Let Her Go // Passenger

"It's gone by too fast," Colleen says, cuddled up to me in the bed we've barely left in the last two days.

"Way too fast." I agree. My fingers tease her skin as I run them lazily up and down her arm. "I need another day. Or two. Or a million."

"Mmm, that sounds perfect." Colleen nuzzles her nose against my neck as I pull her closer.

"I'd stay but people are waiting on me. I need to get back to the tour and give The Kid a break. He took over primary coverage for me. I've checked on Char and Jacob's security. Everything's good there." I checked in with his assistant, David, several times over the last couple days to make sure everything was going well. No red flags have gone up, so I don't have a good excuse to stay longer. Char won't be flying back for another day or two, but duty calls back on the road. "I'm not excited to be leaving you."

Colleen nods. "I'll be coming back with Katie soon. Our last trip on this tour."

I catch Colleen's shining eyes with mine, knowing what we decided for the next time my girls are on the road with me.

"Are you nervous?" I ask.

"A little, but mostly happy. So happy."

I kiss her temple, my arms wrapped around her. I think I'll have the scent of peaches infused into my body for months after having Colleen's skin next to mine this long.

Not long enough, though. I might need to buy a bottle of that lotion to keep with me on the road.

We lounge as long as we can until I have to head out to the airport. L.A. traffic is no joke and I can't miss my flight.

"I wish I could ride with you and at least drop you off."

"Next time. The surprise on your face was worth the cost of the rental car." I wink and kiss her quick. Anything more and I won't be able to tear myself away from her. "I'll see you soon, baby." The warmth in her eyes at my use of the endearing term hits me right in the chest and again I wish I could keep her with me longer. "I better go."

Colleen nods, a bittersweet smile on her face. With one final wave, I slide into the car and drive off with a feeling of completeness. It's too early for the sunset, and the woman in my heart isn't by my side, but I feel the shift between us. We're more than we were when I got here. Now I have to hang on until we can be together for more than a few days. For the long haul.

But I can't think about that yet or I'll turn around and go back to her. I have a job to do otherwise I wouldn't hesitate.

The flight goes smoothly. I even get some work done on the plane, setting up details for the next few venues and contacting the local authorities in each city for back up. Considering Curt likes to essentially ding-dong-ditch us in each town Brianna plays, it's the bare minimum.

I'm lulled into a false sense of security, which I discover in the worst way possible at 4am the next morning.

My phone rings, waking me from a dead sleep. The first thought I have is Colleen and Katie. That something terrible has happened to one of them. I'm relieved when I see it's the head of my night team calling, although relief only lasts for a split second. If he's calling at 4am, it isn't good.

"Go," I say as soon as I answer.

"We have a situation," Jerod, my second in command, says. "A tape has been leaked to an online gossip page. Jacob and Char in a very compromising situation."

"We're on secured phones. Don't mince words, spill it." I grunt, voice still graveled from sleep as I swing my legs off the bed and onto the floor.

"There's a sex tape. Looks like they're in his hotel room. It's grainy but there is a money shot that's undeniably Jacob. And a longer, more graphic version is uploaded to a porn site."

"What the fuck?" I was out of bed the instant Jerod said sex tape. I'm already half-dressed but stop to get my bearings. Leaning over with my hands pressed on the bathroom countertop, phone smashed between my ear and my shoulders, I close my eyes and think.

"How long ago did these videos hit live status?" I ask, surprisingly calm now that I'm being proactive.

"Twenty minutes."

"Okay, call our tech team. Get them out of bed and scrubbing every posting they can find. And have them stay at it because screen recordings will be reposted for days."

"Got it. Next?" Jerod knows there'll be a list for something of this magnitude.

"Yeah, put The Kid on Char with two other guys. Twenty-four seven. If someone's sneaking into Jacob's hotel room to film them, I don't want her unattended for the next two weeks, minimum."

"Done. Keep going."

"We need a team on Jacob as well, but I'll handle the rest. Check in with me in fifteen minutes."

"Sure thing."

I hang up with Jerod and make the next call to a buddy on the force in L.A. I've used him on my team for big events out west on occasion. It's common practice for off-duty cops to provide celebrity protection at red carpet arrivals and awards shows. And as a Hollywood cop, Max is no stranger to leaked footage and creepy stalkers.

I have him heading to the hotel to open an investigation minutes after I hang up. Which leads directly into the next call I make.

Gunnar Davis, head of security at the posh Hollywood hotel where someone secretly taped a celebrity having a very private moment.

"Gunnar here," he says on the first ring.

"It's a damn good thing you don't sleep," I say as I check the clock. It's after 1am in L.A. "You won't be sleeping much after this phone call, either." I keep my voice low and allow deep vibrations in my tone to keep him on edge. "My client, who you've assured me is 100% safe in your establishment, just had a sex tape posted on multiple sites. A tape filmed without his knowledge in his hotel room at your hotel and on your watch." I don't say another word after the last accusation, allowing the strained silence to speak for me.

"That isn't possible. My team-"

"Is completely incompetent based on the events of the last half hour. I have law enforcement headed to you as we speak. You will make all security footage available to them."

"Yes, of course. I assure you-"

"And I expect you personally to gather Mr. Stewart's belongings and move them to the penthouse with restricted access set up immediately."

"Understood."

"Then put your best guards at his door round the clock at your expense. And allow the police access to his former room to sweep for cameras and other electronic monitoring devices."

I can't believe I didn't do that myself when I was there. But I was so focused on getting to Colleen, I didn't think of it. I'm off my game. While I have every right to hold Gunnar accountable for dropping the ball and allowing someone to gain access to Jacob's room, I'm more than culpable myself.

I hang up with Gunner and don't pause for a second before dialing Jacob. I try no less than ten times, but he doesn't pick up. Must be dead asleep or on set filming. If it's the former, he's about to have a shitty wakeup call in with law enforcement banging down his door to start their sweep for hidden devices. If it's the later, I have no idea how long he'll be out of contact. I shoot him a text to call me, asap, then give his assistant a call.

"David," I say when he answers, not giving him a chance to say a word, "We have a situation and I need you to put some things into motion."

"Oh shit, what's up?"

"There's a graphic tape of Jacob and Char, filmed recently at his hotel, and now posted on several sites." I swallow the guilt at this admission. I fucked all the way up on this one. My watch. Goddamn it.

"Fuck," is all he says. "He's doing a night shoot so there's no way to contact him for the next few hours. Closed set."

As I figured. At least I have some time to do serious damage control before he finds out.

"I need you to supervise the hotel staff moving his belongings to the secured penthouse. Then I want you to meet him on set and give him the details yourself. I don't want him finding out from the media before we let him know we're on it."

"Absolutely. I'm out the door in ten."

"Make it five. And let me know when you talk to him. I want to reassure him myself."

I already dread that conversation, but it has to happen. I need to put my guilt aside and take care of the situation. Put out the fires.

I've been multitasking to get dressed while making my calls and am about to step out of my room and check in personally with everyone on my team. But my phone rings. Zack's name flashes on the caller ID. I swallow my pride and answer, knowing what he's about to say.

"Come to the suite," he says, no preamble. No ass reaming. At least not over the phone.

"On my way." I hang up and head to the elevator, allowing the disappointment in myself to take over.

I can't fuck up again. I have to regain my focus. Even if it means shutting down my feelings for Colleen. I've been distracted and it's done some serious damage.

I reach Zack's suite swiftly, ready to face the situation and admit my lack of focus. The reality is, Zack and Brianna might cancel my contract. They have every right. If I were in their shoes I wouldn't hesitate. My stomach turns as I knock. I could use my passkey to enter but at this point, I doubt I'd be welcome.

Zack answers, still in what looks like blue plaid pajamas and a thin white t-shirt. He steps aside to let me in the room but doesn't wait for me to enter more than half a step before he turns and stalks away. His hair looks like a rat's nest, or as if he's been running his fingers through it all night.

"I'm not asking what went wrong," he says, further solidifying my guilt. I say nothing. What could I possibly say?

He turns to face me. "Honestly, we don't need an investigation to know who's behind this."

I nod.

"Curt has been looking for a weak link and looks like he found it." Zack runs a hand through his hair, as suspected, and pulls on the caramel strands between his fingers. "Any leads on that end?"

"My contact at LAPD believes Curt probably paid off a maid or a maintenance worker to plant the camera. They're interviewing suspects now." They're doing more than interviewing, but I keep that to myself. I don't want Zack's hopes up that we'll have a rock-solid case.

"Okay. We need the game plan for court. When can you go over that with Brianna and Char?"

I open my mouth to speak but stop before I can say a word. We have weeks before the trial date. Why would I focus on that when there's clearly more pressing matters at hand?

"Shouldn't we work on tighter security measures on the tour and in Hollywood?"

Zack looks at me like I just told him I booked a seat on the next Space X flight.

"Yeah, that's what I said. A plan for trial tomorrow."

"What? Since when is there a trial tomorrow? That's not until next month." Jacob has it on his calendar to go with Char, but he hasn't told her because he isn't sure he can leave set to be there.

Zack strides across the room to the dining table, grabs a stack of papers and waves them at me. "Since just before dawn when Char was served this subpoena as she walked off her plane. The jack-off got through security to meet her at the gate and hand her the papers. She'd barely stepped off the ramp and the guy had these in her face."

Fuck. Where was Javier? I put The Kid on Char coverage from the second she stepped off the plane. Although, I doubt he met her at the gate, more likely baggage claim. She may have stashed the docs by then.

But I can't focus on what's already happened. It's time to pivot and create a foolproof plan of action. I'm half in shock Zack is even asking me to work on this instead of relegating me back to the office, but I'm not going to bring that up. If he trusts me after everything that's happened in the last 12 hours, I'm going with it. It's more important to keep Jacob and Char's reputations from spiraling and the clock is ticking on that end.

"I'll call in C1. Those guys know Curt best and how to keep a lid on his claims." I stand taller as I give him direction. He listens intently, which spurs me on. "Then call Brianna because she knows what Char needs better than Char knows herself." One thing I know about Miss Manager; she downplays her fears. She won't tell us if she's freaking out or struggling at all with everything swirling around her. Brianna knows her tells. And I'm counting on her to tell me what those are.

"Does Jacob know yet? He hasn't answered my calls or texts," Zack says.

I give a slight shake of my head. "I've got it covered."

Zack nods and turns away, but not before I catch the look in his eye. Fucking disappointment. Because I didn't have it covered and now, we're in this mess.

"I'm going to check on Brianna. She's been with Char since she got back from the airport. Let me know when C1 gets here so we can talk this out."

"Understood."

This is going to be a long fucking day.

Ah, finally finished! I had a fab weekend at the beach with friends. It's the first time just the adults were able to get away without all of our kids and it was heaven. I finished writing most of this one while sitting on the deck observing the ocean which was perfection.

This song, once again, came after the chapter was written. But it's still fits really well. Mellow and quiet, it's about knowing how good things were only when they're gone.

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Thanks so much for reading!! I appreciate each one of you so much❤️❤️🥰🥰