I Was Already Gone novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: A Deal in the Parking Lot

Roxie's POV

I pressed record before Brecken Hartley said a word, because I have never trusted a man who waits for you by your bicycle.

My phone was in my jacket pocket, and my thumb knew where the button was.

"Roxie," he said. "Do you have a minute?"

"I have about four."

"That's all I need."

I held up one palm toward the café window, where I knew Elliott was standing.

Stay.

Brecken smiled the stage smile, the one that fills a room, and held out his hand.

I did not shake it.

"I'll be quick," he said. "You're smart, and you're ambitious, and you're wasting both on a coffee shop."

"It's a nice coffee shop."

"It's a Thursday night with a bird man." He leaned on my bicycle seat like it was his. "I can change that. I know people at the label. A producer credit on my album, for you. A real one, with your name."

"And what do I do for it?"

"You tell Elliott to sign the old deal."

I waited.

"Elliott writes, I sing," he said. "That's always been the arrangement. It works. Nobody gets hurt, and everybody gets rich."

"Say that last part again, slower," I said. "I'm a graduate student."

He laughed, and he said it again, patiently.

"Elliott writes. I sing. That's always been the deal."

My thumb pressed my pocket, and the little red dot kept going.

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