Loneliness Trilogy Bundle Boxset by Alison Cole Page B

estimates Tim.
    “Will that replace what you had to spend today?”
    “I don’t know. Marcus, can you figure out today’s exchange rate? I’d like to put this in our records for tax purposes,” says Tim.
    “So, depending on today’s exchange rate and the exchange rate for the date the airline receives your faxed receipts and depreciation paperwork, you could get less…or more?” I press.
    “It’s entirely possible, Johanna. I just want to make sure that Nigel and the band’s business manager have all the information they need so we don’t have to take a loss - if at all possible.”
    I collapse onto the bed.
    “Wow. Deliberate damage. Tim, I’m glad you locked the instruments up,” I say.
    Linny speaks up. “You know, I do have a question about the U.S. law on something like this. We’d probably have to wait to get back home to find an answer. But, if we get damages from the airline, could we still go after the individual who did this? You know, to sort of teach him a lesson.”
    Tim’s eyebrows knit together as he thinks. “Marcus, will you Google Spokane barristers - attorneys, I think they call them - and ask that question? That’s a good one, Linny! Thanks!”
    While we rest, Marcus finds the right kind of attorney and calls the office to speak to the assistant. When he hangs up, he sorts through his notes and grabs my hand.
    “Let’s go to Tim’s room. Knock on Linny’s door and I’ll raise Laslow. This is some sort of complex stuff!”
    In Tim’s room, we discuss what Marcus learned.
    “There are a lot of variables in our situation. How much we’re going to be reimbursed depends on the exchange rates. I suggest you lot hang onto your damaged instruments - more shipment costs - and take photos of them, because we can at least attempt to take this individual to court in what’s known as ‘Small Claims court’ here in the United States. That court is limited to awarding damage amounts that are less than $5,000 total. Of course, the employee couldn’t have done the damage while we were in the air. Tim, if need be - actually, if you find it’s worth filing a lawsuit against this chap - one of us could fly back here to appear in court to see what, if anything, we’d be awarded. It would probably be the difference between what the airline reimburses us for and the actual worth of the instruments.”
    “Let me see your receipts from today,” Tim says. He totals them up. “God! Five thousand dollars? At today’s rates, our damaged instruments would be worth…” Tim opens up his phone and begins working quickly on calculations. “Maybe three thousand. Eh. I need to think about this because we’d still take a loss. Tell you what. We’ll talk to the business manager and see what he recommends. At least the airline admits it was their fault - well, their employee’s fault - and they say that we’ll be reimbursed. That’s a bit of something, at least. Marcus, I’m glad we had you along, not just for this. You’ve been invaluable, helping us out. Back to tonight’s concert. I’m afraid we’ll have to re-tune our new instruments, so we’d better be at the hall forty-five minutes earlier than usual.”
    Despite all the day’s difficulties, our final concert in the U.S. is a wild success. We tuned up after retrieving our instruments from the closet. We feel that we must end our tour on a high note; so, accordingly, everything we play and sing is perfect. Our audience is very appreciative as we smile and take our bows. As my eyes sweep over the crowd, I get a stray thought - what if the guy who damaged the drums and guitars is in our audience? Would he even make a connection between the items he damaged and our band? I mean, Tim, Laslow and Linny’s names are on the luggage tags. In addition to that, we painted our band’s name on the instrument cases as an extra layer of protection. So, it’s not inconceivable.
    After the final curtain on our U.S. tour goes down, I ask the guys