Wicked Beat
Page 52
Eric snarled. “Why are you always f**king right about everything? Do you know how annoying that is?”
“Nope.” Sed wrapped an arm around Eric’s shoulders and walked him toward the tour bus. “Do you feel better now that you got that big secret off your chest?”
“Sorta.” Eric sighed remorsefully. “So what do we do about Jon?”
“I’m going to leave that up to you.”
Oh sure, the one time Eric actually wanted Sed to be in command, he hands over the controls. When they passed one of the open dressing rooms backstage, Eric caught sight of Jon sniffing something off the side of his hand. Jon’s eyelids fluttered as he held one nostril shut and then he covertly handed something to one of their temporary roadies. Very temporary. Sed shook his head in disgust and followed the guy back to the stage area where he was supposed to help with teardown. Eric was glad he didn’t have to fire him. He hated to admit it, but Sed did make a better bandleader than he ever would.
Jon spotted Eric standing in the doorway. He beamed a bright smile and hurried over to Eric. “I have this great idea on how to prank Sed,” Jon said. “We can tie a stuffed rat to a string and hide it inside the refrigerator. When Sed opens it to get a beer, the rat will fly out and scare the piss out of him. What do you think? It will work. I know it will. We just have to make sure he’s the one who opens the refrigerator.”
Eric had really wanted to wait to collect his thoughts before he confronted Jon. But if he did that, Eric knew he’d start to feel sorry for Jon and make excuses for him again. Enable him. “I know about the lockbox.”
“I didn’t take anything,” Jon said nervously. “I don’t even know the new combination.”
Eric shook his head. “But you tried, didn’t you?”
“Prove it.”
Dealing with this guy made Eric tired. He knew his life would be a whole lot easier without Jon in it. “I wasn’t talking about the current lockbox. I was talking about the old one. The one I supposedly emptied out, and you claimed to take the fall for me. The incident you’ve been holding over my head for years. Ringing any bells?”
“I did take the fall for you.”
“Sed told me that there was eight thousand dollars in there, not five hundred. You took the rest of that money for what? For drugs?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jon said. “I didn’t take any money out of the lockbox.”
Eric hesitated. “You didn’t?”
“No. You should get your facts straight before you start accusing people of things.”
Jon shook his head and stormed away, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jeans.
Eric watched Jon stalk off down the corridor. Maybe Jon hadn’t taken the money. Maybe Sed was wrong.
Or maybe Jon was lying.
“Fuck my life,” Eric muttered under his breath.
Chapter 19
Over two weeks later, somewhere between Buffalo and Detroit, Rebekah squirmed onto the dining table to sit next to Trey as they waited for dinner to finish cooking. Both booths were full, so she didn’t have many seating options to choose from. Jace sat next to Brian on one side of the table, and Sed next to Eric on the other. She might have squeezed onto Eric’s lap, but he was trapped against the wall, and Sed took up more than his fair share of the booth with his broad shoulders.
Eric had been pensive since their Austin show. She knew why. He’d told her about his situation with Jon. She’d advised him to cut all ties with the guy, but Eric was big on second chances and third chances and twenty-seventh chances. So Jon still played the shows, following the tour buses in his Jeep, and Eric avoided him as much as possible. Rebekah patiently waited for Eric to get his head out of his ass, and Sed held his tongue.
“This tour schedule is killing me,” Trey complained, rubbing his face with both hands. “The venues are scattered all over the f**king place.”
“Rescheduling canceled shows is a bitch,” Sed said. “They never align properly. Just be glad we’re putting off the canceled shows in Canada until the spring.”
“My blood’s not hot enough to survive a Canadian winter,” Trey said.
“Your blood’s hot enough to melt the polar ice caps,” Brian teased and gave Trey a playful shove. Trey ricocheted into Rebekah, who burst out laughing.
Rebekah’s laughter died when Brian’s cell phone beeped in his pocket.
“Myrna?” Sed asked. They all knew Brian was waiting to hear the results of her latest pregnancy test. He’d managed to fly in to visit her for one night during her fertile time, and she’d yet to call crying that she’d started her period again.
Brain read the screen and nodded. He looked a bit ill. “Text message.”
“Well, what did she say?” Eric asked.
A look of confusion spread across Brian’s handsome features. “Uh? It says the rabbit died. The rabbit died?”
“Did she hit a rabbit with her car or what?” Trey asked around the cherry sucker in his mouth.
Rebekah chuckled. “They used to inject rabbits with women’s urine to determine pregnancy.”
“Ugh,” Trey said, “that’s f**king disgusting. Are you serious?”
Rebekah tousled his hair and nodded. “Completely.”
“So what does it mean when the rabbit dies?” The look of concern on Brian’s face made Rebekah’s heart twang.
“Nothing bad, sweetie. It means she’s pregnant.”
Brian’s jaw dropped. “I’m going to be a daddy?”
Rebekah smiled and nodded. “I’d say that’s what she’s trying to tell you.”
“I’m going to be a daddy!” Brian grabbed the nearest person, who just happened to be Jace, and gave him a bone-crunching hug. “I’m going to be a daddy,” he told him.
“Congratulations,” Jace gasped.
Sed reached across the table and gathered half the band in a huge hug with Brian in the middle. His large biceps pressed Rebekah’s head firmly against Trey’s shoulder. “That is f**king awesome, dude,” Sed’s deep baritone rumbled through his chest. Rebekah could hear the emotion in his words. She didn’t know Sed could get emotional.
“I’ve got to see Myrna,” Brian said, fighting his way out of the group hug. “I should be there with her.”
“We have a show tomorrow,” Sed reminded him.
“Nope.” Sed wrapped an arm around Eric’s shoulders and walked him toward the tour bus. “Do you feel better now that you got that big secret off your chest?”
“Sorta.” Eric sighed remorsefully. “So what do we do about Jon?”
“I’m going to leave that up to you.”
Oh sure, the one time Eric actually wanted Sed to be in command, he hands over the controls. When they passed one of the open dressing rooms backstage, Eric caught sight of Jon sniffing something off the side of his hand. Jon’s eyelids fluttered as he held one nostril shut and then he covertly handed something to one of their temporary roadies. Very temporary. Sed shook his head in disgust and followed the guy back to the stage area where he was supposed to help with teardown. Eric was glad he didn’t have to fire him. He hated to admit it, but Sed did make a better bandleader than he ever would.
Jon spotted Eric standing in the doorway. He beamed a bright smile and hurried over to Eric. “I have this great idea on how to prank Sed,” Jon said. “We can tie a stuffed rat to a string and hide it inside the refrigerator. When Sed opens it to get a beer, the rat will fly out and scare the piss out of him. What do you think? It will work. I know it will. We just have to make sure he’s the one who opens the refrigerator.”
Eric had really wanted to wait to collect his thoughts before he confronted Jon. But if he did that, Eric knew he’d start to feel sorry for Jon and make excuses for him again. Enable him. “I know about the lockbox.”
“I didn’t take anything,” Jon said nervously. “I don’t even know the new combination.”
Eric shook his head. “But you tried, didn’t you?”
“Prove it.”
Dealing with this guy made Eric tired. He knew his life would be a whole lot easier without Jon in it. “I wasn’t talking about the current lockbox. I was talking about the old one. The one I supposedly emptied out, and you claimed to take the fall for me. The incident you’ve been holding over my head for years. Ringing any bells?”
“I did take the fall for you.”
“Sed told me that there was eight thousand dollars in there, not five hundred. You took the rest of that money for what? For drugs?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jon said. “I didn’t take any money out of the lockbox.”
Eric hesitated. “You didn’t?”
“No. You should get your facts straight before you start accusing people of things.”
Jon shook his head and stormed away, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jeans.
Eric watched Jon stalk off down the corridor. Maybe Jon hadn’t taken the money. Maybe Sed was wrong.
Or maybe Jon was lying.
“Fuck my life,” Eric muttered under his breath.
Chapter 19
Over two weeks later, somewhere between Buffalo and Detroit, Rebekah squirmed onto the dining table to sit next to Trey as they waited for dinner to finish cooking. Both booths were full, so she didn’t have many seating options to choose from. Jace sat next to Brian on one side of the table, and Sed next to Eric on the other. She might have squeezed onto Eric’s lap, but he was trapped against the wall, and Sed took up more than his fair share of the booth with his broad shoulders.
Eric had been pensive since their Austin show. She knew why. He’d told her about his situation with Jon. She’d advised him to cut all ties with the guy, but Eric was big on second chances and third chances and twenty-seventh chances. So Jon still played the shows, following the tour buses in his Jeep, and Eric avoided him as much as possible. Rebekah patiently waited for Eric to get his head out of his ass, and Sed held his tongue.
“This tour schedule is killing me,” Trey complained, rubbing his face with both hands. “The venues are scattered all over the f**king place.”
“Rescheduling canceled shows is a bitch,” Sed said. “They never align properly. Just be glad we’re putting off the canceled shows in Canada until the spring.”
“My blood’s not hot enough to survive a Canadian winter,” Trey said.
“Your blood’s hot enough to melt the polar ice caps,” Brian teased and gave Trey a playful shove. Trey ricocheted into Rebekah, who burst out laughing.
Rebekah’s laughter died when Brian’s cell phone beeped in his pocket.
“Myrna?” Sed asked. They all knew Brian was waiting to hear the results of her latest pregnancy test. He’d managed to fly in to visit her for one night during her fertile time, and she’d yet to call crying that she’d started her period again.
Brain read the screen and nodded. He looked a bit ill. “Text message.”
“Well, what did she say?” Eric asked.
A look of confusion spread across Brian’s handsome features. “Uh? It says the rabbit died. The rabbit died?”
“Did she hit a rabbit with her car or what?” Trey asked around the cherry sucker in his mouth.
Rebekah chuckled. “They used to inject rabbits with women’s urine to determine pregnancy.”
“Ugh,” Trey said, “that’s f**king disgusting. Are you serious?”
Rebekah tousled his hair and nodded. “Completely.”
“So what does it mean when the rabbit dies?” The look of concern on Brian’s face made Rebekah’s heart twang.
“Nothing bad, sweetie. It means she’s pregnant.”
Brian’s jaw dropped. “I’m going to be a daddy?”
Rebekah smiled and nodded. “I’d say that’s what she’s trying to tell you.”
“I’m going to be a daddy!” Brian grabbed the nearest person, who just happened to be Jace, and gave him a bone-crunching hug. “I’m going to be a daddy,” he told him.
“Congratulations,” Jace gasped.
Sed reached across the table and gathered half the band in a huge hug with Brian in the middle. His large biceps pressed Rebekah’s head firmly against Trey’s shoulder. “That is f**king awesome, dude,” Sed’s deep baritone rumbled through his chest. Rebekah could hear the emotion in his words. She didn’t know Sed could get emotional.
“I’ve got to see Myrna,” Brian said, fighting his way out of the group hug. “I should be there with her.”
“We have a show tomorrow,” Sed reminded him.
