I patted her arm and mentally marveled again at her rock hard biceps. “You keep an eye out. I’m gonna go talk to Padre.”
“Sounds good.”
Since the concert was in full swing, there weren’t very many people outside the venue. I could hear thumping and applause coming from inside, and sirens coming from the waterfront fire.
As I approached him, Padre’s back was to me and he appeared to be alone. Where the hell was Trainer? Someone was supposed to be with Padre at all times.
I was about to ask, but I heard his voice speaking softly and he was on the phone.
“Yes, it’s under control. I told you it would be. You just handle things on your end and let me worry about mine.”
I stepped on a soda bottle and it made a crunching sound, which alerted Padre to my presence. He whipped around and then said, “I’ll bring some milk on the way home.” Ending the call he said, “What did you find, Ryder?”
Where was Trainer? Was Padre really on the phone with his wife, or was he pretending? What was under control? The lack-of-milk situation didn’t seem to warrant hushed tones.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Inside. With Pin. Is everything okay there?”
“Oh, yeah. Fine.” I looked around. “Where’s Trainer?”
“He had to go take a leak.”
I shook my head. So much for keeping an eye on Padre.
Just then, Trainer walked up. “There you are!” he said to Padre. “Where the fuck did you go?”
“I was using the can. You got a problem with that?” Padre said.
The whole scene was confusing me. Trainer was looking for Padre, but Padre said Trainer went to the bathroom. Who was looking for who?
Suddenly, all of our walkie talkies lit up at the same time.
“Something is happening. Get in here NOW!”Swole said,
“I heard three pops, like gunshots, and everyone is screaming and running!”That sounded like Chalupa but I couldn’t be sure.
Sure enough, people were starting to pour out of the exits, running and screaming. My heart froze and I instantly sprung to action. Lily. I needed to find Lily.
I didn’t even wait for Padre. I just started running toward the first door I could get to.
* * *
If the outsideof the convention center was chaos, the inside was ten times worse. All of the lights were up and a voice was speaking over the sound system. “Please exit the building in an orderly manner. Do not panic or run. Proceed to the nearest exit.”
No one was listening. I was pushing my way through the crowd, but there were so many people trying to get by me that I was being pushed backward anyway.
Finally, I stood flat against the wall and crept forward that way.
“Was it a shooter?” Trainer asked, on the walkie talkie. “Has anyone been shot?”
“I don’t know yet. The LPPD are securing the scene. I am inside and don’t see any injuries except for some people who fell while running. There are gonna be some broken bones and stuff.” That was Hawk.
I had no idea how I was going to find Lily in this mess. Part of me wanted to just take off and go to the meeting point, but I also knew I couldn’t leave until we knew what was going on.
“Please exit the building in an orderly manner. Do not panic or run. Proceed to the nearest exit.”
People were panicking and running. Finally, I made it to the internal door of the arena and pushed my way through the throng of people coming up the stairs to get out the door. I was on a higher level and could see the floor seats below me. People were scrambling to get out, but I saw no evidence of anyone who’d been shot or bleeding. Swole was down there guiding people out, and I could see several of the other guys doing the same thing.
