Emerald City (12 page)

As dawn came I was pacing around, still wired. My brain simply wouldn't shut down and let me rest. Later I heard the small, sour squawk of the alarm and Steve came padding into the living room.

“Hey,” he said sleepily, “what happened to you?”

Unshaved and hair tousled, he looked like the rockstar he wanted to be. I gave him a quick kiss, avoiding the morning breath, and said, “I just couldn't sleep.”

“Is it getting to you?”

“Big time.”

He stared at me for a long time before finally nodding and heading for the shower. I made him some toast and poured him coffee, ready for the rush before he headed downtown.

Neither band nor sex had given me a reason for Craig's death. Steve was right, I needed to look at the business end of things again. Somewhere there was one end of that thread I was going to unravel. Someone was going to pay for what he'd done to Craig, and for what he'd put us through in the last week.

I dug through the notes I'd made. The lawyer wouldn't say boo, but two people might talk: Greg down at the label in Los Angeles, and Tom, the man who'd put out the album by Craig and Snakeblood. If the reason behind all this was money, one of them might know something.

Neither of them would be around before ten; music people don't keep normal office hours. I passed the time writing up all the things Jenna had told me, and seeing just how little help she'd turned out to be. It was a good lesson: never expect too much from anyone.

Just after ten I dialed the LA number and asked the secretary to connect me to Greg. He came on the line bright and breezy, full of pleasantry and friendliness.

“Hey, how's things? How's that little story of yours coming?”

“It's getting interesting,” I told him, pushing down my anger at his response. At the other end of the line I could hear him sniffing his way through a late spring cold or a lack of coke.

“Yeah? So what can I do for you? You've got more questions, right? Shoot, and I'll see what I can do.”

“Were there any business points in the deal that caused friction? Anything that seemed like real sticking points?”

“Nothing I can think of,” he answered easily.

“No wrangling over royalty levels or anything?”

“I don't recall any hassles. You'd do better to ask their lawyer.”

“You know what lawyers are like,” I told him evasively, hoping he'd spill everything.

“I think they wanted another point,” he told me, “but we weren't prepared to
give way on that. Not when they were unknown. We'd agreed to tour support and generous advertising.”

“Was it exclusive? Could they still release tracks on smaller labels?”

“Let me check,” he said, and I could hear him flipping through the pages of the extensive contract. “Yeah, there was a clause that let them release three tracks a year on other labels, as long as we took a cut of the royalties.”

“Is that standard?” I asked.

I could almost hear him shrug. “Pretty much, where we allow artists to do that. It's usually for benefit albums and shit like that. The band or the other label pay the recording costs. Just saves on negotiation later.”

“What about back catalog?”

“Nah,” he answered. “We weren't interested in what they'd done. You've heard that first album of theirs?”

“I have it.”

“It's good, don't get me wrong, but it's baby steps. They sound way better now, and with a good producer that early shit would have sounded like amateur hour.”

I bristled a little; I liked that album, it had captured their sound and their raw, eager spirit well. “Was there anything stopping their old label from continuing to sell the record?”

“Nope. If they could shift a few units after ours came out, more power to them.”

“They didn't have a contract with any other label?”

Greg laughed. “Are you shitting me? That's always the first thing we check out. These bands never know what they're signing when they start out. They
just want an album out there, that's it. They're green as fuck. No, Snakeblood were clean, no ties. They were only contracted with that label up there for the one disc.”

“Okay.” I was using the word to try to buy a little time. I didn't know what else to ask. He seemed to have everything sewn up, just the way anyone would expect from a major label with decades of experience and the best lawyers money could buy. They had the power and they could dictate the terms. “So there was nothing doubtful in there at all?”

“It was perfectly fair,” Greg said with confidence. “We wanted a long relationship with them.”

Or at least a profitable one. “Thanks,” I told him. “You've been really helpful.”

“It's nothing. Craig was one of the good guys, he could have gone a long, long way and been a real star. If you ever find out what happened, let me know, okay?”

I put down the phone, leaving his condescension behind, ready to have a cup of coffee and think for a few minutes, but it rang again immediately. I stared at it for a few seconds, certain it would be the voice with another threat. Finally I picked up the receiver, holding it tentatively.

“Hello?”

“Laura?” It was a woman's voice, one I didn't recognize. “Hi,” she continued hesitantly. “This is Sandy Turner. Craig's girlfriend.”

“Hi,” I said and took a deep breath. I could feel the pulse pounding hard in my neck. “Thanks for calling.”

“Look, I'm really sorry I didn't call before. It's just been, you know, a really
bad time.” She sounded confused and anxious, lost.

“What happened was terrible,” I offered. “It must have been awful for you.”

“Yeah, and to find him like that...” Her words trailed away.

“I know it's difficult, but I could really use to talk to you.”

“I know. Dani passed on your message. And the stuff that's happened, that's awful. Why would someone do that?”

“Because I think someone killed Craig and he's trying to stop me.”

“What?” Her voice was a mixture of outrage and disbelief. She paused for a long second, confused and trying to take in what I'd just said. “The police said...”

“I know,” I told her. “But why else would I get these threats after I started this story? I want to find out what happened.”

“Jesus.” She barely breathed the word. I couldn't even imagine what she was feeling. I'd just changed everything in her world. “Are you sure?”

“As sure as I can be.”

“That's...” She couldn't find the words. “I couldn't believe he was using again. I'd have known. But you're saying the police were wrong.”

“It looks like it.” I paused. I'd just turned upside down everything she'd come to believe in the last few days. “I need your help. I'm sure someone killed Craig but so far I haven't managed to find a reason. You knew him better than anyone. Maybe the best thing would be for us to sit down together, if you're willing.”

“Yes,” she agreed quickly. I could feel her holding on to the hope I'd just given her. “How about tomorrow?”

“That'd be good.” The sooner I learned what she knew, the faster things would move. “Where are you staying?”

There was a short silence. “I'd rather not say, if that's okay. But I'll meet you wherever you want.”

I thought quickly. I wanted a place where I could tape the conversation, so there couldn't be too much background noise.

“The OK Hotel?” It was down near the water, an old hotel that had become a café and bar and also put on music in the large back room. It had ample seating so we'd be able to find a nook that was out of the way.

“Yeah. About eleven?”

“I'll see you there.”

I put the phone down slowly and let out a long, slow breath. It seemed as if I'd been waiting forever for Sandy's call. Last night I'd been telling myself not to expect too much from anyone and now I was doing it again. But this was different. She'd lived with Craig, she'd known him better than anyone, his dreams and his fears. She could tell me what had made him tick.

It was still a day away. However much I anticipated it, I needed to deal with today first. The major label had given me nothing; perhaps Tom, with his tiny Seattle label, could offer a little more.

The number rang ten times before he answered.

“Hey, Tom, it's Laura Benton.”

“Hi, Laura, sorry, I was on the other line.” He sounded breathless and excited. “I see your boyfriend's band is playing Saturday. Are they any good?”

“All he's let me hear is that single they put out,” I told him. “It's going to be
a surprise to me, too.”

“I was thinking I'd go down there. If they've got something, who knows? I'm always looking for bands.”

I smiled at his eagerness. “Snakeblood still selling well for you?”

“Oh yeah,” he replied enthusiastically. “The way it's going I'll need to repress the LP in a week. I'm even thinking about putting it out on CD. My brother's looking into costs. The kid's good with numbers.”

The rumor was that his brother had been an outstanding economics student at UW until he'd started to wig out a little. He'd gotten into fights then beat up on a sorority girl one night. Money changed hands to avoid charges, and the brother had been hustled into a psych ward for a while. Tom had taken him under his wing since his release.

I thought about what he'd told me. Producing CDs would be an expensive proposition. But they were going to be the new big thing, the business insisted. They'd take over from LPs and cassettes. Already they were muscling into the big stores, the longboxes taking over half the aisles in Tower, reissues of classics so the labels could make more profit from their back catalog.

“The way I figure it, that album will pay for itself pretty fast. It looks like it'll be the biggest seller I've had,” Tom said.

“So you're making money.”

“I've made money on that release,” he corrected me. “I'm still way in the hole. Most of the time I end up eating most of the costs.”

“Sounds like it's a good thing someone was willing to put money into the label.”

“No shit. It saved my ass. If you'd seen what it was like six months
ago...”

“Tell me something,” I interrupted. “Would you have released another Snakeblood album?”

“Oh yeah, in a heartbeat,” he said without hesitation. “But that was never going to happen. I can't compete with the big companies. I can't pay recording costs, never mind an advance. All I can do is get the records pressed, put them in a cover and get them in stores. I can't even afford to distribute them outside Seattle. That's all mail order.”

“Other independents seem to be doing fine,” I said.

“Bullshit,” Tom replied forcefully. “They say they're doing well. What are you going to do, admit you have no money? The way I hear it, no one around here is making anything. We're all just looking for ways to get by before we go under.”

“And have you found any?”

He snorted. “Right now I'm keeping my head above water and that's only because someone put money in. But it'll get better. Sooner or later this music's going to break. All the big labels are sniffing around town. You know that.”

“Of course.”

“They're going to sign someone, make sure that record sells and then it's going to be like a flood here. After that any shitbrain with a guitar case will end up with a deal.”

“So how does that help you?” I asked.

“Catalog.” He laughed. “I'll have that available and people are going to want it. That's when I'll start making money and recoup all I've spent.”

“You hope.”

“Oh, it'll happen,” he answered confidently. “When some company pays big bucks for someone, they'll make sure the record sells. Seriously, for what they'll be investing they'll make sure of it.”

“They put out albums all the time that don't sell, though.”

“Yeah, but there's a movement here,” he insisted. “Come on, Laura, you know that. They love that, it means there's a well they can keep coming back to.”

“So why do you do it?”

“Because I can't think of anything better to do with my money,” he said candidly. “Well, what money I have left. And mostly because I love the music. Maybe I'll even end up making something out of it, too.”

“How many copies of the Snakeblood album have you sold?”

“Almost a thousand now. That's huge for me. It's platinum.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I keep looking for more bands. An album if they're good enough, and if not a single or two. I'd love to have Mudhoney or Mother Love Bone but that's not going to happen. People are going to pay big money for them. I was serious about Steve's band. I liked that single they put out, it'll be interesting to see if they're ready for more.”