When the lights came back up, everyone had smiles on their faces. I had a couple more mojitos, and it was time to go to bed. I would sleep well tonight.
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Chapter 8 – Too Close to Home Sunday June 12
At around two in the morning, my phone made a terrible racket. My alcohol-addled brain took a moment to realize that someone had hit their panic button. I sat up and was groggily trying to find it when the alarm sounded again. That woke me up in a hurry.
I found my phone and picked it up. The app asked if I was okay, and I clicked yes. I saw my dad had done the same, which gave me some relief. I looked to see who had set the alarm off; it was Trip and his bodyguard, Andy. There were two messages that chilled me to the bone.
‘Trip shot’
‘Many shot’
I threw on a pair of shorts, grabbed my key, and ran to Fritz’s room. Paul answered the door, and Fritz was inside on the phone. It sounded like he was talking to Rita.
“I don’t know what’s happened. The app gave me their location, and I used it to call the Orlando police. They assured me they’re aware of the situation and have dispatched people to the scene.”
He listened and then continued.
“I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything,” Fritz said and then hung up.
Paul had his laptop open.
“Andy’s log shows they planned to go to dinner and then to a nightclub. They were with Craig Wild and Kent Crain, Craig’s manager,” Paul said.
There was a knock on the door, so I got it and found Cassidy.
“Do you know what’s going on?” she asked me.
“It looks like Halle’s brother has been shot at a nightclub in Orlando,” I said.
“Oh, my God! Is he going to be okay?” she asked.
“We don’t know. We can’t get ahold of him or his bodyguard. It sounds like several people were shot.”
“Crap! Look at this,” Paul said.
He had the Facebook page for the nightclub up.
‘Everyone get out of pulse and keep running.’
Pulse was the name of the nightclub.
Unfortunately, Cuba didn’t have a 24/7 news channel, so we were in the dark about what was going on. That didn’t mean everyone at home didn’t have news. My phone started to ring. I excused myself and returned to my room. Fritz promised to send Cassidy to come to get me if he found anything out.
An initial report was that gunfire erupted in the nightclub shortly before two in the morning. It was thought there were as many as 300 people in the club when the shooting started. It was feared that many people were dead or injured. The problem was that the gunman was still in the club, and the gunshots continued unabated.
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None of us had gotten any sleep, so it was no surprise when I fell asleep on the short flight from Havana to Miami. The plan was for Cassidy and Paul to return home. Fritz and I would fly to Orlando, where we would meet Rita and Halle. Fritz had tried to get me to go home as well, but I knew that Halle and Rita would be a mess and wanted to be there to support them. I hoped that Trip had survived.
When we arrived in Miami, we received an update on the situation in Orlando. After a three-hour standoff with police, the gunman had been shot and killed. Initial reports were that 40-plus were dead and just as many wounded. That would mean nearly a third of the people at the nightclub had been shot.
There were also reports that the gunman had called 911, pledging his allegiance to the Islamic State. I admit it, I had to Google ‘Islamic State.’ Turns out, it’s another name for ISIS. I wish these terrorists would pick a name and stick with it.
Customs was excruciating. They wanted to account for everything we’d purchased in Cuba. I think they were looking for an excuse to confiscate the cigars I bought, but I had receipts for them. Thankfully, Caryn had organized it all before she left.
Once we finally got through customs, we hurried to catch our flight to Orlando. Cassidy and Paul had to rush to make their connection to Chicago, so we didn’t get a chance to talk before we split up.
I was in such a daze that I didn’t even notice when we had to sit in coach. That was before some ten-year-old decided he needed to kick my seat for the entire flight. I’d forgotten that Orlando was the destination for the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’—Disney World. That explained the number of children on the plane.
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When we landed, we grabbed a taxi to Orlando Regional Medical Center. I’d done a Google Earth search for the nearest hospital to the nightclub. When we arrived, we found chaos. The cab had to drop us off a block away. Friends and family were milling around, waiting for information.
Being six-four and determined, I put on my best Adrienne persona and just cut through the crowd. Fritz fell in behind me, and we worked our way to the entrance. When we got to the door, police officers were there to stop us.
“Sorry, only family is allowed in at this time,” one of them announced.
I just walked past him into the lobby and got in line at the front desk. Fritz had been stopped, leaving me on my own. It took me several minutes to get to the front of the line. The woman who waited on me was clearly on her last nerve.
“Has it been a rough morning?” I asked.
That seemed to startle her. I think people had been upset and taken it out on her, up to this point.
“The worst part is we don’t have any information for anyone yet,” she said.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“We haven’t been able to identify many of the dead.”
I closed my eyes and let that statement sink in. I didn’t even want to think about what that meant. It had been nearly twelve hours since the shooting had started. You would think by now they’d be able to figure out who was who … unless … I didn’t want to think about what that meant.
“Do you know who made it?” I asked.
“Are you a family member?” she asked.
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
“I’m David A. Dawson. You might be aware of a movie I was in, Star Academy, and another that was just released called The Secret Circle. The producer for The Secret Circle is Rita James. I’m sure you’ve heard of her?” I asked.
“Yes, the actress. I’ve liked most of her movies.”
“Her son, Trip James, was shot last night, along with his bodyguard. Technically, the bodyguard is one of my employees. I also want to check on Craig Wild, who was my co-star in Star Academy, and his manager,” I explained.
She gave me a frown but looked at her list. I gave her Kent and Andy’s names so she could check. When she looked up, her expression told me she didn’t have good news.
“Trip James was brought in at 5:15 this morning. From what I can tell, they were able to stabilize him, and he’s now in surgery. I have no word on Craig or his manager, but I am sorry to tell you that Andy didn’t make it.
“Leave me your number, and I’ll call you when I find out anything,” she said.
I wasn’t allowed to wait for Trip to get out of surgery. They had too many actual family members here to tolerate that. I thanked her and left to find Fritz. He was on the phone with Rita.
“He just came out. Let me put you on speakerphone so you can hear what he has to say,” Fritz said.
“David? David, are you there?” Rita asked.
“Yes.”
“Hang on. Let me put you on speaker so Halle can hear too,” she said.
When she had me on speaker, Halle almost shouted at me.
“How’s Trip? Did you find out anything?”
“He’s alive,” I said.
“How bad is he? What do you know?” Rita asked.
“They didn’t want to tell me anything, but I was able to get some information. Trip was brought to the hospital early this morning. They were able to stabilize him, and he’s in surgery. I have no idea about the extent of his wounds or anything else.”