Page 43 of Beneath the Stain

“Not gonna matter in a minute,” the guy purred, sliding an arm around Mackey’s waist.

Mackey took another healthy swallow, and just that suddenly, he was high.

But it was just a swallow. Swear, Trav. Just a drink of beer. Two. Wasn’t even a shot.

I shouldna had the beer. Sorry, Trav. Shouldna had the beer.

“No,” Mackey said, trying hard to keep his feet. His head swam, his vision was dark, and this asshole hadn’t brushed his teeth.

That was all Mackey remembered after that.

Wild Horses

TRAVCOULDN’Tsee Mackey. One minute the kid was looking a little panicked as somebody’s son herded him into the back corner, and the next minute, nada. Trav had seen him reach for a beer, but even if he was off the wagon, he’d been out of sight one minute, maybe two at the most, and Mackey wouldn’t bethatwasted. Not with the amount of shit that had been cruising in his bloodstream less than two weeks before.

The guy herding him had been insistent—and blatantly sexual. Had they snuck into an empty room for a one-off?

A kick of disappointment almost leveled him, and Trav shook it off.Only bi when high—no. If Mackey wasn’t high, he wouldn’t be having a demeaning one-off in a closet. He’d said it himself, and he might have been high and a pain in the ass, but he’d been nothing if not straight with Trav.

Trav needed to trust him.

Which meant Trav needed to worry. “Excuse me,” he said to the guy next to him—someone in a five-grand silk suit, so, important with money but no common sense. “My lead singer seems to have gone missing.”

The guy laughed and Trav took off through the crowd, using his shoulders and elbows enough to be rude. Well, he wasn’tsupposedto be nice. He was supposed to book gigs and he was also supposed to manage the fucking band.

He spotted Jefferson, Shelia, and Stevie in a corner, and was jealous. They made their own damned group. Nobody intruded. They touched, talked, and laughed, and nobody asked questions, and people left them the hell alone.

Until Trav.

“Where’d Mackey go?” he asked, jittering with panic. “I saw him being hustled off by some weaselly asshole, and if someone’s shoving coke in his face, I’ll fucking kill them.”

Three shocked faces turned toward him, and he wasn’t even embarrassed enough to grimace. “Seriously,” he said. “The last time I saw him, he was being dragged toward the hallway. Have you seen him?”

Jefferson and Stevie picked up on his panic immediately. “Me and you can go through the back,” Jefferson said, nodding. “Stevie, you and Shelia—”

“Around the front.” Stevie grabbed Shelia’s hand and took off.

Trav and Jefferson turned around and went through the hallway that led to the other side of the building. Trav wanted to collapse all over Jefferson Sanders.Thank you. Thank you for proving I’m not the only one who gives a shit.

They hauled ass down the darkened hallway, peeking through each door.

Through one, Trav got a good look at Blake, Kell, and two girls in tiny dresses snorting coke from a shared spoon. With a growl he flung the door open.

“Drop that shit,” he snapped, gratified when Kell literally dropped it on the ground. One girl squealed “My shit!” and bent down in a dress that could double as a Band-Aid, scraping the coke into her little purse vial with a well-manicured finger.

“What in the hell—”

“Your brother is fucking missing, asshole. Didnobodykeep an eye out for him? He doesn’t need this bullshit after what he’s been through. Jesus, I’m surprised he fucking survived childhood with you, because you sure as shit aren’t any help as a so-called adult. Now get your ass out here and help!”

Blake sputtered, trying to laugh through a bloody nose, but Kell? Kell pushed his lower lip out and wrinkled his broad brow. Trav realized he’d hit him where he lived. He took Mackey seriously—and Trav had just called him on letting his brother down.

Trav turned around, not sure how to fix what he’d just broken. Kell followed him and Jefferson as they power walked down the hall. Trav ordered them to keep looking in the empty rooms—he was heading for the door to the alley behind the building.

He got there, hitting the bar release with enough force to make the clang resonate. The door shot open, and Trav sensed movement at the opening of the alley. He swung his head around just quick enough to see the flutter of feet as someone disappeared. Mackey was pressed against the wall, his face jammed against the rough granite of the building.

As Trav watched, he fell slowly, like he was falling through honey, listing to the side and collapsing in a heap of boxes. He didn’t even raise his arms to stop his fall.

Trav couldn’t breathe. His goddamned lungs froze like he’d been sucking on an AC pipe, and his heart stopped. Mackey’s weight shifted the boxes beneath him. The world spun hard, with extra force, sending Trav stumbling to Mackey’s side.