Ballad of Cocaine, Whiskey, and Blood

Chapter One

He's a celebrity. What have you got to know? He's got the looks, he's got the voice, he's got the moves. The parties, the girls, the fame.

"Who would've ever guessed he came from a poor family? I mean, look where he is now!"

CJ was brought out of her thoughts as she turned to the young woman sitting next to her. She found all of the young woman's rants were because of the picture of Lou Monroe on the cover of the magazine she was holding.

"Mindy, seriously, you need to stop freaking out every time you see a picture of him," CJ said to her friend.

"Uh, CJ, seriously, I slept with a world-famous country star! I mean, if that's not a big deal, then I don't know what is! You know what, I think you're jealous!" Mindy argued.

CJ scoffed. "Uh, I am not jealous. Especially after the fact that the morning after, if I remember correctly, he disappeared, leaving you alone at the hotel. And then, you proceeded to do your cover story later on. Bet you didn't know they kept the footage of you reapplying lip gloss and telling the cameraman that you'd had a better night than he'll ever have."

"Oh God, it was worth it though, it was all worth it, cause you know what, not only did I have sex with him, but I also got to see the real him."

CJ furrowed her brow. "What do you mean the real him?"

"Okay, so we're making out, right, and right in the middle, both his lip and his nose start to bleed. So I take him to the bathroom, get him cleaned up, and as I'm helping him get all the blood off his face, guess what happens."

"I don't know, tell me."

"Plot twist, he's wearing makeup, and you'll never guess why."

"Get to the point, Mindy."

"Why don't I show you instead?"

Mindy reached down into her purse and pulled out her phone. She opened up a selfie of her laying in bed with Lou Monroe, arm around him, resting her head on his shoulder. CJ could see his face wasn't that of how the world saw him. His face was bruised and covered in scabs. In fact, from what CJ could see in the photo, his shoulders and neck were, too. Lou wasn't smiling like you often saw in pictures of him. He just looked at the camera, his eyes lifeless and filled with pain.

"Well, detective, what d'you think they're from?" Mindy asked, biting her lip and smiling.

CJ studied the picture, looking closely at the wounds. She zoomed in on Lou's face, continuing her evaluation, comparing the photo to that of the front of her magazine.

She pointed to the left side of Lou's face. "Look at this bruise here and the curvature of the face around it. Notice the side of his face here is swollen. And the scab on his lip here, notice how it's not fully healed compared to the scar adjacent. This one keeps breaking open. Look at the bruising on his chin right below it."

"And?" Mindy said, annoyed.

"Mindy... did he act weird at all?"

Mindy thought for a moment. "He didn't like me touching him, he'd flinch whenever I'd do it and tell me to stop. He also didn't seem to want sex as much as I did, which is odd because he came on pretty strong at the bar."

CJ thought for a moment, flipping the magazine open. Her gaze rested on a picture of Lou's manager sitting at a table, cigarette between his fingers. The caption said: Hal Cohen, Lou Monroe's manager and the man behind America's current, favorite country singer. Cohen was among the first to recognize Monroe's musical talent and henceforth made a poor country boy into a big music star. He's made millions off of Monroe's music and fame.

"Cohen," CJ muttered to herself.

"Lou's manager?" Mindy questioned.

"Where was he when you two were at the bar?"

"I don't know, he wasn't there, which is odd because isn't he at Lou's side 24-7? What're you getting at?"

"You think he was trying to get away?"

Mindy thought for a moment, glancing out the plane window then back again. "Holy shit, you think Cohen did that to him?"

"That's what I aim to find out. How much longer until we hit Modesto?"

Mindy pulled up the flight schedule on her phone. "Two hours."

"Good, that ought to leave me with enough time to get backstage before Lou gets out there."

"To do what? I thought you were just going there to investigate them for Lou seemingly being drunk at that one show."

"It was more than one show, Min. And there's got to be more to it than that. Look, after the show, I need you to pull Cohen aside, ask him some questions, and give him his fifteen minutes of fame. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, of course, but what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get Lou alone, see what I can get from him."

"Well, I'll tell you what you'll get, he-"

CJ quickly cut her off. "Just... I don't want to know."

"But-"

"I don't want to know!"