Page 123 of Tortured Tones

Agony rippled across his face. “I got mad at her before the meet and greet. She was upset. Angry. What if she ran away? Left me? I’ve lost too many people in my life; I can’t lose her too.”

Cole’s fear and heartache slammed into my chest. The tears welling in his eyes pierced my soul. He’d hidden his anguish, grief, and heartache too much, brushing it aside to care for others. The reality of Charlotte disappearing had brought it to the surface with a vengeance.

“You won’t, Cole.” This was my job. We were doing everything we could. We’d find her. “Let’s search the backstage area again. We’ll reconvene with the group and make sure no place has been missed.”

He scanned the huge auditorium “Where else could she be?”

“We’ll double-check everywhere.” I placed my hand on the small of his back and guided him toward the stage.

Weariness and worry remained embedded on his face. We’d been searching for more than two hours and found no sign of her. We walked up the steps, and as we crossed the stage to join the others, something shiny caught my eye. My breath hitched. A small patent leather shoe stuck out from behind Cole’s drums.

I charged across the stage. “Charlotte?”

Curled up on one of Cole’s sweaty towels, tucked in behind the bass drum, was Charlotte, asleep with Barney tucked under her arm and her headphones on. That was why she hadn’t heard us calling her name.

“Cole? She’s here.” My hand trembled as I touched her softly on the leg and gave her a gentle shake. “Charlotte? It’s Ava.”

“Ava?” She wiped sleep from her eyes, then burst into tears as she rushed into my arms.

“Char?” Cole sprinted forward and took her from my embrace. He sank to his knees, cuddling her and covering her face in kisses. “You scared the daylights out of me. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“No,” she sobbed. “I wanted to play with you. I got lost. I got scared.”

“Shh.” Cole closed his eyes, cradled her against his chest, and rocked her back and forth. “You’re safe now. How did you get here?”

“There were lots of people. I fell over. I couldn’t find you. I crawled through a big door and saw the stage. I wanted to play the drums. I waited for you. But you didn’t come.”

“I did. I’m here.” He smoothed his hand over her hair.

I splayed my shaking hand across my chest. She’d come to Cole’s drum kit? God, I just wanted to hug her for being so good. So smart. We’d looked everywhere but behind the drums at the back of the stage. I radioed the team. “We found her. Behind the drums. All clear.”

Cole sat back on his haunches and wiped the tears off Charlotte’s cheek with his thumb. “Good girl for staying somewhere where I’d find you.”

“Are you mad at me?” Her big green eyes welled with more tears. Her bottom lip trembled. “Am I in trouble?”

“You can’t wander off without Hannah. You can’t do that again, okay?” He drew her into his embrace once more. “But we found you. You’re my little girl. I don’t want to ever lose you. I...” He blinked, and stared deep into her eyes as if she were the only person in the room. “I love you so freaking much.”

My heart exploded, hitting the stage lights above. It was the first time I’d heard him say that he loved his daughter.

Charlotte just nodded and tucked her face into the small of his neck.

Wells radioed. “Excellent. Get the band back to the dressing room. Let’s get them to the hotel.”

Cole rose to his feet, clutching Charlotte against his chest. “Ava. Thank you.” He cupped the back of my head and kissed my forehead, lingering for too many seconds. “For everything.”

Tears stung my eyes. An overwhelming, emotional mix of relief from finding Charlotte, gratefulness for the successful outcome, and care for Cole and his daughter flooded through me. I sniffled and nodded. “Told you we’d find her.” Luckily, we did.

The band rushed to hug Charlotte and thanked the team for our efforts. But Wells didn’t look happy. I didn’t care. I’d done my job. So had the team.

At the hotel, we escorted the band to their floor. They hung out in Cole’s suite to have a couple of drinks to wind down after the scary ordeal. Fuck. I could do with one too, but I had to wait for Slip to finish and return to his room.

After an hour, Wyatt left with Lewis and Tia to take them to their suite. Five minutes later, Slip and Flint came out of Cole’s room and called it a night. I was about to escort Slip down the hallway when Sloane grabbed my arm. “I got this. You look exhausted. Go to bed.”

“I won’t say no.” I stepped aside. “Thanks. Night, guys. Thank you for your help.”

“Any time.” Flint nodded.

“You’re the shit, Ava.” Slip slapped me on the back. “Night.”

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