Rock Her (17 page)

Sparks stuck his head in the door. “I heard a lot of crazy shit
in there last night. Everyone alive?”

“Yeah, seems so,” Kip said as Annie walked behind him. Kip gave
her his icepack and she put it on her head.

“You guys look pretty rough,” Sparks told him.

“Yeah, and we’re in a hurry. Say, you can’t drive can you?”

“Sure, I can drive. Where
ya
headed?”
Sparks lightened up.

“JFK. And we have to be there by seven.”

Sparks checked his watch. “We better be hustling, then.”

Kip went into action. “Jacky, Stabbs, Lock. Grab your shit. We
leave here in five. Annie, grab your bags! The rest of you, go back to sleep,
or whatever!”

“Five,” Jack said, pulling on his, or someone’s underwear. He
was pretty sure it was his. “I need a fucking shower!”

“Fuck, you’ve smelled worse, Jacky. Let’s go!”

Sparks had them at the airport at ten minutes to seven. They
all piled out of the car stumbling and shielding their eyes from the sunlight.
Sparks, with his uniform and police badge was able to get them to their private
jet where Lydell was waiting. They all stumbled up the stairs and disappeared
in the belly of the Lockheed.

Kip hung back and finished a conversation he was having with
Sparks.

Moments later, as they all were buckling themselves into their
seats, Kip and Sparks stepped into the plane.

“Ladies and gentlemen, meet the new official band body guard!”
Kip said. Sparks looked embarrassed as he limped to the nearest seat and sat
down.

Lydell walked up from the back of the plane. “What the hell are
you doing?”

“Hi, nice to see you too, Lydell,” Kip said.

Lydell rubbed his forehead, and then reached out his hand to
shake Kips. “Yeah, sorry, Kip. It really is nice to see you.” I rarely get to
even speak to you anymore.”

“I like it that way, Lydell.”

“Are you ever going to reconsider getting a cell phone?” Lydell
asked.

“Never!” Kip said firmly.

“What’s with the cop?” Lydell asked again.

“We needed a bodyguard, and presto, we have one!” Kip said
smiling.

“Kip, you’re going to be surrounded by three thousand armed
Marines.”

“Yeah, well, can’t hurt to have another good guy with a gun
around.”

“Maybe, but Kip, he’s a cop.” Lydell said.

“Not anymore,” Kip said. “I made him an offer he couldn’t
refuse.”

The flight attendant approached them. “Gentlemen, I am afraid I
am going to have to ask you both to sit down. The plane is about to take off.”

They complied.

Kip found a seat by Annie and buckled up. He took a small
bottle of Jim Beam from his pocket and took a swig. Annie saw him and nearly
gagged.

“Oh, God, Kip, how can you do that?”

“What?”

“Drink after last night? Just the thought of it makes me want
to puke.”

“Hair of the dog, Annie,” Kip replied. “You take a swig, you
will not puke. I personally guarantee it.”

Annie eyed him. Then she took the bottle from his hand. “I am
trusting you, Kip.” She took a swig. It did not go down smooth. She made a sour
face.

“Relax, Annie. What could go wrong?” Kip smiled.

Chapter
Five

Kip woke up with the voice of the pilot announcing that they
were about to land for refueling in Frankfurt, Germany. Annie was leaning
against him, still asleep. He tried to adjust in his seat without waking her,
but his movement caused her to stir and blink her eyes open.

“Where are we?” She asked.

“We are about to land in Germany,” Kip replied.

“I’ve never been to Germany.”

“Where all have you been?” Kip asked her.

“New York, Jersey, Pennsylvania… California.”

“That’s all?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Annie answered after yawning. “Oh, I went
to Niagara Falls once, and I stepped over the border into Canada.”

“Well, let me tell you, you’re in for a real shock once we land
in Afghanistan,” Kip said.

“I’ve seen it on television.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet, believe me.”

Annie wiped the sleep from her eyes. “I can’t wait. How long
are we going to be in Germany?”

“Just long enough to refuel. An hour maybe,” Kip answered her.

Annie craned her neck to look out of the window. “Too bad. I
would love to see it.”

“Well, I can show you around the airport,” Kip told her. “I am
afraid we won’t have time to take the full, drawn out tour. Maybe pick up a
souvenir?”

“I am afraid I don’t have any money for souvenirs, Kip”

Kip gave her a sideways look. “I can spot you a few bucks.
Besides, I have got to get a new shirt. I reek of alcohol.” Kip sniffed his
shirt, and then he sniffed Annie’s. “Oh, wait that’s you.”

“How do you do it, Kip?” Annie asked him.

“Do what?” Kip asked back, genuinely not understanding her
question.

“I mean; how do you drink like you do and still stay alert,”
she asked. “You stay in great physical shape, and fuck; I have got a pounding
headache. You don’t even look like you’re in any pain at all.”

Kip reached up and rang his call button. “I’ve built up a
pretty good tolerance, I guess. It took years of practice.”

The flight attendant approached their seat. “How can I help
you?” she said.

“A couple of aspirin and a glass of water for her, please?” Kip
asked her.

“Of course,” said the attendant. “Anything else?”

“Yes, a hot towel please? One for each of us,” Kip said.

“Sure thing,” she said. “And we are about to land in Frankfurt.
You’ll both need to buckle up.” She stepped away.

“A Drop In The Ocean” By
Ron Pope

Annie snapped together her seat belt and snuggled up tighter to
Kip. “Kip, we need to talk.”

“Yeah, I know we do.” Kip buckled his as well.

Annie sighed. “I told you I trusted you Kip. I need to know
that you trust me, too.”

Kip looked out of the window. The sun was setting and the sky
over Germany was glowing orange.

“I don’t know what to do Annie. I did trust you. The Ironic
thing is that I was about to tell you that you could publish anything you
wanted. You made me feel good enough about my past issues that I didn’t feel
threatened by talking about it anymore. In fact, as I talk about it now, it’s
not even an issue. But now I just feel betrayed.”

Annie nodded. “You have every right to. I betrayed you. Or at
least, I was going to. But I didn’t actually do it, Kip, and I wouldn’t have. I
wrote those notes in my notebook before the incident at my apartment and Mall.
Before I really knew how much of a genuine person you are. I could never do
anything to hurt you now. You have to believe that.”

Kip broke his gaze from the skyline and turned it toward her.
“I want to Annie.”

“Then do,” Annie countered.

“I guess I am going to have to build up that trust thing
again,” Kip said.

Annie twisted her mouth and furrowed her brow. “I understand.”
She looked up and the flight attendant was there, handing her the aspirin and
water. Then she pulled the hot towels from a tray with a pair of silver
pinchers and handed each of them one.

Kip put his towel over his face and leaned back in his seat.
Annie, who had never flown overseas and had never been given a steaming hot
towel by a flight attendant, watched Kip and followed his lead, she placed the
towel on her face and let out a slight shriek.

“Feels good, huh?” Kip said from under his towel.

“After the initial shock, yes, it actually does,” Annie said
under hers. “Kip, can we just maybe start over? From the very beginning, I
mean?”

“Yes, Annie,” Kip said. “I think that would be a great idea.”

“Good. There’s one or two things I’d like to do differently,”
Annie said.

There was a long pause while they both soaked in the heat from
the towels and began to feel refreshed, before either spoke again.

“Annie, have you ever joined the mile high club?” He asked.

“No. I never have.”

“You want to?” Kip asked.

“With who?” Annie said, lifting a corner of the towel from her
face to look at him.

“With me, of course!” Kip said.

“Sorry, Mr. Jones. I don’t do rockers, remember?”

The private jet landed and pulled into a hangar. Kip made his
way to the cockpit and spoke with the pilot. When he returned to the cabin he
informed everyone that they could all venture out to the airport as long as
they were back in one half hour.

Kip took Annie by the hand and walked with her down the stairs
and through the Hangar. Sparks followed close behind, then the rest of the band
and Lydell. Both of the ends were open and the air was chilly in the large space.

Kip turned to see Sparks limping right behind him, still
wearing his NYPD uniform.

“Sparks, Annie and I are going to pick up some things to wear.
How about you join us and get out of that uniform?”

Sparks nodded as they entered the tunnel to the main terminal.

Once they reached the terminal they ran into the first clothing
store they saw and then it was a whirlwind twenty minute shopping spree, with
Kip, Annie and Sparks yanking clothes from the shelves.

They all met at the checkout counter at the same time and
tossed everything at the pretty German clerk, who looked overwhelmed at the
pile in front of her.

“Uh, we are kind of in a hurry,” Annie said.

The clerk looked puzzled and looked to each of them.

Kip stepped forward and spoke. “
Wir
sind
in
Eile
.
Wir
müssen
eine
Fläche
fangen
.” He said to her.

Annie looked at Kip with her eyes wide. “You speak German?”

Kip shrugged.

Then Kip looked over at Sparks, who looked distracted, staring
over the clerks shoulder into the common area.

“Sparks,” Kip said. “What is it?”

Sparks mind came back to the two of them. “Uh, I don’t know. I
thought I just saw someone I know. But that would be impossible.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Sparks. It is a small world,” Annie said.

“Yeah,” Sparks replied. “But I just saw the guy last night back
in New York.”

“Happens to me a lot, Sparks,” Kip said, slapping him on the
shoulder. “I see look a likes all over the world. Pretty common really.”

“Yeah, that must be it,” Sparks said. “Otherwise there is no
way. And the coincidence would be fucking crazy. Reynolds couldn’t be here.”

“Reynolds?” Kip asked. “The deputy that was guarding us last
night?”

“Yeah, but like you said,” “Sparks muttered. “Couldn’t be him,
could it?”

Kip shook his head and threw his attention back to the clerk. “
Wirklich
müssen
wir
gehen
.”

“What did you just say, Kip?” Annie asked.

“I told her we really needed to go.”

The clerk looked under pressure, and Kip felt bad about
stressing her out. But he looked at his watch. They should be heading back to
the jet right now.

Finally, the clerk finished ringing them up and Kip gave her
his credit card. Annie threw everything into bags while she swiped it and Kip
signed.

Then it was a mad dash back to the jet through the tunnel to
the hangar. When they ran out into the large open area, the Jet had its engines
running and they were being flagged to hurry by Lydell, who was standing in the
door to the cabin at the top of the stairs.

“Alright, we’re here,” Kip said as he reached the top and
ducked into the jet. “You can relax now.”

“The hell I can, Jones!” Lydell yelled over the noise of the
engine. “The pilot is yelling at me that he’s about to pull out and Jack,
Stabbs and Lock are not back yet!”

“Where the hell did they go?” Kip asked.

“Beats the hell out of me!” Lydell screamed, and wiped his
forehead with a handkerchief. “I swear, sometimes I ask myself why I got into
this business. I have a law degree you know. I could have been a lawyer!”

Kip looked Lydell up and down, taking in his slight frame, and
he plucked at his red suspenders, snapping them against his chest. “You would
have made a great lawyer, Lydell. But then you would have missed all this
excitement of representing us!” Kip laughed.

Lydell wiped his brow again and muttered a “Harrumph!” before
turning back to the hangar to see Jack, Stabbs and Lock running for the plane,
each of them had bottles of lager in their arms.

“Oh, thank God!” Lydell said. “You guys are going to be the
death of me.”

Kip slapped his shoulder as Annie and Sparks stepped past him
and disappeared inside. “Nah, Lydell, we’re helping you to truly live!” he
said.

Jack bounded up the stairs cradling his bottles against his
chest. Stabbs and Lock followed.

“What the fuck, guys?” Kip asked. “There’s plenty of alcohol on
the jet!”

“Not German Lager, there ain’t!” Jack said as he disappeared
inside.

Kip rolled his eyes as Stabbs and Lock squeezed by along with
Lydell. When Kip stepped in he gave a thumbs up to the flight attendant, who
stepped forward and opened the cockpit door to inform the captain that everyone
was now on board. Kip walked back to his seat and passed Sparks, who still
looked spooked by his earlier encounter. A few seconds later, Kip sat down next
to Annie and buckled in. The Jet rolled out and took off into the black sky.

“I’ve been thinking, Kip,” Annie said.

“About?”

“Well, you’re more of an entrepreneur than you are a rock star,
wouldn’t you say that is right?”

“
Nahh
. I am an entrepreneur, yes, but
I mostly do rock and roll. A lot more than buying and building new businesses.
I’d have to stay I am more of a rock star.”