Rock Star: The Deal (Book 3 of a Bad Boy Romance) (13 page)

Once everyone had seen us, they left us alone in the tour bus. Ernie and the others stayed close. They weren’t going to take any chances. Ernie said that he thought it was best if we hired a few more guys for security. Just to make sure that no one could get close again. I agreed.

Mia was the last person we saw that evening. She wasn’t there when we arrived. There was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Mia stepped inside. She looked down. She usually just let herself in.

“I’m glad to see you are safe.”

“Thanks.”

“Chase, in the next day or two, something is going to come out in the press about me. I want you to know that I didn’t want it to go down like this.”

“What are you on about?”

Before she could respond, the door to the tour bus opened and several officers came inside.

“Mia Carlton?”

She nodded.

“You are under arrest for involvement in the kidnapping, anything you say will…”

They continued reading Mia her rights. I just stared blankly at her. Her face dropped.

“I’m sorry.”

Something snapped in me in that moment. I lurched for her and an officer had to keep me back. “You were behind this? Why? Why would you do that?”

She never replied. The officer removed her and we stood there in silence. Taking in the weight of it all.

C
ountry Artists Chase Bryan and Meghan Sullivan Safe
After Days In Captivity

In what almost seemed like something from a Hollywood movie, involving kidnappers, a three million dollar ransom and a fiery car crash, the FBI rescued both country singers.

Meghan Sullivan had been missing for four days. Chase Bryan went off the radar for a day. The FBI uncovered a plot to extort money from the world-famous country singer, as well as the upcoming new artist.

What was believed to be a typical kidnapping finished with an unusual twist, as it was discovered that Bryan’s own manager, Mia Carlton, allegedly was the one behind it. Information is still foggy on why she might have done it, though people in the music industry have been pointing to the steady decline of Chase’s fame. They believe Carlton was attempting to fake a hostage situation in order to boost his popularity. This wouldn’t be the first time a celebrity has made headlines for trying to get press attention. A year ago, eighties singer Adam West faked being taken by kidnappers, beaten up and tossed out of a vehicle. To this day he swears that he didn’t make it up. But people close to him, say he was starving for attention.

Duke Haron and his accomplice Talia Rudd have been charged with kidnapping and murder. In a bizarre twist, Rudd’s son Edwin has been praised for helping the country singers escape. It’s unknown what will happen to the child, but social services have taken over.

“I’m pleased to say that the capture of these dangerous individuals is another testimony of the hard work of the FBI. We pride ourselves in capturing low-life individuals like this,” said Agent David Wakefield. Wakefield was the FBI agent involved in the case from the beginning. He marks the collaboration of the police and their highly skilled officers as the reason why they were able to locate and apprehend the kidnappers.

* * *

S
pike dropped
the paper on the table inside the Steamy Beans Coffee House.

“Crazy. What a serious bunch of whack jobs. And the nerve of the FBI to claim all the glory as though they hadn’t screwed it all up in the first place.”

It had been a week since the incident. After that fearful night I had immediately returned home to Lakeside. Going out on tour after that wasn’t something I was prepared to do. If anything it had made me more aware and appreciative of the life I had.

“What about Chase? You heard from him?”

“He was pretty gutted about it all. He needed time out from it all. I would like to say I knew it was her all along, but I never imagined she would be stupid enough to actually do it. I guess you really never know the people you work alongside.”

Spike flash me a grin. “Except me.”

I was happy to be home. Glad to be back around Sophie and Spike. A few months later I was back to pouring coffees for the local folks. Many had come up and said how glad they were to see me back. They missed me. Go figure! They hoped I would stick around. I didn’t have any plans not to. The whole music scene was a little too much. I loved to sing. I was keen to keep doing it. But in big arenas, that I wasn’t sure about.

I sat drinking my coffee, thinking about what had taken place. To think that Duke and Talia were just a couple among many that could have grabbed me. The FBI had nabbed them, but how many more were out there? People who wanted their fifteen minutes of fame. Those who wanted to extort money from the wealthy.

Chase had stayed low-key since it had all gone down. I knew he blamed himself for what had occurred. He made no promises about seeing me again. After giving our statements to the police, we were told that we might have to appear in court. It wouldn’t be for a long while. But the thought of finally seeing them come to justice made me feel good.

The media had shown a few times at the coffee shop, and instead of hiding away from them, I told them I would answer their questions one by one. They were curious about how I had managed to survive. What the kidnappers said and how the young boy had helped out.

“Ms. Sullivan, what do you make of what is happening with Edwin? Without his mother or father around he has been put into foster care.”

“As must as I wish he didn’t have to go through that, he’s better off with someone else than those two. I feel for him, I really do.”

“You didn’t consider taking him in?”

“Me? Too young. Still trying to figure out life myself. It would be a huge responsibility. No, there are great foster families that will offer him far more than I could. Plus, I don’t think I want to be reminded of what I just went through.”

I spent an hour answering questions. And as I figured, once it was over, the media went on their way. They were satisfied with what they had got. Now they were probably rushing back to be the first ones to print the story.

“You should have held out. You know, given your story to
Good Morning America
. They would have paid you thousands for an exclusive,” Spike said as he served a customer.

I opened my mouth and then closed it.

“Oh and don’t tell me you wouldn’t want the money,” Sophie said.

“Sure, I could use it. But I just want to put this all behind me now.”

“Will you go back out on tour?”

“I don’t think so. That was all set up by Chase. Now with his manager looking at time in prison, I don’t know what the future has in store.”

“Why don’t you just do your own tour? It doesn’t have to be big. People know about you now, they’ve seen you on YouTube, they saw you in the contest and a few cities have seen you sing to a live crowd. You could call it the Coffee House Tour. Close up and personal. A stripped-down session. I will play guitar and you sing. Just like the good ol days.”

“I don’t know, Spike.”

“Sleep on it. I think it would be a big waste to not take advantage of the publicity right now.”

“I’m not sure I like the publicity. It’s because of it, that I was kidnapped.”

It was cool to watch Spike and Sophie work as a team behind the counter. They had this place running like clockwork.

As I was preparing to give them a hand, the bell above the door shrilled and I looked up to see Luke coming in. He had a warm smile. I hadn’t seen him since I had returned.

“Hey Luke.”

“Hello darlin’.”

He hugged me and I invited him to come upstairs where it was little quieter. When I closed the door behind me he looked around.

“Been a while since I’ve been in here.”

“How you been doing?”

“How have I been? How have you been?”

“Kidnapped. Escaped. You know. The usual mundane.”

He laughed. “No seriously.”

“Hard to be serious about anything in my life. Since Chase came into it, it’s been a whirlwind. Have you seen him?”

“Yeah, I have. He’s not doing too good.”

He then proceeded to update me on how things had gone after everything occurred. The record label had decided to drop Luke. They gave him some bullshit story about how they didn’t think he was going to be a viable source of revenue for them. Luke was seeking out a lawyer to see if he could sue them. He’d signed a contract. There had to be some way he could nail them for breaking a contract. They still owed him what he won in the contest. Studio time, an album and a tour.

“Sorry to hear about that.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s the business for you. It’s cutthroat. No one really gives a shit. I guess it all looks rosy on the outside, but now I can see they are just counting dollars.”

“Spike thinks I should start my own tour.”

“Actually that’s what I’m here about. Maybe you and I should head out, do our own thing. Artists are starting their own labels now days. They’re getting funding from funding sites for albums. It’s all the rage.”

“I dunno.”

“You love singing, Meghan. You are amazing at it. This coffeehouse will always be here. We don’t have to go out on the road for three months. We can line up a couple of local gigs in cities nearby. Hell, we could kick off the first one here.”

I was contemplating it.

“Would be good for businesssss.” He drawled out the last word.

“What about Chase?”

“What about him? He’s fallen off the map right now.”

I hadn’t heard from him in months. I had a sense that I might not.

“Listen. There’s no rush. I don’t need an answer today or even this week. Take some time out. Give it some thought. I think we could turn this all around.”

“OK. I’ll think about it. Now you want to get a bite to eat?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

We decided to order in. I phoned one of the local Chinese restaurants and ordered several dishes. Over the course of the next few hours we laughed about the contest. All the things that had gone wrong. Then we became serious when we thought about all the things that had nearly cost Spike and other contestants their life. Luke told me about his family back in Kentucky. How they were disappointed that he had returned. His father knew a good lawyer. They were planning on suing for as much money as they could. I told him, I didn’t imagine they would get far. It wasn’t that I wanted to piss on his fire, but these corporations had fine print coming out of the ying yang. No doubt they would have had a contingency plan in place. Something that would make sure they wouldn’t be held responsible, or allowed them to part ways with the contest winner for any reason.

Before Luke left he told me he would be in contact in a week. He wanted to show me a GoFundMe page he had set up to try and raise funds to get the next album created. He was pretty sure he could do another to cover the cost of touring. One thing I liked about him, was he was determined. He was going to let nothing deter him from doing this for a living. There was something admirable about that. I needed time to think about what I wanted. I had been caught up in the whirlwind of the music business, the contest and the chance to play on tour. So caught up that I had really not given much thought to what I wanted. Did I even want to have a career in the music business? There were lots of people who sang and played in bars. They did it part-time as a hobby. They got paid. They seemed happy enough.

I thought about what drew me into playing in my own café. It was natural. Nothing felt forced about it. It was an outlet for all the thoughts in my head, a way to let go of the stress of the day. Sure, I had Spike wanting me to accompany him. Yes, he saw it as though I was accompanying him, even though I wrote the songs and sang them. I just went with it.

I lay on my couch, wrapped up in a warm blanket thinking about it all when I dozed off.

* * *

W
hen I awoke
it was morning. I had slept right through the night. I was still in my clothes. Bleary-eyed I got up and put a pot of coffee on. I glanced outside the window, stretched my achy limbs and thanked life for having kept me alive. The morning moved slowly as I went about getting ready and preparing to open up the store. I was grateful to have a business that flourished. I didn’t see it the way I used to — a burden. I loved seeing the same people come into my coffee store and order, I enjoyed the company of my friends. What more could I want?

There was a knock at the door. Sophie poked her head inside.

“Morning, gorgeous,” I said.

“Back atcha. Phone.”

She held it out. I walked over and took it from her.

“Hello?”

“I would like to place an order.”

I smiled. I knew that voice. It was Chase.

“Sorry, we don’t do takeout anymore. Things are thriving, but thanks for calling.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes. I used to deliver, but there were all these creepy guys who kept coming on to me.”

“I wonder why?”

“Chase. Good to hear from you. Where are you?”

“Up at Rita’s Cottages. Number seventeen.”

“OK, I just think I had a déjà vu.”

“Would it be a pain if you ran two cups of coffee up here, along with some of those delicious muffins?”

“Two? Who’s the second one for?”

He didn’t reply. I stifled a laugh.

“And make it snappy.”

“Yes sir,” I said. I would give him heck for that later.