Olivia Cunning - Double Time

“Yeah, of course they did. You were awesome.”

“Then why did they throw shoes at me?”

He kissed her forehead where a light bruise had formed. “They was a she. One person. Not everyone. And she was escorted from the stadium.” And Trey actually knew that she. He’d texted her three hours before the show to tell her that he would not be available for her entertainment that night. He wondered if Reagan needed to hear that. Maybe it would make things easier for her. Or maybe it would make her angry with him. Only one way to find out. “I think she was more jealous that you were with me than anything.”

“You knew her?”

Trey cringed. “She’s a regular hook-up. Or was. I told her otherwise earlier today.”

“So she didn’t bean me with a shoe because I sucked. She beaned me with a shoe because you dumped her?”

“I think so.”

Reagan released a long sigh. “Thank God. Wait. Did you tell her I was your girlfriend?”

“No, but she saw us play together. The way I was feeling when we played that solo had to be expressed all over my face.”

She smiled. “That was amazing, wasn’t it?”

He nodded. “Nothing like it.” Except playing with Brian. He sighed inwardly. Would he ever stop comparing her to Brian? She was so wonderful and he cared about her so much. Maybe it was a compliment to continually measure her against the only other person he’d ever loved, but it wasn’t fair to her. Even if she did keep measuring up to his idea of perfect. Well, perfect except for that lack of a penis thing, but there wasn’t anything to be done about that. “Feel better now?” he asked. Her body language had shifted from guarded to relaxed, but he wanted to hear her say it.

She nodded. “Yeah, but I do recall someone owing me a session with a talented tongue.”

He drew her against him and kissed her. “That I do, baby. That I do.”

Usually the band had a huge party after their last show of a tour, but Brian was in a hurry to get home to his wife and baby, Sed was ready to start making babies of his own, and Jace looked like he was going to bust out of his skin at any moment. Besides, they were going back out on a new tour in eight days. It wasn’t as if they were going off tour for long. Reagan sat on the sofa with her electric guitar, practicing fingerings for Exodus End songs. She knew them all by heart, but as the day that she would debut as their rhythm guitarist drew near, her anxiety grew exponentially. If she hadn’t had Trey’s constant reassurance, she’d have been lost.

Trey was banging around in the cabinets in the kitchenette, growing more frantic by the moment. After checking each one at least twice, he made his way to the front of the bus. “We have to stop,” he told Sed, who was currently driving the bus. “I’m all out of suckers.”

“Trey, it’s two a.m. and we’re in the middle of nowhere. Even if I was willing to stop, and I’m not, there isn’t a cherry sucker for a hundred miles.”

“I need one. Now.”

“You haven’t smoked for almost two years now. I’d think you’d be over it by now,” Sed said.

“Sweetie, I think I have one in my purse,” Reagan said.

He turned to look at her as if she was an angel descended from the heavens. He retrieved her purse from the counter and dropped it beside her.

“You used to smoke?” Reagan asked.

“Yeah, I had to give it up because of my mother.”

Reagan lifted her eyebrows at him. “Your mother?”

“She saw me smoking in some music video of ours and called me every hour of every day harping on me until I quit,” he said.

Reagan rummaged around in her purse for the sucker she knew was in there somewhere.

“And if he refused to answer, she’d call Brian,” Sed said. “And if Brian refused to answer, she’d call me. And if I refused to answer, she’d call Eric. One time she called our manager.”

“She’s a bit persistent,” Trey said.

Reagan laughed and tugged a sucker from the bottom of her purse. “So you traded one vice for another?” A folded up piece of paper fell into her lap when she lifted the sucker to Trey.

“Pretty much. Mom doesn’t much care if I suck on suckers all day.”

“Did the talent with your tongue come before or after you started with the suckers?” Reagan asked him.

He wriggled his tongue at her, unwrapped his sucker, and stuck it in his mouth. “I’ve always had an oral fixation.”

Reagan started to put the folded piece of paper back in her purse, but she noticed her name written on the outside and it didn’t look familiar. She opened it and found a handwritten message inside.

You took what is mine, bitch. Don’t think you’ll get away with it.

She felt the blood drain from her face and the piece of paper tumbled from her slack grip.

“Reagan?” Trey asked.

She blinked hard and looked up at him.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Trey retrieved the piece of paper from her lap and read it. His brow furrowed with confusion. “What’s this?”

She snatched the note out of his hand and stuffed it into her purse. “Nothing,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

She headed to the bathroom with her cell phone in one hand. As soon as she was inside, she called Ethan. As usual, he answered on the first ring.

“Please don’t tell me you’re not going to be home tomorrow. I miss you like crazy.”

“I’ll be home. We’re already in New Mexico.”

“Okay, good. So what’s up?”

“I got another message. Well, the same message again.”

“Did you get the number this time? I never did get anything out of the phone company. Times like these I wish I was still on the force.”

“It wasn’t a text message,” she said. “It was a note in my purse.”

“In your purse? Reagan, that means this is someone close to you.”

“Don’t you think I realize that?” she yelled and realized how thin the walls were in this place.

“Who could it be? One of the band members? The crew?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what it means. You took what’s mine. I haven’t taken anything from anyone.”

“It still sounds like a jealous ex-lover to me, Reagan. Maybe you should ask Trey if he’s dated any psychopaths.”

“Ha ha, Ethan. Will you be serious?”

“I am serious. Did you tell him about the last message?”

“No.”

“This one?”

“He saw it, but I played it down.”

“Maybe it’s a practical joke. One of the guys messing with you the way guys mess with each other. Maybe the joker didn’t realize how inappropriate it is.”

“Maybe,” Reagan said. Eric did have a strange sense of humor. Maybe he was behind it. It didn’t seem like something he’d do though. Put saran wrap over the toilet bowl, yes. Send threatening messages to his bandmate’s girlfriend, no.

“Well, stay close to Trey. Let him know you’re worried about it. Bring the note to me tomorrow and I’ll see if I can find any telling clues.”

“Thanks, Ethan.” Just talking to him made her feel safer.

“See you tomorrow.”

She hung up the phone and left the bathroom to find Trey standing just outside. “So what did Ethan say?” he asked.

Caught. Reagan swallowed and decided to take Ethan’s advice. “He said to tell you that I’m worried about this and that this isn’t the first time I’ve gotten this message since I started dating you.”

“What?”

“I got a text message a little over a week ago. Said the same thing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me someone was threatening you?”

“Because I wasn’t sure it was real. I can’t deny that it is now. That note had my name on it. It was in my purse. The message was exactly the same. Eric wouldn’t pull a prank like that, would he?”

Trey shook his head. “Not his style. It’s not funny.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“When did you get the last message?” Trey asked.

“The morning I called my father.” She hadn’t told him about that either. “Um, after your first concert in Topeka.”

Trey nodded. “I’ll make some calls in the morning. See if I can find out anything. We have no way of knowing for sure how long that note’s been in your purse.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. He stepped closer and hugged her. “I can protect you, you know. You don’t have to keep going to Ethan.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t usually frighten this easily. Something about this sends chills down my spine.”

The next afternoon, Reagan slipped into the backseat of Exodus End’s limo. The man inside resembled someone’s grand-father more than someone who had made a metal band like Exodus End superstars. Sam Baily was talking into his cell phone but looked up and smiled at Reagan warmly when she settled into the seat closest to the door.

“I’ll call you back. I have my work cut out for me here,” he said and disconnected.

What exactly did he mean by “work cut out for me”?

“So I take it you’re Reagan Elliot,” he said and reached across the console to shake her hand.

She was half-tempted to say, “who? I just wanted a limo ride,” in an attempt to break the ice, but she didn’t think this guy fucked around.

“Yes, sir.”

“My assistant is dying to get her hands on you. She likes that girly sort of stuff. She’ll take you shopping for some decent clothes, get your hair fixed, help you with your makeup.” He tilted his head and assessed her more closely. She was five seconds from popping him in the mouth and telling him to go fuck himself. Who did he think he was?