Losing Faith Read Free Page B

daughter back.”
    He turned and headed back down the small hill. He thought about Faith and wondered how often she thought of him. And if those thoughts were of disappointment. After missing his flight a few weeks ago, Seth thought for sure that he had lost Faith for good, but his attorney, an old family friend from Fort Wayne, had pulled a few strings and gotten him another hearing. A second chance. And Seth wasn’t about to mess it up this time.
    He continued walking toward the entrance of the cemetery. The long walk had given him time to prepare for his visit, but after looking at the gray clouds above, he hoped it hadn’t been a mistake. As the main entrance came into view, he spotted a large white tow truck loading up his Mustang.
    “Hey!” he shouted. A man wearing a white ball cap turned around and looked at Seth. He smiled and then climbed into his truck.
    Seth ran after the truck. “Stop! That’s my car.” The truck slowed and then came to a stop. The man inside held out his hand and gave Seth the finger before taking off again and vanishing down the road.
    Seth continued running, not knowing what else to do. His car was about the only thing he had left, and he needed it. He ran until he had nothing left. Finally, he doubled over and grabbed his side. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried to catch his breath. Then he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the one person who could help him.
    “Hello?”
    “Max,” Seth said, still trying to catch his breath. “You know who this is?”
    “Seth, buddy. How’s it goin’?”
    “Oh, pretty good. Be better if I had my car.” Anger surged through Seth’s veins as he tried not to yell.
    “What? Where’s your car?”
    “The last I saw, she was strapped to the back of a tow truck, heading down the road.” He heard Max let out a sigh and imagined him massaging his temples the way he often did when Seth sat across from him in his office. “Yeah, Max, I’m not happy about it myself.”
    “Seth, listen. I’m sorry about your car. But we’ve had this conversation before.”
    “Really? Because I’m pretty sure I’d remember the part where you said I’d be stranded on the side of the road without my car. Max, you’re my accountant. I need you to fix this.”
    “You’re broke, Seth.” He paused as if letting the words sink in. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, but the money’s gone.”
    “How’s that possible?”
    “Seth, come on, man. We’ve gone over this a thousand times now. Listen, I feel for you, man. I really do. But you haven’t been working for the past seven months. And we had to pay back all that money when you dropped out of the tour. You’re lucky we didn’t get sued for that.”
    “What about the new album? Aren’t the checks coming in from that?”
    “Are you talking about your second album, the one you released just before disappearing? Because those checks have been coming in, and they’re barely enough to keep you floating. In fact, they aren’t enough.”
    “That makes no sense. I have a platinum album.”
    “That’s right, Seth, but in this business, if you aren’t promoting, you’re dying. And since we’re being honest, let’s face it. Your fans didn’t exactly take it well when you checked yourself into rehab.”
    “What are you, my publicist?”
    “No, I’m not. She did the best she could to shield you from negative press, but you didn’t exactly help her either. You keep shutting us out, buddy.”
    Seth took a seat on the side of the road and stared at the rolling gray clouds that threatened to unleash buckets of rain on him at any moment.
    “Seth? Are you there?”
    “Yeah, I’m here.”
    “There’s a solution to this problem, buddy.”
    Seth ran a hand through his hair. “What’s that?”
    “I was talkin’ to your manager, and he said that if you went back out on tour—”
    “Adam? You’ve been talkin’ to Adam? About me goin’ back out on tour? Are you