He turned to Flo and Richard. "If you want to see the concert, stay right behind us and ride in the limo." He glanced at Nathan. "If we get separated, Nathan will have backstage passes waiting for you at the ticket booth. Hit the code, Glory." Then before I had time to pat my hair to see if it felt presentable, Ray hustled me out and into a noisy and pushy crowd that seemed composed mainly of photographers with flash cameras. I kept a smile on my face, playing my role as Israel Caine's girlfriend. I'd dressed like the rock-star groupies I'd seen in the tabloids. My denim miniskirt was short, my blue sweater low cut and my navy leather jacket had some sparkles on the fringe. High-heeled boots of course. I felt cute enough to stand inspection. I'd studied pictures of Ray's many previous girlfriends. You had to admire a guy who didn't always demand six-foot-tall models in a size zero. His girls came in all sizes, shapes and colors, but had one thing in common-they looked at him adoringly. Well I could fake that without a whole lot of effort. I couldn't wait to buy every copy of every sleazy tabloid that thought I was newsworthy. What a rush!
"Israel! Israel!" A pair of pink panties hit him on the shoulder, and the crowd went wild. Ray picked them up and grinned. I played my part, snatching them from him and tossing them back.
Next came a black thong. I managed to snag it before it could reach Ray to a chorus of boos. I just smiled and calmly dropped it on the ground and stomped on it. By this time we were at the shiny black stretch limo.
"Well played, Glory." Nathan helped me climb in. "I bet you catching that thong is the money shot." I fell back on cool leather seats, Ray right beside me. He grabbed a bottle of cold water from the bar in front of us and gulped it down.
"Uh, Ray, that might not be a good idea." I looked around. "Where's Flo and Richard?"
"Here we are." Flo jumped in. "What fun! I hope they send us copies. Richard, we never get our picture taken. I think we make a cute couple."
"They don't know who the hell we are, Florence. And I'm not going to tell them either." Richard sat on the jump seat across from us. "How did they know Caine was even here?"
"The Internet. There's an Israel Caine message board that tracks his movements." Nathan pulled a bottle of champagne out of a cooler and began filling glasses. "His fans know all and tell all."
Flo and I exchanged grins. We knew the message board well. Had even posted a sighting ourselves once, though it had been wishful thinking and not Ray but a look-alike.
Nathan shoved a cold glass into my hand. "A toast. To another sellout. Ray's had one in every venue he's played since 1998."
"That's incredible. No surprise to me though." I held my glass like I was going to drink from it. I sent a mental message to Richard and Flo to play along. The two men who'd held back the crowd jumped into the front seat next to the driver. The tinted dividing window was up and we couldn't be heard or seen from up there. Flo and Richard took glasses. By the time Ray and Nathan were served, the three veteran vampires in the car had figured out what to do. I looked into Nathan's eyes and put him under the whammy, then gently took his glass.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ray raised his glass to his lips.
"Stop. You can't drink, Ray."
"Why the hell not? I know my limits. I'm not an alcoholic no matter what that reporter said in Undercover Magazine ."
"I didn't say you had a drinking problem." Though his defensiveness had a familiar ring to it. Kind of like how I used to act when anybody tried to talk to me about my gambling. "Some vampires are born from other vampires, but you're a 'made' vampire, Ray. That means someone, Lucky and her bodyguard in your case, turned you into a vampire. Flo, Richard and I were made by another vampire too. 'Made' vampires can't eat or drink, not alcohol anyway. It will make you sick. Really, really sick. Trust me, not worth it. You drink that champagne and you'll be in no shape to sing tonight. Even that water you drank earlier might upset your stomach."
"Well, hell. This just keeps getting better and better." Ray dumped his champagne in the ice bucket where the bottle rested. "What did you do to my buddy Nathan? He looks stupid."
"I put him in a kind of trance. He can't see or hear us unless I address him directly. I can plant a suggestion and he'll have to obey me. Right now I'm going to tell him that he saw us all enjoy the champagne." I waited while Flo and Richard dumped out their wine too. "Watch me. You'll have to learn this."
"Wait." Ray frowned. "Nathan's my best friend. I don't like seeing you manipulate him."
"Would you rather try to explain what happened to you last night? Right before you're scheduled to sing?" I felt the car slowing and looked through the tinted windows. We were nearing the Irwin Center and swinging around to the back entrance.
"You think you can do that to his satisfaction in the next two minutes?" And if it was up to me, his good buddy Nathan would never find out the truth.
Ray ran an impatient hand through his hair. "Okay, okay, do it. But I don't like it. The whole concept sucks." Yeah, and Ray would hate the fact that we'd done it to him to get him here. Minutes later we were inside the center and going through more security to get to the dressing room. I sat on a couch while Ray talked to Nathan about concert details. Members of the band came in and out and got introduced to me in an offhand way that made it clear there'd been many women here before me. Didn't matter. I'd watched all these guys perform for years, seen those videos over and over again with Flo. Ray had surrounded himself with talent, and the men each had their own brand of charisma that left me speechless for a change and more than a little starstruck.
At some point between the drummer and the bass player Ray showered and dressed in a black-leather vest, no shirt and black jeans that hugged his butt perfectly. I licked my lips remembering just how his butt looked under there. Umm. Nathan had insisted Flo and Richard leave the dressing room, so they were in the backstage area doing reconnaissance, checking for suspicious characters. As soon as they saw Nathan leave to check the front, they came back inside. Flo threw open the dressing room door. "Look who we found lurking around the stage practicing her whammy on Ray's band."
"Get that bitch out of here." Ray gestured, and his two bodyguards, who I now knew as Buster and Sam, moved forward. Lucky and Etienne grinned and put the whammy to work so that poor Buster and Sam were soon bookends who couldn't have moved if a hurricane had ripped through the room.
"Now, Ray. Is that any way to treat your first love?"
"Haven't you done enough to him, Lucky?" I pushed in front of her. "There's something really pathetic about a woman who won't let go."
"Don't cop an attitude with me, Glory. I figured you'd be grateful to have Israel Caine dumped in your bed. You think I didn't notice the shrine you and Florence have set up in that dinky little apartment? All those DVDs and CDs of his?" Flo gasped. "It's not a shrine! It's a collection. Ray is a very talented musician. We appreciate his music." So what if we also had a photo album, a framed poster and a collector's edition of Ray's unauthorized biography on a special shelf next to the CD player. Oh, and a piece of denim we bought on eBay certified to have come from a pair of jeans ripped by a woman who'd stalked him in Atlantic City during his "Coming-of-Age" tour in 2000. Hmm.
"He wouldn't be famous if it wasn't for me. This bastard just used me. Told me he loved me one night and disappeared the next." Lucky began crying noisy tears into Etienne's white shirt. He patted her back and sent lethal looks at Ray. Nathan burst through the door. "Five minutes, Ray."
"Not now, Nate. Seriously." Ray tried to keep Nathan from coming in.
"What the hell's going on? What's wrong with Buster and Sam? Ray, you should be centering yourself. This kind of disturbance right before you perform isn't good for you."
"Let me." I got in Nathan's face and put him out, then gently moved him out of the way next to Buster, three bookends. "Now you." I grabbed Lucky's arm and hustled her toward the door. "Lucky, get the hell out of here. I think you've done enough. Etienne, why don't you explain to Lucky why you didn't stop her from getting that tattoo at the Tatt-ler the other night? You're ancient. You had to know what would happen later."
Lucky's head snapped up. "Why didn't you stop me? When I started screaming-"
"Darling, you were so desperate for the experience. How could I deny you? And it was such a beautiful dragon. For one night, at least, you had the most perfect bottom I have ever seen." Etienne glanced at my butt and frowned.
"One lousy night. Not enough. Not when it hurt so damned bad." Lucky stomped her foot, narrowly missing Etienne's right boot.
"But wait until you see, my darling. I have a special surprise for you. I took your picture. With my camera phone, when you weren't looking."
"You took a picture of my ass?" Lucky's screech made my eyes water.
"Gee, Etienne, can I have a copy? Maybe get one blown up for my bedroom? I'd love to know what a perfect ass looks like." I smiled sweetly.
Etienne pulled Lucky out of the room, whispering Italian nonsense in her ear while sending visual daggers in my direction. Richard pulled Buster and Sam out of their poses and suggested they follow Lucky and Etienne to make sure they didn't come back.
"We'll see you after the concert." Flo smiled shyly at Ray. "Break a leg, Ray." She giggled. "Saw that on TV. We'll be watching from the wings."
I grinned and said, "I win, Flo."
"Oh, shit." She pushed Richard out of the room. "Now I have to buy Glory new sandals." Ray collapsed on the couch. "Glory, if you can keep that bitch away from me, I'll love you forever. Now would you please get Nate out of that trance you put him in?"