Heart Song (The Erotic Rockstar Series) (13 page)

“Baby…run…run…”

“Daddy…”

His body jerks three times and blood splatters over my face. His eyes roll back and he slumps onto the ground beside me.

“DADDY!” I scream.

I grip his arms, but he is limp
; blood pours from his mouth and his body jerks a few times. I am screaming so loudly but no one is helping me.

“Help him!” I scream.

I shake him over and over. Tears thunder down my cheeks, my world is spinning and before I can do anything else, I black out.

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

TRAVIS

I can see the cops before I turn the corner onto my street. All I can see after that is blood, so much blood. Bodies are strewn across Chief’s front lawn, the scene is horrific. That is when I spot her, my life, my soul, my Angel. She is on the ground, blood is pouring from her chest. I hear my own feral scream as I leap out of the car and run towards them. A cop grips my chest and hauls me back.

“This is a crime scene.”

“Let me go, that is my fucking girl!”

He looks over at the one, tiny female form in the group
of dead men. He closes his eyes a moment, and then lets me go. I run over, dropping to me knees beside her. God, she is dead, no, please fucking no. I touch her neck, and that is when I feel a faint pulse. I grip her into my arms and stare down at Chief; he is lying beside her, his hand stretched out as though he was trying to grab her. Blood is pouring from his mouth.

“Please, someone help her, she is alive!” I yell, running towards the ambulance parked near the road.

The man takes her from my arms and puts her on the bed. I feel angry, feral tears slide down my face. Why didn’t I take her with me today? Why did I leave her alone when I knew Demon was after her? God this is all my fault, all my fucking fault. I swipe my hands on my jeans; my beautiful girl’s blood stains my clothes. I turn and look back towards Chief; two men are lifting his body.

“He’s barely alive.” One calls.

“Trav.”

I turn to see B
ill, he is walking towards me covered in blood that I know isn’t his own.

“What the fuck
happened Bill?”

“
Demon and his gang showed up, I got the boys here but it was too late…”

He looks down at
Mischief; her beautiful face is nearly unrecognizable. I touch her hair and clench my fists.

“Are they all dead?” I snarl.

“All dead”

I take Mischief
’s hand, and bring her bloody fingers to my lips.

“Don’t you fucking die on me; please…don’t you fucking die.”

VIOLET

I open my eyes and I am in a hospital bed. I can feel a light, thudding pain in my shoulder. I want to speak but my mouth is stiff and dry. I croak and then I hear footsteps. Travis is beside me in seconds, his eyes are glassy and red. He grips my face, and a tear escapes and rolls down his cheek.

“Oh baby, my baby.”

“Trav?”
I whisper.

“I am here, I got you.”

“I…oh God.”

“NURSE!”
He yells.

A young nurse rushes in the room. She takes one look at me and begins doing
routine assessments.

“How are you feeling love?”

“Sore, confused.”

“How is your pain?”

“Not too bad.”

“I will go and call the doctor.”

“Can I have water?”

“Of course, just sips.”

“Thank you.”

When she is gone, Travis grips my hands again.

“Where were you?” I croak.

“I had a business lunch, I came back to see you and…oh fu
ck Mischief all I could see was dead bodies.”

“Chief?
” I cry.

“He is alive…but it doesn’t look good Mischief.”

“Oh God, please no.”

There go
the tears again.

“Violet?”

I look over to see my Mother walking in; her eyes are puffy and red. She rushes over and takes me into her arms sobbing like mad.

“Oh my baby,
my baby.”

“I’m ok
Momma.” I whisper.

“I…oh….”

“Daddy?”

“I don’t know
we are still waiting.”

“Is he going to die
Momma?” I sob.

“I don’t know.”

“It was so awful.”

“Oh baby, I heard.”

“They just came into the yard. He tried to protect me but Demon kept hurting me right in front of him. I saw him get shot, I saw his body go down, I thought he was dead…oh God.” I shudder and tremble.

Travis gets on the bed and takes me into his arms.

“It’s ok, it’s all ok. Demon is dead.”

“Bill showed up?”

“The gang showed up, with backup. Bill saw Demon show up at Chief’s house, he went and got reinforcement.”

“How many on Chief’s side are gone?”

“Only three, it was a surprise attack and they killed all of Demon’s gang.”

“All of them?”

“Yes all of them.”

A doctor comes in the room and smiles at the three of us.

“I am glad to see that you’re awake Violet.”

I nod weakly.

“Doctor, how is he?” My Mother asks, standing.

“Let me check Violet first,
and then we will discuss Caden.”

“I am ok, please tell us now.” I whisper.

“Ok, so tests show there is no swelling on the brain which is good news. However, he lost a massive amount of blood and that can cause unspeakable damage. His brain is showing activity, which again is good but we won’t know anything until we wakes up.”

“Could he be brain dead?” My
Mother whispers.

“
No, I wouldn’t think so.”

“And the rest of the injuries?”
Trav asks.

“He had four
bullets in his chest, by some miracle they all missed his heart but one did some serious damage to his lung. We have repaired that damage but again, we don’t know until he wakes up.”

“Will he survive?” I ask
knowing this is the dreaded question.

“He is stable, but critical. We won’t know more until he shows some responses. It could be an hour, it could be three days. We just don’t know when he will wake or respond.”

I nod and Travis squeezes my hand. My Mother cups her head and sobs. Bill walks in the room and lays eyes on me, his face scrunches up.

“Aw fuck
Mischief; you are a sight for sore eyes.”

“Bill.”

He walks over and takes my hand gripping my Mother’s at the same time.

“I just heard, he is going to be ok
Chief is a tough old dog.”

“Thank you.” I whisper.

“Fucking scared the life outta me when I saw you on the ground kid…”

“I’m
ok.”

“You look like hell.”

I touch my face and wince. I can feel the swelling and bruising.

“I am going to be ok.”

He nods and pats my hand.

“You are Mischief, and so are you
Angel.”

My
Mother nods too and covers her face with her hands.

“Come on,
let’s go get some coffee.”

“Bill?”

He turns to look at me.

“Who did we lose?”

He looks down “Henry, Kurt and Liam.”

I swallow and nod, closing my eyes. When he is gone, Travis grips me to his chest and holds me close.

“God, my beautiful girl I have never been so fucking scared in my life. I showed up and all I could see was blood and dead bodies. I saw you…and I thought…”

“I’
m ok.” I soothe.

“I thought you were fucking dead Mischief, everything i
n my world stopped. If you died my life would end do you hear me?”

“I am ok, shhh.”

He holds me close and rocks me slightly.

“I was out to lunch with Janice and I saw it on the news, I ran so fast out of that restaurant.”

I pull back. “You were having lunch with Janice?”

He winces. 

“It wasn’t like that. She said she had a serious matter she wanted to discuss with me.”

“So you just went?”

“She said it was urgent. I am the boss; I didn’t get much choice.”

“What was it?”

“What?”

“The urgent matter?”

“Nothing too important.”

“Trav…”

“She said she needed my help…”

“With what?”

He looks long and hard at me, and then sighs.

“This isn’t the time to discuss this.”

“Tell me Trav, no more lies remember?”

“She said her boyfriend is beating her and she is afraid.”

I gape. “And?”

“And she wanted my help.”

“Why?” I cry. “It has nothing to do with you.”

“She was terrified Mischief, you should have seen her.”

“So call the cops?”

“You know as well as I do that doesn’t work.”

“So what she asks for your help? She is just trying to get in your pants.”

He growls. “Not everyone wants a piece of me!”

“No, but she does.”

“She had
bruised ribs and scratch marks, it was terrible.”

“She showed you her ribs!”

He slaps his hands against his face.

“Look, I was helping someone I work with and that is where it ended.”

“She is playing you Trav, the sooner you realize that the better.”

“How do you explain her being covered in bruises and
scratches? She was terrified, I have never seen her so afraid.”

“Fine, so say she is getting beaten, what are you going to do about it?”

“I told her she could stay in my old apartment.”

“What?” I shriek.

“I don’t go there anymore; I don’t see why it’s a problem.”

“You don’t see why it’s a problem?”

“No, I don’t.”

“It’s your house!”

“So, I don’t live there. It’s only until she can figure out how to get rid of him. He doesn’t know where it is; she is safe there.”

“Travis, are you really that stupid?”

“Don’t call me stupid, I know your Dad is hurt and I know this is a really bad time, but fuck it Mischief, I don’t need this.”

“She is playing with
you; I wish you could see that.” I whisper.

“Not everyone is
a manipulative liar Violet.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means just because we have a history, doesn’t mean she is playing me.”

“And you could be wrong.”

“So what if I am? What is the worse that could happen? I find out she is lying; I kick her out. It’s not like I have done anything wrong. I could understand if I let her move in with me, or offered to stay at her house with her but I simply put her in my old apartment because I don’t live there anymore. End of story. End of discussion.”

I look away and fresh tears tumble down my cheeks.

“I know this isn’t the best time for you to find out I helped her, but let me tell you something for nothing, when I saw you in the front lawn, my world crumbled. I couldn’t have cared less if Janice had fallen over and died at my feet. I am trying to help someone in need, and that doesn’t make me a bad person. I am fucking dying here Mischief; give me some slack…because yesterday I thought I had lost my fucking life line.”

Then he turns and walks out, leaving me alone.

The next few days are hell. Chief doesn’t seem to make any changes, Travis and I are hardly speaking and my Mother is beside herself. Even though Trav has been in every day to see me, tension is thick in the air. I don’t want to behave like a petty child but I just know, somewhere deep down in my heart, that Janice is playing with him and something tells me it won’t end well. I am up and walking around, and I get to go home today. I visit Chief every day, and each day nothing changes. This morning the nurse tells me he is looking better.

“He is stirring.”

“That’s good right?”

“That’s very good. I am finished with you for the morning; go sit with him…talk to him. It helps.”

I smile at her and when she is gone; I walk slowly down to Chief’s room. I stare at him in the bed all covered in bandages. I walk over and take his hand pressing it against my cheek. My heart hurts and I can’t take away the images of him being shot right beside me.