Page 35 of Beyond the Stix

“Ron is stepping down as our manager.” Tears are slipping down Danny’s cheeks.

I furrow my brows at the news. “Why?”

“He has colon cancer, Connor. It was confirmed yesterday.”

“Fuck,” slips past my lips. “God-fucking-damn-it.” I throw my head back and close my eyes. “What else could go wrong? Does everyone know?”

“Apparently, it’s aggressive.”

“Does everyone know?”

Danny nods. “The guys were present when Ron called me. Connor, Ron wants this Rocktoberfest to be to a good one, since…” Danny doesn’t finish his sentence. I know what he’s implying.

I swallow hard, look at my friend and agree. For the rest of the ride to the airport, the four of us remain quiet. First my father dies, then my uncle won’t leave me alone, and now the news of Ron… I hate to think what’s next for us.

ELEVEN

John

Soon after weboard the jet and it takes off, Dom waves the team to the back corner of the plane. “Now what the hell is going on? The band is too quiet for my liking,” he grates from under his breath, so only we can hear. His frustration is evident from the way he’s gnashing his teeth and glaring at the group. All the whispering amongst the band members has our security team on edge.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you go ask one of them?” Cal suggests, pointing to the band members. “They’re the ones who have the answer.”

First the band takes a hit with Mr. Wild’s death. And now they’re on the brink of losing it from the sad news about their manager. They don’t need us bothering them, so I volunteer the information.

“Ron found out he has colon cancer,” I say softly, as I continue to watch Connor, who has his arms wrapped tightly around himself. “We were told about it this morning.”

“Shit,” Cal bites out before clamping his jaw shut.

“Jesus,” Dom utters. “That’s hard news to hear, especially after burying Markus Wild.”

“This won’t be good,” Pen replies as he focuses on the band.

“Dean has to be worried,” Dom adds with a deeper frown before staring at Warrior Black’s bassist.

I’m not quite sure why Dom would bring up Dean—I didn’t know he was aware of what is going on between the owner of Harper Security and the band manager. And why is Dom looking so intensely at Callum?

“Focus,” Tobias strains out, eyeballing each of us. “One way or another, we’re here to do a job.”

“You know more than you’re saying. Spill it,” Pen says, with a note of demand in his voice. He folds his muscled arms across his broad chest and waits for our lead to speak.

Tobias’s throat bobs as he swallows hard. “Dean called me this morning while Danny was in the shower. He wanted to give me a heads up.” Tobias glances at his guy, and a shade of worry shadows his eyes before he returns his attention back to us. “He says Ron told Danny that it’s colon cancer and to not worry about it. But the truth is that it’s in the metastatic stage.”

“English,” Pen counters thin lipped.

“Stage four. Terminal,” I reply gruffly.

“I guess he’s known this diagnosis for a while, but hasn’t said anything until now.”

“What has he been waiting for?” Dom asks Tobias, who’s eyes revert back to Danny.

“Ron has been looking for a replacement to take over his clients. And from what Dean explained to me, Ron found someone. And they will be waiting for us at the airport.”

“Who is it?” I ask, but it really doesn’t matter. If I know Dean, he will have done a full background check on the person before giving Ron the okay to hire him.

Tobias runs a hand along the bald part of his scalp. “I don’t know how the band is going to handle seeing someone new taking over.”

“No doubt,” Pen agrees.