Never My Love

I could actually see each man in the room, and because they were all wearing night vision optics, I knew that every single move that I made was going to have to be made quickly, quietly, and last but not least, deadly. Yes, I said deadly, because the time had come that I'd grown tired of fucking around with these people...Bill Sanders...

~~~~~~

Because of the fact that I could clearly see that these men were all carrying weapons, my first order of business was to disarm one of them so that I could kill the rest of them. I waited until one of the men drew near me, and the moment he did, I waited until he walked past me, and then I quickly hopped up from the floor, and grabbing him in a sleeper hold; I pulled him onto the floor where I quickly and quietly snapped his neck.

We were in the main conference room which was big enough in its own right, but I was still at close quarters with the remaining three men so; after relieving the dead man of the two silenced nine .mm pistols and remaining clips he was carrying, as well as the night vision goggles he was wearing, I then placed them on my head in order to even the odds against our assailants. I could see everyone in the room, the girls, Ashlyn included, were all gathered in the far corner of the room, whereas Rob, Keith and Randy were crouched on the floor beneath the big table. I snuck over to where Rob was hiding because I knew that he would be willing to help me.

"Holy shit, Jake," he quietly whispered, once he realized it was me, "What the hell is going on here?"

"It's Sanders' men," I told him, handing him one of the pistols, taking the safety off as I did so, "On my signal, I want you to start shooting in the direction my voice is coming from."

"That's nuts," he said, "What if I hit you by mistake?"

"You won't," I whispered, "Not if you do exactly as I tell you, okay buddy?"

"Okay," he grinned, "You haven't led us astray yet. What's the signal?"

"Trust me," I quietly chuckled, "You'll know it when you hear it..."

~~~~~~

I watched as one of the men approached the far corner of the room where the women were hiding, and right as he reached down to grab a hold of Ashlyn, I came up behind him without his knowledge. And quickly but silently placing the muzzle of the weapon to the base of his skull, I pulled the trigger twice, the quiet sound of the weapon going thwip thwip assuring me that the weapon had fired and two nine .mm slugs were now dancing around the inside of the would be attackers skull, not only turning his brain to mush, but also rendering him dead.

All at once I loudly said, NOW ROB, as we both began firing at the three assailants who were in the room until I saw them drop dead onto the carpeted floor of the conference room...

~~~~~~

"Are you out of your mind, boy?" Dad angrily asked me, as we stood on the street outside the studio, "You could've been killed. You should've waited until we got here, Jake."

"I couldn't wait any longer," I heatedly replied, "They were about to do God knows what to Ashlyn, and I wasn't going to let them get away with it.

There were police cars, a couple of ambulances, as well as several U.S. Marshalls, who, with the L.A.P.D., immediately set up a perimeter so that no one could contaminate the crime scene. And as the coroner's office was removing the four corpses from the premises, they interviewed each one of us. Of course I made certain that Dad was there to represent every one of my band mates while the police were questioning them...

~~~~~~

"I'm really sorry about all of this, Ahmet," I told him, the moment he arrived on the scene, "You have to believe that none of this was our fault, I swear."

"You're not to worry, m'boy," he kindly grinned, "Hell, if anything, this is great publicity and I promise you that your record sales will go through the roof because of it."

"Really," I stupidly asked, "So, you're not mad at us for the studio getting wrecked then?"

"Don't worry, Jake," Ahmet gently laughed, "The insurance company will cover the repairs of anything that was broken. I'm more concerned with making sure that all of you are alright."

"We're all just fine," I told him, Ashlyn appearing beneath my right arm, "Those men were working for a man named..."

"Bill Sanders, I know him all too well," Ahmet interrupted me, "But why would he attack a group of musicians. Do any of you owe him money?"

"This attack had nothing to do with the band," I replied, "He's after my wife, Ashlyn," and with that said, I could feel her snuggle tighter against me.

"Oh, really," Ahmet asked, "And why is that?"

"Jeez, Ahmet," I knowingly grinned, "Look at her. She's beautiful, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, very," he smiled, "But what does that have to do with this?"

"Because she's the first woman who's ever turned down his weak ass advances," I laughed, "I think that he got his little feelings hurt," and then with a more menacing tone of voice, I said, "Regardless, if he tries anything else, I'm going to personally kill him myself, and there's not a single one of you that's going to be able to stop me," as I looked at Dad, "Those are my terms. Are we clear on this, sir?"

"Crystal clear," he said, not even batting an eye, "But you'd better damn well let me help you when the time comes, boy...and those are my terms, and they are non negotiable."

"Fine," I replied, "Just as long as we get him, I don't care who pulls the trigger."

"Bullshit," dad suddenly spat, "We're going to try to take him alive. Do you hear me? We're going to try to take him alive...This isn't one of your boyhood snipe hunts, Jake; this is for real."

"I think that maybe we should suspend any recording sessions for the time being," Ahmet said, "At least until this maniac is caught."

"But what about our album, Ahmet?" I asked, "We've all been working our asses off on it for the past month and it's almost finished."

"Didn't you just hear what the man said, Jake?" Dad asked, "You're all in very dangerous situation here and I don't think it's prudent for you kids to go sticking your necks out in the open again."

"He doesn't scare me one bit," I disgustedly spat, "And I'm not going to let that asshole try to intimidate any of us."

"Well, we could always record during the day," Ahmet added, "And like Jake just said, they are almost finished."

"I don't know," Dad said, still undecided, "I need to think about it."

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, Dad," I said, knowing that I was going to piss him off with what I was about to tell him, "But it's not your decision...it's ours."

"Mister Ertegun, Ashlyn," Dad politely smiled, placing his hand upon my shoulders, "I need to talk to my son so, will you two please excuse us for a minute?"

Dad didn't wait for their approval before, taking me by the collar; he dragged me into the alley between the studio and the building next to it...

~~~~~~

"Have you lost your fucking mind, Jake?" Dad asked, pushing me away from him and into the wall of the opposite building, "You could've gotten not only yourself, but that beautiful wife of yours killed, not to mention your band mates."

"Get the hell off me," I snapped, pushing him away from me, and then on order to quickly calm the fire I saw building in my father's eyes, I calmly told him, "Look, Dad, you know that I hold more respect for you than anyone I've ever known, or will ever know. But if you'll notice, there are four dead bodies being pulled out of the studio as we speak. I'm not afraid of Bill Sanders, not in the least, and the next time he sends his goon squad after us, I'm going to kill them, and then I'm going to go after him."

"Please, son," Dad quietly replied, "Let us take care of this for you. We're trained for this sort of thing and we get paid to take these kinds of risks."

"IS that right?" I asked, "Then if that's the case, then why are we having this conversation to begin with. Didn't you assign men to look after us? Where the hell were they when the shit hit the fan earlier?"

"What're you trying to say, Jake?" Jake he asked, with a look on his face that I'd never seen before, "Do you mean to tell me that the Marshalls who were assigned to protect you kids weren't here when you were attacked?"

"NO," I harshly replied, "They weren't."

"That means that there's a rat n my unit," Dad fumed, "Wait till I find out who it is. I'm gonna wring his fucking neck...if I can find him, that is. Hell, he's probably headed to Mexico for all I know."

"Wait a minute, Dad," I said, "Now that Sanders has someone on the inside, as it were, I don't think that he's finished using this individual. I believe that he's going to make another attempt to try and get Ashlyn."

"I see what you're saying; kid," Dad began to grin, "What we need to do is find out who the rat is before Sanders tries anything else. That way, we'll know when it's coming, and maybe; just maybe, we can catch Sanders with his pants down."

"I don't think that's going be a problem," I chuckled, "Sanders is such a jerk off that I would imagine he's always got his pants down."

"Ya little pervert," Dad laughed, gently smacking me on the shoulder, "But you're damn good, kiddo, and I love you and Ashlyn very much."

"I know you do, Dad," I quietly replied, giving him a quick hug before returning to the others, "And we love you, too...very much..."

~~~~~~

By the time we arrived back to the hotel, it was nearing daylight, the sun beginning to show itself on the eastern horizon so; Ahmet gave us the next two days off. Dad made certain that four very heavily armed guards were placed at the entrance of each of our hotel suites. Each of the men were rookies and therefore had not yet been tainted by the criminals who were our there waiting for the chance to strike.

For their own safety, as well as per Ahmet's request, Rob, Randy and Keith were moved to a suite that adjoined the one next to it via a door way that opened and closed on both sides. And because of the aforementioned reasons of safety, Jess, Joanie, Janie and Camryn were moved to the adjoining suite.

Joanie and Randy later thanked me for that because it allowed them to sleep together every night without having to sneak around and worry about getting caught by Joanie's sisters. Granted, Jess and Janie weren't going to get their sister in trouble with their parents for sleeping with Randy, but it certainly gave the two of them plenty of ammo when it came to teasing Joanie about her love life. However, being the smart cookie that she is, with every jab her sisters made about her love life, she fired back at them teasing them about their lack thereof, earning my respect in the process.

My band mates are, every single one, good, no; make that great people, who come from great families. That's why it broke my heart to see them being put in the situation we suddenly found ourselves in. Still though, Dad had assured me that this time there would be no lack of protection if Sanders tried to strike again, and because he didn't know that I'd taken the weapons from the first man that I'd personally killed by hand, I'd managed to hang on to the pistols I now possessed, as Rob had given me back the pistol I'd handed him right before the fracas occurred...

~~~~~~

"Does you father know you have those guns?" Ashlyn asked, as I sat on the bed making sure that the pistols were not only fully loaded, but were also in great firing condition, "He's going to be extremely pissed off if he finds out."

"I don't care," I told her, as she sat down on the bed next to me, "All I know is that I'm not going to let anything happen to you two," referring to our unborn child that Ashlyn was now carrying inside of her.

"I love you so much, and I think you're so brave, Jake," Ash began to sniffle, "But I don't want our baby to have to grow up without a father. I had to and believe me, it sucks big time."

"You have nothing to fear, baby," I reassured her, "Besides, did you not see how I handled the guy that I took these weapons off of?"

"No, I didn't," she began to cry, "Because Camryn, Jessie, Janie and Joanie had covered me up and were using their own bodies to shield me from the attack."

"Did they really?" I asked, dumbfounded as Ashlyn nodded her pretty head, "Aw man, this really changes everything...at least for me it does." And then I stood up and stashed each pistol into my belt, hidden beneath my shirt tail...both of which accompanied the pistol I was already carrying, but had forgotten to take to the studio with me that night...

~~~~~~

I called the girls' suite to make sure that they were all still awake and told them that I was coming to talk to them about something very important, asking them if they would please be dressed when I got there.

"I'm not making any promises about that, Jake," Jessie teased me over the phone, "So; I would bring Ash with me if I were you, just in case..."

~~~~~~

"Damn, Jake," Camryn giggled, looking at her watch when she answered the door, "What took you so long?"

"Hush up, smart ass," I grinned, Ashlyn and I walking into the suite to find them all dressed in their robes and pajamas, "Hello ladies. Thank you for having us over."

"You're welcome, Jake," Janie knowingly smiled, "What's on your mind, big boy?"

"I wanted to thank the four of you from the bottom of my heart," I quietly replied, my bottom lip beginning to quiver as I thought of what might've happen to Ashlyn if they hadn't done what they did, "You girls risked your lives to hide Ashlyn from those thug bastards that attacked us last night, and I Can't begin to tell you how grateful I am for it."

"You're more than welcome," Camryn also knowingly smiled, standing up to take Ashlyn into her arms, "But how grateful are you, Jake?"

"Yeah, Jake," Jessie giggled, having the same knowing look in her eyes that Camryn and Janie had in theirs, "How grateful are you?"

"Very grateful," I smiled, not thinking, "What do you have in mind?"

~~~~~~

ME AND MY BIG MOUTH

I was standing in the kitchen of the suite cooking breakfast for everyone a few moments later. I was thankful that everyone in the band liked scrambled eggs, because I really sucked at trying to fry them without breaking the yolks.

"Holy shit, Jake," Randy smiled, as he stood in the kitchen talking to me with Joanie right by his side, "That was a hell of a thing you and Rob did back there."

I knew he was talking about when we killed our attackers, but I tried not to let it bother me, because I knew that not only was Ashlyn scared to death, but she was also leaning on me for moral support. Therefore, I knew I had to be strong, for not only just her, but also my bands mates as well.

"It was luck mostly," I humbly replied, knowing that I truly meant to kill those men, "I'm just glad that none of you guys got hurt."

"That's because you're a good man," he smiled, gently patting me on the back, "And don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise, Jake."

"Thanks, brother," I smiled, "I'm glad you think so..."

~~~~~~

Once everyone had their food, I was about to ask the blessing when Jessie stood up and said, "Will you humor me for just a second, Jake? I've got something that I want to, no, something that needs to be said."

"Sure,' I grinned, "Go right ahead."

She walked into the middle of the room, and in front of not only her band mates and peers, but also her friends, Jessie looked at me with tears beginning to form in her eyes and said, "Jake, you were the one who got us all together in the first place. You're also the one who led us to where we now stand, and I speak for every one of us in the band when I say, we love you, and we're so happy that you're here to not only be our leader; but from what we all witnessed earlier, our protector as well. We salute you, Jake!"

"TO JAKE," everyone smiled...

~~~~~~

After I'd asked the blessing, we all dug in and ate our breakfast together, enjoying the fellowship that we'd all formed together as not only a band, but also as a family of sorts. And because Ashlyn was pregnant, but hadn't yet begun to show; one or more members of the band would always stop to gently rub her tummy whenever they'd pass near her.

Personally I thought it was precious, but as pregnant women are known to do, she soon became tired of it rather quickly. So, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, Ashlyn got everyone together and politely asked them if they would stop. Of course nobody was offended, because the understanding between all of us was almost as strong as the love I now felt for these seven other people, eight, counting my beautiful Ashlyn, who had every one, become an integral part of my being as well as my life.

~~~~~~

Finally the day came that we'd finished the album, and surprisingly enough, it was mentioned on the news, preceded by a recap of the events that took place when the studio had been broken into a couple of weeks prior. (Of course Dad had a hand in getting the police to black out the press, only telling them that a break in had occurred, as opposed to an attack of any kind.)

Our release party was scheduled for the following Friday night, which was only two days away. Ashlyn wanted to pay for a trip down Rodeo Drive to make me presentable to the public, especially since it was going to be my first major appearance.

However, I pulled her aside and told her that while I loved her dearly for the gesture, I wanted to just be me, even if it meant attending the party in sneakers, blue jeans, and a tee shirt.

"Go right ahead and look like a slob if you want to, Jake Benson," Camryn giggled, stepping around the corner from where she'd accidentally overheard what I'd said to Ashlyn, "The women in this band are going to look like a million bucks. I suggest that you and the rest of guys do the same...big boy," and then she turned and walked away, shaking her head and laughing as she did so.

"Dammit," I said, "And she's not kidding either, I know her too well."

"You're right," Ashlyn victoriously grinned, "Camryn's not kidding. I heard her talking to the sisters; (referring to Jessie, Joanie, and Janie) and the individual ten thousand dollar advances that Ahmet gave each one of you is burning a hole in their pockets."

Aw, hell," I swore, Ashlyn quietly giggling because she knew I'd given in, "I guess I'm going to have to have a talk with the guys then."

"There's no need, Jake," Rod said, as he stepped around the corner with a knowing smile on his face, "Ahmet hired two fashion consultants, and they're waiting in a limo outside going to take the guys to get suited up, and there's another one in the limo that's waiting to take the girls out, too. Ashlyn, Ahmet told me to tell you to load up with the girls, because as Jake's wife, you're just as much a part of this as the rest of us."

"How sweet of him," Ashlyn girlishly giggled, leaning over and kissing me, "I always knew that I liked Ahmet..."

~~~~~~

Our fashion consultant, a nice and pretty lady named Sheri McCall, took us to the brand new (back then) Yves St' Lauren store that had just opened its doors not three days earlier. We picked out which color we wanted our suits to be, as well as what kind of shirt we wanted to wear with it, or whether or not it had a collar. Sheri told not to worry about what kind of shirts we picked just as long as the color of the shirt didn't clash with color of the suit.

Keith looked totally clueless, and I was just about to help him when Sheri stepped in and politely told me, "You go ahead and get what you want, sweetie; I'll take care of your friend."

"Thank you," I smiled, "His name is Keith."

After giving me a knowing smile, she turned, and then after taking his arm, Sheri looked at him and said, "Your name is Keith, right?" and after he nodded his head, she smiled, and told him, "Come with me handsome, I think I can help you out."