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c. No. Panic was too small a word. It made me sick, and my stomach rolled over. My dad had messaged me exactly two hours ago. He didn’t say anything. He’d just attached a video.
With shaking fingers, I clicked on it, and the world fell away from me as I heard my voice and my guitar and my words. I looked out the window of the SUV, at the paparazzi waiting like bloodthirsty hounds. Long, tight fingers of panic began in the pit of my stomach, and with that came nausea, confusion, and a fear so strong, I knew it wouldn’t go away.
“Tim,” I said shakily. “Have you seen this?”
About to exit the vehicle, he turned toward me, gave a listen, and smiled. “I have. It’s been playing everywhere since last night.” He winked at me. “It’s beautiful.”
My heart sank to the bottom of my toes. I could tell from the angle of the video exactly who’d recorded it, which meant I knew who’d leaked it. In all the scenarios I’d played in my mind, Boyd acting out and doing something he knew would gut me, well, that wasn’t one of them. I didn’t need to meet him. I knew what he was going to tell me. We were over before we even began.
“I’m not getting out,” I said hoarsely. I couldn’t do this.
“Miss?” The door was open, and Tim stood there, his body lit up like the Fourth of July from all the pap’s cameras and phones.
“Please take me away from here. Please.”
He slowly nodded, closed the door, and I settled back in my seat. I didn’t feel anything because I didn’t know what to feel. Betrayed? Well, I’d done that to other people more than once, so I guess it was poetic justice or something. Lied to? Yep, did that too. Hurt? Sure, that was tossed in there, but mostly, I felt empty.
I guess I had no one to blame but myself.
26
Boyd
I was in my suite at the Boston Harbor Hotel with Zach and Harmony when Malcolm sent me a text from the lobby. He’d just arrived for the event, which surprised the hell out of me because it came out of nowhere and I had no idea he was coming. I’d talked to him earlier in the day when the video of me and Echo and Zach went viral, but he never mentioned Boston.
His text was short and precise.
The Echo has landed.
“I gotta go.”
Harmony was making herself a drink and paused. “She’s here?”
“Yeah.”
“She texted you?”
“No.”
I saw the questions in her eyes but didn’t have time to explain. “I have to talk to her. She needs to know this wasn’t me, because this video…it’s not what she wanted.”
“I know,” Harmony replied, her voice subdued. “I don’t get it, but I know.” She yanked her head up. “Tell her I love her and that we’re here for her. All of us.”
I nodded and headed for the door. My only thought was to get to Echo and make things right before it got so wrong, there was no way out. I knew how things looked, that I was the bad guy in all this. I hit the lobby at a run and didn’t stop until I reached the doors and Malcolm.
“She left,” he said.
“What do you mean she’s left?” I peered out at security as they moved a bunch of photographers away, and through a gust of snowflakes spied the taillights of an SUV pulling away and heading into the darkened streets along the harbor.
“The driver opened the SUV door and then closed it, got back in, and drove away. I think the paps freaked her out.”
“Fuck.” I swore and whipped out my cell. “What car service do you guys use?”
“What?” Harmony sounded confused, but I didn’t have time to explain.
“I need to know who the driver is. They just took off.”
“Shit. Hold on.”
