“And you’re happy?”
“I love him. He’s good for me.”
“They have their interview with Lauri in a bit. You going?”
“Of course. It’s my job. They should be in make up about now, so I was just about to leave.”
Before either of us could speak again, Addi’s phone rang. She picked it up from her desk and checked the screen before answering. “Hi, Neo. Everything okay?” She went silent while she listened to whatever he was saying. “She’s here with me. Wait a sec and I’ll put you on speaker.”
Moments later, Neo’s deep voice echoed out. “Sweets. I have a question.”
“Sounds ominous.”
“I should probably give you a bit of background. When you gave me all that info from Thomas, Aaron and I searchedthrough everything. We couldn’t find anything, but I had a feeling…”
“A feeling?”
“Yeah, I mean, you’ve not heard anything from that twat since he sent that man to your house and he’s done all that sneaky stuff, making you look like you’re fucking up with your job, so it made sense that he’d do something else like that.”
“Right,” I said slowly, wondering where he was going with this.
“I got a forensic accountant who’s a friend of Aaron’s to go through everything. She couldn’t find anything in the labels’ finances that led to James.”
“I sense abut,” Addi said.
“She couldn’t find anything that linked the label with James, but she did find a secret bank account that you opened, Fern. The same bank account then paid Sounds of Lauri an obscene amount of money a few days before Ivy got the call inviting the boys to the interview.”
“W-what? I didn’t pay anyone. Are you saying someone paid Lauri to interview Alchemy Myth?”
“It looks like it.”
“I don’t understand… why would someone want them to be interviewed? And make it look like I arranged it?” A shiver ran down my spine as a realization hit me. “Fucking James. He’s going to do something to Charlie.” I leaped up out of my seat. “I need to get to the studio. I need to stop them.”
I turned to Addi. “Call Marshall, Dawson… anyone, but get them out of that building. Please.”
“I’ll call Thomas too. You shouldn’t be there without him or Sean. Jarrid is good, but they’re the best.”
“Look, Fern, Sean is on his way. He’s fifteen minutes behind us. We should wait. I have no idea what you’re walking into. If you’re right. If James planned this interview, then he’s had months to set this up. He could do anything. We’re safer if we go in with more firepower. Fifteen minutes, please.”
I shook my head as the car slowed outside the TV studio. Pausing with my hand on the door handle, I turned to look at Jarrid, his expression tense as he pushed his hand through the strands of his long dark hair that hung from his manbun.
“Jarrid, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. All of you. And I know you’re just trying to protect me. It’s your job. But my job is those men in that building. I need to protect them.” I placed my hand on his knee.
“And Charlie’s in there. I can’t let James do anything to him. I can’t let him hurt him. He can’t get to me, because you’re too good at your job, so he’s going after the person I love most in the world.”
Jarrid puffed out his cheeks as he let out a long breath, slipping off his jacket and releasing one of the guns from its holster. “Fine, but you stay with me. He wants you to panic. That’s what he’s hoping for. So you don’t. You keep that kick ass, level head of yours, and you don’t put yourself in danger. Do you hear me?”
I nodded as I opened the car door, got out, and waited for Jarrid to exit before we both ran inside, taking the elevator to the third floor, where they were due to start in half an hour.
As I dashed around the final corner, I found a very angry looking Dawson and Marshall staring up at a screen showing the boys already sat in their seats, ready for the interview.
I’d tried to call Dawson and Charlie on the way over. Both of their phones just rang and rang and I didn’t have time to try anyone else before we got here. I’d hoped that Addi hadmanaged to get them out of there, but seeing Dawson here made my heart hit the floor.
“The interview isn’t meant to start yet. Why are they in there?”
Marshall stepped forward, hands on his hips, his wide body crowding me. “You emailed and asked them to get here early. They’ve been sat in there for no reason. Lauri has only just turned up.”
“Something’s going on… something is wrong—” We watched the screen as Lauri appeared in a royal blue trouser suit, her dark curls styled to perfection, and took a seat across from them. A man appeared, announcing they were going to start recording, counting them down from three, before signaling to Lauri.
