Read Online Fifteen Minutes: A Novel by Karen Kingsbury - Free Book Online Page A

cheeks. Zoey was one of those. She hung her head, her shoulders shaking. Though he’d tried to keep his distance all day, here she needed his support. He put his arm around her while they waited.
    “This was one of the best groups we’ve seen.” The man looked surprised. “Most of you look more suited for a Halloween party than a hit reality show.” He took a piece of paper from his assistant. “That said, we’ve chosen four of you to move on to the next round. Here are those contestants.”
    The man read a number and across the tent one of the gospel singers screamed. He grabbed the necks of his friends one at a time. “Praise Jesus . . . hallelujah!”
    “Quiet, please.” The man waved his paper at the guy. “No celebrating until I’ve read all four numbers.”
    “Yes, sir.” The gospel singer whipped back around, breathless. “Sorry, sir.”
    The next number caused a vampire to drop to the ground, her hand across her mouth. Her companions looked more disappointed than happy for her. Zoey’s number was called third and she was immediately engulfed by her cheer squad.
    Zack could already feel himself walking back to his truck. What had he expected from a situation like this? Instant success? No, he would go home with his future and his answers firmly in hand. And he would work three jobs if that’s what it took to save the—
    “Our last contestant from this round is . . .” The man rattled off the number.
    CHANDRA OLSON COULDN’T take her eyes off the television monitor.
    This was the first day of Atlanta auditions, and for the most part—since this was the last weekend of city stops—Chandra knew the routine. She hadn’t paid much attention to today’s tent singing. She and the other judges weren’t needed until tomorrow afternoon, and in the meantime the show’s producers kept them busy with local media.
    The judges had suites at the downtown Hilton, but they also had custom trailers in the back lot of the Georgia Dome, each with a live feed to the mass performances happening in the tent. Chandra had done interviews here all day and spent dinner with local network executives, so she hadn’t made it back to her hotel room.
    She had just wrapped up a phone call with her manager and was about to grab her bag and have her driver take her to the Hilton when something caught her attention. The group of contestants filing into the tent. Six of them looked like gospel singers from a high school or college. She could sense something different about them even through the satellite feed.
    Chandra turned up the volume and sank slowly into the trailer’s leather sofa. She watched the hodgepodge mix of singers, some who looked barely out of middle school and others who might be seizing their last chance at fame. William Gaines, the show’s contestant coordinator, led the audition process. Chandra smiled to herself as he barked at the contestants. She remembered this, the first step. How it felt to be crammed into a tent ready to sing alongside so many others.
    After a few minutes of instructions, the singing began. Several sweet voices stood out among the chaos. Chandra focused on the gospel group. It was tough to pick out which of their voices sang so beautifully above the rest.
    She watched them, suddenly aware.
    Could it be one of them? Was this why she was a judge? So she could warn one of the innocent-eyed kids in that group about the perils of winning?
    The trap of having the whole world idolize them?
    Chandra stayed till the singers stopped and waited, watching William tally the results. Four of them had survived—more than any other group. Chandra slid to the edge of her seat. How could they know what lay ahead? That every perceived victory was only a step closer to losing themselves, losing life the way they’d known it. There would be no going back, but none of them knew that now. The choir group linked arms, waiting. They weredressed for church, nice and respectful. Not crazy like most of the