No. No, no, no.I’m moving before I can truly think about what’s happening, time slowing down as I reach out to drag Kelsey behind my back.
I just found Kelsey. She’s the joy I didn’t know I needed, the love I didn’t know I was missing, and the support I never knew could feel this strong. We’re not just a love story—we’re the endgame.
As I pull her arm, Kelsey turns, her body rotating so the object is heading toward her side rather than her heart. She lets out anoofand grips a spot on her upper arm.
“Ow,” she says, her tone annoyed. “Did you just throw scissors at me?”
A tsunami of relief rushes through me at her words and tone.Scissors. Not a knife.At most a cut, based on how calm she sounds.
Bennie faces us, the dark hair from the picture earlier now a deep red, a wig slightly crooked on her head. She’s standing directly behind Jaxon as he sits in his makeup chair, but as far as I can see, her scissors were the only weapon she had.
“Bennie, isn’t it?” Kelsey asks, offering the woman a smile as she subtly kicks the scissors toward the door. “What are you two doing…alone…in the bathroom…of Jaxon’s dressing room?” Kelsey asks.
She turns her head slightly toward me, and as I spot the white headphone sticking out of her ear, I realize she’s telling Lila what she needs to know to pass along information to our team and the police.
Bennie’s smile is loving as she looks down at Jaxon, meeting his reflection in the mirror.
I use her distraction to step away from Kelsey so I’m in a better position to incapacitate her.
Kelsey flashes three fingers behind her back, and I nod my understanding. We move in three.
“I’m just giving Jaxon a haircut,” Bennie says, her eyes still on him. “He said I could keepallthe hair I trim to use in my love-potions! Dee thinks we need pubes, but Jaxon says they aren’t as potent, since love comes from your brain, not your dick. Isn’t he just the greatest?”
Kelsey’s third finger joins her other two just as Bennie finishes her sentence.
I move, my body reacting on instinct, relying on the hand-to-hand combat training I received in the military. My body slams into Bennie’s, driving her to the ground inches from the toilet before she can grab hold of Jaxon. She grunts, struggling as I put my knee in her back and pull her arms behind her.
Kelsey is there, a zip tie in hand.
“Wow. That issupernice of Jaxon,” Kelsey replies.Wait. Why is she still playing this game with Bennie?I send her a questioning glance as I hold Bennie’s wrists together while Kelsey loops the tie over them and pulls tight.
Kelsey shrugs before saying, “I’d love to have a little chat before things get too busy tonight, Bennie. But Jaxon has to get ready, or he’ll miss his show. You don’t want that, do you?”
“I don’t know, Kelsey,” Bennie says with a giggle, her head turned to the side. “I know you and Jaxon grew up together. Are you two in love? Childhood sweethearts? I’m not interested in meeting his side piece. Now that I’m back in his life, he won’t have time for you, I’m afraid. Plus, I don’t like talking to men without Jaxon there—I don’t want him getting jealous, you know,” Bennie says, her eyes on Jaxon as he stands from the makeup chair.
“Oh. You don’t have to worry about Carter or me,” Kelsey says, forcing out a giggle at the end to match Bennie’s. “We’re very much in love with each other. Jaxon knows that. We’re not a threat to your loveat all.”
“They’re my friends, Bennie. Don’t you want to get to know them too?” Jaxon asks, moving toward the door.
“I don’t know. What do you think, Dee?” Bennie asks, looking toward the corner just past the toilet. The very empty corner.
My knee still in Bennie’s back, I look toward Jaxon to see if he understands what’s happening. He responds with a slight shrug that I take to mean this isn’t the first time Bennie has talked to the invisible Dee.
“Okay, well, if you think so,” Bennie says to Jaxon. “Friends arevery important. It was my new friend who helped me get to see you. He’s such a nice guy. He paid for my ticket to fly here all the way from California. I could get the money, but my mom taught me never to steal. It’s not nice to steal.”
“What friend?” I ask. Based on the looks of displeasure both Kelsey and Bennie send my way, I can only assume it was the wrong question to ask.
Jaxon takes that moment to slip out of the room with a nod that I’m sure means he’ll find his guards.
“This guy,” Kelsey says, like I’m the unreasonable one in the room. “Just ignore him. I would love to hear how you got in here. You must really love Jaxon to figure out how to get past all those big lugs outside.”
“Did you know the Ancient Romans used a system called a hypocaust to heat public baths and houses?” Bennie asks, singing softly under her breath as she rubs her cheek against the tile floor inches from the toilet.
“I did not know that,” Kelsey responds. “Did you know the first modern air conditioner was invented in 1902?”
Bennie nods her head like that’s the only appropriate response, and I keep my eyes on her, trying to figure out why we’re talking about the Ancient Romans.
“I didn’t realize a person could fit in the vents,” Kelsey says. “Or that you could navigate them without getting lost. Did your new friend help you with the map?”
