CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

JAGGER

The questions are always the same. These media assholes are not exactly inventive. They give me a goddamn headache, and the only thing making it better is I know I’ll see her soon. If she’s still shopping, I will join her.

I step out of the studio and glare at the sun. Even though it’s chilly out, the sun is blinding me. Grabbing my ringing phone out of my pocket, I answer it quickly, because the ‘This’ ringtone, yes my own song, is only for McKinley’s number.

“Hey, baby,” I answer, but the voice that answers back is not hers.

“Jagger Wild. She was mine. Then she was yours. Now, she’s mine again.”

It’s that fucking asshole, Erik, that I should have killed that day when I chose for him a life with pain, instead of death. I chose wrong.

He chuckles loudly in my ear. “Unless you’d like to sacrifice yourself for her life.”

My heart drops to the fucking ground with pure terror. I shake, holding the phone tight against my ear. Make sure she’s okay.

“I need to know she’s okay before I agree to anything.”

The whimpers that come from her nearly bring me to my knees.

“Baby?”

She starts screaming, “Don’t do it, Jagger. Please don’t do it!”

A loud bang sounds over the phone, followed by more screaming from McKinley.

“I swear to god if you fucking hurt her, I’ll kill you.”

He chuckles darkly. “Do you prefer to hear me fucking her?”

The fury instantly builds through my entire body. She has never told me he violated her, but for some reason, I don’t think it’d be the first time. I don’t respond with the threats that are crawling up my throat like venom because I don’t want him to follow through on his words.

“That’s good, Jagger. I see I have your attention now. The rehearsal space on seventy-ninth. Be here in under an hour or she’s dead. And come alone. I have a gun on her and, if you don’t do as you’re told, you can collect her corpse.”

The line goes dead.

“Fuck!” I scream to the entire parking lot before calling Jett, expecting the worst, but hoping for the best.

He answers on the second ring. “Hey, Jagger, listen to this.”

“No. You listen. Are you sober? Please tell me you’re not high.”

He laughs. “Ish.”

Alright, I can handle that. Sober ish is better than high as fuck.

“Erik is alive, and he has her. I need your help.”

All the laughter is gone, and he says, “He has McKinley?”

“Yes,” I grit, “I have to go alone. I need you to come later than me. He has a gun on her, and if I don’t go alone, he’s going to kill her and I won’t let that happen.”

Jett speaks calmly, sounding much more together than I feel.

“Jagger, no. If you show up there, you are a fucking dead man.”

I pace back and forth on the street, as I run a hand through my hair.

“It doesn’t matter. I’d rather die than live without her again. I can’t fucking do it. I will not risk her.”

“You’re my best friend, man. I’ve got your back. Tell me what you need.”

I sigh audibly, because I’m so fucking relieved. Unarmed, he would never be a problem, but I know he’s going to use her, and if he has to kill her, to destroy the man that stripped him of everything, he will.

“The rehearsal space on seventy-ninth. I’m going now. Do not show up for forty minutes. At that point, I should have been inside for about twenty minutes. I’m going to try to get her to leave. If you find her outside, get her to safety first.”

“Forty minutes. Got it. I’ll be there but, Jagger, man, I gotta tell you, this is a bad fucking plan.”

I climb into the back of the car and tell my driver, “Remember the rehearsal space on seventy-ninth? Get there and fast.”

“Jett, I know, but that’s all I’ve got. If something happens to me, take care of her. Make sure she has all of my fucking money. Everything she needs is taken care of.”

“Yeah, man, we’ve got your girl, but just be careful.”

“I’ll see you soon, and bring the others in case you need help.”

He chuckles darkly. “I will, but I’d be good on my own too. I’m going to make him regret the fucking day he was born.”

“Love you, man.”

“Love you too.”

I hang up, and I know he’s worried, because expressions of love aren’t something Jett does.

While I probably should be, I’m not concerned about my own life. I’m terrified of what I’ll see when I walk into that damn space. I can’t trust him to keep his word. For all I know, she’s already dead and I’m walking into a trap, which would explain why she was begging me not to do what he said.

I try to clear my head, because I just need to get her out of there. Nothing else matters. There is nothing I won’t do to keep her safe. Even if it means I have to die in order to accomplish that. Finally, I had her. Really fucking had her. She was going to be my wife, and now I could lose her again. That thought alone makes it nearly impossible to breathe, as pain surges through my chest.

We pull up and I tell my driver, “If one of my guys brings McKinley out, get her to my house. Call Dr. Walton to come and see her. Jett will take care of everything else.”

Do I know trusting my best friend, a fucking heroin addict, isn’t something someone would normally do? Without a doubt, but druggie or not, he’s the one I can most depend on to take care of her, if it comes down to that.

Stepping out of the vehicle, I take a deep breath and prepare myself for what I might find. The front doors will be locked, so I walk through the unpaved alleyway to the back door. The place is eerily quiet, as I walk along the mirrored hallway I remember from well before we got a record deal. We spent hours upon hours practicing here. This is the place where our dreams eventually came true, but now it’s the place I go to for my worst nightmare.

I walk around the corner and spot her, and my heart fucking stops. There’s rope hanging from the lighting track over the stage, around McKinley’s throat, and a chair below her where her shaky feet stand. She notices me, and seconds later so does the fucking asshole.

Erik claps his hands excitedly. “Yay, you’re here!”

“Let her go. That was our deal.”

He feigns a sad expression. “She wanted to die. I thought I’d help her out.”

“Erik. Let her go.”

I glance around the room as I try to figure out what the fuck I can do. If he kicks that chair out from under her, she’ll be dead before I get to her. And forget Jett getting here in time.

He laughs like someone told him a funny joke.

“Sorry, Jagger. There’s no way out of this. Sit in the chair and I’ll let her go, after you’re tied up.”

McKinley stares at me, with tears running down her face, and it guts me. I want to run to her and get her out of here. That isn’t an option as the crazy fucker stands close enough to her, to move the chair or shoot her with the gun in his hand.

I walk over to the chair bolted to the floor in the middle of the room, directly across from McKinley, and stand beside it. If she were closer, I’d go to her and risk getting shot, but she’s a good thirty feet from me.

“Hold on, baby. Keep your feet as still as possible. You’re going to be okay.”

A million thoughts run through my head, and I realize I’m playing a very dangerous game with both of our lives. If he has what he wants, it could be game over for both of us.

“Let her go, and you can tie me to the chair, and do whatever you want to me. I will not cooperate until she is safe.”