The music started. Zach stood on the counterweight platform below his star trap. The beginning orchestration was a remix of ZERO’s hit songs. They’d been working with the star traps before everything had been sent up to Seattle, so it was the first time in a while he stood below the wooden octagon above him. The counterweight would get triggered and propel Zach through the wooden octagon. The triangular pieces were each hinged to open as he went through them skyward, then close as he landed back on them. Since Zach came first in ZERO, he was the first of the four guys to get shot up onto the stage. At the mention of his name, the stagehand next to him triggered the counterweight. Zach flew through the trap about one foot above the stage before landing in his posed position. Once all three of the guys landed on stage, the song began in earnest. A giant double staircase appeared behind them, and their backup dancers danced down the stairs, wearing little-to-no clothing.
Each of the guys had their own solo in the first song, which was why they chose it to start this show. Well, that and because it was a high-energy pop number they knew would get the crowd in a tizzy.
Orr executed a series of flips. Then Ric dove into the dancers’ hands, who flipped him over and landed Ric on his feet right when his solo began.
Zach made his way upstage, where a stagehand latched him into a harness and double-checked the locking mechanisms. Zach gave the stagehand a thumbs up to let him know he was secure before the stunt. If Zach didn’t feel secure, he’d give a thumbs down. If that happened, the harness would be removed, and Zach would run to the front before his solo started. Zach felt his body slingshot forward through the air over the heads of the rest of the group and dancers to land right at the edge of the stage. Well, from the audience’s perspective, it looked like the edge of the stage, but Zach had a good three or four feet of buffer. He began his solo the second his feet landed, and four gyrating backup dancers flinging themselves around his body while seamlessly unhooking him from the harness. The choreography was sexy and functional.
The rest of the song was high energy, with several dance solos and stunts. Zach was always amazed at how much Higgins had crammed into three minutes and twenty-two seconds. Zach positioned himself and did a two-step run before executing an aerial cartwheel with no hands. He landed and immediately went to his knees and slid to the front of the stage, where ZERO and the backup dancers converged.
The song ended, and all of them breathed heavily and held the position until they heard Sally’s voice over the system, “Take five and reset at the top.” Everyone moved back to their starting points.
“Really? We’re doing it again,” Rick said through clenched teeth. “How many times are we going to run this one today?”
“Until Sally is happy, I guess,” Orr replied.
Zach’s assistant met him as he exited backstage and down the stairs leading to the basement where ZERO’s first positions were.
“Zach, you received a call from Blayne Dickenson,” Zach’s assistant said. “He said it was urgent and to have you call him back.” The assistant handed Zach his phone, and Zach immediately hit the callback button.
“Zach?” a voice on the other end said.
“Yes, Blayne? As in Ethan’s Blayne?”
“Well, I don’t know if he’s mine, but yea, that’s me.”
“Give me a second,” Zach said as he muted the phone. “I’m going to take this outside. Come get me when they’re ready for me,” Zach told his assistant before turning around on the stairs to head up and out through the side door. When he was finally alone outside, he unmuted Blayne, “Sorry that took so long. We’re in rehearsals, and I needed to get somewhere private.”
“I understand,” Blayne said before correcting himself, “Yeah, I have no clue what your life is like.”
“You’re lucky,” Zach said with a quick chuckle. “How are you? Ethan said you were shot?”
“I’m okay. A little out of it because of the narcotics they’ve been giving me after surgery. The surgeon doesn’t think there’s any permanent damage.”
“Glad to hear. I could tell Ethan was pretty freaked last night.”
“What about Stephanie? Have you talked to her today?”
“She’s here with me at the rehearsal space. I convinced the FBI that being with our security team and us was just as secure as their safe house was.”
“Glad she’s safe, too.”
“So, where’s Ethan? Why are you calling?” Zach asked, now that they’d gotten the niceties out of the way.
“He was escorted out of the hospital by an FBI agent. The FBI left a couple of agents to watch my hospital room. The last thing Ethan said was to call you.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Zach asked.
“I wish I knew,” Blayne admitted.
“What did Ethan tell you?” Zach heard Blayne let out a quick breath through the phone.
“He doesn’t know why any of this is happening. And I don’t know what you do or don’t know. And I don’t want to break Ethan’s confidence, but he told me to call you.”
“What aren’t you telling me, Blayne?”
Zach could tell Blayne was battling divulging Ethan’s secrets. Still, the voice on the other end of the phone laid out a conspiracy involving the soap stars, the plane, the bomb and Blayne’s bullet hole.
“What the hell did he get himself into?” Zach asked aloud when Blayne stopped talking.
