She looks up at Tate, who nods at her to reassure her. He’s clearly concerned that his fiancée seems to be in as much distress as my wife.
“When I returned to the bus, I found Yivi trying to run away.”
“What?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I pull Yivi’s face up so I can look at her. “You were going to run?”
She opens her mouth to speak, but the only words that come out are, “I’m sorry.”
“Liam, it’s not what you think. It’s partly my fault. I should have said something the other day. I didn’t think much about it as I was too busy arranging tonight’s concert and dealing with the fall out of the marriage announcement,” Zoey begins to explain. “When we were in the restaurant the morning after the concert in Houston, I saw a man join the line that Yivi was waiting in to fetch Cameron’s coffee. The man stood there for a while, spoke briefly to Yivi, and then left immediately. I thought it was strange, and when Yivi came back to the table, her hands were shaking and she was white as a sheet. I thought nothing more of it after she was sick. However, I didn’t recognize the man in the line as an invited guest. I’ve seen most people in this business, and he wasn’t one of them.”
“I don’t understand?” I’m baffled by Zoey’s story. It doesn’t make any sense.
“Tonight when I followed Yivi to the bus and found her about to run away, it all made sense. The man was someone who’d scared her. She didn’t have a bug—it was terror making her ill. When I put all the details together, only one person would make her that scared.”
“The Leader!” Austin exclaims, and all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place for me.
“How the fuck did he get in? We’ve got security in place? I’m going to get a full review done tomorrow. This can’t happen again.” Tate is livid, but at the moment, I’m managing to control my temper.
“Agreed.” Cameron thumps the table, and Yivi jumps in my arms.
“What the fuck did the creep want?” Tate asks his fiancée.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it scared Yivi enough to leave with only a t-shirt, a planner, and teddy bear as her sole belongings.” Zoey points at the table where the three items sit.
“No money?” Austin looks directly at me.
Tate stares at the table, searching for anything Yivi would have been able to use to help her survive, but there’s nothing but memories in front of us.
“I think we’ve all had a bit of shock. I’m going to take Zoey to get a drink. Cam, Austin, I think you better come as well,” Tate urges and makes his way to the steps with Zoey, and Cameron follows.
Austin lingers a minute.
“You okay?” He nods at me.
“Yeah, give me five.”
He nods again and leaves.
The bus falls silent except for Yivi’s sobs.
“Baby.” I lift her face so her eyes meet mine. The link between us is clear. “I need you to talk to me. Tell me what happened?”
“I’m sorry,” she sobs.
“It’s all right. I’m not angry. I want to know what could have happened to make you so desperate to leave.”
There’s a glass of water on the table. Yivi reaches out, and I help her take a sip. Her hands are shaking.
“It was the Leader in the line, and he spoke to me. He told me if I didn’t pay for my freedom, then he’d tell the world about me and where I came from, and how I’d abandoned my parents to poverty. I thought I was dreaming at first, but I knew I wasn’t when I came back to the table and saw him through a restaurant window. I know him. He’d manipulate it so I’d seem like an evil person. I was scared you’d hear what he was saying and think me a devil.”
I shake my head. Even though I haven’t met the man, I know I’d never believe a word that came out of his mouth.
“I wouldn’t, I promise you. Why didn’t he try to take you?” I question.
“He wanted me to get five hundred thousand dollars from you to buy my freedom from the cult. He promised he would leave me alone if I did. That’s the reason I was running.”
“I doubt he’d leave you alone. He would come after you with the same threat anytime he needed more money.”
Yivi looks down at her fingers, the tip of one of her nails goes to her mouth, and she nibbles it.
“I suspected as much, but the alternative was worse. He said that if I told anyone or failed he’d come for me. He’d managed to contact me once, so I knew he could do it again. He told me I was poison to the cult now because I’ve been tainted by the corruption of the outside world. He said he’d make an example of me, and I’d be put in the hole, basically buried alive and left to die.”
I push away from Yivi at her words. The thought of that happening to her sends such a fury through me I can barely control it.
“He’d do what?” I ask her to repeat what she’s just said. I’m sure I must be hearing things.
“I can’t say it again, please.”
“Okay.”
My chest heaves with the agitation in me. I need to calm myself down. I’ve had a fiery Spanish temper all my life, and if I let it go right now, I’ll probably end up in prison for murder. I go to the liquor cabinet and pour myself a large whiskey before returning to Yivi and pulling her into my arms.
“Tomorrow I’ll get the money, and we’ll go together and give it to him. I’ll make sure he understands this is the only money he’s getting, and he’s to stay away from you. If he ever comes near you again, I’ll make sure it’s the last thing he does.”
“You can’t.” Yivi tries to protest.
“Believe me, I can. I’m a cocky little shit when I need to be. If I antagonize him enough, he’ll probably hit me, and then he’ll be at the mercy of our bodyguards.”
Yivi lets out a soft laugh, and I drink in every part of her beauty.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it. I panicked. It was the fact he was able to find me that frightened me.”
“Don’t worry, that won’t happen again. Heads will roll when Tate finds out who let him into the restaurant.”
“Thank you.”
Yivi settles her head on my shoulder while I drink my whiskey, and as we sit in silence, I hear her breathing begin to slowly even out. I know she must be exhausted after worrying about this for days. When she’s asleep, I pick her up and settle her on the bed in the room at the back of the bus. It’s technically Tate and Zoey’s night in there, but I need to be wrapped around Yivi tonight while we sleep.
I return to the front of the bus, intending to grab a quick shower. I must stink as I haven’t had one since I came off stage, but instead I sit down and stare into the whiskey glass. So many possible bad endings for this story go through my head, and I can’t get them out.
I failed my wife.
She got scared in that restaurant. I was sitting nearby but didn’t protect her.
Is this what marriage is like, taking the rough with the smooth? I won’t let her get hurt again. I don’t think I could cope with it.
My bandmates and Zoey return to the bus. I’m not sure how much later it is, but I’m still sitting there staring at my now empty glass.