InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 9: Subterfuge ❯ Rocktoberfest: Part 2 ( Chapter 93 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Casti ng another surreptitious glance at the hulking head of the Zel Roka security contingent, Valerie bit her lip and grimaced at the fresh surge of bitter guilt that rose to choke her.  That she really hadn't meant to get him in trouble was irrelevant: the end result had been just that.  Evan had been furious, and while she could understand why he'd be upset, she really hadn't expected him to be angry enough to dock Bone's pay, either.  She'd come in during the middle of their discussion last night shortly after she'd gotten back to the hotel.  It hadn't helped at all, she supposed, that she'd so haughtily insisted that she wasn't lost since she knew well enough where she was the whole time.  If anything, that had only served to irritate him further, and she didn't understand why at the time, even if she had to admit that she kind of did now.  Funny how she hadn't realized until this morning that she was stoned out of her mind the day before.  She'd thought that she was in complete control of her faculties, which just figured.

"She's bouncing on a reefer cloud," Evan growled at the security guard.

Bone stood stone still with his arms crossed over his chest and a completely impassive expression on his face.  "Man, the entire place is," he pointed out.

Evan wasn't impressed.  "You swore you'd watch out for her, damn it."

"Listen, I went to get her a cup of joe," Bone said evenly.  "I was gone for, like, ten minutes, tops, and when I got back, she was gone."

"And did you look for her?"

"Sure, I did," Bone insisted then added sarcastically, "Ain't like there's more than a million people down there, of course . . ."

"Yeah, and you know that she's not used to that kind of crowd, and I'll tell you: she's worth a helluva lot more than you are."

Catching her eye, Bone grinned.  "What's that look for?" he asked with a shake of his head though his smile didn't wane.

Valerie drew a deep breath and gave a little shrug.  "About, uh, yesterday . . ."

"Ah, don't even worry about that, yeah?" Bone broke in when Valerie trailed off.  "Water under the bridge, ya."

"Bone—"

"Seriously, V, no sweat," he insisted, rolling his eyes at her very real concern.  "Don't make it into a thang, yeah?"

She still wasn't convinced, but before she could further her protests, Madison slung an arm around her shoulders and propelled her forward through the slowly moving crowd.

Heaving a sigh of protest and a wince when the sudden movement reminded her of the strange soreness under her left breast, Valerie glanced at the nearest JumboTron and shook her head as the lead singer of the currently-performing band gyrated his hips and dry-humped his microphone stand.  He looked familiar, and the song was one she'd caught on one of Evan's playlists at one time or another, but she couldn't rightfully say that she could name the band, either.

"Don't worry about men's politics, V," Madison remarked with a sly wink at Bone.  "They puff out their chests, grunt at each other a few times, practice the art of flatulence, and then they go have a beer."

"Sounds about right," Bone allowed, stroking his chin idly as he pondered Madison's assessment.

"If you say so," Valerie grumbled, still unwilling to let it all slide, even if Bone was trying his hardest to downplay the situation.  Regardless of what he said, she had heard the word 'fired' being tossed around a few times, and though Evan didn't actually carry out the threat, it made it sound that much more serious in her mind.

The conversation was interrupted, however, when the group of people ahead of them stopped abruptly.   Yelping in surprise, Valerie smacked hard into someone's wide back.

"Watch what you're doing, bitch!" the woman with the man she'd crashed into hissed, carting around on the heel of her eight-inch platform boot to pin Valerie with a menacing glower.  She was careful not to crease the exceedingly thick black makeup that she'd taken care to cake on, though, and before Valerie could think about it, the woman's hand shot out, catching her in the shoulder and shoving her back a step.

Bone steadied Valerie quickly and stepped up to insinuate himself between the women.  "It was an accident, yeah?  Don't get so bent."

"No, way," the woman said, her voice rising as splotches of red erupted in her pallid cheeks as she let her scornful gaze shift up and down Valerie's body.  "What's she, anyway?  Little rich bitch?  Your kind don't belong at Rocktoberfest, honey."

"Is that right?" Madison interjected, neatly stepping around Valerie to block her even more.  "If they let skanky-assed bitches like you in here, then I'd guess that they're not checking anyone at the gates, honey."

"What-the-fuck-ever!  And just who the hell are—?" Cutting herself off abruptly, the girl's eyes flared wide then narrowed when she caught sight of Madison's access pass.  "Shit!  You're with Zel Roka?  No fucking way!"

"Come on, V," Madison said, turning her back on the girl and grabbing Valerie's hand to drag her away.  "Let's go."

"V?" the guy exclaimed as a slight bit of the vacant, drugged-out look in his eyes receded.  "As in, V, V?  Zel's V?"

"N—" Valerie began, unable to contain the stain of a flush that rose in her cheeks.

"That's right," Madison interjected quickly, lifting her chin a notch as a very smug grin surfaced on her features as her cool gaze flicked to the girl again.  "The V, and your old lady is jumping her shit."

An ugly, catty sort of expression slammed down over the girl's features as her crimson lip curled up in a sneer.  "She ain't so much," she sneered.

"You just keep on blowing, you overgrown ass-hair," Madison went on smoothly, her voice taking on a deceptive purr.  "Or have you inspired the biggest rock star on the planet to write an entire album about you?"

Valerie didn't like the leer that had entered the guy's gaze as he stared her up and down, and when he finally grinned at her, it was all she could do to control the desire to duck behind Bone once more.

"Because she fucked him or something," the girl scoffed derisively.  "Anyone could do that."

"Anyone except you," Madison shot back pleasantly.  "What's the special of the day, honey?  The clap on curls or gonorrhea with a side of mental masturbation?"

"Maddy," Valerie hissed.  Madison ignored her.

The girl lunged at Madison.  Bone caught her around the stomach and easily held her back.  "You bitch!  You cunt!  I'm gonna kick your skinny ass!  Let go of me!"

Madison rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to retort, but Valerie was quicker, grabbing Madison's hand to drag her a few feet away as she tried her hardest to ignore the widening circle of bystanders who had stopped to watch what they probably hoped would be an all-out catfight.  "Do us all a favor and take your fat-fuck of a boyfriend there and get the hell out of here."

The girl screeched angrily, reaching up, raking her fingernails across Bone's eyes.  He hissed and loosened his hold on her long enough for her to duck away from him before she launched herself at Madison.  Madison barely had time to react as she jumped back to avoid the girl's flying hand.  Valerie, however, wasn't quite as quick, and she sucked in a sharp breath as a burning pain fired to life on her right cheek just below her eye as she spun to the side a moment too late to avoid the girl's ungodly long fingernails as they raked across her skin.

"That's enough," Bone said, locking his arms over the girl's arms and yanking her away from Madison and Valerie.  Holding onto her effortlessly, he pulled his cell phone out and dialed it.  "Yeah, this is Bone," he said to whoever answered on the other end.  "I need one of your guys over here to deal with crowd control."

"It's okay," Valerie said, ignoring the girl's continued tirade and touching her cheek gingerly with a grimace at the smear of crimson on her fingertips.

"Let me see," Madison said, grasping Valerie's chin and turning her face to inspect it.  She sighed then clucked her tongue as she examined the damage.  "Let's go back to the hotel."

"Don't be silly!" Valerie said, knocking Madison's hand away as she scowled at her friend.  "You're making a big deal out of nothing.  It's just a scratch."

Madison wrinkled her nose.  "I doubt Zel'll think it's just a scratch," she predicted with a shake of her head.

"I don't care what—" Valerie began but cut herself off since she knew damn well that Madison was right—he probably would be furious, and he'd probably have another go at Bone over it, too.

A couple of policemen pushed through the crowd as a number of the gathering quickly moved away as though they were nervous to be so close to the perceived enemies.  "Stand back," one of them ordered as the other one strode over to Bone.  "Calm down, ma'am."

The girl growled and spit at the cop.  Valerie sighed as Bone tightened his grip on her.  "Settle it down, will you?" he said.

The cop wasted no time in handcuffing her before turning to look at Bone.  "She do that?" he asked, nodding in the direction of the claw marks that extended from the man's right temple to the tip of his nose.

"Don't worry about me," Bone quipped as he waved a finger in Valerie's direction.  "She did that, though."

The officer looked at Valerie and nodded slowly.  "Do you want to press charges?"

"No," Valerie said.

"Yes," Bone insisted.  "Yes, she does."

"No, I don't!" she said a little louder.  "It was a misunderstanding.  No big thing."

"She flew off the handle when V, here, accidentally bumped into them," Bone went on, completely ignoring Valerie's claim that it wasn't a big deal, after all.

Rolling her eyes, she opened her mouth to argue her point, but the steady reverberation of her cell phone drew her attention, instead, and she heaved a sigh as she pulled the device out of her pocket and scowled at the caller ID.  "Denning," she said, pressing the phone against one ear and plugging the other with her free hand.

Mike sighed heavily on the other end.  "V, Zel needs you," he said without preamble.

Valerie's frown deepened, and she shook her head, hunching her shoulders and ducking her head in a vain effort to find some measure of quiet.  "What's going on?"

"I gotta go," he said suddenly.  "They're demanding his statement, and I'd rather that he doesn't give it without you here."

"Statement?" she echoed.  "Okay, okay.  I'll be there as soon as I can."

The line went dead, and Valerie snapped the phone closed before stomping over to Bone and grabbing his arm.  "Come on," she said, giving the bodyguard a good tug when he refused to move from his spot.  "Mike called.  Something's going on."

She didn't wait to see if he was going to follow or not as she turned on her heel and strode away from the gathering, ignoring the policemen's insistences that she needed to give a statement of her own.  As far as she was concerned, they could keep waiting because she wasn't going to press charges for something as stupid as what had happened between her and the overzealous fan, but Evan?  A statement?  She sighed and quickened her pace, pushing people aside in her haste to reach the hotel once more, to find out exactly why Evan was expected to make a statement, in the first place.

Just what kind of trouble had he gotten himself into this time?


Stomping into the hotel suite with a resounding crash as the door smacked into the wall and bounced back again, Valerie nearly collided with the police officer who was standing nearby.  He caught her by the shoulders and pushed her back firmly.  "I'm sorry, ma'am, but you're going to have to leave."

Pinning the officer with the most formidable glower that she could muster, Valerie shrugged his hands off and crossed her arms over her chest.  "I will thank you to keep your hands off me," she bit out coldly, brusquely, her eyes flashing as her temper clicked a couple notches higher.

The officer looked distinctly uncomfortable.  "All the same, ma'am—"

"V!" Mike exclaimed as he strode around the corner, only to come to a screeching halt when he got a good look at her face.  "What the hell happened to you?" he blurted, moving the officer to the side in his haste to get to Valerie's side.

"It was nothing," she gritted out, shifting her no-nonsense expression on the manager instead.  "Why does Zel have to give a statement?"

For a moment, Mike looked undecided, unsure whether he should answer her question or if he'd rather get some answers of his own.  He didn't do either, though, since the door opened once more as Bone and Madison hurried into the suite.  "Damn, woman!  Don't take off like that," Bone scolded, gaze lighting on the policeman and lingering.

"Excuse me . . ." the officer interjected with a marked scowl.  "Just who are all of you?"

"I'm Mr. Roka's attorney," Valerie said stiffly.  "That is the head of Mr. Roka's security detail, and she—" she went on, flicking a hand at Madison, "—is my assistant.  Now would you kindly tell me what you're doing here and why Mr. Roka needs to make a statement?"

"Let me go get my steno book," Madison quipped, a wicked smile surfacing on her face as she sauntered off toward the guestroom where she'd put her things.

The officer blinked and stared for a moment as a brilliant infusion of red blotched his cheeks.  "His attorney?" he echoed rather dumbly.  Valerie had to grind her teeth together to keep from growling in frustration.  "Oh, uh, y-yeah . . . I'll go tell the detectives."

Narrowing her eyes on the retreating back of the policeman, Valerie snorted indelicately before pivoting to level the look at Mike.  "What the hell's going on?" she demanded.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Mike slowly shook his head.  "I . . . I don't really know, myself," he admitted at length.  He looked completely at a loss, which didn't really matter to her.  He was the one who had called her, wasn't he?  He had to know something.

"Don't give me that," she gritted out from between clenched teeth.  "You told me that he had to give a statement, didn't you?  Why would he need to do that?  How can you possibly tell me what you don't really know?"

Holding up his hands in an entirely placating sort of way, Mike grimaced and tried to calm her down.  "He got into a fight," he explained quickly, his scowl deepening.  "I don't know why or anything, but it . . . It was pretty bad."

"A fight?" she echoed, not understanding why Mike would be making such a big deal out of something as simple as a fight.  Okay, sure, fighting wasn't exactly an upstanding thing to have done, but in the realm of things, it wasn't as earth-shaking as it could have been.  "What?  Did he break a table or something?"

This time, Mike's sigh was thoroughly defeated, and he shrugged almost helplessly.  "The other guy's been taken to the emergency room," he muttered.  "A broken nose that I saw and complaining about his arm, too."

The questions that shot to the fore in her mind were cut off abruptly when the officer strode back into the foyer once more.  Sparing a moment to offer her a somewhat nervous little smile, he jerked his head in the direction that he'd come from and cleared his throat as he glanced from Bone to Mike then back again.  "Detective Garson said you can go on back and talk to Mr. Roka."

Valerie managed a civil nod and brushed past the officer and toward the hallway that led to the master bedroom where she assumed that Evan was being detained.  After pausing long enough to tap on the door, she pushed it open and strode inside, sparing a moment to let her gaze flicker over the two detectives before moving on to Evan.

"Valerie Denning, Mr. Roka's counsel," she said in a carefully blank tone.

The shorter detective didn't even attempt to smile as he gave her a very careful once-over.  "Detective Garson," he said then jerked his head toward the other man.  "That's Detective Carlisle."

She wasn't entirely sure what she had expected to see.  In hindsight, she supposed that she'd expected for him to look at least a little worse for wear, but he didn't.  The knuckles on his right hand were reddened and raw-looking, but if she didn't know better, she wouldn't have known a thing.  "May I have a moment alone with Mr. Roka?" she asked, though her question was more of an understated demand.

The detectives exchanged looks, but in the end, Garson, who seemed to be the lead, nodded.  "We'll give you a few minutes," he allowed.  "We really do need that statement, though."

Valerie nodded, but remained silent as she watched the men file out the door.

Several moments ticked away before Valerie pivoted on her heel to face Evan, and the silence was thick, heavy.  Clearing her throat at last, Valerie narrowed her eyes at the impassiveness that had entered into his expression.  "Tell me what happened," she said in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

At first, she didn't think he was going to answer.  In fact, she was trying to figure out a better way to get answers out of him when he finally grunted and slumped forward, resting his forearms on his legs, letting his hands dangle limply between his knees.  "I broke his goddamn face," Evan said evenly, flatly—matter-of-factly.

"Did he start it?" she asked, puzzled by Evan's cold demeanor.

"Nope," he replied just as carelessly.

"Why would you start a fight with someone?" she blurted.  "Did he say something to you?  Insult you or something?"

"The fact that he's alive is enough to offend me," Evan said in the same tone as though he were discussing something as simple as the weather.

"So you just went up to this guy and started whaling on him?" she demanded, arching an eyebrow in a show of contention.

"Yeah, sounds about right," he allowed, and though his tone was still completely even, she could discern the agitation in the stiffness that he was fighting to hide from her.

Something wasn't right, and she knew it.  Sure, she'd seen Evan's temper, and yes, she knew that it could be bad, but . . . but Evan . . . He really wasn't a violent person, and she knew that, too.  To have started a fight without provocation . . .? There really was something very, very wrong . . .

Evan's voice interrupted, though, before she could voice her concerns, and what he said . . . It was the strangest thing of all, as far as she was concerned . . .

"And if he was here in front of me right now, I'd break his fucking face some more."