Mystery and Crime Fiction posted August 6, 2014

Chapters:

...31 32 -33- 34...

Excellent

Susan finds Barry, The Diamond girls go Gold!

A chapter in the book Bel Air: A Bard's Guide

Susan Turns Up, A hit Record

by michaelcahill

Previously, Junior showed himself to be a stand-up guy when it came to his daughter. He rushed to her side when he found out she was rescued. He also stepped up and began planning a center for the orphaned children that had been rescued and that hopefully would be rescued. Plans to pursue Barry and infiltrate Winston's compound and begin a rescue operation of the kidnapped kids were underway. We pick up the story now as a forgotten Susan Blackwell is wandering the streets of downtown Vegas.

~~~~~~~The streets of Downtown Vegas
 

Susan was in a bit of a quandary. She didn't realize that her credit cards had been restored to usable status. The freeze that Lilith had placed on Blackwell Publishing accounts applied to the company credit card she happened to carry with her. May as well charge everything to the company. Why use my own money, had been her thinking. That thinking had left her with a small amount of cash to get by on. She tried calling Barry again. He hadn't answered in several days. Damn backstabber. This was my deal. Now he's cutting me out? I don't think so.
 
"Barry? Where the hell are you? I'm stuck here in Vegas. What? Yes, of course. Well, no… I don't… Winston is out of the picture. No… he's alive. The Bard tore him up. Yeah, I'd think twice about that. He handled Winston and Winston is special ops. The Bard would have you for a light snack. Well… whatever. Okay then. Yes. I'm on my way. Of course I do. Always. You got the money right. Of course, I want to know. I knew you wouldn't hurt her. So, good then. It all worked out."

 

 
Susan headed straight to Avis-Rent-a-car. Damn it! I hope this card works. I sure don't want to call Junior. Oh, thank God. Oh, yes. Phew. "Thank you very much."
 
"Your Toyota Camry is parked out front ma'am."
 
"You know, I think I'll take the Escalade after all."
 
"Oh, I see. Well, let me change the paperwork. Just a couple minutes then and you'll be on your way."

 
~~~~~~~Barry in a green station wagon.
 

"Listen. Winston is surrounded by a sea of FBI agents. He's out of the picture. Elsa's either dead or close to it. I'm in charge now. There's no time to waste. The compound is under surve… Damn it! This isn't a debate. Unless you want agents crawling up your ass and nuns singing to those kids, you'd better listen. You've got to get those kids out of there. They're hot. The school in Nevada is toast. The kids are singing like ravens. Who knows what the nosey bastards have overheard. Yes. Yes. All arrested. She escaped, but they got her later. Winston? Christ, don't you have a T.V…. Caesar's Palace… the roof? For God's sake, man Wayne Newton and Marie Dion helped capture him. Well… never mind that. Get those kids ready to move. I'm on my way."






Ha! Soldiers. Just start giving orders and they fall right into place. Perfect. Just like that and it's all mine. Now what? Who's this? Susan? Hmm. Okay, answer it. Why not?
 
"Susan. Where are you? Me? I just escaped, barely. Vegas? What about Winston? Yeah? The Bard, that fool. I'd love to get my hands… well, I don't sweat that crazy fool. Get to Winston's compound. I'm planning to take over the operations there. It would look good if you were there too. Yes! Am I stupid? Of course, I got the money. Don't you want to know about your daughter? Well, no worries, she's fine. I wasn't going to hurt her. Elsa… well that's another… She's near death… Well, okay then. On your way."
 

~~~~~~~ Caesar's Lobby
 

Ruby and Diamond Dancer found the beautiful suite at Caesar's Palace to be boring as hell. All kinds of action going on everywhere and they weren't in on any of it. They found themselves in the lobby about to enjoy some of the entertainment of the great city they were in when two woman ran up to them breathless.
 
"Oh! My! God! It is them! It is!" A young gal in her mid-teens held up a CD and squealed. Her friend did some kind of dance that appeared to indicate excited happiness.





 
Her friend, perhaps a couple years older, exclaimed, "You're right! It's them. I wonder if Eminem is with them too?" Finally, she addressed Ruby, "Is Eminem with you? Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Bon-nee and this is my sister Shay-Shay. We're you're biggest fans in the world. Could you autograph this for us? Purple Haze is the baddest jam ever... eeeevvvvver!"
 
Ruby and Diamond couldn't have stopped them if they tried. Bon-nee rapped Eminem's part and then they both kicked in with the harmonies on the chorus. It wasn't bad.

 
Shady just strollin' rollin' fog comin' in
release me quick seekin' less stress within'
my frennimies and enemies
sez that I caused some mess called in Elliot Ness
my brain through the maze
these are lazy days covered in glaze it's a
 
Pur  ple  haaaze run through my brain
laaate leeeeey things don't seeeeem the same.

 
Ruby knew exactly where that came from. When Harpster first showed her and Diamond the studios on Wilshire Boulevard, they had a jam session that went on until the wee hours of the morning. Several artists signed to Blackwell Publishing had stopped by. A couple that weren't signed, including Eminem, stopped by as well.
 
The idea to record Purple Haze as a slow ballad came from the Bard. He was doing some slow Ninja style dance and singing Purple Haze much like they recorded it.
 
Ruby asked Bon-Nee, almost as excited as she was, "This is a hit? Can I see that?"
 
Bon-Nee was mesmerized talking to a real star. "Oh yeah, dawg. You old ladies. Well, I mean to say, ya know, not that you're really old, just to us kids and stuff... Anyway, this whole jam is fly. We never heard of a lot of these jams and stuff, ya know, the old original artists where music comes from like Jimi Hendrix and Paul McCartney. That old school stuff is pretty good. But, you bring it in a way we can relate, ya know?"
 
Ruby looked at the CD. 'Ruby in the Sky With Diamond, featuring Eminem'. She started laughing and showed her mom who started laughing also. Harpster had made an album from those jam sessions.
 
Bon-Nee chimed in, "Purple Haze is number one on I-Tunes and so is the CD, for weeks now. SELFIE!" With that she and her sister jumped in front of them with their phones and snapped pictures. "Thank you very much. Now we gots proof!" They ran off the way teenagers do, with no direction and limbs dangerously close to knocking over everything near them.
 
Diamond looked at Ruby, "We've got to get a copy of that CD. I should have known Harpster would do something with all that music!"