Lost City

by Tracey West

  “I always like when we do that,” Aly said. “Each song means a lot to us.”

  AJ nodded in agreement. “We’ll talk it over together.”

  “Okay,” Jim said, walking over to Aly and AJ. “Then I guess we’re done here for the night.”

  “Ah, sleep!” Aly said. “I can’t wait for my head to hit the pillow.”

  AJ held back a yawn. “Me too. It’s been a busy day!”

  “I hope you’ve got energy for one last surprise,” Jim said.

  Aly’s eyes grew wide. “I love surprises! What is it?”

  “Come with me and I’ll show you,” he told them.

  The girls were both now wide-awake. What could Jim have planned?

  “I was hoping we could walk, but since you are both so tired, we’ll grab a cab,” Jim said as they walked outside. He hailed a cab and got in for a short ride. The cab let them out only a few blocks away—right in front of Madison Square Garden!

  He walked into a side entrance. The girls followed. After talking to a security guard, they were ushered backstage. It was quiet. There was no show tonight and the place was empty.

  “Ladies.” He bowed and gestured to the stage doors. “It’s all yours.”

  AJ and Aly slowly walked out onto the stage. Thousands and thousands of empty seats surrounded them. The indoor arena was shaped like an oval, with seating on every side of the stage.

  “Wow,” Aly whispered. “Imagine all of those seats filled with people.”

  “I feel so small standing here,” AJ answered in hushed tones. “I can’t believe we are going to be playing the Garden.”

  “What are we whispering for?” Aly asked. “This is a dream come true! Let’s shout!”

  AJ let out a cheer. Aly pretended to hold a microphone. “Hello, New York!” she yelled. Her voice echoed in the vacant stadium.

  The girls laughed and gave each other a big hug.

  “This is the best,” AJ said. “And I’m so glad I’m sharing every minute of it with my sister.”

  “Me too,” Aly said. “Who else would I want to rock New York with?”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

  A MISSING SUSPECT

  “They don’t make bagels like this in California,” Aly remarked. She and AJ were sitting in a crowded bagel shop near their hotel. People rushed in and out, grabbing bagels and coffee on the way to work. The sisters were getting a quick breakfast themselves. Jim had scheduled a whirlwind of publicity interviews that afternoon for them, but they hoped to spend some time discussing their latest clues.

  Between bites of cinnamon raisin bagel with walnut cream cheese, Aly sketched Miles in her book. She drew his face first, then added Gigi’s spiky hair and eye makeup. She passed the sketchbook to AJ across the table.

  AJ put down her whole wheat bagel with veggie cream cheese and looked at the drawing.

  “I guess Miles kind of looks like Gigi, if he went to all that trouble to change his appearance,” AJ said. “But Miles is really tall and skinny. I know Mr. Willis can’t see very well, but would he make such a big mistake?”

  Aly sighed. “Probably not. But I hate to think that Melanie is guilty. I’m really starting to like her.”

  “Me too,” AJ said. “But it’s a little weird that we saw her selling that guitar. I’m anxious to show your sketch to Gigi. Then we’ll know for sure.”

  “Just a few bites left,” Aly said. They finished breakfast, left the shop, and headed for Gigi’s school. AJ called Jim from her cell phone.

  “Your mom and I will pick you up at eleven thirty,” he told them. “We’ve got a busy afternoon.”

  “We’ll be ready,” AJ assured him. “This won’t take long.”

  It was another bright, cool spring morning. The walk to the school didn’t take long. When they got there, Gigi opened the door for them. She looked upset, just like she had the day they first met her.

  “What’s wrong?” Aly asked. A horrible thought came over her. “Did our equipment get stolen?”

  Gigi shook her head. “No, it’s not that bad. It’s Miles. He just called and said he was quitting! No explanation at all. Class starts in fifteen minutes. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  “That’s terrible,” AJ said. She glanced at Aly. This was definitely suspicious behavior on Miles’s part. Did he quit because he had enough money to record his CD—money he got from stealing Gigi’s equipment?

  “Gigi, don’t worry. We’ll teach Miles’s class for you. At least for today,” Aly offered.

  AJ was surprised at her sister’s offer. “But Aly, we’ve got interviews all day.”

  “We have time to teach one lesson,” Aly pointed out. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

  “You’re right,” AJ agreed. She took her notebook from her bag. “Miles was using sheet music with the class. I have the music for ‘Bullseye’ here in my notebook. That’s got some sweet guitar parts. Gigi, can you make copies?”

  Gigi nodded. “The office on the third floor lets me borrow theirs.”

  Gigi took the page from AJ’s notebook and headed up to make copies. The girls talked about how they could teach the class. Gigi quickly returned.

  “Here you go,” she said, handing the copies to them. “This is totally awesome of you, once again. What would I do without you?”

  AJ grinned. “It’s for a good cause,” she said. “Besides, Aly’s right. It’s going to be fun.”

  “Oh, hey, I almost forgot,” Aly said quickly, digging into her bag. “The whole reason we came here in the first place. We saw something pretty suspicious yesterday.”

  She showed Gigi the sketch of the red guitar. “Does this look familiar?”

  “That’s a Gibson SG special. One of my favorites—until it got stolen,” Gigi replied. Then her eyes widened. “Why? Did you see it somewhere?”

  “We were in Izzy’s guitar shop the other day,” AJ told her. “Melanie was there, selling it.”

  “I knew it!” Gigi cried. “She stole my stuff, and now she’s selling it! That’s all the proof we need!”

  “It does look bad for Melanie,” AJ admitted. “But Izzy did say it’s a pretty common guitar. Maybe—”

  “She’s guilty. I’ve known it all along,” Gigi fumed. “Thanks for helping me figure this out. I’m going to go over there right after class. She won’t get away with this.”

  Aly frowned. “Gigi, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

  “You might want to calm down a little bit first,” Aly suggested.

  But the girls didn’t have time to talk Gigi out of it. The guitar students started pouring through the front door, and the scene became chaotic when the advanced students learned Aly and AJ would be teaching them that morning. Aly and AJ headed into the classroom to set up for the class.

  Aly grabbed one of the acoustic guitars and began to tune it. They’d decided that Aly would demonstrate the chords on the guitar while AJ talked about the song and explained how to play it. The students came in, talking in excited whispers. They set up their guitars and music stands.

  AJ walked around, passing out the copies of the music. She grinned at Shannon, who was plugging her electric guitar into a tiny amp. The young girl was wearing a black T-shirt with silver skulls on it today. She smiled shyly at AJ.

  When AJ finished, she stood in front of the group. “Hey, everybody. Aly and I are excited to be teaching you today. We thought we’d show you how to play one of our favorite new songs, ‘Bullseye.’”

  “That song rocks!” one of the girls called out.

  AJ laughed. “Thanks. Now we’re going to show you how to rock it.”

  Aly played the opening notes of the song, and AJ talked the girls through playing them. It sounded really cool to hear a whole room of musicians playing their song.

  AJ noticed that Shannon did really well when Aly played the notes first. But when AJ asked the girls to play the next measure on their own, Shannon looked confused. She played some notes, but they were in the wrong key. />
  AJ walked up to her. “Shannon, is everything okay?”

  Shannon sighed. “It’s like I told you yesterday. I’ve never had to read music before,” she explained. “I’ve always done it by ear. I tried to learn the notes yesterday after class, but I’m still pretty confused.”

  “You’ll get the hang of it soon,” AJ promised. While the rest of the class was playing, she spent a few minutes with Shannon, showing her the notes of the major chords. Shannon relaxed a little after that.

  Before they knew it, Gigi entered the room and announced that class was over. The students all groaned with disappointment.

  “Thanks, everybody. We had a great time!” AJ called out.

  Gigi approached them. “Thanks again. I owe you guys big-time.”

  “It was really amazing,” Aly said. “It reminded me so much of when we were learning how to play. It seemed like we’d never be good at it.”

  AJ nodded toward Shannon. “I hope they don’t get discouraged. Shannon could be a great guitar player. She’s just not good at reading music.”

  “That’s like Hana, in Gigi’s class,” Aly said. “Only she’s got the opposite problem. She plays piano, and she’s really good at reading music, but she has trouble handling the guitar. I don’t want her to get discouraged, either.”

  Aly looked at her sister. “You know, the main thing that kept me going was you, AJ. We always helped each other. It’s a shame those girls don’t have a sister to help them out.”

  As soon as the words came out, Aly’s eyes got wide. AJ got an excited look in her eyes, too.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Aly asked.

  “Always.” AJ nodded.

  They ran up to Shannon. “Come on,” AJ told her. “There’s someone we’d like you to meet.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

  A SUSPICIOUS SNACK

  AJ grabbed Shannon’s hand and led her down the hall to Gigi’s classroom. Aly ran ahead and tapped Hana on the shoulder.

  Both girls looked confused as Aly and AJ introduced them to each other.

  “Hana, this is Shannon. Shannon, this is Hana.”

  “Hi,” Hana said. She wrapped a long strand of her black hair around her finger.

  “Hey,” Shannon said shyly. Then both girls looked up expectantly at Aly and AJ.

  Aly knelt down to get on their level. “AJ and I thought you guys should meet each other,” she said. “We were talking about how lucky we were to have each other when we were learning how to play guitar. We both helped each other.”

  “That’s nice,” Hana said. “I wish I had a sister.”

  “Me too,” Shannon added. “I’m stuck with three brothers.”

  “That’s why we wanted to introduce you,” AJ said. “Shannon, you need help reading music. And Hana’s really good at that. But Hana needs help handling the guitar. That’s something you’re really good at.”

  Shannon nodded.

  “Maybe you could practice together,” Aly suggested.

  “I could really use help,” Hana admitted. “My mom brings me here from New Jersey, though. I bet you live in New York.”

  “No way!” Shannon said. “I live in New Jersey, too.”

  The girls started to talk excitedly and realized they lived close to each other. Aly and AJ stepped back.

  “I think this is going to work out,” AJ said.

  “Who knows?” Aly mused. “Maybe they’ll form their own group when they get older. We could let them tour with us! That would be so cool.”

  Gigi was rushing around the classroom, hurriedly gathering up the equipment and putting things away. She had a dark look on her face, and Aly and AJ knew where she was headed.

  AJ looked at her watch. “Jim and Mom will be here any minute. I wish we could go over to Melanie’s with Gigi, though. I’m worried about what might happen.”

  “I still don’t want to believe Melanie did it,” Aly said. “It’s really weird that Miles quit. I wish we had some way to track him down.”

  “I guess there’s not much more we can do,” AJ said. “We’d better head outside.”

  They waved good-bye to Gigi and headed out the door. Aly bumped into someone coming down the narrow hallway. She heard something fall to the floor.

  “Whoops! Sorry,” Aly said. She looked up to see Brandon and smiled. “Hey, we’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

  “Sorry,” Brandon muttered. He reached into his shirt pocket, as though he had lost something.

  Aly spotted what looked like a pack of gum on the floor. She reached down to pick it up. “I think you dropped this,” she said, handing it to him. Then she stopped. The package of gum was Bubble Blast’s Lime Invasion!

  “Good flavor,” Aly said quickly, trying to cover up her surprise.

  “Yeah, thanks,” Brandon said. He stuck the gum in his pocket and hurried past them.

  Aly and AJ stared at each other in shock for a moment.

  “Lime Invasion,” Aly said.

  “Did Brandon steal Gigi’s equipment?” AJ wondered. “But why would he do that? We’ve got to talk to him!”

  They ran outside—and right into Jim.

  “Glad to see you two are on time,” Jim said, smiling. “You’ve got your first magazine interview across town.”

  AJ watched helplessly as Brandon disappeared around the corner. But there was nothing they could do.

  New York City was waiting for them!

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

  A MUSICAL MOTIVE

  Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

  Aly lifted her head from her pillow. Morning sun streamed in through the hotel window. Their afternoon of interviews had spilled over into late evening. Both sisters were exhausted. It felt like they’d been to every single street in Manhattan.

  AJ stumbled out of bed and opened the door. A man in a white uniform stood there, carrying a tray filled with covered plates.

  “Room service,” he said.

  “Thanks,” AJ told him. “Can you please put it on that table?”

  The man set the tray on the table, and AJ signed the receipt he gave her and thanked him. Aly dragged herself out of bed and sat down next to Aly. There was a copy of New York Weekend magazine on the tray, topped with a note written on fancy white paper. AJ picked it up and read it.

  “Girls, eat a good breakfast! Tonight’s the big night! Love, Mom. P.S. The cover looks great!”

  “Wow, today’s Friday,” Aly realized. “The first night of our tour. If I wasn’t so tired, I’d be nervous.”

  AJ picked up the magazine and held it up so AJ could see the cover. She and her sister were draped over one of the carousel horses, smiling.

  “Hey, that came out cute,” AJ remarked.

  The sisters slowly woke up as they dug into a fresh breakfast of fruit, French toast, eggs, and tall glasses of orange juice.

  “I keep thinking of Brandon and that Lime Invasion gum,” Aly said. “That makes him a suspect. But I can’t think why he would steal Gigi’s equipment.”

  “I know,” AJ agreed. “Melanie has a motive. She thought Gigi stole all of the students for her school. And Miles needed money to record a CD. But why would Brandon do it?”

  “It doesn’t make sense,” Aly added. “Brandon doesn’t even like loud music. What would he want with a bunch of electric guitars and amps?”

  AJ froze. She dropped her fork on her plate. Then the same thought hit Aly.

  “That’s his motive!” they both said at once.

  “It all makes sense,” AJ said. “Brandon complained about the noise from Gigi’s school. They didn’t want it to disturb their practice.”

  “That’s why they left the acoustic guitars,” Aly realized. “They’re a lot quieter than electric guitars and amps.”

  She jumped out of her seat, then suddenly sat back down. “Wait one second. Brandon doesn’t look anything like Gigi. I don’t think he could have fooled Mr. Willis.”

  AJ frowned. “You’re right.” She was thoughtful
for a moment. “But he might have had help. Remember those other kids he was with at the park?”

  “You mean Victor, that big guy who played the violin? How could he have passed for Gigi?” Aly asked.

  AJ shook her head. “No, remember the girl with them? Her name was Christy, I think. She’s about the same height as Gigi. And she has dark hair.”

  “That’s got to be it!” Aly said, excited. “And I bet Victor helped carry out all that heavy equipment. Wow, I really feel like a detective now.”

  “We’d better tell Gigi right away,” AJ said. “She’s probably already talked to Melanie by now. I wonder if she called the police?”

  Then AJ glanced at the note from their mom. A guilty look crossed her face. “I forgot. We can’t go. We’ve got to start getting ready for the show tonight.”

  But Aly was already pulling on a pair of jeans. “It won’t take long! We’ve got to do it. Come on, AJ!”

  Minutes later, they were dressed and rushing out of the hotel lobby. To their amazement, Murray the cab driver was parked in front of the hotel.

  “I was hoping to see you girls,” he said, as they climbed in back. “Your manager was so nice. He got Sarah and me tickets for your show tonight. She’s so excited! How can I ever thank you?”

  “You can get us to the Girls Rock Academy, fast!” Aly replied.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

  HARMONY

  They reached the school in a few minutes, slightly nauseated, their hair tangled from the breeze blowing through the open cab windows.

  “Was that fast enough for you?” Murray asked.

  “That was awesome,” Aly said.

  “We’ll see you and Sarah tonight,” AJ said. “Thanks!”

  They ran into the building and were faced with a puzzling sight. Gigi stood in the hallway, surrounded by electric guitars, amps, and soundboards. At first, AJ thought it was the equipment they had loaned Gigi. But nothing looked familiar.