Page 31 of Not the Punk

“An hour or so, yeah.” Don shrugged. “The sooner we get that done, the better. The extra guards will meet us in Chicago. It’s less than three hours away, so we do actually have time, Marci.”

She shrugged. “I had a short press conference scheduled for our immediate arrival. Trying to get it done today rather than tomorrow, so you can focus on sound check. Whatever. I’ll get things rearranged.” She unlocked her phone.

Kai put his hand on it. “Wait. We all need to realize that this can’t leak to the press if at all possible. We don’t want anyone hearing about it.”

“What? Why?” I asked, and everyone shot me looks. Some were sympathetic, some were not.

“First.” Kai held up a finger. “You really don’t want your and Joe’s personal business all over the media. But second, we don’t need the world to know we had a security breach. Not good business.”

I was about to argue that I didn’t give a fuck about business, when Jinx held up his hand again. “Alright. If we can keep it quiet, we will. Thanks, Kai.” He nodded to Joe and me. “Finish your breakfast, then head out with Alden and Don to clear up the, uh, situation. As soon as that’s done, we hit the road.”

“Got it.” Joe stuffed a big bite of bagel in his mouth, probably trying to distract himself from his upcoming task.

I squeezed his knee under the table. “I’ll be with you the whole time.”

He smiled up at me with cream cheese on the corners of his mouth, and I wanted to either wipe it with a napkin or lick it off, but I did neither, afraid he might not want his team to see that.

Jinx started talking to some of the others, who I didn’t know, like the managers over the techs and the roadies. I took that as my cue to get us out of there. “You ready?”

Joe took a long gulp of his coffee. “Yeah. Come on.”

It didn’t take long for us to point out everything that wasn’t ours, and then the staff hauled it off to be processed by the police, or so Don said. The rest of our things were loaded on the bus.

Don put his arm around Joe’s shoulders. “Hey. Sorry this happened to you. I didn’t realize how serious it was, but we’re here for you.”

“Thanks.”

Matty jumped out of the bus with a backpack and a duffle bag. “I’m riding with Randy and Dave. I think y’all need some privacy.” He gave a little chin lift before loading onto the other bus.

“Good. Let’s go before Marci gets here and takes our heads off.” Joe hugged Don, and he left with Alden, but Brax got on our bus after us.

“Privacy or not, you’re stuck with me. I’ll be up here in the front.”

“It’s fine, and thanks.” Joe shook his hand.

We were hardly out of Indiana before my brain started spinning. It kept going back to this guy and what else I could do to stop him. But when Joe crawled up on the bunk, I could tell I needed to be with him, not thinking about this situation. We were safe enough for now, so I crawled up with him, pulling him to me and whispering reassurance for the next few hours.

Nothing was scheduled for the rest of the day since Marci moved everything around, so we checked in at the hotel while Jinx and Alden reviewed hotel security, and Brax took up a post outside our door. At least they were taking this more seriously.

The next day, however, was a whirlwind. The canceled press conference was rescheduled for breakfast, which meant we didn’t have a leisurely wake-up. Instead, we had Marci banging on doors up and down the hotel and yelling for everyone to get a move on.

After the interview, they headed to United Center. It was where the Chicago Blackhawks played, not that I was into hockey, but some of the guys at the station were. I figured I’d get some pictures for them while we were there, but it wasn’t the most important thing on my mind. I stuck to Joe like glue, just in case. Brax shadowed us through the halls as well and up to the stage for sound check. Today’s equipment testing was way more subdued than normal, and I figured everyone had heard about what happened or at least that something had happened, but no one said anything about it.

When they were finished, it was back to the dressing room area, where lunch was brought in. That made me happier than the band trying to go out to get something. They weren’t going anywhere until the end of the night.

There was a big fan meet-and-greet that made me nervous as hell, but by that time, four extra guards had arrived. Now we had a lot more muscle to go around. Each member of the band was assigned someone, with Joe keeping Brax and Alden going to Kay. Alden was also the team lead and most experienced, but he had a bigger entourage than the rest of us to look out for too. I didn’t think I’d be able to keep up with the names of everyone else. Ultimately, six guards, plus me and Saxon, skulked around the back wall, looking threatening, and keeping our eyes out for anyone who didn’t belong there.

Everything went smoothly, then we ended up back at the dressing room area so the guys could finish getting ready.

The Soul Shred guys came by, their presence immediately lightening up the mood. They were an instant party wherever they went. Drake’s Little wasn’t there, but he still seemed in good spirits. They had gained three new guards as well. They were called to the stage to open soon enough, and this time, our guys wanted to go watch them perform. Their relationships were growing, especially after the Vegas show.

I held Joe’s hand all the way to the stage and pulled him close once we were there. The guards were behind us, and it felt a lot safer than before.

Soul Shred killed it, and after finishing their last song, bounded off the stage to collect high-fives and fist bumps from everyone. Our guys waited while the roadies changed out the equipment, but soon enough everything was ready, and they walked out to meet up with their techs. I’d seen this several times before and knew how it went.

Pierce and Rowan were in the front, going over the mic and talking about the sound system. Joe and Kay were on the far side with Laz. Every couple of minutes, Randy smashed something on his kit.

Someone climbed onto the front of the stage and was attempting to cross. Pierce stopped him with a hand to his chest. “Who the fuck are you?”