The Gods of Rock 'n' Roll

Who's That Man?: Allison

Chapter Eight

"What is going on, Uncle Jonas? Who is that man? How do you know him? Where's Sal?"

Allison and Jonas were shown to a large library in some palace in the Las Vegas desert. She couldn't stop pacing. She also couldn't help noticing how haggard her uncle looked.

"That's a helluva lot of questions, niece. Where should I start?"

Allison stopped and planted her fists on her hips. She raised an eyebrow at her uncle, who sighed dramatically.

"Fine. That man? That man is Phillip Payne."

Allison frowned. "But how? He's the big agent guy? I mean big, yeah, but that can't be! When I met him at the hotel, he didn't say—Oh. Right. The Bentley and the henchmen. Great. They were all talking to Sal, but I didn't want to intrude and Sal didn't seem afraid or anything. Oh, Sal. What happened to him? What's wrong?"

Jonas stood and put his hands on Allison's arms. "Sweetheart, you should probably sit down."

"I probably should, but I'm not going to until you start talking! What aren't you telling me?"

He took a step back from her and ran his hands through his greying blond hair. "It's not my story to tell you, but I can say that Phillip is much more than an agent in the music business, and you need to be cautious."

Allison thought back to the dread she'd experienced at his club. "Something felt wrong when I went to that place. But when I talked to him—

"He's good at manipulating situations. You don't want to get tangled up with him."

"No, I know that," Allison said, irritated her uncle didn't trust her judgment. "But there's something about him. I don't know. The place felt wrong, but it was like I had to come. And when I played with him tonight—"

"It was like your soul had found its match," Jonas finished for her.

Allison's eyes went wide. "How do you know?"

He smiled. "It was the same when I played with him the first time. I was twenty-two years old when I first met Phillip Payne, and I had the same reaction you did. I got invited to play at his place and when I finished my set, they brought me back to his office. He laid out the deal for me: If I signed with him, he would guarantee fame, fortune, success, whatever I wanted. But when it was over... Shit, Allison. I'm not supposed to—"

"Go on," Phillip said from the doorway.

Jonas gulped. Then he appeared angry. "You can't do this," he said in a low voice. "She's my niece. She's too good for this."

"She is," Phillip said, a smile toying with the corners of his mouth. "Tell her the rest." He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his hip against a bar set into the corner. His hair had come loose from the tightly smoothed-back look he had earlier. Several curls hung in wisps around his face. His golden eyes looked eerie in the light. Allison shivered in the air-conditioned room and hugged herself.

Jonas cursed under his breath and began to tell the rest of the story. "I'd have the career of my dreams if, when it was over, I signed over my life to him. My lifeforce, payable upon termination of contract I believe was the exact verbiage?"

Phillip looked on with interest, but didn't speak to interrupt or correct him.

"When I refused, he didn't just send me away. He tried really hard to persuade me. We played together..." Jonas shot an annoyed look at Phillip, who just laughed.

"If you would have seen him how I did, or heard what I heard, you wouldn't have let him get away easily either."

"He told me he had something to show me," Jonas continued, looking a bit fearful to be telling this part of the story. He looked to Phillip for permission, and Phillip nodded for him to go on. "He took me into another part of the club where there was a band playing on stage. They were playing an AC/DC cover, or so it seemed, but it was a little too perfect. He brought me closer to the stage, which was surrounded by tables with rowdy patrons.