Lola

 

Her body felt completely drained by the time they made it back to the hotel. It was all she could do to drag herself to the elevator with Butch and Chris on either side of her. Butch barked an order at the clerk behind the desk to make sure nobody got anywhere near her room.

 

The skinny clerk nodded, beads of sweat instantly popping out on his forehead. “Yes, sir. Of course, sir.” He scrambled off, probably to find the security guard.

 

The ding of the elevator was far too loud. It had been too much to have plenty of alcohol in her system followed by an overdose of adrenaline and hormones. She wanted nothing more than to fall into the oversized bed, maybe not even bothering with getting undressed or pulling the covers back, and go straight to sleep.

 

But her cell phone buzzed as soon as they entered the room. Lola pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the screen. “Shit. It’s Victor.”

 

“Better answer that,” Butch advised. “We’ll be right outside if you need us.” He and Chris left her alone while she answered.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hey? Don’t you hey me! You’re my biggest client, and I’ve done everything to get you on the fast train to stardom, and I have to hear about an attack on you through Butch? Why the hell didn’t you call me, Lola?”

 

She frowned, wondering when the bodyguard had had a chance to do such a thing. He’d probably sent Victor a text at some point, and it wasn’t as though Lola had been paying any attention. She resented Butch for it, but then again, her manager had the right to know. “I haven’t exactly had the chance, Vic. Things get a little crazy when you’ve been shot at.”

 

“All right, all right. I get it.” He was calming down, but that only meant he had a scheme in the works. “You’re okay, right?”

 

“Maybe a scrape or a bruise here or there, but I’m fine otherwise. I’m just really tired.” She reached for the room service menu on the side table and skimmed the selections. It was all the same boring stuff she could have gotten at any local restaurant, and not the gourmet fare the hotels in Hollywood offered. She would have to find something suitable enough though. She couldn’t live on margaritas alone.

 

“Good, good. Here’s what I’m thinking: This whole thing is awful, but that doesn’t mean we can’t turn it into something wonderful. The fact that somebody was after you means that you’re special; you’re important. We need to milk as much as we can out of that.”

 

“You do whatever you want to, I guess, but I’m a little worn out. I’m just going to take a nap, and we can talk about this tomorrow.” She stood up, her legs till shaky, and drew the curtains on the big windows.

 

“We don’t have time for that, kid. In this day and age, there are too many people with cell phones and social media accounts. If we don’t release this instantly, then someone else will. I’ll have Cheryl type up a press release right away. Cheryl!” His voice grew muffled as he said something to his secretary. “I’ll have reporters calling left and right, looking for an exclusive interview. This will be big, even bigger than that sexy video you released last month. Everyone will want to talk to you.”

 

Pausing to think about it for a moment, Lola realized just what was happening. She had nearly been bumped off, and Victor was more concerned about turning it into a publicity stunt than tracking down the would-be killer. “No, I don’t want to talk to anybody. I’ve had enough of a crowd in this little town as it is, and you’re only going to make it worse. No reporters, no media circus, no paparazzi. I want to keep this as small of a deal as possible and just get the hell out of town in the morning and back to my normal life.”

 

“No can do, kid. This story is going to hit the news whether you like it or not, and that’s just the way things work. Even if I don’t say anything, someone will. We’d be fools not to take advantage of it. Besides, you don’t have any work you have to do right now other than giving me all the details of what happened. Think of it as therapy.”

 

Lola rolled her eyes. This guy was such a sleaze, but he had come through on his promise to make her a big star. She wasn’t exactly a top-rated diva just yet, but everyone knew who she was. “Can’t you just make a generic release and we can go over the details in the morning?”

 

“Sorry, but business is business. I need to get this taken care of right away. Of course, all the information won’t go into the release, but I need to know just how juicy of a scenario we’re talking about here. If a reporter wants an exclusive deal, then we need to know what cards are on the table.”

 

Sighing and lying back on the bed, Lola agreed. “Fine. But the whole thing is crazy.”

 

“The crazier the better, kid! Hang on, let me get the recorder started. Okay, now tell me everything.”

 

* * *

 

Lola woke up early the next morning, before the sun had even made it over the horizon. She had been an early riser back when she was younger, before she was used to staying up all night giving concerts and going to after-parties. It was odd to be awake at such an hour and that it wasn’t because she simply hadn’t gone to bed yet.

 

She took a moment to collect her thoughts, remembering where she was and why. Rolling Hills, the Mahogany Blossom Hotel, room 3F, the most luxurious suite in the hotel which still didn’t come close to comparing to the places she was used to staying. She was in her hometown, if she could really call it that, and she was going to get the hell out.

 

Jumping out of bed, Lola suddenly remembered what she had been through the previous day as her sore muscles cramped up. She limped to the shower, blasting the water as hot as she could. Stepping back into the bedroom and flicking on the light, she picked up her phone so she could make flight arrangements for getting back to Hollywood.

 

But the noise outside made her pause. Things had been quiet when she had woken, but they had changed as soon as she’d turned on the light. Suspicion creeping up the back of her spine, she tiptoed to the window and peeked through the heavy curtains.

 

Rolling Hills was a quiet town. The only traffic that should be coming down the main road at this early hour was coal miners on their way to their shift. But the crowd on the sidewalk below the hotel was so thick that Lola couldn’t see the concrete. People stood shoulder to shoulder and then some, craning their necks up at the hotel and pointing their phones. They jumped up and down and pointed, accidentally pushing some of the onlookers out into the street and not noticing. Their screams were audible through the thick glass. The police were just arriving, their lights on but not their sirens, as they prepared for crowd control.

 

Lola snapped the curtain shut again. Her stomach rolled, and it wasn’t just because she hadn’t had breakfast yet. There was no doubt in her mind that these fans were here for her. It was a much bigger mass than the one that had assembled at The Dive.

 

She looked at her phone again, but instead of pulling up the app for the airline she tapped on the icon for the news. The story had broken, just as Victor had promised it would. There were links to numerous reports on both the scene last night and even the crowd that had formed just a few stories below her. Not only had people discovered the attack, they had figured out just where she was staying. That wasn’t a hard thing to do in a place like this.

 

Poking at her contacts, Lola mentally formulated all the mean and nasty things she was going to say to Victor. It was even earlier in Hollywood than it was here, and she hoped she brought Victor out of a nice, peaceful sleep just so she could chew his ear off.

 

But he answered with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. “Good morning, Lola! Do you smell that in the air? It’s publicity! And not because you wore a skimpy outfit or because people are speculating on who you’re sleeping with, but because you’re important and special and the whole world wants to see you! Isn’t it fantastic?” His voice was so loud that she pulled the phone away from her ear in order not to go deaf.

 

“It’s not fantastic when there’s a crowd about a mile thick right outside the hotel!” Lola dared to peek out the curtains again, but it only incited their screams once again. “They’re going crazy out there. What am I supposed to do?”

 

“Well, if I were you I’d have those two brutes of yours organize a little autograph signing session. Make the kids line up and tell them you’ll only spend an hour. It’ll increase demand, and it will make you a media darling.”

 

Lola frowned at herself in the mirror across the room. At the moment, with her hair wet, no makeup on, and a very grumpy look on her face, she definitely didn’t look like a media darling. And she didn’t feel like one, either. “I don’t think so, Vic. They’ll stampede the place, and you can’t expect me to smile and nod when I was nearly killed yesterday.”

 

“But—”

 

“No, I’m putting my foot down on this one. You can’t make me do it.” She sounded like a petulant child, but she didn’t care. “Now, how are you going to clean up this mess and get me the hell out of here?”

 

There was a heavy pause on the other end of the line before Victor spoke again. “Well, the thing is, there aren’t any reliable security companies out in the boonies where you are. It’s going to take some time before I find someone reliable I can send over. I know your guys are good, but the two of them aren’t going to be able to combat this. You need a much larger security detail, and maybe on a permanent basis. As a matter of fact, that might be something to focus on once you get back to Hollywood …”

 

“Stay focused, Vic. I don’t care about once I get back. I care about now.”

 

“I’ll see what I can do.”

 

“You’re the manager,” she reminded him. “Manage it.” She hung up the phone, wishing she could do something more satisfying than pressing a button on the touchscreen.

 

Flopping back onto the pillows, Lola tried to pull herself together. She was too pissed. Normally, she might enjoy a little downtime to herself. She could use the time to write new lyrics (even though her producer had trashed every song she had proposed to him so far) or work on content for her social media platforms. Hell, she could just read a damn book.

 

But right now, she didn’t want to do any of that. She just wanted to pack her bag, have Butch drive her to the airport, and get on a plane. It didn’t even have to be headed straight for California as long as she was getting out of here.

 

Stomping to the door, she yanked it open to find Chris, half-asleep against the hallway wall. “Wha? What’s going on?”

 

Scowling at him, Lola grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him inside the room. There was no way in hell she was going to talk about this in the hall. Even though there weren’t any fans right at her door, she highly doubted the hotel management had done a perfect job of keeping nosy onlookers out of the building. “What’s going on is that you and Butch are going to figure out a way to smuggle me out of this place. Vic doesn’t think it can be done safely, but I’m not staying here one more day. Get Butch on the phone and put your heads together.”

 

Leering down at the top of her bathrobe, Chris nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

 

Butch arrived only a minute later. He had probably been sleeping, but he showed up looking as awake and aware as ever. “You don’t have to tell me. I saw them. Unfortunately, I think Vic is right. If we try to get you out of here, it’s going to be complete chaos. The airport is an hour away, and we’d have to shut down every major highway just to keep them at bay. Not to mention the fact that the guy who shot at you yesterday is still at large. We’re stuck for the moment.”

 

“What good are you anyway?” Lola hissed, instantly regretting it. Butch had been good to her, and he didn’t deserve that. “I’m sorry. I’m just very frustrated.”

 

“I know you are, but look at the bright side. People are crazy about you. And I doubt everyone down there is from this little town. They’ve probably come from all over just for the possibility of seeing you.”

 

She glared at him. “You sound like Vic.”

 

“Maybe I’ve been in the business too long,” he replied with a shrug.

 

“Can you at least try to figure something out?”

 

“No promises, but I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, just make the best of it.”

 

Butch was far too happy for her taste. Lola closed the door behind the men, heaving a sigh into the silence of her room. What a weird homecoming this had been. First, she had completely botched things with her parents. Then, somehow, word had gotten out that she was at The Dive, and she had been shot at, saved only by some awful biker who thought he had free rein to just shove her against a wall and kiss her.

 

The bad thing was that even though she’d had plenty happen to her since her arrival in Rolling Hills, Bishop was the only thing she could really think about. As pissed as she was about the crowd outside and the fact that she was stuck in this half-rate hotel, her mind kept drifting back to the red streaks in his dark hair and the way his eyes seemed to drink her in every time he looked at her. Lola shook her head. It shouldn’t matter. She wouldn’t be seeing him again. She padded to the bathroom to do her hair.