“Another great show, Maggie!” My manager Julie met me at the edge of the stage with a bottle of water and a towel and traded them for the guitar I’d used in my last number.

“Thanks, Julie! What a rush!” I felt electrified. After the chaos of the last few days, it was a relief to get back to my old routine and do what I did best.

“Ready to go back to the bus?” Liam appeared out of the shadows like a ghost.

“No, I want to go dancing,” I told him. “I’ve been cooped up too long.”

“Dancing? You’ve been up almost twenty-four hours.”

“I don’t care. I want to go dancing!”

“Fine.” He touched his ear piece. “Leo, grab two guys. We need to set up security at a dance club.”

“No! No more security! Just you. That’s it.” I had followed all of Liam’s rules, allowed myself to be crowded and herded from one spot to the next for weeks. I had to get away and let loose, and I didn’t want the whole goon squad with me.

“I can’t provide enough security for you by myself. I need my team.” His face reddened. I could tell he wasn’t happy with me, but I really didn’t care. I’d been locked up for way too long.

“No!” I stamped my foot, hands on my hips.

“Leo, cancel that. Sweep the bus. Keep it ready. I’ll be escorting Miss Lane alone.” His face took on a resigned look, and I could tell I’d won.

Even at a distance, I could hear Leo saying over the phone, “Is that a good idea boss?”

“Not really,” Liam told him, “but I need to give her this one. It’s been weeks since she got a threat.” Liam ended his call and looked at me. “You win.”

I mopped my face with the towel and downed the entire bottle of water before tossing the empty back to Julie. “All right! We’re out of here!” I grabbed Liam by his hand and dragged him off the stage.

“Where are we going?” he asked. “Can I at least have my team do a sweep before we get there?”

“I have no idea where we are going,” I told him with a giant smile on my face. “We’ll find something. I just want to get away.”

“Maggie,” he protested, following along behind me.

“Don’t ‘Maggie’ me. I’ve stayed cooped up with you for weeks. I am ready to have some fun.” I danced my way out the door.

“Lead the way.” Liam finally gave in. I could tell when his shoulders dropped and he gave up even a token of resistance.

I snagged a hat and sunglasses from a roadie. Tucking my signature red hair up under the hat and planting the sunglasses square on my face, I swapped my bustier out for a black t-shirt reading “Zombies hate fast food!” with a line drawing of zombies chasing their dinner.

“What is that?” Liam pointed at my shirt with a dumbfounded expression.

“What is what?” I pretended I didn’t know what he was asking.

“Your shirt. And do you always change in the middle of the room?”

“If they are reading my shirt, they aren’t looking at my face. And yes—you do as many costume changes as I have over the years, and modesty kinda gets lost. I never took you for such a prude, Liam. Besides, I have a strapless bra on. It’s not like you saw anything more than a bathing suit shows.”

We ducked out a back door, and he hailed us a cab.

“We need a great night club!” I told the cabbie.

“Hang on tight!” he said. We sped through the night to a trendy spot on the other side of town.

“This is going to be so much fun!” I leaned forward and rubbed my hands together, a big smile gracing my face.

“Aren’t you tired?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, but I’ll sleep tomorrow. I’ve got to work off this nervous energy.” I leaned back against him, comforted by his presence. He wouldn’t let anything happen to me. I was going to enjoy this brief glimpse of freedom before we got back out on the road. The next month was packed with almost daily shows. I wasn’t going to have another opportunity to be free.

“Come dance with me!” Maggie grabbed my hands and tried to drag me onto the dance floor. “I don’t want to dance with strangers!” She danced uninhibitedly, unconcerned about the world around her. Skin slick with sweat, the damp material of her shirt clung to her form and outlined her abundant breasts. I watched, mesmerized as her face radiated happiness.

“I’m working, Maggie.” Her breasts were not my concern. It wasn’t even professional for me to notice their perfect shape. I stood with feet spread shoulder width apart, my hands locked behind me, and sunglasses hiding my watchful eyes.

“Stop working, Liam! We are surrounded by people! What could possibly happen here?” She shimmied her luscious hips in time with the music, throwing her hands in the air along with everyone else as a hit pop song came on. “Don’t be such a stick in the mud!”

I snorted, pulling my sunglasses off and rubbing my tired eyes. This woman was an enigma. I could move through the night unseen. I could stalk a human hundreds of miles over the roughest of terrain. I could make a perfect shot over 600 meters away. The evilest of the evil didn’t make me flinch, but dancing to a top 40 pop song in a nightclub scared the shit out of me.

All of a sudden, Maggie fell backwards off her six inch heels, arms flailing and body knocking into a woman in a hot pink bandage dress dancing behind her. Her emerald green eyes widened, locking with mine, and her mouth formed a perfect circle in surprise.

Fooomp!

A deep thud reverberated through the club, the sound louder than the raucous music they’d all been dancing to. The second my ears registered the boom, the world slowed. I reacted, my training instinctive.

“Maggie!” I leapt forward, my sunglasses dropped, forgotten, and crushed in the melee. “Out of my way!” I knocked to the floor a hapless couple that stood between me and my charge.

Time sped up. I heard Maggie’s scream, her wail long and loud with terror apparent in every inflection. A wet red hole blossomed on her shoulder, and she went limp. Her eyes drooped shut, and her wild hair clung to her sweaty forehead.

I fell to my knees, sliding through her pooling blood, and threw my body over hers as shield. Around us, the club erupted in chaos. With one hand, I held myself suspended just above her delicate, bleeding frame. I pressed the other hand into her shoulder, trying to stop the flow of blood. We stayed that way until the stampede of fleeing dancers thinned.

I didn’t wait for the club to empty. I still needed the cover of a crowd to hide us as we fled. I couldn’t wait for paramedics and the shooter to find us. Seeing my chance, I leapt to my feet, swept a bleeding Maggie into my arms, and ran from the club into the moonlit night, leaving the sounds of approaching sirens behind us.