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“Details are still unclear on how that happened. Both Drake and Diesel are en route to the hospital right now. Benny and Roark are on their way here, then I’ll head to the hospital to find out more.”
“Why would anyone do this?” asked Maggie, their quiet keyboardist.
Ryker said, “Stalkers go through stages.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “Adoration, obsession, destruction. Unfortunately, we’ve hit the destructive phase. Jade’s stalker will do anything to hurt her, inconvenience her, and bring chaos to her life — as much and as often as possible. He’s trying to scare her in whatever ways he can. That’s why it’s important to keep all of you safe because if he can hurt any of you, it will hurt her. And he’s going to do everything he can to hurt her at this point.”
Ryker sent a sympathetic look to Jade.
He continued, “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want you to be scared. I want your lives to be as normal as possible. My team and I will do everything to keep you safe and stick to your routine. But this kind of thing is why we need your cooperation. We have a saying in the SEALS: ‘The only easy day was yesterday.’ We have to take this one day at a time and keep pushing forward. This is why it’s important to stay together and not go anywhere alone until we catch this guy. You did the right thing, staying together and locking the bus today.”
Someone knocked on the door.
“Identify yourself!” Ryker called. He turned and approached the door.
“Chief O’Neill. I’m looking for a Ryker Vittroli,” a deep voice announced.
“Be right down!” Ryker said.
He looked back at the band. “Everyone wait in the back lounge until I get this sorted. It shouldn’t take long.”
Jade mouthed a “be careful” at him. He gave her a nod, went through the curtain, and descended the steps.
He needed to be careful. If he wasn’t, he could easily fall for that woman.
Chapter 8
Jade
As they say, the show must go on.
“Arrrrrrrrrrre youuuuuuuuuuuuuu reaaaaaadyyyyyy?” Bex yelled to the crowd.
The return cheers were almost deafening, but Bex called out again, “You can do better than that. Are you ready?”
The packed arena roared.
Jade counted off the beat, and the band launched into their favorite lead-in song, one always guaranteed to amp up the crowd.
Despite the devastating events of the afternoon, the inside venue was still secure. Ryker also called in a favor to contract extra security. There was no reason to cancel the show.
As the first song ended, Bex addressed the audience. “Y’all are rockin’ tonight! Thanks for being such a phenomenal crowd!” The fans roared. “If you haven’t heard, there was an incident outside the venue today that injured two of our security guards. This next song goes out to the two incredible men who saved our asses today and made this show possible. Thank you, Drake and Diesel. We wish you all the best and speedy recoveries.”
One of the crew brought Bex’s fiddle to her, which she played during solos on a couple of their most popular songs.
Jade counted off, and the band launched into fan-favorite Riser, about courage in the face of adversity. The crowd went wild.
Jade lost herself in the music and the great energy from the crowd. Before she knew it, they were playing the show finale.
She glanced at the side-stage as they finished up the last song and saw Ryker standing there. He watched her with a grin on his face. She grinned back and threw him a salute with her drumstick. Then she launched into her final drum solo. Before long, the band wrapped up the song.
When the last note rang out, she glanced back at Ryker, who was wolf-whistling and applauding along with the crowd.
Jade lived for the hum of the fans, the beat of the music, and all the positive energy from a show. But it made her heart beat even faster — sing even louder — than normal to know that Ryker enjoyed her performance.
Jade did her signature backflip off the drum risers and the fans roared.
As the band took their final bows, Jade spotted a teen fan in the front row wearing a drumset t-shirt. She crossed the stage and gestured at the girl’s shirt. “Rock on!” Jade said and handed her drumsticks to the girl. The teen squealed with excitement and profusely thanked her. Jade grinned, then backed away, blew kisses to the audience, and jogged off stage.
Ryker met her offstage and handed her a towel.
