Jett (6 page)

“What kind of party will this be?” I asked.

“Suits.  Lots of suits.  Industry people.  It’s going to be really fucking boring.”

“Oh,” I said, the heaviness of my cut on my shoulder reminding me that I had never worn a suit in my life. “I think I might be overdressed then.”

Jett’s laughter echoed through the penthouse.

“Oh, they’re going to love you, Colt,” she said.  “You’re perfect just the way you are.”

“You like to stir up trouble, don’t you, little one?” I asked.

“Maybe a little,” she replied.  “Honestly, I just think people need to loosen up a little, that’s all.  I have to make an appearance, but we don’t have to stay all night.  We’ll bolt early.”

“Okay, excellent. What’s the security going to be like?”

“You know what? You should talk to Rex, in fact, he should be here any minute.”

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

“Ah, I bet that’s him now.”  She headed straight to the door, her hand on the doorknob before I could stop her.

“Hey! Wait!” I said. “You should let me do that.”

She laughed again, stepped back, and gestured at the door.

“All yours,” she said, bowing slightly. 

I opened the door to a pissed off Rex holding a suit bag.  He shoved it in my arms, and turned to Jett.

“Anything else, miss?”

“Yes, Rex.  Thank you.  Come in, Colt here would like to talk to you.”

Rex grimaced, looked at me, and reluctantly stepped into the room.  

“What’s this?” I asked, holding out the bag.

“Your suit for tonight. I sent Rex to get it for you.  I hope I got the size right,” Jett said with a mischievous smile.

“Suit? Fuck…” I said.  

“Yep.  Now, you boys talk while I go get ready.  Hey, Rex, did you ask Sam about my leather jacket? I still can’t fucking find it.”

“Yes, ma’am. She said she looked everywhere. She even called the last three hotels we stayed at, and nobody has seen it.”

“Goddammit,” Jett muttered, as she walked into the bedroom and closed the door.

Rex and I squared off after I put the suit bag on the couch.

“So,” I said, rocking back on my heels, sizing Rex up.  He was a big guy, but he didn’t seem menacing or threatening in the least. He was like a big, grumpy, bear.  He looked like the worst he could do to a person would be to hug them to death.

“So,” he echoed, doing his best to give me an intimidating stare. “You know, Jett doesn’t do the security hiring. Her manager, Seth, is my boss. I work for him. Not you.”

“Oh, yeah? I hear you, man. But the way I see it, since it’s Jett’s body that needs protecting, Jett is the one that should say who’s doing the protecting.”

“Maybe so, but it doesn’t work like that,” he said, crossing his arms over his massive chest.

“Well, I think it does.  How about this, Rex?  I’m not trying to step on your toes or take your job away.  We’ll work together.  Just the sheer volume of people around makes me think she needs more than just one person watching over her. Especially if someone was able to make it into her room to leave a fucked-up note.”  I raised an eyebrow, looking right into his eyes pointedly.

“Yeah.  I don’t know how that happened.  Jett, well…she’s a little too trusting.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, she likes to party.  Sometimes, things get a little out of control.”

“Okay, but isn’t it your job to make sure she’s safe at all times?”

“Yeah, but…look, man, you don’t understand. I have to sleep, too, you know? And Jett? She gets wild and then she doesn’t listen. She’ll bring complete strangers to her room, stay up all night long, and there’s nothing I, or anyone, can do to stop her.”

“Tell you what, Rex.  You just keep doing your job, and I’ll do mine.  We can play it by ear.  Now, my intention is to stay by Jett’s side until we can ensure she’s completely safe, and until that happens, I’m not going anywhere.  What can you tell me about this guy anyway? Are the police involved? What’s going on with trying to find Crazy Jack and stopping him?”

“Well, I’ve been kept in the dark about that, Colt. You’ll have to talk to Seth, Jett’s manager.  He’s the one in charge of all that.”

“Will he be at this party tonight?”

“Oh, yeah. He wouldn’t miss it. Jett’s his bread and butter.”

“I see. And yours, too, huh?” I asked.  He squinted his eyes at me.

“Yeah, I guess so.  I’ll be waiting in the hallway until Jett’s ready.”  

After the door closed behind him, I walked over and unzipped the bag.  The black suit was sleek and expensive looking.  The inside label told me it was made by Armani, and I whistled under my breath.  

Did she really expect me to wear this shit?

****

The party was in full swing by the time we reached the hotel ballroom.  Jett was right.  Suits everywhere, along with perfectly made up trophy girls dripping diamonds on their arms.

I groaned without realizing it, and Jett laughed and squeezed my arm.  

“You look amazingly handsome, Colt.”

I grimaced, pulling at the tie Jett had helped me put on.

“I don’t feel so handsome.  This shit is uncomfortable.  I prefer leather,” I said.

“Me, too!” Jett said. “Unfortunately, my favorite leather jacket is MIA. I could just kill Sam for losing it,” she said, looking up at me. 

She looked incredibly beautiful, and I told her so.  It was nice to see the soft smile spread across her face.

“Thank you, Colt, you’re a sweetheart.  Just one hour, then we’re out of here,” she whispered, before turning away from me and greeting a couple to her right.

After the first one, they kept coming.  Everyone wanted to meet her, tell her about the first time they heard her sing, and how much they loved her.  It was painfully awkward to stand there listening to them go on and on.  I felt sorry for Jett having to endure it, but she did so gracefully, politely smiling and feigning interest skillfully.

I shouldn’t have been impressed, she had been doing this for years, but she was such a far cry from the Jett I grew up with that I couldn’t help it.  

I scanned the room constantly, looking for anyone that might seem out of place, but nobody really caught my eye.  They were all a bunch of grey-hairs trying to pretend they weren’t aging. From the men draped in designer suits to the young, gorgeous women that were obviously there for decoration, it was a complete, fake, shit-show.  

I couldn’t wait to get out of there.  Luckily, Jett did her thing, allowing me to linger in the background and watch the circus dance around me.  

After we had been there a few minutes, a short, stocky, accountant type guy walked up to Jett and began talking to her animatedly.  She looked annoyed, but she stood there listening to his every word and nodding her head.  After a few minutes, she began gesturing my way, and then they both walked over to me.

“Colt,” she said, “this is Seth, my manager.”

We shook hands, his tiny hand engulfed by mine.  He stared up at me, smiling a smile so fake I wanted to punch him right then and there. This was the guy in charge of her safety?

“Seth, I’m happy to meet you.  I hear you’re the guy I need to talk to about Jett’s safety.  I have a lot of questions.”

“Yes, so I hear,” he whined, shifting his weight uncomfortably from side to side. “Jett got ahead of herself, Colt.  We have everything under control, and another bodyguard isn’t necessary.”

“Is that so? How do you explain the fact that someone was in her room with her while she was sleeping? That doesn’t sound like anything is under control to me.”

“That was an isolated incident.  I assure you it won’t happen again.”

“That’s interesting,” I said, towering over him. “Because I was just about to assure you that it won’t happen again, because I’m not going to let it.”

“Sir, with all due respect…”

“Shut the fuck up, Seth!” Jett whispered under her breath. “I don’t want to make a scene, but I will, goddammit! Colt stays. End of story.”

“Fine,” Seth said, clearly exasperated. “I suppose we can move some things around in the budget.”

“Yeah.  Move some of my money around.  It’s my fucking money, Seth!  For fuck’s sake!”  Jett was pissed.  She turned on her heel, and walked away.  I watched her head to the bar, and sighed.

“Colt, listen, I’m sure you have the best intentions, but this isn’t some…some…” Seth hesitated, his gaze racking over me with disdain. “Some backwoods party where you have to break up a couple of fights.  This is a highly organized production, and there are certain procedures that must be followed.”

“Is that so?” I asked.  This guy was beginning to piss me off.  “Look, buddy. Jett called me.  Jett called me because your procedures failed to keep her safe. You need to reevaluate how you do things. With massive crowds like that following her, you need to have more than one guy on her. What the fuck are you thinking? No, Seth, I’m not going anywhere.  You might as well get used to me.”

He stared up at me, his beady eyes squinting at me through his glasses.  Beads of drool were forming at his mouth, and his lips were moving, but nothing was coming out.  
What an unpleasant little prick
, I thought to myself.

How did he ever end up being Jett’s manager, I wondered?  I was going to have a few more questions for Jett later.  As for this guy, he didn’t have much else to say.

He stammered a terse agreement, and walked away.  

“Hey Seth!” I called to his back.

He jumped, and turned quickly.

“What?”

“I’m going to need to get together with you first thing tomorrow morning to find out about the investigation.”

“Fine! Fine!” he muttered, before walking away again, dismissing me with a wave of his hand.

Between Sam, King, Rex, and now Seth, I was even more convinced that Jett was in danger. If this was the team in charge of making sure she remained safe, there was no wonder they were failing miserably.

I wandered around the ballroom, watching as people mingled and danced, and drank.  Lots of drinking.  I kept one eye on Jett at the bar.  She wasn’t left alone for a minute.  One doting person would leave and another would take its place.  Jett handled it all the same way every time.  Drinking while they talked, nodding her head and smiling, asking a question here and there, and then laughing.  

I made my way around the ballroom, looking at every single face, and still not seeing anything suspicious or out of place.  Jack could have been anyone here, though.  By the time I made it over to Jett, it was obvious she was well on her way to wasted.

“Hey, you…” she slurred, as I approached.  

“Hey.”

“Some party, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s a real rager,” I said dryly.  She laughed and grabbed onto my arm.

“Let’s go.  I’m done.  We’ll finish the party in my room.”

I followed behind her, and it still took another twenty minutes for her to make her away across the room, as numerous people stopped her to say goodbye.  

So much schmoozing, I thought.  It was so boring. 

When we finally escaped, the quiet of the elevator was a relief.  Jett leaned her head against me on the way up, and I leaned down to kiss her forehead again, as far as I would let anything go.  Her hair smelled like apples - sweet, ripe apples.

“I’m exhausted,” she whispered.

Her penthouse was empty, and I looked up and down the hallway before closing and locking the door.

When I turned around, she was gone.  I walked through the room looking for her, and found her already passed out on her bed, her shoes kicked off, and her clothes still on.

My cock twitched as I drank in the sight of her long limbs stretched across the bed, her olive skin smooth and inviting me to caress it.  I took one step towards her, and stopped dead in my tracks.

What was I doing?

Remember why you’re here, Colt. Business.