Sedona Law 6 by Dave Daren (best non fiction books of all time .TXT) 📗

“I’m sorry Henry, I’m under a lot of stress,” she said. “You’re going to have to be clearer with me.”

“Fine,” I said. “Right before James came back from Africa, he was offered a deal with La Vista records. I have the contract right here. And there was a half a million dollar sign on bonus. Now, I don’t see any record of that in your bank statements. Where we’re hung up on, is if James actually signed the papers or not. Because if he did, then Brent owes you a hundred grand, regardless.”

The line was silent for at least thirty seconds.

“Kelsi?” I prodded. “You still there?”

“Yeah,” her words were slow and halting. “Okay. I’m really not following you. La Vista Records? A hundred grand? I...I’m completely lost here.”

“You mean you don’t know anything about the deal James made with La Vista?”

“No,” she said. “He made a deal with Firenite Entertainment in Vegas to do a six month residency. That’s the only deal I knew of.”

I chuckled. “Well, I’ve the contract right in front of me. La Vista Records was offering him a three record deal with a five hundred grand advance.”

“Wow,” she said. “La Vista Records? That’s huge. Wow. I mean, it’s the La Vista Records? The famous one? It’s not some fly by night company in some small town in Wisconsin or something that spells it one letter differently to make you think it’s the real La Vista?”

I laughed. “No. The guy he was working with at La Vista, the one whose name is all over this contract, I actually know pretty well. He’s legit. I’ve had drinks with him, met him in his office. He’s real, and he’s with the real Arista.”

“Oh my god,” she gushed. “I genuinely had no idea.”

“Well,” I said. “Here’s the good news. If he signed and returned the contract, then they owe you the money regardless.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she gushed.

“Nope,” I said. “So what I need you to do, is find out if he signed the contract.”

“How would I do that?” she asked.

“The guy at La Vista’s name is Bret Levinson, I’ll text you his number,” I said. “Without a court order, he’s not going to talk to me. But, he will talk to you. The other thing you can do, is look for the contract. Did he have safe deposit box or anything anywhere?”

“Not that I know of,” she said. “But now I don’t know what else he was hiding. I’ll look around.”

“You do that,” I said. “If he signed it and sent it in, they’re on the hook.”

“Got it,” she said. “Thank you, Henry.”

“You bet,” I said.

We ended the call and I texted her Brent’s number. Then I leaned back in my chair and thought.

“She didn’t know about the contract?” Vicki asked incredulously.

I shook my head.

“Why the hell wouldn’t you tell your wife that you just paydirt as a rockstar?” I wondered.

And that’s when it hit me.

“Because he was leaving her,” Vicki echoed my thoughts.

“Damn,” AJ said. “This guy was cold.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I mean, she was screwing his manager.”

“And so he screwed them both over,” Vicki said.

“He screwed all of them over, “ AJ added. “He cut ties with everyone he knew. Why?”

We were all silent for several minutes while we pondered the question.

“I want to know who knew about this contract,” I said. “Because in all of the conversations we’ve had, no one mentioned anything about La Vista, a record deal, Brent Levinson. Nothing. There was plenty about the residency in Vegas, and about firing the band. But, nothing about a record deal.”

“Who in the band can we trust?” Vicki asked.

“It’s easier to find people we can’t trust,” I said.

“Roy Oberland,” we all said in unison.

I grabbed my keys and shoved the contract into my padfolio.

“I’m going out there,” I said.

I got in my car and drove out to Roy’s Body Shop. It occured to me that Roy might not be in. The green Jaguar was gone when I got there, and the yard was deserted.

The door was open, so I walked in tentatively. The lights in the lobby were all off, but Roy’s office was lit up. He wasn’t alone.

“I get it, Tony,” he said. “But this place is crawling with Feds, and I got Kelsi’s lawyer so far up my ass I can’t breathe.”

“I know,” Tony said. “He was at Universal the other day asking shit.”

“Did they tell him anything?” Roy asked.

“No,” Tony laughed. “They told him I was in jail.”

“Brilliant,” Roy said. “Bought us some time.”

I pulled out my phone and brought up the audio app and set it on record.

“A little time,” Tony said. “But, we’ve got to move this stuff. I can’t sit on it anymore.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry,” Roy said. “I’ll take care of you.”

“Really?” Tony said. “Like you’re taking care of Kelsi?”

Roy sighed. “I’ve got the situation with Kelsi under control. I’m handling it.”

“Cause from my vantage point,” Tony said. “You’re hanging that poor lady out to dry. She’s looking at time, man. Serious, real time. And that was your girlfriend, dude. How you going to take care of me? That’s bullshit.”

“She won’t do time,” Roy said. “I’ll make sure of that.”

“How are you going to do that?” Tony said. “Huh?”

Roy slammed the desk, and I startled in the darkness. My elbow hit the gumball machine and it rattled. Tony and Roy were both silent for a minute.

“Is there somebody out there?” Roy asked.

Tony stuck his head out into the lobby. I wanted to get more of the conversation recorded, so I couldn’t let them know I was there. Besides I didn’t know entirely