Nobody Falls for the Opening Act (Break the Rules Book 2)

Chapter 41

Not-so-well-rested but blissfully happy, Harvey and I make our way down to the Criminal Records tour bus.

Each step closer brings a stiffer tension to my spine. There’s only one way Tesla Kyle could know the things she knows, and the very idea of it fills me with a horrible sense of dread.

As we approach the open door, I release a sigh. “I hope we’re wrong about this, Harvey,” I say.

He looks at me and nods. “Oh. Me, too.”

“I don’t like the feeling of being watched.”

“Neither do I.”

“But also...” I groan slightly. “If we’re right, then Knox is about to become insufferable.”

Harvey smiles at that, but it quickly fades when we step up onto the bus.

Mac and Jordan are already here, but that’s no surprise. They’re sitting at the front table with large coffees and wide awake smiles, ready to take on the day.

Jordan’s eyes widen as she sees Harvey and I together. “Hey, guys!” She flashes a wicked smile. “Did you have a good night?”

“Uh, yeah,” I answer as I skim over the top of their table. “We had a great night. May I just...”

I look under her portfolio, shifting her planner and a few papers aside.

I check the light above them, running my fingers along the warm sconce.

I turn around and check my usual seat across the aisle, trying to look beneath the cushions, but they’re fixed in place.

Meanwhile, Harvey does the same, popping open the luggage bins above our heads and searching.

“Uh...” Mac clears his throat. “What, uh… what are you guys doing?”

“Addison?” Jordan asks. “Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” I say. “We’re just looking for something.”

“Looking for what?”

I swallow first. “Bugs.”

“Bugs?”

“Hey, man,” Mac says, offended. “There ain’t no critters on my ride, Addy.”

“Not bug-bugs. But?—”

Before I can explain, Knox hops on board with Harmony and Jonah a step behind him. “Good morning, peoples!” he greets. “What’s happening?”

“Hey,” Jordan says with worried eyes. “Addison and Harvey are checking the bus for bugs.”

“Bugs?” Jonah asks. “What kind of bugs?”

Harmony’s eyes flash with horror. “Bed bugs?”

“Aw, fuck that!” Knox steps back, bumping shoulders with Harmony on his way toward the exit. “I ain’t fucking with bed bugs.”

“There are no bed bugs on my bus!” Mac growls.

Knox nudges Harmony’s arm. “I told you I felt itchy.” He twists around, yanking up his shirt to expose his back. “Check me!”

“There are no bed bugs!” I say, raising my hands. “We’re searching for listening devices.”

They all frown as Knox’s brow spikes upward.

“Excuse me. What?” he asks, letting his shirt drop back down.

I take a breath. “Harvey says that Tesla mentioned things yesterday that she couldn’t possibly know about.”

“Like what?” Jonah asks.

“Wait,” Knox says, “you’re hanging out with the enemy now, Moon?”

“No,” I say. “He’s not.”

“The Electrics were at Dade’s yesterday,” Harvey says behind me. “We... interacted.”

Knox stays firm. “And you’re on a first-name basis with that asshole. I really love that for you.”

“Knox,” I say, urging calm. “It’s okay.”

“What did Tesla say?” Jonah asks, keeping us on track.

“She knew about the star bus,” I say.

“And that you guys are working on Strawberry Daiquiris,” Harvey adds.

They go quiet, all of them lost in thought.

“We’ve only played that here,” Jordan says, breaking the brief silence. “On the bus.”

“Right,” I say. “Which is why we’re?—”

Before I can finish, Knox and Jonah get to work, tossing aside Jordan’s portfolio and searching the table we already searched.

Jordan snaps at them to stop before grabbing up the rest of her stuff and moving it out of the way.

Harvey and I continue into the back, throwing open the drawers and cabinets of the kitchenette. As I do, something shifts in my peripheral vision and I leap back in surprise as Bronson rolls out of his bunk, his eyes wide but tired.

He yanks blankets out bunk-by-bunk, having heard everything we said.

“Good morning!” Katrina says as she hops onboard, then pauses as she sees what we’re doing. “What’s going on?”

Jordan explains it to her quickly.

“Well, that’s just crazy,” Katrina says with a laugh. “Why would anyone?—”

But no one wants to hear her optimism. We ignore her, the rest of us continuing our search, determined to tear this place apart until we find… something.

“Addison.”

Finally, I look down at Harvey lying on his back, his body halfway beneath a seat. Lowering to my knees, I meet him as he sits up with an object resting in his palm.

It’s a small black box wrapped in electrical tape. On one side rests a short wire and... a microphone.

My gut tightens.

Knox was right.

Knox charges forward and snatches it out of my hand. He stands up slowly, his furrowed brow relaxing as he stares at it.

“I fucking knew it!” he says. “I fucking knew that glam rock piece of shit was listening to us!”

Bronson gestures for it and Knox tosses it to him.

“Wait,” Katrina says, her voice so small. So confused. “Are we sure that’s what that is?”

But Bronson nods. “That’s what it is.”

“But how?—”

“Shh!” Knox says, holding up a hand and dropping to a whisper. “Everybody stop talking. We shouldn’t say anything else in front of it. They’ll know we know.”

I shake my head. “We’ve said enough already.”

“They aren’t listening anymore,” Bronson says.

“How do you know?” Knox asks.

“I took the battery out.”

Bronson clicks it closed and tosses a tiny silver battery into the nearest trash.

“Oh,” Knox says with a nod. “That works, too, I guess.”

Jordan approaches, her eyes on the bug. “How long has that been here?” she asks.

“Long enough to hear exactly what we’re working on for the Battle of the Bands,” I say.

“Since Denver at least, then,” Jonah says. “Maybe earlier?”

I chew my cheek. “How did they even plant it?” I ask.

“Overnight?” Harvey suggests. “While we’re in hotel rooms.”

“Nah,” Bronson says, the severity of the situation clearly upping his usual words-per-day limit. “I sleep out here most nights. Believe me, I’d notice.”

We all turn to look at him.

“You sleep out here most nights?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Plaza beds are really uncomfortable.” He bows regretfully at Jonah. “Sorry, Jo.”

“Hey, man.” Jonah turns up his hands and smiles. “I’ll pass it up the chain.”

“During a show, then?” I suggest.

Jordan shakes her head. “The bus is well-secured by the venues. I mean, I doubt they’d let anyone on just because.”

“Hey, Mac,” Knox says stiffly. “You’re being awfully quiet over there.”

Mac looks up from the front of the bus. He exhales slowly, his eyes in shock. “Hey, I’m as stumped as you guys are,” he says. “No one gets on this bus without me knowing about it.”

“Exactly,” Knox says.

We all freeze, our eyes now locked on Mac.

“What?” Mac frowns. “You think I had something to do with this?”

“No one gets on the bus without your say. You just said so. Either someone slipped past you without you knowing or…”

“Or what? Are you saying I planted it?”

“No,” Jordan says firmly, staring daggers at Knox. “No one is saying that.”

But Knox nods. “I’m saying that.”

“Knox,” Katrina says, stunned.

“No,” Mac says angrily. “I didn’t do this. I’ve been with you guys since the beginning. Why would you ever think I’d do something like this?”

“Then who did?” I ask.

“I don’t know. But it wasn’t me. I swear to god. You’re like family to me, for fuck’s sake.”

“Think, Mac,” Jordan says, keeping her calm. “Has anyone else been on the bus? You know... someone who looks a lot like Chrissy?”

We all deflate with annoyance.

Of-fucking-course.

“No,” Mac says. “Definitely not. Besides, we have the system.”

“Aw, come on!” Knox scoffs at Jordan. “Mac knows the system?”

“But...” Mac pauses, thinking hard. “Okay, wait. Hold on. There were some guys.”

“What guys?” Jonah asks.

“Two suits a while back. Midnite sent them over.”

Knox shifts toward him. “And you just forgot about it?”

“It was right after the flat,” Mac explains. “I called Monroe to confirm who they were. He said it just was some insurance thing, so I let them on. Ten minutes later, they were gone. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. Just figured the guy was being overly-cautious what with his stepdaughter being on board and everything.”

We all stand straight up.

Harmony looks down silently, her hand resting against her mouth.

“Mac,” Knox says, “you’re saying that Paul Monroe told you to let those guys on?”

“Spoke to him myself, yeah.”

“And these were the only people other than us on the bus?” Jonah asks.

Mac nods. “The only ones.”

We go quiet, our thoughts in a spiral of confusion. Knox takes a step toward Harmony and places a comforting hand on her back, but it doesn’t nothing to relax her posture.

“Why is Paul Monroe spying on us?” I ask, daring to say it out loud first.

Knox’s jaw flexes hard. “And why is he leaking it to The Electrics?”

To that, no one has answers.

“Okay.” Jordan breaks the silence. “Whatever’s going on, we don’t have time to figure it out right now. We have a show tonight.”

We all nod. Work now. Answers later.

I look at Harvey, and he takes my hand.

Somehow, I smile.

Whatever’s going on, at least I know we’ll figure it out together.