Lucky Caller(60)

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We told Dan the whole story. Our first disastrous shows, the promise to Mr. Tucker, the misunderstandings about the mystery guest. My dad backing out—that was a reveal for the others as well. I tried to downplay it, examining my plate of pancakes as I spoke. “He really was supposed to come, for Sidney’s play. And he said he would do this, but … something came up at work.” I couldn’t help but add, “He would’ve made it if he could,” and I didn’t even know why.

Dan just listened to it all, nodding at moments, taking occasional sips from his coffee.

Then we got to the heart of the matter—would he help us?

He let out a surprised laugh.

“You want me to pretend to be—”

“Tyler Bright, from Existential Dead,” I said.

“You sure have come up with something interesting here.” He shook his head. “Tyler Bright.” Amusement played across his face. “I haven’t heard that name in a long time.”

Jamie looked up from his food. “You’ve heard of him before?”

Dan nodded. “I have, in fact. I may be more familiar than most.”

Joydeep’s eyes widened. “Are you him?”

“What the hell are the chances of that happening?” Sasha said scornfully.

“Higher than you’d think,” Dan said with a smile. “But no, I’m not. I did know him, though. Briefly.”

“What?” I said, at the same time Joydeep said, “Seriously?”

Dan sat back in the booth, folded up his napkin, and pulled his coffee closer, though he didn’t take a drink. “Technically, I knew a guy named John Preciado,” he said. He paused like we knew who that was.

“He lived down the street from me growing up,” he continued, when no one jumped in. “Our mothers were friends, and we were friends too, even though he was a couple years younger than me. We liked to talk about music.

“I went into the army to pay for college, and after college, after serving for a few years, going overseas and all that, well … when I came back from the Gulf, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew it wasn’t the military anymore. This was a few years before I went back to school, got my dental degree … I don’t know if I ever told you that, Nina, but I didn’t start on that path until I was in my thirties.”

I shook my head. I didn’t know that.

“Well, I went looking for work, and I cycled through a bunch of jobs … telemarketing, construction, bartending … I’d try something for a few months, get fed up with it, try something else. I guess John heard, probably through his mother, when I was between jobs. He offered me a gig traveling around with his band—he was the bass player, had met up with these guys a few years ago. It was roadie work, sort of—loading equipment, tuning guitars, that kind of stuff. I drove their van. Just for one summer. As you probably guessed, that band was…”

“The Eagles,” Joydeep said sagely.

I elbowed him, and he grinned.

Dan grinned too. “Well, it was Existential Dead, of course. The unlikeliest little grunge band from Indiana. It was…” He trailed off, looking fond. “It was something else, I’ll tell you that.”

“Do you still know them?” Jamie asked, interrupting Dan’s reverie. “Is there any way you could get in contact with them? With John?”

“I’m afraid not,” Dan said. “I fell out of touch with all of them after that summer. I suppose it was one of those … moment in time sort of things.”

“But you’ve been around them. Around Tyler,” Joydeep said. “You know what he’s like. So … can you help us?”

“By impersonating him? For a ticketed event?” Dan looked … mildly concerned. “That has to be some kind of fraud, right?”

“I just don’t know what else we’re gonna do,” I said.

“Well. It must be a desperate situation if this was the best course of action.” Dan took a breath and let it out. Then he rapped his fist against the table. “Here’s what we’ll do. The show must go on. So I’ll be your guest.”

“For real?”

“As myself,” he said. “As someone with inside knowledge about the band that everyone there—or a portion of everyone there, I suppose, with the whole … boy band situation—but anyway, at least some of the people will come away hearing about something they seem to be interested in, and you’ll have a guest, as promised. I’ll look back through my basement … I’ve probably got some old pictures from that time. I think I…” He nodded. “I can definitely find something or other of interest. How’s that sound?”

More reasonable than a fake-out Tyler, surely. But also, wildly insufficient for what we were up against? But also also: appreciably better than what we had before, which was no guest, nothing even tangential to a guest or to Existential Dead, for that matter.

“That sounds … good,” Joydeep said, and Sasha nodded.

“That would be great. Thank you.”

“Thank you, for calling me.” Dan smiled a little and flicked his gaze toward me. “I’m happy to help.”