Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) (47 page)

Satisfied
with having found enough of Sully’s clothes for a few days, Danny shut the
suitcase and didn’t say a word.
 
He
stared straight ahead, leading Sully along by the arm.
 
Sully looked around and noticed there
were two large bodyguards in front of them, two behind them and one on each
side of them.
 
He glanced at
Danny.
 
“Bro, is there something
going on here that I should know about?”

Danny
couldn’t face him.
 
He was afraid
Sully would be able to read it all over his face.
 
He stared straight ahead and spoke
stoically.
 
“No.
 
Let’s get you into the limo, and I’ll
tell you there.”

When
they walked into the lobby, Sully noticed the rest of the band wasn’t
there.
 
Instead of going to the back
exit where all the limos usually lined up, they went down a narrow hallway and
out of a side exit.
 
Not only was
the limousine waiting, but two more bodyguards, one standing in front of the
door and one standing on the other side of the car.
 
Two San Antonio police cruisers were
sitting idle with lights on as well, one in front of the limousine and one
behind it.

As they
approached, the bodyguard opened the door to the limousine for Sully. Danny and
all six bodyguards trailed behind.
 
He grinned as he sat across from his brother.
 
“This is a little intense, don’t you
think?
 
I’m a famous rock star, not
the President of the United States.
 
We don’t need secret service detail on our tours, Danny, although I am
flattered.”
 
He snickered.

Danny
stared out the window as the limousine started moving.
 
He took a moment to compose his thoughts
before he looked at Sully.
 
He
leaned forward, made a stiff drink and handed it to him.
 
“Pat, we’re on our way to the airport.
 
There’s a chartered jet waiting to take
us back to L.A.”

He
frowned. “What the hell?
 
Danny, I
can’t fly to L.A.
 
I have a show in
four hours!”

Danny
sighed and shook his head.
 
“No, you
don’t.
 
The show has been canceled.”

Sully
rolled his eyes.
 
“Oh shit.
 
What have I done now?”

Danny
met his eyes.
 
“Nothing.
 
Kit was shot in her office in the house,
and there are threats on your life right now.
 
Last we heard from G, she was being
rushed to the hospital.
 
Not only do
we need to keep you safe, but we need to get you there by her side.
 
She needs you.
 
It’s pretty serious, Pat.”

Sully
stared at Danny, stunned for a moment before he chugged his entire drink.
 
He met his brother’s eyes again.
 
“My wife got shot and now someone is
trying to kill me?”

Danny
nodded.
 
“Yes.”

He
leaned back and stared out the window.
 
He was rendered speechless and wondered how their level of fame had
contributed to this moment with threats on his life and his wife fighting for
her life after a gunshot wound she sustained in their own home.
 

He
closed his eyes and secretly regretted the uptick of fan obsession on this tour
as well as increased press coverage.
 
It had catapulted them to a level where one rogue, obsessed fan could
ruin their entire lives.
 

He said
a silent prayer that Kit would be alive and well when the plane touched down in
California.
 
He suddenly felt like
the flight from San Antonio to Los Angeles would be one of the longest of his
life.

CHAPTER 25

Kyle
stared at his reflection and double-checked his black bow tie.
 
Pleased with it, he threw on his tuxedo
jacket and headed out.
 
He was
looking forward to the evening ahead.
 
It wasn’t often that he had a pressing social event to attend, and he
realized just how much he had missed that aspect of his life.

As he
strolled down the hallway toward the nurses’ station, a female colleague he passed
whistled and called out.
 
“Looking
good, Ky!”

He
chuckled and shook his head, feeling slightly self-conscious.
 
“Thanks, Aimee.”
 

When he
approached the nurses’ station, two of them jokingly stood up and applauded
him.
 
Jennifer, the lead nurse, smiled.
“Wow!
 
You certainly do look nice in
a tux, doc.”
 

He
flashed a charming smile that reflected irresistible dimples and made the
nurses swoon even more.
 
“Thank you,
Jen.
 
You are too kind.”
 
He smoothed the tuxedo jacket and
chuckled.
 
“I feel weird in it.
 
Definite departure from living my life
in scrubs.”
 
He nodded.
 
“I’m officially off the clock for two
whole days,” he smiled and chuckled again.
 
“At least that’s what I hope. I’m out.
 
Have a good evening, ladies.
 
Just waiting on…”

Before
he could finish his sentence, Emily approached in her elegant full-length
gown.
 
He nodded with approval and
grinned as he held his arm out for her and continued his sentence.
 
“And here she is.” As she linked her arm
in his, he glanced down at her.
 
“You look great, Em.
 
Really
pretty.”
 

She
smiled up at him.
 
“Thanks.
 
Ready to go?”

He
nodded and shifted his attention to Jennifer.
 
“We’re out, officially.”

Jennifer
giggled.
 
“You two look great.
 
Have fun!”

Kyle
opened the passenger door to his black Jeep CJ7 hard top and helped Emily.
 
She thanked him, and he shut the
door.
 
As he rounded the back of his
jeep, he heard his beeper go off and realized he had shoved it into one of his
pockets as a force of habit.
 
He
groaned and pulled it out as he opened his driver’s side door.
 
He climbed in and stared at it.
 

Emily
frowned.
 
“Did you just get paged?”

He
nodded.
 
“Yeah.
 
They’re probably just messing with
us.
 
Let’s get a move on.
 
I don’t want to be late for this.”
 
He started the engine, and as he put the
jeep into reverse gear; the pager went off again.
 
He heard Emily’s beeper go off as well
and exchanged a look with her as he handed over his pager.
 
“Take a look at mine and yours.
 
I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

As he
reversed out of his parking space, Emily glanced over.
 
“9-1-1 page this time on yours.
 
Mine is standard.
 
I’m calling in.
 
Where’s your mobile?”

He kept
his attention on navigating his way out of the hospital parking lot.
 
“Glove box.”
 
He listened to her talking and within
seconds, turned his jeep around.
 
He
headed back to where he was originally parked in the physicians’ designated
spaces.
 
He turned off the engine
and glanced at her as she scrambled to grab her evening bag.
 
She tossed his pager back to him and
opened her passenger door.

She
quickened her pace, struggling a bit in her gown and heels.
 
He jogged next to her.
 
“Ok, what do we got?
 
What did they say?”

She
headed toward the emergency room.
 
“We need to get you scrubbed in like yesterday.
 
Gunshot wound to the chest.
 
They’re bringing her in now.”
 
She stopped and looked up at him.
 
“I’m sure they’ll tell us the details in
there, but they said this is a high-profile case, and we need to use
discretion.”

He
shook his head.
 
“Dammit.
 
Are you in the OR with me on this?”

She
nodded.
 
“Yes.
 
I wasn’t on call tonight, but the other
OR nurse that was is sick, so I volunteered.”

They
headed into the hospital, eager to find out details.
 
Kyle quickly learned that the surgeon on
call was stuck in a sig alert on the 405 freeway and wouldn’t arrive for at
least an hour.
 
The attending
surgeon, Dr. Perry, specifically requested Kyle, knowing he had just left the
hospital and was in close range.
 

As he
hastily shed his tuxedo for scrubs, he had a bad feeling that confused
him.
 
He took a second look at the
silver Tiffany cufflinks engraved with his initials, a gift that he still held
so dear.
 
They were the only item
from his past that he took with him to start the new chapter of his life years
ago.
 
He frowned, confused by his
intense focus on them and the memories attached.
 
He squeezed them in his hand for a
moment, before carefully tucking them away in his locker.

The
impending sense of doom returned as he left the physician’s lounge for the
operating room.
 
He had done so many
emergency surgeries before, but something about this one felt strange and he
couldn’t place it.
 
He entered the
prep room apprehensively, feeling a momentary ease come over him seeing Emily
already scrubbed up and ready to assist.

Her
gray eyes were wide and reflected a level of concern he had never seen as she
stared up at him.
 
He frowned,
concerned.
 
Rarely had he seen her
shaken by anything.
 
“Em, what’s
wrong?
 
Is it bad?”

She
gulped and spoke slowly.
 
“Kyle,
it’s her on the table.”

He
frowned again.
 
“Her who?”

She
stared at him. “The girl from the magazine covers.”

He felt
his heart skip a beat and then calmed down, hoping he wasn’t jumping to
conclusions.
 
He figured Emily was
confused.
 
“What girl from what
magazine covers?
 
What are you
talking about?”

She
pointed into the operating room.
 
“The redhead that spun you out that night.
 
She was on the cover of
Platinum Magazine
and
Billboard
.
 
Remember?
 
Those magazines you asked me to buy for
you when you were coming off a crazy thirty-eight hour shift.
 
She’s some big music exec or producer or
something.
 
I think she recently won
a Grammy.
 
I think her name is Kit…”

He
followed her gaze into the operating room, his worst nightmare coming true at
that moment.
 
He felt like someone
was ripping his heart out again.
 
He
swallowed hard, his eyes remaining trained on her through the glass as he spoke
slowly.
 
“Kit McKenna.”

She
nodded.
 
“Yes, now Dr. Perry looks
like he’s about to kill you, and you do not want to piss him off.
 
You know he wants to promote you to
chief resident soon.
 
C’mon,
focus.
 
So what if she’s a
celebrity?
 
They’re just like normal
people.
 
Forget your celebrity crush
and be the amazing surgeon you are.
 
We got to get you scrubbed up and into the OR.”

He
entered the operating room moments later, trying his best to shove his personal
feelings aside.
 
When he stared down
at her lying on the table, helpless and fighting for her life, he stalled.
 
Dr. Perry’s urgent, curt voice jolted
him back into the severity of the situation, and he got to work.
 

When
Kit’s surgery was successful concluded, Kyle made his way out, emotionally
exhausted.
 
He headed into the
lounge, relieved he was alone and rubbed his eyes, letting out a long sigh.
 
Emily burst in moments later and noticed
him.
 
He glanced up, wanting to
retreat to another place where he could indulge in a solitary existence until
he recognized her.
 
He nodded.
 
“What’s up?
 
Does Perry need me?”

She
shook her head.
 
“No.
 
He’s talking to someone in the family
now.
 
He is looking for you, though,
so touch base with him in a few.”

He sat
back.
 
“Ok, thanks.
 
If you don’t mind, Em, I want to be
alone right now.”

She
forced a grin.
 
“No problem,
Ky.
 
I get it.
 
I just wanted to let you know that she’s
in recovery, and I’m her monitoring nurse until she gets transferred to
ICU.
 
She hasn’t come to yet.
 
I thought you might want to pay her a
visit.”
 
He slowly got up and nodded
as she continued.
 
“And, Ky, you’re
one of my best friends, but I gotta tell ya, this crush thing is a little
weird.
 
I mean…”
 
She let out a long sigh and met his
eyes.
 
“You don’t even know her.”

He
shifted his eyes away, moved past her toward the door and refused to make
further eye contact.
 
“That’s the
thing, Em; I do.”
 
He pushed the
door and headed out into the hallway toward the bay of recovery rooms.
 
He carefully plodded through until he
found her tucked away in a private recovery room, Emily only a few paces
behind.

She
lowered her voice.
 
“I’ll give you a
few minutes and then I’ll come back and check on her.
 
Something about this feels wrong, Ky.”

He
temporarily met her eyes and whispered.
 
“It’s fine, Em.
 
Now,
go.”
 
He shooed her away with his
hand and approached Kit’s bedside.
 
He stared down at her, and a small grin graced his face seeing her so
peaceful.
 
He felt his heart swell
with love and gratitude that she had come through the surgery so well.
 

He
lowered his voice to almost a whisper.
 
“I’m so glad you’re ok.
 
You
went through it like a champ, just as I remember.
 
Happy that some things never
change.”
 
Her green eyes fluttered
open, startling him as their eyes met.
 
She was groggy and blinked slowly, struggling to regain full
consciousness.
 
She grinned and
spoke softly.
 
“Hi.”
 

He
chuckled and smoothed her hair.
 
“Hi.”
 
He noticed her eyes
getting heavy again and seconds later, she had slipped back into sleep.
 
He grinned, leaned forward and kissed
her on the forehead.
 
“Sleep well,
my love.”

Emily
walked in and noticed what he was doing.
 
She shook her head.
 
He met
her eyes and noticed the disapproval.
 
He shrugged his shoulders and mouthed, “what?”
 
She waved him out, and he followed
her.
 
Once they were in the hallway,
she whispered.
 
“We need to
talk.
 
Who is she to you, Kyle?
 
I have never seen this side of you.
 
You’ve always got that fucking armor
around your heart.
 
I’ve never seen
you look at someone like that.
 
I’m
still not convinced that this isn’t some weird crush thing.
 

“Maybe
the only woman you can be with is some celebrity that’s completely
unattainable.
 
That’s kind of scary,
Ky.
 
You’re one step short of a
psych eval as far as I’m concerned.
 
And if you really do know her, then scratch the psych eval and start
taking a look at an ethics violation.”