VIII Case lay naked on the floor of the open, ground floor salon listening to Lyla play through the songs she’d been working on over the past month. It had surprised him when he first heard her sing without a full band behind her and only accompanying herself on the keyboard. She almost sounded like a different singer, but the strong, crystalline voice was pure Lyla. At that time of night, she was invariably naked at the...

X Lyla was sitting on the piano bench, facing the keyboard. Shana was sitting close beside her, facing the opposite way. The singer was absently running through finger patterns on the keys with one hand, but the board was turned off and there was nothing but the soft clack of her fingernails on the fake ivory. “All this time…” she said, her dreadlocks dangling over her face as her head bent down. Shana didn’t say anything...