Page 124 of Vespertine
“Okay, whoa, hold on. Before you set out on a crusade, letme say we’re not fighting this.”
“We’re…not?” Lucas sounded so small, and Jasper’s heartclenched.
“No, we’re going to do better. I need to talk to Adrianfirst, and you probably should too before you do anything, but I’m going toneed the information on all the grants the Church applied for over the pastseven years.”
“I can do that,” Lucas said.
“Okay great. Then I have one more call to make.” Jasper saidhis goodbyes and hung up. He sat with his phone in his hands for a while,stomach jittery with nerves, but they were the good kind, the excited kind.Change was coming, and while not all of it would be easy, it felt right.
He pressed Adrian’s cell number and held the phone to hisear.
Showtime.
“Well, shit.” Ramona said, hanging up her cell phone. “Thatwas Danvers.”
Nicky’s blood pressure rocketed up at the mention of thename. He ran his hands over his fresh haircut, missing his former length.Ramona had taken shears to him the night before and he felt almost bald. “What’sthat fucker want?”
“Mick’s done a goddamn runner.”
“What?”
“He’s on the lam, pretty boy. He left a note on Sez’s doorsaying he wouldn’t be at the studio today, or ever, and to hire another bassistto take his place. Danvers wants us to consider Perry Rogers, but I’m thinkingmaybe we should all spare some fucking concern for our current bassist andfigure out where the fuck he is and if he’s okay.” She blew out a lungful ofair and stroked her hands over her shorn head. “Remind me the next time I’mjoining a goddamn band to vet everyone for a tendency to be fucking dramaqueens first, okay?”
“Sure.” His guts churned.
He didn’t really know Mick. When they’d all been high, he’dbeen a reckless, horny, feckless daredevil who got up on stage and played hisbass like his hands were made of rhythm. But since they’d ended up back in thestudio together sober, he’d been a completely different person. Quiet, shy—timideven. He could still play his instrument, but he couldn’t seem to really jumpoff the cliff with them and do anything new. The truth was, Perry Rogers wouldprobably be a better bassist, but Mick was in their band. He was part of them,and maybe he needed more help.
“Get Sez on the phone,” Ramona said, getting her car keys. “Weneed to make a list of places to look. You take the Beemer and I’ll take theHarley, and we’ll track his ass down.”
Two hours later, Ramona roared off on her bike to check someof Sez and Mick’s favorite former haunts, including the houses of theirdealers, none of which she wanted Nicky anywhere near. While he wasn’tcomfortable sending her off alone to drug dealers’ houses, he didn’t think heshould know the addresses either.
Sez told Nicky to check out the Beverly Hills PresbyterianChurch. Apparently, Mick was originally from Los Angeles and he’d attended thechurch as a child. He still went there sometimes, according to Sez, when hefelt depressed.
It was in a beautiful Spanish-style building that Nicky admiredas he approached from the parking lot across the street. He’d explored the darksanctuary and was headed out to the courtyard when his phone buzzed with amessage from Jasper.
Lizzie saw on TMZ that you’d checkedinto the Beverly Hills Hotel. It’s unsettling the things the paps know aboutyou before I do. Is everything all right? I thought you were happy staying withRamona for a while?
Nicky frowned and started to type in a message denying thathe’d checked into any hotel anywhere, when it hit him. Mick.Mickhad checked into the Beverly Hills Hotel. It was ashort walk from where he was, and he hoofed it up the street toward theoh-so-familiar salmon-and-white wedding cake that had sheltered so many of therich and famous. He’d partied in their bungalows a few times himself.
He tried Ramona’s number and got nothing. He hoped she wasall right. He tried Sez and it went straight to voicemail. He didn’t know whathad happened between him and Mick, and what it was about being sober thatchanged things for him, but Ramona had been hard-pressed to get the informationshe was looking for out of him to begin with. He supposed it was too much tohope that Sez was out looking for Mick too.
He walked past security and straight to the front desk. Heheard whispers behind him.Nico Blue, no way, really, NicoBlue? Yes, Nico Blue!He passed all the well-dressed people. He didn’tgive a shit that he was in scruffy jeans and a Perfume Genius shirt he’d foundin a box of clothes he’d grabbed along with Mary Fender from his place.
It’d been weird going inside again and seeing everything theway he’d left it, only covered with dust. Luckily, Ramona had been with him.She’d gone in ahead of him and cleared out his stashes of drugs, flushing thembefore he came in to grab what he needed. He hated to think about packingeverything up. He wondered if he could have someone else fetch all of hisguitars and then hire a junk crew to take the rest of it all away.
The front desk worker was brittle but polite when he let himknow that Mick had checked in and then turned around and checked out againwithin an hour that morning. Nicky thanked him and avoided the hopeful eyes ofsome fans, keeping his head down as he walked out the door and headed back towhere he’d parked the car.
A text came through from Ramona.
I hate to ask you to do this, but couldyou check your place? Sez says Mick had a key. I’ll meet you there if you want.
Nicky remembered when he’d given Mick a key to his house. Itwas almost three years ago when Mick had been kicked out of the hotel he’d beencrashing in between residences.
Yeah. Meet me there if you don’t mind.
Ramona replied that she was following a lead from Twitterthat someone had seen Mick hanging around outside the Roxy, but she was on herway to his place after that.
Nicky’s stomach knotted up thinking about going back to hishouse. He would just make sure Mick wasn’t there and that would be it. He drovewith a sick feeling in his gut. When he arrived at his home, he pulled up tothe garage and sat in the car, breathing in and out for a few minutes.
