Page 106 of Reflex

“I’m going to call Marsh and make sure he’s okay,” Ewan snarled, stalking to the door.

“I’ll call Spook.”

She dialled, but got no response.Xane didn’t answer either.

Alle snatched up the remote and rewound the report.The details were decidedly sketchy.

“Black Halo frontman, Xane Geist, was approached for comment but refused to talk to our reporter.No apology has been offered so far, but a spokesperson for the band said that they would release a statement to the public this evening via the band’s website.”

Her phone rang, just as the report was ending.

“Allegra?It’s Ronnie.Have you seen the article?”

“I’ve seen the news,” she sighed.

Ronnie rattled offBang!’s online address, while she headed to her room to boot up her laptop.

Spook’s arrest was the buzz item of the moment on the Black Halo fan site, but no one had any more information than the news channel.None.TheBang!article was on their front page.

‘ASEXUAL MY ARSE!’screamed the headline.

Marsh had been digging all right.The bulk of the report was a recounting of an incident by a woman in her twenties who claimed she’d been just sweet sixteen when she’d hooked up with Spook Mortensen following an early Black Halo gig she’d attended to celebrate her birthday.They’d enjoyed a few drinks together, before retiring to his place, where he’d tied her to the bed and spanked her before attempting to anally violate her.

The woman had managed to get herself free and flee, but she’d heard on the grapevine that other fans had had similar experiences.At least one “former girlfriend” hinted at being repeatedly coerced into performing sex acts under threat of punishment, and several others reported that Mortensen frequently sat in when other members of the band were engaged with female fans and took pictures without their consent.

It was all nonsense probably.

A staff member at the hotel where several members of the band had been staying during the Cannes Film Festival reported that a distressed looking, scantily clad woman, identified by this reporter as sound engineer, Allegra Hutton, was seen outside Spook Mortensen’s door only last night, and that several squeals and other noises were heard coming from the star’s suite by staff, but they were dissuaded from reporting the ruckus to police by senior management.

“You arsehole, Marshall!”Alle dug her fingers into her scalp.“I was not fucking distressed.You lying, conniving, bloody git.I hope he punched you really fucking hard.It won’t be anything on what I do to you.”

“Are you all right?”Ronnie asked, his voice tinny and distant.She’d forgotten he was still on the line.

“Fine.I’ll call you back later.”She hung up.

Alle paced away from the computer, before returning to finish reading the last few lines of the report.It ended with a rather ominous request for readers to stay tuned.

This was merely the opening salvo.

“Spook.Oh, God!I’m really, really sorry about my brother.”What the fuck was she supposed to do now?Would he even speak to her?She dialled his number again.But it just rang and rang and rang…