The Wages of Cin (Cin Fin-Lathen Mysteries Book 4) (5 page)

“You don’t seem like the superstitious kind.”

“Oh, I am a little.  Most people in the music business are.”

“I guess I’ll admit to being influenced a bit by superstition, but I believe we make our own luck,” I told him.

“Are you religious?”

“Not a churchgoer, but I have a pretty good regard for the man upstairs.  He’s saved my neck too many times to ignore.”

“Amen to that,” Sidney said, smiling.

We finished our coffees and walked back to the car.  Before we got in, Sidney drew me close to him.

“I’d like to kiss you, Cin.”

“Please,” I said, melting.

He kissed me softly, eliciting a response with his soft lips.  I felt his hands move to my back and pull me closer to him.  I kissed him back, and for a few minutes, we enjoyed being caught up in something very special.  Sidney’s watch beeped.  He lifted his arm and looked at the time.

“I guess we better start back.  Thank you, Cin.”

“My pleasure, believe me.”

“Your eyes are dancing.  I like that,” he said, helping me into the car.

As he walked around the car, I rued that I wasn’t sitting in the large cargo van right now.  It wasn’t the drink that was making me dizzy; it was how my body responded to Sidney.  Was it Sidney or was it the unanswered lust of the last few years?  Whatever it was, my body was calling the shots right now.

Sidney sat down, and after he backed out, I leaned over and he put his arm around me.  He kept the top up on the convertible.  I leaned over the console and enjoyed being in the circle of his arm as we traveled back.  As we approached the guard, we split apart and frantically searched for our lanyards to show our IDs.

The guard, recognizing the BMW, just waved us through.

“I’m going to be busy in the booth for a while.  Why don’t you hang with the band?  I think you’ll enjoy seeing those goofs go through their preconcert jitters.  I’ll send a bouncer to come and get you and escort you through the crowd to the booth about five minutes before start time.”

“I can’t wait.”

“See you soon,” he said, drawing me close for another well-received kiss before we left the parking lot, separately.

Harry was waiting for me at the steps.

“Did you have a good time?” he asked.

I twirled around before I answered, “Oh yes, I had a wonderful time.”

He frowned and stepped closer to me. “Cool it, you’re acting like a teenager.”

“Sorry, Dad, but I can’t help it.”

“I hope you, er, talked.”

“No, we made out in the BMW for four hours,” I snapped.

“You know what I mean.”

“Let’s save the business conversation until we’re home where we won’t be overheard and misunderstood.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get you.  Alex seems to like your new boyfriend.”

“Really?  He’s so hard to read.”

“I don’t like him.”

“Alex?”

“No, Sidney. He scrambles your brains,” he said.  “And there’s something about him that doesn’t ring true to me.”

“You’re just jealous.  You haven’t had you brains scrambled in a while, Harry,” I said, ruffling his hair.

“Cut it out,” he protested, stepping away.

“Let’s go inside.  It’s too hot and sticky out here.”

Harry opened the door for me, and we headed to the band suite together.

I stopped before we opened the door and whispered, “Eyes and ears open.  This is where we will get to meet the family and friends.  Watch for anything that seems out of place,” I instructed.

“We are of one mind, Cin.”

The room was crowded.  I really didn’t want to stay there, but I feared that the bouncer sent to find me would miss me in the hall.  Harry and I wove our way in between VIP holders.  Women eyed us curiously.  They took their time looking over Harry.  He had gelled his black curls.  He was wearing a black tee, black pants and shoes.  I could understand their scrutiny.  Was he a bouncer, or was he something else?  I made it over to where Alex was sipping on a bottle of water.

“Have a good concert, and enjoy yourself,” I said, holding back from hugging my nervous son.

“Did you have a good time?” he asked.

“Yes, I had a very good time.  Sidney’s a great guy.”

“You know he’s got cancer.”

Trust Alex to come right to the point.

“He told me.”

“Just so you know,” he said.  “Manuel couldn’t wait to give me the lowdown when you left.  I think he was rather put out that you walked out with the sound engineer.”  Alex smiled wickedly.  “I’m proud of you, Mom.”

“Likewise, egg.”

“Harry’s been snooping around.  I swear he’s written a novel in his notebook,” Alex enlightened me.

“Glad one of us is on the ball.  Me, I’m going to sit in the booth and enjoy seeing my son perform.”

“After?”

“Don’t know.”

“You got protection?”

“Alex!” I said, embarrassed.

“Harry went out and got you these,” he said, shoving a small brown bag at me.

I looked inside.  I was mortified.  Harry bought condoms and gave them to
my son
to give to me.

“I took half of them,” he said, winking at me.

“Can we let this go?  I’m very, very uncomfortable right now.”

He nodded.  “I’ve got to get back in there,” he said, nodding towards the practice room.  “See you tomorrow.”

I nodded.  I decided I needed to look for a washroom before I had to go upstairs.  Inside the suite, I found a ladies room, which was more like a cell. I imagined the male performers must make up the majority of the green room visitors and hoped their bathroom was bigger. I took care of things and tucked the brown bag’s contents deep in my purse before leaving the stall.  I inched my way around a duo of young women and headed for the sink.  One of the women grabbed my lanyard and looked at my name.  “Fin-Lathen? Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m Sidney Stoneridge’s guest,” I said, prying her white-dusted fingers off my ID.  I washed my hands again, pushed past her and out the door.  I prayed that Alex didn’t end up with that foul-mouthed, drugged-up creature tonight.

Harry was leaning against the wall chatting with Elijah who seemed to be enjoying the chaos of the room.  I walked over and stood there, not wanting to interrupt the conversation.

Elijah turned around and surveyed me with his green eyes.  “We meet again, Cin.”

I held out my hand.  Elijah took it and drew me in and planted a kiss on my cheek.  I pondered this a moment.  Was it just a band thing, or was it done for the benefit of someone in the room?  Either way, I didn’t enjoy it.

“Have a great time out there,” I said lamely.

“You
are
sticking around after the concert.  We’re going to party until they toss us out of here,” he informed me.

“Don’t know, we’ll see.”

The door opened and a big burly man came in calling my name.  I excused myself and could have kissed the man for rescuing me from the band lounge and its lizards.

I followed him through the maze of corridors.

“This door gets us to the center aisle.  Follow close behind me, and I’ll get you to Sidney’s booth.”

“Thank you!” I shouted as the sound of the crowd almost overwhelmed me.  They were chanting for the band.  I was surprised as we passed through the multi-generational crowd.  The audience ranged from people older than me to young teens standing there waiting for the band to hit the stage.

Sidney, who was now dressed in a uniform of all black, similar to the security team, nodded to me as the bouncer lifted me over the barrier to his booth.  No wonder he sent the Incredible Hulk.  Once I was in the booth, Sidney wiggled his finger, and he put a headset on my head.  The crowd sound was muted, but I could hear Sidney loud and clear.

“Cin, you can hear me and the band through these.  Don’t worry, no one can hear you, so if you feel like singing along, feel free.  Before we start, I want to tell you what a wonderful time I had with you.”  He helped me climb into the high, control booth chair, and as I turned around, he kissed me long and hard.

“Ready?” he asked, looking into my eyes.

I nodded.

He approached the mammoth console and started to work his magic.  He communicated with the gentlemen running the lightshow and put on a recording of one of Ely’s Coming's more driving songs.

The crowd got to their feet.  Fortunately, I had no trouble seeing from my vantage point.  Sidney cued the band.  “Move to stairs, guys. Good luck,” he said.  “Meyer and Lathen, take up positions.”

I watched my son climb the stairs, following Meyer who held his drumsticks in the air and saluted the crowd.  Alex moved to his position and began a steady beat.  Meyer got comfortable and joined him.  Together, they matched the music.  Sidney gently eased the prerecorded track out, and now the crowd only heard the duet between bass guitar and drummer.  “Cue, Manny,” Sidney said.  “Come on, old boy, you can make the stairs.”

“Fuck you, Stoneridge,” Manuel said before entering the stage.  He walked on, picking up his cord, and started playing.  The crowd went wild.  Alex and Manny faced the drummer and played that way until it was time for Elijah to enter the stage.  At this point, Alex and Manuel moved to their positions.  From my viewpoint, it looked like my son was enjoying himself.  If that were me, I would have already soiled myself.  The crowd jumped up and down.

“Elijah, they’re waiting for you,” Sidney said.

For one agonizing minute, there was only breathing coming from Elijah’s mic.  He said, “For Mandy,” and walked onto the stage.

Elijah plugged in and walked to the center of the stage.  I watched as Sidney worked his magic, and now the crowd could hear Elijah.  They went wild.  Elijah started singing.  I was thankful that I had the headset; the noise of the screaming fans at this point could have deafened me.  Sidney brought up the sound.  The whole concert, he worked hard to give the crowd the best sound no matter how unruly they were.  The back of his shirt was soaked through before the third song had started.  His hands moved so fast along the console, he resembled the Phantom of the Opera on his organ.

When I wasn’t watching Sidney, I was looking at the stage.  I moved my eyes from left to right and back again.  It was after my fourth scan that I saw a problem.  One of the lights mounted on a twenty-foot-high triangular tower turned ever so slightly.  At first, I thought it was just the lighting guys working their magic, but my eyes traveled down the tower, and I saw it was no longer perpendicular to the stage.  I pulled on Sidney’s shirt.  He motioned for me to come closer.

I yelled, “The back left light tower is bending!”

It only took a moment for him to see what I saw.  He alerted security, and as Elijah began “Redheaded Stepchild,” four burly men in black and Harry moved quickly behind him.  Two had a long metal pole.  They managed to brace the tower before it broke loose and crashed. Harry climbed the side wall and caught the rope that was thrown to him.  He secured it to the structure offstage, and soon the large light tower was stabilized.

The band played on, oblivious to the danger.  I doubted if anyone in the crowd looked beyond Elijah to witness the near disaster.

“We’d like to play you some tunes from our new album,” Elijah said. “But first, I’d like to thank Alex Lathen from Barely a Bass Player for filling in for Gareth.”  He lifted his hands and clapped which signaled the audience to show their approval.  After the crowd had died down, he introduced Manuel and Meyer.

I sat back and tried to enjoy the rest of the concert.  I wanted to be on the stage looking into what made that light break.  I had a sickening thought that it wasn’t an accident.  I was comforted that Harry was there on the scene, and I was sure he was already investigating.

I felt a tug and saw that Sidney was trying to get my attention.  I hopped off the stool and walked up.  He turned and swung me into him.  He held me tight.  I felt the stress move out of my body as a more welcome feeling flooded my senses.

“I’m glad you took a chance on me, Cin,” he said, keeping an eye and ear on the stage.  “After the concert, don’t run away.”

I squeezed his hand to let him know I understood.  Then I kissed his cheek to let him know I approved.

The new songs were received well, and I imagine that sales were good after the concert.  I hoped that the concert was covered by the local press.  I waited until the last of the stragglers left the audience before making my way to the stage.  I found that I wasn’t the only one curious about the light tower.  Harry stood there with the event manager.  He introduced us, but I admit his name didn’t register because my focus was on the tower.  I blinked twice, seeing that two segments of the tower were sawn through.  The tri-poled tower was holding fine until the vibrations from the large amps started the separated segments to bounce away from each other.

“It could have killed someone.  If my trigonometry is right, I think Meyer and Alex would have been hurt or worse,” Harry said, showing me the figures he put together beside a crudely made drawing.

“All I know is that I saw it bending and alerted Sidney.  Thank God, your guys got there in time.”

“Thank God, you were out there watching,” the manager said.

“Do you have any cameras on the stage when it’s idle?” I asked.

“Not any that would pick up this tower.  We have the security cameras trained on the expensive equipment on stage.”

“When was the last time the stage was inspected?”

“Right after Simon was electrocuted.”

“That means someone had to do this last night or today.  I would think someone would have heard the sound of sawing through metal during the day.  There were people in and out.”

“But not until this afternoon’s rehearsal,” he informed us.

“Harry, I think you need to talk to the people running the lights,” I suggested.  “When was the last time anyone had been in the tower, etcetera?”

We did another cursory examination of the stage.  The manager left, and Harry and I returned to the light site.

“You were like Spiderman climbing that wall, Harry.  I didn’t breathe until you were back on the ground,” I admitted.

“We make a good team, Cin.”

“I think so, Harry.  Um, I understand Alex is going to stay and party. What are your plans?”

“I don’t have a car.  I came with Alex.”

“Here.”  I handed him my keys.

“You’re giving me the keys to the BMW. Are you crazy?  How will you get home?”

“Sidney, or I’ll get a cab,” I said, trying not to blush.

“I feel like I should give you the talk, Cin,” Harry said seriously.

“Don’t.”

“I was just kidding.  Don’t break the guy’s heart.  Tomorrow, we’ll sort all this out.  Keep your phone on just in case,” he instructed.

“Sure.  Don’t call unless it’s an emergency, please,” I pleaded.

Harry raised his right hand and repeated the Boy Scout promise, which I noticed didn’t say anything about interrupting me on my date.

“Have a good time, Cin,” he said before he left.

I contemplated going down into the air-conditioning, but the thought of that band lounge, full of drunk and high people, had me cooling my heels on the stage as Sidney packed up his equipment.

Alex came up to retrieve a few of his things.  He asked me to help him carry some things to his car.  As he loaded the equipment into the trunk, he talked nonstop about the concert.  I didn’t tell him about the tower.  I wanted him to enjoy the evening.  Tomorrow was soon enough to nurse hangovers and take stock of the experience in full.

When I returned, I found Sidney on stage rolling cords.  He was busy, so I hung back and studied my date.  The chemo had lowered his body fat drastically, but he had maintained his muscles, probably from the movement of his equipment.  His brown hair was spikey but thick.  I didn’t have a read on his age, and I could have kicked myself for not checking out his birthdate when I had his license in my hand.  I had the bad feeling that I was more than five years older than him.

I felt the tendrils of insecurity creep towards me.  It was then that Sidney noticed me and the look on his face banished the Kraken of fear back to the depths.

“I’ll be through in about ten.  I have to make an appearance downstairs.  I hope you don’t mind. And then we can take off.”

I nodded.  “Can I help?”

“No, thank you.  I’m a bit persnickety about my stuff.”

“He’s a bastard,” one of the roadies commented.

“Don’t listen to Eddie; he’s jaded,” Sidney said and went back to work.

Eddie came over and handed me a laminated piece of paper.  “This is the set list. I don’t know, but it could be worth something in a few years.”