Rhythm

Rhythm Saving Abbie book 5 Maggie Alabaster Copyright © 2023 by Mirren Hogan All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Cover by Book Brander Edited by Lily Luchesi Contents Untitled Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 About the Author Also by Maggie Alabaster Before I Stay Written by Landon Flynn You want to give me all of your soul, But your eye is on the door. Your hand is on the handle, ready to turn, But you step toward me. You want to step beside me, But you’re standing very still. You need to jump with your eyes open, But you close them anyway. You know exactly what I need, Because you need it too. You know the words you want to say, But they won’t come before you go. You’re lying here beside me, But you’re never really here. You need to stop and hold me, Before I stay. Before I stay. Come and walk beside me, So we can both stay. Can both stay. Can both stay. 1 Abbie "Yes, I realise that." Jackson ran a hand over his head and curled his fingers into his hair in frustration. He looked like he was ready to throw his phone across the hotel room. "If it's just… Then why do they…" He listened and threw his hand up in the air. "Okay, I get that, but I need my lead guitarist for the sound check in the morning." I sighed and leaned back against Asher's chest. The drummer slid his arms around me and nestled his face into my hair. "It'll be okay," he said softly. "Jackson and Levi will get it sorted out." "Yeah, I know." I had to believe that. The band’s manager had been on the phone with the Dublin police, the Perth police and fuck knows who else for hours. By the sound of it, he was going around in circles. No wonder he looked pissed now. “I can't stop picturing Tully getting into the back of that police car." I saw it over and over in my head on continuous repeat. My heart ached each time. The guitarist had looked calm and composed as always, but he must have been a nervous wreck on the inside. I was. The police hadn't said he was under arrest, just that he needed to answer some questions about the death of his adopted father. If the authorities had an inkling Tully was the one who killed him, surely they knew it was in self-defence? Xavier Lang pulled a gun on him and would have killed Tully to prove his loyalty to Dante Fiorelli. That was some fucked up shit right there. Almost as fucked up as Zeke’s evil twin brothers, Hunter and Parker, helping clean up the mess of dead bodies left behind us. Right before they assaulted Penn. Tully left Australia with us immediately after Xavier Lang’s death. The police might consider that an admission of guilt. "He'll be fine," Asher assured me. "They'll explore all the legal channels, then the illegal ones. Whatever it takes." "If anyone can talk their way out of it, it's Tully," Zeke said. The lead singer of Wolf Venom looked a lot more chill than I felt. He usually did. Right now, he was leaning back against the wall, arms crossed, one eye on Jackson and the other on me. How could he look so fucking calm? Especially when it was a façade. He was on alert for anything, always. That was what came from growing up in a family whose business was organised crime. "And if he can't talk his way out of it?" I put my hands on Asher’s arms to cuddle him tighter. Assurances were nice, but I needed the comfort of physical contact. His hard, muscular body certainly gave me that. "Then we start calling in favours," Zeke said with a shrug. "Or doing a few, if we have to." He looked less than impressed with that idea. That was understandable, considering he might have to ask his oldest brother for a favour, and Reuben Brantley didn't do anything without a steep price tag. "I vote we stage a breakout," Landon said. "All in favour raise your hand and say fuck yeah." The rhythm guitarist grinned and put up his hand. "Fuck no," Penn grunted. The keyboardist was leaning against a window frame, his ankles and arms crossed. "Then we'd all end up locked away. I spend enough time with you clowns." "Right back at you, Penny," Asher said. "But if they lock us up, I vote for being locked up with Abbie and Zeke." "I don't think we get to choose," Zeke said dryly, "but we're not breaking Tully out." "Spoilsport." Landon pouted playfully. Channing put an arm around him and patted his back. "It'll be all right. You can raise hell in some other way." Landon's pout evaporated into a smile and he leaned over to give Channing a quick kiss. "Don't call Zeke a spoilsport," Asher said. "That's Jackson's job." "Thanks." Apparently Jackson got off the phone just in time to hear that remark. "The lawyer is with Tully now. All we can do is wait. And not stage a breakout." Evidently he heard that too. "See," Asher said lightly. "Spoilsport." I twisted around to glance at him. He looked as concerned as the rest of us. Asher used humour as a way to cope with stress. It usually helped, but today… Today everything was more difficult. More serious somehow. Ironic considering we’d spent weeks dealing