Page 16 of The Final Beat

Joey

I’m going over there. He’s taken a turn for the worse and if I don’t go now I may never know. I’ve told Ali that I’ll be back for the viewing on Friday.

Unable to believe he was going to go, I reread the text message. He’d been adamant that there was no chance. Yet it was there right in front of my eyes, ‘I’m going over there’. All sorts of questions ran through my head. Questions that I had no real right to ask, like had he told his dad he was going? Did his sisters know? How did he plan on facing him and not punching him in the balls?

Stabbing at the screen, I couldn’t ignore the concern screaming at me, begging me not to ignore it. The call rang out again, but this time Joey answered.

“Have you thought this through?” I asked.

“For fuck’s sake. You were the one who told me to go.”

“I told you that you should stop being gutless and contact him. That doesn’t mean shoot over there and play nursemaid.”

“It’s a bit late for that,” he said and drew in a breath. “His wife told my mum it’s only days now.”

Pulling the phone from my ear, I looked at it with a frown before speaking back into it. “Your mum is in contact with hiswife?”

“They have been for a while. Rosetta contacted Mum when we first hit it big.”

“Yeah, I bet she did.” I scoffed, willing to bet my house on the fact that it was Joey’s money and fame they were interested in. “And why didn’t you meet him then?”

“I’m not stupid, Destiny. I knew exactly why she was getting in touch. I told Mum to tell her to fuck off.”

“But now you’re ready?”

“Hah.” He gave an empty laugh. “I wouldn’t exactly say that, but you were right, if I don’t go I’ll never know. Rosetta knows I’m going but she hasn’t told him just in case I don’t make it in time.”

“When are you going?” Without thinking I opened my desk drawer and pulled out my passport.

“I’ve got a car picking me up in an hour. I’m going on the band’s plane.”

“Right.” I worked out timings in my head and looked at the overnight bag I kept in the corner of my office. It was always packed for emergencies. The residue of a violent relationship, always needing to be ready to flee if I had to. “Just don’t expect too much,” I said, having already made up my mind on my plan.

“I’ll be okay, Dais’,” he said softly, and the sound of his vulnerability thumped at my heart. “I’ll be back on Thursday. Early hours of Friday at the latest. I don’t want to miss the viewing of the studio.”

“Okay.” I glanced out of the window as a kid on a bike rode past on the pavement, just missing my neighbour’s cat.

“I’d better go,” Joey said. “My car will be here soon.”

“Right.”

As soon as the call ended, I went straight for the overnight bag. Once in my hand I called Laura.

“Hey boss.”

“Laura, can you pick me up in the next five minutes?”

“Erm, yeah. Sure. Where are you going?”

I rolled my eyes as I slipped my passport into the front pocket of my bag. “The private airfield.”

“Oh, okay.”

She was right to sound surprised. She knew we had nothing planned overseas, not with a tour starting in a couple of weeks. I was even surprised at what I was planning on doing.

“I need to go and scout out a venue.”

Why I lied I had no idea. It wasn’t like she didn’t know about me and Joey. The thing was when you lied to yourself it was harder to tell others the truth.

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