Page 11 of Guarding the Shadows (Pulsetunes Rock Gods #5)

B eth

For most of the night I’d lain terrified that the guy from the small venue might show up unannounced at my hotel room door and want more than a signed CD or my autograph. Fortunately, Benny, my roadie was traveling with me and had seen me safely to my hotel room.

When his presence distracted me during my performance, I went with my gut because he looked out of place.

The first thing that struck me about the tall, swarthy-looking, muscular guy with the scuffed, black cowboy boots, was that he wasn’t seated like everyone else.

Standing off to the side of the stage with his arms folded, watching me, I’d initially tried to excuse this, thinking perhaps he had a bad back, poor eyesight or some other excuse that had warranted him being nearby.

As time passed, I spotted that he wasn’t engaging with my performance like the rest of the audience was, then I wondered if he might be one of the venue’s own in-house security.

When I mentioned this to Benny during the intermission of my show, he asked the manager about the guy, but he didn’t know who he was.

As I had felt his attention distracting, a member of the venue’s security team moved him on.

Relief washed through me when I saw him nod and respond positively to their request. Later, once my set had resumed, curiosity won out and I tried unsuccessfully to find him sitting in the audience again.

Benny had been great, pretending to be my boyfriend at the end of the gig, just in case he was hanging around. Then just as we had convinced ourselves the weird guy had gone, he stepped out of the shadows in the parking lot, then followed us most of the way to our transport.

“Get in the car, Beth,” Benny ordered after he’d popped the trunk and unlocked the doors.

“When I close the trunk, hit the fob to lock everything up. Do not get out of the car no matter what, you hear? If he comes at me dial nine-one-one and tell the operator where we are and what’s happening,” he instructed, placing the car key in my hand.

Petrified, my heart pounded as I moved forward on jelly legs and climbed into the car.

Benny closed my door, then quickly moved to the back and dropped my guitar in the trunk.

Every second my roadie was behind the car I kept one hand over the horn while my eyes remained glued to the lurking guy, who stood less than thirty feet away.

I fumbled in my purse and found the can of mace that Bodhi had insisted I carry, then fumbled and almost dropped it when I jumped, startled the moment the car rocked on its axel when Benny slammed the trunk lid closed.

The car’s blinkers flashing along with two small beeps from the horn warned Benny I’d locked the doors like he’d told me.

Seconds later, Benny came back into view, swinging a metal baseball bat in his hand.

“Do you need something, buddy?” Benny ground out, looking a menacing sight with his long, unkempt hair and his bulky six-foot-four frame.

Without engaging with Benny, the strange man who had tried to intimidate us turned and walked away.

After a sleepless night, I’d made it to 5:30 a.m. before anxiety and fear had gotten the better of me and I’d rang my brother for advice.

From the moment I’d disclosed what had happened, Levi insisted that he’d send someone to protect me until my little tour was finished.

Obviously, I tried to refuse his offer, but once he’d relayed some horror stories about people he knew who had been stalked in the industry, I was scared enough to agree.

As I only had six concerts left, my bets were on Mikey getting the role to hang with me because he was usually the least in demand and usually floated his service between all the guys.

So, when Bodhi had rung to say someone would be with me later in the day, I immediately felt safer but totally mortified.

The mention of Screaming Shadows’ security team had turned my thoughts to Raff. I’d seen Bodhi and Mikey since the tour, but I hadn’t seen Raff since our encounter on the plane.

One night at Levi’s while we were all relaxing, Bernadette told me that she believed Raff had distanced himself at the end of the tour because he’d been fighting his feelings for me as well.

Apparently, after him and Gwen had split up, he’d disclosed to Korry that he felt it was karma that his girl had dumped him because he’d been attracted to me.

Since their breakup, I’d called him because I’d heard he wasn’t doing that well. I left a voicemail, but when he didn’t call me back, I guessed my call hadn’t been welcomed.

From the moment I knew Levi was sending someone, it made my predicament real. Since then, I hadn’t been able to concentrate, unsure whether the anxiety that plagued me was due to my close encounter with a neighborhood stalker, or if it was a nervous reaction to needing someone to ensure my safety.

In one sense I felt stupid because I wasn’t the only small, female artist who encountered odd people during their working day.

But I guessed because of my brother’s fame, it made me a target, or a person of interest, and I supposed to someone with less scrupulous tendencies, I could also be seen as a valuable commodity.

A shiver ran down my spine at that fearful thought. But just as my mind ventured onto a dark, murky path a text came from Bodhi, bringing with it a timely interruption. Butterflies instantly took over and my heart beat like a drum in my chest.

Bodhi: Be there in thirty. Room 3112?

Me: Yes, see you soon.