Front Man 3 : Full Frontal (Part #3 of the Front Man series) (4 page)

***

When Sara hadn't
arrived home by midnight, Erica began to worry. She tried her
friend's cell numerous times, but it just rang and rang, until
eventually her calls went straight to voicemail. She made Matt drive
her out to the Pussy Parlour, but the place was closed early, the
doors and windows securely locked behind metal grilles.

"Maybe she met
some friend, went for a drink after? Maybe she met a guy?" Matt
suggested, trying to calm his frantic girlfriend.

"Yeah, because
Sara's exactly the type of girl to pick up a random dude in a strip
club. Can you picture her just going home with some stranger?"
Matt had to admit she had a point. They had called all Sara's
friends, even her parents, but nobody had heard from her.

"Something
bad's happened Matty," Erica said quietly, trying not to cry.
"She went looking for that douchebag's sister and now she's
missing as well."

Matt didn't need to
ask which douchebag she meant. He had heard the whole sorry story
enough times, including the latest update on the Laura situation.
Sometimes he regretted being such a good listener.

"Come on baby,
I'm sure she's fine. Look, if she's not back in half an hour then
we'll go down there and look, okay? I'll drive you. Sara's a smart
girl, she can look after herself, you know that. Try not to get
worked up." Matt slid his arm around Erica's waist and pulled
her close, pressing his lips to hers. He felt her respond, sliding
her soft tongue into his mouth as he cupped one of her full breasts
and squeezed gently. Matt took Erica's hand and slid it down to his
crotch, so she could feel how hard he was. But Erica pulled away, her
face creasing into a frown.

"I'm sorry
baby. I just can't get in the mood, I keep thinking about Sara. I
know it's stupid, but I've just got this bad feeling. Something's
happened, I know it."

Matt sighed, trying
to will his erection away. Erica could be a little overdramatic, but
she had a point, it wasn't like Sara to be out of touch like this.

"Maybe we
should try calling the cops. If she's broken down, or - God forbid -
there's been an accident, they'll know."

"Thanks Matty.
You call the police, I've got one more number to try."

***

Jack couldn't wait
for the elevator, choosing instead to sprint up the stairs to Jared's
modest penthouse apartment. He was getting out of shape, he thought
to himself, feeling the burn in his thighs. He paused to catch his
breath before knocking on the door.  Jared wore a grave
expression as he ushered Jack into the lounge. 

"Oh,
hey...it's Erica, right?" Jack felt awkward seeing Sara's best
friend again. Last time they met, the vivacious blonde was beyond
wasted, and Jack had to put her to bed in his hotel suite. 

"Hi Jack. Nice
to see you again. Um, this is my boyfriend, Matt." Matt looked
slightly starstruck as he shook the lead singer's hand.

"Nice to meet
you. Now, would someone please tell me what the hell's going on?"

Erica took a deep
breath, and cast an anxious look at Jared before she began. "Sara's
missing. She went out this evening and she's not come home. Her
phone's going straight to voicemail. I'm worried she's in real
trouble."

Jack furrowed his
eyebrows. "Look, I don't mean to sound cruel, but might you be
overreacting a bit? She's a grown woman, is it really a national
emergency if she's not checked in by 2am?"

"I should have
known you'd say something like that.Why would you even care?"

"Hey, wait,
that's not what I meant! I just mean, she probably just met up with
some friends, or, you know, met someone... "

"She's not
like that. But look, that's not all, I mean..."

"Jack, she
went looking for Laura." Jared cut through Erica's mumbling.
Jack felt like he'd been stabbed in the gut.

"Sorry, what?"

"She went
looking for your stupid sister, because despite the fact you treated
her like a complete asshole, she still seems to care about you."

"Erica thought
she'd spotted Laura in a bar the other day," Jared clarified,
"so Sara went to check it out. She knew how much finding Laura
meant to you."

"Yeah, and now
she's fucking missing. Some strip joint sleazeball could be doing
god-awful things to her right now, and it's all your fault."

"Woah, Erica,
I'm sorry but...wait, a strip joint? Laura was at a strip club?"

"We don't even
know that it was Laura, Jack," Jared said levelly, ever the
voice of reason. "But we do know that Sara went to investigate,
alone, and now nobody can get in touch with her. That probably isn't
good."

"Did you call
the police?"

"They said
pretty much what you did, " Erica snarled, " that she'd
probably hooked up and forgotten to call. They won't even do anything
until she's been gone for 48 hours." 

"Which I think
you'll agree, is too long to wait." Jared said. 

"Damn right it
is. Shit, Sara, what were you thinking? Why would she go alone?" 

"I should have
gone with her. I knew something was going to go wrong." Erica's
voice cracked a little, and Matt put his arm around her.

"Jack, I
figured we should go down and have a look for ourselves. I've called
the security company, a couple of the boys will meet us down there
for back up. I hope you don't mind me calling you...I figured you'd
want to help. And if Laura is there, well, it's you she's going to
want to see." 

"Thanks Jared.
You did good. And Erica, look, I know I hurt Sara a lot. But please
don't think I don't care about her. I really, really do. And I'm
going to do everything in my power to get her back safe, ok."

"Let's all
just try to stay calm, okay," Jared reasoned. "With any
luck, it will all be a big misunderstanding, a flat tire or
something."

***

Sara's eyes burned
as the room suddenly flooded with light. As her vision adjusted, she
saw a tall, bulky figure silhouetted in the door way. A spasm of fear
ran through her.

"Wakey wakey
sleepy head," the man grunted, giving a low chuckle.

Sara opened her
mouth to speak, but fear made the words stick in her throat.

"Seems like
you've been asking a lot of questions. Poking your nose in where it
isn't wanted. Now I've got a couple of questions for you, missy."
The man moved closer, and Sara willed herself not to flinch. He had a
sallow, flabby face, with a pair of dark eyes that seemed to bore
into her. Dressed in a grubby tank top and ripped jeans, his muscly
arms were covered in garish tatoos. Sara shuddered as she noted the
handle of a gun poking out of the waistband of his jeans. The guy
radiated agression. She knew she was in trouble.

"So tell me,
little girl. What are you doing, barging into my club, bothering my
best dancer."

"I...I'm
sorry, I didn't mean to bother anyone. I thought she was someone I
knew, but I guess I was mistaken."

"You sure
were. Now quit fucking around, and tell me who sent you."

"What? Nobody
sent me...I just, I saw her and I thought I recognized her. I didn't
mean to cause any trouble." Sara's voice shook as she spoke, and
she struggled to keep her breathing steady as panic gripped her.

"Tell. Me.
Who. Sent. You." Her captor brought his face close to Sara's, so
she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"I told you,
nobody sent me, I was just-" Sara was cut off mid sentence as a
hard slap landed on her right cheek. Pain exploded through her face
and tears sprang to her eyes.

"Liar!"
The man screamed at her. Sara was shaking all over with shock and
pain. Her captor abruptly turned and stormed out of the room. Sara
began to sob uncontrollably. She had no idea what this man wanted
from her, or why she was being held there. He seemed like the kind
of person who would kill her without a second thought. She might
never see her family again. And all for Jack Carter, a man who most
likely barely remembered her name.

Sara heard
footsteps approaching, and tried to reign in her tears. She braced
herself as they neared the door, but then they stopped abruptly.

"Bitch isn't
talking, man. What do you want me to do with her?" Her captor's
voice sent chills through Sara. A second voice, male, answered him.

"Make her talk
Dan, that's what I fucking pay you for. I told you to get out as soon
as Laura's picture started popping up in the papers. It was a mistake
staying this close to home, it's not safe here." Sara strained
to hear. The voice seemed slightly familiar, like she'd heard it
before, but she just couldn't place it.

"The girl
didn't want to go. I didn't figure anyone would come looking for her
in this hole."

"Well you were
wrong, weren't you? And now we're in this mess. Fuck, Dan, I can't
trust you with one simple task... What exactly did Laura say?"

"She says
she's never seen her before today. But I don't know, she was being
kinda shifty, like she knows more than she's letting on."

"Interesting.
We need to know if this nosy bitch has told Jack anything. Either
way, you and Laura need to get out of here, no arguments. Did you get
the girl's phone?"

"Yessir."

"Good. If
we're going to move Laura across the country, we'll need money. This
chick's got to have family, a boyfriend, someone who'll put up some
cash to get her back. Start looking through her phonebook."

"Isn't that a
bit risky? Surely you've got enough money to take care of Laura?"

There was a stony
silence. "My funds are kind of tied up right now, Dan," the
mystery man growled.

'Right, of course,
sorry. Hey, boss...Jack's number's in here. And, this guy,
Jared...isn't that your -"

"Let me see
that." The voice laughed, but it was not a happy sound. "Well
well, who have we here? Jacky's little girlfriend, I presume? Forget
the ransom plan. I've got a better idea."

Sara gasped. She
did know that voice. The sarcastic tone, the way he spat Jack's
name...it didn't make sense quite yet, but it was clear something
truly terrible was going on. And that two-faced bastard was right in
the middle of it.

***

Jack sat in the
front seat of Jared's SUV, his stomach churning with anxiety as they
sped along the wet streets. Erica and Matt were following them in
Matt's blue station wagon.

"At least
there's no traffic. We'll be there in another half an hour, all being
well." Jared spoke just to break the tense silence that filled
the car.

"Jared...when
I got your message, I was going to call you anyway. There's something
I needed to talk to you about."

"Jack...I know
you love Sara. I knew it the moment I saw the two of you together.
And I know you've got your reasons for not giving it a try, but...if
you don't take risks, then you might miss out on a chance for
happiness."

"Thanks,
buddy, but that wasn't it."

"Oh. Sorry.
But still, when we track her down - which we will, don't you worry -
don't you think you should at least talk about it?"

"Jared, I'm
sure she's moved on by now anyway. I did the right thing. I can't
drag someone like Sara into all my shit...it's not fair on her."

Jared sighed.
"Jack, I don't know why you can't see yourself the way everyone
else does. You're a great guy. You deserve to be happy. You just have
to stop beating yourself up about every little thing, and allow good
things into your life."

"Are we done
with the psychoanalysis now? Like I said, it wasn't Sara I wanted to
talk about."

"Okay, okay,
sorry. Go on."

"I got an
email from Ellie. Ellie Tanaka, from the Herald?"

"I remember.
Nice girl. What did she have to say?"

"She said...
oh man, this is going to sound crazy. Basically, she knows the guy
who broke the story about me dealing drugs. You know how he would
never reveal his source?"

"Of course I
know, do you know hard I leaned on that guy? But he wouldn't give it
up. Journalistic integrity and all that." Jared rolled his eyes.

"Well, Ellie
took him out for a few gin and tonics and...Jared, she says it was
Michael who gave that photo to the papers. He's the anonymous source.
He's been trying to screw me."

"Holy shit,
Jack...it can't be. wouldn't do that to you. What's he got to gain?
The band would be ruined...it doesn't make sense!"

"Well that's
what I thought. But then...you know how he's been lately. Always
wanting to be centre of attention, trying to squeeze me out. And
Ellie's got no reason to lie. I don't want to believe it...but the
more I think about it, I can't help but be suspicious."

Jared was silent
for a moment. Jack could almost hear the cogs turning in his head,
analyzing situation before he dared to speak.

“Jack…of
course, I don’t want to believe it either. But I have to admit,
there’s been something a bit off about him, especially lately.
When the whole scandal broke, the rest of the boys were upset,
worried about you and about the band’s future. But y…he
didn’t seem worried at all. He was so ready to push forward. I
thought he was just trying to think positive, to keep the band on
track…” Jared trailed off. Jack could see the pain on
his face, and he felt almost guilty for raising the question. Jared
had been like a father to them all, guiding them from a naïve
bunch of kids with a little talent to the stars they had become. But
then, hadn’t Jack and Michael been like brothers? Once…it
seemed like such a long time ago now. Fame had strained that bond to
breaking point. Jack hadn’t wanted to admit to himself how far
apart they had really grown. But still. After everything they had
been through, would really betray him like that?

“Do you want
me to talk to him?” Jared said at last. “Not that I know
exactly how to broach the subject…if Tanaka’s wrong,
well, it’s not an accusation you can take lightly. There’d
be no going back for the two of you.”