“Such a big head.”
Hot Ice were booked to do two hours in the studio. They’ve managed to mix for a little over an hour with no problems but when Jason tries to mix in one of Grotzy’s tracks he misses the cue and the bass starts to bounce all over the place. We all watch as he tries to rescue the mix but he just can’t get it back on. He slams the crossfader over harshly on the mixer and swears, tossing the headphones onto the desk. “I need a smoke,” he declares before storming out of the studio.
Dominic looks at me with raised eyebrows and I shrug. The guy has been on edge the whole time he’s been here, he’s ridiculously jumpy and twitchy. Lauren quickly steps in and takes over the mix. I go over and give her a tap on the shoulder, smiling reassuringly and she gives me a thumbs up.
I go outside to see if Jason is okay, wanting to reassure him that we all find that one bastard of a track that refuses to stay on. When I step outside I don’t see any traces of him so I round the building to the car park but I still can’t see him.
“Jay?” I call out, heading towards the far end of the car park. I’m just passing Dominic’s car when suddenly he pops up out of the dark. I yelp and jump back, clutching my heart. “Fuck! Jason, you scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry,” he mumbles, looking at the ground and turning on the spot, scoping out the area. “I dropped.., my lighter. I can’t find it in the dark.”
I look down at the ground and see if I can spot it but when he sees me helping him look for it he coughs.
“Don’t worry about it. Can I just borrow yours?”
I hand him my lighter and we both light our cigarettes in silence. I blow out a plume of smoke and eye him cautiously, not sure how to broach a casual subject. I clear my throat and turn to him.
“So, how long you been mixing?”
He refuses to meet my eye and mutters. “About six months. It’s more Lauren’s brain fart of an idea than mine. We met out clubbing one night and she wanted to try it out. I don’t mind mixing but it’s more about the fun of a night out for me. Lauren takes it too seriously. Like it’s ever going to be some kind of career,” he chuckles.
I nod and take a drag of my cig. “You’re parting with a lot of cash here just for some fun.”
“Tell me about it. I was all up for giving this Hot Ice thing a go but it’s turning into a full time job with Lauren. Her getting too serious about it is sucking the fun out of it for me.”
I’m surprised by his attitude in one respect. He’s forking out hundreds and ultimately wasting his money. I’m glad Lauren is at least getting something out of it. “Don’t you mind wasting money? Because I’m not here to waste my time.”
At this he snorts. “You’re getting paid for it, what more do you want? Blood?”
My mouth falls open and I’m just about to let rip when he flicks his cigarette butt on the floor and walks away from me. I bite back my anger when I go back into the studio and see him sat on his phone again, Lauren is doing all the mixing. I crash down in my seat next to Dom and let out an irritated huff. “I swear I’m this close,” I pinch my finger and thumb a millimetre apart. “From telling that dick where to stick his money and never come back here again. Fucking ponce.”
“So why don’t you, DisDiva? Tell him to do one. It’s not like you to hold back and the guy is obviously a prick,” Dom says quietly.
“Because I like his girlfriend.” I admit whilst watching Lauren work.
Friday morning I breeze into studio one and start booting up the equipment. I have nothing booked for today and the whole team are trying to tie up any loose ends so that we can concentrate on making sure the birthday bash next weekend goes without an hitch. I stop what I’m doing when I hear shouting out in reception. For a minute I think it’s Dominic and Grotzy joking about, until I hear Pops shout angrily, demanding paperwork first.
I step out into the hallway just as a police officer makes his way towards me. “Excuse me, Miss, but would you make your way to the conference room and stay there, please?”
“Why? What the hell is going off?” I demand to know as he is joined by another officer and I look past them to see the reception area full of uniformed police. I pass the two cops who enter my studio and go to find Pops but he’s in a heated argument with an officer and Val is trying to calm him down. Dominic pulls me to him and I look up at him with questioning eyes. “What the fuck is going on? What do they want?”
Dominic leans close to my ear and lowers his voice just as Grotzy comes to stand with us. “They want to search the premises. Apparently they’ve been watching the place for a while and have seen deals from the car park. They’ve had a tip off someone from here is dealing. Pops wants to see a warrant before they start pulling the place apart.”
“Do they have one? Nobody here is dealing for God’s sake.”
The officer hands Pops some paperwork and Valerie looks over at us, her eyes questioning Dominic and when I look up at him I see his jaw tense, his eyes narrow on his Mum.
“It would seem they do have a warrant,” he replies before making his way to the conference room. I look to Dean who simply shrugs, following Dom.
I go to Pops and Val who look beyond annoyed as all the police officers start going through each studio and I can’t believe the sight before my eyes. Drugs have never been a problem at Xtreem. This is the first time they have ever been an issue. I look up at the officer in charge and he has a smug look plastered over his fat face. Pops looks like he is about to lose his shit.
“I promise you this. If any equipment is broken I will be getting my solicitor on the case and I’ll be reimbursed so you might want to tell your guys to take it easy whilst they search,” Pops bites out and the officer grins and rolls his eyes.
“Why don’t you go through to your conference room and start questioning your staff as to who it is serving up from your premises? I’d be more concerned with sacking the dealer on my payroll than worrying about what a fine job the police are doing of searching your property.”
I take Pops by the hand and try to move him to the conference room where the rest of the team are waiting. I know none of us saw this coming and every one of us is wondering what the hell is going off. A lot of people need Pops to clarify the situation.
“Come on, Donald. Let them have their fun. You know they won’t find anything no matter how hard they search,” Val says quietly while shooting me a worried look.
Pops follows us to the conference room where all the staff turn and go quiet when we enter. Pops takes a seat at the top of the table and tosses the search warrant on the desk in front of him. Everyone waits with baited breath to see what he has to say. After an unknown length of time Pops looks up with eyes full of anger and sweeps his gaze across the whole room. Stopping firmly on Dominic. “If anyone in this room has brought drugs onto my premises then now is the time to fess up. If you’re stashing drugs here they will be found.”
Nobody moves a muscle or says a word. I see Dominic’s head drop and he tosses his phone onto the table. A few people are eyeing him and when he looks up his eyes are just as angry as Pops’. “What are you gonna do, Donald? Piss test us all?”
I sigh, seeing a full scale argument on the horizon. Pops surprises me when he chuckles. “No, Dominic. I trust my team. I know for a damn well fact nobody that was here before you arrived messes with the dirty shit. The police would be hard pushed to get a positive test for cannabis from any of them, let alone Cocaine. That’s what they’re searching for. Coke.”
“So when you say before I arrived are you insinuating that I’d fail a drug test?” Dom lets out a humourless laugh. “Has anyone here ever seen me high or stoned? If they find drugs here I can assure you they are fuck all to do with me.”
“We’ll see then, won’t we?” Pops states before Valerie puts her hand on his arm.
“Now, Donald, you can’t put this all on Dominic. You have no idea who the police have seen dealing from the car park. It could have been anyone.”
&n
bsp; The room drops deathly silent and we all sit uncomfortably until the officer in charge enters the room. He smugly lifts an evidence bag which holds a zip lock bag of white powder. “Who wants to claim their stash back?” He asks, his chest puffed up with pride. Pops groans loudly and drops his head into his hands. I flick a glance to Dominic who seems to have gone pale all of a sudden. “We will be taking statements from every single one of you, so get comfortably ladies and gentleman. It’s going to be a long day. Who works in the radio station?”
All eyes turn to Dom and the team who shuffle and raise a hand. “We’ll start with you then. Follow me, big boy,” he says to Dominic who gets up and stalks from the room, not looking at anyone. His jaw twitching, his mood obviously livid and anxious.
Surely he wouldn’t do this? I know there are rumours he did time in prison for being caught dealing in Birmingham but that was more than two years ago. He’s been on the straight and narrow for ages now. He wouldn’t fuck up like this, surely?
I glance to Valerie and Pops who have their heads together, bickering in hushed toned. There’s a quite murmur going around the room as people whisper to one another. No doubt discussing Dominic. Grotzy comes to stand beside me. “I’m not buying this, not for a minute. Dom isn’t dealing from the studio. I know it.”
“How can you be so sure?” I mumble. Pops is obviously having major doubts. Valerie looks like she wants to defend her son but has her own doubts, too.
“I’ve been out clubbing with him, played on the radio for him, he’s always straight. I’ve yet to see him high. Plus dealing coke is a lucrative business. I haven’t seen him splashing the cash either. Have you?”
I shake my head. That doesn’t mean he isn’t dealing it though and I tell Dean as much.
“Look, Tara, you know as well as I do that in our line of work party prescriptions are handed out all the time. We’re not blind to it even if we don’t partake. I don’t think you’d find a DJ who can honestly say they’ve never used something. Even if it’s just a bit of pure to get you through a long and heavy weekend. You’d be even harder pushed to find a clubber that could say they’d never touched anything. We have loads of wannabe’s come through these doors. Any one of them could have been responsible.”
This gets my cogs turning and I’m thinking through all the bookings we’ve had and radio guests. The only one I found even slightly likely to be high was Jason. It all seems to fit into place and I am replaying everything back in my head, deep in thought when an officer asks me to follow him through to Pops’ office.
I sit at Pops’ desk and am still trying to remember Jason’s surname when the police officer flicks his notepad open and clicks his pen. I answer his questions for name, address, date of birth and role at Xtreem on autopilot. My mind is whirling with questions and I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing by being honest when the officer asks me questions. I feel like I need to protect Dominic but I’m not sure how to do that.
“I need an answer from you, Miss Powers. Have you ever stayed at the studio with Mr Clayton after normal opening hours?”
I nod, clearing my throat. “Yes. Dominic runs the radio show, he has to stay late sometimes. I’ve played on the radio and observed Dom when others have played, too.”
“I see. We have a diary of everyone who has played and will be interviewing them all separately. I just want to verify we will be fingerprinting the bag of coke. So if anyone here has a criminal record and their prints are on file, we’ll know. Do you have a criminal record?”
I shake my head that I haven’t.
“I believe you were here last night with Lauren Sanders and Jason Cooper. Did anyone leave the building during this time?”
“Yes. Jason and I went out for a cigarette.”
“What time was this?”
I shrug, trying to remember but my head is spinning. “They played from 7 o’clock until 9 o’clock. It was about half way through their set. Maybe a little later.”
“So around 8pm? 8.15pm maybe?” I nod. It sounds about accurate. “Did you leave the building together?”
I shake my head. “I went out a couple of minutes after Jason. He made me jump because he was on the ground looking for his lighter. We smoked a cigarette and he came back inside a minute or so before me. He must have found his lighter though because he had it when we left.”
“Okay. Did you see any cars arrive or leave whilst you were outside smoking?”
“No. It was pretty quiet. Dominic and Lauren never left the studio. We all left together around ten past nine.”
The officer is writing down everything I’m saying and nodding. The second officer is stood silently at the door. I nervously flick my eyes around the office, bouncing my leg on the ball of my foot in anxiety.
“What about the night you played on the radio, Miss Powers? Did anyone exit the building during the two hours you were here?”
“No, Dominic and I were alone and we were together the whole time. We left together around 9.15pm.”
The officers trade a look and the room drops into silence for a few minutes as the cop flicks back through his notes. He glimpses up at me before clearing his throat. “Have you ever witnessed any of your work colleagues loitering in the car park at any time?” I shake my head that I haven’t. “What about using drugs. None of you ever get carried away whilst working in the studios? We know how sometimes recording sessions go on into the night. Nobody ever lights a joint to get in the party mood while recording?”
I shake my head vehemently. “Absolutely not. Pops would blow a gasket if we lit even as much as a cigarette up in his studio. We may stay late and maybe some of the DJ’s smoke to unwind, but never at work. Never at Xtreem,” I state with conviction in my voice. “I am positive the first person who even contemplated it would be fired with immediate effect and physically removed from the premises.”
The police officer looks at me like he isn’t convinced and almost laughs at me, a slimy grin spreading over his insolent face. “Okay, Miss Powers. What about the punters who pay you for studio time? Have you ever seen any of them high?”
I shrug. “Maybe they took something before they got here but never on the premises.”
“Okay. Who?”
“I’ve only ever seen Jason Cooper high.”
“The guy who was here last night?” I nod. “What about Lauren?”
“Lauren definitely wasn’t. She was straight.”
“What about anyone else?”
“I can’t remember anyone else off the top of my head. If I had to wager a bet I would guess that was Jason’s stash you found today.”
I sigh and tip my head back.
The cops trade a glance and the interviewer nods. “Right. I think we have all we need for now, Miss Powers. If we need anything more from you we will be in touch.”
“Fine. Can I go now?” I stand and the officer nods his head, his partner moving from the door to let me out. I return to the conference room as they call Valerie into Pops’ office. Pops isn’t there either so I’m assuming he is being interviewed, too. My phone rings and the officer in the corner of the room barks at me to turn it off. I do so, after sending Shazza’s call to voicemail.
We all sit around for another hour before Pops and Dominic come into the conference room. They sit at opposite ends of the table, none of them speaking to anyone. Someone makes a round of coffees and we sit right through lunch waiting for the interviews to end. The tension just keeps on mounting and I have this foreboding feeling that once the police are gone there is going to be an explosion of temper that would rival a nuclear bomb. When the interviews finally do finish Pops leaves the room with the officer in charge. Valerie moves to sit next to Dominic. Their conversation is hushed but heated.
When Pops enters again everyone falls silent, waiting for him to speak. He looks around the room and shakes his head. “Well, they have finally fucked off and taken their findings, as well as all diaries and booking logs. We all know four grams of coke didn’
t fall from the sky folks. Anybody want to fess up now the coppers have left?” He is met with more silence and he looks to Val and Dom. “No? Well, I suppose I’m going to have to trust that it didn’t belong to any of you. But so help me god, if they find a print on that bag and it belongs to anyone here, you’ll be long gone and never welcome back.”
I feel my heart deflate but almost jump out of my seat when someone slams a fist down on the huge table, making the whole thing shake. “Why don’t you just point the finger at me? All of you. I know every single one of you think I brought this shit to the label. Well, you’re all fucking wrong. You hear that?” Dom bellows, his face red with temper and I swallow hard.
“Dominic, nobody is saying that,” Valerie whimpers and tries to take his hand but he snatches it away.
“Like hell they aren’t. Maybe not to my fucking face. I know you’re all thinking it though.” He stalks towards the door and I feel the pull to go to him. I have to tell him that I suspect this is all to do with Jason.
“Dominic,” Pops shouts as Dominic gets to the door. Dom turns with a scowl marring his beautiful face. “If they were your drugs, when you walk out of here, don’t come back. I won’t make allowances for you just because of who your mother is.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to. Why would anyone want to give me the benefit of the doubt?” Dom sneers before storming out. I look to Pops who looks torn and totally exhausted. He meets my eye and I shake my head, indicating that I don’t agree with him. Not this time.
I run out of the conference room to find Dominic in the reception area, his coat thrown over his arm and his car keys in his hand. “Dominic,” I call to him and he stops, turning on the spot and his lip curls when he sees me approaching.
Disrespectful Diva (DJ Series Book 2) Page 8