Page 8 of Perfect Order
“No one expects any problems, Ms. Wexford.” I tried patience.
“Then none should happen.” I swear, if I didn’t know better, I’d think Wexford was a founding member of the Field of Dreams religious sect. Only in this case, praying for the lunatics not to come wasn’t quite going to cut it.
“Let me explain how this is going to work. I’m going to have four people exiting the limo surrounding Beckett and Erzulie…”
“Four? I didn’t plan for an extra four people,” she twittered. The sound was like nails running down a chalkboard.
If she thinks four is bad, wait until I’m done.“And another ten behind the cameras along the red carpet. This way, they are protected the entire way up to the doors. Once inside the theater…”
“You expect me to have an additional fourteen people at my premiere?” She descended from her transcendent plane to screech.
“Either you accommodate the fourteen, or you’ll be missing two key individuals—Beckett Miller and Erzulie,” I threatened.
Her silence was a clear acceptance of my plan.
Now the sheer banality of the conversation makes me want to whip out my Sig Sauer to shoot the tires out of the limo we’re riding in to stop us from arriving. Any of us. Just so I don’t have to sit through any more torture in this lifetime. After all, haven’t I been through enough?
And to think I have hours more to endure. I can’t prevent the small groan that escapes my lips.
It’s Erzulie who chuckles. “And to think I believed nothing disturbed your resting work face.” She assumes a stoic mien that causes Beckett to howl with laughter.
Before I can respond, Beckett jumps in. “Nah, Kane looks more like this.” He assumes a stern teacher expression.
“Only when I’m talking to you,” I inform him drolly.
Both of them burst into laughter. “All kidding aside, thank you for doing this tonight…Kane?” Erzulie holds out her hand.
I take it and shake it firmly. “Just my job, ma’am.”
“Ugh. I just got my first ‘ma’am,’ Beckett,” she jokes. A friendly smile is tossed at Beckett. And I immediately notice there’s no heat between the duo. They’re exactly what they claim to be—friends.
Huh. Interesting. And yet, when she touched me, there was no flash of the fire from that first meeting. Maybe I just imagined what happened between us all those years ago?And maybe you should cut her some slack because you ran into her on the street and she doesn’t remember you. I chastise myself for being a moron over an incident that pulled me from a temporary abyss she had no idea she helped me through. I take her outstretched hand and shake it firmly. I’m rewarded with a bright smile that does nothing for me. Not a damn thing. The tension headache that’s been brewing eases some. That is, until Beckett speaks again.
“She’s Kylie, Kane. You’re likely to see her a lot. The label is tossing around the idea of having her go on tour with us.”
“We’d be a disaster together. You’re like a toddler on steroids,” she informs him primly.
Before I can assimilate the entirety of the conversation—and oh, someone save me. The souring of my stomach from the security nightmare due to the Wonder Twins on tour together—we pull up to the theater, and the noise level rises to unbearable levels. I immediately slip in my earbud and lecture the two childlike adults who want to fight each other for the car handle. “No one leaves the car before me.”
Beckett rolls his eyes at Erzulie. “Here goes ‘Professor McCullough.’ I told you he’d have made a great lecturer.”
Instead of rising to Beckett’s bait, I say mildly, “That’s right. Remember what we discussed at the penthouse.”
Much to my surprise, it’s Erzulie who ticks off, “Stay within the formation. The team will move with us as we talk to reporters and fans. We don’t have freedom until we’re safely inside the pavilion. If you tell us to drop, no questions.”
Incredulous, I ask Beckett, “Why can’t you listen like as well as her?”
Before he can respond, Erzulie answers, “I have a twin who…specializes in security.”
What? A twin?My mind reels at the concept. “It would be interesting to meet her,” I say honestly as I open the door handle and slip out.
Just as I step from the car, I’m positive I hear her laugh behind me. “I bet it would be.” But I don’t have much time to process her words. It’s time for my job to begin.
I never know if something is coming.
But I have to be prepared in the event it does.
NOVEMBER - PRESENT DAY
