AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They are playing the already familiar last song when my radio vibrates at my waist. “Garrison copy, over,” I say after the press of a button.
“Mr. Garrison, this is Fenway,” he says, his tone of voice impossible to decipher, “There’s a man here at gate six specifically looking for you.”
“What does he want? Over.”
“He won’t say. Said it’s just with you. How should we proceed? Over.”
“Ugh…” I touch the bridge of my nose, the same sense of foreboding Lily had earlier is now forcing itself on me. “Send two men to replace me here backstage. I’m going to check it out.”
The radio rings again at the general frequency, with Fenway’s request being answered in a second. Less than a minute later, my replacements are here, and I keep up with my cardio by trotting all the way to gate six.
“Where’s the man, Fenway?” I ask when I meet him, and Fenway points his finger across the gates, where a man in large sunglasses and the cheapest white wig waits for me.
“Mr. Garrison!” he shakes, confirming my suspicions. I get to the other side of the bars to be in close contact to him. “I came to warn you!”
“Warn me of what?!” I pull out my gun. With my free hand and a single swift motion, I make him submit, pressing my knee against his back, his face on the floor. “That’s enough, Ben. This is your last chance!”
I look at my personnel around me. They’re young, maybe too young, and not ready for a situation like this.
“Call the police!” I roar, and the woman assigned to the gate is the first one to pull out her cellphone.
I handcuff Ben to the gate’s bars. “You! What’s your name?” I ask the boy looking over the place.
“Johnson, sir!” Johnson startles into attention position.
“Johnson, give him a pat down,” I order.
The kid complies with rigid obedience. “He’s clean, sir,” Johnson says with a nod.
“The police are coming, sir,” the young woman says, putting down her phone. “What should we do now?”
“Stand guard over him, then go about your business,” I say. “I’m going back inside.”
I make my way back at a normal pace this time, taking a while longer to get back.
When I arrive, Lily is no longer on stage, and there’s only one officer keeping watch over Sweets. I would be having a bad feeling right now if it weren’t for the fact that Ben was now apprehended and currently waiting for a ride to the station.
“Where’s your colleague?” I ask the officer in charge.
“Escorted Lily to the dressing room, sir,” he says.
We exchange nods and I leave, searching for Lily’s dressing room within twisting hallways and an infinite number of doors.
When I get there, there’s no officer at the door, and just the band is celebrating inside.
“Have any of you seen Lily?” I ask, my voice catching their attention like a storm siren.
“She left with a bodyguard. He said they were going to meet you,” the drummer says, a regular cigarette hanging from his lips.
My stomach sinks. “That’s not part of their orders,” I say, facepalming hard. “Which gate were they heading to?”
“They went downstairs from the stage, then to the left,” Michael says while motioning with one hand.
“I guess that’s gate three?” the other guitar player says.
“Thank you, boys,” I say, and get running out of there and towards gate three.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
