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What kind of fights were you having? Knock-down, drag-out? He kept his voice
even. No sense overwhelming her with his own emotions.
No, no, not at all. Just strong differences of opinion. I mean, he couldn t very well
force me to pose in the nude, could he?
Not and live, Kowalski thought. So what happened at the end of the tour?
She lifted her hands from her lap and let them drop. I don t have the faintest idea.
I remember absolutely nothing. The last thing I remember was unpacking my bags the
evening I got back from the last concert. That was the 2nd of September. The next thing
I remember, I woke up in the hospital almost two months later, on the 24th of October.
My father was long dead and buried. I was blind, I couldn t speak and I was in constant
pain.
Oh, honey, Kowalski thought. He could just imagine what it had been like to wake
up to darkness and grief.
You know what happened the night you went to get out of your contract with
Sanderson? Kowalski asked, his voice harsh.
Yes, of course. She frowned. I mean, I was told what happened, first by the
nurses, then by Suzanne and Claire. But it s abstract. I don t remember anything at all.
It s as if they were telling me the plot of a movie or a novel. Suzanne says I told her I
wanted to break my contract and she found a clause I could use, but I don t even
remember that. I don t feel it, you know what I mean? All I know is I woke up and my
father was dead and I was blind, with a broken jaw. She turned to him, her lovely face
earnest. You know, Douglas, I still have problems believing it. I mean, okay, Corey s a
bit of a megalomaniac and a control freak, but violence? He s such a& a fop, you
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know? He won t even go to scary movies because the violence bothers him. Suzanne is
absolutely convinced he killed my father and beat me up, but somehow, it just
doesn t& doesn t compute. I believe it in my head because it happened, but not in my
heart.
Kowalski didn t find it hard to believe at all. Now that he thought about it, Corey
Sanderson hadn t been in the news since around what? 1998? So this guy, who was
used to being treated like the Sun King, complete with millions and groupies and
absolute power in the glittering music world, was on the slippery slope toward being a
has-been. The music business was brutal, full of sharks who can scent blood ten miles
away. This Sanderson fuck had obviously latched onto Allegra to make his comeback,
but she wasn t cooperating and he d flipped. Allegra might think he was a dandy, some
soft guy who wasn t prone to violence, but to get as far as he did in the competitive
world of popular music there had to be a core of steel in Sanderson.
Kowalski knew what had gone down Allegra and her father had wanted to break
her contract with Sanderson, a contract Sanderson clearly saw as his lifeline to a
comeback, and he d lost control.
The flashbacks Allegra was having were of the real Corey Sanderson cruel and
violent. She d been terrified when she thought she d heard his voice. Her body knew
exactly how dangerous Sanderson was, even if her head had lost that knowledge.
Well, Sanderson wasn t ever going to touch Allegra again, that was for sure.
You thought you heard Sanderson yesterday, too, didn t you? In Lawrence
Square.
Allegra nodded. Yes. I was so sure& and yet you didn t see anyone who matched
his description.
Kowalski didn t answer. The truth was there between them, stark and leaden. He
hadn t seen Sanderson or anyone who remotely looked like him, unless this Sanderson
was a master of disguise. He turned onto Allegra s street.
We re here, honey. Kowalski brought his SUV to a halt right in front of Allegra s
house. Jacko was already parked across the street, and was out of his car and crossing
the street by the time Kowalski opened the driver s door.
Good man.
For the first time, Kowalski was glad Allegra was blind. She would have flipped at
the sight of Jacko. He looked like a lethal street punk, with his shaved head, grungy
clothes and piercings. At least he d put on a parka over the torn sweatshirt, though
Kowalski knew it wasn t because of the cold. Jacko never felt the cold. He d put it on to
cover the shoulder holster and its lethal cargo.
Kowalski helped Allegra down and turned her slightly. Honey, I want you to
meet For just a second Kowalski pulled a blank. What the hell was Jacko s real name?
Something totally incongruous, that he knew. Jacko had once had a fight with a jarhead
who d called him by it.
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