Killian Jones moved out of the way of the elderly woman's hand only to be hit in the back of the head. It was hard enough to knock him off the seat and end up on the floor. He waited for the ringing in his ears to stop before opening his eyes. Then he heard a very familiar voice.
"I am so sorry for his behavior. If there is anything I can do to make up for it, please do not hesitate to ask." It was his sister and under her professional tone, she was pissed.
The elderly woman stared at Tara, grateful but also confused. "Aren't you a little old to be a groupie?"
"Good thing I'm not a groupie then." She beamed a forced smile before pulling something out of her clutch. "For your troubles." Three crisp one hundred dollar bills were placed on the counter. The waitress's eyes widened. "Keep the change." Tara said before turning to look down at Killian. "Outside, now." She calmly stated, not leaving any room for argument.
Killian picked himself off the floor and followed Tara out into the street. "When did you get into town?" He asked as they walked next to each other. He didn't have much of a greeting for her, mostly because he was shocked to see her.
"Earlier today." She answered.
"The board let you?" He commented, not meaning to sound cruel. He knew firsthand the control the board held. "Does Liam know you're here?"
Tara strangely got choked at the sound of their older brother's name. "Killian…" She finally said his name and pulled off her sunglasses.
In the dim light of the lamp post, Killian saw that her eyes were red, a sure sign of nonstop crying. He stopped dead in his tracks.
"What did Neal do to you?" Yes, that was his first thought, that she had been hurt. Neal was like another brother to him. If that man hurt his sister…
"No…" She reassured him, shaking her head.
"Is Sophia…" Did something happen to his niece? Again she shook her head. Who else would get Tara this worked up? Then it hit him like a ton of brick. "Liam?"
Tara began to nod her head but her bottom lip quivered. She then crumpled to the ground, or would have if Killian hadn't caught her. He had to keep his emotions in check, for Tara's sake. For once, he had to be the strong one.
Killian just held his sister in stunned silence. What happened? He allowed her a few minutes to compose herself before asking. "What happened to Liam?
She pulled back and closed her eyes for a moment, and then she quickly opened them back up, as if seeing something terrible. "Can we just put a patch on it?
Put a patch on it? Now? Not a chance. "No, not yet at least. Tara…?"
"I don't want to discuss this out in the open." At least she was being sensible, but her tone of voice scared him to the bone. And Killian Jones wasn't a person who scared easily. Neither was Tara for that matter, but running a multi-billion company did things to people.
Killian wrapped an arm around her and together they walked back to the White Rabbit, to his dressing room to be exact.
They arrived a few minutes later and were greeted by tonight's guest lying on the couch, dressed in nothing but a concert shirt.
She sounded relived when the door opened. "There you are, I thought you forgot about me. Oh…" She caught sight of Tara and at first was unsure what to think. "Are we having company?"
Tara turned her eyes to the ceiling. "For all the saints in Heaven…" She whispered under her breath.
"A thousand apologizes love, but I have more pressing matters tonight." At least Killian sounded slightly sorry.
The woman stood up, gathered her clothes and walked up to him. She slapped him across the face. "You have no idea what you are missing out on." She stomped to the door, but first got a good look at Tara. "She's not even that pretty." Then the door slammed shut.
Killian and Tara just stared at each other. "You had to take me back here, and not to your place?"
Killian didn't answer; his hand went to scratch his neck. Tara recognized the motion instantly: he was uncomfortable. But why? Then she understood, this was his only place.
Her blue eyes scanned the place, piles of clothes on the floor with take-out food containers, a tooth bush on the sink, a towel thrown over a peg. Then a strong smell hit her nose. "Are you still experimenting with drugs?"
"At some point, it's not experimenting anymore." Killian shrugged. "It comes with the rock star image." What kind of answer could he give her? "I half expected you to chase her down and tackle her." He added softly.
"I don't have the energy." Tara told him honestly.
Then the door swung open and in stepped two of the band members, of course they had to be the two whose names Tara didn't know. They took one look at her then at Killian and knew exactly what was going on. Or thought they did.
"That's not the lass who caught the scarf, Jones…" One of them commented.
"But she is very easy on the eyes…" The other one said, his gaze later too long on her.
Tara bit her tongue and looked at Killian, waiting for her brother to set his friends straight. But he didn't need to; William Smee came into the room, overhearing the conversation. He hit both band members over the head.
"What is wrong with the two of you? This is Tara, Jones' sister." He pushed them aside to greet her. "When did you come into town? How is the family?" He had a few more questions but decided against it.
Tara smiled, only Killian knew it was fake. "We are fine. Thank you for asking."
Silence fell over the room, a very awkward silence. Tara needed her brother alone. William caught on finally and whisked the other two men out of the room. He sensed there was something very off about her but he knew not to push. He learned that quick about the Jones family.
"Any other interruptions?" Tara asked, hoping to God it would just be the two of them. She didn't want an audience as she broke down, again.
"Now will you tell me what happened to Liam?" Killian asked quietly.
"He's dead." Tara didn't meet his eyes. That was the first time she said it out loud.
Killian felt like the wind was knocked out of him. Why? How? When? He sank into the couch with a thud.
Tara knew she had to fill him in on everything. So she sat down next to him. "There was a disagreement at a board meeting two days ago. One of the members didn't think Liam was doing a good job of running the company and just pulled out a gun." She paused, seeing the scene again in her mind and bit back a sob. "Liam was shot right in the chest."
"Where were you?" Killian's voice was barely over a whisper. She didn't have to answer him. He just knew she had been close enough.
'Killian, our brother died in my arms and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I couldn't protect him." And finally she let the tears fall down her face.
He squeezed her hand before getting up and going to his desk. He picked up a large bottle of rum and two small tumblers. Tara shook her head and reached out for the bottle. He sighed, handing it over. Killian pulled out a flask from his jacket pocket.
She recognized the flask instantly. It had been a gift from Liam on Killian's twenty-first birthday. Killian held it up to her. "To Liam." Tara met it with the bottle and repeated it quietly.
They sat in silence. Tara still had tears rolling down her face. This was putting a patch on it: drinking and not talking about their problems.
Killian broke the silence. "When was the last time we did this?"