Sedona Law 5 by Dave Daren (romantic novels in english .TXT) 📕

“So this new album,” she was saying, “takes a different direction musically than your previous one. What influences did you have?”

I silently took an empty seat and listened to the interview.

“Well,” a scruffy looking hipster stroked his beard, “this is a travel album. I did a six month trip around the world, just for the sake of picking up musical influences and cultures and listening to the heartbeat of the people. I wanted to bring that into this next record. The sound, the energy, the smells.”

The other band members laughed.

“The smells,” another scruffy looking hipster repeated, “like the chickens in Tokyo.”

All the other guys laughed at this, and the first one looked a little defensive.

“Exactly,” he said. “I want the listener to be able to feel the energy enough that they can smell the gritty back streets of Tokyo. If the listener can feel that, than I will have accomplished artistically what it was I wanted.”

“Tell me about your personal life,” Leila requested as she leaned back in her chair. “You just got out of the hospital.”

“I did,” he replied with a serious nod. “Diabetic shock. I had no idea I was a diabetic. You know? So, it’s been a new life for me, adjusting to a whole different way of thinking, way of life.”

“He can’t drink,” one of the other guys chimed in.

“I can,” the first guy qualified, “but it can cause my blood sugar to spike. So, I don’t. It’s been a life changer for me. You know? I’m getting married, too. To a beautiful Indonesian chick I met on the beach, and she just stole my heart away. So, I brought her back here, and we’re in love and it’s crazy, sexy, and beautiful.”

The band went on this way for several more minutes, and then Leila wrapped it up.

“Sorry,” she told me as soon as she ushered the other men out. “That interview ran long, and you were fast. I thought I would be done with all of this by the time you got here.”

I smiled. “No, I’m on a deadline. And so are you, I take it.”

She smiled and began packing her bag--a digital recorder, a notebook, and a couple of other odds and ends.

“Always,” she said. “I love this life.”

“I get it,” I replied. “But Sedona? Why not L.A., or New York or somewhere with a big music scene?”

She shrugged. “I’ll make it to those places one day. But there’s music everywhere, and Sedona’s got its scene for sure. And without the studio … well, I need the money. So, I write while I can.”

“What about The Herald?” I asked.

“Oh God,” she snarled. “The Herald. Been there, done that. The place is for desperate twenty year olds with no talent other than to rewrite press releases. I’d rather cashier at Earth Market than work at The Herald.”

“Well, Sedona does have its indie music scene,” I mused.

“It does,” she agreed. “Those guys who were just here sold a million units worldwide on their last album.”

“No kidding?” I laughed.

“But most people don’t know who they are because they’re not with a big label,” she said. “So, that’s my place in the world.”

“To give people publicity?” I asked.

“No,” she said, “I love picking the mind of an artist, finding out how they think. What makes them tick. Artists are the most interesting people, and they’ve got such unique views on the creative process, and how it all works. I find it fascinating to listen to their perspectives, their philosophies on art.”

“Huh,” I said as I started to piece her association with Jerry together. “What about Jerry? Did he have a band?”

She laughed. “Jerry? A band? God, no.”

“We found a bunch of Hindu music in his house,” I told her. “Do you know anything about it?”

“Uh,” she frowned, “I don’t know. I know he was into weird things with his keyboard. He played around a lot and experimented with sound. He spoke Hindi. And, oh, he did a movie set in India once. It was called Krishna’s Curse.”

“Krishna’s Curse?” I repeated.

“Yeah,” she nodded, “it’s online. Just search for it, you can find it.”

“I will,” I said.

She pulled a flash drive out of her bag and handed it to me. “This is the security footage from all day that day. There’s nothing on there, but who knows? Maybe you can find something, like a tree blowing in the wrong direction that shows you the murderer was left handed, and that there are only five left handed people in Sedona.”

I laughed. “You writer types definitely have an imagination.”

She smirked as she held up her hand. “It comes with being left handed.”

“So, you’re the murderer,” I teased.

“Totally,” she drawled as she tossed her bag over her shoulder. “I wanted to screw myself out of a good full-time job by bludgeoning my boss to death with a marble statue … you know, there is this thing called quitting. It’s a much better option than prison.”

“Dark sense of humor,” I chuckled.

“Not dark,” she said. “Cynical. Also a trait of writers. See you around.”

“See you,” I echoed as I fingered the flash drive in my hand.

Leila disappeared into the abyss of the bar, and I saw myself out and drove back to the office.

AJ was still in the conference room, with the Hindi techno pop going, and it was giving me a headache. I felt bad for her, but the fact that Jerry had all of that stuff in his safe I knew was important to this investigation.

I inserted the flash drive into my computer and pulled up the security file. Leila had converted it into a basic movie file to play on any computer, and it pulled up pretty easily.

But she was right. The camera was at an odd angle.