How did she do so without being obvious? Take a casual wander. Charlie was working with Joe, checking on the keyboard.
But as she moved, Mark was suddenly in front of her, grinning.
“You know, your dad really loved everyone. Different people for different reasons. Loved Roy Orbison’s voice, the way Clapton could play... Who is your hero? Besides your dad, of course.”
“And Skyhawk?” She smiled, looking back. She couldn’t see Chase or Justin.
“Who else?”
“Um, hmm. Nancy Wilson, Heart! Killer voice. Oh—and I’m always a kid at heart. It wasn’t live performance, but I loved, loved both Idina Menzel and Kristin Bell in Frozen. Wow. Hmm, oh, well—loved Idina Menzel from the get-go—saw Wicked on Broadway as a kid, and she was killing it then. And who wouldn’t love Joan Jett? And I’ll never forget Delores O’Riordan, beautiful voice! Seventies, hmm. Wow—how could anyone leave out Aerosmith? Journey?”
She kept smiling, talking.
How the hell could she casually get by him?
But...
Why would Chase be suspicious of Justin, of all people? Justin, great worker, solid as a rock, no overindulgences, great husband, great father...
But there was Julia, chatting now with the boys. Her friend, the stranger who had come with her, was just standing back, watching all the proceedings.
“Mark, Julia is here—Justin’s wife. I’m going to go and talk to her, tell her that...that it’s great to see her,” she said.
“Oh, yeah, Julia! I’ll come with you.”
Great.
They both hopped off the stage, Mark turning to give Sky a hand. They walked over to Julia and the teen boys.
Sky barely got a chance to say hello before one of the kids said, “Wow, man, you’re her! You’re Skylar Ferguson.”
She smiled. “Yes, I am. And thanks for being here. Oh! And I know how you got tickets to the show, so thanks for being such great young men.”
They flushed, one speaking after the other, talking about Skyhawk numbers.
Julia looked uncomfortable. The strange man who was with her was watching.
He looked ready to move, almost ready to spring at any minute.
“Well, welcome, and we’ll be seeing you!” Sky told the boys. “Julia, it’s so great that you’re here. Anyway, I just remembered I have to check to see if I brought clothes in for a change—”
“What you’re wearing is cool. Love those jeans and that...shirt thing,” one of the kids said.
“Tunic. It’s a tunic,” the other told him.
“Well, thank you, because at this point, if I did forget everything, it is what I’ll be wearing!” she said.
Then she turned quickly, heading back to the stage, determined she was going to find out what Chase was doing.
And why Justin was...so strange.
“YOU NEED TO...UNDERSTAND,” Justin told Chase. The man was crying; tears were streaming down his face.
And he was terrified.
“I understand you’re the one who managed to fray that wire. You were best friends with Jake, and you knew he’d be ready to do things himself to keep a show flowing smoothly. You knew he’d go to fix the amp.”
“I...loved Jake!” he whispered.
And that was true; Chase believed him.
But something had clicked when they’d discovered that the places to drop off the money and to pick up the goods were right here.
And when he’d seen Justin...
He’d known. And he’d accused him in a straightforward manner when he’d gotten him alone, repeating the last words he’d heard Jake Ferguson say before he had died.
“I know what’s going on and I saw... I’m going to put an end to it as soon as this gig is over!”
Justin caught his breath, trying to contain the violence of his sobs.
“He saw, he knew, and he was going to report you to the police. Because despite his own sobriety, Jake didn’t mind others who could have a recreational drink or even a joint—what he minded was drugs being sold to children—and people dying!”
“I know, I know... I didn’t care. I thought it would be over. They could arrest me—I didn’t care about me. I had no choice. Then...or now...”
“Then, what the hell?” Chase exploded.
Justin looked toward the stage anxiously, trying to dry his face with his shirt sleeve, terrified as he looked toward the stage. “I never knew about the...fentanyl. That they are using it to cut hard drugs and handling it so recklessly. I didn’t. I swear. But they got to me, they let me know, and even now—”
