Tudor Reunion Tour

by Jamie Salisbury

  To busy myself, I buried the laptop in my suitcase after removing everything I might possibly need. Before long, I had us unpacked and halfway settled in. The mountain of baby food and powdered formula was all neatly stacked in a corner of the bedroom Elizabeth and I were sharing. There was another room for her, but for now I wanted her close to me. She was the closest thing I had to Amadeus. All done without waking her. Poor thing, I thought. She’s exhausted. I hoped she wouldn’t be down for the night. I wanted to begin to get her used to a new schedule.

  I then organized all the camera equipment I brought, intending to photograph not only the landscape, but to chronicle Elizabeth’s time here. Give Amadeus a peek into what we did while we were here. Perhaps someday he and I could return together.

  My ‘desk’ was the final space needing organization. As there was a small writing desk on one wall of the cottage, I set up the new lap top Peter had provided me with. I intended to keep a journal, perhaps to turn it into something else at a later date. But I was too tired to go any further with anything else.

  Amadeus

  While I expected Zara to do something dramatic once I got on the road, I never saw her sudden disappearance coming. I’ve had my head wrapped so tightly around this tour I wasn’t paying much attention to anything else. Not only do I have to concentrate on the show and my brothers, I have to stay focused on everything going on around me. Julia has more in mind than simply being the greedy bitch she’s shown herself to be, there’s more. The fact that she has Don Roberts on her payroll makes me skittish to say the least. I feel as though having eyes in the back of my head would be a plus.

  Luckily, Angus, Damien and I were able to convince Julia to let us hire Red, my old road manager. She was bound and determined to hire only her picks, but luckily she remembered Red from the years he was with Damien and his band Rypp Tyde, and Red was able to schmooze her as well. Red’s now my eyes and ears. Angus’ too, but after my previous encounter with Don Roberts, Red’s being extra vigilant.

  At first, Red was furious that I’d even considered doing the tour with Don involved, but quickly calmed down once I brought him under my wing. I told him what I felt I could without compromising Peter’s and my plan. If it came down to where Red needed to know anything else, Peter and I would discuss it.

  Julia has begun this tour as though it were a dictatorship and Angus, Damien, and I all had to sit her down and remind her that the crew had been doing what they do for years and to let them do their job. That’s why we brought Red in. She seemed to back off once we confronted her.

  Interestingly, she has brought Amber along on this tour. Her personal assistant, she told me. Why she would need an assistant is beyond me; Julia delegates to no one. Then it became apparent. Amber was there to entice Angus and me. Now Angus and I may be musicians, but we’re far from stupid. It goes back to the old saying ‘fool me once shame on me, fool me twice’…well you know what I’m saying. So when she realized that wasn’t going to work, she began bringing other girls backstage at each city.

  And then there’s my mother. Luckily Peter intervened and got Zara and Elizabeth out of town. Julia had convinced her Zara needed a break and that she needed it without Elizabeth. Of course mother was upset once she found out Zara and Elizabeth had disappeared a couple of days prior to the tour’s start. Peter calmed her down, but it wasn’t until she left Seattle and Julia’s influence. Damn that woman is bad news. Never thought I’d see my mother believing a thing Julia had to say. Not that she does. But then she is my mother…she’s a crafty old broad.

  During what little down time I had to myself in between cities or shows, I went out and ran. It seemed to be the only time I could be free of Julia’s clutches. My mind wandered back to Zara and things she’d already picked up on. Subtle things in the contract and other papers Julia had inundated me with.

  Julia had fast figured out that Zara was correct in her assessment that Damien could not have done a tour without Angus or me. He had been out of the spotlight too long. Sure, he had his followers, his fans, but it fast became evident to her that I was the main draw. And she intended to milk it for all it was worth, setting up interviews, after parties. Doing it all in an attempt to strengthen Damien’s visibility.

  The girls, always with the girls. There was a never-ending parade of young girls Julia or Amber made sure were constantly in my midst. It was almost pathetic, what her intent was. The two of them ought to know me better than to think they could get me to cheat on Zara. But no, those two thought they knew better.

  ****

  It was Portland where things began to pop. I had asked Red to get in touch with Detective Franco from the Seattle PD and tell him I wanted to meet with him, and to use going to the show as the excuse.

  As soon as Red showed Joe Franco to my hotel room in Portland, Julia came banging on the door. Expecting her, Red had positioned himself by the hotel door.

  “Red, you startled me. I thought I saw Detective Franco walk into the building.” She shoved past Red, but not before attempting to dismiss him. “That’ll be all Red. I’m sure you’re needed at the arena, aren’t you?”

  “He and Joe are old friends. So he’s going to stick around and catch up for a while. I know you won’t mind,” I said flatly.

  Joe stood up and shook hands with Julia, who was eyeing him curiously. “Julia, nice to see you again. I can’t wait to see Damien and the boys in action this evening. I had planned on seeing them in Seattle, but work called.”

  Sensing that Julia was suspicious of Joe’s appearance, I tried to take away any doubt she might have. “Joe, Zara, and I became fast friends while I was recovering after I was in that coma. Turns out he’s a regular Tudor Rose groupie.”

  “Yeah,” Joe replied. “I can’t wait to see Damien back in action.”

  “He’s amazing, Joe,” I gushed in an effort to win Julia over. “If Angus and I had any doubts, he blew them away opening night. He’s back, no doubt about it.”

  Convinced that Joe Franco was there as nothing more than a friend and fan, Julia left us. Ever alert, Red made his exit a minute or so later, winking at us both as he left. He knew better than to leave Julia to her own devices.

  I explained to Joe what had transpired, about Zara’s disappearance. The only thing I let him in on was that while I didn’t know Zara’s exact location, I had been prepared that she was going to make herself disappear for the length of the tour. I filled him in on how Julia had convinced my mother of the outrageous idea that mother needed to keep the baby while Zara got herself together. In other words, an intervention.

  “Man, this woman’s got it out for Zara. I did check out Julia’s so called business partners. Nothing new there. Just that Don Roberts has a lot of money and friends with deep pockets.”

  “What about Amber? What’s the point?”

  “Still working on her. There has to be a connection I haven’t found yet. Something that connects the dots back to Julia or Damien,” he replied. “Oh, and there’s one more thing, Amadeus.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Are you aware that Don Roberts was Johnny Roberts’ uncle?”

  I sat there with my mouth open. In all the years I’d know Johnny, Don Roberts’ name had never been brought up in the same sentence as family. “You’re sure?”

  “Positive, and I’ll tell you, Amadeus, I don’t like it. Don Roberts and Julia being partners. You’ve got to watch your back until I can figure out the connection.”

  “I’m trying, that’s why I wanted Red on board with me. He’s the only one I can trust right now.”

  “And Zara? She and the baby are somewhere safe?”

  “Yes, and don’t ask me where because I don’t know and don’t want to know.”

  “Okay. I’ve got calls out and stuff. If I hear anything back, learn anything, I’ll be in touch. I hate to tell you, you’re sort of vulnerable out here.”

  “Yeah, don’t remind me. Should I do anything, Joe? Should I quit before somethi
ng happens, or simply let things unfold?”

  “Do you think you can hang on for a while?”

  “Oh, yeah, no problem. That’s part of the reason I decided to do this blasted tour. Zara was against it, let me tell you. But something’s fishy and needs to be exposed. If not, something’s going to happen.”

  I ran my hand through my hair, and as I did, it dawned on me. “Do you think this whole thing could be part of a revenge thing? You know with Don being the uncle of the man Zara shot and all,” I added.

  “It would certainly stand to reason. But why Don, why not Johnny’s parents?”

  “Pfft, his parents? His mom is who knows where, if she’s even still alive. Heroin user, you know. And his dad died of mysterious circumstances about five years ago if my memory serves me right. Tudor Rose was out on the road when it happened. I remember because we had to pinch hit after Johnny left for the funeral and stuff.”

  “I’ll look into both of them.”

  “Do, because Johnny was never the same after his dad died.”

  “That must be when he and Don hooked up,” Joe replied, standing up and removing his cell phone from his jeans pocket. “Is it going to be okay if I hang out with you?”

  “Of course you can. We got a promo gig to do in a while, but outside of that I’m free until show time. Why?”

  “No reason. I’m going to call a contact of mine here in Portland. I’ll just hang with you and keep my eyes and ears open.”

  I didn’t know where Joe was going with this, but figured I’d sit back and see if he could bring anything more to light.

  As soon as the Portland show was over, Julia had the entire band whisked out of the building. No after show interviews, nothing. That meant I had no further contact with Joe Franco except via my iPhone, which Red kept for me on his person while I was on stage. I purposely brought no laptop or iPad along with me. My phone was my only contact with the outside world. My world…Zara.

  I knew we were headed towards the after party. Julia wasn’t one to miss free publicity. I was soon shown how wrong I was to try and read her mind. I was in the middle of texting Joe Franco, letting him know the situation.

  “Amadeus? Who are you texting?”

  “No one,” I lied. “I’m playing a game so I don’t have to listen to your grating voice, Julia. Is that okay with you?”

  “Well, I think you occupy yourself far too much with outside distractions. In fact, I’ve decided to implement a rule. You boys can have your phones or iPads only on down days. The rest of the time I keep them. I need for you all to be focused one hundred percent.”

  “Ah, come on, Julia,” Angus chimed in. “You can’t do that and you know it, and besides that, we haven’t had any down days. You insist on working us to death! Try taking my laptop or phone, and I’ll walk so fast it’ll make your head spin.”

  “He’s right, Julia,” Damien added. “You can’t do that.”

  “Just shut up, Damien! If it wasn’t for me, none of you would be here.”

  “That’s right, Julia,” I said. “We wouldn’t because none of us would have been foolish enough to sign that piece of shit contract of yours. The only reason Angus and I signed was for Damien. Now back off or we walk.”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” she challenged.

  “Try me.”

  It took her a couple of minutes before she got a hold of herself and started again. We’d rattled her. No doubt about it.

  “There’s a change of plans. Damien, and only Damien, is going to the after party. The rest of you? You’re on the bus to our next stop in Medford. Damien and I will meet up with you in the morning.”

  I wanted to say something, but I didn’t like the way the conversation seemed to be headed and didn’t want her rattled any more than we’d just made her. Nope, save it for later.

  A few hours later, we reached Medford. Dog tired from the grueling schedule Julia kept us on, with all the interviews, rehearsals, and no off days, all any of us wanted to do was sleep. I thought of Damien and felt sorry for him. Julia, I was sure, probably gave him a verbal beat down after we left. Angus and I were sharing a room this time. The hotel evidently didn’t have all the rooms Julia required at the time she made the reservation. So we took advantage of her being gone and decided to bunk together.

  As we settled in, Angus grabbed us each a beer out of the mini-bar. I sat back on one of the beds and checked my iPhone for messages. One from Joe Franco, returning my earlier one. His message read that he was working on things and would be in touch.

  We were almost three and a half weeks into the tour, and I had not had any contact with Zara. Mutual agreement. The band did have two days off after the Medford gig, our first. I texted Peter to see if he could contact Zara and set up a time for us to talk via her sat phone. I really, really needed to hear her voice and hear Elizabeth’s, too.

  “What’s up, A?” I heard Angus ask as I finished my text to Peter. “You look as though you lost your best friend.”

  “Nothing, I was just missing Zara.”

  “No word on where she is?”

  “No,” I lied. “None. That’s what I was doing. Trying to find out if anyone has heard from her.”

  “And?”

  “Oh, I’ve got to wait for an answer.”

  “Tell me something, A,” Angus began, taking a long pull off his beer bottle. “You don’t really buy into all that crap that Zara was losing it mentally and took the baby and ran, do you?”

  I shook my head. I could at least let him know my feelings. To a point. “No, I don’t. I think she saw where everything was headed. Zara’s smart enough to know that all Julia wanted was to get her out of the way for the duration of the tour.”

  “You know where she is?”

  “No, I don’t, and that’s the honest to goodness truth, Angus. I don’t have a clue as to where she is. None.”

  “Well, I don’t know about you, but I wish Julia would reveal herself if she’s got a hidden agenda.”

  “The only hidden agenda Julia has is money. It’s why she teamed up with Don Roberts, and it’s where he is that concerns me.”

  “I’m sure between your friend, Franco, and Red, we’ll expose them. I just hope Damien doesn’t get hurt too bad.”

  “So do I, Angus, so do I.” I tipped my beer up and drank the remains.

  Chapter Five

  Zara

  Impatiently, I moved the sat phone from one side of the table to another, secretly afraid the signal would not connect and my first conversation with Amadeus in weeks would be lost. I paced around the cottage, the phone never out of my sight.

  Unable to keep Elizabeth awake, I gave in and let her take her nap, hoping she’d either wake up or I’d be able to wake her up long enough for her daddy to hear her voice. It might have seemed silly to some folks, but not to me. She was the apple of Amadeus’s eye and I knew he missed her as much as I was missing him.

  My round of the cottage once again complete, I sat down in front of the black sat phone to wait. Any time now. Come on phone, ring!

  Then it happened, the phone rang. I grabbed it on the first ring and pressed the button connecting us. “Amadeus? Is that you?”

  “I’m here, Zara! It’s so good to hear your voice, babe. How are you? How’s Elizabeth?”

  I was on the verge of letting the waterworks go. It was going to be hard to stop them. “It’s good to hear your voice, too. We’re fine. We both are.” I almost said something about acclimating to the area but caught myself. If I had, it would let him know I wasn’t in the United States.

  “I know you can’t tell me where you are. I don’t want to know. Not right now. As long as you and the baby are fine, I’m okay not knowing.”

  “Under the circumstances, it’s better if you don’t. How are things going?”

  He took a second to answer. I didn’t know if that was good or bad. Were things going south? What little Peter had filled me in on indicated that the fans were loving the tour of the three. It was b
ehind the scenes I wanted to know about.

  “As far as the shows go, it’s been great. Julia’s starting to show her other side. The one we saw over Christmas. But you’re never going to guess who came to see me. Joe Franco, and he’s going to check some things out.”

  “Good, that makes me feel better. Have you seen Don yet?”

  “No, he hasn’t shown his face. I don’t know that he will. Enough about the tour, Zara, I just want to talk with you. I’ve missed you, girl. I wish things hadn’t turned out this way.”

  “So do I, but I think it’s for the best. Elizabeth is napping, but I’ll wake her for you.”

  “No, don’t do that, Zara. I can wait for another time.”

  “No, I know you want to hear her voice, and I want to put her ear up to the phone. Perhaps she’ll recognize your voice. I know she misses you. She’s confused by all this moving around.”

  “What, you’re not staying in one place? Why not?”

  “I’m in the same place. I simply meant that she’s been so many places the past few months.”

  “Is she walking yet?”

  “No, just crawling and pulling herself up on everything like she was when you last saw her.”

  “Don’t forget to take pictures if she does start walking, Zara. I wish I could be there.” I could tell even he was getting emotional. The time apart and not talking on a regular basis was taking its toll.

  “I will, but I don’t think you need to worry about her walking any time soon. She’s a bit on the lazy side when it comes to trying new things.” Okay it wasn’t exactly the truth, but I had to take his mind out of that place.

  I had walked back into the bedroom where I found the baby waking. The sound of my voice brought her around quicker as she pulled herself up and stood at the side of the crib. She was babbling, and I put the phone up to her ear, but she’d have nothing to do with it. I could hear Amadeus loudly vying for her attention. At one point, Elizabeth cocked her head as though she recognized him and started speaking in her baby gibberish. After a few long seconds, I took the phone back and the wailing started. “I think perhaps she recognized your voice, A. You hear her?”