Highway Song: A Smokey's Roadhouse Novel (35 page)

I slumped in relief. If he believed me, maybe other people would, too. And he thought I had a chance with Rex. I couldn
’
t think any further ahead than that. A vision of myself strapped to a gurney and slowly expiring from a lethal injection would have paralyzed me. So I constructed a wall of mental blackness between my consciousness and that vision. I was in a fight for my life
—
I couldn
’
t afford paralysis.

Before I was led back to a cell, the FBI agents and a local police official came back into the interview room. One of the FBI agents acted as spokesman.
“
Ms. Bruno, we weren
’
t able to read you your Miranda rights last night, due to your collapse. We
’
re here this morning to file a formal charge of murder against you. It will be up to the prosecutor where the crime took place to determine the final charge, but you
’
ll be arraigned here pending extradition. Do you understand?
”

I nodded. Mr. Castle had prepared me for this.

“
In that case, we
’
ll proceed.
”
The FBI agent turned to the police officer, who intoned the familiar warning.
“
Ms. Bruno, you are under arrest for the murder of Frank Magruder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have him present with you while you are being questioned
…”
I listened more closely than I ever had when I
’
d been arrested for prostitution. When he came to the end,
“
Do you understand each of these rights I have explained to you?
”

I nodded.

“
I must ask you to answer verbally, Ms. Bruno. Do you understand your rights?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us now?
”

“
No.
”

Mr. Castle had warned me that even if I gave my information to the officials here, I
’
d still have to go to Texas and repeat it to the prosecutor there. I elected to speed things up by not repeating myself. A few moments later, I was taken to a different cell and locked in. My arraignment was scheduled for Monday, since it was a weekend. I wouldn
’
t be able to see Rex until after that, but he and the band might already be gone by then. They had to get on with the tour, I assumed.

The arraignment itself was anticlimactic. I stood before the judge with Mr. Castle at my side and pleaded Not Guilty. Mr. Castle entered a request that I be allowed to post bond and continue my tour with the band, arguing that we
’
d be in the public eye at all times, and therefore I wasn
’
t a flight risk at all.

The FBI agents argued successfully that I
’
d eluded them for four years, and they didn
’
t want to have to chase me down again. Bail was denied. The judge told us he had an extradition request from Texas and asked if I intended to contest it. Mr. Castle answered for me that I didn
’
t, and we were done.

Mr. Castle informed me that Rex would be there to visit me as soon as the county
’
s visitation schedule allowed it, and that he
’
d see me with a referral to a Texas attorney later in the day. I was returned to my cell, but let out a little while later to join other inmates in the common room. I knew how to act
—
I
’
d been in a similar situation more than once. I kept to myself, spoke only when spoken to and then with a respectful tone.

I was mindlessly watching whatever was on TV when my former roommate dropped into the chair next to me.
“
You a big deal around here, sister. Hey, thanks for breakfast the other morning.
”

I regarded her warily. The quick change of subject could be just her being scatterbrained, or it could indicate she was mentally ill.

She went on.
“
Did you really off a cop? You don
’
t look like a cop-killer.
”

I knew better than to engage in that kind of conversation. Snitches could screw up my case. I didn
’
t answer. It didn
’
t deter her, and I was glad, though her next sentence made my blood run cold.

“
Watch out for the Latinas in the corner. I heard them saying someone would be glad if you didn
’
t make it out of here. You got some bad-ass enemies, girl. We ain
’
t friends, but now we
’
re even for the breakfast.
”

She got up and moved away from me, leaving me with the knowledge that I wouldn
’
t be able to relax when out of my cell. The announcement over the loudspeaker that I had a visitor couldn
’
t have come as more of a relief. I moved to the doorway, where a guard met me to escort me to the visitation room. To my surprise, both Rex and Mr. Castle were there. The lawyer stayed only long enough to tell me Rex had the information for a criminal defense attorney in Dallas. Then he left, leaving me alone with Rex for the remainder of the fifteen minutes I was allowed.

Rex

T
here was too much to say, and not enough time to say it. Not to mention there was a glass partition between us. Words would have to convey our feelings, but I needed to hold her. Her contrite expression, combined with the fear in her eyes, broke my heart again.

“
Sugar, I
’
ve missed you,
”
was all I could get past the lump in my throat.

“
Baby, I
’
m so, so sorry. I couldn
’
t find a way to tell you. I
’
ve fucked everything up,
”
she answered.

“
No, you haven
’
t. Yeah, I
’
m pissed, and hurt. But I meant what I said. I love you, and my mama taught me you don
’
t give up on the people you love. Not unless they do something a lot worse than you
’
ve done. We
’
ll work it out.
”

She lowered her head and sobbed, tears dripping from her chin.

“
Amy. Look at me,
”
I commanded. It had worked before. I could only pray I could get through to her this time.

She fought visibly for control, and then turned eyes swimming with tears on me and tried to smile.

“
That
’
s my girl. Listen, we
’
ll get through this. I
’
ll contact this other lawyer, and I
’
ll follow you to Dallas. We
’
ll get you out, Amy. I promise.
”
I didn
’
t know how or when I could keep that promise, but I
’
d do it if it was the last thing I did. That
’
s all she needed to know.

“
Rex. Rick. Can you ever forgive me?
”
she asked. Her use of my name confirmed everything I
’
d known, as well as telling me what she was asking.

“
Already done. I can
’
t pretend to know why you did it, but we can work that out later. You need to know the label is still deciding what to do about the tour. The choices are cancel it or we get a singer to take your place. We
’
ve already told them we
’
d accept a
temporary
singer, but Chad and Jimmy aren
’
t with us anymore. Axel, Cole and I are behind you one hundred percent.
”

She lifted one hand to the glass, and I put mine over it on my side. Before the guard yelled at us to stop touching the glass, I felt a little warmth from her hand. It would have to be enough until we could hold each other again.

“
Time.
”
The loud announcement was accompanied by a buzz that made Amy jump.

“
Rick? Do you want to call me Amanda?
”

“
Not unless you want me to. You
’
re my Amy, and I
’
m your Rex.
”
I smiled at her and blew her a kiss just as the door on her side of the glass opened and she got up to go. My last sight of her was her beautiful smile puckering into an air kiss in return.

Persied wanted us back in LA for meetings to decide our fate, but I refused to leave Phoenix. They could talk to our lawyer. We had some rights, and no one in the band was in breach of contract unless and until Amy was unable to make the next tour stop, which of course she wouldn
’
t be. None of us had known she was a fugitive. Not even Amy knew police and FBI were looking for her. They couldn
’
t blame us for withholding information we didn
’
t have.

Nevertheless, they were in a bad position. They
’
d spent thousands already on backing us, and now it appeared it all could be wasted. We were ready to compromise, and even keep Chad and Jimmy on if the label insisted. I
’
d calmed down after my temper tantrum and agreed to let them play, as long as they stayed out of my way off-stage.

We agreed to another compromise in attending a virtual meeting in a downtown building that had videoconferencing room rentals so we could see each other as we hashed out the alternatives with label executives back in LA. Before we started, our lawyer told us he
’
d discovered we had an advantage. Amy had given her real name and social security number to the business office. They couldn
’
t accuse her of trying to conceal her identity. In fact, that
’
s how she
’
d been found. With the wind taken out of Perseid
’
s sails on their claim of fraud, they were in a mood to compromise too.

Our next tour stop was in San Antonio, Texas. Since we
’
d fallen from grace, we
’
d head there by bus, and we needed to be on our way since we
’
d already lingered in Phoenix too long. We had stops in Austin and Dallas after that. With luck, I
’
d be in Dallas about the same time Amy arrived. I
’
d have a decision to make after that
—
whether to risk another fight with Perseid and stay there if she needed me to, or continue on our swing through the South to Nashville.

The label was looking for another singer with Amy
’
s vocal range and depth. They would fly her to meet us in San Antonio if possible. If not, we
’
d be winging it with our old arrangements of my originals and our covers. The newer members of the band were disgruntled that everything was still up in the air. They hadn
’
t been through thick and thin with me like Axel and Cole had. Up until we
’
d won the competition, things were
always
up in the air for us. It felt more normal than our recent existence, to tell the truth.

So far, we
’
d been protected by a buffer of PR flacks from incidents with the media. The official position was that Amy Brown, aka Amanda Bruno, had been mistakenly arrested for a murder she hadn
’
t committed. The label had every confidence she would be exonerated and returned to the band in short order. The flat denial of guilt had its effect on local news media, I guess, and they left us alone. That was all to change when we reached El Paso, but as we boarded the bus in Phoenix on Monday evening, we didn
’
t know of the ambush awaiting us.