Tammy Powell had told the band about the lost gig, the lost records and the lost photographs in her meeting the night before, during their band meeting. Neither she nor the band was happy with the way things were going and Tammy needed a quick solid victory if she was to continue to have the band’s trust.

Many of the situations had little or nothing to do with Tammy directly but she was in charge of them. The band was almost inept when it came to the business side of things.

It was why they had hired Tammy so quickly without even really knowing her or what she could do. She had befriended them and stuck up for them and that had been good enough at the time.

Now everyone’s careers were on the line and with all the troubles with Venom Records and the studio mishaps the band was careening toward a hard rock bottom.

She needed a win. Sitting in the the makeshift office the boys had set up for her in the back of their converted warehouse where the lived, wrote songs, rehearsed and hid out from society Tammy chided herself and not for the first time.

“Come on girl, get your act together. You wanted a big break, you couldn’t have gotten a bigger one. A Band on the brink of greatness in dire need of business skills, that you’re supposed to have, what more could you want?”

The telephone rang. It was the band’s toll free line. Not a lot of calls came in on that line since the band was practically unknown but Tammy had wanted to be able to do business in California and it was cheaper in the long run.

“Hello Powell Productions.” Tammy said into the receiver. She felt like she was back at Venom Records as a receptionist.

“Wow! It really is you!” Came a cheerful voice on the other end of the line. “ How are you girl? You must be doing great to have your own company already!”

Tammy nearly dropped the phone. “Ciara Kearney?”

“Yes! You act like your surprised to hear from me?”

“I am!” Tammy replied. “But I am also very glad, where are you?”

“Believe it or not I’m at a payphone at LAX. I’m on my way to New York. You told me to call and we’d hook up. So I’m calling.” Ciara said with a boundless enthusiasm that nearly made Tammy’s day for her.

“What time do you get in? I’ll pick you up at the airport.” Tammy said now almost as enthusiastic as Ciara.

“Oh don’t worry about that, the company rented me a car. I’ll call when I get to town and we’ll do dinner.” Ciara said. Then she added “I can’t wait to tell you about the job offer. If I get the gig I will be moving to New York.”

Tammy was now about to burst with joy that her friend from her days at UCLA was gonna be working New York. That’s when she asked the most devastating question she could have asked. “Wow that’s great Ciara who are your interviewing with?"

“Venom Records!” Ciara said.

Skullen Krossbonz had just launched another drumstick in the direction of the control room when Ira Roth came walking in the studio door.

The drum stick went right by his ear and he cursed as he walked into the control room.

“Haddon you’d better get these guys in line, I’ve come down here three days in a row now and you’re still working on the same tracks. I haven’t heard “Stick Man” over here sing a bloody note and if I didn’t know any better I’d say you guys were stalling. I know that can’t be the reason because I never thought these guys were any good anyway. You better have something for me tomorrow or I may just pull the plug on the whole project. I thought you were a good producer John? What happened to you? You suck as bad as this ridiculous band!”

Roth stormed out and was gone as fast as he had arrived.

Haddon couldn’t argue. He had nothing to show for almost a week now in the studio and it wasn’t like the band had been writing new songs or something that could explain the mess.

“Sorry boss about the drumstick,” Skullen offered as Haddon came out of the control with a note pad.

Forget it brother, Haddon told Skullen. “Roth’s not mad at you or me. He thinks he’s got something that will put him and Venom Records back on top of the charts and he’s wanting it yesterday, especially since he thinks he has a winning hand and you guys under a bad contract. Pushing us isn’t gonna get him what he wants but he also needs to throw his weight around a little so he still feels like a big dog.”

While all of this was going on Tyred Tendonz had been noodling on his guitar and scrawling out some chicken scratch on Haddon’s pad.

“What ya got there T T?,” Haddon asked seeing a big smile cross Tendonz’s face.

“I think I got the makings of a new song!” Said T T a little excitement in his voice. “Hey Stix come read these lyrics and let me know if I have the beginnings of something good!”

Stix picked up the note pad and stared at T T for a second and said, “Do you have some special lenses you want me to read this with? You shoulda been a doctor with your penmanship!” He cackled almost witch like. A sound he made when he was feeling a particular lyric.

He mouthed the words as he read them smiling every now and then and when he was done he glanced at John

Stix grabbed a chair and scratched to some words and rewrote a couple of lines.

And he handed the pad back to T T, I think the first verse is solid. Read it now.

T T read the words out loud:

“It was the dawn of a brand new day

in a city by the bay

a band of outlaws rode to fame

down the road called lost highway”

That’s the opening to your song: Sundown in a Ghost Town.

The band grabbed their instruments and began riffing off the groove T T had been quietly strumming and the rhythm of the song took shape.

Richie Statler didn’t miss a beat he hit record the moment they started tuning and captured the initial take.

They had the bones of a great song. Now it was up to T T and Stix to write the rest of the lyrics.

Ira Roth headed back to Venom Records peeling rubber as he sped away from the studio.

He left in such a hurry he didn’t hear them tracking their new song. It was a good thing too.

Stix was debating whether they should even let Roth hear this one.

Tyred Tendonz’s guitar on this was especially good as was the melody.  TT was known for great riffs and searing solos. Melodies weren’t usually in his bag of tricks, but what had pulled Stix into the song was the melody. Not spectacular just simple and honest and it gave the song a feeling of a “one last ride” kind of road movie. Since the song was about a gang of outlaws riding off in their separate ways into the unknown it fit really good. It was weary and dusty like the road itself.

The lyrics were giving the band fits now though. Everyone had an idea and they went in every imaginable direction.

Finally Stix had had enough. “Hey guys, these are all great ideas but there’s enough here to write a dozen songs. We need to back away and listen tomorrow with fresh ears. T.T. and I will take these note sheets with everyone’s ideas and we’ll work on them tonight. Richie’s got a great track on tape let’s move on to a song we have finished and try and get some work done. I don’t think Roth will be pleased with another half song recorded when he comes back tomorrow.”

The boys settled down and got ready to track again.

Roth walked into his office, muttering under his breath about how much he hated those “skeleton freaks” but truth be told he needed them to be good and he was getting anxious at having nothing. The single they had coming out wasn’t ready and Nathan Jenkins, who currently held the position of Production Manager for the manufacturing division in the basement was doing his level best to slow down any forward movement.

This was at Roth’s behest but now things were going too slowly and Roth was furious.

“Rona, get me Jenkins on the phone!” He snapped as he walked in his office and slammed the door.

Rona Rivers, Venom Record’s newest victim to fill the seat of receptionist did as she was ordered.

“Mr Roth, Mr Jenkins is on line 2.” She said over the intercom and when she was done she shut off the mic and turned on the speaker for the phone in the mastering lab.

Jimmy James was the mastering tech and Rona had been spying on him now almost since she started working there. Trying to get into Ira Roth’s good graces, Rona stooped to doing less than above board things. But spying on Jimmy had two purposes. Doing as Roth told her and because she had a crush on Jimmy James.

It was almost the weekend so today she was pulling double duty. Spying for Roth and seeing if Jimmy had any plans she could accidentally drop in on. But what she heard today was not what she expected.

“No, I don’t know why the single isn’t done, Tammy. I mastered that track two weeks ago. Well things have been a little hairy around here the last few days. Roth is really frustrated that y’all don’t have something done. Jenkins is acting strange and…

Tammy, I’m gonna have to go something just came up.”

With that Jimmy hung up the phone.

“Jenkins!” Jimmy hollered. “I have two masters to do this afternoon but my ears are a little fried so I am gonna go to lunch now. I should easily be done by five pm. I am gonna take a personal day tomorrow. I’ll be back on Monday.” And with that Jimmy disappeared.

Roth walked out of his office, lighting a cigarette.

“Mr. Roth, Jimmy James was just talking with that woman who works with the Skeleton Band.” Rona said, helpfully.

“What of it?” Roth replied lost in his current state self loathing as well as hating everyone else.

“Well I didn’t patch her through. Aren’t the managers supposed to call the main line and have me patch them through? On top of that they were discussing the new single and how it wasn’t ready and Jimmy told her he did it two weeks ago.” She said

By now Roth realized just how far Rona was willing to snoop.

He lit another cigarette and took a deep drag. “Well good job, Rona. Keep me apprised of the situation. I think I will stay a little longer at the session tomorrow to see if any strangers show up.”

After getting caught in a freak snowstorm in Denver Colorado over the weekend, Ciara Kearney arrived at Kennedy airport Monday morning at 9:45 am local time.

The limo provided by Venom Records took her directly to the offices where she sat silently in the lobby.

No one greeted her and no one asked if she needed any help.

She paced up and down the hallway as the pre-interview jitters grew wildly. She noticed the same decaying images that Stix and the boys had noticed when they came for their first interview.

Extinct band posters on the wall. Gold records hanging precariously instead of mounted to show authority and success.

Light bulbs were out that looked like they may have been the original bulbs installed when the building was constructed in the early 1900’s.

None of that mattered to Ciara. Venom had a reputation even if it’s appearance in person seemed tarnished and she had been recruited.

This was her big break and she wasn’t gong to let a little dust and her nerves mess that up.

Finally she sat back down and continued to wait anxiously.

At 11:57 am Rona walked through the lobby on her way to lunch.

“Can I help you ma’am?” She asked cluelessly.

After all Ciara had an appointment with her boss, Ira Roth that he was two hours late for now.

“I’m Ciara Kearney. I’m here to see Ira Roth about a publicity position with Venom Records. My appointment was scheduled for ten am. I have been sitting here since the limo dropped me off.”

“I’m sorry, Ma’am. Mr. Roth canceled all his appointments today and I don’t even show you as being on the schedule to start with. You’ll need to come back tomorrow. I will leave a note for him.” Rona said, while trying to sound like she had some kind of authority and trying not to have to do anymore than what she had done.

“Can you tell me what studio he is at? I’ll go meet him there. I’ll also need to directions to my hotel, please.” Ciara replied.

“I don’t have any information on hotels for you and Mr Roth could be at any number of studios in town. I suggest you come back tomorrow.”

“A lot of help you are!” Ciara muttered under her breath. Then she said to Rona, “What do you expect me to do tonight?”

Just then Jimmy James appeared out of nowhere.

“Hey Rona, who’s your friend?” He said trying to be nonchalant and nosy at the same time.

After introductions and an explanation of Ciara’s predicament, Jimmy had a suggestion.

“Ciara if you don’t mind I can see Rona was on her way to lunch, if you come with me I’ll introduce you to someone in accounting who can help with you hotel reservations and you can come back tomorrow for your meeting with Roth - I mean Mr. Roth.”

Rona wanted to get away from the scene as fast as she could. Ciara asked too many questions she didn’t know the answer to and she didn’t want to work that hard to help anyway. So she gladly left.

Once she was out of listening range, Jimmy asked her a pointed question. “Do you know Tammy Powell?"

Ciara was wary at first to answer but Jimmy had waited until Rona was gone and he seemed genuinely concerned. “Yes I know, her. Why?” She asked just as pointedly.

“Roth is probably at the studio where she is with her client. That would be Black Wolf Studios. You did not hear it from me. Don’t even mention that you met me.”

Jimmy looked at her intently, nodded once and then walked away.

Ciara arrived at Black Wolf Studios at about 12:30pm.

The band had wanted to break for lunch at eleven thirty but getting Roth to leave had been difficult. Roth had spent all weekend at the studio and he’d been there since 6am today. The band had gotten a lot of work done under the leadership of their producer John Haddon and chief engineer Richie Statler.

Stix has feigned a sore throat so that he didn’t have to sing while Roth was there. He had faked a fever and then managed to stay out of sight while the band recorded rhythm tracks.

Today, Tyred Tendonz had tracked guitar overdubs and he had done his best to annoy Roth with some really loud, obnoxious pings, squeals and pick scrapes in the hopes of running him off. At about ten minutes after twelve, he finally left.

T.T. finished his last solo and Fingers Bonz would take over after lunch doing keyboard parts.

They were all just sitting around when Ciara came in looking for Tammy.

“Hi, I’m looking for Tammy Powell.” She said inquisitively.

“She isn’t supposed to be here until after lunch.” Richie said helpfully. “You’re free to hang out as long as you’re a friend of Tammy’s.” Richie was a good looking guy but he was not the smooth ladies man he thought he was. Everyone could see where this was going and Stix intervened.

“How do you know Tammy?” He asked as gently as he could interrogate someone.

“oh, we went to school together at UCLA. I promised I’d look her up when I got to New York for my interview.” Ciara said cheerfully feeling totally comfortable with the band though she didn’t know them at all.

“Cool!” T.T. said before giving Richie another chance to flirt with her. “Who are you interviewing with?” He asked.

“Oh. I’m interviewing for the director public relations at Venom Records.!” She said

A pall fell over the whole studio.

Tammy walked in just as she finished saying those last two dreaded words.

“Hey guys, what’s going on? Oh! You’re here!” she screamed and embraced Ciara.

Then she noticed the darkness in the room.

“Maybe we better continue this over lunch.” Tammy said and she practically pushed Ciara out of the studio into the lobby.

“What’s the matter with you?” She hissed at the boys as she ducked her head back in the control room. That’s a good friend of mine. I’ll deal with you when I get back.” And she left with Ciara.

Tammy and Ciara went to the Grill Room at the Four Seasons. A popular hangout where power lunches were held.

Neither side knew it just yet but power would be a big part of their lunch.

“I’m so sorry about their rude behavior, Ciara. They are normally the sweetest bunch of guys you’d ever want to meet.”

“That’s OK.” Ciara replied. “Everything was going great until I mentioned I’d be working public relations for Venom Records.”

Tammy spit her drink halfway across the room.

“No wonder. That explains so much. I’ll forgive them a little and I’ll fill you in on why that label is such a sore spot with them.”

“Good. Then maybe you can tell me a little about Mr. Ira Roth. I was supposed to interview with him today but I wasn’t even on the schedule. I am surprised  got picked up at the airport.” Ciara said hoping Tammy would relieve some of her fears about Venom Records which were gradually growing over this not so encouraging lunch.

“Well he’s the reason my client is in the predicament they’re in and he’s in charge of public relations so you’ll be working directly for him. He also spent an inordinate amount of time at the studio this weekend.  You know our friendship will be tested by this gig don’t you?” Tammy asked wistfully.

Ciara said, “Yeah. It looks like if I get the gig I will be your adversary. We won’t be having many friendly lunches like this in the future.”

Just be careful and make sure the gig at Venom is what you want. I know it’s a big break to be recruited by a label with a reputation. I used to work there too you know? My first gig when I got to New York.  I won’t fault you either way and we’ll still be friends but we won’t be able to hang together without getting someone into trouble.” Tammy urged her friend.

Out of the corner of her eye Tammy caught a glimpse of Jimmy James at the front door. He motioned for her to come to him and then he ducked back outside.

“I’ve got to go,” Tammy said and she excused herself and left to meet Jimmy.

Tammy darted out the door and was gone before Ciara could say goodbye.

It certainly wasn’t the welcome she had hoped for but she knew now that her gig at Venom Records might not be the dream she had anticipated.

Tammy had left enough money for lunch and a tip so Ciara left and went back to her motel. She stopped on her way at the library and ended up spending the rest of the day in the microfilm room reading old news paper stories about Venom Records. By six pm she was less than excited about working for them.

Ciara went to the motel she had booked for the night. Staying in a hotel was out of the question on her own dime. A clean bed and a lock on the door was all she cared about. She was taking a gamble coming here and now it sounded like she might have to foot the whole bill for the trip and she was not about to waste a penny. She shut off the light and turned in.

When Tammy had met Jimmy outside he handed her a slip of paper and disappeared.

The paper read: Meet me tonight eight o’clock here 1117 West Rogers St. Do not let anyone follow you or the trip will be worthless.

It was now eight o’clock and Tammy was sitting across the street from 1117 West Rogers St. having coffee at an outdoor cafe. There was hardly anyone else around.

She was thinking about leaving when the front door opened and Jimmy looked around. He spotted Tammy and made one more look in each direction then motioned for her to cross the street. Then he ducked back inside.

Tammy was worried that Jimmy may have thrown a disc or was off his rocker with all this secrecy and cloak and dagger stuff but she walked across the street and walked through the door. Jimmy grabbed her by the arm and dragged her about half way down the corridor into another corridor and then down to the last door on the left. Not aggressively mind you just as if he was in a very big hurry to get there. There were now just three walls and the corridor where they were and Tammy was starting to get a bad feeling. She needn’t have though. Jimmy opened the door and they walked into a full blown professional recording studio in a building that housed document storage facilities in every other office. No neighbors to disturb and no one even knew it was there.

Tammy immediately felt relief then began to wonder why they were there.

“Rona has upped the ante on her spying. She overheard my conversation with you and reported it to Ira Roth. That was why he was at the studio all weekend. He thinks there’s a spy at Venom and he thinks it’s me and he thought I was going to show up there this weekend. Since I am burned as a contact now at least directly I took a personal day and came down here and cleaned this place up. I have three brand new rolls of tape. All the equipment has been cleaned and tuned. If no one knows you came here tonight you now have a secret recording facility at your disposal to protect your best songs from Roth.

Tammy was dumbfounded. This was not what she was expecting but she knew Richie Statler and John Haddon would be thrilled. The boys had never been in a pro studio before working at Black Wolf so that was their first taste of the big time. They would be out of the skulls over a set up like this.

“Why?” She asked not knowing what else to say.

“This is my studio and I haven’t been able to use it for a while because Roth is keeping tabs on me too. So I thought if you guys used it I wouldn’t be paying rent on it for nothing. And it helps me stick it to Roth for sicking his pit bull Rona on me.

By the way I finished the single master you asked me about two weeks ago Friday. So someone, maybe Jenkins is holding it up on purpose. I’d start bugging Roth about it so it keeps him occupied and he thinks you’re being diligent about the contract and maybe that will make him ease up a bit. Although he did just hire some girl to be PR at the label. The girl you were having lunch with at the Grill today as a matter of fact.”

“Oh I know about her,” Tammy said with a smile. “She’s an old friend and she told me about her interview with Roth after he stood her up to be spying on us.”

“Well if she’s OK, do you mind if I ask her out?” Jimmy asked a little too eagerly.

“Down boy!” Tammy laughed. “Just a minute ago you were highly suspicious of her now you want to ask her out?”

“Well you said she was OK!” Jimmy offered sheepishly.

“Yeah, Lover boy! It’s OK with me but maybe you should wait to see if she gets the job. Otherwise she might go back to California.” Tammy winked at him and Jimmy smiled.  

“One more thing. This is very generous of you but we’ll get you some money to cover costs as soon as I figure out how. Thank you so much!” Tammy said.

She shook Jimmy’s hand and he showed her the back entrance and gave her a key that opened either door in case they needed to show up without being seen. They shook hands again and Jimmy disappeared down the alley and Tammy walked down a block and then over one block back to her car. Seconds later the street was empty.

Tammy stopped at nearby pay phone and called Ciara’s motel. The desk clerk patched the call through to her room. After the fourth ring Ciara sleepily picked up the receiver and said, “Yeah what on earth do you want?”

Tammy giggled. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“Oh no it’s fine!” Ciara said as she suddenly sprang awake. “After you left in such a hurry today I was wondering if we were still friends.”

“Oh yeah no problem there, in fact I have a proposition for you. I know it will take everything we both have and all the determination and guts we can muster but how about we start our PR firm? You forget working for Venom Records and we’ll work together.”

Ciara dropped the phone…

It was five o’clock in the morning again and the band was back at Black Wolf Studios.

Their producer John Haddon and engineer Richie Statler had spent the night before mixing down the rough tracks for “Hate Myself 4 Lovin’ U”  and setting up the studio for Stix Stonz to cut lead vocals.

They had stalled all they could and Ira Roth head of A&R at Venom Records had pressing matters at the label today so they could record in peace.

They had finally gotten a handle on how they wanted the track to go after recording it six different times.

When Tyred Tendonz had come up with a riff and then doubled it and added a harmony on top of it well it changed the nature of the beast.

Now they had a song they could finish and give to Roth and it would get him off their backs and they felt like that breakthrough would lead to bigger and better things.

They had taken a mediocre song that Fingers had wanted to pitch on the side and turned it into a decent track. Even though it was Stix and the Boys playin on it, it really wasn’t a Stix Stonz and the Skeleton Bonz song.

In a way it worked to their advantage as Roth still had their next six tunes held hostage by the one sided contract he had made with Tammy Powell.

This song would get them one step closer to renegotiation or a chance at a new contract with another label. It would also protect the best songs they were trying not to let Roth get wind of.

Stix came in at about 6:15 am and was in rare form with the wit and humor.

Gargling salt water and pretending to warm up his non existent vocal chords by pulling on them ever so gently while singing “me, me, me, me, me, me”

“Hey guys I was just watching Disney’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow and I saw Ichabod Crane do this weird vocal exercise. Does it work for me?” As he kept doing it the band laughed and Drummer Skullen Krossbonz threw a drumstick at him. It missed and landed with a thud in the side of a road case.

Stix deadpanned, “You could just said, ‘no’ S.K.  No need to get violent.” and the studio roared again with laughter.

Stix put his headphones on and gave a thumbs up to Richie who said, “tape’s rollin’.” And the band fell silent as Stix rocked the house with a pretty decent vocal take.

“Can you roll that back and let me have a listen please?” Stix asked.

“Tape’s rollin’.”

After the first chorus Stix waved “cut” with his hand and spoke into his mic, “Richie let’s roll that back and take it from the top. I’ve got a better one than that in me.”

Richie nodded but then he look at Haddon and said, “you want me to put this on another track, so we can keep that first one just in case?”

John Haddon was an experienced producer especially with young unseasoned singers in a recording studio for the first time. “Yeah go ahead, that first one is good so we don’t want to lose it in case Stix is a bit overconfident.”

Richie armed channel 21 and disarmed channel 20 and let the tape roll.

Stix’s singing was exceptionally strong and he seemed to be on a different level entirely. He finished take two and didn’t even ask to listen.

“Let’s do another one. It’s not quite there yet.” He said. Then he looked at Richie, “It’s OK man use another track but I guarantee you when I’m done with this take you’ll erase those other two and use the channels for the harmonies.”

Richie grinned and armed channel 22 and disarmed channel 21.

“Tape’s rollin,” he said across the talkback mic.

Stix took it to yet another level and delivered a vocal better than he had sung since they started the project months ago.

The track ended and everyone just sat silently.

Richie stopped the tape and looked at John who was grinning for the first time in weeks and the band let out a collective rebel yell that would have rivaled The 37th North Carolina Infantry!

“Hello? Ciara are you there?” Tammy Powell continued to asked until Ciara picked up the receiver again.

“I’m sorry Tammy, I dropped the phone. Ciara Kearney replied. “I was shocked when you said you wanted to go into business and it took me a minute to stop spinning. Yes! I’d definitely want to start a P.R. firm with you. But why all of a sudden are you offering?”

“When you called from LAX, I was knee deep in alligators trying to solve my client’s major contract problems and I still had the minor problems to solve when I was done. When you said you were interviewing with Venom Records I initially thought it might be good to have a friend on the inside. Then I realized that it would be unfair of me to use our friendship like that.”

“Well maybe we should just shoot straight with each other then.” Ciara interrupted.

“That’s why I am calling now. You are a great publicity agent and my client needs a really good marketing campaign. Between our connections and your talent you could have us in the black by the end of the year.”  

“Well what are we waiting for? Ciara asked enthusiastically.

Tammy once again being the calmness in the chaos said, ‘Well the band is a little leery of you because you were planning to work for Venom. I will have to smooth that over. Plus they don’t know you like I do so there is going to be a trust issue after the Venom contract debacle and all the snooping around that Ira Roth has been doing.”

“do you think they will object outright or just be cautious?” Ciara asked cooling her passion for the moment.

“I think everything will be fine but they will need some kind of assurance that you aren’t spying for Venom Records. A contract between us with fix that. Then it will be up to you to provide some sort of proof that you know what you’re doing. I can leave that in your capable hands because I know you can pull a rabbit out of your hat almost at will. Come by the office in the morning. We’ll sign a contract and I will discuss that with the band and you can set about to do your magic.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Ciara said She said goodnight and hung up.

Ciara slept restlessly for about 4 hours and then got up. She showered and changed into something that gave her more of a rock and roll vibe, than the clean business suit she had on the day before.

She got to the house where the band lived and Tammy had an over the garage apartment and an office set up in the garage.

Tammy was still wearing the same faded holey jeans and Judas Priest t-shirt she had on at the studio yesterday. She had been working for 26 hours straight and was about to collapse.

Ciara walked in and Tammy said, “Here’s the contract look it over and sign it. I’ll drop it by the attorney’s office on my way to the studio and that will be that. Have you thought of what you could do to help smooth things over with the boys?”

“Not yet,” she said skimming though the contract in a highly trusting manner. We should probably talk about the situation some before I meet them so I can at least sound like I know who they are though.”

“We can do that in a little bit. I need a couple of hours of sleep before we go meet them. Then we can go over our strategy so far on the way to the studio. Make yourself at home for the next couple hours and we’ll talk after my nap.”

About fifteen minutes later there was a knock at the door. Ciara answered it. There was a delivery guy standing there with about ten boxes of record sleeves.

“Can I help you?” Ciara asked.

“Yeah I need you to sign for these please.” He said in a gruff voice and very grumpy attitude.

Ciara looked at the address on the box - Venom Records. “Why are they being delivered here? This the address of the label?"

“Look I went there and they said deliver them here. This is way out of my way, just sign for them and let me get outta here.”

Ciara shrugged “Tammy will know what to do with them I’m sure.” She thought to herself. “OK here ya go!” She said as she handed him the clipboard. “Here’s something for your troubles,” she smiled and handed the driver a tip. He stormed off without even a grunt.

Ciara dragged the packages into the office and proceeded to open one. Inside were black record sleeves for the new single. They said Stix Stonz and the Skeleton Bonz in a cartoonish font and underneath that “Hate Myself 4 Lovin’ U” no liner notes, no musician credits, no publishing credits, nothing else on the sleeves.

Ciara didn’t know much about the band yet but one thing she did know. This was poor marketing and Tammy would have a fit when she woke up from her nap.

Tammy came down the steps into her office and Ciara looked up at her.

“You know about this?” Ciara asked.  “These are lousy!”

“What are they?” Tammy asked as she grabbed the one in Ciara’s hand. “Plain jackets? Where did these come from?” Tammy muttered not really expecting an answer.

“A surly delivery guy dropped them off and demanded a signature. Instead of waking you I just signed for them. Are these the album covers for our client?” Ciara answered concerned.

“No single covers. But they were supposed to have the band’s picture on the front and there was a full panel of liner notes on the back.” Tammy replied. Sitting down on an amp and staring at the plain black jacket in front of her. “Now what are we supposed to do?” She said half out loud.

Ciara didn’t reply to her half asked question. “Get in the car let’s go see the band.”

All the way to the studio Tammy kept cursing Venom Records and more directly Ira Roth for once again messing with her client.  Too bad this screw up belonged to Nathan Jenkins and not Roth. Jimmy James would not be able to fix this disaster even though he was their inside man. He couldn’t by pass Jenkins for this kind of problem even if he wanted to. And with Roth’s secretary Rona Rivers keeping tabs on him he was more of a liability to the band and Tammy right now anyway. Still she kept trying to figure out what to do. Ciara on the other hand was silent. She just kept twirling the pencil in her hand while her mind was racing.

They got to the studio just as Stix had finished his final vocal track on “Hate Myself 4 Lovin’ U”

“Nice job Stix!” She said after the boys had quenched their celebratory rebel yell.

“Thanks, but you look like you’ve got more bad news.” He said anticipating yet another in the many setbacks they had had so far.

“Well that depends on how you feel about a blank album jacket. Just a cartoon logo and the song title.” She said, tossing the cover to Stix.

The boys gathered round an they all stared at it. “How are we gonna get any publicity with this?” Skullen said, miffed.

“Yeah like who is gonna recognize us from this thing?” Tyred Tendonz moaned from his corner where he hit a crushing E5 chord shaking the walls and making Stix’s teeth rattle.

Stix tossed his headphones across the room and then with a sheepish look, glanced toward producer John Haddon and said, “Sorry, John. That was unprofessional.”

Haddon just nodded, knowing the band had just been screwed over yet again by the snake that ran Venom Records.

As a pall fell over the room and despair was setting in Tammy said, “Oh yeah one other thing. I want you to meet your new publicity agent, Ciara Kearney.  Not sure what she’s actually going to be able to publicize right now but she’s here.

“Hey” said Tyred Tendonz, dejected and only slightly aware of the person in the room.

“I’d say it was good to have you, but right now… well you see what we’re up against.” Skullen Krossbonz said as he dropped his drumsticks on his snare with a clanging thud.

Ciara was determined to prove her worth and to do something to raise the band’s spirits. They had been demoralized time after time from Venom Records and this one hurt big…

Ciara said, “Listen guys, you don’t know me and you have no reason to trust me but I do think I can help.

"Skullen what did you say a minute ago? Who is gonna recognize us from this? Right?”

“yeah” he said sitting up wondering if this new team member had a plan.

“Well the answer is no one and that sucks right?”

He sat back and sighed, “yes, yes it does.”

“What if it doesn’t have to?

The room fell silent with anticipation. Now everyone was listening.

“No one will recognize you but we can use that to our advantage. What better way to get publicity for a band than to have a mystery surrounding them?"

The band glanced at one another.

“No one knows anything about you right?” Ciara continued, “So what if we make our campaign slogan “Have you seen this band?”

“And we encourage fans to send in pictures with the band.” Tammy said.

“We won’t confirm or deny anything but after a while we’ll offer a reward, maybe create some Old West Wanted posters and get people to submit their photos of sightings of you. We’ll intentionally keep you a secret and let everyone else generate the buzz about the band.”

Fingers Bonz suddenly perked up. “Yeah we can even submit blurry shrouded photos of us in dark places just to add to the mystery.”

Johnny Rottun Bonz smiled and said “and we could mislead people telling them where we are not going to be to see if they follow us to try and get a picture.”

Stix raised his hand to quiet the room. “we still need to get this song in the can, guys. Background vocals are next and Ciara welcome to the team but you’ve got your work cut out for you. Let us know when you need us for stunts, etc. and we’ll be there, until then we’ve got more songs to do.”

Everyone welcomed Ciara and she and Tammy left for their garage office and then Stix and the boys got back to work. By the end of the day they needed “Hate Myself 4 Lovin’ U” done and they needed to get started on the next song. Roth still had five more songs coming his way and the sooner they got them done the better.

The band got back to work and by the top of the hour had finished backing vocals on "Hate Myself 4 Lovin’ U.”

They listened together to the final playback in the control room with Richie and John and they cheered as a group when it was done.

The night would be long for Richie and John though.

They still had to mix and master the track.

Ira Roth wasn’t gonna let them slide on production values the track had to be pristine. Of course his version of pristine wasn’t the level it used to be. If he had any idea about the real songs Stix and the band were hiding from him he’d be demanding more than “Hate Myself.”

“Stix you wanna try and track another song live with the band so we can  maybe get the whole rhythm track in one shot?” John Haddon the band’s producer asked him.

“Sure I still have enough gas left in the tank for a few passes. What’s the rush?” He replied.

“I want to make sure he thinks we’re pushing to finish the six tracks we owe him. If he hears another whole track even if we haven’t done overdubs, maybe he’ll stop hangin’ around so much.” Haddon replied watching Stix’s reaction.

“Oh you’re wanting to sneak out later in the week and work at Jimmy’s on the good stuff.” He said leaning in and almost whispering the words in John’s ear.

“Hey! That’s a good idea!” John said as he winked at Stix and walked back toward the control room.

Stix grabbed the cans and put them back on and did a little vocal check. “OK, Boys! Black Magick Eyes in E from the top and no mistakes. If we get it done in a couple takes I can probably still do a full vocal on it before we quit for the night.”

Skullen counted it off and they lit into the intro with passion. The entire studio came alive with the sounds of rock and roll.

Tammy and Ciara got back to the office and sat down at a small table in the corner to brainstorm a marketing campaign to make use of the messed up record jackets they had in the garage.

Tammy was still stuck on the mistake because it was a huge blunder by Venom Records and she’d had enough of Roth’s incompetence. But Ciara was more proactive in this particular arena. “Don’t fret my friend. This is gonna work great. And I’ve got an idea to protect their secret recording studio project as well.” Ciara said cheerfully.

Tammy looked at her dumbfounded. “Ho- Ho- How did you know about that? I hadn’t told you that yet.”

“Yeah but your notes were in the folder open on your desk. Open folders are fair game.” Ciara said as she giggled at pulling a fast one on her friend. “Besides it gave me a great idea to help push out the campaign.”

"OK, let’s have it genius.” Tammy responded playfully

“I have a friend who used to record here in town before he moved to L.A.” Ciara replied. “He told me there are about twenty studios in this town that can barely keep their heads above water because of lack of publicity. What if we got the band to come out of or go into everyone of those studios and we took grainy, blurry pics of them. We could start leaking the pics that the band is recording in each studio and get people hanging around outside waiting to see them. That will generate news for the band but also the studios as well. We can always do it at night when the studios are often unbooked.”

Tammy smiled and wanted to interject but she let Ciara who was on a roll continue.

“Here’s the best part we never photograph the studio where they go to record the good tunes. Roth can never find them and he will just think if he accidentally sees them near that studio that it is just part of the publicity.” Ciara took a breath and finally stopped.

Tammy didn’t say a word when Ciara was finished she just picked up the phone and dialed a number.

“Hey, Jimmy?” Tammy said. “I need you to swing by the office after your shift please. I want to introduce you to a woman who needs to meet some studio owners. We’re going to do a publicity stunt and we are gonna need their help.”

“Sure I can do that. How about 6:15 or so? I’ll bring a pizza.” Jimmy said.

“That would be great!” Tammy said as she hung up.

Jimmy hung up his phone never noticing that the intercom light was on and Rona Reeves, Ira Roth’s secretary at Venom had heard every word.

Rona disconnected her speaker monitor and punched the office button for Ira Roth her boss and the head of A&R at Venom Records.

“Mr. Roth I just heard Jimmy making plans to meet with Tammy Powell and her new cohort that woman that said she had an appointment here.” She exclaimed breathlessly as if she had discovered the secret Watergate tapes.

“Thank you Rona,” Roth said calmly. “ That’ll be all. You can have the rest of the afternoon off.” Then he hung and it another cigarette. “Maybe I’ll pay Ms. Powell an office visit too.” He said to himself as tried to decide which spy game he would play today. Go back to the studio or go see the blond trouble maker that used to work for him.

He put out the cigarette and lit another one. He hadn’t paid enough attention to the first one so he had to try again.

Finally he grabbed his jacket and headed out. He was on his way to see the blonde trouble maker.

Tammy and Ciara Kearney her business partner and the marketing director for Stix and the band were very animated as they discussed how to turn the disaster that Venom Records had handed them into a win.

“If we play this right Tammy, we can save a whole lot of the marketing budget by letting other people do the work. And if we make it look good on paper we can keep that money for the good songs when the venom contract comes due for renegotiation.” Ciara said. Sure that her plan would work. Tammy was more skeptical however.

“How can we be sure the fans will do the work?” She asked. Obviously worried that they were putting their eggs into a basket that had no guarantees whatsoever.

Just then a car door closed quietly. Like someone was trying to be stealthy. Both Ciara and Tammy heard it and immediately switched conversations.

“How many covers did we receive Ciara? I have to report to Venom this afternoon exactly what we got.” She said innocently as she caught Ira Roth coming into the garage where they were working.

“Hey Ira,” Tammy said, choosing to be on an even playing surface with him she refused to call him Mr. Roth anymore like she had to when she worked for him.

“What can we do for you?” She asked.

“I thought we could discuss your marketing strategies but maybe we ought to wait until the rest of your crew is here.” He replied eyeing Tammy for her response.

She stood firm and did not give in to anything. “The band is working in the studio all day and then going on a marketing tour tonight around the city. It’s just me and Ciara doing the hard work tonight.”

Realizing being subtle wasn’t going to work and he couldn’t trick her into revealing that Jimmy was stopping by he tried to be direct without giving away his source. “I heard you had a third person on the marketing crew and he was stopping by later.”

“You’ve been listening to the rumor mill, again Ira.” Tammy said confidently with a slight chuckle for effect.

Ciara had snuck away unnoticed by Roth. He had never considered her a threat. She dialed Venom’s number in the other room and asked for the mastering lab. Rona did not recognize Ciara’s voice on the phone and she patched her through.

“I don’t think it is a rumor anymore and I’d like to meet the rest of your staff since we’ll be working so closely together on this project.” Roth said menacingly.

Ciara made sure Jimmy was listening and she laid the receiver down and walked back into the room.

“If we’re going to be working so closely on this project why do you keep making it so difficult then, Roth?” Ciara countered as she strolled nonchalantly back into the room with a cover in her hand.

“Like how could you bungle this so badly if we’re supposed to be working closely?” Throwing the record sleeve at him as she walked passed and stood beside Tammy.

“We’ve got twenty five hundred of these and they’re worthless. It’s too late now to change them so our first run is gonna cost us big time. We’re going to spend half of our budget on the first wave of marketing.”

“Mistakes will happen.” Roth countered with no remorse whatsoever.

“Maybe so but they all seem to be happening on your end.” Tammy chimed in.

“And just so you know, Roth, your little spy is not very good at what she does. If she is your ‘rumor mill’ her cover’s been blown. We laid a trap for her and so far she’s fallen for two totally untrue things. Including a supposed meeting you just said we were having.” Ciara added. Playing to the strength of their argument and the fact that Jimmy could verify because he had been listening to the whole exchange.

“What if we told you she was a spy for a rival label that knows you have a weak contract with our client?” Ciara was no longer pretending she was shooting from the hip and her shots were hitting their mark.

Ira Roth was now questioning his own informant and it was all a bluff.

Finally Roth lit a cigarette and blew a puff of smoke in the girls’ direction and said, “Well make the best of this situation and we’ll do better on our part next time.” He left with more doubt in his mind about his own backyard now than he had for Tammy and Ciara. He didn’t trust them at all.

Tammy turned to Ciara, “ I knew you were good but you bluffed with almost nothing in your hand.” She said.

Ciara just smiled, “I wouldn’t say nothing,” she said with a wicked grin. “I just did what my ancestor did. I shot from the hip.”

“Your Ancestor?” Tammy asked bewildered.

“Oh didn’t I ever tell you? Ciara smiled devilishly, “My great great grandfather was Jesse James!”

Ira Roth walked through the doors of Venom Records and went straight to the basement.

“Jenkins, where are ya?” He hollered.

“Right here, Ira what’s going on?” He replied

“Did you send those girls the record sleeves early on purpose or are you just stupid?” Roth asked clearly agitated.

“I didn’t send anything to anyone, Ira. As far as I know those covers were being shipped here to us tomorrow.” Jenkins replied keeping his cool even though Roth was still irritated with him.

“Well they have them and they are madder than wet hens.  He responded.

“There’s nothin’ they can do about it so why worry?” Jenkins replied trying to get Roth to relax. “It’s not like they have leverage.”

“Well they have something because they know about Rona spying on Jimmy James and they got out of a trap I laid for them. They left me twisting in the wind and you know I don’t like that Jenkins, don’t ya?”

Jenkins swallowed hard. Every time he had been busted down a level it had always been after hearing that phrase. “What can I do for you, boss I’ll take care of it.” He offered trying to keep himself employed.

“Keep an eye on Jimmy for me will ya?” Roth said in a slightly less distressed tone. “Find out where he’s going after work today and see if you can’t find out what’s going on in that garage office and at Black Wolf Studios. It’s almost like they know I’m coming when I show up out there. Do you know anything about bugs?”

Jenkins choked again and said. “Yeah?”

“Well see if you can get a bug in that garage. I want to know everything that goes on in there.” Roth said as he mashed out his cigarette in the floor of the pressing plant with his shoe and turned abruptly to go bak upstairs.

Jenkins took a deep breath as Roth walked away and let out a slow long sigh. He was extremely familiar with bugs as that was how he got caught the first time. He made himself incredibly knowledgeable about bugs but he never thought he’d have to use them on someone else. He had just gotten really good at finding them not planting them.

“Somebody get over here and clean this cigarette up and clean the whole plant while you’re at it. I’m going to run an errand. I ‘ll be back later and I want this place spic and span.” He grabbed his jacket and left through the street level door and was gone.

Jimmy James looked out of the open door to the mastering lab and watched as Roth stepped on the elevator and the outside door close behind Jenkins. Then he went into Jenkins’ office and shut the door. Using Jenkins’ phone he dialed a number.

“ Hello Powell and Associates.” Tammy answered the phone.

“It’s me.” Jimmy said quickly. “It may be best if I don’t come by tonight. Go to plan B.”

Click.

The line went dead on Tammy’s end and she hung up the receiver. “Ciara? Ciara, where are you?” She hollered out into the garage.

“I’m here. I’m setting up to do a band photo tonight when they guys get back from the studio.”

“Scratch that we’re doing plan B tonight.” Tammy said a little frustration in her voice.

Ciara glanced at Tammy and saw the anger building. “What’s up?” She asked, giving Tammy permission to let loose if she needed to.

“Never mind.” She said disgusted as she picked up the phone. She rolled her eyes at Ciara as the phone rang incessantly on the other end. Finally someone picked up. “

“Black Wolf Studios.” The voice said.

“Hey Richie, let me speak with Stix for a minute please.” Tammy asked.

“Hey Tammy, what’s going on?” Stix asked.

“Are you guys gonna work tonight?” She asked hopefully.

“Yeah we’re planning to finish up a couple of tunes, do you need us?” He queried thinking she needed them.

“No, that’s great. Ciara and I will be out all evening so I just wanted to make sure we weren’t cutting out on you. Have a great session and we’ll leave the basement door open for you tonight.”

They said goodbye and Tammy replaced the receiver in its cradle.

She dialed again. This time she got through on one ring. “Todd Roberts.”

“Hey Todd, you wanna take me up on that dinner offer?”

“Hey Tammy, sure I am ready to eat and I need a break from this case I am working on anyway.” He said cheerfully.

“Great, uh can you bring a date for my friend, Ciara?” She asked hesitantly.

“Sure I know just the guy. She’ll love him.” Todd said.

Ciara rolled her eyes wondering what kind of mess Tammy was getting her into. Tammy winked at her.

“Ok see ya tonight at 8:00pm at the Copper Chime.” She said and hung up.

“We’re going out tonight.” She said to Ciara.

“I thought we were working tonight.” Ciara shot back not really looking forward to a blind date.

Tammy smiled. “Just get ready, it’ll be fun I promise you.

It didn’t take either one of them long to go from working to ready for a night on the town. At about ten minutes till eight they were sitting in the Copper Chime waiting to meet Tammy’s date and his friend.

Right on time in walked Todd Roberts and his friend. They walked up to the table where Tammy and Ciara sat. Todd leaned down and kissed Tammy on the cheek.

“Todd, I’d like to you meet my good friend and business partner, Ciara Kearney.” Tammy said.

Ciara shook his hand and said hello politely.

“And I’d like to introduce you to my friend and your date for the evening. This is Jimmy James.”

Jimmy sat down across from Ciara and Todd sat opposite Tammy. They ordered an appetizer and from all outward appearances it looked like a typical double date.

Especially to Rona Reeves who had been walking by the window. She looked in and saw Tammy and Ciara. Wanting to see who they were with she kept looking. Camouflaged by the people at the table between her and them.

Finally she got a clear view. The man Tammy was sitting with she didn’t recognize but she immediately recognized Jimmy James and she thought to herself. “ooh I have something on him now.”

Just as she thought that Jimmy and Ciara reached for the same cheese stick. As they both pulled the appetizer in their own direction the crust broke and the cheese began to stretch. They each put their own piece in their mouth and began to eat toward the middle trying to reach each other. Just as they both reached the middle of the table it broke.

Everyone laughed and it seemed to Rona now that it was just a date and nothing more and she left. But she still planned to tell her boss, Ira Roth about it the next morning.

Jimmy glanced over his shoulder and then he leaned in and said to Ciara, “This is safer than me coming by the office. We have spies at the label now and for me to get this to you we had to have an alternate plan. He slid a small piece of paper folded in half to her. Ciara took it and slid it into her menu to read.

Jimmy said, “It’s the list of the studios and their managers phone numbers. They all have been contacted by me and they know you will be paying them a visit soon. Most are already on board, a couple are curious but weren’t fully sold. I’m sure you’ll have know problem with that.” He smiled and Ciara shot him a knowing glance.

“Anyway now that we’ve met, you have my contact number outside the office. Call me when you need me and we can meet casually without drawing suspicion.”

“We should probably have a code of some kind where I can call you at Venom too.” Ciara said. “There may be a time when Roth shows up and you need to know.”

“That’s easy,” Jimmy said. “The master is too hot. Means don’t come by. Can we raise the master 2db? Means come by after work. Those are common phrases people use when they call me. The actual number value doesn’t matter.  The ‘too hot’ and ‘raise’ are the key words. I don’t think Rona would know those phrases if she heard them.”

Tammy and Todd seemed to be hitting it off like it was a real date instead of just a casual non Chinese dinner. Ciara noticed this but she was really jazzed to work.

“You wanna ditch these two and go back to the office with me and put together a plan?” Ciara said sizing up that Jimmy was anxious to be involved. His mastering of the band’s new single had really turned him on to their music but due to his working for Venom his enthusiasm had to be curbed just to keep his job.

“Alright,” Jimmy said. “Let’s go!”

He and Ciara left the restaurant and drove back to the garage. Ciara arrived first but waited until Jimmy arrived to go in. When they headed to the back door it was wide open.

Jimmy stepped in front of Ciara and reached inside the door for the light switch. He turned it on and the room filled with light.

From first glance nothing had been disturbed. Everything was how Ciara and Tammy had left it.

“Well nothing’s outta place. As far s I can tell nothing’s missing. I’d better check Tammy’s office though.” Ciara said. She turned on the light and the room was just as Tammy had left it. Nothing was amiss.

“What are you doing, Jimmy?” Ciara asked as she walked back in to the main room and saw Jimmy on a ladder.

“I just remembered that Jenkins was caught conspiring against Venom with a bug. I checked your phone and it was fine but I still had a sneaking suspicion there was one and…”

He reached into the wall and just above the door he found an RF bugging device. He covered it with his hand and put his hand under his arm to shield the device from picking up

“Sure enough, here’s a little listening device.” Jimmy said under his breath. He motioned with his finger to be quiet and then he motioned for Ciara to follow him outside.

“It’s my guess since Jenkins is so good with listening devices that Roth pressured him into bugging your place for him. This could work in our favor with it being there and you and Tammy knowing about it.” Jimmy said thoughtfully.

“Here’s the thing that bothers me. Jenkins isn’t that sloppy. He may have intended for you to find it or he may have known I was involved and by me finding it I expose myself and he can manipulate me.”

“Won’t we have to be careful what we say if there is a live bug in there?” Ciara asked concerned that she and Tammy might end upon giving Roth all access to their plans.

“Only in the outer room. Tammy’s office isn’t bugged yet. If he was here trying to get that room done we would have caught him. That’s probably why the back door was open. He probably bolted when we drove up. Which means important conversations for the meantime happen in Tammy’s office and false information can be fed to whoever has their ear next to the receiver on the other end.” Jimmy assured her.

“Well right now we need to find Tammy,  bring her up to date and plan a strategy. But I am gonna make sure this door is locked this time.”

Tammy and Todd were just pulling up as Ciara locked the door.

“What’s going on?” Tammy asked as she climbed out of her car.

“Roth bugged us.” Ciara said. “Well we think it was Roth.” She backed up a bit.

“We are sure that it has something to do with Venom. It looks an awful lot like Jenkins’ work and I know he is good with planting bugs.” Jimmy chimed in.

“Do you want to press charges?” Todd asked. “There could be a lot of money in a suit like this.”

“Well, we were thinking about using it to our advantage.” Ciara said, looking at Tammy for guidance as to what they should do.

Tammy was weighing the options when Jimmy offered his idea. “If we use it to feed whoever is on the other end we can not only find out who it is but we can keep them guessing as to what we’re actually doing by feeding them false information. It also might help me find out who I am up against at Venom. Right now I know it is Rona, Roth and Jenkins but there may be more.

“Todd is there anyway we could sue Venom for an out from our contract?” Tammy asked looking for a more advantageous result.

“Well it would depend on how much you could prove it was Roth and how detrimental it was for the band. Right now you don’t even know who it is so you don’t have strong grounds that the band has been hurt in any way.

Once you do know who it is though, you can probably walk into the CEO’s office at Venom and simply threaten a lawsuit and a press release to get them to let you out of the contract or at least renegotiate it.”

Tammy shot a look at Ciara who shot a look at Jimmy.

“Well it looks like I am gonna be busy tomorrow. I’ll see if I can tie Jenkins to planting the bug or if he is doing anything extra curricular for Roth.” He said.

Tammy nodded her approval and then looked at Ciara, “so what are we gonna do for now about the bug? We need to do something so they know it’s working, right?”

It was then that Jimmy had an idea. He was grinning.

“What” Ciara said, seeing Jimmy smiling and becoming intrigued.

“What if we make it so that it works intermittently  and whoever is on the other end sends someone to fix it and we set a trap and we catch him in the act of repairing it?” He said.

Ciara liked the idea, “but how can we be sure he’ll come to fix it while we’re here?"

“We let them hear when you will be out of the office tomorrow and then we’ll make it break up where they can’t hear anything else. They’ll definitely want it fixed right away and will send someone while you are out. You guys will leave but I will come by first thing tomorrow and hide out. I’m not scheduled to be in until two o’clock pm so no one will miss me in the morning.”

“So when they see us leave they will come in to fix the bug and you'll already be here waiting for them.” Tammy finished the thought.

“Then when you have them caught red handed, you have multiple legal options and you can pick the ones that will get you the best situation.” Todd added.

Jimmy and Todd said goodnight to the girls and then to each other and they left leaving Ciara and Tammy standing outside the door.

“Let’s unlock the door mid conversation and mention that we are headed to the studio tomorrow morning.” Ciara said, then gasped. “We forgot to ask Jimmy how to disable the bug.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, I’m just gonna cut the wire.” Tammy said confidently. “We’ll just make sure we say the time and then I’ll cut the wire and we can speak freely after that.”

Ciara unlocked the door and said, “what time are we going to the studio tomorrow, Tammy?”

“Six fifteen if we want to get there at the beginning.” Tammy replied and then said, “if we want to do pictures we can-“    She cut the wire.

Roth was furious as he shook the receiver wanting to hear more.

He picked up the phone and called Jenkins in his office. “Your bug quit working.” He snarled.

“I’ll fix it as soon as I can.” Jenkins replied coolly.

“You’ll fix it tomorrow morning at six fifteen.” Roth demanded. “They said they would be gone by then.”

“ OK, Fine.” Jenkins said. “I’ll get it fixed.”

He hung up the phone and dialed another number.

“I thought you said you knew how to do a bug? It’s not working, Roth is angry at me and you’re gonna go there and fix it at six fifteen tomorrow morning.” He said then he hung up.

Jenkins muttered under his breath and said. “I should have never used an amateur.”

He turned out his office light and left to go home.

Six fifteen dawned the next morning and Ciara and Tammy made a very loud exit from the office and left the back door unlocked.

Jimmy was safely hidden behind a pile of boxes that were strategically designed to give him a clear view of the door as it opened.

Tammy and Ciara were barely out of the driveway when the back door opened and a figure with a hat pulled low over their eyes entered the room and immediately turned to their back to where Jimmy was. Effectively shielding their face from him.

They put a ladder up to the door and started to climb up when Jimmy came out from behind the boxes and snatched the hat off the intruder’s head to reveal a shock of red hair… It was Rona Reeves!

“You know better than to use that!” Stix Stonz said as he slapped the beer bottle away from Tyred Tendonz who was using it as a slide on his guitar.

“Hey, I’m just looking to get the sound right, man! Lay off will ya?” Tendonz replied.

“We had this song finished until you got the bony brained idea of adding another guitar track. Now we’ve been here six hours and you have nothing to show for it!” Stix was fuming.

“Take it easy, guys” John Haddon, their producer, said.  “If we don’t get it, we don’t get it. The song still works but T.T’s idea was pretty cool and I think we can get it in a couple more takes.”

He put his arm around Stix’s shoulder. “Listen man, something’s bothering you  more than T.T.’s playing. You’ve never snapped at the guys like that. Why don’t we go get a cup of coffee in the lounge while Richie tries to capture T.T’s idea?”

John and Stix left and Stix hollered back, “don’t worry T.T. you’ll get it. I’m gonna go cool off.”

Richie Statler, their engineer, came out into the room and fiddled with the microphone placement on T.T.’s amp. He went back into the control room and sat behind the mixing board. When Tyred indicated he was ready again Richie rolled the tape and the music blared into his headphones.

Tyred let his ideas fly all over the fretboard and just as the spot was coming up, Richie hit the punch in and Tyred Tendonz nailed the riff. Except the last note.

“do you wanna punch that last note, T?” Richie asked a little unsure if they could just punch the last note.

“No that’s alright Richie. I’ve got it now. Wind it back and punch in at the same place and I’ll get it this time.”

Meanwhile in the studio lounge sitting on a sofa and watching the baseball highlights John and Stix remained silent.

Finally Stix picked up the remote, pointed it at the TV and with a bony finger clicked it off.

“Look, John.We’ve got five songs besides the one we’re working on now that we have to give Ira Roth because of the contract. So far we have three songs in the bin that are half baked at best. I feel like we’re spending way too much time on these tracks and it’s gonna come back to bite us.”

“What are you talkin’ about, Stix? There’ no time limit on your contract.” John asked a bit confused.

“Roth is puttin’ the screws to Tammy and Ciara. He’s battling them at every turn and now Jimmy is being spied at Venom Records. If we don’t get him off of our backs he’s gonna find out…” Stix paused and looked around, then he whispered “about the good songs we’ve been hiding.”

Haddon’s brow creased and he stroked his chin. “So what you’re most concerned about is keeping Roth off your back while you finish the songs for the contract and leaving your management free to do their thing?”

Stix said, “well that would at least help I think.”

“Ok,” Haddon said as he looked away into the distance. “Let’s invite Roth out here. That does a couple of things. It keeps him in our sights and keeps Tammy and Ciara off of his radar. The other thing it does is if we play him the half baked tracks its keeps him occupied preparing for those releases. Plus he’ll know we’re working and he’ll stay out of here and in the office at Venom Records.”

They agreed.

“OK, let’s get back in there and see where T.T.’s at.” Haddon said and they left the lounge and headed back to the control room.

When they got there T.T. was leaning up against a wall in the control room smiling like a Cheshire Cat. And Richie was shaking his head almost in disbelief.

“You shoulda heard the story this guy was just tellin’ me, John.” Richie said as the two men entered the control room.

“Did you get the track?” Haddon asked instead of replying.

“Oh yeah, T.T. nailed it as soon as you guys stepped out.”

Richie hit play and the song with the new riff came blasting over the studio monitors.

With everyone in agreement Richie and John would stay the night at the studio and mix the track.

“So we’ll have one track finished and two he can hear that are partially complete and we can drag out working on them while he’s here.” John said, trying to assuage Stix who was now much more relaxed.

“Yeah, and that should get him off the girls’ backs as well.” Stix added.

Richie quickly turned up the volume to deafening level and motioned to everyone to be quiet. Then he grabbed a pad and wrote a message. Everyone gathered around to read what he had written.

“Don’t say anything that you don’t want Roth to hear!” It read.

The whole group was puzzled as they looked at Richie with a silent query.

Richie reached his hand up under the console and pulled out a bug.

Evidently Roth’s spying wasn’t confined to the band’s offices. He had also had Jenkins bug the studio.

Or had he?

Ira Roth was nothing but trouble anyway. He had been against the band since they first waked in to Venom Records almost a year ago. He had tried to rip them off but his former receptionist whose background was in entertainment management caught wind of what he was doing and helped them out. That good deed had gotten her fired and that’s how Tammy Powell wound up working for Stix Stonz and the Skeleton Bonz.

Then despite Tammy’s loyalty and dedication Roth had managed to still get the better of them with his usual slight of hand during contract negotiations. Tammy made good on that blunder when she beat Roth at his own game during renegotiations and now the band still stuck with a bad deal but way better than it once was. Roth though it seemed still had the upper hand.

Roth didn’t actually realize what he had or he wouldn’t have tortured the band so much. If he would just help them or get out of their way they would probably make him a lot of money. Many bands would have given p by now but this band had just rebounded at every turn.

“Give me Ira Roth please.” John Haddon said as he waited on the phone for Roth to pick up.

“Ira this is John Haddon. We’d like you to come down to Black Wolf Studios tomorrow and listen to what we have so far. We have the single “I Hate Myself 4 Lovin’ U” in the can mixed and mastered plus two songs you haven’t heard yet in enough of a finished form for us to show them to you.”

“I’ll be there tomorrow at eight am sharp.” Roth said and then hung up the phone.

Richie covered his hand over the bug he was still holding. “What should we do about this?” He asked.

"Throw it out and we pretend not to know anything about it.” Stix said, Then he added “but we  watch our backs. No business discussions in the studio and we trust no one.”

Everyone nodded and then Richie pulled out the bug and smashed it.  Cut the wires up and put them in separate trash bins outside the studio. No one would find enough of it to know what happened.

Ciara and Tammy were almost to the studio having no idea about the bug there or who Jimmy had caught in the office after they left.

Jimmy was contemplating what to do now. He had Rona Reeves, Roth’s personal secretary  dead to rights holding a new bug to replace the old one in the band’s offices. But was she working for herself, Jenkins or Roth? He knew he had the upper hand so he thought he’d see how far he could get.

“What are you doing here?” He figured he’d start with an easy one. How much she was flustered would help in knowing if she was working for someone else.

“What are you doing here?” She shot back unnerved at all.

“I came by because Tammy had a problem with the master, that you sent. After hearing her problem I sent her to the studio to get Richie and John to fix the original recording. I stayed behind to move some heavy boxes for them and pick up some extra recording money.”

“Once again I’ll ask you, what are you doing here?” Because what you’re holding in your hand is illegal.” Jimmy said and then he smiled just wickedly enough for Rona to tell that he had no qualms about turning her in right now.

“Alright, alright.” She sighed with resignation. “I was the one who put the bug in here initially on Jenkins’ orders. When Roth scolded Jenkins for the bug failing he called and blamed me for the failure and sent me out to repair it. I knew I had done it right and I now have proof y’all found it and tampered with it.”

Jimmy wasn’t sure what to do with that information. Did Rona have an angle or something on Jenkins or maybe even Roth that she could trade in exchange for letting her off the hook?

“What are you offering?” Jimmy asked wary of making any bargains with one of the devil’s minions but always looking for a leg up on Roth.

“Tammy and Ciara should be at the studio by now if that is truly where they went. Call them and I ‘ll give you something to tell them that will surely be worth letting me go for this. Especially if I agree to take it out completely anyway. You missed the one in Tammy’s office.” Rona said. Sounding very determined and sure of herself.

Jimmy eyed her carefully and dialed the number for the studio.

“Black Wolf Studios, how may I direct your call?” The receptionist said loud enough for Rona to hear over the receiver.

“Get me Tammy Powell, please she should have just arrived.” Jimmy said.

“May I tell her who is calling?” She replied.

“Tell her an old friend. She’ll know.” Jimmy said.

Tammy picked up the phone. “Hello, this is Tammy Powell”

"Hey there old friend, listen to this.” Jimmy said.

He proceeded to talk while Tammy listened.

Finally she hung up and walked back outside where the band had been huddling around their van deciding where to go for lunch.

“That was Jimmy.” Tammy said as she sat down on the bumper.

“Rona Reeves planted the bug at the office on orders for Jenkins.” She said and the band grew quiet.

“Here’s the interesting part. The bug you found in the studio isn’t Roth’s or Jenkins.

That’s was Rona’s insurance policy against both Jenkins and Roth.

I think she’s trying to takeover Venom Records.”

The band did not see surprised by this as much as Tammy was.

“She seemed to be untrustworthy the first time we met her.”  Stix said quietly as if the frustration of this cat and mouse game they were constantly playing was wearing him down.

“I just thought she was young and eager to prove herself.” Tammy said indicating that she had underestimated Rona and that was not acceptable.

“There was another bug in my office too.” She continued as Ciara walked up an caught the last part.

“That means our plans to use the bug as a trap wouldn’t have worked anyway?” Ciara asked.

“Exactly.” Tammy confirmed. “But here’s where we’re at now. Jimmy watched Rona leave with both bugs and made sure she drove away. Then he locked the office door and went to work. Rona is supposed to be there all day so he can keep an eye on her. Jimmy has a meeting with Jenkins over the messed up master for “Hate Myself”…Oh by the way John can you and Richie fix that? She changed gears for a second.

“What’s wrong with it?” Richie asked.

"Jimmy said there is an anomaly at 2:16 that is in the actual tape. He said you may need to use the backup master you made as the tape itself is probably flawed.” She said and handed him the tape.

Richie and John who had been listening to the discussion left to go work on the tape.

Tammy turned and addressed Stix. “We’re pretty sure Roth knows nothing since we found the bug right away. Since he is coming here tomorrow morning we should have a business meeting tonight somewhere offsite. Then while you’re entertaining Roth here tomorrow Ciara and I can work in the office without any issues.”

“So we’ll meet at the pub after the session today about 6 pm.” Stix said and the band agreed.

“Now what to do about Rona.” Tammy said like a mama bear protecting her cubs. Rona opened a pandora's box messing with her. “ I don’t care what kind of deal Jimmy made with her. She is in my sights now and I’m gonna hit a bullseye.” She said as she and Ciara headed toward the car.

The band looked at each other. “Good thing she’s on our team.” Skullen said. The rest of the band just chuckled and they all went back into work. Deciding that lunch would be delivered today. They needed to get some work done with Roth coming in the morning and John and Richie having to fix the master they thought was done wasn’t helping things.

Jimmy slipped a note to Rona as he walked by her desk and he went downstairs to his meeting with Jenkins.

Rona opened the note in her lap and read it.

You better make your peace with Tammy Powell as soon as you can. She is not bound by any agreement we made and she is looking for a way to bring you down. And I will tell you right now neither her nor Ciara is someone you want to mess with.

Rona closed up the note stuck it in her purse and looked around. When she saw no one was paying attention to her she left and took the elevator down.

Jimmy and Jenkins were in a serious discussion in Jenkins’ office when Rona stepped off the elevator.

She could hear them down the hall above the din of the manufacturing going on in the plant.

“You know you are to report any mastering errors to me and alone.” Jenkins was chiding Jimmy.

Unfazed Jimmy replied,

“I neither discovered it nor returned it to the label. Tammy Powell found the error and returned the master to the studio to the producer and engineer to be fixed.” This was only a half truth. Jimmy told Tammy to take it back to John at the studio.

“I figured she knew the tape was bad. Wasn’t it Jenkins? You know good and well that you replaced the Ampex quarter inch tape with a cheaper brand. You knew she’d never catch the cheap cost cutting trick you pulled if it wasn’t for the drop out at two minutes sixteen seconds into the track.”

Jenkins was caught but he wouldn’t go down without a fight. “How did you know I was the one that changed that reel of tape out? Huh?”

“Oh. I’m sure Roth put you up to it but either way you did it or you paid Rona to do it you little weasel.”

Rona signaled Jenkins with Jimmy’s back turned to the door, that she was there.

Jenkins abruptly changed directions and said.’You got nothin’ on me and if you answered to me I’d fire you right now.”

“Lucky I don’t answer to you then ain’t it?” Jimmy said as he left the office. “By the way I know about you getting getting caught with a car full of stolen tape. It doesn’t take much for Roth to know about it too.”

He wasn’t barely in his mastering room when Rona walked into Jenkins’ office.

“Get outta here! He sees you and it’s all over.” Jenkins scolded half way under his breath.

Rona retreated to the hallway and then to the restroom.

Fifteen minutes later Jenkins walked by tapped twice on the door and went down the hallway and out the back door.

There was a picnic table and a shade tree where Roth and Jenkins used to smoke and scheme.

Now it was where Jenkins went to hide out when he was mad at Roth or the world.

Rona showed up a minute later. She sat down and asked for a cigar from Jenkins. She lit it, took a puff and blew it right in Jenkins face.Then she coughed and threw the cigar away.

“If I knew you were gonna waste it I never would have let you have one.” Jenkins chided.

“Did it work?” He asked.

“Yes” she replied. “Jimmy thinks I took the bug out of Tammy’s office. But instead he gave me the chance while he was standing outside to put one in. I tested it when I got back to the office. It is working perfectly.”

Tammy arrived at the pub a little before six. Stix came walking in a few minutes later by himself.

He sat down and said, “the guys are still doin’ overdubs for our meeting with Roth in the morning. Looks like it’s just you and me.”

“Ok let’s get started then.” Tammy said fully prepared. “We’re gonna have you going in and out of five studios this week. And Ciara and I are gonna be hangin' around taking pics as you guys come and go.”

“This is for the ad campaign?” Stix asked.

“Yes. We are gonna split and each have cameras but you’re only gonna be at one location a night. We want people to start following Ciara so she’ll be with you guys at the first studio. Then all the rest of the photo shoots I’ll be doing and whoever is following Ciara will be in the wrong place.” 

“We’re doing all of this to create a buzz about where our fans might catch a glimpse of us since we have no publicity pics right now.” Stix finished for her.

Yeah but also to give you guys cover when recording at Jimmy’s place. If anyone sees you they will think it is part of the stunt.” She leaned forward and whispered, “Especially Roth or Rona.”

“You sure are giving them a lot of credit, Tammy.”

“You would too if you knew about everything that’s been going on.” She replied a little too forcefully.  “Don’t underestimate them and be careful at the studio with Roth tomorrow. I have someone who could be persuaded to make a deal with us but not until our deal with Venom is complete. Hopefully Roth will like the tracks tomorrow and that will put us within two of completing the required six for our contract. Anything else you need to go over with me?” She asked.

“Yeah, Richie and John fixed the master and sent it back to Jimmy by courier. We should have the last of the six songs for our contract written and ready to record in about a month. John wants to show them all to Roth as quickly as possible. We need to start gigging in support of the single when it drops. Is Roth gonna give us any tour support?”

Tammy was dumbfounded. “I hadn’t even thought about that. We’ve been so busy staying one step ahead of him getting our good material and fixing all the problems that have come up so far, I forgot all about needing at least a few local gigs. I’ll get Ciara working on that right away. That means we’ll need to do another photo shoot so we have press kits to send out to the venues. I’d better write that down.” She said.

“Oh yeah, by the way with the master being messed up that will probably set the release back by a few more weeks. Stix said. “Now that Jimmy has the good one the ball will get rolling. See if we have time to redo the cover.  I like Ciara’s idea of “have you seen this band” campaign but we would really like to have a real cover if it is possible. It would make your job easier too. You’d actually have something then to build a campaign around.”

“I’ll check tomorrow when I drop by Venom Records. Remember though that I have to deal with Jenkins for the cover art and he was then when messed it up last time.”

Stix nodded he understood and he and Tammy left in opposite directions.

Tammy arrived back at the office where a bunch of cars were all parked around and a police officer and a fire chief were talking to Ciara. 

There was a smell of smoke and wet drywall in the office and a charred wet hole in the wall.

“Another bug. This one melted and caught fire and if I hadn’t been in here to smell the smoke it would have burned the place down to the ground.” Ciara said as Tammy looked questioningly at her.

“I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count as to who is responsible.” Ciara continued disgusted and a little shook up considering this time people could have been killed.

“I’m gonna go to Venom Records and punch her in the face right there in the office.” Ciara threatened.

“No you’re not!” Tammy said sternly. “This time I am gonna go directly to the source. No more cat and mouse games.” She picked up her phone and she dialed a number. “Ira Roth, please.” She asked the person on the other end of the line.

“OK,  Thank you,” Tammy said and then she hung up the phone. “Ira Roth no longer works at Venom Records.”

“What?!” Replied Ciara disbelievingly.

“ He walked into the Vice President’s office at noon yesterday and said he’d gotten a better offer and he was leaving immediately. He took his two weeks vacation as his two week notice and left.” Tammy's words trailed off.

“Well then who planted the bug.?” Ciara demanded. "If it wasn’t Roth’s and Rona’s was removed when Jimmy was here, who planted the bug?”

“And who were you talking to on the phone?” She asked Tammy.

“That was the vice president’s secretary. I’m supposed to meet with him about our contract tomorrow.

“Who’s gonna tell the boys?” Ciara asked.

“I'll have to, tomorrow.” Tammy said, still stunned and unnerved a bit. “They have to go with me.”

The fire chief and the police officer  finished their reports and questioning of Ciara and they left.

Now Ciara watched as Tammy paced back and forth across the length of the outer garage area.

“Venom is still a viable label.” She said to herself as she paced. “our biggest problem was Roth. He’s gone. I may have damaged my relationship with Jenkins and Rona but that could be repaired if Roth had actually been the one calling the shots. I can fix that and I can get Jimmy to help me with the patch. Stix will need to be on board and I should convince him to let me bring Todd to the meeting as our attorney.

The phone started ringing. Tammy stopped pacing and grabbed the receiver. “Powell and Associates.”

“Yeah we just heard.” She said into the receiver.

“There’s a new contract waiting to be offered to the band if they sign with us.” Said the voice on the other end.

“We’re in a contract with Venom.” Tammy replied.

“All contracts signed by Ira Roth are null and void.”

“Check your fax. Then call me.”

Click. The line went dead.