Deliver Me (18 page)

He
grabbed his acoustic guitar and made his way to the edge of the stage. When the
spotlight softened, he told the crowd, “I have a song I want to play now that
only one other person in the world has ever heard. It’s called
The Other
Side of Paradise
.” The world drifted away as Tag played and sang for the
only man in the building who mattered.

One
more day gone in this play known as life

The
sun makes way for the moon

To
shine its eerie light

One
more ship of fools sinks in this misery and strife

The
water churns with the tide

As
it rolls out of sight

The
other side of paradise

Looks
better every day

The
other side of the coin

Help
me find my way

Tag sang the song, looking in
Erik’s eyes. When he got to the final chorus, he added the altered version he’d
written after they were together Thanksgiving.

The
other side of paradise

Looks
better every day

The
other side of the coin

Help
me find my way

The
other side of paradise

Is
wherever you are

The
other side of my coin

You
already have my heart

When
Tag strummed the last note, the crowd erupted. He turned and handed his guitar
off to a roadie and returned to the edge of the stage. The security guards held
their hands up, and Tag grabbed on to them as he jumped down into the pit
between the crowd and the stage. He pulled the key over his head and placed it
around Erik’s neck. In front of Nashville and God, Taggart Lee kissed his man.
When he broke the kiss, Tag mouthed “I love you.” The security guards made
makeshift steps out of their hands and hoisted him back onto the stage. The
noise coming from the fans was deafening. Grinning like a madman, he spread his
arms and gave the crowd double devil horns.

Erik
was still in shock. Not only had Lee kissed him in front of all his fans, he’d
also told Erik he loved him. Bethany was jumping up and down, shaking his arm.
“Oh my God!  Erik!!!”

When
she was close to cutting off his circulation, he grabbed her hands and
squeezed. Grinning, he said “I know!” The band had gone off stage to get ready
for their encore when Erik’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and
looked at the display. It was a text message from Anne:
Come home.
Something’s wrong with Delilah

“Shit.
Gus, I need to go.” He showed the big bodyguard the text message. Gus relayed
the message to the other three, and they moved as a unit, pushing their way
through the crowd.  Their places were eaten up by fans wanting the coveted
front row spot. When they got to the corridor below the stage, they followed
Gus to the underground parking garage.

“You
need to tell Lee where you’re going,” Bethany said.

“I’ve
already alerted Echo. As soon as the show is over, she’ll tell him what’s going
on,” Mack said. His hand on her lower back was gently guiding Bethany along.

Erik
tried calling Anne, but she didn’t answer. He texted her, and again, received
no response. It would take approximately forty-five minutes to get to Erik’s
house from downtown Nashville, depending on traffic. He called both neighbors
on either side of his property, hoping one of them would be able to go to his
house and check on Anne and the kids. Neither one answered, so he left voice
messages in case they got the call in the next few minutes. Erik tried the
house phone and Anne’s phone several more times. He finally gave up and called
911. If it wasn’t truly an emergency, he would apologize profusely, but Anne
was a responsible adult. He didn’t feel she would have contacted him if nothing
was wrong.

Erik
explained the nature of the emergency, and the dispatcher said she would send
someone over right away. Erik was sitting in the front seat with Gus while
Bethany sat in the back with Mack. The bodyguard had his arm around her,
tucking her in tight next to him. Anne had said something was wrong with
Delilah, but since she wasn’t answering, Bethany had to be worried sick about
Brady. Erik’s phone rang, and he answered it without looking, “Anne?”

“No,
it’s Lee. Baby, what the fuck is going on?”

“I
don’t know. I can’t get Anne on the phone. I’ve called the police, and they’re
on their way to the house now.”

“Okay,
I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Thank
you. Under any other circumstances I’d tell you to stay put, but Lee, I’m
starting to worry.”

“I
know, Doc. I’ll be there soon. I love you.”

“I
love you, too.” Erik disconnected the phone in case Anne did finally reach out
to him. He said the words to Lee he had wanted to say for a while; he just said
them under the completely wrong set of circumstances. He hated the fact Lee had
to miss the last after party of his career, but their baby girl needed them.
Both of them.

Gus
drove as fast as possible without causing a wreck. Within thirty minutes they
were rolling up Erik’s driveway. His driveway that was awash in red and blue
flashing lights. “Oh, God, no.” Bile rose in Erik’s throat at the sight of all
the emergency vehicles. He jumped out of the SUV before Gus put it in park.

He
was met by an officer, catching him before he could go into the house. “Sir,
you can’t go in there.”

“This
is my house. I’m the one who called 911. What’s going on?”

“Sir,
we have a situation.”

Erik
was getting pissed. “Is Delilah all right? My baby, is she okay?” Duke came
bounding around the house, barking like crazy.

“Duke,
come here,” Erik knelt down and checked out his faithful companion. When Erik
was satisfied the dog was okay, he stood to deal with the cop and find out what
the hell was going on inside his home.

The
officer’s face changed as he looked behind Erik. Bethany, escorted by Gus and
Mack, ran up to where Erik was standing. “What’s going on?” Bethany asked.

The
officer ignored her and spoke to Erik, “Can I get your names please?”

“I’m
Dr. Erik Henrikson. This is my friend, Bethany Masters. Her son is in the house
with my daughter. We went to a concert and left the kids with our regular nanny.
These gentlemen are Gus and Mack, our friends.” Erik didn’t want to explain why
they would have bodyguards. “Our nanny sent a text asking me to come home. She
said something was wrong with my daughter.”

“I’m
Officer Mooney. I’m afraid to tell you we have a hostage situation.”

Erik
and Bethany both freaked out at the same time. Erik said, “Hostage?” as Bethany
shrieked, “NO!” Mack held Bethany around the waist, keeping her from running
toward the house.

“When
we got here, the door was locked. We knocked and asked if anyone was in the
house. A woman yelled for us to go away. Said if anyone came in, the woman was
dead. We have ascertained there are two women inside the home; one is holding a
baby and a gun. The one with the gun is mid-thirties, longish red hair. The one
being held hostage is early twenties, blond hair.”

At
the word gun, Bethany fainted. The officer called for an EMT to come check on
her. Mack already had her lifted in his arms and was carrying her toward the
ambulance. Gus’s big hands came down on Erik’s shoulders offering support.

“Sarah.
Oh, God. I should have figured this out.”

“Figured
what out?” the officer asked. The SWAT team was circling the house, putting men
in place.

“My
friend, Sarah. She’s been acting funny ever since Delilah came to live with me.
Let me talk to her.”

“Sir,
I don’t think that’s a good idea. We have a professional negotiator talking to
her now.”

“Yeah,
and how’s that going? She’s pregnant and jealous. She’s not going to listen to
anyone but me right now.”

“Let
me talk to my supervisor,” the officer said and walked over to where a group of
men were standing.

Erik
wasn’t a praying man, but at that moment, he begged God to let them all get
through this. His baby girl was in the house with a mad woman. Bethany’s baby was
in there, too. How had he not seen how badly Sarah needed help? Because he had
been so caught up in his own life. He hadn’t gone to see her like he intended.
Now… “Oh, God, please,” he begged. Gus’s arms banded around Erik’s chest,
pulling him flush against the big man. He didn’t offer words of comfort, just
strength.

Officer
Mooney came back carrying a Kevlar vest. “We’re going to let you talk to her
through the door. You’ll need to wear this. We also need to get the layout of
the house.”

“I
can help with that,” Gus said as Erik put on the vest.

“Okay,
Gus is it? You go with Officer Greyson, and Erik, you come with me.”

Erik
was shaking so bad he barely got the vest velcroed in place. If anything
happened to those kids, he would never forgive himself. He walked up onto the
porch where the negotiator was currently talking to Sarah. Someone inside had
raised one of the front windows slightly. If Sarah was willing to cooperate
enough to crack a window, Erik had hope he could talk her down.

Officer
Mooney pulled the negotiator aside and said, “This is Dr. Henrikson. This is
his home. He knows the woman and wants to try to talk to her.” The negotiator
nodded. He quickly told Erik everything that had transpired so far.

Erik
leaned against the side of the house for support. He wished he could see
inside, see his baby girl. He found his voice and said, “Sarah, it’s me, Erik.”

“Erik?
You came for me.”

The
negotiator rolled his finger, gesturing Erik to keep her talking.

“Of
course I came for you. But Sarah, why are you doing this? Anne has done nothing
to you, and neither have the kids.”

“She
took you away from me! I got pregnant so you and I could have our own family,
but you didn’t want my baby. You wanted the bastard of that rock star’s sister.
He cheated on you like I said he would, and you wouldn’t listen. Then you
hooked up with that bitch you work with, and now she’s trying to take you away
from me.” Sarah’s voice choked on a sob.

“You
got pregnant on purpose?” Erik hadn’t seen that coming. He should have, though,
when Sarah offered to marry him.

“You
said you wanted a family. I was willing to give that to you. I would have given
you anything. Now, you have your neat little family, and I have nothing!”

Loud
voices arguing took Erik’s attention away from Sarah momentarily. Lee was
pushing against Gus’s arms trying to get to Erik. He told the negotiator he’d
be right back. He ran down the steps to Lee, and they clashed together. “This
is all my fault,” Erik cried into Lee’s neck.

“Shh,
baby, look at me. What’s going on?” Lee was pulling Erik’s face up to meet his
eyes.

“It’s
Sarah. I should have known something was wrong. Should have tried to help her,
but I didn’t. Now she has our girl in there,” Erik whispered. He didn’t realize
he was crying until Lee wiped the tears away with his thumbs.

Lee
placed a soft kiss on his lips. “This is not your fault. If anyone can bring
her around, it’s you. Okay? Now get back up there and get our girl.” Lee kissed
him on the forehead and gently pushed him back toward the house.

Erik
nodded and jogged back to the porch. The negotiator pulled him aside and told
him what to say. The situation was escalating, and they were running out of
time.

“Erik?
Erik!” Sarah was screaming. Delilah was crying.

“I’m
here. Listen, Sarah, please calm down; you’re scaring the baby.” Erik only
heard one baby crying. “Sarah, where is Brady? Where’s the other baby?”

“How
should I know? I only have your fucking princess,” she seethed.

“Sarah,
please. Anne has nothing to do with this. She’s just the babysitter. How about
you let her go? Then you and I will talk about everything.”

“What’s
there to talk about? You’ve already chosen her over me! I saw you at the
jewelry store. You were looking at wedding rings.”

Erik
wanted to yell at her for following him and spying on him, but he knew it would
make the situation worse.

“I
didn’t choose her over you. You know I’m gay. Bethany is my friend, just like
you are.”

Sarah
laughed. It was filled with so much sadness it hurt Erik’s heart. “You and I
aren’t friends anymore. Ever since you took that baby into your home, you
abandoned me, Erik. I helped you get through Tor’s death. I held you when
Bradley fucked around on you. I’m the one who told you Taggart Lee was fucking
around on you, too. Bethany had a baby with someone else, so she was fucking
around on you, too. Don’t you see? I’m the only one who loves you. I’m the only
one who wouldn’t leave you. We were going to be a family.”

“Yes,
you did help me. Just like I helped you through all of your pain. That’s what
friends do. Sarah, please. Let me come inside so I can talk to you face to
face. At least let me hold Delilah so she’ll stop crying.”

Movement
from the yard caught Erik’s attention. The SWAT leader was talking with Officer
Mooney. When the man walked off, the officer motioned for Erik to come to him.
“If you can get into the house and get the baby away from Sarah, we’ve got a
shot.”

“A
shot! You’re not killing her!” As upset as Erik was, there was no way he could
condone them killing his friend.

“Of
course we won’t kill her unless we’re given no other option. Sir, she has a gun
and your baby. Whose life is more important?”

Erik
had forgotten she had a gun. He nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

When
he reached the window, he said, “Sarah, open up. I want to talk to you. We can
work this out. You and I can be a family if that’s what you really want.”

“No,
it’s too late,” she sobbed over the baby’s crying.

“It’s
not too late, Sarah. I love you. Do you hear me?” Erik did love her, just not
the way she wanted. The sincerity in his voice must have gotten through to her.

“You
can come in, but your babysitter stays.”

“Okay,
unlock the door and let me in.” Erik prayed he would be able to get everyone
out of the house alive. The deadbolt clicked. Erik looked back at Lee who was down
on his knees in the yard. He had his hands in his hair, rocking back and forth.
Erik mouthed, “I love you,” and stepped into his home.