Chapter 4: Dead Mic

In Columbus, Vaughn waited until ten minutes before doors to try again.

He came to the bus with a clipboard, and the whole crew pretended not to listen.

"She goes to the airport hotel," he said. "Tonight. I've held the car."

I stood in the aisle in my socks with a paper cup of coffee in my hand.

Fraser got up from the table and walked past Vaughn without a word.

He went down the bus steps, across the loading dock and into the arena, with his hands in his pockets.

Dougie followed him.

We found him on the stage in the empty house, sitting cross-legged under the lights with his back to the seats.

Behind him the whole crew stopped what they were doing.

Fraser took a Sharpie out of his pocket and drew a straight line across the black deck in front of him.

Then he looked up at Vaughn and whispered, "No Yuna, no show."

"You cannot be serious."

"Ask the insurers what the key-man policy covers."

Vaughn went white around the nostrils.

Every ticket was sold, the policy needed a frontman standing under the lights, and Fraser knew exactly which clause it was.

"Fine," Vaughn said, in the voice of a man making a note.

"She stays on the bus. She's never photographed, and she never leaves it without Bev."

"Aye."

"And you do not touch the talent, Fraser."

Dougie made a noise.

"Voices fray when people get distracted," Vaughn said, looking at me.

"I'll be sure to concentrate," I said.

He left, and I did not look at Fraser, and Fraser did not look at me.

I could feel his eyes on the side of my neck all the way to the Well.

The show ran long and good.

When the last encore ended, twenty thousand people stayed on their feet and screamed for a man who hadn't said a word all night.

Afterward the crew began to strike, and the floor shook with road cases.

Bev poked her head into the Well with a roll of gaffer tape around her wrist.

"I need forty minutes," she said. "I'm going to the truck for a cable. It's a very far truck."

"Bev."

"It's the farthest truck."

She shut the door gently, and I heard her boots go away down the steel corridor.

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Rock Star Lost His Voice, and Now He Lip-Syncs to Mine from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.