Blessed Tragedy (24 page)

It didn't take long before the tension in the air became palpable. Colton was giving Garrett the grand tour of our home away from home while Jon and Travis introduced my brothers to some of the other bands.

“Well, looks like you really can have your cake and eat it too.” I turned to see Tanya's coffee brown eyes narrow as she watched Colton and Garrett walk off the bus.

“What in the hell is
that
supposed to mean, Tanya?” I snarled. I knew exactly what she was implying and I wanted to make her say it out loud. Jon had been abundantly clear that she was skating on thin ice and I, for one, couldn't wait to be the one to watch her fall through.

“Not many people are slick enough to get the boyfriends to be best friends. Kudos.” She nodded to the two men who were in a heated debate over whether Gibson or Fender guitars were superior. “Look at them, it's almost like they're not competing for a place in your pants.”

“You know what, Tanya, screw you.” I didn't care that I was yelling loud enough to draw the attention of people walking by. “Garrett is one of my oldest, dearest friends and Colton is head over heels in love with me. I'm sorry you're a pretentious, bitter bitch who can't find anyone to love you, but that doesn't give you the right to rip me to shreds. You know shit about me; you know shit about my life. If you value your job, I highly suggest you back the fuck up and think about what you're doing. You have
zero
say in what I do in my personal life.”

I'd spent much of my life angry. That was nothing compared to the pure rage I felt coursing through my veins at the woman who had deemed it her job to crush every aspect of my life. The fact that she had no reason to do so only made my blood come to a full boil.

“Sweetheart, you're delusional if you think anything you have is real. You're nothing more than eye candy out there and I know for a fact that Colton isn't nearly as smitten as he claims to be. Just you watch, soon enough you'll understand what I'm saying and you'll be the one on your ass wondering what all went wrong.”

“Enough!” Jon roared. My head snapped at the sound and I saw Mike and Matt holding Colton back as Jon stormed over to where we were standing. “Rain, go spend some time with the fam. Be back in an hour.” It wasn't a suggestion. As much as I wanted to be part of whatever was about to go down, I knew he was doing it this way for a reason. I was far too pissed off and wrapped up in the issue to keep a level head while he talked to the vile bitch.

Garrett grabbed my upper arm hard as I spun to take care of her myself when I heard her parting shot. “Look at her Colton. I can't believe you're stupid enough to believe she's not sleeping with him. Just look at the two of them walking away from you.”

“Stop,” Colton commanded. That was the last word I heard as Colton and Jon escorted her onto the bus with Trav and Jared close behind.

Once we were out of sight from the buses, I collapsed onto the ground. The roller coaster of my life was out of control and I'd hit my breaking point. Matt scooped me up in his arms holding me as I sobbed. “Hey, none of that. Let the guys take care of her. Now, let's go grab a beer.”

It wasn't even noon and I had a show to prepare for but, in that moment, nothing sounded better to me than losing myself in the beer tent until the last possible minute. I nodded against Matt's shoulder and he shifted me to his back. I laughed like a schoolgirl as he gave me an excessively bumpy piggy back ride through the concessions area.

Colton texted me as I started on my third beer in an hour to let me know the situation was taken care of. That would have made a normal person feel better but I'm far from normal. Instead of feeling at ease knowing I wouldn't have to deal with Tanya anymore, I started running through all the trouble she could create as payback.

“Stop.” Mike stood in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. “I know what you're doing. You're going to drive yourself insane. You need to learn to trust them.”

“I do trust them, Mike. It's her I have no faith in. Look at what she's already done.”

Garrett placed a hand on the small of my back, joining in Operation Mental Maddie. “He's right. You say you trust them, but you're not showing that right now. You just go out there and do what you do best and let Jon handle it. From what I've seen, he'll do the right thing. Now, don't you have work to do?” They walked with me until we reached the edge of the bus corral before turning back. “We'll come and find you after the show. Knock 'em dead out there. And drink some water.”

“Yes, Mister Dietrich,” I teased. It was cute to see him go into band director mode. He knew better than any of us just how quickly things could go wrong when performing in the heat.

Three hours later, the sun was high in the sky and beating down on the stage. We hadn't even started our set and I felt sweat dripping down my back. Jon squeezed my shoulder before taking his place behind the drum kit, reassuring me everything would get back to normal soon. I took the stage sixteen beats after Jon and Trav started
Animal
, feeling the energy of the crowd seeping into my pores.

“What's up, Comstock!” I shouted into my microphone. The crowd grew louder and I looked to Colton as he ran to join us on stage.

We ran through our standard set before introducing the fans to some of our new sound. “Alright, now you might have heard noise on the Internet that we're changing things up this year. Unlike some of the crap that's been out there about us,” I looked to Colton briefly, “This is no joke. Let's show some love for Jared Sorenson!”

Again, the volume ramped up as Jared joined me at the center of the stage. “Now, this little punk thought he'd get a job as a roadie and he was damn good at it. But then, he shocked the hell out of all of us when we found out the boy has some serious talent!” Jared blushed as I continued. “Do you guys wanna see what he can do?” I shouted, raising my hands high in the air to get the crowd going again. “Alright, kid. Get your ass back behind the keyboard where you belong.”

Colton, Travis and I cleared the stage to give Jon and Jared their moment. It was the first time we'd tried this classically inspired solo and we were all nervous to see how it would be received. Travis tossed each of us a bottle of water as we watched Jon break into a heavy hitting drum solo. When Jared joined in with a classical piece, there was a moment of near silence as the crowd tried to figure out what they were hearing. I squeezed Colton's hand, nervous that we'd made the wrong decision. He looked at me, concern on his face as well. Just as quickly as it had gone quiet, the noise grew as loud as it had been all day. They loved it. They loved Jared. And in a twisted way, that filled me with pride. The kid was damn good and he deserved to be up there.

Colton and I spent much of the afternoon with my family, knowing it would likely be months before we had time to see them again. There were a few tense moments when I heard Matt reminding Colton that I was the baby of the family and they weren't going to stand by and watch me get hurt. It didn't make me feel uncomfortable because it wasn't the truth, I simply didn't see Matt as the protective big brother. Mike, maybe – but I hadn't seen it coming from the eldest child in our family.

Tanya's fate was the elephant in the room for much of the day. No one would talk about the outcome of their meeting before we went on stage and there was no time after we were done with our set. It wasn't until we were on the bus, rolling down the highway to the next stop, that Jon called everyone to the front of the bus for a meeting.

Slightly buzzed from my post-show indulgences and thoroughly exhausted from a day in the sun, I alternated between trying to keep a straight face and fighting to stay awake, neither of which were good when Jon was in full-on business mode. He shot me a dirty look and I sat up, determined to not upset him since it had more than likely been a rough day behind the scenes.

“Okay, so you guys already know all of this, but I need to bring Rain up to speed.” He looked over at me to make sure I was paying attention. “Tanya seems to have taken issue with Colton and Rain lately. As much as she tried to say it was because she felt their relationship was bad for us as a group, I don't think any of us bought that line.”

Colton shifted in his seat, obviously uncomfortable with his name being brought up. I placed my hand on his thigh, trying to let him know I knew how he felt.

“After the fiasco with her texting pictures to Colton and then her little outburst today, something had to be done. Effective immediately, Tanya is no longer employed by Blessed Tragedy. I'm hoping she'll be an adult, but if any of you see her anywhere in the restricted areas, call security.” He crouched down so he was looking directly into my eyes. “And don't you listen to a word she said. You're a hell of a lot more than eye candy. You're one of the most talented bitches in the business; probably one of few who can hang with the guys without a problem.”

Sensing that the “meeting” was over, Trav grabbed a round of beers and the bottle of Jagermeister. As I tossed back the first shot, I hoped the worst of the bad times were behind me. I wanted to get through the rest of the summer without my life taking any more major turns.

Chapter Twenty

For the last two months of summer, life was wonderful. Colton and I quickly fell back into old habits, sharing the one bedroom on the bus every night but nothing more. He didn't push for more and I was grateful for that.

As much as I missed him, missed making love with him, I couldn't allow myself to feel that vulnerable again. No matter how many times everyone told me I was crazy, I couldn't shake the feeling that letting my guard down had nearly ripped our group apart. If I never felt that way again, it would be too soon.

Our final show for the summer was just outside Charlotte, North Carolina. Rather than spend days on the bus traveling to the opposite corner of the country, we hopped on a plane so we could fall into our own beds that night. Jared was staying with Colton since it wouldn't work too well for one member of the band to be in Illinois while the rest of us were in Portland.

As hesitant as I'd been about adding a fifth member to the group, he quickly became a crowd favorite with his deceptively innocent, boy next door looks and playful attitude. Behind the scenes, we all took him under our wings and he was the little brother we never knew we wanted.

Life was looking good for the Blessed Tragedy family as well as for me personally – until I walked into my small, downtown apartment. Before I'd even turned on the lights, I was overcome with the feeling that something was terribly wrong. One flick of the switch confirmed my fears. The normally meticulously organized living room was turned on end. Every paper from the filing cabinet in my corner office was strewn across the floor, picture frames shattered across the hardwood. None of that mattered when I saw the acoustic guitar I bought on my seventeenth birthday splintered, dangling by one steel string from a nail on the wall.

After calling the non-emergency number for the police department, I shot a text message to Colt.

Can you come over?

Miss me already?

Yes, but that's not the point. Please, get over here.

You're freaking me out. Everything okay?

Not by a long shot. You'll see soon enough.

Room by room, I surveyed the damage. There wasn't a room that was left untouched, but a quick look didn't show anything of value missing either. Not that I had much to begin with, but the few rings I'd inherited from my grandmother still sat on top of my dresser and the electronics were still there.

“Rain, what in the hell happened in here?” It only took Colton a few minutes to arrive from his condo about a mile away. “Rain, where are you?” He called out, panic in his voice.

“Bedroom,” I responded. I was doubled over on the bed when he walked into the room. If this had been a simple break-in, I would have been able to deal with it. It happens, especially when you don't come home for months at a time and didn't see the point in paying for a security locked building. Stupid choice number one right there. The fact that this felt personal left me feeling violated. The thought that someone did this on purpose, trying to hurt me, was more than I could process.

“It's okay, baby.” He sat next to me on the bed, pulling me into his lap. “What happened?”

I sobbed into his t-shirt. “I have no clue. This is what I came home to.”

“You're not staying here anymore, Rain. I told you before that I didn't think this was a good place for you and this,” he waved his hand around the room, “this proves it.”

“No. Whoever did this wasn't trying to rob me,” I choked out. Saying the words was even harder than coming to terms with it on my own.

“What do you mean?”

I pointed to the dresser. “Look, my grandma's jewelry is still up there. The computer and TV are still out there. This wasn't someone looking to make a buck. At least not from selling my stuff.”

“Fuck.” Colton stared straight ahead and I knew his mind made the leap to the same place mine had moments before he arrived. “You don't think...”

“Who else? Seriously, I may not have made many friends in my life, but there's only one person I can think of who knows where I live and has a reason to do something like this.”

Nearly forty-five minutes later, two uniformed officers showed up to take a report. One officer sat me down at the breakfast bar questioning me about who has access to the apartment, my relationship with the few people I knew of who had keys and what was, or wasn't, missing. The rotund officer had me feeling a bit better by the time he finished taking notes and went to find the younger, female officer.

“Um, Miss Neumann, can we talk to you for a minute out here?” Colton stood to follow me into the bedroom but I motioned for him to stay.