Chapter 25. Haley
Haley
Good morning, Chicago. This is Hidden Tracks on WJPK, broadcasting from the heart of Havencrest University.
I’m Haley Chapman, and tonight we’re exploring songs about hidden truths and the emotional barriers we put in place to protect ourselves.
Do you ever feel like you have stories you struggle to tell, or feelings you can’t quite express?
Today’s playlist is for anyone trying to find the courage to confront the past, to have those difficult conversations, and those of us questioning whether our hearts and our heads are in alignment.
Our first track is from an emerging artist who sings about trust and vulnerability in complicated relationships.
Stay tuned, and remember—in music, as in life, sometimes the most powerful messages are hidden between the lines.
I pressed the button and put on a song from the playlist I’d put together last night after Ace and I returned home from the bar.
When he’d asked what was wrong, I’d told him I had a headache and needed some time alone.
Paige and I had had many disagreements over the years, but we’d never had a fight like that.
I’d never had to walk away. I’d never felt like a hole had been ripped through my heart.
Guarded heart, crumbling in the dark.
I grabbed my phone and pulled up the lyrics to the song I’d written last night after Ace had gone to bed and I was finally alone.
The tune was fluid, melancholic, and lyrical, very different from the upbeat songs I usually wrote.
It had come to me in a frenzied burst of inspiration, and I couldn’t sleep until it was done—the chords set, the notes written, the lyrics finalized over dozens of sheets of paper.
Maybe someday I’d share “Guarded Heart” with the world.
I felt, rather than heard, the studio shake, my microphone gently bouncing on its metal arm. Puzzled, I looked up and saw Ace’s frantic face in the window, his fist pounding on the glass.
“Open the door,” he mouthed. “Now.”
Studio policy was to keep the door locked during a show so that there would be no unexpected interruptions during a broadcast. But this was Ace and he wouldn’t have interrupted if it wasn’t important. I quickly cued up another song and ran to unlock the door.
“Someone’s here. I think he’s after you.
” Ace grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the sound room.
“Chad saw a stranger wandering around the hallway. Some fucking idiot had let him in. The dude said he was here to interview with Dante for the station manager position and wanted to take a look around, but Dante’s out of town.
He wouldn’t have set up an interview for today.
It may be the guy who tried to grab you on Michigan Avenue.
I called campus security and Chad is trying to distract him until I can get you hidden.
Someone blocked the fire exit and there’s no other way out. ”
Goose bumps sheeted across my skin, but my brain couldn’t fully process what he was saying. “But my show… There will be dead air when the song ends. Noah used to say there was nothing worse than dead—”
Ace cut me off by grabbing me around the waist and hoisting me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Put me down.” I wriggled in his grasp. “I’m not a fucking child.”
“You’re a target,” he gritted out. “And I’ll do what I have to do to keep you safe.”
“You don’t even know if he’s the same guy,” I protested.
Ace gave no sign that he’d heard me. Instead, he made his way to the music library, opened the storage closet and dumped me inside. “Stay there until I come back.”
“You’re overreacting,” I snapped. “I’m not hiding in a closet and compromising the show unless I know the threat is real.”
Ace’s face darkened. “Threat assessment is my job.”
“And the station is my place,” I retorted.
“My odds of survival are much higher in the studio, where I have a locked door and access to a fire extinguisher, tools, and all sorts of wires that can be used to electrocute someone. I’m a sitting duck in here, and all I’ll have to defend myself are dusty magazines and warped LPs.
I’m also the only person who may be able to identify him. ”
Ace stared at me for so long I began to worry that I’d pushed him too far.
He’d always been protective, and when I was younger, I did what he said without question.
I’d climbed down from trees, left parties, and given up kissing opportunities with guys way too old for me when Ace would appear out of nowhere and tell me it was time to go.
But I wasn’t a little girl anymore. And I wasn’t about to have my agency taken away.
“This is the only time,” he said abruptly. “When we leave here, you do what I say. If I say run, you get into that studio and lock the door. If I say down, you hit the ground.”
“I promise.”
We made our way down the hallway, Ace in the lead. Fortunately, the permanent staff had gone home for the day and no one else was around. I heard voices coming around the corner from the entrance. Ace motioned for me to stop, pushing me behind him against the wall.
“I think there must have been some kind of miscommunication,” Chad said firmly. “Dante is out of town. If you give me your name and details, I’ll let him know you were here, and you can reschedule the interview.”
“I came all this way. I won’t disturb anyone.
I just want to wander around and check the place out.
” Something about the man’s tone, firm and unyielding, sent a shiver down my spine.
Ace must have felt it, too, because he stepped out into the hall way, one hand behind his back wrapped around the gun tucked under his belt.
“I’m afraid we can’t let you do that,” Ace said. “All our visitors need to be accompanied by station personnel, and we don’t have anyone free to give you a tour.”
“C’mon, man. I’ll be five minutes.” The dude’s sudden shift in demeanor and irritated tone just served to increase my sense of unease.
I heard a soft click from what sounded like Ace’s gun.
Heart pounding, I squeezed between Ace and the wall and took a quick peek around the corner.
I didn’t recognize the man in the hallway.
He was middle-aged with slumped shoulders and a soft belly, mousy brown hair, and a nondescript face.
Dressed in jeans and a plain T-shirt beneath a brown jacket, he looked like somebody’s dad, and yet he spoke with the confidence of someone used to being obeyed.
The man caught my gaze. His eyes widened, and I jerked back, but it was too late. Ace caught me on the retreat and his warning look made me shudder.
I heard the beep of buttons from the lock. Moments later the door opened, and two campus police officers walked in.
“Did someone report a security issue?”
“I did,” Chad said. “This gentleman says he had an interview when in fact, Dante is out of town. He insists on walking around the station and refuses to leave.”
“My bad.” The visitor held up his hands, reverting back to his softer “dad” persona. “I must have got the wrong date, and I thought since I was here, I’d check the place out.”
“You knew he wasn’t around.” Ace’s voice dripped menace. “You knew the staff weren’t in yet and no one would be here.”
The dude shook his head. “It was an honest mistake.”
After a brief conversation, the campus police let the man leave without even looking at his identification. Chad headed for the studio to fill the last five minutes of dead air before his show, leaving me alone with Ace.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” he shouted, backing me up against the wall. “Why didn’t you stay behind me? He saw you. That could have gone so wrong.”
“I needed to know what was going on. I wanted to see if he was the guy who grabbed me and if he had a gun.” My voice shook from the adrenaline still coursing through my veins. “I didn’t want anyone getting hurt because of me. I’ve lost too many people, Ace. I couldn’t lose you, too.”
“I’m here because of you.” His hands clenched by his sides. “Getting hurt to keep you safe is part of the fucking job. You were right in his line of sight. If he’d had any kind of weapon—”
“But he didn’t.”
“You still don’t trust me.” A statement. Not a question.
I took a deep breath and tried to slow my pounding heart. Were we still talking about what had just happened, or were we talking about what was going on between us?
“Maybe he really was here for an interview and got the wrong date,” I suggested, dissembling my true feelings. “It didn’t make sense that someone would come here and try to kill me. I’m an easier target outside.”
Wrong thing to say.
Ace planted his forearm on the wall above my head and his face turned two shades of purple. “You are not a target anywhere because I will not let anyone hurt you.”
In all the years I’d known Ace, I’d never seen even the barest hint of anger. Even when he’d rescued me from difficult or dangerous situations, I’d never seen him lose his cool.
“Ace…” I put my hand on his chest, eliciting a low warning grumble. I thought to soothe him. Instead, he pushed my hand away.
“We’re going home. You almost died today.”
Overbearing. Bossy. Intransigent. Paranoid . “I did not almost die, and I’m not going home, because I need to go to work,” I said, sliding out from under his arm. “I have to pay my rent, and I can’t just miss my shift without giving my boss notice because then Skye would be on her—”
“Rule one.” He cut me off as he followed me down the hallway. “I say we go home.”