Chapter 27
Chapter twenty-seven
Kelsey
I’m backstage, a cluster of voices buzzing in the air around me.
The opening act is just finishing up, and I took a few minutes to dash out here to say hello to my family while I knew Jaxon was fully covered by his CPOs and my team monitoring the cameras.
Yesterday’s concert went off without a hitch despite my missing the pre-meeting, so I feel more confident sneaking out of the security booth for a few minutes today.
I try not to dwell on the fact that I might be unnecessary at this point.
Izzy’s a few feet away, dressed in a thin-strapped tank top, her tight black jeans disappearing into the black cowboy boots she bought this morning.
“I’m so glad you decided to come, Iz,” I say when I reach her.
“And miss out on backstage passes to the concert of the decade? Never,” she teases, though her levity feels forced.
Her eyes keep darting around, and I’m not sure if she’s excited or terrified to see her old best friend in all his Jaxon Steele glory.
“It really is a great concert,” I say. “The crowd, the atmosphere? You’re going to have a good time.”
Bryn laughs, dipping out from under Jameson’s arm to come say hello. “Great outfit, Kelsey.”
I look down at my entirely black ensemble and then back at her. “It’s my uniform.”
“You could at least wear cowboy boots,” she says, nodding at her own. I take in my youngest sister’s outfit, noting she’s gone full pretend cowgirl for the evening with her lightly faded jeans and a rust-orange tie-back tank top.
“Cowboy boots are not as easy to run in,” I parry.
“As long as they let me stumble back to the hotel after a few beers, that’s all I need,” Izzy chimes in, opening one of the many beverages set out for the VIP guests.
I glance over at Jameo and JT, both looking much more relaxed than the rest of us, even though they just finished their golf tournament. Both men are standing near the opening of the stage, Jameo casually watching the band currently performing while JT takes a few selfies.
I wave hello, and both men come over to join our little group.
“How’d the tournament end up?” I ask, even though my sports app informed me of the results hours ago.
Jameo pulls Bryn under his arm, leaning on her. “It went all right. JT played like a man possessed,” he says, a grin on his face. “His putt on eighteen was magical—seventeen feet out, he was on a different level than the pin, and he drained it. It was pretty.”
Grinning at the compliment, JT says, “I had to do something to keep up with your drives. I’m still annoyed that I’ve spent the whole season training with you, and you still outdrive me every time.”
I let out a laugh. “Wow, I didn’t realize your bromance had progressed to this point. Do you need me to see about getting you a private room?”
“You’re so funny, Kels,” JT says. “Also, Sam says he must see a picture of us, so smile.” He holds his phone up, sliding his arm around my shoulder and making an outrageous face before I can tell him no.
“You’re an idiot.”
I chat with everyone for a few more minutes, making sure they know where they can go to see the full concert if they don’t want to be backstage the entire time.
Before I leave, I give Izzy one last hug. “You good?” I ask her quietly.
“Yup. It’s just…a lot more emotions than I expected. I thought I was prepared, but…” Her words trail off as her attention catches on something behind me.
Pulling out of the hug, I see Jaxon walk by, his usual concert persona in place. He stalks toward the stage, a black guitar draped across his chest. With his all-black outfit, massive frame, and perfectly styled hair, it’s clear why half the country is obsessed with the man.
The moment he notices Izzy, his steps falter.
The two stand there, staring at each other, until almost everyone backstage has noticed and is gawking at the odd display.
I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about the way she’s looking at him that feels different.
I want to say something, but it’s not the right time.
I shoot Jaxon what I hope is a professional smile and pull Izzy away, herding her toward the door to get to their seats. The gossip will be raging by the end of the show, but luckily, Izzy’s not close to any of the concert staff, so she likely won’t hear any of it.
When I finally reach the security booth Lila, Carter, and I are managing for the night, I force myself to focus on my work.
“How’s everything looking?” I ask.
“All set. It’s so much more fun being here than doing this from our empty office at random hours,” Lila says.
I settle in at my station, my mind already spinning through the checklists in my head.
As the concert starts, we all focus on our work, Lila and I both coordinating with various teams. After a small disruption between two drunk guests close to the stage is dealt with by the venue’s security team, I focus my attention back on the various camera feeds.
All goes well, and I start to relax as Jaxon starts the final song of his encore.
That’s when I notice it. A faint blinking light on one of the security monitors—just a small change, but it’s enough to give me pause.
“Hey,” I say to Lila. “What’s going on with camera five? That thing on the wall wasn’t blinking earlier.”
“Not sure. Maybe it’s just an alarm or something for the venue.”
“That camera covers the hall to the stage entrance,” I say, studying the diagram in front of me.
“Can you send someone to check it out?” I ask Carter.
“Already on it,” he says, talking into his earpiece.
Relief washes through me when a voice answers, confirming the comms are at least still working. I watch the screen but don’t see anyone moving.
The sense of unease increases when Carter’s man calls back, saying there isn’t a light on.
“Shit,” I say, staring at Lila and Carter. “It’s not the live feed. Carter, get a team as close to the stage as you can. Lila, get someone on this.”
Lila grabs her phone, typing into our team’s messaging system as she waits for someone to answer.
“Hey, Lincoln, we’ve got a problem,” Lila says, her voice sharp and urgent.
“There’s been a breach. We’ve got at least one camera playing a looped video.
” She leans over and looks at my screen. “Camera five.”
With that, all twenty-four feeds on my screen go black.
“Vince, do you copy?” I ask, waiting for the head of the venue’s security team to respond.
As Jaxon’s personal security team, we monitor the cameras that are important to the performer, but leave the other ten-to-a-hundred cameras to the venue’s team.
I don’t want someone to steal from the concessions, but it isn’t my job to focus on that.
“Copy.”
“We lost connection to all of our cameras. Are yours out?”
“No, but…Kelsey, you’ve got a fan on the stage.”
I stop dead in my tracks, my blood running cold. “What? How?”
I glance out the window that allows us to see the performance happening two levels below. Sure enough, there is a man with sandy-blond hair running around the stage, yelling something. He also appears to be…naked.
The band is still playing, though it’s clear everyone is distracted by the man.
Carter is screaming into his comms, coordinating the extraction of the man. Finally, a team of five moves in from all sides, and an agent tackles the streaker.
A chant starts up in the crowd, something I can’t quite make out, and Jaxon breaks from his normal choreography to chant along with them.
Then I hear it, the “Action, Jaxon! Action, Jaxon!” that pulls me back to my youth, when I’d hear Izzy and Jaxon yelling that before he would do some dumb stunt in our backyard, or later when they were downstairs playing that guitar video game.
Finally, Jaxon starts singing again, the crisis seemingly forgotten by all but me and my team. But the panic inside me continues to build. This is bad. This is really bad.
The monitors in front of me are still black.
The cameras that should’ve been providing security footage, the very cameras my team was responsible for, went down at just the wrong moment.
I feel the weight of responsibility pressing down harder than it ever has before.
We were supposed to be prepared for this.
We were prepared. Why is this happening?
Carter is on his comms, barking orders. “Backup team, perimeter check, now. We’ve got no eyes. Weston, Eddie, I want both your teams moving with Jaxon.”
I try to focus, but my mind is racing. The streaker is already gone, taken away by security, but the damage is done. The cameras were down, the equipment compromised, and it’s on my team. My responsibility.
I glance over at Lila, who’s still glued to her phone, sending messages, coordinating with the venue’s team. Her face is tight, the urgency in her expression matching the way I feel inside. “What do you need me to do?” she asks, her voice clipped but focused.
“We need to figure out what happened,” I say, my voice shaking a little. “Someone tampered with our equipment. It’s the only explanation. We can’t risk it happening again. I need to know exactly what happened.”
Lila nods her agreement, and I look at Carter. “We’d better go check in with Jaxon. They’ll have him back at his dressing room by now.”
He gestures toward the door. “I’ll follow you,” he says, his voice calm, but there’s an edge to it. I know he’s pissed. I’m pissed.
We make our way backstage, moving quickly toward Jaxon’s dressing room.
As we approach, I hear raised voices inside—Jaxon, Henry, and several others I don’t recognize are all speaking at once.
My stomach sinks. This is exactly the kind of situation I’ve been trying to avoid: another failure on my team’s part.
I knock before entering, trying to compose myself. The door opens, and the tension in the room hits me like a wall. Jaxon’s standing in the middle, his brow furrowed. He’s clearly pissed, but his eyes shift to me the moment I step inside. The room goes silent. Why does this feel so familiar?
Trent, whom I hadn’t even noticed, speaks first, his voice clipped. “Kelsey, this should’ve been handled. My guys can’t stop things they don’t know are coming. That man didn’t show up naked—how did you miss this?”
I want to pass off the blame. This wasn’t our system.
This wasn’t my team, but until I have more information, I don’t know that, not for certain.
“Our system—all our cameras went offline. And at least one of them was playing looped footage before that. We’d just identified the issue when my team lost all visuals.
It’s…strange. The timing. I have a few theories, but nothing concrete. ”
“Is one of your theories that you’re just not that good at your job? Because I assure you, this wouldn’t have happened to my team.”
Jaxon looks at Trent before he turns back to me. His expression softens slightly, but his frustration is still palpable. “I don’t need to hear theories, Kelsey. I need answers. Your team is responsible for monitoring this.”
I swallow hard, trying to steady my breathing. “I know,” I mutter, frustration seeping into my voice. “It didn’t pop up on any social media that we saw, and with the cameras out… I’m going to find out how this happened. But I need time. I need access to the logs, the systems—everything.”
Jaxon’s eyes narrow as he watches me, his face unreadable.
“This could’ve been a disaster. Luckily, someone”—he emphasizes the word, suggesting he’s acutely aware of who it was—“started that chant and turned the whole thing into a funny little escapade, but people pay a lot of money to come to these concerts, and I’m responsible for making sure they get what they want out of it.
Seeing some man’s flaccid penis? No one wants that. ”
Carter snorts a laugh from where he’s standing in the corner, but I refuse to break eye contact with Jaxon.
“I understand,” I say quickly. “I’ll get to the bottom of it.”
We discuss the issue for a few more minutes before everyone shuffles out, Jaxon’s team moving him back to the VIP area for a meet-and-greet.
I wonder what he’ll say to Izzy about her chant choice.
If I weren’t terrified I’m going to get fired, I might find it funny my sister likely just started an international trend.
But I can’t shake the nagging feeling that’s been tugging at the back of my mind since the moment the cameras first failed. This wasn’t just random, and it wasn’t equipment failure. It had to be someone inside. Someone who knew exactly what they were doing.
Suddenly, everything starts to feel much more sinister. This isn’t just a glitch. This is intentional sabotage of me.
And who has the most to gain from my failure…? Mitchell Security.