With another garbage bag filled, I hoisted it over my shoulder to carry it downstairs to the dumpster in the alley out back. As I entered the alley, I realized I wasn’t alone: Valentina was already there, speaking in hushed tones to a man I didn’t recognize, a tall man with short dark hair and a long, jagged scar across his right eyebrow. My greeting died on my lips as Valentina’s words reached me:
“Cole and Heath are on their way back with Grant and the others. They were clearly on the verge of skipping town, so it shouldn’t be too hard to convince the fire chief the fire was their doing, especially once I tell them all about Grant’s debts. It will look like they set the fire to skip out on the debt they couldn’t pay: a simple case of arson.”
Arson? Debt? Grant? My mind raced, and I ducked back into the building before Valentina could spot me. Hovering just inside the doorway, I listened intently as Valentina’s companion said something too low for me to catch.
Valentina’s voice, higher pitched, carried easily. “Don’t worry about that. With Grant and the rest of the band to take the fall, the insurance company will have no choice but to cough up the cash.”
I’d heard enough. I slipped away quickly, before Valentina or her sidekick could find me lurking in the doorway. My heart raced and my mind spun with what I had just learned.
Valentina had set the fire that had nearly destroyed the Ball. She’d done it for the insurance money. Not only that, but she planned to pin the whole thing on the Prince Charmings . . . because they owed her money?
It didn’t make sense, any of it, but there was only one thing I was sure of: I needed to get out of there. Quickly, before I gave Valentina any reason to suspect that I knew what she was up to. I didn’t trust myself to lie effectively, not to give myself away the second Valentina looked at me too closely.
So first, I needed to go someplace else, anywhere else. And then I needed to come up with a plan, a way to help the Prince Charmings. If Valentina were allowed to go through with this, they could be in serious trouble. I needed to find them, to warn them, help them, if I could.
22
Grant
I came to slowly, my head throbbing, blinking until my blurry vision finally cleared. Wherever I was, it was dimly lit, and dusty. I made to sit up, and realized that my hands were bound behind my back, my feet tied at the ankles. I cursed. At least I hadn’t been gagged.
Around me, my bandmates were similarly bound. Slowly, they began to stir, regaining consciousness one by one. “What the shit?” I heard Lester say.
“Where the hell are we?” Howie asked.
“Looks like . . . an old warehouse?” Chris said. I looked around. He was right. The space was large and empty, the windows cloudy with grime.
“Cole and Heath,” I said, remembering. “They must have knocked us out and dragged us here.”
“But why?” Saul asked. “I mean, I get that Valentina was pissed that we skipped out on her, but this seems a little extreme.”
More details came to me, fuzzy at first, then coming together into a coherent thought. “A fire,” I said. “They said there was a fire at the Ball.”
“And they think we set it?” Darren said. “It just doesn’t make any sense. What possible motive could we have for setting fire to the Ball?”
This was it; the moment I had been dreading for a year now. I was going to have to tell my bandmates the truth, shatter the last of their trust in me. I took a deep breath, my throat tight with nerves.
“It’s my fault,” I said quietly. The rest of the guys, who had been arguing amongst themselves, fell quiet suddenly.
“Why would you say that?” Darren asked finally. “We know you didn’t set that fire; we were with you the whole time.”
“Not that,” I said. “But I know why Valentina would think I did it. She thinks I’m trying to skip out on her. To escape my debt.”
The warehouse was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
“What debt?” Saul asked, his voice echoing against the silence.
I closed my eyes, willing away the tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks. “I have to tell you all something,” I said. “Something I’ve been too ashamed to tell anyone.”
“It’s okay,” Jason said, his voice soft. “We’re listening.”
“Before Bernadette died . . .” I hesitated. Once I told them, there would be no going back. This could very well be the end of our friendship, never mind the band. I cleared my throat. “We got in some trouble. Drugs. Coke, mostly. We had to borrow . . . well, a lot of money from Valentina. That’s why I wouldn’t let us break our contract with the Ball after the fire. I literally couldn’t afford to. I owed Valentina too much.”