At the exact time I arranged.
“Yeah, okay.”
He gave me a curious look, his eyes sweeping over my body, pausing a few times before he walked off. A chill ran down my spine. There it was again, that something about him that set my teeth on edge.
I shook my head to dislodge the ridiculousness and continued with my list. His interested gaze gave me the creeps. I didn’t know why. I only knew it did. So, I kept my distance as much as possible.
Distance.
I sighed. Distance was exactly what I needed. I couldn’t wait for the tour break. Katie would stay with her dad for the next bit, and Danny would stay with her while I flew home to spend some time with my father.
I walked past the craft services table, and everything looked great. I moved down my list, pausing when I heard Katie’s voice.
“Who brought coffee?”
I turned around, confused. The rider didn’t include coffee. It should have, considering how much Katie loved the stuff, but I knew it wasn’t because I would’ve included my order.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t on the rider, but I’m going to kill whoever brought you some and didn’t bring me any,” I laughed.
Katie glanced back at the table, and I did the same. The entire table was devoid of the iconic green logo except for a single cup and bag labeled with Katie’s name.
Without a word, Katie dumped the cup and bag in the trash, grabbed a bottle of water and a banana, and headed toward the stage.
I sighed. I loved working for Katie. Absolutely loved it. But I hated the crap she was going through. And in turn, what the rest of us were going through as well.
The last few months had been the greatest of her life and, by extension, ours, too. Her music career had skyrocketed. Songs and albums were topping the charts, and the buzz leading up to award season grew daily. Not that any of us told Katie about the buzz she was getting. She hated the business side of things. She just wanted to make music and sing.
But this stalker meant business.
And, honestly, I was worried. For her. For me. For the band and crew. We all had people in our lives we loved and needed to protect.
As the sole provider for my dad, I couldn’t let anything happen to me. He was in a nursing home now because his condition had progressed beyond my ability to care for him, but his social security and pension didn’t cover his care. It cost a fortune. Without this job, I wouldn’t be able to cover the cost.
The rest of the day proceeded without incident until the concert started. I noticed Katie wasn’t where she was supposed to be. I walked over to Nathan.
“Where’s Katie?”
“No clue. I’ve not seen Danny either.”
Where the heck could they be? Lateness wasn’t like Katie. Danny had never failed to get her to the stage on time before. Despite what I thought of him, he’d done that part of his job fine.
I rushed around looking high and low for her, but no one had seen her. She wasn’t in any of the places she usually hid out before a show. Out of options, I checked her dressing room.
“Katie! SHOWTIME!” I shouted, knocking on the door.
The door opened, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I followed her to the stage.
Once the star of the show stepped on stage, right on time, thank God, I called all the security team members. Everyone answered but Danny. One of the other guys said Katie had given Danny the night off, but I knew better. If she had, she would have told me.
When Katie came off the stage at the end of the concert, she headed toward her dressing room. She wasn’t happy. The concert went… okay. It was an off day, which was fine. They happened. You couldn’t be perfect every time, no matter what Katie’s band leader thought.
I still couldn’t believe Nathan went after her the way he had in the dressing room after the show. She had so much on her plate, with her dad attending the concert and bringing a slew of strangers with him, Danny disappearing, along with the stalker showing up. It was a lot, and she’d handled it as well as she could.
I glanced down at my phone, checking things off and re-prioritizing what still needed to be done tonight before heading to the airport.
“Marcie?”
I turned toward Katie’s voice. Gone were the makeup, hair, and stage outfits. All that was left was a beautiful woman about my age. Unlike me, Katie was in fantastic shape. She ran all the time. She’d invited me along several times, but yeah… no, thanks. I wasn’t a fan of exercise. I did some pilates, yoga, and the occasional spin class, but I wasn’t consistent enough with it. Of course, I didn’t need to spend hours on stage putting on a show like she did.
