Craving Talon (21 page)

All I can do is think, no, no, no, no….

How long has she been gone? I look around and Rusty is missing, which means he followed her to the bathroom. I look over at Kyle and mouth, “Addison?”
 

He shrugs, then stands, pushing the chick off of him once and for all. He’s rejected her more than a few times but she doesn’t get the hint. “Mills,” I hear him shout and in a moment Mills is there. “Get her off of me and we need to find Addison.”
 

Mills escorts the lady away and talks into his hand piece. Then comes back. “She’s in the restroom, Rusty is outside.”
 

“She’s been in there too long,” I mumble mainly to myself. Something’s wrong, she didn’t look right when she left. She looked drunk and I know she hasn’t drank that… I take off for the restroom and I can feel Kyle along with a couple of the security guys on my heels.
 

When I reach the bathroom door Rusty steps out of the way as I plow into the door. Fuck! “It’s fucking locked.” I slam my shoulder into it again and it won’t budge. I slam my hand against the door. “Addison!” I scream. “Addison!” Something is wrong- she’s hurt, she’s fuck, something is really god damn wrong.
 

I slam my shoulder into the door one more time and it finally breaks the jam and I fall inside.
 

I see feet sticking out, Addison’s feet. I push open the door and look down at her sprawled out on the floor of the handicap stall. I fall down beside her. There’s blood on her face and hair, her corset is ripped open, her jeans shredded and pulled down to her…”NO! God, no, no, no! Addison.” She moves her head and I let out a rushed breath. I pick her up, cradling her in my arms. I tap her cheek, trying to bring her around to me. “Addison, come on baby, come back to me. Come on, angel.”
 

She moans and her head rolls from side to side.
 

“Call nine one one,” I hear Kyle say to someone. “She’s alive, but she’s hurt.”

“Addison, baby, who did this? Come on baby, stay with me.”

“Dr…” I lean down closer to her mouth..”Dr…umme…r.”

“Dex?”

Her head lolls back and forth in a lazy drugged motion, “Eufff…”
 

I look up into the petrified eyes of Kyle, behind him is Mills. “Find that son of a bitch.”
 

“Who?”
 

“Eddie, their fucking drummer!” I shout.

After what feels like an eternity, the paramedics finally arrive, assessing her in the bathroom and then finally carrying her out on a stretcher. When they load her into their bus, Kyle and I try to climb in with her, but the paramedic stops us. “You can’t ride.”
 

“Fuck that, I’m going with her. She’s my girlfriend.”

“I’m sorry, sir. We can’t let you in here.” He pushes me back and then closes the door on me. One of our cars pulls up right behind us and the ambulance.
 

Beck is in with the driver, “We’ll follow, get in.” Kyle and I jump into the back of the car. Once we have a general idea where we might be going from our driver, Beck relays the information to Mills.

The cops had arrived at the same time as the paramedics. I refused to talk to them so Mills is dealing with it. Beck and Mills went in search of Euphoric, and magically the entire band disappeared from the bar after Eddie’s stunt. Mills was directing cops back to where their tour bus is located. Hopefully if the cops get there fast enough the bus will still be there.
 

The drive behind the ambulance seems to take forever. Beck is in the front seat and Kyle and I sit in silence holding each other’s hands, seeking comfort from one another.
 

“How the fuck did we not see this, how did this happen?” I spout off at random.
 

“Thinking about it now, she was so fucking nervous, but it wasn’t until we were talking with the band before the show and she disappeared. Something freaked her out and then doing our pre-show kiss, she tensed up, but I didn’t know why, she didn’t tell me. When I asked about being nervous, she just nodded.”

“Did she know him?”
 

He shrugs. “I don’t know. But I got a creepy vibe from him too.”
 

“She didn’t look right when she went into the bathroom. I’d just assumed the adrenaline was wearing her down or she’d drank more than I thought, but she’s drank so much more and been fine.”
 

“Fuck!”
 

Beck turns around. “She was probably drugged.”
 

“How the fuck did that happen?” I snap at Beck.
 

“Mills is looking into it. I swear to God, Talon, we will find out everything we can about what happened. She’s like a fucking sister to me, dude. Do you honestly think any one of us would ever let anything happen to her?”
 

“Too late for that.”
 

“Rusty says he checked the bathroom, looked in the closet and everything before she went in. There’s a false back to the closet that leads straight into the men’s room. Which we didn’t know at the time, but no one was in there. He’s one of our best men and I know he is kicking his own ass for what happened. He didn’t fuck up, Talon.”
 

I run my hand through my hair. “Fuck, I fucking know that. It’s just, fuck, fuck fuck!”
 

Three hours and a shit ton of fucking coffee later, we’ve been joined by Dex, Mouse and Peacock, plus all the guards are standing watch over us. The news on the TV in the waiting room keeps replaying the scene of me and Kyle trying to get into the ambulance. “We need to get Cami on the phone,” I say to Kyle, who’s been on the phone since we arrived. He holds his finger up to me to wait a minute.
 

“Alright, thanks.” He hangs up.
 

“Who was that?”
 

“The cops. The bus was gone when they got back to the stadium. They’re looking for it on most of the routes on the way to New Orleans. Mills provided them with names and information. Assuming they show up in New Orleans, they can deal with them then.”
 

“Would they seriously move on to the next show like nothing happened?”
 

Kyle shrugs, “Maybe, if they either don’t know what happened, who did it, or even if anything happened. It’s too fucking convenient for them to have disappeared already.”
 

“God damn it. We’ve got to talk to Cami.”
 

“Already done. The story should be shifting shortly.” He looks up at the TV and sure enough, the Bold logo is on the TV behind a podium. Kyle and I watch as Cami comes to stand behind it and the reporters go nuts with questions. Cami gestures with her hands for them to calm down.
 

“I promise to answer questions when I’m done with my statement. Earlier this morning, around twelve fifteen central time, Addison Beltrand was attacked in the bathroom of a local Dallas bar following the 69 Bottles concert and is currently undergoing treatment at a local Dallas hospital. I am in close contact with the doctors as well as members of 69 Bottles in regards to her condition. At this time she is stable. We will continue to update you with more information as it becomes available.
 

“I am deeply sorry that this has happened to Addison and we are working with the police as best we can from here and I know the band, as well as their security detail are cooperating as well. Now, I will take a few questions.”
 

Hands go up in front of the cameras.
 

“Go ahead,” Cami says with a point.
 

“If the security detail is so cooperative now, what happened during the attack?”
 

Cami gives one of those ‘I really hate you for asking that question’ looks. “It is believed that Addison was escorted to the ladies room by a member of the staff, who then checked the bathroom before letting her inside. No one went in or out of the room during the time that she was in there. It wasn’t until they found her that they discovered a false door in the back of a closet inside of the restroom. The closet led to the neighboring men’s room with a door around the corner from the security guard. We’re also under suspicion that Addison may have been drugged prior to the attack.” She pauses, takes a sip of water, looks ridiculously sad and points to another reporter.
 

I zone out from the TV, not wanting to hear anymore. Cami is very good at what she does so I leave her to it. I just need Addison back in my arms, I need to see her. I stand up and start pacing. “How much longer is this gonna take?” I say aloud, but not really expecting anyone to answer the question.
 

We’ve been sitting here for some time with very little in the way of updates on her condition and it’s driving me insane. They won’t let any of us back there and after the way they treated us when we arrived, I’m surprised they’re letting us sit here at all.
 

I close my eyes and all I can see is her on that bathroom floor, spread eagled, naked, and bleeding. So help me god if he fucking raped her, I will rip his balls off myself.

I turn to Kyle. “Get me the fucking label, now,” I snap.

“Talon? What’s going on?”
 

“Who the fuck put us with Euphoric?” I snap at Seth.
 

“What, why?”

“You haven’t seen the fucking news?”
 

“Calm down, Talon. No, I haven’t seen the news, what’s going on?” Seth says in a very calming voice.
 

“Their drummer attacked and possibly raped Addison tonight.”
 

“Fuck!” The normally calming force of Seth is completely gone. “Where?”

I give him the details of what happened, “Fuck, Talon, I’m sorry. We had no idea.”
 

“Judging from the way this bastard acted, this isn’t his first rodeo. You might want to look into other incidents where they’re involved. But as far as the fucking tour is concerned, they’re done.”
 

“You can’t…”
 

“Like hell I can’t do that, Seth. I will and I did. Either they go, or we go. You pick your fucking battle. They’re going to be without a drummer when the cops catch up to them.”