“No?” he asks, raising his brow with a mildly satisfied look. “And what about that?”
He points to the notebook.
“It was just an accident,” I say, shaking my head with a warm smile and walk into the room to face him. “Just picked it up by accident.”
“An accident?” he asks, cocking his head to the side. “When were you going to give it back?”
“It just slipped my mind—”
“Unless you want me to tell the band what you’re really doing, you’ll answer me. What did you do to Pascha?”
I shake my head and he steps closer, so I step out of the way. The backs of my legs hit the bed. “I didn’t do anything to her. What are you talking about?”
“You lied about ever hearing her music, you came to see us play when she was a lead singer, you’re hooking up with her dealer, and then, when she disappears, you audition for her part and steal it, steal her songs and present them as your own. You’re incredible, you know that? You’d have gotten away with it, too.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t—I was never going to sing her song as my own. I was trying to see if—if you really didn’t like my songs—or if it was me you didn’t like. That you’d never say yes to—”
He rests his hands on his hips, shaking his head. “You’re a liar.”
“How did you know I came to see you play?”
“Jamie thought he recognized you and he remembered he saw you in the crowd one night, standing by the door where the bar is, right by where he always stands. He said you ran off. You were watching her, plotting a way to take her place. Where is she?”
“Cline, I didn’t do that. I swear!” I frown, trying to reason with myself that I’d be confused too if I were him. “What do you mean, dealer?”
“The guy Lucie said you were hooking up with.”
“Taylor? Taylor is Pascha’s dealer? I thought she was hooking up with him.”
“Don’t play innocent with me. It’s just us here. You tell me what you did with Pascha, you leave my band alone, and I’ll never say another word about any of it.”
“I don’t know what happened, but I had nothing to do with it. Why are you attacking me like this? Why won’t you listen?”
He shakes his head and steps in front of the door, trapping me in the room. Stokes won’t be back for another ten minutes at best and I look around the room, trying to think of some way to get out or defend myself.
“Jamie told me his contact never met up with Pascha. I know she’s not in Nashville. She wouldn’t leave us for nothing. Her parents called me. They haven’t heard from her. They’ve called the police. I knew something was wrong. I should have listened to my gut.”
“I don’t know where she is and if anything’s going on, I’m not part of it. I never knew her. I never spoke to her! I came to the show, I took her notebook by accident, I pitched her song as a test.”
He presses his lips together, scanning me, trying to decide if he trusts me or not maybe.
“I knew it was her song,” he says in a flippant tone, a little calmer than before. “Ask me how I knew.”
“How?”
“Pascha doesn’t title her work. Plus, she’d read me that one before once. I didn’t remember it all, but it was enough. You wanted her songs,” he says in a quiet tone, as if convincing himself. “You wanted her life.”
“I wasn’t trying to take her spot. I haven’t done anything to her. I don’t know where she is.”
He frowns and cocks his head to the side. “She hasn’t used her cell phone or her debit cards. She hasn’t been seen by anyone. The police will be questioning us, and you look guilty, Lynda. I want to believe you, but it doesn’t make sense. Why are you hanging out with her dealer? You don’t even do drugs. Did you have a plan together?”
“No! We were seeing each other the summer after high school. I saw him at Winburn for the first time since then. Why do you think he’s involved in this?”
“I know it’s the last place Pascha went.”
Chapter 22
Who’s waiting on the other side of the door?
I crane my neck back. “How do you know Taylor’s is the last place she went?”
“She ordered a car from a ride app, from the bar to his place after the show. I get her trips automatically shared with me for safety. After that, she didn’t make another order. I’m going to tell the police that.”
“Okay, good, do that then.”
His chest heaves and he frowns at me. “The note she left for me was typed. She always wrote with pen and paper. It doesn’t make sense. I’m showing that to the cops, too. If you had any involvement… if you wanted to…take her place—”
“I didn’t steal her life! I wanted it, okay? Yeah, fine.” I shake my head and sit on the bed, facing him. “I was jealous. I always wanted to write my songs and sing them, and since high school, I wished I could be part of your band. Stokes told me it was just the friends from your high school, but when I saw her that night, when Jamie saw me, I thought it was just an excuse. I went home, bought the album, and listened to it, trying to figure out what she had that I didn’t.”
“Why didn’t you just do your own thing? You want it so bad. Why Haddonboro? Why Pascha’s spot?”
“I didn’t think I’d ever do what I’ve done these few nights. My dad, he told me I wasn’t cut out for this. He meant it and I thought the world of him, so I listened, and I believed it, and I never tried. I thought the chance was behind
