Chapter Twenty-One – Angel
I’d showered and changed into a fresh set of clothes, and I was sitting on the couch in the living room, the guys hanging around me. Ramona was on her way. Two officers were nearby; it wasn’t so hard to convince them. Pope was playing ball—anything to get him off—so he’d told them where the note was. The notion of his story corroborating with mine, combined with an officer actually finding the note in his place, was too much for them to ignore.
They were on board, so hopefully we’d do this right.
Either way, it went without saying that Ramona wasn’t the manager of Black Sacrament any more.
We had to get this right, because if we didn’t, and Pope went down for this, then the world would know his real name, and it’d take short work for everyone to dig into his past and figure out who the others were.
A lot was riding on this.
Bishop sat beside me, and he set a hand on my knee and squeezed it the same moment Ramona walked in. She had a key to our place; that would change soon enough. The moment she spotted me on the couch, she raced over to me, saying, “Thank God you’re alright. We were so worried about you last night—”
Whatever else she was going to say, she stopped herself, noticing how the guys got up and put some distance between us. That let her gingerly take up a cushion beside me. “You are okay, aren’t you? Priest didn’t say much when he called, but he mentioned Pope.”
Part of our plan, you see. Get her relaxed, make her think that we were blaming all of this on Pope even though we knew the truth.
As the guys paced the room around us, I nodded and said, “Yeah. Pope was there. He had a key to the room.” The room that, according to the front desk, had been rented out with Pope’s old line of credit, back from when he used to live here. A line that Ramona must’ve still had access to.
I stared deep into Ramona’s black eyes as I continued, “He was very angry at me. He blamed me for taking his place in the band. I tried to tell him that wasn’t true, that I wasn’t trying to be his replacement, but he didn’t want to hear it.” I let my gaze fall to my lap, where I fiddled with my hands.
“Pope’s always been a little off,” Ramona spoke carefully, “but I had no idea he was capable of something like this. I had no idea he was this unhinged. We need to make sure they put him away for a long time, work on a restraining order or something—”
Ramona was going to say more, like she had this whole thing planned out—and I must’ve been playing my part well, because it didn’t sound like she suspected me at all. That’s what would make this all the sweeter.
“There’s just… one thing I can’t seem to wrap my head around,” I muttered, slow to bring my stare back up to Ramona’s.
“What’s that?” She pretended to act concerned, interested, and sympathetic. The mental gymnastics she must be doing right now, I couldn’t imagine.
“I don’t understand how Pope was able to get backstage without alerting someone. I mean, I know it was showtime, so everyone was running around, but wouldn’t someone have seen him? Security was tight.”
Ramona shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s something the police will have to figure out. Either way, Greenbay definitely has to beef up their security.”
The guys had stopped pacing. Ramona didn’t notice, but I did. It’s because the guys knew what I was going to say next, and they were waiting with bated breath to see what Ramona would do once it was out there.
“You know,” I started, speaking slowly, “there is something else that’s weird. The police came right after Pope got there. Like, right after. Almost like it was timed.”
Ramona blinked. “Timed? What do you mean, timed?”
“Like someone was waiting for Pope to walk through the front door at the Redborne, and, whoever they were, called the cops right then. I just don’t understand how the police showed up so soon after Pope did.”
She had an explanation for that ready: “The front desk knows Pope is banned from the Redborne. As soon as they saw him, I’m sure they alerted the authorities.”
“You’re right,” I acknowledged, “but it’s funny. Pope and I had some time to talk before the police showed up.” Granted, he’d been pissed the hell off and hateful beyond all belief, but that was beside the point. Acting angry and hateful only furthered the story Ramona was trying to tell here.
“You did?” Ramona cocked her head. “And what did Pope have to say?” A slight change in her tone. She was starting to realize this was going somewhere she wasn’t going to like.
“He said he was sent a key to the room, along with a note telling him to meet them there… a note from you.” I waited a few seconds before saying that last part, and when I said it, Ramona’s back straightened, the corners of her mouth twitching in annoyance.
“From me?” She let out a chuckle full of disbelief. “Why on earth would I send him a note and a key to the room? That doesn’t make any sense. He’s obviously trying to push the blame—”
“To get him there, obviously.” That was Priest answering, and he stood behind me on the couch, his phone in his hand—though he set it on the cushion near my shoulder. “You wanted him to come.”
Her voice came out low and dry, “And why would I want that?”
“To frame him for kidnapping and to get Black Sacrament in the news again,” I said. “Any publicity is good publicity, right?” I’d never heard Ramona herself say it, but I’d heard it from other people, so it had to ring true.
Black Sacrament was in the news when Pope got kicked out. We were in the news again when she held that contest for me, and when they announced I was the new fourth member. We were again in the news when Priest kissed me on stage—we went viral that time. There was no way Ramona was going to let an opportunity like this pass by without constantly spinning it to our benefit.
Some people would do anything for more money, and I knew now Ramona was one of them.
She let out a chuckle. “Are you saying I planned this just to get a good headline?” Her eyes darted from me to the guys, one by one, and when she saw they were all watching her with suspicion, she got to her feet. “This is insane. You don’t know what you’re saying. After such a traumatizing experience, I can’t say I blame you, but to insinuate it was me, well, I—” She tried to leave, but Deacon stepped in her way, blocking her path.
I stood up with her. “They found the note at Pope’s place. I’m betting the handwriting matches yours.”
Ramona was sluggish in turning around to face me, her lips drawn into a thin line. Her black eyes studied me hard. “If they found this supposed note, and it was so incriminating, why aren’t the police here, arresting me?”
Bishop stepped in. He stood next to Deacon. “All we want is for you to admit what you did. I don’t care about Pope.” He glanced at Deacon, adding, “He might, but right now, all I care about is the fact that you drugged and kidnapped our girl.”
“What would I get out of it?” Ramona asked. “This is so stupid—”
“We have a new album coming up,” I offered with a shrug. “Maybe you wanted to drum up more sales.” My mouth was open, and I was going to say more, but Ramona took a step toward me, and let’s just say I didn’t like the dark expression on her face.
Her voice came out deadly, “Do you think these guys would be anywhere if it weren’t for me? Do you think they’d have half the fans they do if it wasn’t for me? You might be the face of the band, but I’m the heart beating behind it. I have the connections. I know what the media wants. You four—” She gestured to all of us. “—are nothing but your voices and the people you pretend to be when you’re on stage. Guess what? All of that will disappear someday, and all you’ll have left is, if you’re lucky, a legacy. Everything I do is to build that legacy.”
Ramona flipped to glare at Deacon and Bishop. “You’re fools if you think you know better than I do. Did I do all this just to put Black Sacrament in the mouths of more people before your next album drops?”
A second went by, then another. At least ten seconds passed before Ramona answered her own question: “Yeah, and so what if I did? At least I’m doing something more than parading around, being in a fake relationship. Black Sacrament will make headlines for this. Now, during the trial, the sentencing—it will go on and on. You four should thank me for everything I do for you. In fact, I don’t think you’ve ever thanked me once.”
Maybe that was true. Maybe no one had ever thanked her—but she was getting paid. She thought she was the heart of this band, but she wasn’t. The lifeblood of Black Sacrament was the passion that ran through their veins—our veins, now—and if she thought she’d get away with this… she was sorely mistaken.
“Ramona,” Priest started, and he picked up his phone before walking around the couch and coming to stand by me. She was surrounded by the four of us, but she didn’t look cowed. Not yet, anyway. “Two things you should know. First, this relationship isn’t fake,” he set his free hand on my lower back. “And, secondly.” He held up his phone, showing that his screen was on and he was currently making a call to Deacon’s phone.
Alarm crossed her face as her eyes widened. “What—”
Priest brought the phone to his mouth, dramatically saying, “Did you guys get that?”
The sounds of two officers stepping out of Bishop’s bedroom and coming down the hall filled the air, heavy footsteps as they emerged and showed themselves. One of them carried Deacon’s phone, which he lowered as he huffed, “Yeah, we heard it alright.”
Ramona couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “You… this was a sting? Are you fucking kidding me?” She whirled around on me. “You’d choose Pope over me?” She sounded as if this ending came so out of the blue for her, she hadn’t prepared herself for it.
“I choose the truth,” I told her, “and right now, I’m looking at a woman who thought she’d use her connections to get away with kidnapping.”
Deacon got his phone back, and the second officer pulled out his handcuffs. The guys stepped aside and let him through, and he started by telling Ramona she was under arrest for charges of kidnapping, and then he listed off her Miranda rights.
She wasn’t listening to him, though. No, instead she glared squarely at me, a look of pure hatred in her eyes. “Who knew a girl from a small town would give me so much trouble?” She practically bared her teeth at me. “Hope you four have fun while you can, because mark my words, it’s going to end eventually, and when it does—”
She didn’t have the time to say anything else, because the officer started to drag her away from us, through the kitchen area, to the door that let out into the Redborne hallway. She huffed and struggled as she went, but in the end, she had no choice but to go.
The other officer told us we’d be needed at the station to give our official statements, but we could come whenever we wanted, the sooner the better. I think he understood we needed some time to unwind after this whole ordeal.
Once the door was shut and we were alone, I collapsed back on the couch and shut my eyes. I heard Priest say, “Well, that’s it, then. Pope will be let go, and we’re manager-less. What the hell do we do now?” He sat down next to me.
I cracked open my eyes to watch Bishop walk around us and take the cushion on my other side as he said, “I don’t know. Call the label and tell them what happened?”
Deacon plopped down on the coffee table opposite us and huffed, “Who do we call, though? Ramona always did that stuff for us. I don’t even think I have anyone’s number from the label.”
“Shit,” Priest muttered with a sigh. He leaned back and lifted an arm, wrapping it around my shoulders. I leaned into him and shut my eyes. Whatever happened from here on out, we’d be together, at least.
“That’s my shoulder,” Bishop remarked, and I had to open my eyes and look to see that Priest’s fingers were lightly running shapes on Bishop’s shoulder instead of mine.
But Priest played it cool and said, “I know,” like he meant to be touching Bishop’s shoulder and not mine.
I smiled to myself. These guys… what was I going to do with these three? They really did complete me in a way I never thought possible. I couldn’t imagine my life without them now. What Ramona said might be true, but I knew, without a doubt, that whatever happened, we would stick together, even if we had to say goodbye to Black Sacrament someday.
But today was not that day. We took on Ramona and won, so I could confidently say we were ready to take on the world.