“We don’t know,” Evie answers. “She’s not out there?”
He shakes his head. “When I got off the phone, one of the roadies was asking me where she was because they’re doing the pack-up and they need her.”
“Have you tried her phone?” Henry interrupts. “She mentioned a few industry bigwigs were stopping by tonight, so maybe she’s caught up schmoozing.”
Evie tries calling but she doesn’t get an answer either. My heart thumps hard with real fear. Travis opens the door wider and moves into the room.
“When did you last see her?” Coby asks.
Travis pauses for a moment and rubs his chin. “Right before the last song. She mentioned something about picking up an unscheduled delivery for Jamieson at one of the gates. I can’t remember her returning.”
Meaningful glances are exchanged before the two leave the room. Evie stands to follow. I snag her wrist. “Sit down,” I growl. “You aren’t supposed to be going anywhere without either of those two.” I push Evie back down at the same time I stand. “I’ll go.”
We conduct the search best we can, but there are thousands of people out there. It’s like the proverbial needle in a haystack. Travis tries tracking her phone. She never goes anywhere without it. It shows nothing.
The rest of Jamieson is sent home with Coby, and we continue the search. Mac runs the entire show and hasn’t submitted a list to anyone of the names manning each gate. We have to check each one individually.
The clock is ticking and frustration is ripping me apart. “Where the hell was the unscheduled delivery?”
“I don’t know!” Travis growls, his own fear and frustration no longer under wraps.
Casey Daniels comes running toward us. He’s the other partner in Jamieson & Valentine Consulting and forms part of our security detail on occasion. We have a mutual love for old muscle cars. Casey owns a Corvette Stingray called Marjorie that I’d give my left nut for. The car is so lovingly restored it’s almost a crime to drive it.
“Gate E!” Casey shouts. Before he’s even finished we’re running in that direction. “That’s the entrance where the delivery was supposed to be. George is stationed there.”
It’s the farthest entrance from the stage and not a public entry or exit. Access is via a solitary road littered with trees and shrubbery. We’re breathing hard when we reach the gates, only to find them unmanned and wide open. There’s blood on the ground. It’s a splattered pool that coats the road, its copper tang thick in the air around us.
Terror rips through me, white-hot and intense.
“Mac!” I roar, turning, eyes scanning, frantic.
“There!” Travis yells.
He’s pointing to a copse of trees by the left of the gate. A smear of blood lines the patchy dirt, dots of it covering dead leaves that scatter the ground. Underneath a pile of branches peeks the base of a shoe.
Travis reaches the area first and rips the shrubs away, exposing a body. Casey and I reach his side and I stare down at the sightless eyes of the security guard. The nametag on his shirt confirms him as George. He hadn’t died instantly. There are two bullet wounds in chest that coat his uniform in blood. It’s smeared over his hands as if he tried compressing the wounds after being shot. My gut rolls and I clamp my teeth together, forcing harsh air out my nostrils.
Travis and Casey are straight on their phones. There’s a man dead at my feet, a man who suffered, and all I can feel is a wild sense of relief because it’s not Mac. The feeling lasts a scant second. Whoever shot George has taken her and now Mac is in the clutches of a murderer—one who continues to evade even the best detectives the country has to offer.
So I fucking lose it.
Travis is tucking his phone in his back pocket when I pull back a fist and smash it in his face. My knuckles connect and a sick crunching sound renders the air. Pain shoots up my arm. “This is your fault!” I yell, rage pumping through me so thick I can barely see.
His head snaps back but it doesn’t stop me. I grab his shoulders, shaking them as I yell. “You were so damn focused on watching Evie you never saw that Mac was the true target!”
Travis, an all-round good guy and always calm under pressure, loses it back. He’s no doubt already drowning beneath a huge weight of guilt and fear. He needs my accusations like a hole in the head.
“Fuck you, Romero!” he growls. He rears back a fist and returns the favour. His massive blow sends me staggering backward.
Casey grabs both my arms and secures them behind my back. His tone is furious as I struggle against the hold. “Lock it down. Both of you!”
“No!” I break free and go for Travis again. My punch catches him in the gut and he doubles over. It’s almost like it’s not me hitting him. I’m standing outside myself and I can see what I’m doing, and that it’s wrong, but I can’t stop.
“Most of my life you told me to stay away from Mac. All of you!” I shout, my tone so violent it makes me hoarse. “I came from nothing and she had everything. She was always too good for me, but it never made me want her any less! The moment I joined that fucking gang it was over for me. I never wanted that life but I was young and stupid and backed into a corner. Then she showed up and it was amazing. I thought it was meant to be, so I tried to get out but it almost got her killed! I sent her away. I thought it was best. For her!” I spit blood in the dirt as Travis grinds his jaw, fury in his eyes. I don’t care. I’m done. “But everything’s changed. You might have got me out, but I’m the one who turned my life around. I’m not the same person I used to be. And I’m tired of you all telling me we can’t be together. Mac is mine and I’m going to fight for her,” I vow. “And that fight starts now.”
Instead of coming at me like I expect, Travis bends and rests his palms on his knees. He stares down at the ground for single beat before he looks at me. His green eyes are dark with regret as though the weight of it holds him down. “I’m sorry.”
I stand, dizzy, not sure I’ve heard him correctly. “What?”
Travis straightens. He wipes the trickle of blood from his nose with the back of his hand and shakes his head. “You don’t even know.”
“Know what?” Mac’s brother can’t even look at me. “Know what, dammit?”
Whatever he’s talking about, it can only involve Mac. That makes it imperative that I know, and that I know now.
“You ladies can fight this out later,” Casey snaps with impatience. “We need to go.”
“She wanted you too. She asked for you. And we took that from her.” Travis sways, his eyes on me defeated. “You broke her, Jake. But we did so much worse. We destroyed her.”
“You …” I can’t make sense of what he’s telling me, but I know it’s bad. My chest constricts as I stare at him. “What did you do?”