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ANGIE
The bar's front door was thankfully open, wedged from underneath with a rolled-up newspaper. As I passed the entrance, I could see a stack of crates piled just inside. A beer truck with a matching label had been parked outside when we pulled up, but it looked like they were leaving now.
I stood just inside, close to the wall and tried to look smaller than my 5 foot 8 frame, while I waited for Kanu to follow me in. The bar during the day was a very different experience from last night.
The main room was empty of people. The strong smells of beer, urine and smoke from last night were now muted, and mixed with the scent of cleaning solution. The floor was sticky on my shoes. The air was clear, though, so I could see that the purple wall paint was peeling around the edges. The posters looked dusty, and they were covered in a thin layer of grime. Rickety tables and a few chairs dotted the floor. The only thing that looked clean and new was the line of bottles behind the counter.
The light and roadway sounds dropped off, since Kanu had moved inside and away from the door. Only a tiny crack of light remained, drawing a thin line across the floor. I could just make out mumbled voices coming from the back.
"Okay, we are here," Kanu whispered. "Now what?" She reached her arm out to feel the wall at her side. "Wait, where are you? I can not even see where you are standing."
"I'm right next to you." I touched her shoulder. "Let your eyes adjust. I think we should try to look around. How about you check behind the bar, first? She could be hiding anywhere." I squeezed Kanu's shoulder. "It'll be alright, you'll see. We'll be out of here in a hot minute."
I felt Kanu's arm stiffen, and heard her take a sharp intake of breath. "What do you think we're going to find?" she asked. "I mean, it is just a bar."
"Well, hopefully we find Lynn. And fast."
We separated.
Now that we had stopped talking, it had gotten very quiet. I tried to walk softly, moving heel-toe, heel-toe in my boots, as I moved around tables and skirted a broom that had fallen over. As I took one step at a time closer to the stage, the voices from the back dropped off. Then I heard several loud thumps and a scream.
I quickly looked back at Kanu. She was lit from behind, the neon lights over the bar highlighting her pointed chin, long neck, and simple hairstyle, frozen in mid-movement. I waved at her to stay put, then turned, rushed to the back, and climbed the stage, which was empty. I paused at the stage door.
Was that Lynn? Was she okay? I took a deep breath, let it out, then turned the knob.
The long hallway was empty. Just like last night, a bare bulb on the ceiling with a long chain ending in a guitar pick dangled at the far end. The hall was lined with doors, one was open and made a triangle of light on the scuffed floor. The voices were louder. I leaned forward.
"Angie."
"Ah!" I quietly yelped and turned around. Kanu was standing behind me.
"I am sorry!" she whispered.
"Shhh! What are you doing here?"
"I followed you, of course."
I slapped my forehead. "Okay, fine. Hopefully, nobody heard us." I turned again and walked toward the open door. "Stay close."
As I reached the doorway I took a chance, and peeked inside. Oh my gosh! Lynn!
The room was brightly lit. The lead singer from the Flamingos was facing away from us, leaning against a tall stack of boxes. More boxes were piled around the room, against the walls, and under the small window. All of them had 'this end up' written on them, or 'BAND - do not touch'. Two other guys were also in the room, thankfully they were looking away from us.
One of the guys was standing over Lynn's limp form. I could see that several cuts were bleeding on her face. Boxes lay haphazardly around her. One box was open, and I could see headphones inside with tags.
He knelt, and touched Lynn's face with his thumb, getting it bloody, and making a face. He wiped his hand off her jacket to clean it. "She's still alive. Just out cold." He stood up, looking almost like a spider unfolding his stick-legs. It made me shudder. He brushed off his jeans and faced the singer. "So, what da' we do now?"
The other guy was flipping through Lynn's notebook. "Look, Ms. Rachel. Stuff about the records." He held the pages out to show her.
"Damn," said the lead singer. "Well, isn't this just great? I thought you told me this place was under the radar, completely invisible!" She smacked the spider-legged guy on the top of the head with her hand, causing him to flinch. "'What do we do now?' You're asking me? Think, dufus!"
The other guy, with high-teased hair and dark lipstick, rushed to answer. "We'll just dump her in the alley, like the kid from yesterday, right?"
"No, idiot," she said with a sneer, tossing her hair. "Clearly - that was a mistake -because this one came snooping." She toed Lynn's face with her boot, making me squirm. "She's young. Maybe a student. She came here looking for the music collection. Maybe she followed that kid from yesterday back here, maybe she came researching on her own. It doesn't matter. We can't stay here anymore, and we can't let her tell anyone about this, right? So we get rid of her." She stepped over Lynn's head and toward the door.
Toward us.
We had to back up, fast.
Kanu was gone. She had slipped inside the room next door, and I followed quickly. We stood by the door and I realized we could still hear the band members talking.
"You two take care of this," she ordered.
"What do you mean?" asked one guy, while the other said, "Shaddap, you. We'll just get the van, and dump her in the river. Easy as pie. As soon as Jonathan gets back with the van, I mean."
Kanu and I looked at each other, then turned back to the door, listening.
"See, Matt understands what I need. This is why he's allowed in my bedroom, and you are NOT." The last words came out slowly, like a knife being drawn across a sharpening stone. "Now, if you'll excuse me," she said with a false-sounding brightness, "I'll be in my room, running through my vocal exercises while you two clean up this mess. DON'T disturb me."
The singer's heeled boots made a racket stomping down the hallway, and then she was gone.
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