Music City (21 page)

Alex sighed, if this cop only knew. “I understand completely. I will do my best to contact the family tonight and give you a call in the morning.”

Alex wrote down the information they would need and the numbers they would need to call in order to claim Maye’s body, thanked the Lieutenant again, then hung up. This certainly was a turn of events, and he wasn’t looking forward to letting Shelly know that Maye had passed away before
she had even gotten a chance to speak to her.

He looked at his watch. No sense in trying to get a hold of anyone right this second, he really wasn’t even sure who he should try to call first.

Derek saved him from having to consider further when he stuck his head in the door.

“Hey, what are you still doing here? I thought you were already gone when I left earlier?

“I was, I came back. Just got off the phone with a police lieutenant up in Raleigh.”

“Oh? What did he want?”

“Maye’s dead.”

Derek was surprised, and yet again, he wasn’t. “When did that happen?”

“Apparently not long after we left her.”

Derek sat down, now a bit concerned. “She wasn’t murdered, was she?”

Alex shook his head, “No, thank goodness. She died of natural causes, but they couldn’t find any next of kin, and since my card was there, they called me hoping I could help.”

Derek just shook his head, “Wow.”

Alex nodded, “Yeah, that’s kind of what I was thinking.”

“Well, what do you want to do? Take a ride out to Shelly’s?”

Alex shrugged, “I hate doing this. That poor woman just can’t catch a break.”

Derek stood, “I’ll do it, if you don’t mind though, I want to talk to Vani about it first. I don’t think Shelly will take it hard, but I don’t know her that well yet. Vani will know whether I should just come out with it, or how to tell her.”

Alex shook his head, “I don’t mind at all. Not one little bit. In fact, I’m glad you’re doing it.” He handed him the slip of paper with the Lieutenant’s information on it, “Here’s the contact info. I told him I would call him in the morning and let him know what the family wanted to do.”

Derek took the paper and slipped it into his pocket. “I’ll take care of it and I’ll see you in the morning.”

Derek walked back to his office and sat down in his old leather chair, shaking his head at this turn of events, what a sad life Maye Harris-Taylor had had. He thought he would call Tracy first, see where he was and get his thoughts on how to tell Shelly. Tracy didn’t answer his phone, so he dialed Vani’s number and she answered on the first ring.

“Hey, I was just thinking of calling you!” She said instead of the normal greeting when answering the phone.

“I’m glad I caught you. Where are you?”

“I am still at Shepard Entertainment. I just turned off the computer, packed up my bag and am about to head out the door. I was going to call to see if you wanted to meet me for a drink before I go home.”

Derek smiled, a drink sounded nice, especially with Vani, but this information couldn’t wait. “I’d love to, but I wish I was calling with better news. There’s no nice way to say it, so I’ll just come out with it then we can figure out what to do. A police officer from Raleigh called here a while ago. Maye’s dead.”

He was answered with silence on the other end of the line.

“Vani?”

“Yes, Derek, I’m here. Will you come to the house so we can break the news to Momma? You can eat with us,
Martha is cooking because Momma had meetings all day.” She paused, “Well, that is if you don’t have other plans. I didn’t mean to assume you could drop everything and come running. I don’t mean to intrude on your personal time, I mean, it could just as well wait until tomorrow. Maye isn’t going anywhere.”

“No, it’s no intrusion at all. I don’t have any plans, tonight is fine, the sooner the better with some things, you know? I’ll be there, and hey, thanks for the supper invitation, I always enjoy eating at your house.”

Derek had now reached the point where he sometimes thought of himself as a bachelor instead of a widower. He put the phone on the desk, leaned back in his chair, drew a deep breath and thought about the events of the past. His past. It was a long and sad journey, but one that was quickly improving, he felt. Vani had a lot to do with that, although he didn’t think she realized it. He found himself looking for reasons to call her and looking forward to her company any time he got a chance.

Tracy brought him back to the present, asking if he was going to spend the night in that chair.

“I thought you were long gone?” Derek asked.

“I was, I had some errands to run, and didn’t realize I had left my phone in my desk until I needed to make a call, so here I am back to retrieve it. I saw
you had called, then saw your light and thought maybe you had left it on accidentally.”

“Is Alex still here?”

Tracy shook his head, “No, his office was dark when I came in.”

“He must have just left then. He got a call earlier,
when I couldn’t reach you, I called Vani. Maye is dead.”

Tracy just nodded, “Well, the shape you said she was in, that isn’t surprising really.”

Derek shrugged, “No, I suppose it isn’t really a shock, just unfortunate. But while I was on the phone with Vani, she invited me over to your house for dinner tonight, so we can tell your mom about Maye.”

“Oh, okay, but I don’t think I’m going to be home for supper tonight. I’m supposed to go to Brandy’s, but the way things keep happening to keep us from actually having a date, I’m not counting on it until I’m actually there.”

“So you won’t be there when we tell Shelly that Maye passed away?”

“After the way Momma reacted when she found out what happened, and the conversation we had afterward, I don't think she will be traumatized by it. If I was really concerned about her over this, I’d be there, but trust me, I won’t be needed. Vani knows how Momma will be about this. The three of us talked about it the other night after you and Alex left. It seems pretty certain that Maye isn’t even her mother, according to what she said on that tape. And from what I could tell, I think Momma was relieved to find out that she wasn’t related to her.” Tracy grinned, “I think Vani just wants to get you over to the house again.”

“What do you mean by that?” Derek queried.

“Oh, nothing.” Tracy backpedaled. “I probably said too much, just go and enjoy
supper.”

“You said you have a date tonight, how is Brandy?”

Red crept up Tracy’s collar as he answered, “She’s doing great. We’ve only had coffee a few times and lunch once since the party, but we’ve talked and texted a lot since then. I actually stood her up a couple of weeks ago, something happened and I couldn’t go, which is awful, I know. But she surprised me, she was cool about it and said she understood.”

Derek and Tracy had developed an easy friendship. As good of friends as Alex and Derek were, there was a slight distance between them. Some of that had to do with their age difference; the difference between a man in his
mid- thirties and one in his late forties. But then again, their personalities were also very different.

Alex was a very matter-of-fact, black and white kind of person. Derek was much more relaxed and chose to look at things from many perspectives. It’s part of what made them such a great team. They complimented each other very well while they were working, but their social life was not very compatible outside of the backyard barbeques they both loved so much.

Alex was happy to be at home reading a mystery novel, pondering whether he should write another, and on the weekends he spent most of his time volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, something he had done for years, since Habitat for Humanity’s inception. He said the physical exertion was good for him, and at least he was doing something productive with his time, instead of just going to a gym to get his exercise. If Alex was going out, the most common place for him to frequent would be a little jazz bar down the street from their office, often with some of his buddies from Habitat for Humanity.

Derek, on the other hand, enjoyed being around a crowd of people, he felt right at home with loud country music blasting from a stage or jukebox. Throw in a mechanical bull and he was in heaven. Nashville was full of places just like that, and when the rare occasion came that Derek wanted to go out, that is usually where he headed. He loved the chest-thumping music and just soaked in the atmosphere, watching people interact. Beth had loved dancing, and during their courtship and marriage, they had often
visited country music places they could both enjoy.

***

“Come on in, Derek.” Vani invited. “Momma’s on her way home from an audition. She’ll be here any minute.”

“Shelly is auditioning?” Derek asked, surprised.

“No, no, not that end of the audition. She’s listening to an audition. It’s more of her talent development. She’s always looking to help young musicians get a leg up. She used to listen to just about anyone who’d write her a letter. We convinced her to let a few of the studio musicians do some of the preliminary work now, so she doesn’t have to put up with the ones that are just celebrity seekers. Lots of them couldn’t sing a lick. They just heard that Momma was good about helping people, so they’d pretend to be singers just to be able to meet her. We came up with the idea of a pre-audition performance with the band, just a little something to weed out the fakes from the potentials,” Vani explained.

“That’s awfully good of her to help these kids get started.” Derek commented.

“She likes to put them in the studio and see how they do when they don’t have an audience to pump them up.”

“I would have thought it would be the other way around. You know, do they get stage fright? Are they just choir singers? You know, that sort of thing.” Derek said.

“That's what most folks would think. But these singers, for the most part, have gotten past the stage fright thing by the time they get here. They’re performers by nature. It’s getting them in a room by themselves with no audience that separates the real deal from the wannabes. When they can perform for a mic as well as they can for a roomful, that’s when you know you’ve got talent. The next step is getting them past the fright of performing for a concert hall full of folks. A bar full of drunks is one thing, but fifteen thousand paying customers is quite another.” Vani explained.

“I can’t imagine having my work scrutinized by thousands,” Derek observed. “It must be intimidating.”

Derek and Vani heard the car horn honk twice. “That’s Momma,” Vani announced.

“She honks the horn when she comes home?” Derek asked, laughing.

“She’s done that since we were little. Two toots on the car horn as soon as she hits the driveway. I think she just never wanted to catch us doing something bad. It was a little warning that ‘Momma’s home, better get started on your homework’. It worked, those two honks saved us from getting into trouble more than a few times.”

Shelly greeted Vani and Derek with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “To what do I owe the privilege of this visit?” Shelly asked.

“Momma, we need to talk to you about something.” Vani began, “Why don’t we—”

Shelly pulled the clip she had holding her hair back out, then shook her hair free,
“Don’t tell me. Maye died didn't she?” Shelly asked, matter-of-factly.

Derek dropped his head and nodded almost imperceptibly. Vani just stood there wide-eyed with her mouth half open.

“I knew it! I dreamt it last night. When I heard her on that tape last week, she sounded like she was about to die right then. I think that’s what got me thinking about it.” Shelly continued, “It’s no wonder. She never took care of herself. She smoked like a freight train and drank enough beer to float a battleship. No matter, I didn’t really intend to re-kindle any kind of relationship. I think that I just wanted to see her to get the samples to make it official that she’s not my natural mother.”

“That won't be a problem Shelly. The local
coroner had tissue samples taken, we can pull DNA from that. But if what she said was true, she’s not related to you at all... the question becomes, who are your parents?” Derek said.

“That’s exactly right, Mr. Derek Stewart, and that’s the next job I’m hiring you to do. Will you take my case, sir?” Shelly asked.

“Of course, I’d be happy to.” Derek responded.

“Good.” Shelly said. “Now, are we eating here or are we going out? I’m starved.”

Tracy answered his cell phone on the second ring, recognizing Brandy’s number. “We still on for tonight?” She asked him playfully.

“Of course we are
, same time?” Tracy responded.

“Yep. We usually eat kinda early so you’ll pick me up here about
five, right?”

“I’ll be there. So it’s supper at 6 o’clock
, huh? That’s my Momma’s standing start time when we’re having company.” Tracy said.