Page 84 of Carte

“Where is she? Cassie, where is she now?”

Harley shook her head, her eyes full of panic, “Why? You don’t think she’s the one-?” She didn’t finish her question. “Maybe she got that, and it was meant for me. This doesn't make sense. Why would she do this?”

I pulled the tablet from her hand, set it down, then crouched low, and framed her face. “Harley,” I called. “You gotta focus. Where is Cassie now?”

She blinked at me several times, before she took a big breath, “I-I don’t know.”

“What do you know about her?”

“Not much,” she mumbled and looked down. “I know she’s an only child and was raised by a single mother. She started working as a receptionist at the label and climbed her way up. I took her on as my assistant after I witnessed her tearing a roadie a new one because he catcalled to an up-and-coming singer as she stepped down from the stage after her sound check.”

“Can you think of anything that would trip her. Move her to have something against you?”

She fisted my T-shirt in her hands. “I don’t know. We were friendly, but we aren’t friends. She did try to form a closer bon, a friendship these last few months, and I was open to it. But this is a hard business, you have to watch your back, you can’t let anyone come too close. And we didn’t have time to form a deeper friendship. Honestly, I did keep her at a distance, but I do that with everyone except Alina.”

Tears filled Harley’s eyes, “Do you think she’s the one doing all of this to me? Why would she do this?”

I kissed her forehead, “I don’t know, Dynamo. But I promise you, I’ll find out.”

Someone knocked at the door then, and without waiting for the call, Tim stuck his head in, “Five minutes, Harley.”

“Do you know where Cassie is?” I demanded.

“No,” Tim frowned. “I’ve been looking all over for the damned girl.”

I turned back to Harley, “What’s her last name?”

“Shaw,” Harley looked at her lap.

“What’s going on?” Tim asked as he came fully into the room.

“Reid,” I barked, then said to Tim. “You’ll be with Harley every second until the show ends.”

“I can’t go on stage with her,” he looked affronted by me even suggesting such a thing. “Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?”

“Carter, what?” Reid barked, reading the room at a glance.

“Be in the damned wings then, but do not lose sight of her even for a second” I said to Tim, then turned to Reid, “Cassie Shaw. Get Trevor on the phone and tell him to tear this place apart if he needs to until he finds her. And glue yourself to Harley.”

Harley clawed at me, “What’re you going to do?”

I looked down at her and vowed, “I’m going to finish this tonight. I’m going to keep you safe.”

With that I got my phone out, and unlocked it, making the call. Walking out of the room, I said, “Don’t leave her alone even for a second.”

“Yeah,” a voice said over the phone.

“Cassie Shaw, Harley’s assistant” I said the name that would haunt me forever. “Find everything you can about her. Find out if that’s even her real name. I need every detail, Chace.”

“On it, brother.”

I hung up without another word.

Chapter Twenty Three

Harley

My hands trembled, my voice felt trapped in my throat, and my vision was blurred no matter how hard I tried to squeeze my eyes shut and open them again in an attempt to clear it.