Crescendo

by Laurie Larsen

  Blake stepped backwards toward Haley’s bed, flung himself onto it and scrubbed his hands over his face. “This is crazy. What the heck is going on?” Just when life was absolutely perfect and couldn’t get any better, this thing came out of left field.

  “I do have an idea.”

  Blake sat. “Tell me.”

  “It almost seems like someone is trying to sabotage Ace in the Hole. Someone is trying to spread the word that the band sucks and isn’t worth seeing. Someone who is not happy about our success and growth. Someone who has an ax to grind.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. But who ...?” He flew to his feet. “Lindsay?”

  Haley nodded her agreement so fast he feared a neck injury. “That’s what I’m thinking. And I wouldn’t put it past her, that crazy witch.”

  Blake considered, nodding slowly. “It does seem to be her MO. But all those different email addresses.”

  Haley shrugged. “You can open all the email addresses you want from the free sites, Gmail, Yahoo, as long as they’re not previously taken. She could’ve created a dozen email addresses, used each one to leave a nasty review, then used the others to Like or support the comments. Making it look like they’re all legit.”

  “So, it’s feasible that she did it. But ... why? Why would she go to all the trouble?”

  “Other than being a vindictive wench who is out of control, I don’t know. But you can bet I’m going to find out.”

  Blake stared. “Promise me you won’t go see her by yourself. Do not engage with her. She’s a crazy woman.” And she could be dangerous, he thought but didn’t want to put into words.

  She looked at him intently and finally nodded. “I want to shield you from this. You need to concentrate on the tour.”

  “No way. We’re a team. Honestly, I think we need to let this go. It’ll blow over when she gets bored or when she realizes it’s not making a difference. But I will tell Jake what our theory is and tell him to keep an eye out for her. If she is truly doing this, then she’s unhinged.”

  Haley shrugged and nodded. He gripped her chin gently and positioned her lips for a warm kiss. “Let’s count our blessings. We are still on top of the world. Lindsay notwithstanding.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.”

  “Okay, I’m going to bed. Sleep well.”

  Walking to his room, he hoped he’d convinced Haley to let this drop.

  Chapter Fourteen

  HALEY WITHERSPOON WAS a woman with a mission.

  She’d studied the negative internet comments about Ace in the Hole over and over till she practically had them memorized. She copied and pasted them into a Word document, and then broke them apart, detailing each comment’s sentence structure, word choice and voice. Analyzing them for similarities, she used different colors to highlight and draw lines until her document resembled the map of the world’s busiest airport.

  After all that work, she was more convinced than ever. These comments were all written by the same person.

  She could verify and explain and convince anyone of why she had come to that conclusion. Who knows, maybe someday she would have the chance to, if this thing went further than she hoped it would.

  And when her mind led logically to who had done it, she couldn’t think of anyone except Lindsay. It had to be Lindsay. No one else harbored a hatred for Haley, or for Ace in the Hole’s success, but Lindsay.

  Who else would bother to create multiple fake email addresses, search out the band’s website, along with the websites of all the venues on their schedule, and leave a trail of negative reviews all over the internet? Who else cared enough to go to all that trouble?

  Nobody. And to prove it, Haley had embarked on a separate investigative thread. She made a list of a half dozen other local Myrtle Beach cover bands and visited not only their band websites, but the websites of all the venues on their summer schedules. It was an extensive effort, but the results proved her premise. None of the other bands had attracted the type of nasty comments that Ace in the Hole had.

  And why would that be?

  Because Lindsay wasn’t angry at those bands. Because Lindsay hadn’t started a vast sabotage campaign against any of those other bands. Only with Ace in the Hole.

  Haley flopped back in her chair, frustrated. No doubt remained, not a single one. Now, what could she do about it?

  Her phone buzzed. A text had come in. She picked it up and read it. A note from Blake: Are you coming? We’re on the bus.

  She scrambled to find the time. Wow, six pm. The meeting time for the band and crew to get on the bus to go to tonight’s venue. She’d eaten up the whole day with her research and hadn’t even had a shower. Hadn’t left the room. Had barely had anything to eat.

  She typed back, I’ll take a cab and meet you there later.

  She waited for a response and when it didn’t come, she tossed her phone on the bed and rose to her feet, stretching her arms above her head to work the kinks out of her spine. She’d been sitting at that desk all day. She really needed to put this behind her for now.

  The phone finally buzzed and she picked it up. OK, Blake had written after a significant pause. His delay was telling, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. He had stopped by twice while she was working and had asked her to drop it. But she was a dog with a bone. She had become obsessed with proving that Lindsay was behind all of this.

  And ending Lindsay’s reign of terror.

  Haley rushed through her shower, makeup and hair and ran down to the lobby of the hotel. She grabbed a fast food hamburger to provide her body with protein – somewhat dubious protein, but still – and Ubered to the coliseum where Frontier Fire would play tonight. She approached the security guard at the backstage door and flashed him her associate badge. He let her in and as she entered the murky, dank space the strands of the first warm up act soaring over the murmur of the large crowd filled her ears. Wow, she really was late.

  She maneuvered to the row of green rooms until she found Blake’s. She tapped on the door and opened it, stuck her head in. He sat at his vanity table looking in the mirror while a makeup artist touched up his face. His back to the door, their eyes met via the mirror’s reflection. The fact that he didn’t speak or smile validated what she’d been nervous about the whole way over here. He was mad at her.

  She bit her lip and grimaced at him, her attempt at a peace offering, a silent apology. An important job faced him, fronting one of the biggest comeback bands in the history of country music, in front of a huge crowd of twelve thousand fans. He didn’t need to be distracted by his unhappiness over her actions today.

  She came up behind him and placed a kiss in the warm crevice where his neck met his shoulder. He shivered. “Sorry,” she murmured to the makeup girl, who shook her head and grinned.

  “That’s okay. We’re almost done here. Can’t improve on perfection.” She laughed, dabbed at Blake’s cheeks with a long brush and stepped back to look.

  Haley looked, too. Blake looked great. He’d always been a rugged, handsome guy, tall, lean and fit. But he’d grown into his own confidence and sexiness since he’d started with Frontier Fire. The way he moved, the way he held the mic close to his lips as he sang. His hips as they swung to the beat of the song. That unintentional swagger that women found so attractive. There was not an arrogant bone in his body, but maybe that was part of the reason Blake so easily drew women’s attention. And maybe that was one reason the Frontier Fire reunion tour was so successful, beyond anyone’s wildest expectations, according to Randall. Blake wouldn’t be the sole reason for that, but he was certainly part of the equation.

  The makeup girl gathered her things, walked to the door and said, “Break a leg,” on the way out, closing it and leaving Blake and Haley in a silent room buzzing with tension.

  “I’m sorry,” she started. She recognized that she needed to get that out there to break the chill of anger he directed towards her. “I’m sorry I was late and missed coming over here with you.”

&n
bsp; Blake stared into the mirror, connecting gazes with her as she stood behind his right shoulder. “Were you tied up with the Lindsay thing all day?”

  Haley started an immediate defense for all her hard work, and then she bit her tongue. He wouldn’t understand, he wouldn’t buy it, he wouldn’t agree with her obsession, no matter how she defended it. “Yeah, and I got a lot done. But now it’s time for Frontier Fire. This is my priority right now.”

  His mouth curled up at one edge. He had words he wanted to say but he was reconsidering putting them out there between the two of them. He was nice that way; she knew he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. And words said in anger sometimes ripped deep holes that were impossible to mend.

  “Tell me,” she urged him. She didn’t want secrets between them. Even if she disagreed. They could have disagreements between them. Hidden away, is how they would start to tear holes.

  “Last night I asked you to drop this whole Lindsay thing. She’ll get tired of it and stop eventually. It’s obviously not harming Ace’s gigs. Their shows are full.”

  “Yes, I know.” She dropped her gaze and looked at her feet instead.

  “I thought you agreed with me. But today you spent all day long working on it. I just don’t think it’s necessary. And I don’t think it’s healthy.”

  “No, you’re right. It’s probably not necessary or healthy but ...” she let her line of thought drop because she really didn’t want to say what she was thinking. I want to catch Lindsay at her game. I need to show Lindsay that I’m on top of her. That I can make her stop.

  Haley closed her mouth. Is this what she’d become? Vindictive and angry and determined to expose Lindsay’s nasty campaign? Haley had to dig deep to figure out ... was she this engaged in stopping Lindsay because of the negative impact it was having on the band she managed? Or was she this engaged because she couldn’t stand Lindsay and wanted to best her?

  Was this business or personal?

  Blake pulled out of his chair, turned and faced her, placing gentle hands on her elbows and nudging her closer. “Don’t let her get the best of you. You need to let this drop.” He placed a kiss on her lips, then her nose, then her forehead. “Okay?”

  She closed her eyes. His gentleness sent a shudder through her torso. She breathed in his clean soapy scent and whispered, “You’re such a good person. I wish I could be more like you.”

  He let out a scoffing laugh and shook his head. “You’re a good person too. You’re just getting swept away by this Lindsay thing.”

  “I can’t let her win.”

  He chuckled, and then looked closely at her. “Maybe you need to pray about that?”

  She thought for a second, and then nodded. She admired his faith. Although he wasn’t in the least bit vocal about it, whenever he made comments like that one, she realized that he had a relationship with their Creator. God was his confidant, his guide, the path Blake wanted to walk. He may not be an evangelist or loudly preach about his faith, but it was there, it was quiet, and it was strong. Much stronger than hers.

  She could learn something from Blake about her own faith in God. She could follow his example.

  “Good idea,” she said, nodding her head emphatically. “I’ll do that.”

  “I gotta go,” he said, gave her one last kiss, and made his way to the door.

  “Break a leg,” she repeated the phrase since it was tradition and why mess with success?

  He smiled at her, gave her a playful salute and left, the door swinging shut behind him.

  BLAKE FOUND AN EMPTY corner of the massive backstage. Time to start his pre-game warm up. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. In slowly, hold for the count of ten, release over another count of ten. Breathing. So important for musicians, especially singers. He’d wanted to be a big-time musician his whole life. He’d read all the behind the scenes stories of famous singers and instrumentalists and what they did to warm themselves up. Most of them followed the same routine show after show after show. This was becoming his.

  After his breathing exercise, he ran through scales with his voice. Using “mee-moo-maw” he covered both octaves of his vocal range, using vowel sounds. Then he started consonants, “Toe bee doe” to get his words working. A slow, gradual warm up was important, and prevented putting rough edges on his voice. He wanted it to be responsive when he called upon it, and a good warmup did that.

  He moved on to warming up his body. He shook out his arms, loosey goosey. Then his neck. Back and forth in a semi-circle on the base of his spine. Then his legs. Shake ‘em out, shake ‘em out, then his ankles. Circles, get the kinks out. Next, wrists and fingers. A few steps from the wall, he pushed his hands against the surface and stretched, bending first one knee, then the other. Then bend at the waist, fingertips touching the floor. Hold for the count of ten. Standing up again, he lifted his arms straight over his head and joined his fingers, pushing up, up, up.

  Done. He was stretched out, relaxed and his breathing was flowing. Ready for the concert.

  Well, not quite ready. His body was ready, his voice was ready, but his mind and spirit weren’t quite there yet. He closed his eyes and said silently in his head, Thank you Father. Thank you for putting me right here at this moment. Please be with me as I entertain this crowd. Leave me in good voice and let me sing well for these people. Be with them too. Keep us all safe.

  Eyes open, he clapped his hands and went off in search of his bandmates.

  HALEY USUALLY LISTENED to the concert from backstage, but tonight she ventured into the coliseum and found an empty seat in the first level balcony beyond the floor seats. She wanted to observe her man and his band like a fan would. Blake’s words about letting Lindsay get the better of her enticed her to fully absorb Blake’s tour and love every second.

  From the moment the band trotted on stage and took their places, till the instant the huge mountain of sound started from their instruments, the people in the audience screamed, coming to their feet and clapping. Haley laughed and rose as well. Looks like it would be a night of standing or else she’d never see over heads. A few bars in, Blake made his entrance, waving, smiling, moving to the edge of the stage to lean down and make eye contact with people close by. He personally welcomed them. Video cameras shot his image up on the jumbo screens on either side of the stage, giving those further away the same feeling of intimacy in the vast amphitheater.

  Blake started singing, and the already-crazy crowd roared louder, crazier. They loved him. He’d been touring with Frontier Fire long enough now that he was comfortable with all the songs, knew them like he knew his own life history. Sure, he wasn’t Josh Lakely, and the crowd knew that. But their acceptance of him was complete.

  Blake moved easily, covering every square foot of the main stage, and often moving to far corners and walkways to make himself visible to as many fans as possible. He looked up and pointed at the faraway balconies; he leaned down and sang directly to the closer-ups. He owned the stage, and everyone knew it.

  His strong voice rose over the instrumentals and even though he was busy moving, his vocals on each song were perfect and poignant. His first priority was to do the song justice.

  Young girls in the seats to the right of Haley were oohing and aahing over Blake’s handsome face, his eyes, his hair. He’d become a teenage heart throb, at least in these girls’ eyes. She swallowed a grin, along with the urge to tell them that she was his girlfriend. What would they do if she revealed her relationship with Blake? Ask for an autograph? A personal introduction? Free tickets to another concert? Instead, she admired him from afar, and let her heart take in each detail of his performance.

  At the end of the concert, but before they returned to the stage for the encore, Haley’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out and glanced at it. Frontier Fire’s manager, Randall had sent her a text. Need to talk to you. Backstage? Now?

  She rose to her feet as she wondered what the heck this was about. Randall had never sent her an urgent text, but
this one qualified. She climbed over the lovesick girls and into the aisle, taking the steps down at a faster pace than was safe, trying to control her accelerated heartrate. All she needed was to hook her foot on someone else’s to take a tumble down the cement steps.

  She slowed down to ensure her own safety but made her way directly backstage.

  Chapter Fifteen

  FLYING BACKSTAGE, FLASHING her associate badge to Security, searching for Randall, her fingers tingled from her accelerated heartrate. Haley took a moment to calm herself. Maybe this was no big deal. Maybe Randall was just checking in with her, touching base. A normal, routine meeting.

  Yeah, right.

  Randall arrived backstage a half minute after she did. She spotted him, and he lifted a hand, gesturing for her to join him. “Hey,” she said, and he nodded in greeting.

  “Let’s find a place we can talk,” he said loudly in her ear, and they headed for the green rooms, recently vacated by the band members for their encore. Settling into an empty one, Randall sat down and pulled out a laptop. He wordlessly pulled up a website and pushed it over to her to read.

  Haley took a moment to orient herself. Randall had pulled up the Frontier Fire website. In the Open Forum section that encouraged fans to interact, he pointed to the top of the list. Haley leaned closer and a sick feeling attacked her stomach.

  Lindsay was at it again. She’d infiltrated the Frontier Fire website with negative reviews. Haley recognized the email addresses. They were exactly the ones that had attacked Ace in the Hole.

  Haley pulled her eyes away from the comments. She didn’t want to read them. She imagined what they’d say, and they evidently were severe enough to cause Randall some concern. She looked at Randall. “I can explain this. In a nutshell, when I took over as Ace in the Hole’s band manager, I replaced one of the musician’s girlfriends who was doing their bookings. I wanted to take the band to a whole new level, and she resented it. We eventually severed her from the band, and her boyfriend broke up with her.”