Nugent brought his left hand up to steady his right, and took a two-handed stance, as if he was at the gun range, aiming his weapon squarely on Regan. He yelled something, then, which sounded a lot like, “If I can’t have you, no one can!” but Odelia couldn’t be sure.
“No!” she screamed, but knew it was too late. The man would fire and kill Regan.
And just when she was contemplating throwing herself on top of Nugent, help suddenly descended from the skies. Three cats dropped down, claws out. Max landed on the man’s face, blocking his view, while Brutus dropped on his hands, knocking them down and causing the shot that he squeezed off to drill a hole in the stage floor. Dooley, unfortunately, missed his approach and landed on top of Uncle Alec’s head, who quickly shook him off.
Max must have really dug in, for Nugent now dropped his gun, and tried to pry the outsized orange cat from his face. Like an alien facehugger, though, Max wasn’t budging, and hung on tight. Odelia, who didn’t want Max to suffer any harm, quickly came to his aid. It was hard to know what to do, though, for Nugent was lashing out all around himself, clearly crazed. Max was finally sent flying, and Odelia saw that the man’s already damaged visage had been upgraded with a nice set of bloodied new scratch marks. Instead of one sliced eyebrow, he now had two. Too late, she saw that Nugent made a dive for his gun.
Sadly for him he met Chase’s fist on his way down. The hit to the temple he sustained was so considerable that he was knocked back, and landed on the floor, out for the count.
The band, who’d finally realized something was amiss, had stopped playing. Not Charlie, though, who had his eyes closed and just kept on singing. Without the support of his musicians and especially his backing track, it soon became clear that Charlie Dieber’s voice was weak, thin and flat at best. Even the assistance of voice amplification couldn’t induce it to rise above a sad whisper. It soon became obvious to one and alclass="underline" the kid couldn’t sing!
There was a shocked silence in the crowd, but then people started booing and laughing. Dieber, opening his eyes and realizing he was singing all by himself, immediately stopped and held up a hand, displayed a wide smile and shouted, “I love you! Love you all!”
And then he fled the stage and disappeared into the bowels of the theater.
Chapter 29
They were in Dieber’s dressing room, Odelia, Chase, and Roulston’s crew. Uncle Alec had arrested Jason Nugent and taken him into police custody. Regan Lightbody, meanwhile, had a hard time coming to grips with what had just happened. Her tough demeanor had crumpled, and her face was tear-stained. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her sleeve.
“I knew he liked me. I just didn’t know he was obsessed with me,” she told Odelia.
Dieber had hit the shower and returned now, dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie. The concert, after hitting that unfortunate snag, had soon started up again, and since Charlie acted as if nothing had happened, soon his Bediebers had put the vocal mishap out of their minds as a one-time anomaly in an otherwise super show, and had resumed screaming.
“Great show,” Charlie was saying to no one in particular. He sank down onto a couch and closed his eyes. “Best show ever, dudes.”
“Is it true that Nugent shot Ray and Toby?” asked Regan, hugging herself.
“Yes, it’s true,” said Odelia. “He figured that if he could just get rid of them, you might turn to him as the next best thing. When that didn’t happen, he decided to kill you, too, and make it look like someone was coming after Charlie and you got in the way.”
“I never saw him that way. I considered him a friend. A colleague. Nothing more.”
Roulston wrapped her into an embrace, and Odelia turned to Chase, who was shaking his head. “How the hell did you know?” he asked. “And how the hell did your cats save Regan? I just don’t get it.”
She smiled. “They must have crawled up into the stage rafters when they realized what was happening, and decided to jump on top of Nugent to try and stop him.”
“Those cats of yours are something else, Odelia, let me tell you that.”
“Yes, they are.”
“And your hunches? I’m never making fun of you again. Ever.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“Oh, please do. I mean, you should have been a cop, babe. You’re aces.”
“Thanks,” she said, greatly touched. “I’m just glad we managed to save Regan.”
There was a commotion at the door, and a girl burst in, followed by a woman with a clipboard and headphones. The girl was blushing and giggling and grinning like crazy the moment she caught sight of Charlie.
“Hey, Bedieber!” he said, getting up. “Come on in. Have I got a surprise for you!”
The girl proceeded into the dressing room. She looked all of thirteen years old and was dressed in a Dieber tank top, pink bra, ultra-short skirt and not much more.
“If I were that girl’s mother…” Odelia muttered.
“Yeah, but you’re not,” Chase said. “So shush, Poole.”
She grumbled something as she watched the same assistant who’d ushered the girl in hand Dieber a large box. When he opened the box, she saw to her surprise that it contained none other than… Diego! The cat looked a little annoyed at having been stuck inside a box.
“Isn’t that my mother’s cat?” asked Chase, sounding as surprised as she was.
“It is.”
“Do you like cats?” Dieber asked the girl, who nodded eagerly, her cheeks flushed.
“I love cats!” she squeaked. All that screaming had clearly affected her vocal cords.
“Here you go,” said the singer, and handed her Diego. “Take good care of him.”
“Oh, I will, Charlie!” she squealed, eagerly grabbing the cat. “I’ll love him and cherish him and keep him forever! I’ll feed him the best food and give him cuddles and huggies all day long!”
Odelia studied the girl for a moment. “Do you really like cats?”
“Oh, do I? I love cats! We’ve got twelve of them at the mansion.”
“The mansion?”
“My father is the owner of Feline’s Gold. My family lives in Southampton.”
“Feline’s Gold? The cat food company? The one that produces Cat Snax?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “I love cats. Almost as much as I love Charlie.”
Diego gave Odelia a wink and a grin. “Sorry to leave you, babe, but looks like I just found myself a better deal.”
“Now wait a minute,” Chase said, stepping forward.
“It’s all right, Chase,” said Odelia, placing a hand on his arm.
He frowned. “But that’s Diego.”
“I’m sure he’ll be very happy with this girl,” she said. “What’s your name, honey?”
“Kitty Nala.”
“I’m sure Diego will be very happy with Kitty Nala.”
Diego was still grinning. “Keep that hairy ape away from me, Odelia. I just hit the jackpot! Woo-hoo!”
Odelia leaned in, and whispered into his ear, “See you around, Diego.”
“Fat chance,” he replied. “I’m heading for cat paradise, babes! Adios!”
She stepped back, also smiling, and waved as Kitty Nala left the dressing room with Diego clutched in her arms. Some problems have a way of taking care of themselves, she thought. And this was one problem she was glad she didn’t have to solve.
Dieber’s assistant walked up again and delivered a second box to the singer.
“I want to give you a small token of my appreciation,” he said, fixing Odelia with a sultry stare. “Turns out you saved the day. And even though they weren’t trying to kill me—which came as a great surprise, and a slight disappointment—I still want to thank you.”