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said. “But didn’t they think I’d wonder why they weren’t running to get extra security?”
I shrugged. “I’m sure they would have hired some wannabes who wouldn’t really
look into things.”
Everyone else was milling around still in a state of semi-shock, trying to absorb the
story I’d told them in greater detail after the concert was over. Bageris looked bad
enough but the Azimuth people looked as if someone had sandbagged them.
David Olsen joined us and I asked if he’d had any word on the man who was shot. I
knew the third man in their group had gone to the hospital with him.
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He nodded. “They got the bullet out and are keeping him overnight just in case.
He’ll be fine.”
“I’m so glad. I’m sorry he got caught in the situation.”
“I don’t understand why Sawyer wanted to shoot the road manager. What for?”
“To keep him from talking. Even though Munoz had threatened Todd’s family if he
didn’t keep silent Sawyer wasn’t taking any chances. If your guy hadn’t spotted him
Todd would be dead. Sawyer had no idea the DEA already had a warrant to arrest and
detain him. He would have just blended back into the group and thought he was home
free. We’d be running in circles looking for a shooter.”
“You said they’ve been doing this for the past fifteen years.”
“Yes. Sawyer met Munoz at someone’s party and I guess greedy kindred souls
connected.”
“And Todd? What brought him into it?”
“A very sad story.” I told him about Todd’s son. “His care is extremely expensive,
and Todd’s wife spends two out of every four weeks up there to see him every day. He
needed money and Sawyer offered him a way to get it. Help him move the drugs
around. They planned to milk this tour and then kill Dallas, riding the merchandise
bonanza his memory would create and keep their drug pipeline going.”
“They dangled enough extra money in front of Todd to get him to agree to do it,”
Morgan added. “In the end Munoz threatened to kill his wife and son, just to add a little
pressure.”
“I imagine the media will have a field day with this.” David was obviously worried
how much of this would spill over to the record label. “Every blogger in the world will
pick it up.”
I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “I think with the help of your PR.
people we can do significant damage control.”
“At least I can stop wondering who’s out to get me,” Dallas added from where he
sat, rolling the cold juice bottle across his forehead. “I can’t believe I was stupid enough
all these years not to see what was going on. Of course…”
His voice trailed away. None of us wanted to state the obvious. That he’d been
drunk and high so much of the time he probably wouldn’t have noticed them if they’d
been selling drugs from the stage.
“How about we meet for breakfast and figure out how to handle the balance of the
tour,” Morgan suggested. “Ten o’clock good for everyone?”
“In our suite,” Dallas said. He winked at me. “Charley loves serving coffee.”
I had never been so glad to get back to the hotel as I was that night. But at two
o’clock in the morning I could still feel Dallas wide awake beside me. I was sure
adrenaline was still coursing through him. Usually by now he’d managed to unwind
from the heady buzz from the crowd’s response. Tonight, however, I figured the
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Downstroke
tension over the situation with Sawyer and Todd left him too wired to sleep. He’d be a
long time getting over this.
“Can’t sleep?” I asked.
“Seems so.” He had his arm around me, my head nestled against his shoulder.
“Maybe I can relax you a little,” I teased.
He chuckled. “You think you’ve got the answer?”
I trailed my hand down his stomach, making teasing little circles with my fingers,
and his body responded.
“Darlin’.” His breathing was suddenly uneven. “I hate to tell you, but what you’re
doing is not exactly relaxin’.”
“Hey. Give me a chance here.”
I leaned over him and dotted his chest with butterfly kisses while my hand
continued its downward journey, moving closer and closer to his suddenly hard cock.
Oh yeah! The stress was beginning to ease. But then I felt his muscles tense again.
“Are you going back to San Antonio tomorrow?”
I stopped the movement of my hand, my fingers still wrapped around his erection.
I’d been expecting him to ask me. This was one of the things rattling around in my
mind since the feds carted Sawyer and Todd away.
“You’re planning to finish the tour, right?” I asked.
“Darlin’, can you move your hand for a minute so I can think?” The strain in his
voice had nothing to do with what happened tonight.
I laughed. “I don’t think so. Answer my question.”
“You’re trying to torture me, right?” He took a deep breath. “We’re winding down
to the last of the dates. Morgan’s been doing more of Sawyer’s role than Sawyer was,
anyway. And Howard Molloy can take over for Todd. We can get through it.” His hand
stroked my arm. “But I still need my personal bodyguard.”
“What if your bodyguard has to get back to her business?” I joked.
His hand stopped. “Do you?”
“I don’t know.” I swallowed a smile. “What are you offering?”
“Let’s get married.”
My hand tightened reflexively on his cock and he jumped.
“Jesus! Don’t maim me. We might want to use that thing again.”
“Sorry, sorry, sorry.” I loosened my grip.
Married! I knew he’d been working up to it. I just hadn’t expected it so soon. Maybe
after the tour. After we were back in San Antonio.
Dallas shifted so he could reach the lamp and stared at my face, studying it. “Did I
scare you off?” He smiled but his expression was serious.
Did he? Scare me off?
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Desiree Holt
”I told you I love you,” he went on. “Tonight you said it back to me. The rest is just
details we can work out.” He tugged me back down to him. “I’m done with the road,
I’ve got a plan and I want you to be part of it.” He told me about his dream. About
building the recording studio at the ranch. And a house for us. And how, when I had to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]