“Let me decide, yeah?”
“Well, Zef is going to see Gideon later, but…”
“How about I give your mom my number, and when you come to Nashville, she can call me too. Or, if I’m back in Clearwater, you can meet the rest of LRH?”
“Really? Yes!”
Melody taps the face of her smartwatch regretfully. “Okay, sorry to break things up, but we have air time. Thanks for coming today, guys.”
There’s another round of hugs, and then Jay and Gideon are on the other side of the door. Jay feels good, and he’s forgotten some of the sadness from the last few days. Maybe it’s just the simple act of giving something good.
As much as the visit with Omni and Zef had been for them, it had been for Jay—and maybe Gideon, too. It puts Jay in a great mood for the interview, which goes off without a hitch. Melody’s sharp—she doesn’t waste time with fluff. They talk Phoenix Records’ expansion and new music. It’s smooth. Easy. Maybetoo easy. He’s so used to dodging landmines in interviews, he almost forgets what a good one feels like.
When their thirty minutes are up, Jay offers a demo for an unreleased song, to Melody’s utter delight.
“That’sNeon Ghost, Long Road Home’s next single. You heard it on WRBY, first! Now Ariel is up next for the heavy-hitting Metal Minute! But first, a word or two from Tourism Florida.”
Once the engineer gives them the all-clear, Melody jumps from her chair and does a quick victory dance, complete with air guitar—Luca would be proud.
“That was AWESOME! Holy shit! Thank you.”
Jay grins. He hadn’t intended to play it, and in the old days he’d have been in serious trouble, but now he’s his own fucking boss and can do what he wants. No regrets.
“You’re welcome! We should get going, but thanks for having me. I’ll get management to call when we’re all back in Clearwater so we can do the whole LRH thing next time.”
“Please do. Hey, do you think you’ll go out front for a few minutes? To wave and shit? They started gathering at 7:00 AM.”
The fans—the Roadies. As much as LRH plays for themselves, they do it for them, too.
“Can you give Gideon and me a minute?”
“Oh, yeah, sure. Let’s vacate for Ariel, and then I can give you guys a few minutes. See if I can rally some security for a five-minute wave.”
She shows him back into the now-vacated conference room and closes the door after herself. Absent the kids’ excited voices, it’s just an empty room—and Jay’s gut twists with a jolt of dread.
“Are we doing this?” Gideon asks. “You’ll be exposed out there.”
They will be, and his stomach roils. He exhales—slow, steady. This is what they came here to do. He hates that there’s thepotential for disaster, but this is why they’re out and around today.
“Yeah. It’s why we’re here. He won’t make a move in a crowd of fans, Gid.”
Or rather, it was unlikely.
“Then we’ll go eat at Clearwater Beach. See if he takes the bait.”
Because it’s certainly more likely he’ll make a play there.
Gideon’s gaze lingers, heavy with something Jay can’t quite read, before he gives a single, sharp nod—just in time, as Melody knocks.
“Security says they’ll spot you for crowd control. Then I’ll take you back through the building to your vehicle.”
“Sounds great. Let’s do it.”
Jay straightens his shoulders, squeezing Gideon’s arm as he follows Melody out.
The crowd is even larger than it had been when they’d arrived—news of Jay’s presence at the station reaching a wider audience than the posts on social media. The swell of bodies presses up against the hastily erected barricades, straining the sidewalks, bleeding onto the road. The crowd forces traffic down to a single lane, and it will be no time at all until the police are called in to deal with the interruption.
Melody introduces them to the security guard, who leads them out the glass doors in front of the building. The daylight is fading now, only the tops of the buildings catching the end-of-the-day rays.
