Hard Rock Unrehearsed (6 page)

CHAPTER SIX

Tag was twisted up with anger as he strode towards his destination.  He was pissed that they still hadn’t found the fucker who was selling the shit to the tabloids which had Jay-Jay withdrawing deeper and deeper into herself.  No one seemed to notice that Jay-Jay was slowly losing it.  She hardly ate and sleep had become a dirty word.  If fuckin’ Diego Delgado would just get his head out of his ass and step up to the plate it would solve a fuckload of problems!  He walked faster and swore silently as he approached the door of the very discreet club where he had an appointment to work out his frustrations.  If only it could have been this easy for Jay-Jay.  Even Luis didn’t know all of the shit that had gone down with the fuckin’ slut and Val and how it had almost broken Val and Jay-Jay apart.  If it hadn’t been for the security cameras he had installed in the apartment Val would have had no way to prove he hadn’t fucked that slut!  Jesus he fuckin’ hated that bitch!

Tag sucked in a breath as he pressed the buzzer that would let him into the world where he could let go and put the shit behind him for an hour or two.

“I’m unhappy we haven’t been able to crack the asshole who keeps on uploading the shit about Jay on the web."  Clint growled.  "We’re getting close though.  My guy said he is so close that the minute the bastard logs on to post some more shit we will be closer to having him.  We’ll degrade his site once we get in.”

Diego listened as his friend explained the intricacies of tracking this shit on the internet and finding the bastard who was doing it.  The shit had gone from being printed in the tabloids which they had shut down to now being blasted all over the internet.  The posts were becoming more and more disturbing and Diego could see that it was hitting Jade hard.  She pretended that it didn’t matter but he knew better.  The crap that was being said about her wasn’t only defamatory it bordered on physical threats.  Whoever was doing this was escalating.  He had to find them and stop them cold.

“The worrying thing is that the shit is becoming threatening and you know as well as what I do that this is someone who has hated her for a very long time.  He knows too much about her Diego, between all the shit there’s stuff that points to the fact that she has been watched for years.  This bastard is waiting for something and if we miss it he’s going to destroy her literally and figuratively.”

Diego clenched his teeth to contain the anger that wanted to erupt.  “I’m not going to allow this sick fuck to do anything to her Clint.  You keep on this and I’ll fuckin’ weld myself to her back if I have to.  Between Tag and I we’ll keep her safe until we flush this bastard out.”

“I’ll talk to you soon Diego, we’re close, very close.”

“Thanks man, if anything happens on this side I’ll let you know.”

Diego sat with his chin on his fist staring out of the hotel window at the dismal day outside.  It was raining and he could sense the tension running through the hotel as everyone sat around waiting for it to stop.  The crew hated setting up in the rain, it was damned dangerous and more accidents happened because everything was wet and slippery.  He didn’t envy the men and women out there in the stadium working while they were wet and miserable.  At least the band was warm and dry here in the hotel and he didn’t have to worry that something would happen to Jade.  He supposed it was as good a time as any to have a heart to heart with Tag and let him into what was going on.  He sighed as he reached for his phone.  Tag’s phone went straight to voicemail which was strange and a shiver worked itself down his back.  He called the next one on his list.

“Tank here.”

“Hey Tank, where’s Tag?  I tried his phone but it went straight to voicemail.”

He frowned as Tank laughed.  “Jay kicked him out, she told him to go and get himself taken care of because she couldn’t take another day of him snarling his frustration at her.  Apparently he hasn’t been laid since they got on the tour and he’s getting a bit punchy.”

“What!  He’s not the only one who hasn’t been laid!  He can just suck it up or hook up with one of the fan girls!”  Diego snarled as he pushed himself out of his chair.

“The way I heard it, and I heard it because they were shouting at each other, Tag is heavily into the BDSM scene and vanilla sex just doesn’t do it for him.  Apparently his needs are driving him crazy and Jay told him to just get the hell out and go smack some ass before she took a strap to his ass.  Let’s just say he wasn’t pleased.  He gave in eventually after she promised that she would stick with the band and that I would be with her until he got back.  He’s been gone for about an hour and a half, and he promised he would be out a max of two hours so he should be back soon.”

“Jesus!  I thought they were only joking about the Dom and sub shit!”  Diego ran a hand through his hair as he walked over to the window staring out at the rain.  “Okay Tank, as soon as he gets in tell him I need to see him in my room.  Send him straight up to me.”

“Will do.”

Diego turned back to the big desk the hotel had supplied him with and the plans of the stadium he had laid out on it.  Every exit was marked, every possible position a threat to the band could come from were indicated in red marker.  Since the shit on the internet had started to escalate he had increased the security on the stage and backstage access.  He’d had a meeting with the entire crew and threatened immediate dismissal to anyone who let a groupie talk her or his way past them to get near the band.  He had replaced stadium security with his own guys where possible, especially the backstage access.  His biggest headache was keeping a control on the VIP passes that allowed access to the band.  His own team knew the importance of keeping a tight control on it but it pissed him off when he had to explain the shit over and over again to the support act and their legion of hangers-on.  Every fuckin’ city he had same damn problem!

If Storm Front could limit the number of fans they allowed backstage then so could the damn support act.  He had given strict instructions that Marcella Vincent and her friends were not welcome backstage.  Storm Front had banned them from any and all access to the band.  And when RJ revealed that one of Marcella’s girls had been with Richie when he had OD’d and ran off without calling anyone it put the final nail in their coffin.  There was no way any of them would be able to talk the crew into sneaking them backstage or into an after party.  The Stadium security was a problem though, they could be bribed and on two occasions only the vigilant eyes of his team had stopped them from getting in.  Where were the bitches getting the money to follow the tour across the country?  He knew for a fact that Marcella didn’t have a permanent job and that her parents had cut her and Gina off.  Her girls didn’t work either, unless they were earning their money on their backs!  Which considering how they operated was highly likely.  How in fuck had he gotten himself involved with these women?

Sinking into his chair he turned to watch the rain sliding down the window as he waited for Tag.

A loud knock shook him out of his contemplation.

“It’s open!”  He called out as he twisted to look at the door.

Tag walked through and he immediately saw that the man looked way more relaxed, easier in his skin than he had been at the early morning security meeting he had attended with the other bodyguards.  Who knew all it took was to smack some ass and get laid.  He indicated a chair and Tag sat down without saying a word.  His eyes were cold and Diego knew he had his work cut out for him if he wanted the man to trust him.

“I had a call from Clint who has been tracing the sick fuck who is posting all that shit about Jade on the internet.  They are close to busting his location and as soon as they have him they will be crashing his site and confiscating all his equipment.  It shouldn’t be long before we know who the hell this bastard is.  Clint has uncovered some shit that has him convinced this guy has been stalking Jade for years.  This sicko has been around way before Val died Tag, he knows things that only those close to the family know and I have a feeling he’s preparing to go public with Jade’s identity.  You and I both know that it will crush her.  She has hidden herself from the world for the last seven years and I don’t think she’s ready to be outed, at least not the way he’s going to be doing it.”  Diego rubbed a hand over his face as Tag sat silent.

With a sigh Tag sat forward.  “We’ve known about the asshole following Jay-Jay for a few years now, but we could do nothing because he wasn’t considered a threat.  He didn’t approach, didn’t sell any of his photographs to the paps, didn’t post anything on the internet, the fucker didn’t do anything, he just watched.  Val decided that we should watch him and take all the precautions necessary to keep Jay-Jay safe, which I have.  This shit that’s been hitting the internet has been planned Diego, meticulously planned to hit the minute Jay-Jay stepped into the limelight.  Whoever this is has been waiting patiently for years to get at her and I will bet my left nut that it has something to do with Val.”

“What the fuck Tag?  Why was I never informed about any of this?  And how could it have anything to do with Val?  He died seven years ago man!”  Diego snapped.

Tag ran agitated hands through his hair, closed his eyes and sighed heavily.  It was as if he had taken a deep decision when he looked at Diego again.

“I promised Val I would keep my mouth shut about this shit because he didn’t want people hurt by the fallout.  But I’m done with it, if he knew what was happening now he would have wanted me to tell you.”  Tag grimaced.  “When Val ended it with Gina and then started following Jay-Jay around he noticed this nerdy looking guy who was at every gig Jay-Jay’s band played.  We couldn’t do anything about it because this guy just watched the band, hung out around them and acted like any other fan.  But he gave Val the screaming heebie-jeebies and he had me watch the guy whenever we went and watched Jay-Jay play.  After a while he backed off and we forgot about him until Val and Jay-Jay got serious.  Packages started appearing on her doorstep, shit about Val and other women, Val and drugs, Val and drunken debauched parties, you wouldn’t believe the crap that girl had to deal with!  And at the time that’s what she was, a young girl.  The worst of it was that most of it was true, you know the kind of life he lived up until he met Jay-Jay.”  Tag shook his head and turned to stare out the window.  “I warned Val that something wasn’t kosher, that it reeked of someone close to the band trying to break the two of them up.  He agreed and we beefed up security, both at Jay-Jay’s apartment and his.  We never caught the fucker and the packages just suddenly stopped.”  Tag frowned as he turned back.  “We could never figure out why they stopped but they just did and we didn’t follow up on it, now I know we should have.”

“Did you ever get a name on this guy?”

“No, he went by the name of Will Seeker, which we found was false.  What I didn’t get at the time was that whoever this was they hated Jay-Jay and would go to any lengths to hurt her.  Fuck Diego!  There’s shit that you have to know but I promised Val and Jay-Jay I would not talk about it to anyone, especially you.  You need to speak to Jay-Jay and somehow get her to tell you about all the shit that went down back then.  She knows shit that might throw a light on the crap that’s going down now.”

Diego watched him intently before he reached for his phone and dialled.

“I have a name that might help in the search Clint.  Someone using the alias Will Seeker stalked Jade and my brother Val years ago.  No, I just found out about it.  I’ll try and get you more info.  Talk to you later.”

Diego threw the phone back onto the desk and rubbed his hands over his tired eyes.  “I know I wasn’t around a lot back then Tag, but why didn’t Val tell me any of this?  I could have helped!”

Tag shook his head.  “It wasn’t like he excluded you Diego.  At the time you were still on your last tour in Afghanistan and Val didn’t want you to worry about him when you had to keep your head together looking after yourself.  By the time you came back it had stopped and you signed on as a bodyguard for Killing Fields and since nothing had happened I think he thought it was over.  All I can tell you without breaking Val and Jay-Jay’s confidence is that something happened about three months before they got married, something that almost broke them both.  You need to speak to Jay-Jay.”

Fear clawed at Diego’s gut.  “Did they lose a baby Tag?”

“Shit Diego, I can’t talk about any of it.  You need to talk to Jay-Jay man.  Confront her with what you know and go from there.  Don’t let her keep this shit bottled up any longer, make her tell you all of it.  It won’t be easy but nothing that’s worth anything in this life comes easily.”

“You’re scaring me Tag.”

“That’s not my intention D-man, all I’m saying is that there’s shit you need to know and once you know you’ll understand where she’s at.”  Tag shot up out of the chair and stalked to the window then turned to face him.  “Fuck!  I can’t believe I’m going to do this!  I never get involved in other people’s love lives.  Never! I know that you want her man, that you’ve wanted her for years.  You need to get your head out of your ass, get rid of the slut on your back and make your move.  The longer you wait the more chance there is of RJ taking her away from you.  And you can believe me when I tell you he’s going to make his move soon, very soon.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

RJ was having trouble falling asleep.  He had tried listening to music on his ipod, it didn’t do the trick.  Then he had tried Jay’s trick and ordered hot chocolate from late night room service.  Nothing.  Now he was pacing.  Shit, maybe he should have taken that fan girl up on her offer of some uncomplicated sex but he just couldn’t be bothered.  She just didn’t do it for him.  Maybe he should have gone clubbing with Trace and his mates but after a long really wet and cold night he just hadn’t been in the mood.

The gig had been great even though it had rained intermittently and the wind had been shit cold on stage.  It hadn’t bothered the fans though!  Tag had been like a huge mother hen around Jay and had wrapped her up in a big towel the minute they came off stage.  Nothing Jay said deterred him and he just ignored her as he made sure she didn’t get cold.  Hell, all of them ran for the showers the minute they had finished the encore!  The meet and greet had gone off without any drama and so had the after party.  And why the hell did they always have an after party?  It’s not as if they stayed at the damn thing that long!  The entire band always made their getaway as soon as they could.  Tonight Trace had mates here from way back and they had gone out clubbing while Givens and Jimmy had taken two of the fan girls up on their offer of free and easy sex.  RJ had some offers but he just wasn’t interested.  Jay had done the same, avoided the guys who wanted to spend the night with her and made an early exit with Tag and Tank in tow.  Shit!  The room was just too small and he could still feel some of the adrenalin caused by the show fizzing through his blood.  He was going for a walk and if the bodyguard gave him any shit he was going to thump him.  Opening his door he popped his head out to look around and grinned at Hanson leaning back in a chair in front of the lift.

“Hey man, I can’t sleep.  Is it okay if I walk around a little bit?”

Hanson grinned back at him.  “You’re not the only one.  Jay and Tag are downstairs in the small lounge if you want some company.  If you want to walk the streets don’t go out alone though, take one of the guys with you.”

“Jay is still up?”

“Yeah, she suffers quite badly from insomnia.  We’re all quite used to seeing her wandering around the hotels at all hours of the night.”

“Huh.  Okay great, I’m going to go down and join them for a while as I’m not up to wandering around in the rain outside.”

RJ took the lift down to the second floor to the small lounge and as the door opened he heard Jay and Tag laughing.  Grinning he made his way down the corridor to the lounge.  He was just about to go in when someone started playing the piano and singing and he jerked to a stop.  The song was hauntingly beautiful and the voice husky, sexy and utterly amazing.  RJ hadn’t heard a voice like that in a very long time, hell in maybe ever!  He made himself move and took a step into the lounge only to come to another screeching halt.  The one playing and singing was Jay!  Holy hell but she was good.  She didn’t need Storm Front.  If anyone heard this shit she would be a star in her own right.  He stood riveted until the song came to an end and then he clapped, long and loudly as he made his way over to the baby grand piano that Jay had been playing.  Tag was on the floor next to the piano with a small pillow under his head grinning up at him as he came over.

“Shit Jay!  That was amazing!  Just fuckin’ amazing!   Whose song is that?  I don’t know it but I want it for Storm Front.  Fuck we could do a shit hot version of it with you and Trace on vocals.  Who wrote it?  Where can we get the rights to perform and record it?  Come on woman talk to me!”  He didn’t stop talking until Jay laughingly put her hand over his mouth to shut him up.

“That’s one of my own and if you guys ask me nicely I might just let you record it.”  She teased as she shifted on the piano bench to face him.

“You wrote that?”  RJ stepped back and sank down in one of the big chairs and just stared at her.

“Yeah, I wrote it a few years ago.”  She looked down at Tag before she continued.  “I wrote it for a special man in my life that I lost a long time ago.”

“Hell sorry man, but it’s a great song though.  So what else have you written?”  He shifted to get comfortable and waved her back to the piano.  “Play something that you’ve written recently.  I’m just going to sit here quietly and listen.”

Jay grinned.  “When have you ever been able to sit quietly?”  She teased as she turned back to run her fingers over the keys.

A haunting melody filled the lounge and RJ watched her disappear into the music, apparently the song had no lyrics because she wasn’t singing.  Hell there wasn’t a problem with the lyrics because he could almost see them scrolling through his head.  There was a pad and pen on top of the piano and he rose leant against the piano and started writing while she played.  It was only when he glanced up to run the words silently through his mind and staring at Tank in the corner of the lounge that he had an idea.  Putting his hand on Jay’s he stopped her playing.

“I need my guitar.  If you don’t mind I’ve got an idea I want to run by you.”

“I’m okay with it RJ, actually I’ve been telling myself that I need another muso to listen to some of what I’ve written to give me an opinion.  Go get your guitar I’ll be here when you get back.”  Jay grinned as he shot past and virtually ran out the door.

RJ couldn’t remember when last he had been this revved about a song.  Their album kicked ass and he was proud of the work they had done but this was different, it was quieter more soul than hard rock but just as powerful.  Coming out of his room with his guitar case in his hand and a pad and pen clasped under his arm he ran into Givens saying goodbye to his fan girl, he waited until she was in the lift and gone before he said anything.

“Jay and I are working in the small lounge on some of her songs.  She’s a fuckin’ amazing singer and composer Giv!  Get your shit and come join us, I guarantee you won’t regret it.”

“We’re doing it acoustic?”

“Yeah, piano and acoustic guitars for now.”

“Sweet, give me five to shower and I’ll be there.”

RJ didn’t wait around but made his way back down.  She was playing something else, something more hard core and he grinned.  Fuck this was going to be so great!

The three of them were jamming one of Storm Front’s songs when Trace wandered in and sank down in a chair.  Tank nodded at him and Tag just lifted and eyebrow where he lay on the floor as he quietly slid down in the chair and listened.  But that didn’t last long, he shot upright as Jay started to sing.  Holy Fuck!  The woman could sing the shit out of a song!  He couldn’t help himself and started to harmonise with her and the three just grinned at him and continued playing.  As the song came to an end he clapped with a wide grin.

“That was shit hot!  Fuck babe!  Why didn’t you tell us you sing like a fuckin’ angel?”  Trace was so excited the swear words were just tripping off his tongue.

“That was nothing brother, you should hear the shit she’s been writing, its fuckin’ great!”  Givens gushed like a bloody girl.

“He’s not lying Trace.  This woman is so freaking talented it’s not even funny.”  RJ grinned at Jay’s grimace.  “Let’s play the song we’ve been working on so he can hear what we’ve been doing.”  RJ leant over and passed the pad to Trace.  “I’ve written some lyrics down, we’ll play it through once to give you an idea as to the melody.  You come in once you’re sure you’ve got it.”

Excitement ran through him as he listened, he just knew they had to play this song, he had to sing it.  As they started again Trace started singing, belting the lyrics out and making notations as he sang, he almost stopped singing as Jay fell in and sang with him.  They each took a verse then sang the chorus together.  It was fucking magic!  There was deathly quiet once they finished and then there was clapping and whistling!  Only then did they realise that the lounge had silently been filling up with some of the crew and that Jimmy had joined them at some stage.

RJ grinned at all of them.  “Aren’t you happy I couldn’t sleep tonight guys?  If I had gone the way of Giv and Jimmy we wouldn’t be here now having a music orgasm that I’m classing as a force ten for fuckin’ certain!”

“Holy shit that was great!”  Jimmy laughed.  “I was on my way back up when I heard you guys.  You have to wait for me to get my guitar.  I have to play.”  With that he raced out of the lounge.

Jay grinned as Trace plonked himself down next to her on the piano bench flung his arm around her and kissed her temple.

“Girl we are going to write the greatest album ever together.”

Jay’s eyes opened wide with shock.  “What?”

“Babe if you think I’m going to let you walk away with this you are fuckin' crazy.  I’ve been paging through what you have been working on and I want in.  I want in so badly I can taste it on my tongue.”  He grinned at her raised eyebrows.  “Okay I admit it sounds like sex talk but music is like that to me, sexual.”

He paged to a song Jay had written about Diego and she cringed, it was a sort of love song but more a song about wanting to walk away but being unable to do it.

“I want to sing this.  It’s soft but strong, a ballad but not a ballad.  Let’s do it next.”

RJ took the pad and hummed the melody with Giv looking over his shoulder.  Giv stood back and picked out a bass line as RJ hummed the melody.  They were joined by Jimmy and pretty soon they knew what they wanted to do.  RJ set his phone to record and put it on top of the pad in the centre of the piano.  They all stood around Jay and she counted them in.  Trace sat next to her and as they got to the chorus he nodded to Jay and she added her voice to his.

Watching you walk away

I waste my time

Wishing and wanting

Falling for you again

Every time you smile

My heart breaks wide open

I waste my time

Wishing and wanting

Falling for you again

At some stage Tag had moved from the floor to a chair and Jay-Jay grinned at him as they played.  He grinned back at her and as she turned to the guys he quickly texted.

Get your ass down to the small lounge.

He relaxed back in his chair and waited.  It was about fuckin’ time Delgado heard what he had been throwing away because of his stupid sense of honour.  Tag knew for a fact that Val would have approved, he would have wanted Jay-Jay to move on with her life and if it included Diego that would be okay.  He gave a small smile as Diego quietly sat down next to him.  The shock on his face was priceless!

“Is this their new stuff they’re trying out?”  Diego asked softly.

“No it’s Jay-Jay’s stuff.”  Tag whispered back.

“Jade wrote this?”

“Yeah, she’s been battling with insomnia for the last couple of weeks and when she can’t sleep she works on this stuff.”  Tag murmured as the song came to an end.

Diego watched as RJ bent over and kissed Jade on the cheek and rage lit inside his chest like an inferno.  It took everything to not show his ravening jealousy by punching the fucker out.  He breathed in nice an easy forcing himself to calm and listen to what they were saying.

“You’ve written a lot of music but not lyrics so much.  Why’s that?”  Jimmy leant against the piano his guitar swung around onto his back.

“I don’t have a specific formula or anything for writing I just feel it and then I write whichever comes to me first.”

“I want to play ‘
Wishing and Wanting’
again but this time we rock it hard.”  Trace stood and prowled around the piano.  “Fuck I wish we were in the studio back home with all our shit around us!”

“Why don’t you ask the resident band if you can use their stuff in the pub downstairs?”  Steve their crew boss threw out from the back.  “They sure as fuck won’t complain.”

“I’m on it!”  Jimmy grinned and raced out of the lounge.

“Where the hell is he going to find them at this time of the morning?”  Jade shook her head at the madness that had erupted around her.

“He’s most probably convincing the night manager to give them a call.  Jimmy is very convincing when he wants something.  Let’s go through one of the other songs while we wait for Jimmy.”  Trace growled as he paged through the pad.  “We need a fuckin’ folder for this.”  He muttered as he ripped the pages off the pad and set them out on top of the piano.

Jade leant over and riffled through the pages he had sorted.  “Why don’t we try something more upbeat?  RJ and I worked on this one before Giv joined us.  It starts of slow but builds up and rocks it.”

As she looked up her eyes met those of Diego and for the first time in weeks she didn’t feel the disappointment and anger that had made her avoid him.  Before she could restrain herself she grinned at him and winked, reverting to the person she had been with him before she had seen him with the slut.  The relief and flat out heat in his eyes nearly floored her as he grinned and returned the wink.  Holy shit but the man was hot! Flustered she glanced back down at the music and tried to ignore the racing of her heart.

“I got it!”  Jimmy shouted as he raced into the lounge.  “The guys in the band live here at the hotel and they are happy to let us use their equipment.  We’ve all got our favourite guitars with us so we can just plug into their system and the drummer is fuckin’ psyched that Jay is going to use his kit.  They’re opening the pub for us as we speak.  Let’s move people, I want to play!”