Chapter 14
An hour passed, and Cindy was still alone in the chaise lounge chair at the pool. Her eyes started to drift closed, and this was utterly boring. She began to believe that this was a stupid plan and would not work.
Her eyes closed. Her hands relaxed, and her book fell to the concrete. She did not notice that while she started to drift off to sleep.
"You dropped your book," a male voice was heard while Cindy started to sleep.
She felt someone tap her shoulder. "You dropped your book," the male voice called out again.
Cindy opened her eyes and saw a young man wearing a black Fedora hat and black-framed Ray-Ban sunglasses. "You dropped your book, darling," Sig said while he held up her book.
It took Cindy a few seconds for it to dawn on her that one of The Rocking Tones took her bait.
"Oh, thank you, I guess I started to fall asleep," she replied.
Sig looked at the cover. "The Clocks by Agatha Christie. Is it any good?" he asked, then handed her the book.
"So far, but I just got started with the first chapter," she replied and took the book and gave him a warm smile.
"And who might you be?" Sig asked while he sat down on the chaise lounge chair next to her. He removed a Winston cigarette from his pack. He lit the cigarette and took a drag.
"I'm, ah, I'm Sally Duke," she replied and for a second she almost goofed and gave him her real name.
"So Sally Duke, where are you from?" asked Sig.
"Cambridge."
"Ah, Cambridge."
There were a few brief seconds of silence between them.
From across the pool area, Danny's head was visible spying out of the curtains of the window from his room.
"You're Sig from The Rocking Tones, right?"
"The one and only at your service. So, Sally, what do you do in Cambridge?"
"I'm a reporter for the Cambridge Chronicle and a student at MIT."
"Are you here for a story in Cohoes?"
"Well, yes, I was hoping that my coworker and I could do a story about your band. It would be a huge break for us since we're studying journalism," she replied and gave him a warm smile and hopeful eyes.
Sig thought about her reply for a few seconds. "What kind of story?"
"We thought that it would be good for an article on how your band got started. And what's it's like to be on the road going from concert to concert."
"That would be the kind of publicity that would help us. Our current manager has been slacking off with some good PR work."
"That's what my coworker and I thought," replied Cindy.
"I'll talk to the guys, but I don't think it would be a problem. What room are you in?" asked Sig.
"Thirty-five," she replied.
"I'll be in touch later, pretty lady," said Sig then he grabbed Cindy's right hand and gave it a gentleman's kiss.
He smiled at her, then got up off his chaise lounge chair and walked away.
Cindy watched Sig and thought he was cuter in person and had an interest in him.
The second Sig walked out of the pool area, Cindy did a little victory dance in her chair.
Cindy played it cool and waited five minutes. Then she got up with her book and walked out of the pool area.
Danny's head still spied out his the curtains of his room, as he kept a watchful eye on Cindy.
A few minutes had passed, and Cindy knocked on Danny's room door.
The door opened.
"I made contact with Sig. He said he'd call my room later to see if we can meet with the other guys. I think we're going to connect," she said with a smile.
Danny tried to hide the fact that he was jealous. "Good, I guess we'll just have to wait."
"I better get to my room in case he calls soon," she said then walked off to the door.
Danny sat down on his bed and watched while Cindy left her room.
An hour had passed, and Danny was totally bored while waiting in his room. He paced back and forth.
Someone knocked on his room door.
Danny rushed over to the door, opened it, and saw Cindy outside with a huge smile. "Sig called, they want to meet us now," she said.
Danny stepped outside his room and closed the door.
He and Cindy walked away.
A few minutes later, Cindy walked Danny to the second floor to Room 25.
She knocked on the door. The door opened, and Sig appeared in the doorway. "Welcome, Sally," he said, then motioned for them to step inside his room.
Danny and Cindy stepped inside his room, and Sig closed the door.
Danny and Cindy stood in awe at the sight of all of The Rocking Tones hanging around Sig's room. He was speechless knowing this was the second time he met them in person.
"Who is your friend?" asked Sig.
"Chris Moore," Cindy replied.
Danny removed his wallet and immediately removed his fake Cambridge Chronicle reporters ID card.
"Sig tells me both reporters and students at MIT?" Jackie asked while he walked over to Danny.
"Yes, the Cambridge Chronicle," Danny replied and flashed his ID.
Cindy opened up her purse and removed her ID card.
Jackie looked at Danny's ID card then he looked at Cindy's. "Okay," he said, then he looked at Danny, and something suddenly felt strange. It was a strange feeling like he knew Danny. "Have we met before?" he asked.
"No sir, I mean, I'm a huge fan and have all of your records," Danny replied, but while he looked at Jackie, there was also something about him that appeared familiar. But he could not place a finger on it.
"I'm also a huge fan and have all your records," added Cindy.
"Well, I'm good with them doing a story on our band. Lord knows we need the publicity," said Jackie.
"Got that right," said Delmar.
"Roger's been dropping the ball on that important job," said Carter.
Burt nodded in agreement.
"Sig tells me that you want to write about how we got started and what it's like to be on the road going from concert to concert," said Jackie.
Danny looked at Cindy and was a little proud, as they forgot to work out that detail for their cover. "Yes, we were hoping to start with tonight's concert and end it with the Ed Sullivan show."
"That's a good ending point, as we're excited about getting that huge break," Jackie said then he paused for a few seconds. "I guess you can follow our bus in your car and I can get you in the concerts as our official guests," said Jackie.
Danny and Cindy looked at each other and smiled that their plan is working so far.
Danny looked a little concerned. "Ah, we have a little problem, we don't have any transportation," he said.
"No transportation? How did you get to Cohoes?" asked Delmar.
"We hitched a ride from Buffalo after your concert there," said Danny.
"The paper gave us a lousy budget, so we don't have enough money for transportation," added Cindy and looked at Sig.
"This is our attempt to make it as reporters. This might be the break that will give us full-time jobs," said Danny.
"They would only hire us part-time," added Cindy.
Jackie looked at the other members of the band. "What do you think?"
"I'm good," said Delmar.
"Me too," said Burt.
Carter and Sig both nodded in agreement.
"Then it's settled, you can tag along with us. We have plenty of room on the bus," said Jackie.
Then Delmar's eyes widened, and he looked a little concerned. "What about Roger?"
"I'll take care of him," said Jackie, and he looked confident.
"Welcome to The Rocking Tones," Sig told Cindy while he walked over to her side.
"Thank you so very much," Cindy said then she gave Sig a little kiss on his cheek.
"I'm in love," Sig jokingly said.
"Again," Delmar said with a chuckle.
There was a knock on the door.
Sig walked over and opened up his door, and Roger stepped inside.
"Who are these two?" he asked the second he saw Danny and Cindy in the room.
"They're going to tag along with us to do a story," Jackie said.
"A story? I didn't authorize any media folks to do a story," replied Roger, and he looked a little pissed.
"We decided that we want them to tag along from now until the Ed Sullivan show," Jackie said and looked dead serious.
"I don't think that's a good idea," replied Roger.
"It is becoming the cold and flu season, so we just might catch a cold later in the week," Delmar said then he faked a bad cough.
Then Jackie, Sig, Carter, and Delmar all faked a bad cough.
"I feel a fever coming on," Sig said and felt his forehead with his hand.
"They'll also need rooms, and they'll ride on the bus with us," said Jackie.
Roger looked at the guys and knew they were serious. "Start to get ready, we leave for a concert in an hour," he said then he walked off to the door a little pissed.
"Okay, you heard the man, go get ready," Jackie told the other guys then he looked at Danny and Cindy. "Be back here in forty-five minutes.
Danny and Cindy walked to the door with a spring in their steps.
After Danny and Cindy left Sig's room, they waited until they were far away. Then they stopped, and they hugged to congratulate each other.
Forty-five minutes had passed, and Danny and Cindy walked back down to Sig's room.
"I hope they weren't bullshitting with us," he told Cindy while they walked closer to his room.
"I think Jackie was serious," she replied then they stopped at Sig's room. She knocked on the door.
A few seconds passed, and Sig opened up the room, and Sig appeared wearing their standard golden brown suits, tanned dress shirts with dark brown ties and brown leather ankle boots. "Enter," he said then stepped aside to let Danny and Cindy inside his room.
"Are you ready for an evening of rock and roll?" asked Sig.
"We are," Danny replied.
There was a knock on the door.
Sig walked over to answer it, and Roger stood outside. He saw Danny and Cindy inside the room and rolled his eyes. "The bus is leaving in fifteen minutes," he said then he walked away.
Twenty minutes had passed, and Danny and Cindy had their seats on the bus with The Rocking Tones. They were in heaven, but Danny still wondered how he could find out who was behind the installation of the bomb. He had no ideas what so ever on his next moves.
Roger glanced over at Danny and Cindy with disapproving eyes while the Gus drove the bus through the streets of Cohoes.
An hour later, The Rocking Tones went on stage to a small crowd of five hundred adoring fans in the Cohoes Music Hall. Even though this was a smaller concert hall, Roger wanted to perform her for some traveling money.
While the band started up playing their hit song She's My Only Baby, Sig looked over to the right side of the stage. He winked at Cindy the second he saw her backstage standing next to Danny.
Danny knew he might be trouble, and again, he got jealous.
Cindy played the part and had her note pad out and jotted down some notes while she glanced at the screaming girls in the audience. I would never scream like that. Looks a little stupid. She thought to herself while she jotted down some notes but did not jot down that thought.
After The Rocking Tones completed their concert, they were rushed out of the rear stage door.
Once they made it outside, they saw forty fans behind a police barricade. A few girls screamed at The Rocking Tones.
"I love you, Jackie," screamed out one blonde teenager while she eyed her favorite member of the band.
The Rocking Tones waved at their fans while they headed to the front of their bus.
The girls screamed the second they saw The Rocking Tones at the front of the bus waving and blowing kisses at them.
Pastor Elmer Watson and his fifteen followers were with the fans. They held up their signs protesting rock and roll music.
Elmer held up his Bible. "Repent, you sinners!" he yelled out the second he saw The Rocking Tones.
Out amongst the fans were Mickey and Maureen. They both saw Danny and Cindy standing behind the members of the band.
"They made it Maureen," Mickey said.
"Good for them," she replied and waved at them
Danny and Cindy saw Mickey and Maureen and waved back.
Then The Rocking Tones turned around and got on the bus with Danny and Cindy.
Gus closed the bus doors and drove away from the rear stage door.
Tom and Kenny got out of the two vans and headed to the rear stage door.
They went inside to do their routine of tearing down the instruments and drums and carting them off to the vans.
A little while later, the bus pulled back into the rear of the Holiday Inn. Everybody got out and headed back to their rooms.
"We're leaving at ten in the morning after some breakfast. So join us at nine at the dining room," Sig told Cindy and gave her a peek on her left cheek.
"We'll be there," she replied with a warm smile.
The Rocking Tones headed off to their rooms to chill after their concert.
Danny and Cindy walked away from Sig's room with Danny discreetly mocking Sig kissing Cindy on her cheek.