A Voice to Love (Fallen Tuesday Book One) (A Brothers of Rock Novel)

by Karolyn James

  **

  Mack came from the bathroom and found another bottle of whiskey. He was even more pissed off now. He shouldn't have broken that bottle of whiskey. That was a complete waste of mind numbing opportunity.

  "Luke's gone," Gray said.

  "Goodbye," Mack muttered.

  "Don't be like that," Gray said.

  "Because you were so calm, right?"

  "I didn't break a damn bottle, man," Gray said.

  "Fair enough. Maybe I shouldn't have done that." Mack sat down, fresh bottle of whiskey in hand. His mind raced and when he looked at the rest of the band it seemed they felt the same way as he did. "I'm not cut out for this shit."

  "What shit?" Jake asked.

  "Secrets. I can't stand secrets. You guys know that more than anyone else. And especially Luke."

  "Consider what he was doing," Gray said. "I'm not sticking up for him, but, you know..."

  "No, I don't know," Mack said. "I saw blood in a sink and I thought he was on drugs."

  "Back up," Trent said. He slid to the edge of the couch. "You saw blood in a sink? When?"

  "After a sound check a little while back," Mack said. "Luke darted into a bathroom and I thought I heard him coughing. He came out and I went in, telling him I had to piss. I could tell something was off about him. He wasn't the same Luke we all know. Something was off about him. I thought maybe it was the cute chick he met but I wasn’t sure."

  "So you saw blood in the sink?" Gray asked.

  Mack nodded. "My head started to spin. I..."

  "You didn't tell us?"

  Mack looked at Gray and frowned. "Don't..."

  "No, no," Trent said. "Gray's right. We just tore Luke apart for not telling us about his throat. Yet you saw something and didn't say a thing."

  "I didn't know what to do," Mack said. "I wanted to keep a close eye on Luke. You know, in case he was messing with drugs."

  "Who would know better about drugs than me?" Gray asked.

  Mack swallowed.

  Gray stood up and kicked the table. "Dammit. You know everything I went through with my little brother, Mack. How much I watched him. How he acted. Confronting him, fighting him, getting him to clean himself up. If anyone in this goddamn band even thinks someone is messing with drugs, they better come to me."

  "Gray, I get it," Mack said.

  "No, you don't," Gray said. "I still have to check on my little brother, okay? I still call him. Text him. Call his friends. It never ends with that shit. Yet you thought something about our lead singer, our best friend, our brother, and you held back."

  "Fine," Mack said. "I messed up too then. Okay? I messed up too. I tried to push Luke about it, he played it off. Maybe I'm just as wrong then. I thought in my heart if something was wrong he would tell us. Or if he really was on drugs, I would be able to tell."

  "This is a disaster," Jake said. "A little bit of fame and look at us."

  "What the hell does fame have to do with this?" Trent asked. "This is about the health of our lead singer. And everyone keeping secrets. We've had enough secrets, right Jake?"

  "Guys, come on," Mack said. "We're not getting into past bullshit right now. Focus on the present."

  "So he obviously wasn't on drugs," Gray said. "He just has something with his throat."

  "What's our next move?" Mack asked.

  Gray turned and looked at Mack. "Maybe we should stay put right here for the night. Then tomorrow we do what we had planned... we split up for a bit. Let Luke go see his doctor and then we meet up and talk. I mean, whatever he needs, we're with him, right?"

  "Of course," Mack said. "I would never..."

  "I think Luke's afraid that we're going to replace him," Jake cut in. "Kind of like how he replaced Rick from Chasing Cross."

  "There's a difference between a lead singer and a drummer," Trent said.

  Mack kicked the table, sending it jumping toward Trent. "What the hell does that mean?"

  "Whoa, calm down," Trent said. "I didn't mean it in a bad way... Luke didn't quit the band. Everyone knows he has a throat condition."

  "There's no need to think it or even talk about it," Gray said.

  "Agreed," Mack said. "I guess we really would die for this band, huh?"

  Gray let out a breath and shook his head. "I don't know what to say."

  "I say we drink," Mack said. "We drink. We think. We sleep. I need to get to my motorcycle."

  Mack got up and stood next to Gray. They both looked out the window, the faint reflection of themselves against the glass. The brotherly bond between the four members of Fallen Tuesday may have been tested, but it wasn't broken.