Encore (The Black Eagles Series Book 2) (18 page)

              ‘Yeah, but we’ve never done it on a dining table.’ He winked, and his cheeky, mischievous smile floored her. His sapphire blue eyes sparkled as he looked at her, his perfect diamond-shaped face had lost the worry from it. The lightning streak of fringe hung loosely almost touching her nose. He was angry over Amber but surprisingly calm. The police were fully focused and the distance made it easy to pretend it wasn’t happening. Plus, he had to keep Melissa calm: she couldn’t be stressed. He had only just got her back on her feet. To see that worried, terrified look in her eyes again was a blow to him. It was a look he couldn’t bear to see, and his mission was to keep her mind off it as much as possible. He pulled out his best moves, and she was soon relaxed and giggling as he moved them to the bed – dining tables were not comfortable, they had concluded.

              ‘Luke Black, you should be locked up.’

              ‘The fans would riot. It wouldn’t be pretty. They think I’m a big deal,’ he said smugly, and she rolled her eyes at his mock arrogance. He had done what he was best at, apart from the sex – making her feel better, but mostly safe. He kissed her cheek and down her neck, gently pushing her down. She was definitely feeling calmer. He looked up from her breasts and winked, flicking his eyes towards the wall, on the other side of which was Toby and Megan’s room.

              ‘Let’s go for the record. Forget Amber for one night.’

*****

‘Dear god,’ Megan whispered and laughed quietly as Toby held a glass against the wall. He shrugged. This wasn’t an unknown event on tour with Luke when Melissa was around and Toby was timing how long they went at it for. ‘Seriously, get away from the wall,’ Megan whispered again. Toby held up his wrist and checked his watch. Tom was stretched out on the sofa opposite Megan, his fingers crossed. If they held on for just ten more minutes £500 was his. Not that money was really the issue – beating Toby was the prize.

              ‘Bollocks,’ Toby yelled. His timings had passed and no matter what happened now, Tom was victorious.

              Tom punched the air in delight. ‘Lissa, you little minx. Legend.’ Toby threw a bunch of notes quite violently in Tom’s face.

              ‘What?!’ both boys said seeing the look of utter shock on Megan’s face, her mouth open in disbelief.

              ‘You just made a bet on how long they had sex for. It’s just weird.’

              Tom laughed loudly as he gathered up his winnings. He kissed the notes and patted them on Megan’s nose. ‘I just won. I don’t care. Anyway, it’s their own fault. They should be more discreet.’ He flicked his eyes towards the wall, and the show was finally over.

              Toby hammered on the wall. ‘You two dirt bags owe me £500. You could have been ten minutes quicker. Fuck sake,’ he shouted.

              Hysterical laughter echoed from next door. ‘Pervs,’ Melissa shouted back.

              ‘Animals,’ Toby retorted. ‘Have a bit of respect for your neighbours.’

              It went silent for a couple of minutes then a bellow from the opposite end of the corridor made them all fall about laughing.

              ‘If you lot don’t shut the fuck up and think about those who haven’t had sex in months, and if you wake my child, I will kill you all,’ Dale’s voice boomed.

              Seconds later Ebony cried out, then they heard Beth. ‘Yeah, good one, Dale. Nice work…you just woke her up yourself…idiot.’

              Tom leaned back, and caught his breath. ‘So good to be back on tour with you muppets.’

              But in the back of all their minds was Amber. Tom was feeling on edge because where Amber was concerned anything could happen. Thoughts were filling his mind but he decided not to bring it up. Instead he asked Megan to tell them all about the fall of Death Wishes which they hadn’t really had a proper run down of.

              Toby was all in favour and grabbed more beers. ‘If only we had popcorn,’ he joked as he kissed Megan on the cheek.

              ‘It was the best thing ever,’ Megan said before launching into a full blow by blow account. She leaned against Toby as she told the story.

              Toby laughed hysterically so much he was crying by the end of it. ‘That is absolute class. Nice work. I’m proud.’

*****

Melissa threw a bottle of water to Dale, who caught it with one hand and gave her the thumbs up with his other. It was a hot night which made the inside of the venue hotter than a sauna. Sweat dripped from all four band members, who were all without shirts by this time.

              ‘Fuck. Our men are  hot,’ Beth said, smiling in Dale’s direction. She wasn’t getting any argument from her friends who nodded and agreed. Beth frowned. Melissa had noticed it a few times since the boys had started and asked her what was bugging her.

              ‘I’m just still wary of this new crew. You know…’

              Melissa understood completely – new road crew, new everything. They had to start all over again. The problem was that it was going to be so hard to trust any of them. But they had to try. ‘Yeah. But we have to make this work,’ she said patting her friend’s arm and crouching down to tickle Ebony who was in her seat. Melissa giggled at the cute pink ear protectors that covered her ears. It was loud backstage and her tiny ears were not used to this, but her smile confirmed that she was happy in her surroundings. If Melissa wasn’t mistaken it almost looked like she was rocking in her chair to the beat. Dale was determined his little girl was going to be into music as much as he was. The fact that she was here had made his year. But they didn’t want her exposed to too much noise, taking it in turns to take her back to their lavish dressing room at regular intervals. It was Melissa’s turn this time and she was happy to do it. It was also time for her next feed and she had wanted to do it. Beth was thankful for all the help she was getting.

              Ray called for one member of the crew to go with Melissa and Ebony and wait outside the dressing room until she was ready then bring them back safe and sound. He was an oldish guy, one of the crew that did a lot of the lifting and carrying. He wasn’t part of the sound crew so wasn’t needed during the live show. He smiled warmly at Melissa and introduced himself as Ken. He had a soft, kind face and his mannerisms were unthreatening. He offered to carry Ebony, as it seemed to him Melissa was struggling with the extra weight the carry seat added. Melissa shook her head. Kind as he seemed there was no way she was handing her precious niece to a stranger, absolutely no way in hell.

              They walked to the dressing room making small talk. Once at the door he held it open to let her go in. ‘I’ll be right outside. If you need me, just shout. OK?’

              ‘Thanks, Ken. I won’t be too long. She just needs feeding.’

              Ken nodded and closed the door behind her. The dressing room was spacious and lavishly decorated in red and black. There were leather sofas, TVs and a fully stocked fridge, a microwave and games console. The room looked like they had been there a week, not a day. Belongings were scattered all over the place, mainly the boys’ acoustic guitars, empty beer bottles and fast food wrappers. Melissa placed Ebony on a pink fleece blanket in the middle of the room, in plain sight, so no matter where she stood she was always in her vision. Ebony wriggled around on the blanket making gurgling noises while Melissa waited for her bottle to warm in the microwave. It wasn’t long before she pierced the air with her hungry cry. She didn’t have to wait long, and a few minutes later she was snuggly on her auntie’s lap with her bottle, happy and content. Her tiny fingers wrapped themselves around Melissa’s little finger.

              ‘You’re one precious darling. You know that,’ Melissa said using that ridiculous voice adults automatically revert to when talking to babies. Ebony was halfway through her feed when the sound of a phone shrilled. It was Melissa’s, but she ignored it. They could wait for now. Only after it had gone off several times did she pick it up. No number flashed on the screen: the number had been withheld. She answered it thinking it was going to be a journalist or maybe more work offers. That was something else she really needed to start to consider.

              ‘Hello,’ she said in a friendly manner.

              Silence.

              Melissa repeated herself a few more times, then she heard the breathing on the other end. Slow and calm at first and then it speeded up like the caller was running. Melissa felt every nerve tingle, her heart pounded loudly, and there was sweat on the back of her neck. But her blood ran cold as the faint voice, low but threatening, gave her a warning.

              ‘You haven’t won. The game never ended. Bitch! You’d better take care of that little one.’ Then the line went dead and Melissa sat frozen until she realised she wasn’t alone in the room. Ken was beside her, taking the phone from her hand.

              ‘Miss Webb, I heard you shout. What’s wrong?’

              Melissa had yelled out ‘No!’ without even knowing she had done it. Ebony wriggled in her arms, snapping Melissa back into the room. She clutched the baby against her in a protective hold as the fear took control. Not for herself, but the fact that they had mentioned Ebony. The voice had been low and a little distorted and she couldn’t truly say it was Amber, but who else could it have been.

              ‘Miss Webb, I realise you don’t know me. The facts surrounding the band’s last crew have never been fully explained but I promise on my family’s lives, you are perfectly safe around me.’ Ken took a step back from her to give her a bit of space while she thought about whether she trusted him or not. She decided that right now she didn’t have much choice and she asked him to get Ray. If she was going to begin to trust she needed Ray there to begin the process. Ken did as he was instructed and Ray was by her side in a flash. Then she told them about the call.

              ‘Threatening a baby. Fuck,’ Ray hissed. ‘What do you want me to do, Liss?’

              ‘Everything. Do everything. No secrets. Once the boys have finished we get them in here and they are told. Ring Fox. And you’d better get Beth in here because she will go off like a rocket regardless. But if I don’t tell her myself it won’t go down well.’

              Ray nodded and instructed Ken to stay with Melissa and nobody was to go in that room until he returned.

*****

Luke’s laughter stopped suddenly as they made their way from the stage, and the shouts coming from the dressing room made all four boys stop in their tracks.

              ‘She as good as threatened my daughter,’ they heard Beth’s voice cry hysterically.

              Dale took off, sprinting to the door which he practically kicked off its hinges. Ray was holding Beth and her eyes were tear soaked. Dale went to her and she fell against him. Luke scanned the room and saw Melissa holding Ebony. But she was shaking. Dale took his daughter from her as Ray filled them in on the unwelcome call.

              ‘I’m already in the middle of talks with the police. They’ve been made fully aware and are all over this. We know it’s Amber although Melissa couldn’t quite confirm it was her voice, but it was definitely female,’ Ray assured Dale who was holding his family like they were precious gold.

              ‘I swear, in front of you all. That fuckwit goes anywhere near my child I will do time. I will…I’m so sick of that girl.’ His voice was tense and he was clearly angry.

              Luke swallowed his fear and stepped into the group. He laid a hand on Ebony and looked at his best friend who was now a father and he saw the threat in his eyes, and the worry. ‘Ray, pull out everything we’ve got. I don’t care what the cost is. I’ll pay for the whole lot if I have to. I want this tour on fucking lock down. I want every fucker rechecked – any doubt with anyone, no matter the reason, gone. You understand?’ Luke ordered.              

              Ray didn’t argue and was on the case immediately. Luke promised Dale that no harm would come to Ebony if it meant his last penny. Melissa hadn’t spoken a word. She just stood silent, almost frozen.

              ‘Liss, babe. Come here,’ Luke said as he held his hand out to her. A single tear ran down her scarred cheek. The room was silent as they all looked at her. Then she was back in the room, broken, and all their hearts broke too. Her knees gave way and she collapsed to the floor. ‘I can’t do this again. Why won’t she leave us alone. Why?’

              Luke picked her up off the floor and they all made their way out of the venue and back onto the bus, leaving the crew behind to pack up. As the bus headed out of the car park the band looked on at the waiting fans who were oblivious to the situation and would be left disappointed. It hurt to do it but they had to. Who knows who was in that crowd and who Amber had manipulated to help her. They couldn’t take any risks. Luke’s heart jolted as one girl pointed and the realisation on her face told him she knew they’d just left. She looked distraught and he felt that too. He reached for his phone, needing to put something out.

              ‘We are sorry. A statement will be issued soon. We had to leave quick. So sorry.’

              Melissa took his hand and rested her head on his shoulder. ‘They will understand. Don’t worry,’ she assured him, knowing he hated breaking his promises to anyone, but even more so when it was the fans.