TANTRIC (Book 3 of the Soundcrush Series)

Chapter 66: Bad Girls Know Guns, Too

I know we are all DYING for Ash right now...but there's something important you all should know...I'll let Mac explain....

Mac

I'm hardly ever afraid of anything anymore. I used to be terrified of showing Adam my feelings, but since he broke down that wall, I've pretty much felt invincible.

Tonight, I'm afraid.

Not so much of Slade. The other girls don't know, but I have a 9mm Luger in the pocket of my dress and I know how to use it. My dad taught me to shoot when we moved into the trailer park and if that weren't enough, now I'm married to a Heartley man. They like their women to know how to shoot almost as much as they like their Jack Daniels and Jesus.

Every third Sunday of the month Peter sets up a shooting range in the lower hay field and we have target practice and a tapas picnic after church. The women mainly shoot for fun, the men shoot for money. Every Heartley over the age of twelve is a dead-eye, including me.

So yeah, if that psychomotherfuckingpath fronting as our record label president gets out of hand with Ashlynn or Kat, I will shoot him like I wish I could shoot Cain Gannon, and then I will get Dev over here to slap me around a little bit so there's no question that it was self-defense.

No, I'm not really afraid of "Slade" Schlater or whatever-the-fuck-his name is.

I'm afraid that even if things go as planned, Trace is going to freak out and never, ever forgive us for this.

Adam, Bodes, Leed—they'll all get over their anger, but I'm not sure about Trace.

He may hate us forever, for involving Kat so deeply in this.

Or at least hate me. Really it was my doing. Ashlynn asked me to help...but Kat looks like Ashlynn and Ashlynn looks like Megan. I figured if we are doing this...do it right.

I let out a slow breath, lean back against the limo seat, and glance over at Kat. Marianne is blending her makeup around her curly shoulder length blonde wig, and staring critically between her and the photograph of Megan. "Unbelievable. You're a doppleganger."

Kat grabs a small mirror and compares herself to the photograph. "Wow, you can't even tell it's a wig."

Tamara gives her a quick glance, then looks at the picture, "try to soften up your eyebrows a little." She passes over a blonde brow mascara. Marianne holds a mirror for Kat.

We all examine her after effect. "Perfect," Tam declares, turning back to me. "Now if I could just get your face to look a little more heart-shaped," Tam tells me as she rifles through the cosmetics on the limo seat and pounds more contouring shadow into my jawline. She's studying the picture of Slade's mother, that Ashlynn found online. It's hazy and a full body shot, and Tamara would much prefer a close-up in order to shade and shape my features closer to that of his mother, but after a few more minutes, she nods. "That's as close as I can approximate. But with your hair and the clothes, you're a pretty close match." I'm also wearing a bobbed blonde wig, and German housewife clothes from circa 1970.

I'm only a fall-back plan. We are hoping Ashlynn and Marley can get what she needs from Slade when he's confronted with "Megan."

I glance at Marley. She's not used to audio equipment and she's pressing her earpiece, but it's totally unnecessary. I'm sure she can hear perfectly...its a state of the art ear monitor. "What's going on?"

"Not much. He's being extremely polite to her, complimenting her appearance, asking about her health and headaches. Now he's asking Ashlynn to make him a drink."