edge's girl
Acrobat
Disclaimer: fiction of course
I don’t quite remember getting up and getting dressed, but the next thing I know I’m walking into the hotel restaurant, note in hand, in search of Daryl. He’s sitting at one of the tables scribbling lyrics on a napkin with his breakfast long forgotten, but looks up when I drop into the seat across from him.
“What?”
Wordlessly I had him the note seemingly unable to make my vocal cords work.
“What the fuck brought this on?”
“I don’t know,” my voice sounds strange, almost like I’m not the one speaking.
Frowning Daryl stands up and starts towards the lobby. I go to follow him, but pause to grab his lyrics figuring he probably wants those.
I catch up to him just as he pushes away from the receptionist desk and heads for the elevator. “Would you mind explaining to me what’s going on?”
“I’m assuming that you didn’t talk to him last night about how it’s not his fault that some people died.”
I shake my head, befuddled at the seeming change of topic. “He was asleep when I got back.”
There’s a moment of silence before Daryl says; “He got a letter last night, and it must have said something to make him think that he was putting the rest of us in danger. Because his note makes me think that for some reason he thought that we were safer with him gone, which means there has to be some reason for him to think that.”
We’ve arrived at my room by this point and Daryl pushes the door open.
“My theory is he probably received a note of some sort, which the lady at the front desk just confirmed he did, so we simply need to find it.”
Easier said then done. Both of us, with the help of a couple security guards and the rest of the band went through the room three or four times to find nothing.
I’d given Paul McGuiness a call to let him know the situation and he’d immediately started calling everyone he knew who might know Edge and thus Edge’s whereabouts. He’d told me he’d call back as soon as he had news, and if there was negative answers from everybody he’d call me back at 6.
Biting my lip I look at the clock, which currently reads 4:56, and hope he has some measure of success in the next hour.
Much to my surprise Bono suddenly walks through the door and sits down across from me. “No clues as to where he disappeared to then?”
I shake my head. “The best information we have comes from a security guard who saw him get into a taxi just after seven o’clock this morning.”
“Don’t you have a conference or something to be at?” Daryl asks Bono.
“I left after I received the news that my best friend had gone missing. And don’t you have a sound check to be at?”
“For once they can do sound check without me. I just have to be there to get on stage at eight.”
“Kind of a scatter brained way to do the second last show of the tour.”
Daryl shrugs. “Right now I think there’s more important things going on the finishing up this leg of the tour.”
Before anything more can be said a roadie knocks on the door. “I was told to pass on the message that the girl who gave the note to Edge just came in for her shift of you guys want to talk to her.”
We make it to the lobby in record time and are shown into an office behind the reception desk. Part of me feels sorry for the nervous looking young woman who had only been doing her job last night, but that’s overruled by the part of me that wants answers.
“Did you see what the letter said?” I asks without preamble.
She glances nervously at her boss and I have a feeling that she’s not supposed to read other peoples mail.
“Honestly, Christine,” her boss says. “This is possibly the one and only time that you wont get punished for looking at patrons mail.”
Christine blushes. “I did read it, but only because it wasn’t in an envelope so it couldn’t be helped, well that and it looked interesting because it had all been done with a stencil.”
“To disguise the handwriting,” Daryl murmurs.
She looks at him nervously before continuing. “It said ‘Stay away from Beth or else someone else will get hurt’.”
It feels like the wind has been knocked out of me, and I can feel Daryl watching me closely. It seems like his theory about it being my mother was right, and she hit Edge at his weak point since he was feeling like all the deaths in the fire were his fault.
“Why didn’t he show that to anyone?” Bono bursts out.
“Because he was afraid to,” Daryl suggests.
Before Bono can reply there’s a knock on the office door and we turn around to see a policeman standing in the doorway.
“I’m looking for Beth Vickers,” he says.
I don’t quite remember getting up and getting dressed, but the next thing I know I’m walking into the hotel restaurant, note in hand, in search of Daryl. He’s sitting at one of the tables scribbling lyrics on a napkin with his breakfast long forgotten, but looks up when I drop into the seat across from him.
“What?”
Wordlessly I had him the note seemingly unable to make my vocal cords work.
“What the fuck brought this on?”
“I don’t know,” my voice sounds strange, almost like I’m not the one speaking.
Frowning Daryl stands up and starts towards the lobby. I go to follow him, but pause to grab his lyrics figuring he probably wants those.
I catch up to him just as he pushes away from the receptionist desk and heads for the elevator. “Would you mind explaining to me what’s going on?”
“I’m assuming that you didn’t talk to him last night about how it’s not his fault that some people died.”
I shake my head, befuddled at the seeming change of topic. “He was asleep when I got back.”
There’s a moment of silence before Daryl says; “He got a letter last night, and it must have said something to make him think that he was putting the rest of us in danger. Because his note makes me think that for some reason he thought that we were safer with him gone, which means there has to be some reason for him to think that.”
We’ve arrived at my room by this point and Daryl pushes the door open.
“My theory is he probably received a note of some sort, which the lady at the front desk just confirmed he did, so we simply need to find it.”
Easier said then done. Both of us, with the help of a couple security guards and the rest of the band went through the room three or four times to find nothing.
I’d given Paul McGuiness a call to let him know the situation and he’d immediately started calling everyone he knew who might know Edge and thus Edge’s whereabouts. He’d told me he’d call back as soon as he had news, and if there was negative answers from everybody he’d call me back at 6.
Biting my lip I look at the clock, which currently reads 4:56, and hope he has some measure of success in the next hour.
Much to my surprise Bono suddenly walks through the door and sits down across from me. “No clues as to where he disappeared to then?”
I shake my head. “The best information we have comes from a security guard who saw him get into a taxi just after seven o’clock this morning.”
“Don’t you have a conference or something to be at?” Daryl asks Bono.
“I left after I received the news that my best friend had gone missing. And don’t you have a sound check to be at?”
“For once they can do sound check without me. I just have to be there to get on stage at eight.”
“Kind of a scatter brained way to do the second last show of the tour.”
Daryl shrugs. “Right now I think there’s more important things going on the finishing up this leg of the tour.”
Before anything more can be said a roadie knocks on the door. “I was told to pass on the message that the girl who gave the note to Edge just came in for her shift of you guys want to talk to her.”
We make it to the lobby in record time and are shown into an office behind the reception desk. Part of me feels sorry for the nervous looking young woman who had only been doing her job last night, but that’s overruled by the part of me that wants answers.
“Did you see what the letter said?” I asks without preamble.
She glances nervously at her boss and I have a feeling that she’s not supposed to read other peoples mail.
“Honestly, Christine,” her boss says. “This is possibly the one and only time that you wont get punished for looking at patrons mail.”
Christine blushes. “I did read it, but only because it wasn’t in an envelope so it couldn’t be helped, well that and it looked interesting because it had all been done with a stencil.”
“To disguise the handwriting,” Daryl murmurs.
She looks at him nervously before continuing. “It said ‘Stay away from Beth or else someone else will get hurt’.”
It feels like the wind has been knocked out of me, and I can feel Daryl watching me closely. It seems like his theory about it being my mother was right, and she hit Edge at his weak point since he was feeling like all the deaths in the fire were his fault.
“Why didn’t he show that to anyone?” Bono bursts out.
“Because he was afraid to,” Daryl suggests.
Before Bono can reply there’s a knock on the office door and we turn around to see a policeman standing in the doorway.
“I’m looking for Beth Vickers,” he says.
