by Kelli Walker
“You’re zoning out on me again, Joanna. You okay?” Lacey asked.
“Believe it or not, people can zone out without you interrupting their thoughts,” I said.
“You’re in a fragile emotional state. I want to make sure you’re okay,” she said.
“I’m fine. Seriously.”
“You sure?” she asked.
“For now, yes. But if I’m ever not fine, I’ll come to you.”
“And don’t wait three weeks. That’s a rule, too.”
“I’ll only wait two next time.”
“Good. So, this is our second to last performance.”
“Yep. We’re off to Chicago after this,” I said.
“I love Chicago. That’s where I eventually want to plant my roots. St. Louis is gross. There’s too many people who want to always ask you how you’re doing. People in Chicago mind their own business.”
“St. Louis hasn’t been so bad, but New York will alway have my heart.”
I closed my eyes and sighed as I felt Lacey pan her gaze to me. I could feel her worry radiating against my body and I didn’t have time to try and talk it down. New York had made an impression on me. An impression I couldn't shake. And not because of Robert and our encounter in the room, but because of that performance.
There was something different about that performance. I was more rooted than I’d ever felt before. The way the crowd chanted my name and the way the entire city seemed to envelope me in its embrace.
For the first time in my life, I felt like I was home in that city.
“It felt like home, Lacey. I know what you’re thinking,” I said.
“I’m worried about you, that’s all. You seem… attached.”
“New York made an impression on me, that’s all.”
“You sure it was the city and not the man?”
“Yes,” I said with a sigh. “I’m sure. The Met was the biggest stage I’ve performed on thus far in my career. The crowd, they chanted my name at the end of it all. I wasn’t even the leading soprano.”
“You were one of the leading sopranos,” she said.
“Everything about it was… breathtaking. It felt like the city embraced me. Welcomed me in despite everything that’s happened up until this point. Do you feel like that with Chicago?”
“I like the fact that people keep to themselves in Chicago. And that might be the biggest stage now, but when you perform in Sydney, Australia, your heart will enjoy the outback more.”
“Sydney?” I asked.
“Yeah. Sydney. It’s one of the stops on the European tour.”
“You talk like we’ve been hired for it already.”
“We haven’t, but I know we will be. You’re too good and your name is building in the classical community. They’ll be stupid not to pick you for it,” Lacey said.
“They’re really going to Sydney? How do you know this?”
“I may or may not have flirted with Barry the backstage man a little bit while you were getting stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey.”
“I hate you,” I said.
“You love me and you know it. Now, what do you say we finish up these drinks, get back to the hotel room, and relax with a movie before this performance?”
“Is a nap considered acceptable?” I asked. “Because I’m exhausted.”
“We can definitely do a nap. Come on. Finish up that tea and let’s go.”
I downed the rest of my drink before I got up and followed Lacey. We stepped out onto the busy sidewalk of St. Louis and people started taking pictures. Lacey linked her arm with mine and started pulling me towards a cab as people called out my name and asked me to smile for a picture. But my mind rushed back to New York City the moment the cab took off from the sidewalk.
New York City, and the man with the steely gray eyes.
Robert (two weeks later)
I couldn’t get her off my mind. Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw her face. Whenever I heard someone singing, I hoped it was her. Despite the cloud looming over me I couldn’t shake, I wanted to be with her again. I wanted to feel her waist in the palms of my hands and sit that delicate little body on my lap again.
Her venom has seeped into my veins and I couldn’t shake it.
I looked out over the expanse of New York, sipping on a glass of bourbon. I watched the sun set over the skyline, sinking below the horizon. The last rays of the sun was keeping the darkness from creeping along my shoulders. Keeping it from clamping down around my neck. I closed my eyes and took another sip of my drink, feeling the burn echo down my throat like her voice echoed down the spine of my body.
My songbird.
My beautiful, petite little nightingale.
I missed her. As idiotic as it sounded, I missed her. I couldn't shake her presence from my body and I couldn't drown out her gasps with the sound of another woman. It had been five weeks since I’d seen her perform. Since I’d taken her body in her dressing room and kissed those talented lips of hers. Seeing her in my dreams made me miss her more, but it also fueled the confusion I was feeling.
How had this woman worked her way underneath my skin so badly?
I needed one more encounter with her. One more taste of her tight pussy. Her kiss was her venomous bite, but within her body was the antidote. I needed to get her alone again. Find her and take her as mine one last time. I needed to fuck her out of my system so I could get back to the task at hand. There was darkness that was blinding me and slowly pulling me under, and as long as I held onto the fantasy of an opera singer I would never be free of it. The darkness, or her.
If I craved her this badly, then there was a chance Slate knew about it. Even in our younger years, he had been dangerous. His uncanny ability to read people made him an expert at finding their vulnerabilities. Their weaknesses. Slate wasn’t consumed by the darkness. He was the darkness. He was the fuel that kicked up someone’s fear, then he was the master manipulator at holding it against them. It was what made him so dangerous. His fluidity with the dark and his ability to call it home.
I had made that man my best friend in order to survive the streets, and now he was coming after me.
The last thing some musician needed was to be swept away by my darkness. She was nothing. No one. Just a soft voice in the middle of the night that echoed off the backs of my eardrums. I’d encountered women like her before. Women who enticed me more than once. Sometimes it was their pussy and sometimes it was their lips. Sometimes it was the way they filled out a dress, and a couple of times it had been the way they sweetly said my name in the mornings.
But the second fuck always got rid of them.
And I had to make sure I got rid of her.
I pulled out my phone as the sun finally set beyond the horizon. The darkness covered the sky, twinkling with the few stars bright enough to burst through the pitch black night. I searched Joanna’s name and found the touring company’s website and began to scroll through it.
St. Louis.
Philadelphia.
Los Angeles.
San Francisco.
They had been busy. But they weren’t finished.
The company had one last production in Chicago. One last performance in five days. It was the perfect time and place for such an event. I could get a ticket, make another donation to the arts fund of Chicago, and get myself backstage to see her again. A nice little repeat of what happened five weeks ago would drain her from my system, then I could set out to do what I’d intended.
Track down Slate and end this standoff.
I purchased myself a box seat before booking myself a penthouse suite down the block from the Civic Opera House. A long weekend away would fix both of my problems. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath as I called James, waiting for him to pick up the phone.
But when he answered, it wasn't the tone I was expecting.
“Fucking finally.”
“Um… good evening to you, too,” I said.
“I’ve been trying to get you on
the phone all day. Where the hell have you been?” James asked.
“Took a personal day,” I said. “I needed to sort through some things.”
“So you decided to up and take a day without telling anyone?”
“I own the company. I didn’t realize I had to inform someone.”
“It’s a madhouse here today. Did you forget about the product testing today? I waited for over an hour before I left without you.”
“I figured you’d do fine on your own. You always do,” I said.
“A little heads up would’ve been nice. Your phone’s been shooting me to your voicemail all day.”
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at his statement.
“Sorry you can’t stay afloat without me for a day,” I said as I slowly turned around. “How did the product testing go?”
“About as well as you could expect. We need to fire the people we have working in that department. They’re incompetent weasels.”
I saw a shadow move underneath the crack of my front door.
“James, how long have you been trying to call me?” I asked.
“All damn day.”
“Does ‘all damn day’ have a specific time frame?” I asked.
“I called you around ten and I’ve been calling every hour on the hour ever since,” he said. “Why?”
“No reason,” I said as the shadow stopped moving. “Listen, I’m taking a long weekend this weekend.”
“Did you not hear me? We’re getting a product ready for launch.”
“And if I recall correctly, I put you in the position you’re in so you could handle this stuff for me,” I said.
“This was your baby. Your personal pet project. And now I’m supposed to oversee it?”
“That’s what I pay you for,” I said.
I began to walk towards my front door, keeping my steps silent as the shadow perched out in the hallway.
“Where is your long weekend taking you?”
“Oh, so now you care about it. If you must ask, Chicago,” I said.
“I take it the receptionist needs to hold all your calls and take messages.”
“If you could be so kind as to inform her, I’d appreciate it.”
“You know this is the shittiest time for you to be going out of town, right? And not simply because of the product testing.”
I reached my hand out for the doorknob as the shadow underneath the door flinched.
“I’ve got it under control,” I said.
“I’d really enjoy knowing what you mean by that,” James said.
“So you don’t want to oversee a product testing and launch but you want to know what I mean by ‘under control’?” I asked. “I’m the owner and operator of Horizon Technologies, James. I expect my COO and my best friend to trust me when it comes to my judgment. Not only about projects, but with this situation.”
“It affects the entire company, Rob. I need to know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“No you don’t. The only involvement I allowed you to have was you going to the police if another letter came in. Has there been any letter in the past two weeks?”
“No,” he said.
“Any emails?”
“No, Rob. No emails.”
“Any carrier pigeons?” I asked.
“I fucking get it, okay?”
“Good,” I said. “Because I’m tired of this verbal jousting we keep doing.”
I whipped the door open and stepped out into the hallway. I looked left and right as James flapped his jowls in my ear. There was no sign of anyone. Nothing that would’ve explained the shadow hovering outside my door. I turned to go back inside so I could finish the mindless conversation with a very panicked James, but something caught my eye.
A piece of paper taped to the front of my door.
“Rob? You there?”
“Huh?” I asked.
“I’ve been talking for the past five minutes. Have you not heard a thing I’ve said?” James asked.
“Sorry. Officially on vacation. I’ll call you when I’m back in town,” I said.
“Rob, this isn’t funny. You’ve been absent, at best, from-”
I hung up the phone as my hand plucked the piece of paper from my door. I walked back into my home and shut the door, then dialed the number of my pilot. I needed him to be ready. I needed him to fuel my jet and get my flight schedule on track for Chicago. I needed to get up in the air as quickly as I could so I could set my plans into motion.
Then, I tossed my phone onto the couch and unfolded the piece of paper.
But all that was written were four words. Four words that turned my want for Joanna into a fiery passion to get to her first.
Joanna’s quite the singer.
I had to get to Chicago. I had to get to Joanna. Slate had switched tactics and I knew what he was about to do. I stormed into my room and began packing my suitcase. I grabbed my toiletry bag and plucked a couple of suits from my closet. Anger swelled in my chest as I zipped my suitcase shut, dragging it out into the main living space.
Then I called my pilot and told him to get me in the air as quickly as he could.
That was why there had been no letters. That was why Slate had been silent for two weeks. It wasn’t because he was watching and it wasn’t because he was biding his time. It was because he had left the city to go see Joanna perform.
Which now made her a target.
I looked out over the nighttime sky of New York one last time. In less than twenty four hours, I would be watching Joanna Leone take the stage again. What started out as a plan to enjoy her body one last time had now morphed into a plan of protection. I had to make sure she took that stage. I had to make sure Slate didn’t get to her.
I had to make sure she stayed alive.
I grabbed the rest of my things and headed for the elevator. There was no time to lose. Not in this circumstance. For all I knew, Slate had sent some goon to put that letter on my door from Chicago. For all I knew, Slate was already watching Joanna.
For all I knew, Joanna was already dead.
I didn’t know who put that note on my door, but I was going to figure it out. I was going to figure out how the fuck someone got into my building and past security to put that piece of bullshit paper on my door. I paid a great deal of money to be safe in this place, and now letters were being taped to my damn door.
I tossed my luggage into the trunk of the car before I slid in back.
“To the tarmac, please. And make it quick.”
The car lurched out of the parking garage and made its way onto the main road. My heart was thundering relentlessly in my ears as I watched the world pass by. Why Slate was targeting her, I had no idea. She was of no consequence to me. There was nothing about her that was special. I made it a point to never make anyone special to me, and this was that exact reason.
So why was Slate targeting some random girl I’d slept with?
I had more questions than answers and I was looking to change that. As the car raced down the road, drawing me closer to my private jet, I started calculating my next move. Figuring out how I could get to Joanna and how I could stay close to keep her safe. What excuses I could come up with to stay by her side until I knew exactly what Slate wanted.
The car pulled up to the jet and I drew in a deep breath. No matter what I had to do and no matter what tactics I had to utilize, there was only one thing that mattered.
Keeping Joanna safe.
Not because she was special and not because I wanted her, but because she was in this mess because of me. She was in danger because of me. Her life was being threatened because of me.
And she didn’t even know it.
Joanne
“Lacey, I really don’t feel well.”
“Are you sure you aren’t just nervous? Our final performance before the official meeting is tonight,” Lacey said.
“Something’s wrong. Actually wrong. Do you feel okay from last night?” I asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
“I’m thinking maybe I ate some bad pizza or something.”
“Oh shit. Do you have food poisoning?” she asked.
“I don’t know, Lacey. That’s why I want you to come over.”
“I’ve got some medicine. What are your symptoms?”
“I’m nauseous. Aching in my joints. My hips hurt like hell.”
“It sounds like you’re about to start your period,” she said.
“I know what starting my period feels like, Lacey. This isn’t it.”
“Period and nerves. Explains everything. Look, I’m on the fourth floor. I’ll go out to the store and grab us some things, get you some medicine, and I’ll be right up.”
“Why did they have to put us all in separate rooms for this performance?” I asked.
“Because we could afford it this time. Besides, it’s nice to spread out on a king-sized bed and not knock into your knobby knees.
“My knees are just fine, thank you very much.”
“Give me a half an hour and I’ll be up. Okay? In the meantime, try not to get too overdramatic. Periods suck. It happens.”
“This isn’t my period, Lacey.”
“It’s your period. Get over it. Time to learn how to perform through it. I’ll see you in a bit.”
I hung up my cell phone and burrowed back down into the covers. The nausea was bad enough, but the ache in my pelvis was too much. I knew what cramps felt like, and this wasn’t it. My bones hurt. That didn’t happen during a period. That wasn’t normal. Not even for me. And I’d been through some rough ones because of my birth defect.
I closed my eyes and tried to steady my breathing. Everything I smelled made it worse. People passing by with pizzas in their hands and others with Chinese takeout. Women walking down the hallway with odorous perfumes that made me want to throw up on them to make the scent stop. It was overwhelming and I had no idea how I was going to sing on stage if I couldn’t get my body to start cooperating.
Which was why Lacey’s knock at the door was so relieving.
“Holy hell. You look like shit.”
“Still convinced it’s my period?” I asked.
“Yes. Now let me in so I can get you better for tonight.”
