Chords of Dissension

By Gisela Woldenga

Maestro Daniel Abogado is a successful and sought-after conductor. His life is music, and his recent marriage to Elvira Torres, a talented cellist in his orchestra, makes him feel complete. Especially so, since they are awaiting the birth of his first child. But one day, Daniel interferes with a beating on the street. From then on, his blissful life is turned upside-down. Physical and psychological threats appear out of nowhere. When Daniel gets kidnapped, he’s certain that he recognizes the voice of one of the attackers—the one the other thugs refer to as “the boss,” but Daniel can’t recall who the voice belongs to. After he gets released, the hunt for clues and voices intensifies. But can Daniel discover who is behind the voice before the boss gets tired of playing cat and mouse and decides to make good on this threats to end Daniel’s life?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Black Opal Books
• Release date: Jan 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781626945999

Book preview

Maestro Daniel Abogado is a successful and sought-after conductor. His life is music, and his recent marriage to Elvira Torres, a talented cellist in his orchestra, makes him feel complete. Especially so, since they are awaiting the birth of his first child. But one day, Daniel interferes with a beating on the street. From then on, his blissful life is turned upside-down. Physical and psychological threats appear out of nowhere. When Daniel gets kidnapped, he’s certain that he recognizes the voice of one of the attackers--the one the other thugs refer to as the boss, but Daniel can’t recall who the voice belongs to. After he gets released, the hunt for clues and voices intensifies. But can Daniel discover who is behind the voice before the boss gets tired of playing cat and mouse and decides to make good on this threats to end Daniel’s life?

KUDOS FOR CHORDS OF DISSENSION

In Chords of Dissension by Gisela Woldenga, Daniel Abogado, is a famous conductor, whose world is his music and his wife Elvira. His life is happy and peaceful until he stops to help a victim of a beating. Suddenly he’s getting death threats, eventually getting kidnapped. The police don’t seem to be able to help him, but the beating victim he rescued is more than willing to try. Together, they attempt to figure out what is going on, but with his wife expecting a baby, Daniel’s worried about his family, and rightly so. The criminals always seem to be one step ahead. Woldenga has ventured out of her usual young adult genre and crafted an intriguing and exciting mystery, filled with wonderful characters and plenty of fast-paced action. I heartily recommend it if you’re looking for a good who-done-it. ~ Taylor Jones, Reviewer

Chords of Dissension by Gisela Woldenga is the story of envy, greed, and revenge. Daniel Abogado is a conductor of note, traveling the world and conducting for famous orchestras. He lives a quiet and peaceful life, filled with his music and family--his wife small daughter, and unborn child. Quiet and peaceful, that is, until he stops to help a young man who is being beaten on a street where Daniel is driving by. Daniel rescues the victim, Jason, who has a dark and shady past. Angered at Daniel’s intervention, the criminals switch their focus from Jason to Daniel, leaving death threats on his voicemail, sending threatening letters, and even kidnapping Daniel to give him a beating. Daniel goes to the police, but with so few clues, they are powerless to help. Frustrated, Daniel and Jason attempt to solve the mystery on their own, but the people they are dealing with are serious criminals, and now everyone Daniel cares for is in danger. Chords of Dissension is a well-crafted, intriguing, and enchanting mystery, giving us a glimpse into the world of professional musicians. With delightful characters, a good strong plot, and lots of tension, it’s a very entertaining read. ~ Regan Murphy, Reviewer

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to thank my Port Moody writers’ club for the support and patience it has given me to make this book the best it can be.

Chords of Dissension

Gisela Woldenga

A Black Opal Books Publication

Copyright © 2017 by Gisela Woldenga

Cover Design by Jackson Cover Designs

All cover art copyright © 2017

All Rights Reserved

EBOOK ISBN: 978-1-626945-99-9

EXCERPT

Turning around, Daniel suddenly found himself in the dark. Someone had jammed a hood over his head...

Daniel screamed and kicked out backward. A voice swore and Daniel felt a sharp punch on the side of his head. His cell phone fell to the floor. He heard a foot crunching it into bits.

Someone kicked the back of his legs. He stumbled forward. Panic choked off his breath. I’m being kidnapped. This can’t be happening, this isn’t real! In between his struggles he heard a second voice. Easy, Chip. R’member, no damage.

Yeah, sure. Bloody fool kicked me.

The second man seemed to find that funny. He cackled. Chip, you’re a klutz. Then, he said, Into the car, Mr. Fancy Man. B’have yourself.

Two hands pulled his arms back and jammed him into a car.

Daniel knew there was nothing he could do. His heart beat so hard he thought it was coming out of his chest. He sat wedged between the two attackers while another one drove at break-neck speed out of the parking lot. Why couldn’t there have been one of the crew or musicians down here with me? He could barely breathe through the rough cloth of the hood, but he willed himself to concentrate on where they were going. After a few stops--probably stop lights--they drove a long while without interruptions. Freeway? He heard the driver swear a few times at the other slower motorists. Don’t them idiots know I’m in a hurry?

The man beside Daniel called out, Easy, pal, you wan’ to ’track a p’licecar?

Which generated a growl from the front.

Yes! Daniel thought, keep speeding. Lord, send a police car.

Chords

of

Dissension

Chapter 1

Maestro Daniel Abogado pulled the collar of his coat up higher and grunted. Lord, it’s cold. I prefer the West Coast. If the wind would just let up. He shivered as he caught another sharp blast from around the corner of the theater. Tomorrow I’ll laugh at all these freezing people, he mumbled.

Tonight he had to conduct the last performance of two weeks of Mozart in Toronto. January was the composer’s birth month and Daniel had been invited to lead the celebration. He enjoyed doing it since he had worked with the orchestra before. He had developed a good relationship with the musicians.

However, he also had to endure the cold winds, snow and occasional slippery sidewalks of the city. Even though the evenings of symphonies, concertos and recitals had been well received with full houses, Daniel was ready to go home. Missing Elvira, his wife of five months, and being used to milder winters in Vancouver, he had grumbled maybe a bit too often. Which gave him the nickname Grumbling Bass from the orchestra members. In good-natured humor he had threatened them with overtime during rehearsals. Of course, nobody took that seriously.

Daniel was pleased with the orchestra and himself. The soloists for piano and violin had been excellent. Tonight’s program showed Mozart’s clarinet concerto. Daniel could depend on a good performance. He knew the soloist from other occasions.

Cozy warmth met him as he entered the stage door. Ah, that’s better.

A stage hand motioned to him. Maestro, there is a phone call for you.

Who? My wife?

The stage hand nodded and grinned. Of course, who else? Another girl friend?

Hey, watch it. Daniel poked one finger into the man’s well-rounded stomach and hurried into his dressing room. Elvira and he had decided on a once-a-day phone call to make the separation easier.

He lifted the receiver. Hi, my love. What’s new? Just got here.

I have big news. I’m pregnant.

As he listened his eyes got bigger and he sat down. Repeat that once more, please.

You heard me.

He took a deep breath. I can’t believe it. How did we manage that? We’re usually so--

Just lucky, I guess. I’m so excited.

But what about your music, your playing? He got up and shrugged the coat off his six-foot frame. You don’t sound upset, which makes me happy. He heard a giggle from the other end of the phone line.

I wanted to wait until you come home tomorrow, Elvira said. But I found out today and couldn’t wait.

Hey, I’m glad you did. This is unbelievable. It will take some time for me to digest. You know I had given up on that. Oh, I do love you. I’m glad I’ll see you tomorrow.

When he finally replaced the receiver, Daniel stood quietly for a moment. He shook his head. I can’t believe it, I’m going to be a father. He raked his fingers through his dark hair. Right now he couldn’t quite envision how a baby would fit into his and Elvira’s active lives of rehearsing and performing, sometimes in different cities. But Daniel was too excited to worry about it now. And talking about performing, he looked at his watch. I better get a move on or the orchestra will start without me.

On his way to the orchestra pit, he still had thoughts bouncing around in his head. His first wife, Louise, had been unable to have children. So he had made his peace with the fact that, in this life, he wouldn’t be a real father. He loved Elvira’s four-year-old daughter, Mia, dearly, but that was different. Now he actually had created another human being. He chuckled. How about that.

For now he needed to keep his composure to bring the musical evening to its proper conclusion.

In this last performance, Daniel had selected the overture to Don Giovanni, then the clarinet concerto and, after the intermission, the Symphony Number Forty-One. To go out with a bang, he called it. That symphony was Mozart’s last one and, in Daniel’s mind, the most far-reaching of all of them. No wonder they called it the Jupiter Symphony. It was over everybody’s head. By that time, Mozart had been far ahead of his contemporaries.

Applause greeted him when he stepped onto the podium. He heard one voice calling, Three cheers for Mozart!

You got that right, Daniel thought. He quickly bowed and raised the baton. He tried to wrap his whole attention around the music. Usually that came naturally but tonight he had to work at it. Thoughts like Elvira being pregnant and his pending fatherhood kept creeping into his mind.

At the intermission, he couldn’t keep it inside any longer. As the clarinet soloist talked to him about the just finished concert, Daniel looked at him and said, I have a surprise for you.

Oh, do tell. Bernhard, the soloist, beamed at him.

My wife just phoned to tell me that I’m going to be a father.

Bernhard stared at him. You mean to say, you had time to make that happen? He laughed and shook his hand. Congratulations, Maestro, well done. Then he turned around and shouted to the rest of the orchestra members, Incoming message! Our Maestro is going to be a papa.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, everyone came forward to shake Daniel’s hand.

Well, I guess, next time you come here with kids in tow, the concert master said.

I can’t even imagine it, Daniel answered. I’ll have to wait until I get home and see my wife before it sinks in.

In the meantime you have to go out with us after the performance. You need a drink, the concert master continued. We have to keep you in good shape for the approaching excitement.

Daniel sighed. Ask me in nine months.

Yes, a brandy was exactly what he needed.

Chapter 2

The next morning, after the taxi ride to the airport, checking in and finally boarding, Daniel sank gratefully into this seat. He was glad to be in business class. He needed peace and quiet to think. Besides that, the goodbye party last night had stretched out longer than he had wanted.

Daniel closed his eyes. A lot of activities were waiting for him at home. He had planned the next season of concerts: Brahms’ Third Symphony, Prokoviev’s Classical Symphony, Barber’s Violin Concerto as well as Gounod’s opera Faust. It was supposed to have been Wagner’s Flying Dutchman, but due to the two main soloists unavailability, he had to postpone it. Luckily, another conductor would take over the second opera, Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten. That would leave Daniel time to ponder over one of Beethoven’s piano concertos and a heavy weight symphony by Shostakovich as well as prepare Bach’s B-minor Mass for the Christmas season. He was glad to be blessed with a good memory of the scores of compositions by various composers. It made his work easier.

His mind went back to Elvira. She had come into his orchestra as a new cellist and had made a big impression on him as a talent and a beauty. Her parents originated from Spain and went back there eventually. Daniel’s father was also from Spain but had passed away. The last five months of being married to Elvira were pure bliss. He still couldn’t believe how he had fallen so painfully deep in love with her and the chaos that had created around him. He shook his head. I won’t think about that. It’s in the past.

Now there was a child on its way. His own child. Mia, Elvira’s four-year-old daughter, was a wonderful, smart little girl, and he loved her. But actually creating another being? Daniel’s insides did a flip. What a feeling. With a smile on his face he drifted off to sleep.

***

Elvira was waiting on the other side of the baggage carousel. Daniel waved to her. Every time he saw her, his heart jumped, he couldn’t help it. With her dark hair and eyes she always struck him as something exotic. He couldn’t wait to hold her close again. Grabbing his suitcase he hurried through the gate and folded his arms around her.

How is the new mother doing? he asked.

Elvira leaned against him. I’m okay, except for throwing up a lot. I hope that part of it gets better soon. You might have to put up with me for a while.

Daniel held her arm and maneuvered her outside. How far along are you?

Second month. She gave him an impish look. No idea when it happened.

Bad girl, he teased her with an extra hug. Have you told Mia?

Elvira nodded. She asked me if she could play with the baby when it was born. I guess she thinks it’s a doll.

Well, she’ll find out.

In the car, she turned to him. Her eyes were serious. How are you feeling about all this? I mean, honestly.

What do you mean? I’m excited that I finally created a human being. He winked at her. With your help, of course.

Elvira leaned back in her seat. It’s funny. You never forget when someone you trusted disappoints you as Simon did.

Simon Brucks had been her once-boyfriend. When she got pregnant with Mia, he had suggested an abortion. She had left him despite his threats on her life.

Daniel nodded. "I understand. But this is me we’re talking about, not Simon. And we are married, not that that would matter."

I thought so, but wanted to be sure, with all your work and traveling.

Daniel looked at her. That goes for you and your playing too.

She smiled. I’ll probably play my cello until the first contraction.

No, you don’t. I’ll make sure.

What if you are away, like in Munich in July?

Daniel stopped at a red light. Oh blast, never thought of that. You could still come with me.

Elvira shook her head. In my eighth month? I don’t think so.

As Daniel drove on, Elvira pointed to a commotion on the street. What is that man doing?

Daniel looked over and noticed a burly man punching someone on the ground. He didn’t seem to want to stop. Daniel’s breath stopped, he needed to get closer. He pulled to the side, turned off the car, and stepped out.

No, Daniel, don’t go there! Elvira called. I don’t want you dead.

Daniel looked at her frightened face. I’ll be back. I have to do this. Close the doors and call nine-one-one. I swore, not ever again. He ran over to the sidewalk.

Hey, what are you doing? Stop!

The man barely gave him a glance and gave the person on the ground another kick.

Anger boiled into Daniel’s throat. Do you want to kill this guy? Stop now! He looked at the young man on the ground. He was nineteen or twenty and lay curled up with his hands over his head.

He’s a thief, the man growled. He stole my wallet.

Okay, but you had him under control. Why didn’t you just call the police? Why use him as a punching bag?

But he is a thief, and thieves will always be thieves. This way he had to give my wallet back real fast. The man crammed his fists into his jacket pocket and glared at Daniel. What’s it to you?

Because if you kill him, you are the one in prison.

The man laughed. Oh, piss off. Do whatever. He turned and quickly disappeared among the people gathered on the sidewalk.

One woman ran up. I called nine-one-one. He might need an ambulance.

Daniel helped the young person up from the ground. His face was bloody and he held his arm close to his chest. He winced when Daniel touched it. I think he broke my arm, he whimpered.

Well, you brought this on yourself. Stop stealing. Not all your victims are old ladies. What’s your name?

Jason.

Okay, Jason. This time you were lucky I came along. Whatever your problem, leave crime alone.

Jason glanced up at Daniel and shrugged. The look he gave him said plainly, "What do you know?"

A police car stopped and Daniel knew that from now on he was considered a witness and would have to talk to the officer. He related the incident as much as he could and added, This boy needs medical attention. He’s in bad shape.

The officer nodded. We’ll see to it. Could you identify the person who beat him up?

Yes, I could. Daniel wrote down his own name and telephone number. Then he turned once more to Jason. Remember what I said, right?

Jason just nodded and looked away.

Daniel went back to the car and sat down. His insides still squirmed. He had to take a few deep breaths. This was a flashback from years ago. Sometimes I wonder what makes those kids do it. He didn’t look like a hardened criminal. But then what do I know.

Elvira had shrunk into her coat and didn’t look at him. Her hands were clamped tightly together. You weren’t thinking of me and the child, were you? It scared me. What if that big guy had punched you out too?

Daniel put his arm around her shoulder. I couldn’t let it happen again, Elvira. Once we get home, I’ll tell you a story from my younger years. It might explain this. Besides, the guy had vented all his anger on the boy. He started the car. But I might have to testify against him because he sent the kid to the hospital. I know it sounds unjust. Maybe it might not come to that. It depends on the young guy, how bad his injuries are, and if he wants to sue him. And that would be a strange turn. He stepped on the gas.

What a homecoming. Was it fate that he had to drive by just at this moment? What would be the outcome? All he could think of now was to get home and have a long, hot shower. And tell Elvira a story that he had tried to forget.

Chapter 3

His hair still glistening from the shower and curling around his ears, Daniel walked into the kitchen. He noticed that Elvira’s eyes still had a serious...what he called her ‘inside’...look. It’s great to be home. Any thoughts for supper?

A wisp of a smile appeared on Elvira’s face. Spoken like a man. I’ve called out for Chinese if you don’t mind. You know, a pregnant woman’s hankering.

I’m happy with that. I’ll unpack in the meantime. Daniel kissed her cheek. Please, don’t be mad at me. I’ll explain it all later. Where is Mia?

Still with Emma. I’ll get her in a little while.

Why do things have to happen twice? Was it so I could redeem myself? In the middle of sorting his clothes, he heard the phone ring.

Elvira called from the bottom of the stairs. Daniel, it’s for you. The inspector.

Daniel stopped. What now? I’ll take it up here, he called back.

Inspector Grey had become something like a friend to him. He had helped him last year through all of his and Elvira’s problems, created by himself and Louise,