1
Claire Evans slipped out of bed and padded to the door, only giving a brief glance back to make sure Charles was still sleeping. Satisfied, she stepped out of the room as quietly as she could before closing the door behind her. She pressed her ear to the door, her heart pounding, half expecting him to come bursting out after her, but all remained quiet.
She made her way to the kitchen, where several empty liquor bottles remained scattered across the counter. Normally, the liquor bottles would have been a huge turnoff for her. Their presence meant her night would be terrible, but today, it was a saving grace. At only three in the morning, he was in a drunken stupor that would make it less likely he would wake up before she could get out.
Claire opened the cedar chest that was used for storage in the living room and pulled out her backpack. It was all she could pack without him noticing, but she didn’t care. She just needed out and would worry about the rest later.
Without a backward glance, she snatched her purse and car keys and slipped out the front door. She turned on the car and held her breath, waiting to be caught, but the street remainedquiet. She slowly eased out of the driveway and onto the street, glancing repeatedly in the mirror. Every set of headlights she saw behind her she half expected to be him, but the other drivers all maintained a safe distance. Just other commuters on the road and not a crazy man attempting to chase her down.
It wasn’t until she reached the highway that she finally let out a shaky breath. Putting distance between her and the house was her first priority. After an hour of driving, she pulled over into a rest stop and leaned back in her seat, taking several deep breaths and flexing her fingers.
She hadn’t realized how hard she had been gripping the steering wheel, but her hands and shoulders were complaining now. Claire leaned over and pulled her backpack off the passenger seat, digging inside it, and fishing out the brand new cell phone she had stashed there. She plugged the USB charger into the car and powered the phone up. She left her normal phone behind, not knowing if Charles could track her and not wanting him to have her new phone number. When she had the thought of getting this phone, she had little money to put on it, so she bought the cheapest flip phone they offered that still had a data function. She would have very limited internet and speaking capabilities, but it would be enough to get her where she needed to go.
She did a quick search for her brother, seeing that he would be in Houston, Texas for a show tonight with his band.
She quickly looked up the drive time on a map. It would take twelve hours to get there. Her gas tank was only half full, something Charles had required. It was so she couldn’t run, and she realized more and more how much he controlled her. Fortunately, she had had the sense to pocket a dollar here and there. It took six miserable months to save enough change to feel comfortable leaving. It wasn’t enough for a hotel room, but it was enough to buy the gas she would need to get to Houston.
Claire got out at the rest stop and stretched, wincing at the pain coursing through her body. After using the bathroom, she quickly got back into her car. She would drive until she needed to refill the tank, and that’s when she would get a bite to eat.
Houston, here I come.
2
Jake Bradshaw tuned his guitar, strumming the strings a few times to make sure it was perfect. He had already done it a dozen times that night, but something gnawed at him. His nervous energy over the show had him grabbing everything in sight and fiddling with it. But he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.
He had performed hundreds, if not thousands, of shows with his band Chaotic Notes. They weren’t new to it. So why was he so nervous?
A phone pinged across the room and Jake looked up to find his best friend and bandmate staring at his screen before a smile split across his face. Ben stood up and rushed to the door of their dressing room before opening it, which amplified the noise raging in the arena, and glanced down the hallway.
“Hey, Lonnie!”
The large man appeared in the doorway. “What’s up?”
“Claire is here. She just texted that she’s out front, but they don’t believe she’s my sister. Can you go rescue her?”
“I’m on it.” Lonnie disappeared, and Ben shut the door, closing out the noise with it.
“Claire is here?” Jake asked before he could catch himself.
The little sister of his best friend had avoided them for years. Ben had tried to talk her into going on tour with them, or at least meeting up occasionally, but she always declined. It had killed Ben. Not that he had ever told Jake, but Jake could see it written across his face.
Ben nodded as he typed out a text, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Jake could remember the last time he had seen Claire. It had been four years, just when their band started gaining momentum. Claire used to come around to their sound checks whenever she could. She joined them on their very first tour and helped with their wardrobe, but it eventually stopped. Jake had never told Ben, and he suspected Claire hadn’t either, but the two of them had hooked up drunkenly one night. After that, things became strained, and she eventually left the tour.
Jake wasn’t proud of it. He knew Ben would hate him if he knew Jake was the reason Claire left. But it hadn’t just hurt Ben. Jake had been just as crushed. He cared for Claire. Cared for her a whole hell of a lot, but she hadn’t been interested. She left before they had a chance to make a relationship work.
Last he had heard, she was dating a guy and had stopped hanging around everyone. She rarely showed up for family events, according to Ben, not that they were great about it either. Their work schedule kept them on the road a lot, but the band tried to get home as often as possible. Ben usually complained that he didn’t see Claire because she couldn’t pull herself away from her boyfriend to see her family.
A lady with a headset walked into the room and smiled at the guys. “We’re ready for you.”
Ben glanced down the hallway again. “Is there a chance I can see my sister first? She just got here.”
“Let me see.” She spoke into her headset, asking for an update. She nodded her head at whatever response she receivedbefore looking back at Ben. “I’m sorry. There was a snag at the door. Your sister is fine, but it’s going to take a bit for them to get back here. It’s better if we start the show now.”
Ben sighed and threw one more glance down the hallway before following the lady out, their other bandmates tagging along. Jake looked down the hallway, hoping to catch a glimpse of her because he didn’t know how he was going to get through this show, knowing Claire was watching and he hadn’t even seen her yet.
“Dude, what happened out there?”Liam, their drummer, asked as soon as they left the stage. It was hard to hear over the screaming crowds, but they had gotten pretty good at shouting things to each other only an inch from someone’s ear and making it look normal.
Jake only shrugged in response. The show was one of the most grueling shows he had ever performed. Not because the set list was hard. It was the same as they had for the last ten shows they performed. He could perform it in his sleep. But apparently not when Claire was in the audience. His heart thrummed in his chest the entire time, and he scanned the first few rows looking for her, but he never found her. It wasn’t until he screwed up a few more notes and he started getting looks from his bandmates, asking if he was okay that he realized he needed to stop.
