We walked down the corridor back to the side suite where I’d found Tanner and Emmy earlier, followed by the security Thomas and Matt had assigned us.
Shutting the door, I’d love to tell you that I remembered what happened next, but I didn’t remember a thing.
Until the pain.
Chapter 18
Matt
Thomasandhisteamhad been with me at the gig, helping me make sure the band was safe after the ever-escalating threats to Tanner had gotten even worse over the last few days. Two gunshots rang out, and we ran toward the sound.
While we were trying to plan a way to get inside the locked room, Emmy used the key card Tanner had given her to slip inside, closing the door behind her, leaving us locked on the outside.
“Fuck, Emmy,” Thomas hissed.
“What the hell do we do now?” I asked.
“We need to get inside, but who knows what we’re walking into?
“Frankie’s in there? Are you sure?” I asked Thomas.
“She walked off with Tanner and no one else has seen her, so she must be in there with him.”
The weight on my chest got heavier as I tried to listen for anything to tell me she was okay.
When a third gunshot echoed out and Emmy screamed, Thomas shot through the lock and kicked open the door.
Inside was a mess. Tanner sat slumped on a chair, vomit pooling at his feet. Emmy stood frozen to the spot, covered head to toe in blood and God only knows what. And as I looked down, I saw what looked like Tanner’s assistant’s body laid out on the floor, a gun in her hand, clearly dead by her own hand alongside Rob, who had a gunshot wound to the center of his forehead.
“Emmy. Are you hurt?” Thomas questioned, trying to get her to focus and let us know if any of the blood she was covered in was hers.
“No, but Tanner. Help Tanner, Thomas, please.”
Thomas called for back up and medical help as Emmy looked to the side of the room and cried out. “Frankie!”
I stepped behind Emmy to see what she was looking at and in the corner, hidden by a chair, was my worst nightmare.
“Rogue, fuck, no. Please be okay. Please.”
Leaping over the chair, I rolled her over to find a gunshot wound to her chest, blood pooling under her, and a weak pulse fluttering in her neck.
“Tom?”
“Put pressure on her wound, Matt. Help’s on its way.”
Somewhere near me, Emmy screamed again as Tanner slumped to the floor, fitting violently as medics rushed the room.
“Matt, how is she?” Addi rushed down the hall in the hospital, her face pale, mascara smudged under her eyes.
“I don’t know. They won’t tell me anything because I’m notfamily.”
“Let me find the doctor.” Addi strode off, her heels clipping along the tiled floor to the nurse’s station, coming back minutes later with a doctor following her like a scared puppy.
“Doctor Vaughan, this is Matt Howells. He’s our head of security and he asks a question about Tanner or Frankie, I expect someone to tell him. Now can you fill me in on what’s happening with Frankie?”
“Sorry, Matt, we have to be careful. Patient confidentiality and given who my patient is, I wanted to be extra careful about who I shared information with.”
“And we appreciate that. Now, Frankie?” Addi snapped.