Edward (5 page)

The next morning was a welcome change on all levels. 
Tatiana was scheduled to spend most of the day practicing at the concert hall.
 The transportation had been shifted from luxury stretched limo to an armored
car driven by a Shukurae with a second in the front passenger seat armed and
armored to take on all comers.   Edward was surprised to see fans
gathering at the door once again, considering the previous night's insanity,
but there they were.  And there were four very gruff looking Shukurae
parting the crowd as the trio exited the hotel.

Tatiana pouted as she entered the car, “I don't like the
fans being treated like that.  It's not fair that some fruitcake spoils it
for everyone.”

“They'll catch the nut job, dear, don't worry.  And
then things will be back to normal,” coddled Gillian.  “Kind of sparse on
the inside of here isn't it?”

Edward smiled professionally, “Sorry, Gillian, they are
having another one converted with more amenities, as we speak.  They hope
to have it done tomorrow afternoon.”

Gillian nodded, “After last night, it is kind of shallow
for me to complain.  I've just gotten used to my creature comforts. 
Your team is quite exceptional.   We'll make do.  And if I
complain, just put it down as a lady running on borrowed time.”

Tatiana stared at Gillian with wide eyes, “Are you
okay?  I've never heard you talk like that before?”

Gillian laughed, “Just give me a few days.  I'll be
fine.   Now to the schedule...”

They pulled up to the rear entrance of the concert hall
right on schedule.  Kadu was there to meet them along with Alex and his
Shukurae partner Meeka.  Simple nods were all that passed as communication
as the ladies exited the armored car and worked their way through the back of the
concert hall.  As they walked, Edward watched Tatiana start to transform
once again.  From a meek and sheltered posture, she was soon strutting
with her head held high and eyes flashing by the time they made it to the
stage.

Musicians and dancers were already on stage; it was quite a
mob.  But then again, it was supposed to be quite a
production.   The idle chatter faded away as Tatiana entered.  So, too, faded the simple honest smiles.  Soon everyone
was wearing the most practiced, forced smiles Edward had ever seen.  It
was kind of creepy.  If they were smiling before why didn't they just
continue the same?  As he looked around, he found his answer:
uniformity.  No one's smile was now brighter than anyone else's, or more
importantly, Tatiana's. 

“Okay everyone,” barked Gillian, “We are going to start off
by doing a dry run of the whole thing.  The sections that do well are
excused this afternoon, the rest will stay here until
they get it right.  Or midnight.  Whichever
comes first.”

Edward doubted she was kidding on the 'midnight'
comment.  And from how quickly everyone got into place, including Tatiana, neither did the cast.  Poor Tatiana!  It
didn't matter how well she did, if the rest of the group didn't do well she was
likely to have to be there all night with them!  

In less than two minutes the lights were up and the sound
was going and the first dry run was off.  Edward would have loved to have
watched, but his job was security.  He needed to learn the stage and the
concert hall as a whole, forwards and backwards, every way in and out, and how
to make a few exits of his own if needed.  It was a mammoth building
complex and the plans that Trevor had given him didn't do it justice. 
Edward started walking the entire stage area as much as he could without
interfering with the practice at hand.  Next he turned to below the
stage.  Ughh!  A mix of trap doors and wiring for
effects and lights.  Not good!

“Edward, you free?” chirped his comlink.  It was
Trevor.

“Walking the site.  What is up?”

“We have an ID on the bomber and are sending an entry team
in with the local police to go say 'hi'.  Do you want in on it?”

 Edward smiled, man Trevor was fast!  “You are
awesome, Trevor.  You know that, of course.  But no, I'll give it a
miss unless you need me.  This building is huge and it is going to take me
a long time to learn it.”

“Eh, I've got a lot of good help,” came
Trevor's laugh over the speaker.  “Yeah, that is a huge building, good
luck with it.  I'll keep you posted.”

“Thanks Trevor.  Good luck and out!”

“Out!”

Edward smiled.  Progress, and
quickly too.  Enough of the underside of this
stupid stage.  It was a little claustrophobic.  Edward soaked
up the light as he made it back to the top of the stage.  He saw Kadu in
the middle of the seating and wandered over her direction.

“You heard from Trevor?” asked Kadu.  “They achieved
actionable information from last night's bombing.”

“Yep.  He just called and asked if I wanted in on the entry
team.”

“I notice you are still here, so you declined?”

Edward laughed, “Yeah, well, check my ego at the
door.  It's just a room sweep and take the guy
alive.  Anyone can do that.  I've better use of my time learning this
place.  But if it all does pan out, then even that is moot.”

“My initial suspicion is there is more than one person
involved.  Hopefully either I am incorrect or their first target will
provide evidence leading to others.”

Edward nodded, “Practical as always, Kadu.  Well, I
better get back to the task at hand.”

Kadu nodded and smiled as Edward headed back up
front.  The music was all but overpowering, and this was with the speakers
turned down for practice!  It was going to be insane during a live
concert.  Adding in would be the noise from the fans and it was going to
be hard to think.  He watched across the stage at the insanity at
hand.  Musicians, dancers and lights all in motion. 
One musician caught his eye, she was smiling like she
was having fun, a far cry from the forced neutral smile of all the rest. 
Edward laughed to himself.  Well at least one person had their job for the
right reason.  Too many of these people were here as hanger's
on for someone else's fame.   Jealousy... could it be an up and
coming performer that was associated with the bomber?  Or
maybe a boyfriend or girlfriend engaging in said heinous acts on their own to
“help” their loved one.  Oh what a mess!   Treveor was
checking into them all.  Now just to hear back from the raid... 

Suddenly all the music stopped.  Edward turned his
attention to the center of the stage.  Gillian was in the middle of it all
and she was livid!  They were supposed to do a complete dry run, but
something had gone wrong, badly enough that she had called it short.  Half
the cast was sent off stage while the other half was visited by the wrath of a
very mad Gillian.  Wow!  When she was mad she was a scary lady. 
Edward's brain suddenly clicked. 
What if Gillian was the target, not
Tatiana? 
They were going to have to check into that.  Oh!
 So many options!

There were a half dozen musicians and dancers dismissed to
the front row of seats so Edward took the opportunity to mingle.  Edward
smiled as he closed on the group, the lone smiling
musician was there.  She looked fairly young and had a beautiful coat, earthy brown with large black rosettes she looked
liked a clouded leopard topped with a short crop of black hair.   It
was a curiously short haircut, almost boyish but it served her well enough as
her smile alone could light up the room.

“Was there a problem up there miss?”
asked Edward.

She turned and swished her whiskers as she tried to place
him, “Yeah, the second guitar and all the dancers totally trashed the fourth
number.  It's a rough piece, but I just don't think they practiced
enough.”  She looked him up and down again, “You aren't from the
media.  Who are you, may I ask?”

Edward smiled broadly and offered his hand, “Edward
Silverglade.  I’m part of Tatiana's security detail until things calm
down.”

She smiled formally and shook his hand, “I'm Zoë
Sylva.  Violin and piano.  About the only
two instruments not run through two tons of electronic distortion.”  She
paused and looked him over a bit, “Security, but no sidearm.  Are you a
Highlander?”

Edward smiled and nodded, “Yes indeed.  Good call.”

“Were you with Tatiana when things got ugly last night?”

“Yes ma'am.  It was quite a mess, but no one got
seriously hurt.  We were lucky.”

“Oh, you can just call me Zoë.  I saw part of that on
the news.  Looked quite scary.  We were
afraid she wasn't going to show today.”

“What, you didn't want the day off?” joked Edward.

Zoë laughed, “You have to be kidding.  If practice
gets canceled we don't get paid.”

“Tough gig.”

“Music is a hard gig in general.  But you pay your dues
and you claw your way up to the top, or you just have fun as you go along for
the ride.”

“I assume you are just going along for the ride?”

Zoë laughed, “What, you think I have no ambition?”

“No, it's just that you were the only one besides Tatiana
that looked like they were having fun up there.”

“You got me there.  I play violin and piano.  I'm
never going to draw a crowd like her.  But that is okay, I should be able
to still be performing when I'm sixty.”

“That seems like a healthy attitude.”  Edward's mind
raced, “You play piano; just out of curiosity, have you heard of Ivy
Stratford?”

Zoë's face lit up, “Oh my word, yes!  I had a chance
to hear her play live back when I was little.  She was
wonderful.   No.  She was better than that. 
She
could draw a crowd like Tatiana.  She toured for two years and then
disappeared.  Why do you ask?”

“Well, Gillian mentioned that Ivy was well known but I
couldn't tell if she was just being polite or if she was serious.”

“Being polite?  I don't follow.”

“Oh.  My oldest brother is married to Ivy Stratford.”

“Really?”  Zoë beamed.  “Now I think you are just being a
name dropper.”

“I wish.  I grew up living in my brother's shadow and
now I find I'm living in Ivy's shadow too.”

Zoë laughed, “Yeah, I bet being part of a famous family
could be rough.”

“If you don't mind me asking,” began Edward, “how is
Gillian to work for?  She looks like a bit of a live wire out there. 
Is she well liked?”

Zoë furrowed her eyebrows as she thought a bit, “Well I'm
new to this gig so I don't really know how well the rest of the crew likes her,
but as far as working for her?  She's about average.  She is a little
more aggressive than some, but she isn't vindictive or spiteful.  She is
very professional.”  She laughed a bit to herself, “Quite honestly I was
worried about the whole 'cult of the diva' thing working here and honestly it’s
not been that big of a deal.  Gillian is very professional and while
Tatiana isn't very chummy with us, she isn't condescending to us or her
fans.   As far as pop music gigs go, it would be a cakewalk if it
wasn't for how aggressive the schedule is.”

“Got to pay for it somewhere, eh?”

“Yep!   But this time a year from now...” 

“Edward, you there?” chirped his comlink.

Edward rolled his eyes, “Excuse me, work calls.”

Zoë laughed lightly as Edward turned away.

“Edward here, what is up?”

“We were too late.  When we broke down the door,
someone had already taken out the suspect.  Very grim
and very professional.  Well save a printed note on the body that
said 'Sorry Tatiana.'”

“So we are back to square one?”  Oh! What a
mess!  Suddenly the concert hall seemed to double in size!  How could
they possibly protect it all?

“Not entirely.  We've a lot we can learn, just not as
much as we had hoped.  Stay focused, things are still very much hot.”

“We have a couple weeks until the first concert,
please tell me we can wrap it all up before then.”

“I hope so!  Keep your eyes and ears open, but spend
most of your time with your eyes on the client.  Got that?”

“Yes indeed.  Odd question, what’s the possibility
that Gillian is the target?”

“Thought of that and we are working that as an angle too,
but for the time being you stick with Tatiana.  We may end up putting Alex
on Gillian if we can't sort things out.  I don't know.  Honestly I'm
a little flustered right now.”

“Gotcha.  Sorry.  I know you are busting your
butts.  Well I got to get back to the client.”

“Speaking of butts...”

“Can it Trevor. Out.”

“Out.”

Gillian walked over from the edge of the stage to address the
musicians in the front row, “You are dismissed for the day with full pay. 
I expect to see you at eight tomorrow and we will try this again.  Thank
you for
your
professionalism.”

There was a small celebration on the side and no small
amount of groaning from the stage.  People quickly moved to pack up their
instruments and bag their personal effects.  Well at least a third of the
crew was happy to work for Gillian today!

“We have an inbound reading on motion sensor number 14,”
chirped the comlink.

“That's roof access by the air handling unit,” replied
Edward.  “Is the maintenance crew doing something?”

“Negative,” came Kadu's voice over the link.  “All
building staff was signed out at six-thirty.  That is not far from the
catwalk for the power cables to the stage lights.”

Not good.  That would quickly lead to the stage at an
angle that was hard to view.

“Alex, take the stairs.  I'll take the ladder to the
catwalk directly over the stage.”

“D-tack,” replied Alex.

Edward raced to the edge of the stage and searched for a
ladder up.  He had seen one earlier!  Where was it?  Other side
of the stage!  Too far now so Edward shot up the side of
the stage climbing up the scaffolding instead.  He caught more than
a few odd glances from the gaffers and Gillian as well, but he had a place to
be and 'up' was it.  As he climbed out onto the maze of catwalks high over
the stage, he shifted the color of his fur coat to dark colors and splotches to
more readily blend in.  What a mess!  Cables and pot lights everywhere
and the lights were hot!  As if he was stalking a deer, Edward slowly
moved toward the center spar.  Foot over foot, slow and graceful, married
to the shadows, he moved silently closer and closer.  There!  There
in the shadows ahead he spotted his target.