know, man. You don’t have to convince me. You have to convince them,” Aaron chuckled weakly. “And that’s a hell of a lot harder.”
“Thanks, Aaron,” I sighed.
“Yeah, of course,” he said.
“Are you okay now, Daph?” Reagan asked. “At least somewhat?”
“Yeah, I’ll be okay.” I sounded a whole lot more confident than I felt.
“Ezra, you have my number. Call or text if I can be of any more help,” Aaron told him.
“Will do,” Ezra said.
“Anyway, I should probably get going,” I said. “I need to get into my stage clothes and makeup. I have a sold-out crowd to perform for tonight.”
“Break a leg,” Reagan told me. “Call if you need me, babe.”
“I will,” I promised. “Look, it probably goes without saying, but—”
“I won’t say a word to Taylor and the girls. I promise,” she cut me off. “It’s not my place.”
“I’m going to tell everyone soon, because they deserve to know, but I want it to come from me.”
“You don’t have to explain to me, Daph. I get it. And I won’t say a word. You tell them when you’re ready.”
“Thanks. I’ll talk to you guys later,” I said.
After I hung up with them, I turned to look at Ezra, and he looked…I didn’t even know what he looked like. Determined, maybe? Upset?
“Are you okay, Ezra?” I asked.
“Again, you’re the one with the stalker and you’re asking me if I’m okay,” he snorted quietly.
“You’re involved in this too. You’re allowed to have feelings of your own about it.”
“More than anything, I’m just trying to fig
ure out how to stop this person. But I feel like we’re missing just one piece of the puzzle. One thing to tell us who it is.”
“I know. Me too,” I agreed. “But I trust you to keep me safe.”
“We will, angel.” He smoothed his hand down my hair. “We’re not going to let anyone hurt you. I promise.”
“Morning,” I said, handing Daphne a dirty chai latte as she shut the door of her hotel suite behind her.
“Morning,” she chirped with a smile.
Over the past two months working for Daphne, I’d gotten pretty good at reading her. I could tell when she was excited for a show and when it was almost a chore to get on the stage. Today? The smile on her face, sporting the dimples that only came out to play when it was real, told me she was pumped.
“Excited to make up your shows at Madison Square Garden?” I asked.
“Yeah, actually. I am. Is that weird? Should I be nervous about it because of what happened last time?”
“No, it’s not weird. This is your chance to show New York City what you’re really made of,” I told her. “Not every show’s going to go up in flames. Actually, nothing’s gone wrong with your shows themselves since that one. And you haven’t heard from your stalker in a few weeks, either. It’s okay to not always be looking over your shoulder. You’re allowed to love what you do. You’ve got a job most people only dream of having.”
“I know. Even after four years, sometimes I still can’t believe this is real life,” she chuckled, taking a sip of her chai and letting out a moan.
I couldn’t help it. Hearing that moan made all of the blood in my body rush south. And, no matter what I tried to think of—baseball stats, spiders, scorpions, my grandma in her granny panties—I couldn’t stop myself from developing a rising problem. Thank God she was looking straight ahead and not right at me, so she didn’t see.
More and more lately, I found myself wishing things were different. That she wasn’t an internationally famous musician and I wasn’t the person whose job it was to keep her safe. Because in another life, one where we weren’t a world apart, maybe we could have been good together. But, as my dad always said, “Wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills up faster.”
My phone rang, pulling me from my thoughts, and my stomach dropped to the floor when I saw that it was Rachel. She never called while I was gone on a job. I was always the one who called her, usually just to check on Arielle.
“Rachel?” I answered. “What’s wrong? Is Ari okay?”
“Ari’s fine,” she sniffled. “It’s Tim. He was in a car accident this morning on his way to work. It’s…it’s bad. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to take care of Ari while I’m taking care of Tim at home too.”
“Shit. Mom and Dad don’t get back from Florida until tomorrow night,” I realized.
“I’m so sorry, Ezra. I know you’re in Louisiana right now, but—”
“No, I’m not. I’m actually in New York City. We just got in last night. Daph’s making up the two canceled Madison Square Garden shows,” I told her. “Look, give me a little while. I’ll work something out.”
What, I didn’t know. But something. Rachel did so much for me. I could handle figuring out where Arielle could spend the night for one night so Rachel could take care of her injured husband.
Daphne looked at me sympathetically as I hung up with Rachel.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I sighed. “My brother-in-law, Tim, was in a car accident. I guess it’s bad, and Rachel’s not sure if she’s going to be able to juggle him and Ari. My parents are in Florida for their anniversary and they’re not getting home until tomorrow night. I honestly don’t know what to do.”
“Ezra, if you need some time off to figure things out, all you have to do is ask. That’s your daughter.”
“I know. But I just don’t feel right leaving with everything going on with you right now,” I admitted.
She smiled. “That’s sweet. But I’ll be okay for a few days. Hector can do your job, and the rest of the team runs like a well-oiled machine.”
I hesitated. I knew I should just take the time off she was offering, go take care of my daughter, and catch back up with the crew in New Orleans in five days. But, for some reason I didn’t understand, the thought of leaving Daphne while she had a stalker on the loose physically pained me. I knew I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her while I was gone.
“You really don’t want to go, do you?” she chuckled weakly.
“Is it pathetic if I say no?” I asked.
“No. You’re dedicated to your job. I can understand that. I might have an idea, but I need to make a phone call.”
I was sure I looked as confused as I felt. I had no idea what kind of solution she could possibly have come up with for this problem. She was sweet—too sweet for this business, really—but she’d never been a single parent struggling to make end’s meet. She’d never had to juggle a job and a kid.
“Okay?” I asked.
“Your hometown is close, right?”
“Yeah. We live in Montauk.”
“Ashview is only a few hours away,” she told me. “Let me call Taylor and see how he feels about hanging out with an eight-year-old girl tonight. He and Alex are his little sister, Penny’s, legal guardians, and he’s awesome with kids. I’ll get them VIP passes and Ari can come to the show. And I’ll get Josh to get a rollaway bed delivered to your room tonight so she can spend the night here. Then you can go drop her off with your parents tomorrow before the show. The guys can handle the initial sweep by themselves today and tomorrow.”
I sighed in relief. If Taylor was free tonight, that would actually work out perfectly. And Arielle would never even realize that this was an absolute last resort because she’d be too busy freaking out over getting a VIP ticket to her favorite musician’s show tonight.
Daphne pulled her phone out of her pocket and hit a number on her speed dial before putting the phone up to her ear.
“Hey, babe,” she said after a few seconds. “I know this is super last-minute, but how do you feel about coming to the Madison Square Garden show tonight?”
There was a pause as Taylor spoke.
“Ezra’s sister and brother-in-law are taking care of his daughter while he’s here on the tour, and his brother-in-law was in a bad car accident this morning. His parents can take Arielle, but they’ve been out of town and won’t get back until tomorrow night. So he’s trying to figure something out for tonight. Figured I’d see if I could help him out,” Daphne explained. “I’ll send a car for you if you can come.”
After another pause, she laughed.
“Yes, he can come too,” she said. “Thanks, T. You’re the best. I’ll see you guys in a little while.”
She hung up and turned to me, looking a little guilty.
“I should probably have asked you before telling him that Alex could tag along too. Sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?” I asked, and then realized what the issue probably was. “If you’re worried about them both being guys, don’t be. One of Ari’s best friends in school has two dads, and Tim’s sister is engaged to a woman. Ari’s used to it.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. I had a feeling you didn’t have an issue with it, since you didn’t act freaked out about me and Sam a couple of months ago. But still. I wasn’t sure how much Ari had been exposed to same-sex couples.”
I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into my side. “Seriously, thank you. You’ve got enough to worry about without solving my child care problems for me.”
“I’m glad it was that easy for me to help. And now you get to meet Taylor and Alex, and I get to meet Ari in person. I’m excited,” she chuckled. “Anyway, if you can just get me to Madison Square Garden, then you can take the subway to Grand Central and get the train to Long Island from there.”
When I got to the hospital in Montauk, Rachel was sitting in the waiting room in tears
, and Arielle looked beyond uncomfortable. Though she had Rachel’s iPad on her lap, she wasn’t watching anything on it. She was just staring off into space. But the second she saw me, her entire face lit up and she jumped out of her chair, leaving the iPad unattended.
“Daddy!” she exclaimed.
I grinned. God, I’d missed her. FaceTime sessions almost every day were a poor substitute for actually having her with me.
“Hey, jelly bean,” I said, picking her up and squeezing her tight. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too. Are you taking off work?” she asked.
“Nope. You’re actually coming to work with me,” I told her. “And you get to go to your first concert. Daphne’s giving you the royal treatment tonight. Then Grandma and Grandpa are going to pick you up from the city tomorrow when they get back to New York.”
“I get to meet Daphne?” she gasped. “For real?”
Daphne had joined me on a few video chats with Arielle, whenever she happened to be around while I was on FaceTime. And Arielle had warmed up to her pretty quickly, but I was actually a little curious about how she was going to act with Daphne in person.
“Yep,” I chuckled. “She’s excited to see you. And she’s got a couple of her really good friends coming to the show to hang out with you so I can still work. Let me talk to Aunt Rachel for a minute and then we’ll get going. Okay?”
“Okay,” she sighed. “She needs a hug.”
I set Arielle back on her feet and went to sit next to my sister, wrapping an arm around her. Rachel turned and buried her face in my chest, wetting my shirt with her tears as she slid her arms around me. I planted a kiss on the top of her head and just let her cry for a couple of minutes.
“Is it that bad?” I asked.
“No,” she sniffled. “Well, yes. I mean, he’s hurt pretty badly, but that’s not the worst of it. His girlfriend showed up like an hour ago.”
“His what?!” I exclaimed.
“His girlfriend,” she repeated. “His pregnant girlfriend. Apparently she knew he was married and didn’t give a shit. He’s been cheating on me for over a fucking year and I had no idea. We’ve been trying so hard for a baby, and now I find out he knocked some chick up on the side? And he looked so damn happy about it, too. He was actually grinning and touching her stomach and shit. Right in front of me.”
Falling Angel Page 12
