Real Time (11 page)

“Kate,” was all he said. Kate could easily see Nick was upset - he didn’t say much but she could see the dark look on his face. His rage was contained but Kate knew he was walking a tight edge. Nick didn’t deal well when things quit going as planned and the fact she was involved, Kate knew, was making this even more difficult for him.

“He was waiting in the room and jumped me,” was all Kate said. The paramedics walked in and Kate still held the artery clamped. The paramedics didn’t have anything in their kit they were confident would do a better job and asked her if she would come with them. Kate nodded and they loaded Brock onto a gurney and they left for the hospital. The police had been right behind them and they handcuffed Kevin just as he was coming around. The police took a statement from Sam and Kyle, but both told them they needed to get the actual events from Kate and Brock.

O
nce at the hospital, doctors were able to clamp off Brock’s artery so Kate could release it. Stepping back, she looked down and saw the enormous amount of blood on her shirt and her pants, now understanding the look Nick had given her back in the hotel room.
This has to be scaring the crap out of him; to have seen this and not been able to react
. Kate thought this might push him over the edge and break down his mental block. Thankfully Kevin hadn’t been interested in actually doing bodily harm otherwise he could have killed her before Brock ever walked in the room. She still didn’t understand what was mentally driving her ex-husband. His obsession didn’t make sense because he tried to drive her away emotionally before the accident ever happened. Ten years later, he had the career he wanted and she should have been old news.

One of the nurses saw her expression and came over. She told Kate to follow her and walked them to where they kept clean scrubs for the hospital staff. Pulling out a set she took Kate down to shower and change. Kate knew there was no salvaging either the pants or the shirt, and trashed them in the proper container for blood-contaminated items. The nurse stayed until she was done and noticed the cut on her neck was still seeping. It wasn’t deep enough for stitches but there was still some blood coming to the surface so the nurse put some antiseptic ointment on it and covered it with a clean bandage. Kate followed the nurse out to the waiting room, as the doctors had taken Brock up to surgery.

When Kate got into the waiting room, she saw all the band members, half the security force, and even Nick himself. Nick being there surprised her; she knew how much he tried to stay out of the public eye while on tour and she was touched that he would be there for Brock... and her. She took a moment to gauge his expression before making her presence known – she wasn’t sure if it was worry or anger on his face; probably a mixture of both. Kate came walking up and smiled weakly at everyone. Trent was the first one to see her, jumping up to give her a brotherly bear hug, and the other three guys joined in. Nick stayed in the foreground and Kate knew it was because he didn’t want to give anything away to the rest of the group.

“I’m okay guys, really,” Kate said, as they let her go. “And it’s sweet you came out here.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it,” Trent said. “Ready to go back to the hotel?”

Kate shook her head. “You guys can head back. I’d like to stay until Brock is out of surgery.”

“What happened in the room, love?” Nick asked, his voice deceptively soft as he walked over to her.

“Kevin was waiting for me in the bathroom. I had walked into the sitting room, turned the light on for Brock, and was heading to the bedroom. He grabbed me and put a knife to my throat.”

It was nice to have so many guys as makeshift brothers because the air in the room got decidedly more heated. Kate glanced at Nick, never before seeing such a look of controlled anger on anyone’s face before.

“Brock and I have been busy since New York,” she added, with a smile. “He’d been teaching me self-defense moves after the altercation in New York. I was afraid Kevin would try again, especially now he knew how to find me. We had practiced for this kind of situation, ironic as that is. We had a signal which made me go limp. When I used it, I threw Kevin off balance and Brock lunged for him. Brock almost got the knife away before Kevin got the upper hand and stabbed him in the thigh with it. I lost it and threw myself at Kevin, slamming him into the wall. Sam and Kyle came in at that point and you guys know the rest. But I think he went at Brock harder because he thought I was sleeping with him.”

“Why do you think that?” Sam asked.

“Kevin made a snide comment about Nick. He was totally convinced in New York the only reason Nick had hired me was because I was sleeping with him and he sounded surprised when he thought I had chosen Brock instead. It was those kinds of comments, among other things, which led to our divorce in the first place.”

The surgeon who had been working on Brock entered the waiting room, looking for family. Kate jumped up and all but ran to him to hear the prognosis, which, thankfully, was good. Kate asked to see him and the doctor agreed reluctantly. Kate walked back over to the group to let them know what the doctor had said.

“Brock’s going to be all right,” she announced and cheers went up. “The doctor is going to let me go see him. You guys probably ought to head back to the hotel - I can follow later.”

Kate watched Nick whisper something to Sam, who then walked over to Kate’s side. She knew he had told Sam to remain. The rest of the group wanted to stay as well, but Kate convinced all but Andy to go back, agreeing to wait with Sam while she went in to see Brock. She really wanted Nick to stay but knew it was out of the question. She was comfortable with Andy; he had assumed the role of her mentor in the beginning, helping her adjust to the touring environment, advising her with the first shows. Nick smiled at her as he walked away with the others but Kate saw it didn’t reach his eyes – she knew he was a ticking time bomb. There was no avoiding this blow out – she almost felt bad for security because they were who Nick was going to focus his anger on. Kate watched him walk out the door and then followed the surgeon, leaving Sam and Andy to wait for her.

“Hey,” she said softly, once in the recovery room with Brock. He was awake but clearly still out of it. He looked like a machine from a science fiction movie, with tubes running in and out, including one as a drain in his leg.

“Hey,” he answered hoarsely, taking in the bandage on her neck. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. You’re the one with all the extra work,” she teased, motioning to everything around him.

“Glad those self-defense lessons paid off,” Brock said smiling. “Kate, please tell Sam not to call my wife. She’ll just freak.”

“I’ll tell him,” she said, bending over to kiss his cheek. “Doctor said I could only stay a minute, but I’ll come back in the morning.”

He nodded, closing his eyes to go to sleep. Kate left the recovery room and Andy draped his arm over her shoulders to walk her out. Andy was the oldest of Nick’s band members and had been with Nick almost since the beginning. Kate regarded him like a big brother and was glad he was there - her nerves were a little frayed. She gave Sam the message from Brock; he didn’t look like he agreed but said he would abide by it for now.

* * *

T
he next morning, Nick had most of his security people in the main room with him and told the rest of the band to go find other things to do. With his tone of voice, the band had left immediately and didn’t look back. The fact Kate’s ex was able to not only get on the floor but hide out in her room was unacceptable and Nick was more than angry. It showed on his face, in his tone, and there had been very little conversation at breakfast. No one wanted to set that explosion off.

All the security guys, except Ryan and Mike, and, of course, Brock, stood silently while Nick raged at them about the incident for the better part of an hour. Ryan was absent as he had accompanied Kate back to the hospital and Mike was watching the floor to keep unwanted people off this level. Nick was worried about Kate; she was being extremely calm about the whole thing and this kind of silence usually meant something else was building up on the inside. The separation they maintained put Nick at a severe disadvantage last night. All he had wanted was to go wrap his arms around her and keep her safe. Instead, he spent a very sleepless and anxious night, the two only serving to fuel his temper to a mountain high level this morning.

“So how did he get in?” Nick demanded, once he felt his point was made.

“Maids let him in,” Sam said. “He tipped one really big and showed her a picture of him and Kate together ten years ago. She believed he was her husband, come to surprise her on her birthday.”

“Sam, you need to talk to the hotel manager. We need to keep this as quiet as possible.”

Sam nodded. “We talked last night; he has no interest in having a bunch of press in here asking questions. He’s also going to address the issue with the maid.”

“What have you heard from the police?”

“Scotland Yard still has Miles in custody. They have other stuff on him as well. Seems he likes to beat up photographers. Put his history, along with attempted kidnapping, assault, and it’s not likely they’ll let him walk.”

“Lucky for him,” Nick said evenly. “This is his last shot at Kate. They let him go and he will deal with me.”

Nick dismissed the five of them and they scattered quickly. This was a nightmare scene of the worst kind. And seeing Kate, her hands and clothes drenched in Brock’s blood, desperately trying to clamp off a slashed artery, was almost more than Nick’s temper could stand. He usually kept his temper down, staying level tempered, even when he was past being mad. This was something he had worked very hard on for many years – it used to take very little to ignite it. But now, when Nick was mad, people knew it by the look on his face – he didn’t have to yell at people. Today, however, was different. Two people were almost killed because of this and he’d let the whole group have the brunt of his temper.

Mike opened the door and stuck his head in. “Nick, there’s someone here to see you.”

“This probably isn’t a good time, Mike,” Nick answered, his tone icy.

“He says he’s your brother,” Mike continued, managing not to cringe. “I saw his identification and he at least has the same last name. He even looks like a grey haired version of you.”

This was all he needed. Wonder what I did to irritate them this time – just being in the same city? “Let him in.”

Nick stood and waited behind a long table. The door opened again and his brother, Trevor, walked into the room. “Nick,” he said in greeting.

“Trevor, today is
not
a good day if you’re here to start any kind of tirade,” Nick said, not sounding very friendly. “Two of my people were almost killed last night; I’ve had no sleep, and I’m not in a fit mood to deal with much - especially your nonsense.”

“I’m sorry to hear it,” Trevor said, ignoring his last comment. “Are they all right?”

“My keyboard player is fine, physically – my security person is still in the hospital.”

“Nick,” he started again hesitantly, coming to stand in front of him. “I came to apologize for what happened after Dad’s funeral.” Nick stood there looking at him, not certain he was hearing him correctly. “I know a simple apology is not going to cover it, nor will it cover the other forty years of anger, but I saw the banners stating you were here. I thought I would come over and at least give it a shot.”

“Why?” Nick asked pointedly. “And how the bloody hell did you know which hotel I was at?”

“Mind if I sit?” he asked, and Nick motioned him over to one of the overstuffed chairs in the room and sat down opposite him. “Mum told me you usually stay here at Claridge’s or at the Millennium. The manager didn’t want to admit you were here – but I guess my identification was convincing enough because he pointed me up to your security on the fifth floor. And the why – because I didn’t think what Phillip did was right. After the funeral, he just grabbed my jacket and dragged me over to you – I had no idea he planned to slam you up against the wall. And I was shocked at what he said.”

“It was definitely uncalled for,” Nick said. “I know I bring a lot of attention when I show up places, but I’d always thought home was safe.”

“Well, it’s been eating at me ever since. I’ve no idea why he’s always been so hard on you but it wasn’t right,” Trevor said, pausing for a moment. “I’m sorry for what happened. And I would be open to the thought of trying to build a better relationship between us.”

“Damn,” Nick said. “If someone had told me my brother would be here apologizing to me about anything, I’d have laughed in their face. I accept your apology, Trevor, but I’ll have to think about the other. There have been far too many years to simply wash it away clean.”

”I understand, Nick. I wanted you to know I was sincere.”

The two men were interrupted when the door opened and Kate walked in. “I’m sorry, Nick,” Kate started. “I didn’t realize you had someone in here.”

“It’s fine,” he assured her, trying to ignore the bandage on her neck. “How’s Brock?”

“Better this morning,” she said, smiling. “Doctor thinks they can release him in the morning.”

“And he will be on the first plane home.”

“I don’t know he’s going to go that easily, Nick,” she said. “He knew you’d try to send him home. He said he’ll be fine in a couple of days and he’s staying.”

“We’ll see,” was all Nick answered. “Come over here, love, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Kate walked over and stopped short as the two men stood up. Nick smiled at her expression - he knew what she was thinking. He and Trevor looked identical, except Trevor’s hair was gray and Nick was the taller of the two.

“Kate, this is my brother, Trevor,” Nick said. “Kate is my keyboard player.”

“I am pleased to meet you,” Trevor said, putting his hand out for handshake. “Nick said there was an accident last night. You’re all right?”

“I will be,” Kate said, dodging the question, clearly not wanting to talk about it. “I’ve got to go finish moving my stuff out of my old room so the maids can clean up but I wanted to get a cup of coffee first. It’s good to meet you.”