Highway Song: A Smokey's Roadhouse Novel (26 page)

Amy had finished her piece. She rested against that credenza and waited for us to answer her question. I didn
’
t want to influence the others, and, in fact, I wanted to think about it myself. If it was just me, then yeah, I wanted her by my side. Whatever I could do to protect her, I would. But what was I, against a vast cartel? What responsibility did I have to our fans and people who would be at our shows?

As the silence wore on, a haunted look came over Amy
’
s countenance, and my heart ached. I knew without a doubt she was having misgivings about her revelations. Maybe she even wondered why I didn
’
t speak. I got up and went to her.

“
Let them come to their own decisions. I need to think things through, too. But you need to know I want you with me if at all possible. Okay?
”

She nodded, and turned away. Shit. How lame was that little speech I
’
d made? If I wanted to repair our budding relationship, I
’
d better do my thinking fast, and come to the right conclusion. Otherwise, she
’
d be gone, and I
’
d never know if we could have had something real.

“
Rex.
”
Axel jerked his head to call me over.
“
We need to talk about this. Are you okay leaving her here and coming to my room?
”

Behind me, Amy spoke.
“
It
’
s okay, I
’
ll leave.
”

“
No,
”
Axel said.
“
Please don
’
t leave, Amy. We
’
ll figure something out. Why don
’
t you lie down and rest? We still have a gig tonight, remember.
”

With that small window of hope, Amy brightened.
“
Okay. But I rest better with Rex beside me. Don
’
t be long, babe.
”

“
What the hell, Axel? Do you know how she feels right now? I need to be with her.
”

“
I know, Rex, but it
’
s better this way. Trust me. If we three tell her yes, and we don
’
t care about the risk, how will she feel when Mark brings up our liability insurance? How realistic do you think this threat is? Because we can
’
t have Bandidos shooting up our concerts, you know?
”

I looked at him sharply. What did he know?
“
What makes you think it
’
s Bandidos?
”

“
Come on, Rex, I
’
m not stupid, or deaf. She has the same accent you do. She
’
s got to be from Texas, right? So Bandidos. But it doesn
’
t matter. Bandidos, Mexican Mafia, Sinaloa. They
’
re all bad news, and they
’
re all thick on the ground in California. Is she for real?
”

“
Yeah, she
’
s for real. But we need her, man. She was with us for the win. That
’
s the sound they want.
”

Cole hadn
’
t said a word until then, which was typical of him.

“
What about bodyguards?
”
he asked.

“
What about them? That won
’
t help the fans if there
’
s an attack at a concert,
”
Axel said. Then he went on.
“
I know we need her. And if that goofy look on your face most of the time is any indication, you won
’
t give her up anyway, Rex. So what do we do about this? What
can
we do about this?
”

“
What about getting a rival cartel to protect us?
”
I asked. Desperate, yes. Stupid, yes. But someone once said desperate times call for desperate measures.

“
Get in bed with a cartel? Are you out of your mind?
”
Axel yelled.

“
Witness protection?
”
I suggested.

“
That won
’
t work. They
’
ll whisk her away and none of us will ever see her again. But maybe the FBI or someone like that can help. We need to get Mark in on this discussion.
”

Mark turned out to be as clueless as we were, but he said he
’
d check into it. Meanwhile, we had a gig tonight, and now we were all nervous. Cole calmed us down.

“
Nobody shot up the competition,
”
he said. He left it at that, but the message was clear. Whether or not she was a target, they hadn
’
t found her yet. Tonight should be fine. In fact, it was only after the label released PR shots of us that we
’
d really need to worry. The chances someone would spot her by accident and know who to tell where she was were miniscule
…
Weren
’
t they?

Now it only remained to get Chad on board. I had an uneasy feeling about that. We didn
’
t know him. We debated it back and forth, finally coming to the conclusion that we couldn
’
t risk his life without his knowledge. We decided to tell him no more than we had to, which was that one of us was a target, and if he didn
’
t feel like signing on, we wouldn
’
t hold him to it.

It never occurred to me there was a reason Amy hadn
’
t gone to the FBI or DEA herself.

NINETEEN

Amy

I
didn
’
t know what to think of Axel taking the meeting out of my hearing. At least he
’
d given me some hope that he was working on a solution to the problem. I was a coward, though. I still hadn
’
t owned up to my old relationship to Rex. I
’
d begun to convince myself it didn
’
t matter. Maybe I
’
d never need to tell him. Why would I, if I could quietly change my name legally? That would leave a paper trail, of course. I
’
d have to think about it. I
’
d also have to think about changing my appearance more radically.

The men came back into the room with Mark in tow, and they let Rex tell me what they considered the good news. They had ideas to make it all right. Of course, my heart leapt at the look of caring and relief in Rex
’
s eyes. On the other hand, it would have been easier to do the right thing if they
’
d said no. Now my own choices were taken away. I
’
d left it in their hands, expecting them to tell me it was too dangerous. Maybe with regret, maybe not. Now I couldn
’
t leave, even if I
’
d found the strength to do it on my own.

Rex explained that they still needed to get Chad
’
s buy-in, but because none of us knew him, they
’
d be careful. They wouldn
’
t tell him the exact threat, or against whom it was made. Only that there was one, and if he didn
’
t want to risk it, he
’
d be released from his agreement. I was relieved at that, because I didn
’
t know him either. I
’
d spent too many years being ultra-cautious with personal information to be comfortable giving it out now.

Evidently the group hug that came after Rex
’
s statement of their decision was supposed to seal the deal. For Axel, it was a chance to surreptitiously cop a feel. He grinned charmingly when I sent him a crusty look, and he looked so like a mischievous little boy I had to forgive him. I
’
d be sure to let him know that better be the last time, or Rex would hear about it.

Chad arrived shortly after that, but we
’
d decided to wait until after that night
’
s gig to spring the news on him. It wouldn
’
t do to have him walk out on us beforehand.

After a successful evening, we convened outside the bus. For once, the night was clear, and there was no mist to dampen our spirits as Mark counted our cut of the night
’
s take from the bar, along with the bills from the tip jar. Three-quarters of it went to the operating fund, which meant into Mark
’
s pocket for the moment. The rest was divided among all of us for pocket money. It wasn
’
t much.

That was when Rex chose to spring the news on Chad that he had a decision to make. I thought it was manipulative. Chad had about thirty dollars to show for the night, which left him with little choice. Go with us and accept his share of the perks, including the recording contract, or go home and keep hoping for a band to pick him up for a studio session now and then. He chose to go with us.

We piled onto the bus to head for Portland, only about a three-hour drive. It was past one in the morning, though, so we
’
d sleep while Joe drove through the darkness. We
’
d let the other driver go when we got to Seattle, so once again we were dependent on Joe
’
s prescribed schedule.

I was beginning to believe Mark was a magician, though. We actually had a small-venue concert in Portland, on a Wednesday night, no less. It wasn
’
t so far from Seattle that the news of the competition hadn
’
t made it there. We were already minor celebrities in the area. We
’
d have the day to spend in Portland, minus the time we
’
d need for rehearsal and setting up the sound boards, and then the concert. After that, we
’
d do this again on the way to the San Francisco area, where we
’
d spend Friday through Saturday nights playing small clubs. We
’
d complete the drive into Los Angeles on Sunday.

I was already tired of the bus. The cramped space and lack of privacy were issues. We
’
d stopped at a truck stop near the outskirts of town for a shower, or I
’
d be feeling less than fresh, too. I
’
d be glad to get to San Francisco for a few nights in a motel. Even though I
’
d been told to be sure to wear my flip-flops in the shower, I was pleasantly surprised by it. It was nicer than some hotels where I
’
d stayed, and a far sight better than what I
’
d had at the shack behind Smokey
’
s Roadhouse.

The passing thought made me wonder how Smokey and the Dust Devils were doing with the threat to their established way of life. I had a few minutes left on my disposable cell phone, so on a whim I gave Smokey a call at the bar.

“
Amy! It
’
s good to hear your voice. Are ya okay? Where are ya?
”
he asked.

“
I
’
m okay. I
’
m still with the band, Smokey. I
’
m a member now.
”
I gave him a moment to absorb that news before telling him the rest.

“
Well, don
’
t that take the cake,
”
he said, after a few seconds of silence.

“
As a matter of fact, we took first prize,
”
I couldn
’
t help but say.
“
There was champagne, but no cake.
”

“
Is that so?
”
he answered.

“
Smokey, I get the feeling you have reservations,
”
I said finally.
“
Is something bothering you?
”

“
Naw, honey, I
’
m happy for ya, if that
’
s whatcha want. Ya know, that drummer and his sidekick, they never did leave.
”