‘And how did he take that?’
‘Once again he laughed it off, and tried to convince me to get involved. That was when I gave him an ultimatum—either he quit the business, or he quit the band. Angus said that Grady was the real boss and that he’d never agree to kicking him out of the band. And so I threatened to go to the police and tell them everything.’
He got up from the bed and crossed the room to the door. For a second I thought he was going to walk out, but then he turned to face me, leaning his back against the door. ‘Things got kind of nasty from there. We had some pretty public dust-ups, and a lot of them ended up in the media because of opportunistic journalists.’ He stopped, an embarrassed grin on his face. ‘No offence.’
I gave him a dismissive wave. ‘None taken.’
‘At the same time, I was getting threatening phone calls from Grady warning me to be careful who I alienated or I might find myself without a band at all. I should’ve just gone to the police at that stage, but the thought of losing my music career was enough to stop me. I agreed to let it go, at least until after the Australian tour. But when we were due to leave, Angus didn’t show up at the airport.’
‘Did you try to contact him?’
‘Of course I tried.’ He pushed off the door and resumed his place on the bed. ‘But it was like he’d disappeared off the face of the earth. We had to go ahead and do the shows without him.’
‘How did that go?’
Ford leant back against the headboard of the bed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. ‘People think a bass player doesn’t make much difference. But it was like there was a hole in the band without Angus. The guy was trouble, but he was a great musician. We managed to find a stand-in once we got to Australia, but he wasn’t the same, and we got some pretty bad reviews from those gigs. By the time we got to Melbourne I was convinced that we were ruined. That’s when I saw you in that bar, and you actually looked more miserable than I felt. I didn’t really want to talk to anybody. Everywhere I went, people had recognised me and hassled me for an autograph or a conversation or something. And you didn’t even know who I was.’
‘Sorry,’ I said sheepishly.
‘No, it was a relief. I could talk to someone as a human being, not as a rockstar. I didn’t have to explain about Angus not being there. I didn’t have to make excuses for our poor performances. I could just be myself. And for the first time in years, I knew you were into me, the real me, not just who I was. At least, you seemed to be for a while there.’
I allowed myself to smile. ‘I might have been, if it wasn’t for my ex.’
‘And if I’d had more time, I might have made the effort to convince you he wasn’t worth it.’ The easy smile that had first attracted me back in Melbourne warmed his face for a moment. In a less life-threatening situation I could imagine being seduced by his compliments. But this was a life-threatening situation. I had to keep him on track. ‘But you got the phone call instead.’
His face changed as he remembered. ‘It was Grady. He told me that Angus had gone missing. There was a photo of his body and the police were looking for me. He told me to get out of there and lay low for a while and he’d take care of everything. I didn’t know what to do. I just panicked. And so I went straight to Barcelona. It wasn’t until I got there that I realised I’d made myself look guilty. I was an idiot.’
‘Why didn’t you hide out in your apartment, or with your sister? You drew more attention to yourself by getting caught in Park Güell.’
‘Yes, Barbara told me you found her. It took me a while to put two and two together and realise that Samantha Turner was actually the Sarah I’d met in Australia.’
I smiled. ‘Yeah, sorry about that. I couldn’t risk telling her I was a journalist or she might not have helped me.’
‘You’re right there. Barbara hates journalists. Anyway, I knew the police were going to grill Barb, and I didn’t want to put her in an awkward position. And to be honest, I didn’t mean to spend the whole night in the museum. I meant to sneak out before anyone arrived in the morning, but I was so jet-lagged that I didn’t wake up until the maintenance guy arrived. When the TV reporter got there and she didn’t recognise me, I knew I’d got off lucky and that it was time for me to go.’
‘So you moved on to Rome?’
‘Another stupid idea. I figured if I stayed with Jack I wouldn’t have to use my passport, and I couldn’t be traced. Plus Grady had offered me his protection. At first it was good, knowing someone had my back. I relaxed a bit, even went out in public again.’
‘And then I showed up,’ I said.
‘Ah yes, my PI girlfriend, Lisa.’
I ducked my head. ‘Sorry again.’
‘Hey, if you can get me out of this mess, you can pretend to be my girlfriend anytime. If I’d just told you everything right then, this could have all been over by now. But I panicked again.’
‘I overheard your conversation with Grady in that piazza. It sounded like he was threatening you.’
‘I just wanted it all to end,’ Ford said. ‘When he told me I was being followed, I wanted to stop it there. The band wasn’t worth going to jail for. But when I suggested we go to the police
