Page 5 of Guarding the Shadows (Pulsetunes Rock Gods #5)
R aff
The most worrying of the three was the second of the day, where Screaming Shadows was due to play at a shopping mall.
Levi had scored a sponsorship deal with some luxury watch company.
As part of that contract, Levi had agreed to sing with his band and do a short promotional appearance at their exclusive store.
Arriving at the radio station, we discussed our escape routes out of the radio station.
We then monitored the size of the crowd who had turned out in force, since the radio station had announced for several weeks in advance that Screaming Shadows would be there that day.
After deciding that covering all bases would be a problem and considering there was a helipad on the roof of the building, Bodhi liaised with Bernadette, and it was agreed they’d arrive by chopper.
With a helicopter secured for the guys, it was decided that Mikey would travel to the radio station with the band, while Bodhi and I stayed to ensure their passage remained clear from the roof to the studio.
The minute the chopper filled with our guys took off from the radio station, Mikey and I jumped into our transport, and he drove the five-minute journey at break-neck speed toward the mall.
“That transfer went as smooth as a baby’s ass,” Mikey said.
“We needed an easy win to reserve our energy for this performance,” I suggested. Just then, my cell phone rang and as always Gwen’s timing was impeccable for me not being able to talk. “Hi, baby,” I said, nevertheless, still smiling.
“How are you?” she asked.
“Good now I’m hearing your voice,” I admitted, smiling wider.
“I was working last night when you called,” she clarified.
“Figured that was the case. You weren’t supposed to be working, right?” I asked, suddenly remembering the shift pattern she had told me.
“Er … right, yes … I-I mean no.” She huffed. “What I mean is yes, I was supposed to be off. But one of the people on duty called in sick, and I volunteered to cover.”
“You’ve got to take care of yourself, baby. You don’t get enough rest as it is. Oh, did you listen to my voicemail? How does a few days away sound?”
“Nashville sounds good ... It’s been a while since I let my hair down.”
“Alright, I’ll send you the dates when I’ll be around and you can do the same. Once they tie up, I’ll go ahead and book a break for us as soon as I get home.”
Gwen’s doorbell buzzed in the background. “Okay, I need to go … someone’s at the door.”
“Were you expecting someone? It’s only 8:45 a.m.,” I asked, frowning.
“N-no, it’s probably a delivery or something,” she replied. I frowned, suspicious of her explanation because deliveries went through the front desk. No one usually got up to the apartments without a call from the front door superintendent first.
“Put the chain on before you answer,” I muttered, instantly protective of her. “Want me to wait here while you check it out?”
“No, Raff, it’ll be fine,” she snapped. “It’s not like I’m one of your famous guys or anything. I don’t need your protection to answer my own damn door,” she admonished.
“Right,” I mumbled, annoyed that she reacted so abruptly.
“I know you love me, but hey … I’m fine, I’m not some hot rock star that people fawn over,” she said in a much softer tone. Her buzzer sounded again. “Look I really need to go. We’ll speak tomorrow, okay?”
I was disappointed again when I barely got to say goodbye before she hung up on me.
“That sounded short and sweet,” Mikey noted.
“Someone at her door who sounded impatient. Probably a delivery,” I said, using the same excuse she had for hastily ending our call.
“Or … her bit on the side,” Mikey suggested to fuck with me. He waggled his brows, and I laughed at him giving me shit.
“And you can see Gwen doing that to me?”
“Not really, but when you’ve been dealing with guys like ours for as long as we have, I guess I’ve grown to figure that anything is a possibility in this strange old world of ours.”
Like I suspected, dealing with the mall situation was a test of real skill in how three guys and the mall’s own security could keep five, world-famous rock stars from being … if you’ll excuse the pun, mauled.
The risk assessment we’d carried out had been extensive in preparation for this, since the band was performing in a public place that had so many entries and exits, and no one had paid to get in.
We not only had to establish safe routes in and out of the store, and the mall itself, we’d also had to identify alternate escape plans and liaise with the guys operating the security cameras.
After we’d taken in the likely crowd numbers and the aspects of safety for everyone, we contacted the watch store premises staff and briefed them on all our expectations for their behavior as well.
We then checked our comms systems again for signal, and only then were the excited, screaming crowd, allowed to trickle in, to see the guys perform.