‘That’s troublesome too, that they’re protecting Glass,” Williams said. He scratched his chin. “They’ve got something to lose if he talks.”
“You think that’s what this is?” Gina started pacing. “Bad cops?”
“Absolutely,” Williams answered. “Starting with the one who ‘lost’ Brian Taylor on the way to rehab.”
Fuck. “And the cops are all over the festival right now and we have no idea who’s good and who’s dirty.” Brock started for the door followed closely by Jake and the others. “They were obviously trying to get something out of Brian. If they’re tied up with this gang, they still might be targeting Brianna.” In Brock’s mind, there was nomight beabout it. “The van was meant as a warning to Brian, and if it took out Glass along with Brianna, they got the bonus plan.”
He reached the front door to the police substation when his cell phone buzzed with an incoming call from Luna Taylor.
“Luna. Talk to me,” He barked into the phone while the others stopped to listen. He hit the speaker button.
“Brian woke up,” she sobbed. “He woke up, but Brianna, she’s in trouble. Are you with her?”
It took everything to keep himself from roaring into the phone. “What did he say?”
“He’s been stealing money from some bad people and they think Brianna knows where it is.”
Kyle was already on his phone talking to the team at the festival. He looked up. “They announced the winner a couple minutes ago and everyone’s leaving the stage.” He turned his attention back to his phone. “Mack, I want you to grab her and take her straight to the SUV and to Safehouse One on the hill.”
Luna was sobbing into the phone. “Save my little girl.”
“Luna, I need you to pull yourself together and tell everything Brian said,” Brock demanded as he raced for his SUV. “Your daughter’s life depends on it.”
Chapter 24
Sweat trickled down Brianna’s forehead from the bright lights and from nervousness. She sat beside Twila on the main stage, holding hands the same way they did in the van. Of course, both women wanted to win, but the camaraderie they’d developed over the week was the most important thing.
Rachael stood at the mic. Lights flashed in the audience as people took pictures. “Over the past week, I was privileged to meet and get to know some amazing musicians and watch their talents blossom. The friendships we all made will last a lifetime. Every person on this stage tonight deserves to win.”
She waited for the applause to die down before continuing. “The judging criteria tonight is based on the total number of votes from the audience and on overall improvement. This man started with incredible skill and we’ve watched him grow throughout the week. Third place goes to Travis Kline on the banjo!”
The audience applauded as Travis stood up and walked to the mic.
“Next, we have in second place a woman who I’ve come to know and respect over the past week. She’s endured some hardships and powered through, and I’m sure she has a bright future in music ahead of her.”
Brianna’s heart pounded. Second place would be great. Wonderful.
“Our second-place winner is…singer extraordinaire Twila Hart!”
Brianna and Twila hugged before she went up to the mic.
“Now for our first place winner. This is also someone who overcame so many obstacles this week and really, her whole life. Like I said, the criteria was most improved. This woman has had no formal training yet her skill is amazing and has tripled since she got here. We only recently learned that this was also her debut in front of anyone—I mean,no oneever heard her play before this week—and now she shines on stage. We all agreed that she’s nothing short of a miracle. Our first-place winner is…Brianna Taylor on the fiddle!”
Brianna covered her mouth as the guitarist and mandolin player hugged her. She floated to the mic and got two more hugs from Rachael and Twila. Someone brought out a brand new fiddle case and handed it to her along with an envelope containing a thousand dollars. Rachael leaned in. “Congratulations, Bri. I know this is overwhelming tonight so I’m going to talk to you tomorrow about joining me on tour later this year.”
The audience cheered as she stepped up to the mic, hardly believing any of this could be real. “Thank you. This is unbelievable. I want to shout out to my fiddle sister this week, Amber Ferguson. She’s an amazing fiddler.” Brianna had to stop while the audience cheered and applauded in agreement. “She deserves to be up here just as much as I do. And not only because of her talent, but because she is also a kind person who actually offered to loan me her fiddle when I thought mine was lost forever.” She held up the beautiful new fiddle. “This is yours, Amber.”
The crowd went wild. From the VIP section, Brianna watched Amber cover her mouth in shock.
Rachael said a few more things, but the words were lost to Brianna. She saw her uncle and her cousins in the VIP section near Amber, but Brock was nowhere in sight. He promised he’d be there. Maybe he was backstage, waiting?Oh, God, what if it’s Brian?No, her uncle and cousins wouldn’t look so happy if Brian had taken a turn for the worse, right? What if he had to take care of a different emergency? She hoped he was all right as a volunteer led everyone off the stage, Brianna last in line just behind Rachael and the other two judges.
“Ms. Taylor?” A police officer took her arm as she came down the steps to the open-air space behind the stage. He looked familiar, one of the officers she’d seen all week helping with security. She glanced at his badge and recognized the name. “I need you to come with me. I have some bad news.”
“Oh, God, is it Brock? Brian?”
“Yeah, it’s about your brother. We need to hurry.” He maneuvered her quickly to the side toward the private parking lot.
Brianna looked around for Brock. Shouldn’t he be here? “Do you know Brock Jones? I really need to talk to him.”
