Encore (The Black Eagles Series Book 2) (15 page)

              Zoe hadn’t finished. She launched herself at Megan, tearing her from Toby’s grip. ‘You think you’re better than me. How dare you show me up?’ She threw Megan to the floor.

              Toby stepped in between them. ‘Back off, or I swear to god—’

              Zoe lashed out, slapping Toby across the face. ‘You were nothing but second best anyway. I never really wanted you.’

              Toby laughed loudly, throwing his head backwards. ‘Oh, Zoe, I’m not stupid. We all knew who you really wanted. You and millions of other women with no chance. Let me remind you, who called begging?’ He jabbed his finger in her direction. ‘You offered it on a plate. I was under no illusions.’

              Zoe took a few steps back, glaring over his shoulder. Megan was back on her feet. ‘You’re not even a real woman,’ Zoe threw at Megan. The gasps echoed around them.

              ‘Oh, she…did…not...’ Melissa hissed, fuming. Beth stormed forward seething that Zoe had dared take it that far.

              ‘What did you say?’ Megan snapped. Anger ripped through her.

              Zoe repeated herself. ‘Real women can give their man…children,’ she screamed at Megan. ‘You don’t even have a fully functional womb.’

              ‘Enough, Zoe!’ Toby warned.

              Megan let out a cry, like a tribal war cry – loud and threatening. Her anger, pain and loss of that part of her life tore through her. She launched at Zoe, hitting her so hard they both landed on the floor. Megan half on, half off Zoe, as they struggled with each other. ‘You bitch.’

              Toby grabbed Megan, and lifted her up with one arm. ‘Calm down, leave her. She isn’t worth it.’ He turned to Zoe, who sat on the ground, mud covering her clothes. ‘You’re disgusting. That was beyond low, even for you. You have no idea what we’ve been through. Get it into your head, I don’t want you. Luke doesn’t want you. Nobody does. You know, you could try just being nice to people. You might actually find some friends.’ He leaned over her. ‘We are well and truly done.’

‘I’m not talking today. I’m sad,’ Amber said, as she climbed onto her bed, and turned her back on her doctor. It was a battle every day to get her to talk. She would just sit on the bed, repeating song lyrics to herself or asking if Luke was coming that day to see her. Doctor Forrest worked closely with Amber on a daily basis but her condition was getting worse. She was so detached from reality he wasn’t sure that she wanted the help. In
her
reality, Luke loved her, and would come and free her from her prison, as she called it.

              ‘He won’t stand for this. He will come for me.’

              Doctor Forrest stayed calm. He didn’t shout her down as it was useless. Instead he told her she was getting a visitor soon, but it wasn’t Luke. Amber’s mother would be making her fortnightly visit. It seemed more that she had to see her, not that she wanted to. He wondered if her illness had started due to her parents’ behaviour towards her. They seemed to regard her as a burden. Her father hadn’t visited once since she had been a patient. Not even a phone call.

              ‘Tell her not to bother. I don’t want to see her. ‘

              ‘You don’t mean that.’ Although in this case he actually did believe that wasn’t a feeling made only because of her illness. It was probably the one thing she did actually mean.     

              She began to sing loudly, and the doctor left the room. No progress today. He would put it in his report, the same as every day. He was frustrated. He really wanted to help this girl, save her from a life inside this hospital. It was his life, helping people. But sometimes people just couldn’t be helped.

              He returned to his office, minutes before Amber’s mother arrived. She looked harassed. Her chocolate-coloured hair was held back in a clip, and she was dressed in a smart suit. She looked ready for an important meeting.

              ‘Have you fixed her yet?’ Hayley Nickson asked, as she dropped into the seat opposite him. It was always her first question. Not even a hint of love or compassion. Doctor Forrest updated her on the lack of progress, stressing it wasn’t something you fixed overnight.

              ‘Can’t you give her a pill or something?’

              ‘No. That is not going to help. We need to find the root of the problem. Something triggered this behaviour.’

              Hayley crossed her legs and checked her phone, which clearly seemed much more important than her daughter. ‘Look, I have a meeting with a client in two hours. I can’t be late. I’m closing a deal on a very large estate.’

              The doctor remained professional, despite wanting to tell this woman that she was almost certainly a factor in Amber’s problems.

              ‘Amber has always been…strange. I’ve never really known what to do with her. But I never thought things would get so bad. You know that guy did lead her on, sleeping with a girl who clearly wanted more. He’s to blame for this.’

              This was typical, blaming everyone else. Blame wasn’t relevant in Amber’s case. Getting to the bottom of her problems was his priority. She would never be able to leave this hospital otherwise.

*****

‘Games...’ Amber stopped singing as her mother came into the room.

              ‘Hello, love. How’s your day been?’ Hayley asked, pretending to show an interest.

              Amber tilted her head slightly, and hissed. ‘Luke still hasn’t come to get me. I know it’s them.’ Amber pointed to the door and Hayley rolled her eyes at her daughter.

              ‘Amber, you know he isn’t coming. He’s with that Melissa. You need to accept it, move on. Come on, enough is enough now.’

              Amber screamed in her mother’s face. No words, just screams. Her mother flinched backwards, angling away from the vocal attack. ‘No. He’s mine. Why are you always such a bitch to me?’

              Hayley leaned forward, angry. ‘Since me and your father had to clean up, after you killed that Chloe, since then we have had to live with the fact that our daughter is a murderer. Killing someone in cold blood. I should have handed you over to the police. Maybe…we could have stopped you. I do love you because you’re my baby, but you make it so hard.’

              ‘You should have got rid of me,’ Amber spat at her mother. ‘Like you were so desperate to do.’

              Hayley reeled backwards, before she had time to defend herself, as Amber lunged forward, and grabbed her mother by the throat, screaming obscenities at her. ‘I heard you. I heard you.’

              ‘Amber! Please stop it. You heard what, darling? Calm down,’ Hayley begged as she struggled with her daughter.

              ‘I heard you. I heard you telling Daddy. I was six years old, and I heard you talking about how you resented having me, and you wished you’d gone through with the abortion. ‘The tears stung Amber’s eyes, and the pain of hearing that flooded through. Luke didn’t love her, not even her own mother loved her.

              ‘Amber, I-I-I don’t remember that…I clearly didn’t mean it. I might have just had a bad day with you, or maybe at work. I’m sorry.’

              ‘You never talk to me. Never hug me or tell me you love me. I think you did mean it.’ She flicked her head up, and glared at her mother. ‘This is your fault.’

              Hayley didn’t argue or defend herself. She knew everything her daughter had said was the complete truth. Only she had never known that Amber had heard her say it. She had never wanted to hurt her. She had considered an abortion, but couldn’t go through with it. Amber’s dad had been distant from the moment Amber was born, but what Amber didn’t know was that the man she called Dad wasn’t her real dad. Hayley had been unfaithful, stupid. One night of madness and she had never forgiven herself. Amber was the result of a drunken fumble in the toilets of a nightclub and was a reminder of her betrayal, for which her husband had never really forgiven her. It was there in front of her, the reason for Amber’s problems. Hayley had kept her daughter at a distance, disgusted at herself. The real victim had been Amber.

              Amber’s lack of affection, love or feeling important had morphed into obsession, seeking it so desperately that it consumed her. Luke had given her some affection. It wasn’t the same as what he gave Melissa but it had been enough. She had clung to it. Luke, the boy she fell for at the age of six, the man she was still fixated on. It tore her open when she thought about him.

              ‘I heard you say those things about me the night I set fire to Chloe’s home. I was so sad, and lonely. And she had Luke and I wanted to be his friend. I wanted to lash out. I never meant for her to die. I swear!’

              Hayley let go of her cool exterior and let the mother in her come through. Her heart broke as she saw the pure pain in her daughter’s eyes and knew it was all her fault. ‘Oh, Amber, I’m so sorry,’ she said holding her arms out, and allowing her daughter to fall into them. It had been so long since Amber had been hugged by anyone that she almost got lost in it, forgetting her true motive. Her mother soothed her, patted her back and told her she loved her and how sorry she was for being such a terrible mum.

              Amber, unbeknown to her mother, was reaching around to the handbag that hung from the chair. The front pocket of the expensive leather bag had a wooden handle sticking out. The markings were silver and green flowers: it was her mother’s nail file. Amber tucked the object into her sleeve before removing herself from her mother’s embrace. Her eyes had changed and her mother saw it. Amber’s alter ego, Aleria, was present now.

              ‘Hello, bitch,’ Aleria spat in Hayley’s direction. ‘Amber isn’t here any more.’

‘You call me whenever you like…I don’t care if it’s four in the morning. Nobody tells you what to do. If you need me…you call. OK?’

              Melissa nodded and held Luke, trying not to break down. This was it. The album was out and it was time to hit the road. His bags were packed and by the door. In less than an hour he would be gone. Nancy had put together a three-month tour, Australia and New Zealand first before heading to the States and then a few UK dates. Any festivals that they could get into were being booked, and a few charity events were on the horizon. The level of interviews they would be attending was through the roof. Melissa wondered if she would ever see him again. ‘I will. And I swear I’ll be on a plane whenever you ask.’

              Luke tipped her head up and wiped away a tear. ‘You can come out to see me in a few weeks,’ he promised. It had been made very clear when signing their new contract that his relationship was his business, and he would see Melissa whenever he chose to. She didn’t need permission from anyone to call or see him. He would do as he was contracted to do, and never put the band and their commitments in any jeopardy, but if his girlfriend needed him he would be there without a second’s thought.

              ‘This is harder than I thought it would be. I miss you already and you’ve not even left yet.’ Melissa was still in his T-shirt that she had thrown on that morning. They had been so busy preparing for him to leave that she hadn’t got dressed. 

              ‘You still look irresistible in my T-shirt,’ Luke flirted. ‘I still have some time, and they can’t go without me anyway.’

              Melissa giggled as he grabbed her round the waist and threw her on the sofa. ‘Didn’t you get enough last night? I mean we didn’t exactly sleep.’

              Luke trailed gentle kisses across her cheek, and whispered in her ear. ‘I will never get enough of you. And god knows when I’m getting this again. I have needs, you know.’ His fingers caressed her hips and her back. His touch still made every nerve burn with desire.

              ‘Do they really need you?’ Melissa asked, pouting.

              ‘I think the fans might riot,’ Luke said as he rested his forehead against hers. ‘Are you going to be OK? I can’t lie and say I don’t want to go. I do, but I feel like I’m leaving too soon.’

              Melissa kissed his nose. ‘I can’t lie and say I’m happy that you’re going, but we have to get past all this. I’ll be fine. It’s time you got back out there. I would rather have a happy Luke, and an on the road Luke is the only way to get it. I’ve seen how this break, although it was unavoidable, brought you down. Thank you for fixing me. But now it’s time I let you go.’ She reached up and for the first time, it was her that wiped his tear away.

              ‘You fixed me too, Liss. I love you. Don’t ever forget that.’

              Their last hour was spent absorbing each other as much as possible, but eventually Luke walked through the door, bag in one hand and Chloe in the other. He was officially back on the road. Melissa hugged him and smiled, almost pushing him out of the door. Once he was gone, she collapsed to her knees and sobbed, feeling instantly vulnerable. They had spent so much time with each other that she had forgotten what is was like to be without him. He was public property again. He had to give his time to others and she hated it, but would never ask him to stop. She would suck it up and deal with it just like she did in the beginning. At least this time she was older and wiser and less naive.

              Luke’s status update, as he settled down on their new bus was:               ‘Glad to be back on the road. See you nutters soon. If you’re free for a few minutes, go send my girl Liss some love. It’s all down to her – I am back.’

*****

Jo-Jo lay on her bed, thankful for some peace after days of travelling. It was a chance to switch off and catch up on some well-earned sleep before their show the following night. All she wanted was a hot shower, but she lay on her bed with ice cream and a beer, called Tom and watched a film. Her phone vibrated in her pocket but it wasn’t a call. She frowned while she considered replying to the Twitter notifications. She had hundreds just from that day, but decided to stick to her plan of doing nothing. Social networking would distract her for hours, and she needed to stop trying to please everyone. She always felt bad because some fans just wanted any response from someone they idolised, but she couldn’t answer everyone all the time. It was the ones who begged for a tweet or a follow, anything to say she had noticed them, and it was so hard to ignore it.

              Megan had tweeted all the girls so she focused on that. They engaged in excited discussions about usual girly things, and The Black Eagles being back on the road. Melissa was in good spirits too. Beth was her usual witty self, her run-in with her dad now a distant memory, although she left the conversation to feed Ebony.

              There was the usual flurry of fans jumping in and it became a mass conversation that revolved around shoes, until Luke appeared in the conversation telling people to stop encouraging Melissa to buy more shoes as he was nearly bankrupt.

              The fans had loved the couple showing some interaction as it gave them hope that things were really OK. They ended the conversation with Luke tweeting Melissa. ‘I fucking love you’ sending the female fans into meltdown.

              Jo-Jo logged out and settled down to watch her movie. It hadn’t been more than ten minutes into
The Mortal Instruments
, one of Jo-Jo’s favourites, that there was a knock on her door. She sighed, silently hoping whoever it was made it quick. It was Nathan asking if she had any weed as they were all out and he needed some to sleep. Jo-Jo invited him in while she searched her bag for her emergency stash. She knew she had made a mistake the second she had let him in. She still hadn’t forgotten his behaviour just a few days ago, but they had to tour with the guy and had agreed to stay civil to avoid any awkwardness. She certainly wouldn’t be keeping in touch with them after they were home. But if giving him what he wanted meant getting rid of him quick, it was worth it.

              ‘It’ll kill you one day,’ Jo-Jo joked as she handed him some for the night. Nathan laughed as he reached to take it from her hand. If she wasn’t mistaken his touch lingered longer than was needed. She looked up at him, and he smiled down at her. He was much taller than her and his pale blue eyes stared into hers. ‘OK…you have your weed, go smoke it,’ she said firmly.

              His smiled dropped and he looked disappointed. He was working up to something, she could sense it – to say or do something, and her instinct told her it wasn’t good. Nathan reached for her hair, and tucked a stray strand behind her ear. Her stomach flipped and she prepared to take a swing at him if he didn’t leave, and soon.

              ‘It’s a shame,’ he said.

              ‘What is?’

              ‘You having a boyfriend.’

              ‘Really? Oh, I’m pretty happy about it.’ She pushed past him, holding her door open, gesturing for him to leave. ‘Nathan, I’m tired and I need to go to bed.’

              Nathan walked towards the door, turning before actually leaving. ‘Can I join you?’ It wasn’t a joke, he meant it.

              Jo-Jo pushed him through the door, her blood boiling. ‘No you cannot. Stay away from me, and stop messing Allie about. You won’t win this. I know your game, and we will make her listen, eventually. She will see through you.’

              She slammed the door violently and waited a few minutes until the coast was clear before heading to Cassie’s room. She was there with Summer – it wasn’t a secret about them. They all knew and Jo-Jo was pleased for her friend. It was just a shame that Summer had a complete arsehole in her band. Summer was yet again embarrassed and promised to speak to him and soon. Allie was a different matter, and they had to play this one carefully.

*****

Megan stared at the screen of her laptop, wishing she had talked to Toby about the strange conversation with Ian. He would have known what to do and been there when she opened the file. It was titled “For MM”, which she could only assume were her initials. Her nerves got the better of her and she pulled the USB stick out. It was playing on her mind that she had been given this kind of responsibility. What did he expect her to do with the information anyway? Melissa and Beth were sitting either side of her waiting for her to explain what the problem was. Megan had called them both and asked for some help. They had met at Beth’s as arranged but Megan still hadn’t really explained the purpose of the sudden meeting.

              ‘This is doing my head in. Sleep deprived mother here, spill, now,’ Beth demanded, unable to hide her annoyance at the strange behaviour. Megan went red and finally explained the full story.

              ‘He kissed you! Dear god, never tell Toby…for all our sakes, just don’t,’ Beth said, outraged and a little proud of Megan. At last she was getting the attention she deserved, and all those losers who put her down were now eating their words. ‘Dickheads,’ she muttered.

              ‘It wasn’t that kind of kiss, more like a friendly one.’

              ‘Really?!’ Beth said, the sarcasm unhidden in her remark.

              Megan looked nervous and moved the conversation onto the USB stick. Melissa took it from her and put in back in the laptop. The file flicked up. ‘Come on, if this can nail the sleazeball let’s stop wasting time,’ Melissa said almost jumping in her seat with excitement.

              ‘But...what if it’s something really bad?’

              Melissa waved her hand to dismiss it. Ian clearly needed this to come out and she was willing to make it happen. ‘It obviously isn’t good.’ Melissa reminded her what Aiden had done to her.

              Megan moved Melissa away and took control. She’d been given the task and she would get on with it. Melissa was right, he had to be taught a lesson. ‘Please don’t be children,’ she whispered.

              The file opened and in the folder were at least twenty photos. Megan clicked on the first and all three girls gasped.

              ‘Is that…? No…’ Melissa shrieked.

              ‘Oh, my god! That is her,’ Beth said, leaning forward and grabbing the laptop for a better look. They looked at each of the photos and once they had analysed each one and picked themselves off the floor laughing they pulled the USB stick out.

              ‘This is absolute gold.’ Beth laughed and gleefully clapped her hands repeatedly.              

              Megan was smiling: she had her ultimate revenge. All they had to do was plan how to execute the destruction of Death Wishes. ‘We have to think this through. It has to be like a bomb going off. I mean…make it public so he has no time to cover his tracks.’

              They wondered how Ian had obtained the little nugget of gold, but quickly decided they didn’t care.

              ‘I’m calling Luke. The boys need to be in on this,’ Melissa said.

              Megan agreed but asked to call Toby first. To her surprise he wasn’t annoyed she hadn’t told him straight away. The fact that they had something so damaging had made his day. She couldn’t keep the kiss from him: it wasn’t in her nature to do that. He threw a fit, as Megan knew he would, but she somehow managed to calm him. ‘It wasn’t a come on, more like a friendly kiss. I swear. At least he, out of all of them, had the decency to apologise to me, and look what he’s given us. Toby, he’s on our side.’

              ‘I’ll leave you to decide how to play this. Pay back is definitely going to be a bitch. And as for Ian, I’ll let the kiss on the forehead go, this time,’ Toby said, the last bit through gritted teeth. Megan breathed a sigh of relief as she hung up.

              ‘What have you done with the real Toby?’ Beth asked, shocked he’d taken it so well.

              Megan shrugged. ‘I have a knack of getting through to him. It’s a secret I’ll never tell.’ A thought popped into her mind and she called Jade, who was happy to be involved.

              ‘Megan, I am totally in. I’ll reconnect with him, stroke his ego and pretend I don’t care about what happened. I’ve tickets to a gig in a few weeks and my brother only works at the venue. Once I tell him what he did, he’ll be livid. I have four very protective older brothers.’

              A plan was in motion and all they had to do now was wait. A few hours later Megan got a call from Ben, one of Jade’s brothers, who was very happy to help.

*****

‘Good show, boys,’ Ray said as the band and the some of the crew arrived back at their hotel. He stopped Luke before he entered the lift, concerned that his front man was not bonding well with their new road crew. ‘Listen, I get it. You’re finding it hard to trust. I don’t blame you, but Riley is trying his best. He’s a good kid.’ Luke sighed knowing he was being very hard on his guitar technician. Riley was young, just turned eighteen, and this was his first job as part of a road crew. He was very good at what he did and Luke was being very standoffish and at times a little hard on him. Ray thought it was a bit unfair that the lad was being punished for the misdoings of someone else. ‘He isn’t to blame.’

              Once Ray had explained some of his behaviour Luke suddenly felt bad. He hadn’t done it intentionally. ‘I’m trying, Ray…’