Fade to Red (37 page)

She’d had a bad feeling in her gut since that morning. After the sweetness of the night before, it had been a blow to not see Beckham all day. And for there to be no word about him or Ian—it just did not sit well with her.

Dion was all business when he came to the safe house. It was past midnight and he didn’t want to answer any questions about anything. It was infuriating.

“We’ll be taking two vehicles and we ask you to remain patient for a little while longer.”

“Ian and Beckham aren’t going with us?” Daniel asked.

“The guys asked me to see you safely to the next location,” was all he would say.

All the warm feelings about Beckham that Roxie had been soaking in throughout the day turned. She wanted to kill him. Wring his neck for making her worry like this.

The vehicles pulled into an airplane hangar out in the middle of nowhere. The plane sat at the other end.

“This is all very cryptic,” Roxie whispered to her dad.

He was carrying Leo and nodded, shifting Leo to his other hip.

Ian walked down the steps of the plane. Everyone breathed easier seeing him. Sparrow rushed to him and they hugged before he took Journey from her.

“Come on, it’s a nice plane,” he said to the rest of them with a smile.

Roxie walked as quickly as she could and went up the steps after Ian and Sparrow. When she got on, she looked around but didn’t see Beckham.

“Where is he?” she asked.

Ian motioned for her to follow him and took her to the back of the plane. He rapped on the door twice and opened it. Beckham was lying on the bed, asleep.

“Is he okay?” she asked, moving toward the bed.

She sat down and took his hand, looking at Ian when Beckham didn’t move.

“He’s fine. He was given a sedative—poor guy couldn’t handle getting shot twice with a-”

Roxie gasped.

“Bulletproof vest on underneath…” he finished.

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” she said.

Ian nodded. “It went a lot differently than we expected, but I think it still worked. Hopefully he’ll wake up soon and tell you everything, but if he doesn’t, I’ve got strict instructions on what to say.”

Roxie frowned and motioned for him to keep going.

“I’m gonna cut out the flowery crap even though I love it,” Ian laughed, “but I know you’d rather hear that from him.” He looked at Beckham. “Sure wish he was awake. That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“Out with it, Ian.”

“Okay. Bottom line: will you go on a little trip with him? Maybe a long trip, depending on how long the rest of the pieces fall into place?”

“You’re talking in riddles.”

“Sorry. I know. So … we thought we’d draw Coco to the show tonight, but went with plan B when she didn’t show. We’ll have to straighten it out, but right now the world thinks Beckham is dead, and we just got news that Coco blew her house up. Good lord, that sounds crazy. And I wish I felt sad about Coco, but I don’t.” He tugged his hair and bit his lip, waiting for her to say something.

“What?” Roxie’s mouth dropped and she looked at Beckham. He didn’t stir. “Are you sure he’s really okay?”

“Positive. I heard him griping on the fake ambulance.”

“I’m gonna need to hear all of this again, but for now, you should check on Sparrow. She’s been worried about you all day.”

“You should come out here too. If you agree to go with Beckham, you’ll want to say goodbye to the rest of us.” He put his hand on the door and opened it a crack.

“You’re not coming with us?”

“Originally yes, but with Coco gone … that changes things. As much as I’d like to pretend I’m dead for a little while, I’m not quite at that level financially.” He raised his eyebrow and grinned.

Roxie laughed. “Come here. Let me hug you first.”

He put his arms around her and tried not to squeeze too tight.

“You guys are right for each other,” he said. “Don’t be too stubborn to see it.”

“I’ll try,” she said. “And we’ll see you soon, right?”

“I promise.”

There were hugs and tears as everyone told each other goodbye. No one was shy about saying exactly how they really felt.

“You need this time together,” her mom said. “Give him a chance. Okay? That man loves you.”

“You won’t be able to keep me away for long,” Chloe said. “Call me when you need a maid of honor.” She winked.

“Are you sure you can’t all come?” Roxie cried. “You guys are sounding like it’s forever!”

“You’ll see us soon,” Sierra said.

Sophia nodded, patting Roxie’s shoulder. Just then, Beckham stumbled out of the door, looking groggy.

Ian was the closest and tried to steady him.

“She said yes?” he slurred, looking at Ian.

“She said yes
to the trip
,” Ian said, giving Beckham a look.

Beckham smiled. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” he said, leaning his head against Ian’s.

Ian’s eyes crinkled when he grinned. “I love you too, man. Best friend ever.”

Beckham lurched forward. “Take me to Roxie,” he said, turning to Ian.

Roxie giggled and walked toward Beckham. “I’ll come to you. You’ve been through a lot tonight,” she said, pressing her lips together. “It’s hard getting fake shot.”

Beckham looked wounded. “I wasn’t fake shot! I’ll have you know the bulletproof vest doesn’t make it not
hurt
. It feels like being repeatedly hit with a mallet.”

She nodded. “I’ll take care of you,” she said.

“You will?” He gave her a sleepy smile.

She kissed his cheek and said softly: “Wanna go on a trip?”

“Very much.” He nodded.

His mom and sister came forward and hugged him.

“I love having new material to tease you about,” Sierra said.

“Shut up,” he groaned.

Everyone took their turns saying goodbye, and before they knew it, it was just Dion, Howie, the pilot, a flight attendant and the three of them on the plane.

“I’ve had my men check your location thoroughly. Call me if anything doesn’t feel quite right—whether it’s security, house, decor, you name it—and I can send someone from over there to help,” Dion said.

“Thank you for everything, Dion,” Beckham said, sounding more like himself.

Dion pounded his back and Beckham looked like he wanted to hit him. Roxie choked back a laugh. Dion must have hit a sore spot. She knew how that was, having extreme huggers for family and friends.

When Dion got off the plane, they made sure Leo was still okay buckled up in the bed.

“This plane is better than Elvis’s,” Roxie said.

Beckham reared back to look at her in shock. “There’s no gold-plated
anything
.”

“But Leo has his own room and so do we!”

He nuzzled into her hair. “You are making me so happy right now.”

“And did you see the little kitchen?” She was giddy. “Where are we going anyway?”

Italy was even more beautiful with Roxie and Leo by his side. He’d thought they were coming to test out Italy for the future when they flew away that night, but they’d gotten there and never wanted to leave. Beckham woke up every morning excited about what adventures the day held, and went to bed excited to make love to the woman who had him by the heart.

After Dion reassured him that Colette had died in the fire, he’d given a private interview explaining why he’d gone into hiding. He didn’t give any hints about his location or that Roxie and Leo lived with him, but he knew that people occasionally recognized him. Word would eventually get out everywhere.

He couldn’t respond to the questions about the crowd who saw the shooting, the ambulance, and the reporter who had announced his death on the news team, but as he’d told Roxie, they were either employees of Dion or part of the FBI. It felt good to know they both had his back.

Roxie was finally beginning to shed the fear. He’d taken her to see a psychologist, who’d diagnosed her with PTSD, but their sessions were helping.
She wasn’t as jumpy and didn’t seem to be looking over her shoulder every moment. It had given them such peace to know that they didn’t have to worry about Coco anymore.

She walked outside and set a cup of coffee by him. “You sure are in deep thought,” she said. “Sitting out here having second thoughts about marrying me?”

He put his hands on her backside and pulled her closer to him. “You know I’m not.” He lifted her sheer blouse and kissed her smooth skin. “Any second thoughts about me?”

“None,” she said, leaning down to kiss him.

Later that morning, their family and friends would be flying in and he was going to marry Roxie tonight outside their villa by the water.

“Come on, take a shower with me. Leo’s still asleep…” Roxie said, pulling back.

She looked over her shoulder as she threw in a little extra sway to her walk.

Ian insisted to Beckham that they’d take a cab when they arrived, since he knew they’d have their hands full with wedding details. Of course Beckham didn’t want to listen to him, so he hadn’t even let him know exactly when their plane would land. They were all three in the wedding. Journey would probably steal the show in her fluffy dress.

“I can’t believe we’re finally here,” Sparrow said, smiling at him. “It’s exactly how I pictured it!”

They were on their way to the villa and Sparrow was beside herself. Italy and Roxie … she’d talked on the whole plane ride and she wasn’t usually such a talker.

“I like excited Little Bird,” he said into her ear. “One of my favorites.”

She gave him a quick kiss and turned back toward the window, pointing out a quaint colorful building.

The tour had been great for his career—even if it was cut short—and he was already planning his next project. He hoped Beckham would collaborate on some of the songs with him. Maybe he and Sparrow would even get Beckham and Roxie back on another tour with them eventually.

“Think we could move here someday?” Sparrow interrupted his thoughts.

His eyes grew wide. “You already know you love it that much?”

She nodded, her eyes bright. “We could get a little shack on the water and have sex on the beach every night.”

“Done!” he said.

“You look like so beautiful, Roxie,” Chloe said.

“Like a vision,” her mother added, waving a hand in front of her face. “Don’t cry, don’t cry—just fixed my makeup for the third time!” When she got a grip, she walked closer and put her hand on Roxie’s cheek. “I see contentment in your eyes that I’ve never seen. As a mother, you know that’s all we ever want for our children.”