Page 12 of Mysterious

“The press is going to cut you to shreds for this little stunt, Mia. Maybe you should think about that.”

I open my mouth to say maybe I’ll mention just who the architect of tonight’s mess is, but she leaves before I can get a word out. Staring at the gray metal door as she slams it shut, I swear to myself that I’d fire her if she wasn’t my mother.

Maybe I will fire her even though she is.

CHAPTERSEVEN

Liam

Sylvester may dohis job at the estate front gate well, but as a driver in a dire situation, the guy sucks. A mile away from the Citrus County Pavilion and twenty minutes after Mia was supposed to start her show, he and I are stuck in a traffic jam that hasn’t moved an inch in five minutes.

“Fuck! What’s the goddamned hold up?” I grumble as I crane my neck to see why the hell we’re all sitting here on a four lane highway.

“I think these are all of Mia’s fans,” he says in guilty voice, as if he told all of these people to basically make the road a parking lot.

“Sorry, man. I’m just frustrated and worried what’s going to happen if I don’t get to this show in the next few minutes.”

He gives me a tepid smile I hope means he’s accepted my apology, and I stick my head out the passenger side window in an attempt to figure out what the major malfunction is all around us. But he’s right. It’s Mia’s fans all going to the show, so this bottleneck isn’t going to get cleared anytime soon.

I have no choice. I have to get to her and clean up the mess her mother made with this Michael rehiring.

“Okay, Sylvester, I think this is where I get off. I’m sorry you’re going to be trapped here for a while, but I’m hoofing it from here on out.”

As I open the door, he gives me a shocked look like he can’t believe what I just said and mumbles, “Okay. Are you planning on walking the mile to the pavilion?”

With a chuckle, I nod before stepping out of the car. “Something like that. Take care. I’ll see you back at the house. Wish me luck!”

I slam the door shut and take off down the highway, weaving between cars as they slowly inch toward my destination. A few people holler at me, cheering me on as they watch me run past their cars like this is some kind of publicity stunt.

They have no idea. I have a feeling if I don’t get to Mia and fix what her mother fucked up, watching me run through traffic is going to be the most fun many of these people have tonight.

It doesn’t take me long to reach the pavilion, my right arm in a sling and all, but even though I work out every day, I’m winded after sprinting that mile. I’m more of a distance runner, if anything, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The first person I see who I recognize is Kip, and I instantly know things are much worse than I imagined on my way here. His usually calm façade is nowhere to be found, replaced by a look of pure worry.

His eyes light up when he sees me, though. “Jesus Christ, Liam. You look like you ran all the way here, man. I thought you were supposed to stay in bed to rest for a couple days.”

I take a deep breath in an attempt to get my heart back to some semblance of a normal beat and shake my head. “I’ll rest when I’m dead. Right now, I’ve got other things to worry about. What the fuck is going on? I got a call from Mia saying her mother brought in the old head of security. Then Drew told me he cut you guys out. Where can I go to watch her from the side of the stage so I can make sure everything’s okay?”

“She never went on. The crowd is ready to explode, and she’s nowhere to be found. I heard her mother complaining that she refuses to perform. I’m telling you, Liam, somebody better get out on that stage and start singing or these people are going to freak.”

The sound of thousands of people cheering for Mia all around me says Kip’s right. “Let me see if I can do something about that. Gather up all our guys and meet me at the dressing room. Our plan we put in place when we did the walkthrough the other day is still the one that’s in effect. Fuck that Michael guy. He must think we’re goddamned rookies.”

I don’t usually let my crew see me react to anything with emotion, but this pisses me off. Andrea knew we had everything in order. What the hell was she thinking when she brought that guy back into the mix?

“Okay! Now you’re talking! Let’s just hope the crowd doesn’t decide to storm the place before you get everything settled.”

Nodding, I silently pray for the same thing as I turn to head back to the dressing room. Local officials and security line the passageway, but I hurry past them to get to the one person I know needs to see me.

The dressing room door is closed, and when I try the doorknob, I find it locked. Quickly, I knock a few times and say loud enough for anyone to hear, “Mia, it’s Liam! Let me in!”

A second later, the door flies open and I see Mia and her entire entourage and all her dancers staring at me. Mia runs to me and throws her arms around my body, clinging to me like I’m all that’s keeping her safe right now.

“Liam! Everything is a disaster. I can’t do this. My mother made everything a mess.”

I look down at her sobbing against me and know things are much worse than I anticipated. I need to get her calm, but before I can do that, I need to get all these people out of this dressing room.

“Don’t worry. We’ll fix this and you’ll be singing for all those people tonight.”

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