Julie is dead. She tried to kill me. I replayed those facts over and over in my head and still struggled to believe them.

“It’s not your fault, Maggie. Julie was troubled.” Liam sat next to me with one hand on my knee.

“But we’ve been together since the beginning. We sang together.” I wiped a tear from my eye, surprised I had any tears left to cry.

“I thought she was your manager.” He leaned forward, reached for me, and pulled me into his arms.

I melted in his embrace. “There was this one night we had this gig...” I curled up in his lap like a cat. “It was nothing special. It paid a hundred dollars, but we’d take anything at that point just for the chance to sing.” Sniff. “Julie got stuck at work. I was usually the one who had to bail, but this time Julie couldn’t make it.”

“So she wasn’t there?” He stroked my hair gently, petting me like a kitten.

“No. It was a total fluke.” The rhythmic caress soothed me, and I sighed. “I was performing a new song that I had just written. Julie hadn’t even heard it yet. I was up on the rickety pallet stage, sitting on a scarred wooden stool with the single spotlight shining down on me.” I chewed on my lip for a moment. “I had my dad’s old guitar. We couldn’t even afford to pay a band that night.” He kept stroking, and I drifted into a trance, lost in my own thoughts.

“I remember the front door of the bar swung open. I couldn’t see much… just a dark shape approaching the bar.” I remembered it all so clearly. “The weather was god-awful. We were having torrential rains. There were like three people in the whole place, but rent was due, and I needed those hundred dollars.” My words trailed off.

“Go on.” He started to rub my back in small circles, and I stretched out before curling back up around him.

“Turns out this producer was on his way to pick up his daughter at dance class. He got lost, made a wrong turn on a construction detour in the rain, and came into the bar for directions. He heard me. He ended up liking the sound so much he called his wife to go get his daughter, and he stayed to listen to my entire set.”

“Do you realize how lucky you were?” His hand slipped up under my shirt, continuing to rub small circles from my neck to my hips.

“Yeah. It was a random stroke of luck. When I finished the set, I packed up and went to the bartender to get my money. The guy started talking to me. He gave me his card, and the next day, Julie and I went to his office. He had us record a demo and a week later, offered us both contracts. Julie was pissed. She said it wasn’t enough. It was a small retainer and then a percentage of anything we made. It was a standard twelve-month exclusivity contract. My uncle is a lawyer, and I had him read it for me. The terms weren’t great. I really didn’t make much after taxes and expenses, but they guaranteed me gigs and promised to record my first album.” I sat up. “Julie said no. She continued to play bars on her own. I didn’t even hear from her for two years.”

“So how did she end up working for you?” He repositioned me so he could rub my shoulders in earnest, turning my muscles to jelly.

“I went on to sign with them again for another year. This time, it was a better deal for me. My agent negotiated for me to open for a well-known band at a string of county fairs. It came with built-in fans! Then things started to snowball, and one day, out of the blue, Julie called me.”

“She tracked you down?” Liam mostly listened, just asking questions when my rambling memories slowed down.

“Yeah. She offered to come on tour with me and manage my affairs. I was ecstatic. I hate dealing with that kind of stuff. It’s lonely on tour, and she was always better at keeping it all together than I was.”

“You know, she wasn’t performing for those two years.”

“What do you mean?” I craned my neck to look at him.

“She was committed,” he said. “She had a nervous breakdown and tried to kill herself. When she called you, she had just gotten out of a psychiatric hospital.” He related the facts one after the other, his thumbs running up and down my spine.

“No!” I gasped. “Not Julie!”

“Yes.” He ran his hands up and down my arms from shoulder to elbow before returning to massage my neck just under my hairline. “She had a history of psychiatric problems. She was committed once before when she was a teenager. I tracked down her family, and they all agreed she was nuts.”

“Oh my God.” I collapsed back into him, stunned. My hands covered my mouth as all the blood drained from my face. I stared up at Liam. “How could I not know any of this? I thought she was my friend.”

“I’m pretty sure she was never your friend.” He pulled me close and looked out the window. “Over the last few months, I have spoken to everyone on your payroll—roadies, your bandmates, your makeup artist, everyone. A pattern emerged. According to Julie, you were the barely-talented voice, and she did all the heavy lifting. She said without her, you would have been nothing. Except they all said, in reality, she rode your coattails as you climbed to stardom.”

“But she gave up her life for me.”

“Maggie, she didn’t have a life without you.”

After Liam’s ministrations, I passed out in my own bed in my own bus and slept for hours. The familiar surroundings and Liam’s presence gave me a sense of security. It was almost as good as being back in the cabin.

The days and miles passed under the wheels of the bus. I sang. I slept. I sang again.

Then one night, Liam came to me. “Maggie, I think it’s time for me to move on. I can’t keep following you around.”

“Not yet.” I kept scribbling in my notebook, my pen scratching across the page.

“I’ve interviewed several former soldiers, Mags. I’ve put together the best crew I can to run your security.”

“No one is as good as you.” I chewed on the end of the pen, my mind a million miles away.

“I am one-hundred percent confident they will keep you safe.” He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “I need to go back to running my company.”

I came out of my fog for a moment to focus on him. “You’re leaving?”

“I am.” He clasped his hands, looking at me silently for a moment. “I fly out on Friday. Your permanent team arrives tomorrow.” He held up a hand when I started to protest. “I will debrief them, set up the security detail, and then say goodbye.”

“I don’t know what to say.” I lounged in a bean bag chair at his feet.

Liam leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “You are a star, Maggie. You don’t need me anymore.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small package wrapped in hot pink paper.

“What is that?” I raised an eyebrow at the bright box in his hand.

“My goodbye present for you.” He dropped it in my lap and it landed with a clink.

I reached down and picked it up, turning it over in my hands. “You got me a present? You didn’t need to do that. You’ve done so much already.”

“Just open it.” His lips twisted in a wry smile.

I slid a fingernail under the tape on one end and pried it up, carefully unfolding the paper and sliding the cardboard box out. I lifted the lid and unwrapped a hot pink canister studded with rhinestones. “What is this?”

“Pepper spray. I don’t want you to ever feel unsafe again. Just don’t use it on my guys, okay? No matter how much their presence annoys you!”

I punched him gently in his giant bicep. “Liam!” I leaned into him, and enjoyed his arm around me one last time.