Chapter Seventeen
Here Without You
Nash
Grant stepped into our suite, and I stopped pacing long enough to ask if Blane or his assistant, Marcy, had secured me a seat on the next flight to Austin. I could tell by his expression they hadn’t. Fuck Blane and Marcy. I could make my own damn flight arrangements.
“Fine, I’ll do it.” I dug my phone out of my pocket, and started searching for flights to Austin.
“Look, man, I know you’re worried about Rowan. We all are, but Hank assures me that LASH is handling it, and until we have more details I don’t think it’s smart for us to cancel the tour.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I wasn’t just worried, I was scared shitless. Someone had kidnapped Rowan from my home and I had no clue who or why. It looked as if the next flight was in three hours. I could easily make that.
Two hours ago the security firm discovered Rowan missing from my house. One hour and forty-seven minutes ago we contacted LASH. One hour ago Blane was told to book me a flight to Austin. So, why the fuck was I still here? Because either Grant didn’t think it was important enough or Blane didn’t want to lose money? Forget that a woman had been taken from my home. Forget that she could be anywhere right now having fuck knows what done to her. Forget that I left her there because I was too much of a pussy to admit my feelings. The band came first, right? Wrong. Fuck Grant, fuck Blane, and fuck the band.
I shot Grant a scathing look. “Are you shitting me? If this was Mallory, you would have been on a plane two hours ago. What is this? Payback? I know you’re still pissed off because you think I wasn’t on your side with the rehab shit, but I am now. I thought we’d gotten passed this, but clearly I was wrong.”
“Fuck you. This has nothing to do with that. We are good, in fact, we’re great. I’m just trying to be levelheaded when you can’t be. You admitted to being a dick to Rowan. Can you definitively say that she didn’t skip town? You can’t, can you? You’re asking us to walk away from this tour for a girl you have mixed feelings about. This is most likely a case of her sticking it to you. Now, I’m simply asking you to wait until we know something more. Let the professionals handle it. You’re not going to add anything by being there. Plus, how do you know that this doesn’t have something to do with you or Meltdown? That by going off half-cocked you’re only going to get yourself killed. I can’t lose another friend, especially not you.”
I knew Rowan. She wouldn’t have just taken off without telling me. How many more details did he need? As far as I was concerned, LASH could suck it. They had yet to find Nadine and now Rowan was missing. If you asked me, this wasn’t mere coincidence. There was a connection. If they found Nadine, they would find Rowan. Right before I was about to share this theory with Grant, Hank walked in.
He held up his phone, and said, “Garrett’s on the phone. He and his boys are at your house. Garrett, I’m with Nash and Grant. What do you have for us?”
Garrett’s voice came through the speaker. “There was definitely a struggle. It appears that the perpetrator surprised Rowan while she was drinking a cup of coffee. In her attempt to get away, she threw the coffee at him, and ran for the stairs. There’s a coffee stain on the stairwell wall right before you reach the top and pieces of the mug are scattered all over the stairs. It looks like she fought back.”
I dropped to the sofa, and whispered, “Fuck.”
“There was mention of blood?” Grant asked.
“We found a few drops on the floor outside of one of the upstairs bedrooms, along with a necklace. We’ve got both, and are currently checking DNA and prints.”
“So we can agree that it was a kidnapping?” I stared at Grant as I asked this.
“I don’t know Miss Burns, but her suitcases are at the top of the closet and her clothes are in her drawers. There are signs of a struggle throughout the house. So, yes, I’d say she was taken against her will.” Grant held my stare as Garrett validated my worst nightmare. When he looked away, I should have felt vindicated. I didn’t. I felt hollowed out and empty. As if reading my mind, Garrett said, “I know it looks bad. The negative is that she’s gone. The positive is that we have a relatively decent snapshot of the perp’s face. Bobby is the best in the business. If anyone can figure out who this guy is, it’s him.”
I glanced at the time on my watch. “The next flight out is in a little over two hours. Can one of you pick me up at the airport? If not, I can Uber it.”
Everyone started talking at once. Finally, Hank held up his hand and the room went silent. “Go ahead, Garrett,” he said.
“Look, I don’t blame you for wanting to come home, but there’s really nothing for you to do here. We need to call in the police and maintain a clean crime scene. The more people who step foot in this house, the harder it is for us to do that. I’m asking you to give us until tomorrow morning to find this guy. Do you think you can do that?” My first thought was to tell him no, but the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt their chances of finding Rowan. Garrett and Cas ran a tight ship. If anyone could find her, those guys could.
“Fine, I’ll give you until tomorrow morning, but after that, all bets are off.”
“Thanks man. I appreciate it.” While Garrett talked about facial recognition scans and other shit I didn’t fully understand, I had a thought.
“What do you want to bet the guy is working with Nadine?”
“Any news on that front?” Hank asked.
“Blane didn’t tell you? We found Nadine,” Garrett stated. Grant’s eyes shot to mine and widened in surprise. I was too shocked to respond.
“This is the first we’re hearing of it. Please explain,” Hank interjected.
“Blane called the office on Monday morning. Apparently, a few files he’d sent last year regarding his father were originals and not copies. He was calling to get them back. Being that we’d discovered Nadine’s whereabouts earlier that morning, I gave him the information. He said he would pass it along to you. I was about to give you a follow up call, when I was called about Rowan. I apologize.
“I’ll speak with Blane,” Grant said. I could tell by his tone that he was pissed.
“Where is she?” My voice cracked with emotion. All this time I had been so sure this all had something to do with Nadine.
“She’s been working for the past year at a mental health retreat in Wyoming. Her parents moved there six months ago to be near her. Once we finally located them, they led us straight to Nadine,” Garrett explained. My mind spun. If Nadine didn’t leave the rose, then who did? Who had Rowan? Was it a crazed fan? Fuck, it could be anyone. In a matter of seconds, everything I thought I’d known had been flipped on its head, and I had no leads.
I dropped my head into my hands, and shouted, “Fuck!”
“Call us when you have something,” Hank said.
“Will do,” Garrett replied.
Hank disconnected the phone and we all three stared at each other.
Grant pulled his phone from his pocket and started punching in numbers. “Where are you?” he asked. After a long pause, he said. “I need to see you in my suite now.” At the last second, he added, “alone.” Then he hung up and let out a sigh of frustration. He lifted his eyes to mine and anger, sorrow, guilt, along with a myriad of other emotions moved across his face like a slow motion video, and I felt every single one of them. “I’m sorry,” he said. Then he dropped onto the chair across from me and ran his hands through his hair. “Fuck,” he whispered, “I’m so damn sorry.” I didn’t know what to say. Rowan was missing, Nadine had been found, and Blane was once again up to no good. How in the hell were we back here again? Maybe Evan was right. Maybe we were cursed. It sure as hell seemed like it.
We all looked up as Blane barged into the suite. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen Blane Hamilton looking less than perfect. This was one of those few times. Instead of his usual perfectly ironed look, he was wearing a pair of jeans and a Meltdown t-shirt. His hair was a mess and he had on…
“Are those flip-flops?” Grant asked.
Blane’s eyes dropped to his feet. When he glanced back at us, his face was twelve shades of embarrassed. “You sounded angry, so I hurried.” I snorted at his defensive tone, and he shot me a dirty look. Fuck him. Blane liked me about as much as I liked him, and that was not at all. It was past the time I let him know that I was just as much his boss as Grant was.
“Why didn’t you tell us that Nadine had been found?” Underneath my calm expression, I was seething.
“B-b-b-what?” Blane blustered.
“Nadine,” I growled. Blane’s eyes shot to Grant, and for once, Grant didn’t come to his defense. Recognition crossed Blane’s face, and his shoulders slumped.
“Shit. I forgot,” he quietly replied.
“You forgot?” Grant asked incredulously.
Blane flinched at Grant’s tone of exasperation. His eyes darted back and forth between the three of us. “I-I meant to tell you. I just…”
“Let me guess,” Grant cut in. “You got distracted by the intern you’re nailing.”
“What? No!” Blane gasped. “I just have a lot on my mind lately.”
“There are plenty of people who would kill for your job. I don’t know what’s going on with you. Hell, I don’t even care. One more fuck up and you’re out. Do I make myself clear?” I was pissed that Grant was offering Blane another chance, but I managed to hold my tongue.
“As a bell,” Blane responded. Then he turned to me, and said, “I really am sorry.”
“Cancel tonight’s show,” Grant told him. My eyes snapped to Grant. This was the last thing I expected him to say.
“B-but,” Blane stammered.
Grant cut him off. “Cancel the show,” he slowly repeated.
Without a word, Blane walked out of the suite.
“What the hell is his problem?” Grant asked.
“I have no idea,” Hank responded.
“Find out,” Grant told him.
“On it, boss,” Hank said.
After Hank was gone, Grant turned to me, and asked, “What the fuck is happening here?”
“My feelings aren’t mixed,” I told him. His brow arched in question, and I explained. “Earlier you accused me of having mixed feelings for Rowan. Well, they’re not. I’m in love with her.”
“Damn,” he quietly replied.
Damn was right. LASH had better find Rowan by tomorrow morning…or else.