Purrfect Rivalry

Chapter 28

Unfortunately, just at that moment Charlie Dieber walked onstage, to the booming roar of an ecstatic crowd, and the concert started. Whatever else Max was saying was lost on Odelia, for try as he might, he couldn’t raise his voice over the racket.

The terrific noise caused Brutus and Dooley to hug the floor, trying to cover their ears, and Odelia searched around to see if she could catch a glimpse of Jason Nugent. But wherever the guard was, he wasn’t here, and for a moment she feared he might already have struck. But then she caught a glimpse of Regan Lightbody, on the other side of the stage. She was keeping a close eye on the proceedings, her keen gaze swiveling from Dieber, as he performed, to the crowd. More guards had been placed in front of the stage, and they had a hard time preventing crazed teens, eyes wet with tears and screaming their lungs out, from trying to mount the stage and jump Dieber. Panties and bras and other items of underwear were being pelted onstage, along with teddy bears and lots and lots of plush cats.

Charlie took it all in stride, as he belted out his biggest hits. He seemed in his element, and Odelia had to admit he looked really cool, and his voice sounded great, too.

And then she returned her gaze to Regan and saw to her horror that a man was sneaking up on her from behind, holding a large knife that flashed in the stage spotlights. She recognized the man as Jason Nugent. Chase had seen the same thing, and so had Uncle Alec. Ignoring the confused looks from Charlie and the members of his band, she wasted no time darting across the stage, yelling, “Regan! Regan, watch out—behind you!”

Regan saw her coming, and frowned, instinctively going for her gun. Then, when she saw Odelia pointing, she whirled around and saw the threat. Nugent, not expecting this, tried to plunge the knife into her neck, but she managed to ward off the blow with a slashing movement of her arm, causing her gun to drop to the floor. In response, the flat-nosed bodyguard dropped the knife and brought out a handgun of his own, training it on Regan.

Chase and Uncle Alec, who’d joined them, stopped short when they caught sight of the weapon, and held their hands up in a bid to put the guard at ease and stop the attack.

The concert, still in full swing, drowned out any words that were spoken, but the look on Nugent’s face spoke volumes. For some reason Odelia didn’t comprehend, he wanted Regan dead. Presumably he’d meant for the attack to look like another botched assassination attempt on Dieber, and if Max hadn’t warned Odelia he might have gotten away with it, too. He still might, for he was cocking the gun now, Regan making pleading gestures.

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 all: 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.