Free SailtotheMoon by Lynne Connolly Page B

he wants, I’ll play
for him. But that’s as far as it goes.”
    “You’d get further playing for me,” Chick said. “I’ll give
you an audition, if you want.”
    Immediately, she shook her head. “Like I said, it’s a hobby.
I have a job, a fulfilling career.” At least, it would be to most people. To
her it was a steady job, and the result of a deliberate decision she took at
eighteen to aim for the practical and achievable.
    Chick glanced around and lowered his voice. “How is he?”
    “You know him? JA?” No need to mention Jimmy’s name, where
anybody might overhear, and more than anywhere else, people here would know
about Jimmy A.
    “I’ve heard his stuff. Miraculous.”
    “Ah. Well, he’s been better, he’s been worse. Stable, and
happier for getting into contact. I wanted to open the avenue, that’s all, give
them the chance. He was missing his son.”
    Chick nodded and touched her arm. “Thanks. Keep me updated,
will you?”
    She’d tell him as much as she could, but she wasn’t about to
break client confidentiality. Chick knew Zazz’s real name, and he knew who his
father was, but other matters had to remain confidential. But she said yes, and
he moved away when someone yelled his name.
    Kelsie still stood there, watching Riku play with a keyboard
on the far side of the stage. Laura wasn’t sure whether it was stage right or
stage left, but whichever, Zazz took the middle spot. He plucked a mic from its
stand, tossed it in the air, caught it in his other hand and then put it back
on the stand.
    “Can we try something guitar heavy?” a disembodied voice
asked.
    Zazz nodded. “ Fresh Meat? ”
    The others nodded and Zazz took the acoustic guitar someone
brought over to him.
    Suddenly, what had appeared chaotic formed a pattern.
Everybody took their places and the crew left the stage to the members of the
band. Laura caught her breath. Sound check maybe, but she felt so privileged.
    “Which one is that?” Kelsie asked. “Did they play it last
night?”
    Laura shook her head, waiting. Hunter counted them in, and
then they swung into one of the hardest, heaviest songs Murder City Ravens had
ever performed. Before he started playing his guitar, Riku set an insistent,
throbbing beat on one of the electronic instruments on his side of the stage.
After Hunter’s count, they just—started.
    Like separate units, as if unaware of the other people on
the stage, they played in their own worlds. Then they linked in a single,
magical moment, and the tunes combined into one complex melody. Zazz added the
cream on top when he began to sing. Quietly at first, setting the mood, then in
the quiet-loud technique made famous by Nirvana, they hit something hard,
violent and Zazz sang over it all. Before she’d seen the band live, she hadn’t
realized what a powerful voice Zazz had, and how precisely in control of it he
was.
    She loved this, and watching from the side of the stage
enthralled her. Not that they’d allow her here tonight. The arena stage was an
open one, with a narrow entrance and exit each side. There wouldn’t be room for
anyone who didn’t have to be there. So she stood where tonight, the public
would be able to see. But she wanted to see the concert again. Not that she’d
ask.
    She didn’t have to. Chick came across to join them and
grinned broadly when he saw them dancing. Laura found it impossible to keep
still to this one, and her excitement filled her, right down to her feet.
    Eventually, the song finished with, for a change, a major
chord. The crew applauded, although Laura doubted the band expected it. And oh
shit, the guys with the cameras shut them off. She’d forgotten that they’d
sometimes have candid footage taken, for videos and even films. “You might end
up in the movie,” Chick said. “We’re thinking of doing a movie of the tour.
Just the music, for fans and a few interviews, not one of those film-them-anywhere
things. I won’t allow that. The band needs time