"Hey, Jake, have you seen a wire-bound notebook with a black cover? I left it on an amp in the truck, and it's gone."
"Sorry, sweetie, haven't seen it. Maybe Marcus or Travis know where it is."
Rebekah asked Travis next. She really hoped Marcus hadn't been the one to find it. He'd probably give her a hard time for needing it. Travis was helping someone she hadn't met set up a light panel behind the drums. "Hey, Travis!" she called. "Have you seen a notebook around here? I left in the truck."
"Sorry, sugar, haven't seen it."
"I think Marcus might have it," the temporary roadie said.
Great.
"What's the matter, Reb?" Eric asked. He had his snare in place now and was shifting his drums and cymbals around slightly to get them lined up to his preferred specifications.
"Nothing," she assured him. Her heart was thudding as she approached Marcus, who was connecting wires to a soundboard next to the stage. She really didn't want a confrontation with the guy.
"Um, Marcus?" she asked.
He glanced at her and then turned his attention back to his work. "What?"
"I seem to have misplaced my brother's notebook. Have you seen it?"
"Nope."
He plugged in another wire, and she could tell their conversation was over. She wasn't sure if she believed him or not. He probably knew exactly where her notebook was, but she wasn't going to accuse him. The guy already hated her enough.
"Okay, thanks," she said.
She could probably hook up most of the sound equipment from memory. It was the nuances of Dave's specific configuration that concerned her. She wanted everything to be perfect for this show. She wanted to make a good impression on the band. She wanted to prove to them that she could do this job and prove to herself that she wasn't destined to be a failure in everything she tried.
She got to work. Since Eric was already at his drum kit, she did his sound check first. Within two minutes, Marcus headed over to bitch at her. "You need to get the guitar amps hooked up before you start the drum sound check."
Even though he was standing way too close to emphasize his height, she didn't back down. Not an inch. "You do things your way, and I do things mine."
Marcus stared with his mouth hanging open. She turned back to her soundboard, ignoring him as he stood gawking after her. By the time she had Eric sounding awesome, the crew had the white baby grand piano set up stage right. She worked out a few different mic setups. Eventually, Jace wandered in to help her get the piano acoustics right by playing the intro to "Sever" over and over until she was satisfied with his sound.
"Sounds great, Reb!" Travis called from the stage rigging high above. He was doing something with a laser light and trying to get it lined up with the piano. The shiny white paint would pick up the colors of the light show. Rebekah couldn't wait to see it in action.
"Don't blind me while I'm playing," Jace called up to him.
"Do you mind playing it one more time?" Rebekah said. "I think I've got it, but I want to make sure."
Jace grinned and nodded. The guy was so freakin' cute with his bleached blond spikes and dark beard stubble. His sweet little smile coupled with the downward cast of his dark eyes had her momentarily befuddled. When Jace's fingers swept across the keyboard, she snapped out of it.
"That piano intro is awesome, Jace," Rebekah said as he finished the piece again. "Did you write it?"
Jace flushed and shook his head. "Brian wrote the original as a guitar solo, and Eric adapted it to the piano. I just play it."
"Does the new album have a lot of piano segments?"
Jace shook his head again. "Just a couple. We weren't sure how the fans would respond. So far, they seem to like it."
Eric appeared next to Rebekah. "Understatement. The single is doing better than any in our past. Tripod, you rule!" Eric knuckle-bumped Jace, who beamed at his compliment.
Jon Mallory wrinkled his nose and kept trying to get the bass line of the song right. Since it wasn't one of the songs he'd written when he'd been part of the band, Jon had never played it before. Which was quite obvious by the chaotic sounds coming from his instrument.
"Damn it. I cannot get this triplet thing," Jon complained. "Why the fuck did you have to make it so complicated?"
"Because Tripod is awesome," Eric said. "I inspired him to become a bassist, you know."
Rebekah smiled at his obvious pride. "I did not know that."