Page 96 of The Drummer

“Casey! Thank god. Were you sleeping?”

“It’s six AM, dude. What’s up?”

“So you haven’t seen it, then.”

“Seen what?”

His urgent tone has me picturing him pacing his office in rapid streaks. The guy does “stress” at a whole other level.

I push myself up to a sitting position and adjust the phone.

“It’s all over the place,” he continues. “Video and everything. Something about Luke and a chair and some new girlfriend? What’s going on over there?!”

Shit.

I rub a hand over my face and cast another quick look at Luke. He seems to be waking up as well.

“It’s nothing,” I assure TJ. “I don’t know what they’re saying, but I’m sure it’s bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit! They’re saying he’s erratic and violent! Stealing property? Threatening people? Sky high on who knows what substances? And who’s this girl? You didn’t think we’d maybe want to control the narrative on Luke’s first partner since the Elena thing?”

The Elena thing?Man, I hate this guy sometimes.

He goes quiet, and I actually feel his cringe through the phone.

“My bad, Casey. I could have phrased that better.”

“Yeah. You could’ve,” I say dryly.

The Elena thing… as if the worst day of my life is a tab on a spreadsheet.

“Anyway, my point is this is bad. It’s blowing up and the Label isn’t happy. I just spent hours trying to convince Alberto not to drop you over the Kara Corbin disaster, and then you pull this shit five minutes later? How could you let this happen?!”

Anger surges through me, burning away any lingering drowsiness. “First of all, I didn’tletanything happen. I wasn’t even here when all this went down. But even if I was, I’m not responsible for Luke’s behavior.”

Luke shifts on the couch, and I sense his intense stare from across the room.

“And second of all, theeventyou’re talking about is clearly being blown out of proportion.”

Hopefully. I don’t actually know. Luke still hasn’t told me anything about that damn chair and why it was worth blowing up our lives again.

“So he didn’t steal a chair?” TJ returns, hopeful.

“I mean… yeah. But?—”

“Shit. What about the girl? Is there a girl?”

“Yes, but it’s not?—”

“Dammit! Okay, listen, I’m getting Alberto on the phone. Expect a call in a couple hours. I’ll let you know who will be on it when I find out. And Casey, keep Luke on a leash. No more drama.”

I don’t even get to tell him off when he hangs up without a goodbye.

“Fuck,” I hiss, shoving my phone back on the table.

I dig the heels of my palms into my scratchy eyes.

“It’s out there, isn’t it,” Luke states in a flat tone.

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