Rock Radio (37 page)

He dialed her at home and got her answering machine.  Disappointed, he left a message
, then tried her at work.  Again, he got her machine.

“Oh, Dana...where are you?” he muttered.

Cody felt completely alone and again it was because of his father.  He plodded out of bed and into the kitchen.  Bobby and Harper were gathered around the kitchen table, eating cereal, talking in low voices.

“Hey...Cody Blue, welcome back,” Bobby said with a wave.

“Good to see you man,” he said shaking his hand.

“You too, buddy.”  Harper stuck his hand out.

“It’s good to be home,” Cody said, and it was.  He was in the house he’d really grown up in – the house from his college years – with the only real family he had ever known.  The band decided to stay living together in their house in Gainesville until they really hit it big.  The money they’d received so far they were saving.  They didn’t want to buy an okay house when their rock star mansion was only a top ten song away.

Cody took a bowl from the cupboard and poured himself some cereal to join the group.

“So what have I missed?  How were your days off?”

“Relaxing.”

“Interesting.  And yours?”

“Incredible,” Cody said with a smile, thinking of Dana.

Bobby caught his grin.  “So things are good with the deejay.”

“You could say that.”

“I’m happy for you man,” Harper said, “and jealous.  But seriously, it’s good to see one of us in a good relationship.”  He stopped eating.  “Have you talked to Alex, yet?”

Cody spooned a bowl of sweet flakes into his mouth.  “No, what’s up with him?”

Bobby and Harper exchanged knowing glances.

“What’s up?” Cody repeated.

Bobby started, “Alex is marrying Kylie.”

“What?”

“And he’s quitting the band.”

Cody dropped his spoon in his cereal.  Milk and flakes flew everywhere.  “What?!?”

“Seems on his short little break he met Kylie’s dad, the preacher, and found religion.”

“Where’d he find it, under the couch?”

Bobby and Harper laughed.  “No man,” Bobby continued, “her dad had some big talk with him and he decided to become a religious man and marry Kylie and raise a family.”

“Okay...I can see that, but what about the band?”

“Devil music.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

They grew somber.  The normally quiet Harper spoke up.  “Naw, dude, it’s true.  Bobby and I were just talking about what we’re gonna do.”

Cody breathed heavily.  Everything was changing.  Again.  “Find a new guitar player?”

“Yeah...we gotta talk to Eric.  I don’t know, without Alex it’s not gonna be the same.  We were the original three.”  Harper put down his spoon.

“So?” Cody said incredulously.  Success was so close...they couldn’t give up now.

“The party’s over guys.  It was a good ride though,” Bobby resigned.

“It’s not over,” Cody said adamantly, “not by a long shot.”  He got up from the table and pushed his chair in anger against the table.

He went to his room and grabbed his suitcase.  Fortunately he had not unpacked so leaving was easy.  He threw a few items into his bag.  Bobby followed him.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“What does it look like?  I’m leaving.”  The past two days were too much.  He needed time and space.

“I know you’re disappointed but, c’mon man, don’t do something so rash.”

  Cody zipped up his suitcase.  “I’m not.  Alex had his flip out...this is mine.”  He began walking to the front door.

“Where are you going?”  Bobby asked.

“Home,” Cody said.  “I’m going home.”

*

Three hours later Cody was cruising down the highway to Dana.  She was his home.

It was hard to process the past two days.  His mother had been lying to him and his band was breaking up.  The people the closest to him had disappointed him the most.  He stepped on the gas thinking about it, trying to put as many miles between his past and his future as possible.

Cody picked up his cell phone and tried calling Dana again.  There was still no answer at home or at work.  He called the station back and asked to speak with Sharon.

“Hi
, promotions, this is Sharon.”

“Hey, Sharon, it’s Cody.”

She brightened.  “Cody...what’s up?  It was so much fun this weekend.”

“It was.  It was.  Hey, maybe you can help me out.  I’m trying to reach Dana, have you seen her today?”

“No, not yet, but I have to tell you that was really cool what you did for her when she got back.”

“The flowers?” Cody asked.

“No, silly, the limousine.  She was so impressed.”

“What limousine?”

“The limo you sent to take her home from the airport.  Very rock star.”

“Sharon, I didn’t send her a limo,” Cody said, suddenly scared.

“You didn’t?  Then who did?”

“Who the hell did Dana go with,
Sharon?”

“Oh God, what are you thinking...?”

“Sharon, I think you need to try to find her.  See if anyone’s seen her...isn’t that guy Jonny staying with her?”

“Yeah.”

“Call him now.  I’ll hold the line.  See if she came home last night.”

“Okay,” Sharon said, suddenly panicked.  She put Cody on hold and buzzed Jonny.

“Jonny Rock.”

“Jonny, it’s Sharon.”

Again she was calling.  “Sharon, look I told you I’d do the remote...”

“No, no, that’s not why I’m calling.  Are you sure Dana didn’t come home last night?”

He thought of her perfectly made bed, no suitcases and then to his promise to try her cell.  In all his personal turmoil, he’d forgotten.  “Sharon...I don’t think she did.  Why?”

“I have Cody on the line looking for her...he never sent her the limo I saw her get into yesterday.”

Jonny flew forward in his chair.  “What?”

“Hold on let me tell Cody.”

“I’m coming down to your office,” Jonny said, then hung up and raced downstairs.

“Cody, Jonny said Dana never came home last night.”

Cody’s blood ran cold.  “Call the police.  I’m on my way.”

Larry was in shock.  He’d never seen so much blood in his life.  He ran to the bathroom and brought back wet towels.  With great care, he lifted Dana’s head and began wrapping it in the towels. 
Apply pressure
, he thought as he wrapped, then tried to figure out what to do next.  He sat next to Dana, his hand pressed firmly on her head and waited for the bleeding to stop. This wasn’t how his plan was supposed to go.

You’re a loser, Larry.

What a waste.

You can’t do anything right.

The words of others reverberated in his brain.  They were true.  He couldn’t even make his perfect plan work out...he couldn’t keep his true love safe.  He was a failure and always would be.

He checked Dana’s head again.  The bleeding had started to subside.  He dragged her body from the spot of the fall and left her momentarily on the floor.  She was still bound, so he didn’t worry about her going anywhere.  Then, he began to clean up the mess.  A large red stain marred his beige carpet.  He applied bleach and began scrubbing.

This would take hours.

The phone rang.  He jumped.  Startled. 
No, calm down Larry, no one knows anything.  Act natural, act normal.

“Hello,” he said calmly.

“Larry, it’s Fern at the bookstore.  Wondering if you were planning on coming in to work today?”

“Oh, Fern,” he thought fast, “I’ve had a family emergency.”  Not untrue.  “I was so caught up with everything I didn’t get the chance to call you.  I’m sorry.”

“It’s always something with you lately, maybe your job won’t be here next time.”

“I know, I’m sorry, really.”  He tapped his foot impatiently.  Didn’t she realize he had a lot to do?

“Fine, but shape up.”

“Bye Fern.”  He replaced the hook.  These women were all alike.  Nagging, nosy and no good.  He hated them all.  All except Dana.

And now he’d destroyed her too.

Sharon called the police – Jonny listened in.

“911 emergency.”

“I need to report a possible kidnapping.”  Sharon was breathless.

“What is the name of the person missing?”

“Dana Drew...”

“Dana Hill,” Jonny corrected.

“Dana Hill,” Sharon repeated back into the phone.

“How long has she been gone?”

“Since yesterday, she got in a limo she thought her boyfriend sent and no one has seen her since.”

“And you are?”

“Sharon, her co-worker.  Please send somebody, please help.”

“Where are you m’am.”

“I’m at WORR – the radio station on Biscayne Boulevard.”

“
I have an officer on the way.”

Sharon hung up the phone in tears.  “Jonny, what’s happened to her?”

Jonny himself was stunned and afraid.  He put his arms around Sharon for himself as much as for her.  “Let’s think this through,” he said.  “Who would do this to her?”

Sharon wiped her eyes.  “Whoever it was knew that she was away, obviously.”

“Yeah, well that narrows it down to the entire listening audience.  We broadcast the trip.”

“Oh, yeah,” Sharon said, embarrassed at her stupidity.

“But this was someone that was specifically targeting her, right?  I mean how did Dana know the limo was for her?”

“The guy had a sign with her name on it.”

“Did you see him?”

“Just briefly.  He was short, skinny and had a big smile when Dana approached him, I remember that.  He was really excited.  Oh...and he
had kind of an odd shaped nose.”

Suddenly a light went on in Jonny’s head.  The letter.  The picture.  The po
em.  The caller ID.  “I think I know who might have done this.”  He grabbed Sharon’s hand.  “Come with me.”

Together they ran upstairs to Dana’s office.  It was locked.  “Damn it...who has a key?”

Jonny thought quickly.  Ted.  He flew into his office.  “Ted, Dana’s missing, I gotta get into her office.”

Jonny never saw Ted move so fast in his life.  He opened Dana’s door and they went in.

“I know it’s here somewhere,” Jonny said as he rifled through Dana’s desk.

“What?” Sharon asked, pacing the floor.

“There’s this listener, this crazy listener...I can’t remember his name.  He sent Dana some weird stuff...and a picture.”  He flipped through her desk drawers, pulling papers out as quickly as he could.  Finally, he found where she kept her listener stash of letters.

“Help me,” he said handing a stack to Sharon.

They methodically stared going through the papers.  There were so many letters and cards, notes and liner cards.  They moved as quickly as they could, tossing the papers aside as they moved from pile to pile.

Soon Jonny found what was he was looking for.  He was staring at the card with the picture of a rose on it.  He opened it.  The picture spilled out.  He showed it to Sharon.

“Is this him?”

She looked at the short, thin man with curly hair.

“I...I...don’t know, the guy was wearing a hat.”

“Look harder Sharon.”

She pulled the picture close to her eyes and looked long and hard at it.  “It could be him.  I think it could.”

Jonny reread the car
d.  It was signed only by Larry, no last name.

Jonny ran to the computer and opened up their listener file.  Whenever someone entered a contest, their info was logged into the station database.

Jonny did a search of listeners named Larry.  Twenty-five names popped up.

“Dammit!” he said, combing through the names.  “How are we supposed to find this guy?”

Sharon continued searching through the papers.

“Jonny,” she said holding up a red envelope.  “I think I found him.”

Jonny grabbed the envelope and copied the return address.  “Sharon, call the police and give them this information.  I’ll call Cody.”

He grabbed his keys and ran toward door.

“Where are you going?” she said.

“To get Dana.”

             
Dana regained consciousness, but didn’t open her eyes.  She could sense the light through her eyelids.  Her head hurt worse than before, only this time she remembered what happened.

The struggle.

The fall.

The blood.

She heard Larry muttering about her being out of it.  She knew he didn’t think she was awake...she guessed that’s why he hadn’t put her back in that tiny room.  The strong scent of cleaning fluid roused her from her uneasy slumber.  She knew Larry was close.  Her skin crawled as she felt him brush past her time and time again to get more cleaning supplies.  The key now was to figure out how to escape.