Page 12 of Tone Deaf
I head back to Callum’s room, walk in quietly, and see Callum is sound asleep. Soft noises from the bathroom draw my attention and I hear Pen on the phone, talking with someone.
A few minutes later he comes out, a frown on his face. I lift a brow, conveying my unspoken question.
“That was Detective Faller. He and Longe are coming to talk with Callum. He said he only called out of courtesy—do you believe that? Anyway, they’ll be here soon,” Pen explains, his eyebrows furrowing deeply in agitation. “Couldn’t they have waited another day?”
“The attack is still fresh in Callum’s mind. He might have details he could forget the longer they wait. Then we can tell them about Brian.”
“Who are you telling about Brian?” Danny asks as he and Connor walks in.
“The cops,” Pen relays, his eyes never leaving me.
“Good. Hopefully, they can track down who hurt Callum, and throw his ass in jail,” Connor grates out indignantly.
“Hope so,” Danny says, equally angry. “What if it’s not because of Brian?”
Danny makes a good point. “If it’s not because of something Brian did, then who would want Callum hurt? Any grudges—does he have enemies we don’t know about?” I ask, trying to make sure we have all avenues covered.
Danny drops into the chair that sits adjacent to the bed. “Tobias asked the same questions. And the answers areI don’t knowandNo. Callum isn’t the type to create enemies. But his father… Let’s just say Brian is a piece of shit. Especially to Callum.”
“We know all about Brian’s foul mouth, but how does this pertain to Callum’s attack? There are no connecting dots,” Pen says, reaching my side.
“Don’t quote me and I don’t know details, but I remember overhearing my parents talking about Brian and the shady shit he did back in Australia. Right, Connor?”
“You got that right. Brian Fitz is a parasite,” the drummer rumbles out with disdain.
“What’s the shady shit?” I ask, needing to know how far Fitz senior would go to hurt Callum. “Would he purposefully have his own son hurt?”
Both band members glance at each other before Danny refocuses on me and says, “I wouldn’t put it past the bastard. Though his mouthing off is usually worse than his bite.”
“Motherfucker,” Pen spits out.
“I wonder why his mom uprooted Callum and moved to the states?” I ask, since Callum is tight lipped with that bit of detail.
“From what Callum told us when we were kids, Brian was involved in illegal shit with back in Australia, but he didn’t know what. And it was Callum’s grandfather who sent them here,” Danny whispers.
“You ladies talk too damn loud,” Callum mutters sleepily. “And that’s all hearsay about Australia.”
“Sorry,” Danny utters.
“Too late. I’m awake. And no, Brian might be a fucker—but I don’t see him wanting to physically harm me. In all the years…” Callum yawns… “he’s only hit me once. But Granddad put a stop to that. If he had ever laid a hand on me again, Granddad would have skinned him alive with his Bushman.”
Callum tries to sit up, but I quickly lay my hand on his chest to stop him. “Hold still,” I order. “Let me move the bed into a better position for you.” I take the remote from his hand and slowly incline the top half of the bed until Callum winces. “Shit. Let me move it back down a hair.”
“No. This is good.” Callum smiles, sort of, before shifting his attention to his bandmates. “Why do you two look like crap?”
“Because we’ve been worried about you, asshole,” Danny says with watery eyes. “Who did this to you?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t get a look at the guy’s face.” Callum blows out a heavy breath. “When I opened the door, all I saw was a guy in a hoodie standing there with his back to me. The next thing I knew, I was down on the floor.”
“Whover this fucker is, he’s a dead man,” Connor growls.
“I wouldn’t be saying that out loud,” Danny grimaces to his bandmate, as he slides more lip gloss across his lips.
“I would agree, since the detectives are on their way here,” I remind them. The band seems to be a magnet for trouble, and we don’t need to create more.
“Too late, they’re already here,” Lyric announces as he walks in. “Mr. Fitz, are you up for talking?”
“Please, call me Callum. I’m not my father. And yes, might as well get this over with,” he says with a sigh.