Night Moves (The Night Songs Collection) (7 page)

Soul Divider opened the show with one of their biggest songs – a clever little reminder to those who might not remember who they were. They tore through their greatest hits. The crowd, obviously loyal fans, sang along to every word. So did I. Their music made me feel good. At one time, I would have been up front, fighting for my piece of real estate in front of Ryder, but now that I was confident I had his attention, I didn’t have to do that. Drake played the part of charming front man to a tee; you would have never thought this was the same person who bawled out his whole band and the club staff just hours before. He shook his ass to the delight of the mostly female crowd, and bantered good naturedly between songs. I recognized his catch phrases from all the times I saw the band in the past. Nothing had changed for Drake. The venue may have shrunk, and the stage show might not be as elaborate, but other than that, I felt like a teenage girl watching the show.

Drake strapped on an acoustic guitar after maybe about a dozen songs, and introduced the next song as the new single. I’d never heard it before, and I had a good feeling that a lot of the crowd hadn’t either from the amount of people who swarmed the bar and lined up at the bathroom. Some even made their way out to the parking lot for a smoke. Even from my barstool, I could see the steam seething from Drake’s eyes. This had to be killing him. No one wanted to hear their new stuff. The crowd considered Soul Divider a nostalgia act.

Ryder played with his eyes closed, sometimes squeezed shut, probably wishing he was anywhere but here.

I knew where I wanted to be. Back in the bunk, alone with Ryder.

Somehow I hoped that I could make this nightmare better for him in some way. That I could be a bright spot in a never-ending night.

W
e never discussed anything after Detroit. I felt oddly presumptuous heading back to the bus after the show as if I belonged there. For all I knew, Ryder could kiss me goodbye and ride off into night without me.

I stopped at the door of the bus, ignoring the girls lined up along the side trying to get Ryder’s attention. “So what happens now?” I asked him, bracing myself for the worst case scenario.

Ryder looked at me quizzically, holding my hands. “We go to Milwaukee?” He asked me like he wasn’t sure himself. My knees weakened with relief. “Milwaukee, right, Tommy?”

“I don’t bloody know. Some other Godforsaken place that’s colder than a witch’s tit. Oh hello, lovie.” Tommy stopped to chat up an admiring fan and take pictures.

“I guess we go where Ralph takes us.” Ryder winked. “Let’s get on the bus. You must be freezing.”

“Are you going to sign any autographs?” I sympathized with those girls, standing in the cold in short shirts and halter tops. How many times had I done the exact same thing with Erin?

“Sure.” Ryder slapped my ass as I made my way inside. “I won’t be long.”

“Hey Ralph.” I needed an excuse to watch Ryder out the window. Besides the windshield, the rest of the windows on the bus were blacked out.

“You’re sticking around, I see.” Ralph sighed, heavily.

“Am I that bad?”

“No, just the opposite.”

“Listen, I know what I’m up against.” My tone was heavy with meaning, and I wasn’t surprised when the color drained from Ralph’s face. “I don’t know if this is a great decision, either, but I’m not ready to go home yet.”

Turning back out the window, I watched Ryder work the crowd. He posed for pictures, laughed at jokes I couldn’t hear, and talked to someone on a stranger’s cell phone. If he wasn’t happy, these girls would never be able to tell. After some girl pulled up her schoolgirl skirt and he’d signed her ass, he joined me on the bus.

“What are you doing?” He kissed me when he reached the top of the stairs.

“Watching you in action.”

“I’d think you’d be getting sick of that by now.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be sick of it.” I slid my now warm hands under Ryder’s still cold jacket. Pressing my face against his chest, I again faced Ralph, who watched our exchange in disgust.

Was he really that concerned about me, or did he just hate what his employers truly were?

It didn’t really matter what he thought.

“We leave in two hours.” Ralph called out as we made our way down the aisle.

We joined the rest of the band, minus Drake of course, in the common room. The party had reached full swing already. Thomas invited his new friend to join us. She sat on his lap as they both passed a bottle back and forth between them.

“What do you want to drink?” Ryder asked, reaching for the small bar area.

“Whatever you’re having, I guess.”

“Tell me what you want, babe.”

I raised my eyebrows at him and looked back down the aisle towards the bunks. He half smiled, knowing exactly what I was insinuating. I balled the fabric of his shirt into my fists and pulled him in close enough so he could hear me whisper. “I want to be what you’re having.”

“Soon.” His hand squeezed my ass, pushing me in closer to him. I could feel him harden against my stomach. “You can’t have everything you want right when you want it. What fun would that be?”

“It would be a lot of fun.”

“I don’t know.” He kissed me to the low whistles of the rest of the group. “I think there’s something to be said for the simmer of anticipation.”

He let go of me, turning back to the bar. My heart pounded in my chest. “I guess I’ll have a rum and diet coke.” My voice shook.

“You know lovie, if you want it right now, Amy thinks you’re pretty cute.” Thomas declared. The girl on his lap beamed at me with a crooked-toothed grin. Her shirt was already open, exposing tiny breasts and bad dolphin tattoos. “There’s enough room on the couch for the three of us.”

“Tommy, leave my girl alone. For the love of Christ.” Now it was my turn to beam at someone. My insides turned to jelly hearing Ryder refer to me as his.

“Christ left this building, long ago, with Elvis.” Thomas declared while groping at Amy’s nipple, sending her into a fit of giggles. “We might as well have some fun.
My
girl wants us all to be happy. Isn’t that right, lovie?”

Amy nodded. I didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out what that meant. I’d been around enough groupies to know what most of them were willing to do to please a crowd.

The drink Ryder served me was far more rum than coke. I shuddered as I sucked it down. He had poured himself an amber drink out of a fancy looking crystal bottle I’d never seen before.

“I’m kind of tired. I’m not used to sleeping on the bus.”

“Oh, honey, nobody sleeps on a tour bus!” Amy laughed. “You’ve got it all wrong.”

“Whatever. I’m going to go back to the bunk to
not
sleep.” I trailed my fingers against Ryder’s chin as I turned to walk away. He leaned against the counter, only his eyes following me at first. I stopped at the curtain to see if he’d follow. He finished his drink in one swig and pushed himself off the counter without a word.

I leaned against the ladder to the bunk, waiting for Ryder to catch up. My shoulders firmly in his arms, he kissed me deeply before we started our climb.

“I guess Amy’s got her work cut out for her tonight.” I giggled.

“She does. And she’s got to get it done in an hour and a half.” Ryder smiled. “You can take your time.”

“W
hat the fuck did you idiots do?” Drake’s booming voice echoed through the bus, jolting me out of sleep.

I tried to jump, but I was trapped on the bed by Ryder’s arm. I hit my head hard against the side of the bus, and rubbed the pain away with my free hand.

“What’s wrong?” I whispered to Ryder.

“Hell if I know.” He murmured. “Drake, calm down!” He yelled out, peeking around the curtain.

I wondered if he ever got tired of saying that.

“How is he here? Is it night already?” I whispered. Or did Drake have superpowers that allowed sunlight to touch him without burning him?

“No. It’s an intercom.” Ryder sounded disgusted.

“The fucking cops are outside. And they want to talk to all of you.” Drake continued blustering. Ryder pulled the curtain back, and I could see the rest of the guys jumping out of their bunks like the bus was on fire. Pulling on T-shirts, boxers, socks. Bumping into each other on their way to the back of the bus.

Holy shit. All of us? My heart practically broke through my rib cage and on to the sheet. What did the police want? Were they here for me? I kept waking up all night, doing my best not to scream every time Angela’s face greeted me in my dreams. The news report from last night played on constant repeat in my subconscious. It was the breaking news that was determined to break me.

Ryder sighed deeply and raked his fingers through his hair before beginning to pull his clothes back on.

“Can you shut the curtain?” I pulled the sheet up over my chest. I didn’t need to give Milwaukee’s finest a free show.

“Oh yeah. Sorry.” He leaned down and kissed me as his left arm dragged the curtain back. “I’m not used to having company.”

I shimmied back into my clothes from last night. What felt sexy just hours before felt trashy now as I went to possibly face the music. It took everything I had not to run as far and as fast as I could away from here. I had to concentrate on breathing normally.

“Are you okay?” Ryder asked me as we made our way down the aisle.

I shook my head. My eyes welled with tears. I knew if I spoke, it would just be all over, I’d be hauled off to jail, never to see the light of day again.

If anyone could sympathize with never seeing the light of day again, it was Ryder. God, I didn’t envy him. At least I still had a chance at freedom. Maybe.

Ralph, Adam, Thomas, and Josiah, the rhythm guitarist, had already gathered in the common area. Everyone was half awake and had bed head. Poor Josiah, the quietest one in the band, squinted awkwardly, not having a chance to grab his glasses before our forced roll call.

I noticed that Amy from last night was nowhere to be found. It looked like she got her work done in the time allotted.

Three police officers made their way down the aisle. Two of them were just massive human beings, well over six feet tall with wide shoulders. The oldest of the trio was considerably shorter, but much portlier. They filled up what was left of the space in the common area, and must have used up the rest of the oxygen because I couldn’t breathe. My hand clutched the back of Ryder’s arm.

I wondered if vampires bruised.

“We, uh, appreciate you gentlemen and
ladies
speaking to us on short notice,” the portly officer started, looking at me with disgust. “We know that you fellas keep late hours. We just need to ask you some questions, and then hopefully we’ll be on our way.”

Ryder put his hand reassuringly on my knee in an effort to relax me. I was probably hurting him. I followed the three sets of eyes in uniform that landed on the fingers on my jeans. They might as well have just called me a whore out loud. Their thoughts were written all over their faces.

“Do any of you gentlemen remember seeing this young lady last night?” One of the tall officers held up a picture of Amy. “She posted pictures on her Facebook of herself with the band from last night.”

Everyone looked at each other, trying to decide who should speak.

“Yes, sir. She had a drink with us and then left.” Adam somehow became the silently elected spokesman.

“About what time did she leave?”

“Not sure, sir. We left town about three hours after the show, so sometime before then.”

“Was she with anyone else?”

“Not that I know of, sir. There were a lot of people out by the bus. It wasn’t clear who was with who.” Adam confessed. “May I ask what happened to the girl?”

I noticed he didn’t call her by name.

“She never made it back home. The babysitter called the local police just before dawn,” the officer said. “Thank you for your time, gentlemen. If you remember anything else, please give us a call.” He handed a card to Ralph, who looked to be the most responsible of all of us.

The officers left without another word.

I let out a breath I’d been holding too long, and everyone else looked ready to pee their pants.