Swearing, he ripped open the door, heedless of the sound that instantly keened through the venue. The cops were there.
Agents were there. All good men and women, steady people who knew their jobs...
But hadn’t known Kenneth Malcolm.
SKYLAR HAD NEVER been below the stage, and she didn’t know what to expect once they went down the ladder.
But once they were away from others, she didn’t intend to be so obliging.
“Move!” Malcolm told her.
“I’m moving. What? Do you want me to break a leg and slow you down even more, you idiot? And you are an idiot. Now everyone is going to know who you are and what you did—”
“And no one will give a damn when I’m on a beach in Mexico!” he promised her.
“Oh, am I going to Mexico?”
He started to laugh. “Skylar Ferguson, child of Jake, beloved by all, little nightingale, and now... Well, you guys were good tonight. You know, there are probably a thousand men out there who would love to take you to Mexico! But I’m no fool. You’d kill me the first chance you got.”
“Because you’re the one who ordered Justin to fix the amp that killed my father,” she said flatly.
“No, it was my suggestion, and I was the one on the dark web that gave the order—promising to see that Julia and the kids were killed if he failed—but I’m not the be-all and end-all,” he said. “But you look like such a beautiful, sweet thing. I know, however, that you’re a raving bitch.”
“So what’s the deal? You’re going to kill me, too?” she asked.
“Not quite yet, not if you try to be a good girl.”
“If you’re going to kill me anyway, why would I be a good girl?”
“Because there’s always hope, right? You can live on the hope that your boy toy will make it to you somehow, or one of his lecturing friends.” He laughed. “Hope that you move and that your idiot drummer boy doesn’t pop up in front of me, threatening me.”
“If not insurance against such a thing, what am I?”
“Okay, you are insurance. But seriously, try to be nice, Skylar. I know you can do it. I’ve seen you with other people. So behave...”
“I see. You’re taking me so you can get to Mexico. I hate to tell you, but it’s not going to work.”
“And why would that be?”
“They’ll shoot down your plane.”
“No, they’d kill an innocent pilot. They don’t want to do that, right?”
She started to laugh suddenly. “And you think you have a plan that will get you to a plane and off the ground and no one is going to know? You’re an idiot—”
“That’s not being nice,” he warned, thrusting the nose of the gun against her skull.
“Well, you are. If you hadn’t come for me, you could have walked out on your own, and no one would have noticed.”
“No, that fool knew. He knew when he saw me with the packet.”
“The fool? You mean the real FBI agent who came to the dressing-room door.”
“He would have told Wellington. I had to take him down, and I’m not sure I killed him, and there you were, so...now you’re insurance. And again—”
“Okay, so I’m going with you to a car. Whose car? How—”
“You don’t need to worry about whose car.”
“Oh, I see. The idiot who picked up the package passed it on to you when he realized that he was seen and being chased. And the FBI agent saw the exchange. And with all the metal detectors, no one other than law-enforcement officials should have had firearms, but you didn’t need to bring a firearm in because you’d already stashed one here for emergencies.”
“So smart. Wow. A real Einstein.”
They were still on the ground. It was dark, but she could see the hatred in his eyes as he shoved her.
“Move, Einstein.”
“Where?”
“The panel, you dolt.”
“Hey, I’ve never had an occasion to be down here before!”
“That’s right. You horrible, elitist, wretched, conceited performers! You think that you walk on stage and the world adores you. You don’t give a damn about anyone working—you just want your music, your drinks and your drugs, and your good old rock ’n’ roll.”
“That’s bull. My father cared about everyone. He cared about kids being given drugs, and he’s turning over in his grave right now because you’re killing people everywhere with drugs that aren’t just addictive, they’re lethal—”
“Oh, no, no. I’m just this venue. The king has many subjects. Now, get the hell through the panel.”
