Platinum

by J. M. Nevins

  He let out a faint groan. “Kit, Sam is history.”

  “What?”

  He sighed. “I can’t track the guy down anywhere. The phone number has been disconnected. I tried calling Dante on the answering service that you gave me. I’ve left repeated messages, but he’s not returning them. His home number is disconnected. When I call KMK it just rings and rings. No receptionist, no answering machine, no bueno, sis.”

  Kit chuckled. “You’ve only lived in Cali for a little under a year and already you’re speaking Spanglish? Nice, Spence.” Her jovial attitude didn’t stick, though. Her thoughts easily led back to the problem at hand and furrowed her brow. Her gut raised every kind of red flag imaginable and she didn’t like it. She was desperate to find the answer. She started reasoning it out verbally. “That’s strange. I wonder if he fired Carina. She was our receptionist and Dante’s assistant last I heard, but then again, Dante goes through assistants like water. He’s not the easiest person to work for from what I hear. Why don’t you stop by the offices? Do you have the address?”

  “Ok, I’m in your office right now. The letterhead for KMK is on your desk with the address.”

  She nodded. “Good. Just in case, take keys with you. They’re in the small drawer on the right.”

  “Found ‘em. I’ll get some answers for you, Kit. It may take me a day or two. I have a big project due in two days.”

  She stood up and tried to throw on her black wool overcoat while wrapping up the call. “Ok, thanks. I’m headed to the airport right now, so call me at the hotel in Manchester. You have the number, right?”

  “Yep. I’ll call you later.”

  “Good. Talk then.” She hung up the phone, hastily grabbed her tote bag and rushed down to the lobby where Sully was waiting for her. The rest of the band, along with Maxine and Ginny had left to head to the airport in one of the limos. Sean, Danny, Betsy and Sully remained staring at her. She held up her hands. “I know, I know. I’m sorry I’m late. Let’s go.”

  Kit sat on the plane rifling through the more important messages that Betsy had managed to filter out of the pile. She tried to focus, still sleep-deprived and hungover from the night before, but found it wasn’t as easy as she thought. Despite the band also being hungover, including Sully, they started working on new songs in the back of the plane. She glanced back and saw Sully standing up, strumming his acoustic guitar and laughing as he leaned back against the top of one of the seats.

  She sat back and resumed her work. When she reached the next message in the pile, she raised her eyebrows. She was surprised to see that Ria DiMarco had left her a message when they were in London. Music news did travel fast and before reading down further, she made the assumption that Ria was calling to provide congratulations on ‘Dangerous Curves’ going to platinum.

  Kit scanned down and did a double take upon reading the actual contents of the message that the clerk had written down. It had Ria’s contact information, said “return call” and “new manager” with a question mark. She shook her head in confusion and rationalized that the clerk must have been mistaken. Ria was still tied to Scorcher through her husband, Ronnie, the drummer of the band.

  Kit figured a quick call to Ria once they arrived at the hotel in Manchester would clear it all up quickly. She was only partially satisfied with her solution. The knots in her stomach returned again recalling Spencer’s account that Scorcher was missing from KMK’s financial statements.

  She swallowed hard and shook it off. She continued to flip through messages again. When she finally got to the last one in the pile, she breathed a sigh of relief. She stared at it and frowned. This one was from Richard Branson of Virgin Records. In the now familiar hotel clerk’s chicken scratch it simply said, “Congrats on GT platinum but why the restructure and closure of KMK’s central division?”

  Kit set the message down and called out to Betsy. “Hey, can you come here a sec?” Betsy walked over as she cleared out the seat next to her filled with piles of work. She showed her the messages in question. “Do you know of anything weird going on at KMK? Have you heard from Dante lately?”

  Betsy sat down and faced her. “Nope. It’s been strange, Kit. KMK has been really quiet aside from those reports you requested a while back. Getting those from Dante was like pulling teeth. I don’t know. He was kinda weird with me. Anyway, I got the reports and I haven’t heard from him since. He usually checks in once a month with us and I haven’t heard a peep.”

  She sighed. She was feeling increasingly uneasy by the moment. “Do you know if Ginny has had any interaction with him?”

  Betsy shook her head. “Not as far as I know. Gin is usually handling all the GT press stuff these days while I handle logistics, any overflow from Giselle at Diamond and anything related to KMK. But KMK has been pretty quiet for awhile.”

  Her green eyes narrowed. “Define awhile.”

  Betsy shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. Five, six months I guess. I figured Dante had everything rolling well and didn’t need anything. Is something wrong?”

  Kit stared straight ahead, her head whizzing with worst-case scenarios. “I dunno, Betz, but I’m sure as hell gonna find out.” She turned to face her. “Make KMK a priority, ok? If there are any messages that come in related to KMK, make those hot. If Spence calls, make it a four-alarm fire. He’s checking things out for me right now and I’m waiting to hear what he has to say.”

  Betsy nodded. “You got it, Kit. We’re on it.”

  She forced a grin. “Thanks.”

  As Betsy got up, Sully appeared standing in the aisle playing his guitar and smiling. “Why the long face, foxy lady? Why don’tcha c’mon back and sing your heart out with us?”

  She looked up at him and sighed. “Not right now, babe.”

  He frowned, took his guitar off and sat down in the seat next to her. He put his hand on her knee. “You feeling ok? That hangover really hitting you hard?”

  She chuckled. “I wish. I can handle that. I still feel crappy, but that’s not it.”

  He searched her eyes and could sense her uneasiness. “Then what is it?”

  She shifted her gaze down. “There’s something going on with KMK. I have a bad feeling, Sull, and I just can’t shake it.”

  He lifted her chin, stroked her cheek gently and stared into her eyes. “I’m sure everything will be fine. No sense in worrying when you don’t have all the facts yet. Whatever it is, we’ll handle it together. Don’t forget that. Team effort.” He grinned and gave her a gentle Eskimo kiss, rubbing the tip of his nose with hers.

  She sighed and grinned. “Thank you for that. You’re right. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

  * * *

  Spencer parked Kit’s BMW on Vine Street in Hollywood and jumped out to put money in the meter. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper that had KMK’s address on it. He looked up and confirmed it before heading into the tall office building. He searched the office directory and immediately recognized ‘KMK Management, Suite 320.’ He nodded, please with what he saw. He hopped onto the elevator and headed up to the office.

  He tried the doorknob and found it locked. He used the keys to open the door. His eyes widened in horror and he gasped staring at what lay before him—a sea of nothing. What was once a bustling management office was now an empty space of lost papers, abandoned cubicles, a lone printer, a quiet fax machine and an unplugged phone at the desk where a receptionist once sat. The large corner office with a view of the Capitol Records building was cleared out as well.

  Spencer sighed and shook his head in disbelief. He was positive that this was not how KMK looked and felt before Kit left for the world tour with Gypsy Tango. He didn’t know what to do or how he was going to tell her. A knock on the door interrupted his reeling thoughts and he glanced over. A beautiful blond was standing before him smiling.

  She waved. “Hey! Are you going to be our new neighbor? Sorry, I should introduce myself. I’m Tanya, I’m a receptionist at the insur
ance office two doors down. We were really bummed that they closed this office. KMK used to do so well and we used to see so many cool bands come in. I was star struck coming to the office everyday!”

  He frowned. “They closed?”

  She nodded. “I guess. Dante, the CEO, blew out of here a few months ago and then one by one the office staff just disappeared. Don’t know what happened or where they went. What kind of work are you going to do here?”

  He forced a grin. He wasn’t in the mood for small talk, but his manners got the best of him. “We’ve got a few ideas. Not sure yet.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Ooh a mystery. Even better.”

  He chuckled. “Thanks for the info, Tanya, but I have to run. Take care.”

  Moments later he was headed back to the house to see if he could put in a call to Kit. He was hopeful that with her help, they could unveil more pieces of the puzzle together. He dreaded her reaction.

  * * *

  Kit rubbed her temples and closed her eyes for a moment before picking up the phone to dial Ria’s phone number. The day was turning out to be challenging with a series of unwelcomed starts and stops leading to dead ends. She hoped Ria would provide even more insight to the increasingly precarious situation.

  Ria answered on the second ring and they engaged in small talk. Before Kit could ask, Ria brought up the subject. “So, what’s this crap with DBBT? They said it’s a reorg of KMK, but when I talked to Ronnie, he said DBBT is a whole new management company and they have a brand new contract. I don’t get how they could terminate their contract with KMK in the first place, but he said something about KMK being in breach of the contract. I dunno. I’m no lawyer and neither is Ronnie. That’s your gig. Ronnie said Skeeter left KMK because of that re-org thing and is working for DBBT now. So, because of that, he signed a new contract for them the other day. That’s what I heard, anyway.”

  Kit sat back in her seat, speechless and dumfounded. Too much information at once had pummeled her like a powerful tidal wave and she struggled to process it all in mere seconds. Her head spun and her heart raced.

  Skeeter was Scorcher’s manager. Once upon a time, he and Kit had a great working relationship. When Gypsy Tango started doing well, she handed Scorcher off to Dante, who then passed them off to Skeeter to manage. With Kit still in the mix, all was well, but once Dante officially took over as CEO and started running the show, Skeeter and Kit had a falling out. He had wanted the CEO spot and felt jilted by Kit when she appointed Dante instead. Scorcher felt abandoned too and she still felt bad about it. She had managed them back in Philly before bringing them out to L.A. with her.

  She snapped out of her daze and responded. “This is getting more long and complicated by the moment, Ree. Tell me what you know.”

  “Supposedly, word on the street is Dante said you put him in charge to do a full blown re-org because the company was a mess. Then that pissed off Skeeter and he talked to some other guy, I can’t remember his name, who was starting a management company out of NYC called DBBT. And then Aaron was running his mouth off and saying that the contract they had with you was breached, so it would be easy to get out of. I’m not sure why he said that.”

  Kit frowned. None of this was making sense to her. “First off, Ree, I didn’t authorize any re-org. And I’m not sure why they’re saying KMK breached the contract. I’m gonna have to talk to Bud.”

  She snorted. “Who the hell is Bud?”

  Kit snickered. “Scorcher’s attorney. I’ll call him. I don’t know how they could have signed with another management company so quickly without legally informing KMK. It makes absolutely no sense.”

  “Maybe I’ve got it mixed up, sweetie. I just thought I’d give you a heads up. Something seemed off to me. Congrats on the album, by the way. Ronnie and I are really happy for you and Sull. Platinum is huge!”

  She smiled. “Thanks, honey. I gotta run, but we’ll be back in L.A. in a few months. We’ll have to hang out—all four of us.”

  “You got it, girl.”

  Kit didn’t even bother to hang up the receiver. She disconnected the call and flipped through her address book with her other hand until she found Bud’s information. She dialed and got his voicemail. She realized he had already left the office for the day. She left him an urgent message to call her.

  She disconnected the call and instantly dialed Richard Branson. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to reach him either. She talked to his assistant briefly but she didn’t know much about the message he had left her. She hung up the phone, closed her eyes and rubbed her temples again as she let out a long sigh.

  She frantically searched for the KMK reports that started this whole mess and hoped to find some clues. As she examined them, she felt her stomach tightening up in knots again. She put the report down and lit up a cigarette. She got up and paced, trying to wrack her mind and recall her last conversation with Dante, assessing if anything seemed strange. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t access it in her memory banks.

  She sat back down and stubbed out her cigarette. She glanced at her wristwatch and figured out the time difference. It was two o’clock in Los Angeles. She looked up a number in her address book and placed the call, keeping her fingers crossed. Moments later she was put on hold. She lit up another cigarette while she was waiting on the line. She exhaled evenly and heard a familiar voice greet her on the other end of the line.

  “Ms. McKenna, this is a rare pleasure. It’s been a long time. How can I help you?”

  She forced a congenial tone. “Hello, Mr. Sweeny. It has been a long time. I hope you’ve been well. I’m sure you’re probably winding down your day, but I have a few questions about our account for KMK. Can you refresh my memory on the signing privileges at present? Who’s listed specifically?”

  “Certainly. For your account ending in 5716, I’m showing the names listed for signing privileges are Dante Bellini, Samuel Price and yourself.”

  She nodded. “Ok. Who have you been dealing with regularly? Have you seen any, well, interesting activity over the last few months?”

  There was a long pause before Mr. Sweeny spoke again and Kit could feel her anxiety rising. He sighed. “I’m confused by your line of questioning, Ms. McKenna. It’s my understanding that assets have been reallocated due to the acquisition.”

  Her heart raced and she gulped. “The acquisition?”

  “Yes. Mr. Price gave me explicit instruction over the last six months. It was my understanding that you were fully aware of that. It was Mr. Bellini’s directive.”

  She could feel her anger rising but didn’t want to shoot the messenger. She took a deep breath and let it out evenly. She knew this banker couldn’t help her. Before concluding the call, she decided to dig for one more piece of information she knew he could provide. She was afraid of the result. “Mr. Sweeny, can you please tell me the current balance on our account?”

  “Of course, Ms. McKenna. At close of business today, I’m showing a current balance of three thousand two-hundred forty-dollars and fifty-two cents.” Kit’s eyes widened and she gasped. She felt as if someone had just shoved a sharp knife directly into her heart. She struggled to breathe. Mr. Sweeney’s voice rang out, desperate to reconnect on the line. “Ms. McKenna? Ms. McKenna, are you still there?”

  She forced herself into a calmed state through breathing evenly. “Mr. Sweeny, there must be some mistake. The balance should be much larger.”

  “Not according to our records. As I mentioned before, there have been several transactions over the last five months as the KMK account phased out during the acquisition process.”

  Kit closed her eyes and shook her head in denial, pretending like this wasn’t happening, but knowing full well it was. “Can you tell me if another account was opened during the acquisition process?”

  He sighed again. “Ms. McKenna, I apologize for my confusion. Mr. Bellini and Mr. Price did open a new account with us during the inception of the acquisition phase. It’s my understand
ing that the final phase is almost complete in which case, this account will be closed.”

  She didn’t want to provide any reason for Mr. Sweeney to put in a call to Dante. She opted to smooth his feathers in hopes of extracting one last piece of information before concluding the call. She forced a smile. “Silly me. I’ve been out of the country for some time now and haven’t had a chance to speak with Mr. Bellini. Excuse my ignorance, Mr. Sweeney, I’m a big jet lagged at the moment. Can you remind me of the business name on the new account?”

  “Yes, it’s DBBT Management. I’m still handling the account even though operations have been moved to New York.”

  She played along. “That’s right. Ok, now it’s all coming back to me. Mr. Sweeney, put a freeze on the KMK Management account for now. Do not authorize any transactions unless they have been cleared by me. Understand?”

  “Absolutely, Ms. McKenna. The account has been frozen per your request.”

  Kit kindly thanked the banker and concluded the call. Overwhelmed and shocked recalling the measly balance in the account, she felt her eyes well up with tears. She was about to get up and make herself a drink when the phone rang. She swallowed hard. She knew it had to be an urgent call coming in. Everything else was routing through Ginny and Betsy.

  She picked up the phone and answered uneasily. “Hello.”

  “Sis.”

  She was relieved to hear his voice. “Spence! Did you find out anything?” She suddenly felt hopeful that he would be the bearer of good news, telling her this was all some sort of cruel hoax.

  He let out a long sigh that immediately brought her back to an unpleasant reality. “Kit… I don’t know how to tell you this. They’re gone. The office is vacant. I talked to one of your neighbors in the building. She said mentioned some re-org that Dante headed up and something about his decision to close down the L.A. office. I’m really sorry, sis. It doesn’t look good.”