Turbulent Sea (9 page)

Stop fighting me.

She closed her eyes, wanting him. Craving him.
I can't let you win. You know I can't, Ilya. You'd take everything from me
. Her pride. Her self-esteem, not that she had much left. Her soul. He'd own her.

I won't lose. You're running, but you're not getting away from me. I'll give you everything and that's what scares you the most. Don't worry
, milaya moya,
I have never run away from a battle. I won't be going anywhere
. The tender note in his voice scared her. Sex she could handle, but not the sheer intimacy when he dropped that caressing note into his voice.

She forced herself to sing to the audience, to sing to Lisa, concentrating, pouring her soul into the song about regrets and mistakes and a true love so deep one needed to give it a second chance. She thought of Tish and Logan, two people who belonged together and were torn apart by stupidity, how she didn't want that for Lisa and Denny.

Without warning, the drums stopped. Just stopped. The band faltered and Joley swung her head around to look at Denny. In trying to block out Ilya, she'd gone way too far, using her voice inadvertently and not sending directly to just Lisa. She sent a look of total desperation to Brian.

The crowd realized immediately that drama was in the works and quieted. Denny moved out around the drums and walked across the stage to take the microphone from Joley's hand.

"Dude, you've got your hands all over my woman and I'm about to ask security to throw your ass out. I may have screwed up, Lisa, but there's no one,
no one
in this world I love more than you and your son. Marry me. Take me back. Tell me what you want me to do. If you want me to leave the band, I'm gone. Whatever it takes, but give me another chance and I swear you'll never regret it."

Joley shaded her eyes to study Lisa's face. She was crying. The man with her whispered something to her and moved a little away, making Joley think he was a friend doing her a favor, rather than someone she'd picked up. Lisa looked utterly miserable, her face covered by her hands.

Denny shoved the microphone at Joley, crouched at the edge of the stage in front of her and held out his hand. "I'll spend my life making it up to you, Lisa."

Joley moved next to him, placing one hand on the drummer's shoulder for support in the event Lisa rejected him.

Everything inside of Ilya coiled. Joley had just placed herself in a very vulnerable position. Security lined the rope in front of the first row, but they were looking at Denny and Lisa, not at the audience or Joley. He immediately glided into a better position, his gaze taking in the first few rows, but his mind settling on the man in the third row he'd noted earlier.

In a way this was his fault. He had distracted her, knowing she would never let down her audience. Joley had continued to sing under sexual duress and had been unable to control the notes in her voice, soft and sultry and purring like a huntress for a mate. The effect on the men was obvious, in particular on the face of the man in the third row.

Denny suddenly jumped from the stage. Joley gasped and stepped closer to the edge as if to follow him. Lisa stood up. Security rushed to protect Denny. The man Ilya was watching made his move, springing over the seats, nearly kicking a woman in the head as he leapt over her to get to the deserted aisle in front of Joley. Ilya took off running, shoving security out of the way as they surrounded Denny.

He burst out of the crowd just as the man launched himself onstage, reaching for Joley.
Move, damn it
.

In his hand
, Joley warned him as she tried to back away.

Ilya caught the man from behind, taking him to the floor, locking his wrist behind him in a hold that threatened to break his arm. "Don't move," he hissed.

Joley laughed softly into the microphone. "He's just enthusiastic, no problem," she said. "Lisa, hon, come on up here and put Denny out of his misery so we can get these folks back on their feet."

The security team already had the man who had rushed the stage surrounded and were hauling him out. The band began to play, and Lisa, somewhat reluctantly, slipped her hand into Denny's and took the stage. Joley noted that she avoided his kiss, letting his lips only skim her cheek to the wild screams of the audience. Denny led Lisa back to the drums and took up his position. Lisa slid backstage, but sat where he could see her.

Joley let her heart regain its normal beat as she swung into a song, all the while looking for Ilya. He had disappeared in that way that he could. She had no idea if the man rushing her had had a weapon and if he'd managed to injure Ilya. Security had responded immediately and Ilya was gone as quickly as he'd arrived.

The rest of the concert went fairly smoothly, with only one equipment malfunction, which no one really seemed to notice. They took the stage twice more to yells, stomping and clapping before they called it quits.

Denny disappeared immediately with Lisa, and Logan hurried to call the hospital to check on his baby, so Joley visited with Brian, Leo and Rick while the crowd thinned. They were pumped up after the performance like always, stumbling over one another to talk. No one noticed that she said very little. She couldn't think of anything but Ilya, but pride wouldn't let her reach out to him. The longer he was silent, the angrier she became at him.

In the darkened van, she sat in the passenger-side front seat and rolled down the window as Steve took her out the back way. Die-hard fans that followed her from concert to concert knew she never traveled in the limousine or the decoy car, but stayed late and came out in the nondescript van. She always signed autographs for the ones who waited so long.

Steve knew the routine and he slowed the van as he turned onto the street. The rest of the band had come outside and stood behind the gates, watching as security milled with the crowd. These fans were polite, not rushing the car, but forming a loose line as they handed over programs and pictures for Joley to sign. She knew quite a few by name and greeted them with smiles, not for a moment letting how tired she was show.

A woman shuffled up to the car and handed her a picture. Joley didn't recognize her, but smiled and said hello. When she glanced down to sign, she saw that it wasn't her picture, but that of a young teenage girl.

"My daughter," the woman said. "She's missing."

Joley looked from the woman's grief-stricken face back to the picture. "I'm so sorry," she murmured.

"She was at your concert in New York, and afterward she was invited by your band to go to a party. She left me a message saying she was there and would be home late, but she didn't come home. I was working. I clean office buildings. She knew I wouldn't pick up the message until it was too late to stop her. Please. Have you seen her? She's only thirteen." Tears swam in the woman's eyes.

Joley took another look at the young girl.
I know that face
. For a moment she could barely breathe. "Steve? Does she look familiar to you?" She leaned close to him, whispering to keep the woman from hearing her. "Isn't she the girl who made the cell phone call and seemed to know Dean?"

Steve frowned, shrugged and shook his head, but said nothing.

"Please." The woman clutched at Joley's arm, digging her fingernails deep.

At once grief and fear overwhelmed Joley. Her stomach lurched.

Jerry St. Ives materialized from the crowd. "Is something wrong?"

The woman was hysterical now, trying to pull Joley out of the van, clutching her arm with one hand and yanking on the door handle with the other.

"You're bleeding. What did she do to you?" Jerry demanded.

The door began to swing open, and Jerry kicked it shut while calling for backup. Security swarmed around the woman and pulled her back, yelling at Steve to drive.

"No!" Joley protested, but Steve saw the blood on her arm and stomped on the gas, driving away from the crowd. She looked back and saw the woman struggling with the security detail. "Stop, Steve. It's not like she was trying to hurt me; don't let them turn her over to the police."

"Jerry says no, to keep driving. He'll fire me if I don't get you out of here. Your safety has to come first."

"You work for me."

"My job is to protect you."

"From a woman whose daughter is missing?" Joley turned around in her seat. "Get on the phone and tell Jerry we saw that girl with Dean. What if she's hiding out with him? Traveling with the band from concert to concert? We'd be liable. That should shake him up. She's
thirteen
."

Steve shot her a quick glance.

"Do it!" Joley stared down at the picture, suddenly afraid. Had anyone in her band issued an invitation to the girl? It would be horrible if she'd run off with a crew member. Or worse, what if something had really happened to the girl? "And tell him I want him to find that roadie tonight and deal with this. Dean whatever. Brian knows him. I want Jerry to talk to him tonight."

"Okay, okay," Steve said soothingly. "I'll tell Jerry. He'll handle it, that's his job."

Joley breathed a sigh of relief. Jerry was very good at handling things, that's why he managed the band. She rested her head against the seat and closed her eyes.

Chapter 4

JOLEY paced back and forth along the narrow aisle in her tour bus. "They should have Dean here by now, Brian," she snapped. "Where is he? It's been two weeks since that girl's been missing, Brian, and no one has talked to him about it. Jerry said he would take care of it and I trusted him to do it. We've had two shows since Chicago when we found out the girl was missing. This should have been done already."

"We don't even know for certain if it's the same girl, Joley. Steve said he couldn't positively say so, that she looked like maybe, but the girls look so much alike it could be anyone."

"I said I was positive."

"Maybe the girl's gone back home by now."

Joley scowled at him. "Why do you think I'm upset all over again, Brian? I called the police in New York and she's still missing. Jerry had better take this seriously. I not only want Dean questioned, but everyone else. I had Jerry make copies of the photograph to distribute to the band and crew, and he hasn't even done that yet."

"It's not like Jerry doesn't have a million things to do, Joley. Be reasonable. The schedule's so tight the buses barely make it from one city to the next in time to set up. The crew breaks down the set and they have to roll. By the time Jerry gets things done, they're already gone."

"And you don't think a child's life is more important than a concert? What's wrong with you that you don't think we should look into this?"

"That's a job for the police.
If
she was at the same party, big deal, and that's a pretty big if. That doesn't mean we're responsible, Joley. You always take on way too much. She's a kid. She might have run away." Brian crossed his arms, a stubborn look on his face.

"Maybe, but she might have run away with Dean. And that makes it our problem whether you like it or not, because if a member of our crew touched her, or ran off with her, we're looking at a lawsuit that will never end, not to mention it's
wrong
."