Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
KASH
The music vibrated from the soles of my feet and up towards my chest as I banged my head in a perfect rhythm.
Motley, Carmen, and Twila all played the closing song with perfect smiles.
My face leaned towards the microphone as my fingers gripped the stand close.
“You know the drill!” I smiled as the crowd cheered.
“Now, sing it!” They did as I asked and began to sing along with me.
Lighters waved in the air as stage lights strobed across the sea of faces.
The final verse began to play, and the band all ramped up the energy.
Lights swerved above us and fire sparkled across the stage as I hit that final note.
I shouted into the microphone and held that note while dragging it out.
Carmen, Motley, and Twila all did the same, and the anticipation thickened all around us.
The crowd screamed and cheered as the lights flashed.
I didn’t want to end the show, but it was time.
So, I dropped the note and shot my fist into the air.
“Thank you!” Twila danced over to me as I wrapped my arm around her and kissed her head.
She smiled and hugged me tightly as we both looked out at the audience.
“You’ve been a rad crowd for us tonight!
” We both smiled. “We hate to say goodbye—” The crowd began to boo.
I laughed into the microphone. “Oh, now don’t be that way!
You guys know we love you! Isn’t that right?
” I turned to look back at Carmen and Motley, who both played a few extra notes.
“Yeah, see? I’ll tell you what. Instead of goodbye, we’ll just say goodnight!
How’s that sound?” The crowd reluctantly cheered.
“I can’t hear you!” I cupped my ear and dramatically waited as they cheered louder.
Twila raised her arms, encouraging the crowd to lighten their mood.
And they did. “Ahh, that’s better! Thank you again for coming out to see us tonight!
We are The Broken Muse! Goodnight!” The band struck their final chords, and the stage fell into absolute darkness, which only made the crowd erupt into a roaring applause.
It was another perfect ending to another perfect show.
We all rushed from the stage, beaming with pride for how well we had performed. Despite how tired we felt, we were energized. It was always such fun to ride that high after a performance. One that even drugs couldn’t give you.
Ducky was waiting for us backstage along with a few stagehands.
They had water and small towels ready for us as usual.
“Great show tonight!” Ducky clapped and cheered like he always did.
“Truly magnificent! Miss Carmen? That hook on your last song there? The one you’ve been struggling with?
Well, you nailed it!” The two high-fived.
“And Miss Twila?” Twila looked at the old man with sparkling eyes.
“You keep playing like you did tonight, and one day here soon, you just might find yourself a permanent member of this band!” She gasped at the idea.
Carmen smacked her back and cheered her on with a large smile. “Oh, hell yeah! It’ll be nice to have another woman in this sausage fest! Isn’t that right, Kash?” The two women looked at me. Twila bit her lower lip in anticipation.
I smiled back at her. “We’d love to have you join the band.” Twila gasped and covered her mouth. “Isn’t that right, Motley?” All our eyes turned to look at the drummer.
He stood there, arms crossed, glistening like a Grecian god who had been caught in the rain. He tossed a curl away from his eyes as the corners of his lips curled upwards. “Absolutely. Twila completes our family.” The entire band shouted and clapped in excitement.
Carmen hugged Twila. The two women squealed and talked with enthusiasm before they began to walk away.
Twila looked over her shoulder at me and mouthed a thank you.
I nodded back. Twila was already a part of our family, but it was about time, she deserved every bit of recognition in this band.
Especially after all the hard work she’d spent on learning how to play so she could finally join us. As she should.
“Motley?” The drummer looked over at Ducky. “Why don’t you catch up to those two. I need to discuss some things with Kash.” Motley eyed me, and we both exchanged a confused look. “Oh, don’t worry! Everything is just fine. Just some…business.”
Motley hesitated, but knew better than to ignore Ducky. “Alright.” He handed me his drumsticks with a look of worry before he followed after Carmen and Twila.
Ducky removed his hat, revealing his dark, bald head, and sighed.
“Come with me, Kash. And whatever you do, keep your mouth shut.” Ducky’s shifted demeanor took me back.
Not only did he never take his damned hat off, but he had never spoken to me in such a way.
It was so out of character and made me even more nervous. “This way.”
I followed the old man down a few winding halls backstage before we ended up at the door of an office I had never seen before.
The door was shut, and the window to the office was blacked out.
The whole thing gave off an eerie vibe, and my feet immediately stopped as Ducky kept walking.
“Ducky? What’re we doing here?” The old man lowered his head.
He stood there, with his hand on the doorknob, in complete silence.
“Ducky?” I reached out to him but stopped as he opened the door.
There, sitting in perfect view of the open door, across a plain desk, was a cop.
The same cop I bumped into a few days ago and the very one from the campsite.
My blood ran cold, and the color drained from my face.
The man was dressed in his uniform, his elbows across the top of the desk and hands clutched together as he smiled back at me.
No, that wasn’t a smile. That was a sinister grin.
Everything in my body was screaming at me to run away, but my feet wouldn’t move.
Ducky turned to look at me. “Come on now. I went through a lot of trouble to keep this as far away from the concert and the rest of the band as possible.”
“What is he doing here?” I asked. Ducky stepped out and grabbed my arm. I tried to resist him, but it was no use. For such an old, feeble man, he was shockingly strong. Ducky shut the office door behind us and motioned to the two chairs in front of us. I shook my head as my eyes met his.
“No. I don’t want to be here. Ducky, what the hell is going on? Why?—”
The cop’s voice shot through the office. “Sit down, boy.”
My head snapped at him as Ducky took a seat. “Go on, Kash. Sit down.” He pulled my arm again, and I fell into the cold metal chair. “There you go.” He rubbed my back.
My body felt numb, as if it was existing as I watched it from above, unable to move or say or do anything but stare back at that fucking cop. What was going on? Why was he here? Why was I here? Fuck, I wanted answers!
“What the hell is all this?” I spewed out.
The cop raised a brow as Ducky snapped his head toward me. “Alright now, calm down, Kash.”
“Calm down? Ducky, you just ambushed me with a fucking cop! How am I supposed to be calm? What the fuck is going on?” I was beginning to lose my temper.
Ducky tried to put me in check, but his voice felt distant.
My mind was racing, and I could hear the sound of my heart pounding against my ears.
Ducky’s mouth moved, but all I heard was my heart moving faster and faster, smothered in my own heavy breathing. “Ducky?—”
“Enough!” We all turned to look at the cop, now standing, with what looked like a file in his hand.
What the fuck is that?
“You want to know why you’re here, Kash?
Why your manager had to pull you away from your little bandmates?
Well, I’ll tell you why. You know what? No, I’ll do you one better.
I’ll show you.” The cop scoffed and opened the file as he tossed a handful of large photographs in my direction.
The prints sprawled all over the desk. I tried to ignore them, but he only pressed harder.
“Go on. Look. Look at what we found out near your band’s campsite.
” The cop shuffled the photos and spread them out for me to see.
I reluctantly looked down at the photo closest to me.
It was a photo of Guy’s torched car, pulled from the lake.
These weren’t just normal pictures. These were crime scene photos.
But as my eyes carefully scanned the pile laid out before me, I quickly realized they were all of the car.
There were no pictures of Guy’s body anywhere.
“Not sure what this has to do with me.” I pushed the photo away, slightly relieved.
“You’re wasting your time here. I don’t know what that is. ”
The cop made an eerily confident face. “Is that so?” I nodded and crossed my arms while I leaned back in the metal chair.
“And you’re sticking with that story?” I shrugged my shoulders.
The cop sucked his teeth. “Well.” He opened the file and slid another photo across the desk.
My smug smile fell as I looked down at it.
“I find it pretty convenient that you and your band were camping out not too far from where we found this .” He tapped the photo of Guy’s zipped duffle bag.
It was dirty and bloodied, drenched in lake water and mud.
“You know what we found inside?” He placed another photo on top. A photo of the bag unzipped.
Ducky reacted and covered his mouth. “Jesus.”