Josh's Destiny

Chapter 9

A few days in a hotel were fun. A few weeks were another matter entirely. Destiny rose from the sofa in the suite's sitting room. She wasn't a prisoner she knew. She could go out, go shopping, go to the movies, go out to eat, but knowing two or more men were shadowing her every move was disconcerting.

She sighed and stopped before the large picture window. The shades were drawn and she peeked out the small slit between the drapes. She could see people walking about, doing their Christmas shopping, drinking hot chocolate and coffee from Styrofoam cups, kids pulling sleds or carrying skies, and off in the distance, skaters on a frozen pond.

It was definitely a winter wonderland for those people. Frankenmuth was called "Little Bavaria" and she could see why. The main street did indeed look like a quaint Bavarian village. Destiny sighed again. As nice as all this was, she still worried about Josh.

She knew he had contacted his friends and pulled out all the stops. She was as safe as he could make them. He was at the small studio the band used, working on the new album. And she was bored out of her mind. She glanced at the clock on a small table in the sitting room. It was five o'clock.

Just as she registered what time it was, the door opened and Josh came in. He usually vibrated with energy after a day making music but today, he just looked tired. Destiny could see it hadn't gone well.

"Want to talk about it?" Destiny asked softly. She was going to mention her boredom but the more she thought about it, the more it sounded like plain old whining.

"No" Josh answered and he sat down heavily on the sofa. She moved behind him and gently began to massage his tight shoulders. After a few minutes, Josh began to relax and Destiny smiled.

"Oh, that feels really good," he said allowing his head to loll a bit.

"It didn't go well?"

"I don't know, I was off, Danny was off, Jake kept yelling at Sammy saying he was flat, and then he was in the wrong key. Jesus, I don't think we got one clean take today. The guys don't seem to like being shadowed even if they never see the guys. I told them it wouldn't be much longer, but they..."

"It won't?" Destiny asked, her hands running down to Josh's forearms.

"The guys have noticed a few dudes who keep cropping up and they're gonna, uh, question them and see what they can find out."

"Question them? They aren't going to hurt them are they?"

She felt Josh shrug. She was going to protest but she knew it would do no good and it would sound like whining. She hated whiners. She certainly didn't want to be one.

"Hey, I've got an idea." Josh rose from the sofa and faced Destiny. "Let's go out and see the sights."

"Go out?" Destiny said. "Aren't you tired?"

"I'm not that tired and a shower will perk me right up. Unless you don't want to go?"

"No, no, I want to go, I was just worried about you."

He leaned over the back of the sofa and kissed her.

"Thank you" he whispered.

Destiny blushed a bit and replied, "You're welcome."

Josh straightened and turned to go shower. Destiny went to her bedroom and changed into leggings, denim, and a thermal shirt. She wasn't dressing to stay inside, and she put on thick socks and warm thigh high winter boots. Her coat was in the hall closet outside.

When Josh came out of his bedroom, he resembled a lumberjack with his red-checked flannel shirt, his thick jeans, and his work boots. His coat was also in the hall closet.