It was hot as hell in the business offices over at the Jive headquarters. Howie pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the beads of sweat that had gathered on his forehead. With millions of dollars handed around from sleaze to sleaze you would think that they could afford a decent air conditioning system. Millions of dollars that they weaseled countless artists as well as his own band out of. "Gee I wonder how many air conditioners you could buy with the money that was owed to us" He grinned just wanting to say that out loud to somebody. It never failed, Howie was always wittiest when no one was around.

He hated even coming to this place. At first Kevin was going to deal with them, but he was called out of town at the last minute leaving Howie to hold the bag. That's okay though, Howie thought, at least I can see Jessica.

Just as the thought, crossed his mind, Jessica, one of the receptionists crossed his path. She smiled at him and he winked at her. They had that kind of flirty, we know this is going to go nowhere but let's have fun, type of relationships.

"Hey darling"

"Hi, Howie. Long time no see" She shifted the pile of manilla envelopes she had in her hands uncomfortably looking past Howie at the clock, "Usually Kevin graces us with his appearance"

"Not today, today I am all yours"

She laughed, "Awesome! Today is my lucky day, well I better get going, these need to be in Mr. Fink's hands by noon or I'm dead"

"Okay see ya around"

"I'll be waiting with baited breath"

Mr. Fink, talk about an appropriate name for a guy. This guy was a fink in every sense of the word. He was also the one that they always had to fight with about everything. In fact that's who Howie was on his way to see. He bit his bottom lip. Dang, if only he thought about that a little sooner, he could have walked down with Jessica. Ah well.

He started down the hall, towards the corridor which led to Fink's office when something caught his eye. A guy opening up one of the windows of an empty office just to his right.
He found himself staring at the guy. He looked like he could be Nick's twin. But maybe a little older. He was dressed in a bright blue tee shirt and black pants. The guy caught Howie's glance and shyly smiled at him, in which Howie waved.

The he walked on not thinking anything of it.
~*~*~*~*~

Those meetings always gave him a headache. And after spending an hour with Fink, that is what was happening now, A super huge headache. He walked out, flustered and decided he would ask Jessica if she perhaps had any aspirin he could have. Maybe he would do that corny joke AJ told him, I'll borrow it only if I can kiss you and give them back. He never fully got that one, because the thought of swallowing another person's half digested pills was...His thought was interrupted by the sound of light sobbing. He immediately turned his attention back to the office that he had passed earlier. He looked in and saw no one.

Convinced it was just his imagination, he moved a little farther down the hall but once again stopped at the sound of someone crying. This time it was unmistakable and definitely coming from that empty room. He back tracked and walked into the small office. The lights were off but the sun burst through the room because there were no blinds.

"Hello?" He whispered, almost hoping no one would answer. The room was small, small enough for him to tell if someone was in there, which he saw not a soul. The crying remained though. Louder and stronger. He felt the little hairs on the back of his neck stand up now. This was getting creepy.

"Hello? Are you in here?"

"Go away" He finally heard, and to his relief smiled when he noticed it came from under the desk. Good thing, he was just about to go out and call a ghost buster.

"I just want to make sure you're alright. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, now please just go away" The voice belonged to a man.

Howie stopped and stared at the desk for a minute, wondering if he should just do as requested and leave, but that just wasn't his character, so he walked around the desk where he once again found the blonde who looked identical to Nick, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his shirt.

"I said go away"This time, he seemed a bit mad. Howie squatted down next to the guy who couldn't have been more then 20, "I'm sorry, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay.

"I'm grand, thanks for asking, now If you don't mind I have to get back to work" He climbed out from under the desk and stood up. He was even the same height as Nick. The resemblance was almost uncanny. "Excuse me, are you related to Nick Carter?" Now the guy seemed really annoyed, "Who?" He adjusted his tee shirt and tucked it back into his pants.

"Nick Carter...well, it's nothing you just look like someone I know that's all"

"Oh, well... no never heard of him"

"So, why where you crying?" Howie instantly regretted his question as soon as the words escaped his lips. It was none of his business.

"I've just had a bad day, okay?"

"Yeah, sure man...well, Hope your day gets better then" Howie felt like such a dweeb. What was he? A member of the Mickey Mouse Club? Golly Gee whiz, I hope your day gets better.

The man laughed, "It's only going to get worse from here. Trust me" Now the sad and annoyed expression that the kid was carrying went to a look of desperation.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm far from okay, but I'll live, at least I hope" He let out a nervous laugh.

"Cool man" The conversation ended when the young blonde smiled, placed on a pair of headphones and walked out of the room, leaving Howie alone and baffled.

As he walked down the hot hallways of Jive he saw the kid one more time talking to Jessica, well more like arguing with Jessica. He was going to go stop and say goodbye but he decided not too. He walked past them, smiled and heard a few distinct words.

"My friggin life is over Jess!"

"Did they see you?"

"They know everything"

Howie's heartbeat quickened. This was less then a friendly conversation they were having. He decided to keep walking right out of there and back to his air conditioned car.
By the time he got back to his hotel room, the whole incident was forgotten. The boy, the crying, the arguing all just a distant fuzzy memory.

Until the next day....

2

Early the next morning, Howie's alarm went off at 6:30. He went to go hit at it, press snooze for just a few more hours, but stopped when he heard AJ laughing at him, "Dude it's the phone, not your clock" AJ reached over and picked up the phone, "Yello?" He rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah Rok we're up" He then slammed it back on the carol.

"Brian's wake up call", he said as he stood up and started bouncing on Howie's bed.

"What... are you Nick now?"

"Ew, don't say that"

"Then stop jumping on me and I won't"

"You are SO not fun D" AJ jumped back over to his bed and plopped down.

Howie sat up and yawned, trying to wipe the sleep out of his eyes. He hated when Kevin was away, even if it was only for a few days, because that left him in charge. A position he didn't feel very comfortable in. "Better go shower if you plan on it, because today is my hair day"

"Oh, then let me go pee" AJ got up and ran to the bathroom. On Howie's hair days, he was known to be in the shower for a small eternity. Which is kind of what he planned on doing this morning. He grabbed his towel, his change of clothes, but stopped when he realized he never called to see if Nick was actually awake. True he was rooming with Brian, but that seldom meant that Brian would actually wake his young friend up. That job also fell to Kevin. Poor guy. He picked up the phone and rang Nicky's room.

"Pizza Hut how may I help you" Nick snickered after he said it and let out a snort. Howie couldn't help but smile, "Good you're awake. I was just making sure"

"Wide awake, now when is breakfast coming? I'm starving"

"Order some, AJ will be down to your room in a few"

"What about you? Don't think just because Kev left you in charge, you get to sleep in"

"Today is my hair day" That brought about another round of giggles. 17 year olds could be so silly sometimes.

"Oh, then I guess we'll see you by dinner time"

"Just get dressed, I'll see ya later"

"Later Gater" By the time, he was off the phone with Nick, AJ was out of the bathroom, "I told the guys you would meet them in their room"

"Okay"

With a wink and a smile, he walked into the bathroom and did his thing.
~*~*~*~
By the time he met up with the rest of the guys, it was almost 8. "Wow I really do take a long time" He said to himself before using his spare key to let himself into Brian and Nick's room. When he arrived, he shook his head at the site before him. Clothes strewn everywhere, an empty room service tray with nothing but a half eaten english muffin on it was sitting on one of the beds and the three boys were sitting on the floor, playing a game of Basketball on Nick's Play Station. Of course, Nick wasn't even dressed, his hair still sticking up in an uncombed mess. He was glad Kevin wasn't there because he would have blown a fuse.

"Guys?"

"D! It's about time" AJ snickered.

"Nice hair"

"Thanks Nicky, don't you think you should go get dressed? I mean don't we have a thing at 9?"

"It was canceled" Brian jammed Nick in the elbow trying to get the kid to mess up.

"Canceled?"

"Yeah, Tony just called and said something came up so they canceled and we get the day off" Brian and Nick high fived each other and AJ took that as an opportunity to push both of their controllers out of their hands.

"Hey! Play nice" They all looked back at Howie and laughed.

"Oh and thanks for leaving me some breakfast" He went and grabbed the half eaten english muffin and held it to the boys who really were too preoccupied with their game to care.

Just then the phone rang, so Howie took it upon himself to answer, "Hello?"

"Hi D, it's Kevin"

"Hey Kev, how are you doing?"

"Pretty good, Just calling to make sure you guys remember you have that thing at Jive"

"It was canceled"

"It was?"

"Yeah, they called and canceled, so we have the day off"

"Figures that would happen when I'm not there. How's things going?" The other three were making so much noise, Howie could barely hear what Kevin was saying.

"Everything's good"

"How did the meeting with Fink go?" Howie kicked AJ in the side and motioned for them to be quiet.

"It went well. He is an ass but other then that, it's all good"

"Cool, well I should be back by tomorrow oh and by the way, have you seen the Inquisitor today?"

"I usually don't read it why?"

"According to that magazine, Nick is dead" Howie laughed, he probably would have actually panicked about it if he didn't see the kid sitting right in front of him, that's how he was, a worrier. "Dead?"

"Yup, according to their sources, it says that he jumped from a high rise building last night" Kevin laughed, "They even have a picture of him standing on a ledge. It actually looks like Jive"

That made Howie's blood run cold, "What was he wearing?" He found himself asking in a whisper that made Kevin curious, "Why? I mean Nick IS there with you right now right? I could swear I just heard him laughing"

"Yeah he is, I was just curious"

"A blue tee shirt and black pants" Howie almost dropped the phone, remembering the guy he had briefly encountered at Jive yesterday.

"Howie, is everything alright?"

"Uh...yeah"

"Okay well, I'm gonna go. I'll see you tomorrow. Tell the guys I said to behave" Kevin laughed but Howie couldn't bring himself to do much more then think.

When he hung up the phone with Kevin, He had the sudden urge to run down to the hotel's gift shop and pick up a copy of the magazine, "Hey AJ..feel like taking a walk with me?"

3

Howie walked towards the elevator like a man on a mission. AJ had a hard time keeping up, "Where's the fire D?" He was a little concerned about his friend's sudden personality change. One minute kidding around, the next wanting to go on an excursion to the gift shop.

Howie relentlessly hit the elevator button at least fifteen times. "You know you always make fun of me when I do that" When that failed to even get a smile out of D, he grew even more worried, "Howie" He put his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Is everything alright?"

The elevator doors opened and they both walked in. Howie rubbed at his arm, he hated elevators, if even one fan got in with them, it could be brutal. "Dave is going to kill us you know" He looked over at AJ, he had forgotten to even let security know he was leaving. Like he forgot he was famous.

"Eh, they'll live..so you never answered me man. Are you okay? Why do we need to go to the store suddenly?"

"I need to buy something"

"No duh... really? I thought we were just going to window shop for toothpaste" Howie looked over at AJ's smug expression, he wished just sometimes he wouldn't have to be so damned sarcastic about everything. Now he wished he had gone alone. Why invite AJ? He had no clue.

The elevator doors opened up to a very quiet lobby. There were a few people sitting around reading papers, but no one seemed to notice the two men or care for that matter. Still Howie and AJ, both by instinct, put their heads down and walked into the shop. The magazines were displayed against the front wall so they didn't have to venture very far into the place. Howie let his eyes scan the mags, looking for the correct one. He was surprised at how many magazines had their faces on the cover. Especially the teeney bop ones. Nick was all over the place.

"How could he not know who we were?" He asked himself. AJ looked up, "What?" Continuing to look at the different magazines he shrugged off his friend, "It's nothing" Then his eyes landed on what he was looking for. He picked it up and stared. His mouth dropping open in total shock.

"What is it D?" AJ walked around Howie to get a look at what had his friend in an uproar. "It's him" Howie couldn't believe it, but the man standing on the ledge was the same man he had talked to just the other day. Wearing the very same outfit.

"Howie, please tell me you didn't drag my ass here just for one of these gossip magazines"

Howie looked over to AJ and showed him the picture. "SO Nicky killed himself huh?" He laughed but when he saw how ghastly white Howie had become he pat him on the shoulder, "Come on D, we know it's not true. Nick is upstairs"

"I know that's not Nick" He grabbed the magazine and made his way over to the counter to pay. "You're buying that trash?" Howie didn't answer, just waited for the clerk to ring him up. She gave him an odd look. That now familiar look Howie recognized as the moment of recognition. Her face went down to the magazine he was purchasing, "Oh God! It's not true right?" He smiled at her as she gave him his change, "No it's not true sweetheart, I just thought he'd get a kick out of seeing himself" She laughed.

AJ made sure to exchange a brief smile with the girl as he wandered back out into the lobby after D. He started for the elevator's but turned to see Howie walking towards the front doors. He ran after his friend right before he left, "Howie where the hell are you going now?"

"Back to Jive"

"What?"

"See ya later"

"What, D...want me to come with you?" Howie stopped, "No, you better go back upstairs and let them know I went so no one has a cow" He made his way towards the doorman as the guy hailed a cab for him. The whole time AJ looking on confused.
~*~*~*~
In the cab, Howie found he couldn't take his eyes away from the picture. When did this happen? Was it shortly after their talk. "Oh God, maybe it was my fault. Maybe I pushed him over the edge"

"Excuse me?" The cab driver looked at Howie through the front mirror.

"Oh sorry, I was talking to myself" The driver nodded and smiled. He opened up the magazine to the article that accompanied the picture.

Youngest member of the Backstreet Boys takes a plunge

He read through the fluff piece rolling his eyes at the things they were saying. "How do these people sleep at night?" He grumbled under his breath. The close ups they had were definitely Nick but that picture of him standing on the ledge was that kid from Jive. Howie would bet his life on that one.

"We're here" The cabbie said as he stared back at Howie, who hadn't even noticed that the car had stopped.

"Thanks man" He gave the cabbie a $50 and asked him to wait until he came back out.

"Hey buddy, throw in another $50 and I'll do your laundry while I wait" Howie laughed. He rolled the paper up in his hands and walked back into the Jive offices.

The place bustled with the usual business of a typical day. Tons of suited men and women wearing short skirts and high heels talked about the different acts that they had just found and the best way to market them. The air conditioner was still not working to full capacity but it was definitely cooler then yesterday. Then he saw Jessica sitting at the main reception desk talking on the phone and scurrying through her date book. He walked over and placed his arms on the counter, waiting patiently for her to get off the phone.

The magazine he had placed on the counter accidentally fell on the receptionist, which caused her to look up. Her facial expressions spoke terror until she realized it was Howie who threw that at her. She smiled up at him and looked a bit surprised. The minute she was off the phone he apologized, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to have that fall on you"

"Not a problem...so what can I do for you? Are you hear to see Mr. Fink again?"

Howie shook his head, but she kept talking. She seemed nervous, "Because he is away on last minute business today. He canceled all of his appointments"

"No, I'm not hear to see him" She looked up all the while biting her bottom lip.

"Oh, okay...then what can I do for you?"

"I don't even know exactly" finally that did the trick as she let out a small chuckle.

"Okay...maybe you just couldn't handle being away from me"

He winked at her, "Of course. Actually I was wondering if you could tell me a little about him" He took the magazine that she had laid on her counter, back into his hands and showed her the picture on the cover. She took it in her hands and looked very carefully at the picture, "That is Nick, I think you know more about him then I do" She gave the magazine back to Howie.

"NO it's not Nick. It's that guy that was here yesterday"

"Howie, I don't really have time to play guess what that Backstreet Boy is trying to say so.."

"This guy, it's not Nick. It looks a lot like Nick but it's not him"

"Okay...and?" She seemed to be getting annoyed now.

"I was hoping you could tell me who it was"

"Howie that is the Inquisitor"

"I know...but this guy was here yesterday and he was talking to you" She shook her head and once again leafed through her day planner. "I don't know what you're talking about"

"Did this guy kill himself here yesterday? Did he jump off this building?" She looked up at him and laughed. It was not a relaxed laugh, more like an alarmed one. "Howie darling, have you lost your mind?"

"Jessica, I saw you talking to him yesterday as I was leaving. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. He seemed very upset yesterday" The phone rang and she gladly picked it up, "I'm sorry I have to get this" She said putting her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. It was clear she was signaling him to go away but he didn't.

When she was done on the phone she gathered up some papers and made her way around the receptionist desk, signaling that her conversation with the Latino was over.

He started to follow her as she made her way towards the elevator, "Jessica I saw him, he was crying under a desk. Then he is seen on a ledge. I just want to make sure he is okay, if he didn't kill himself here, then where did this happen?" She decided to ignore him now.

"Jess...please"

"Howie, I need to go. I swear to God I don't have a clue what you are talking about okay? I have to go" He stopped following her and watched as she pressed the elevator button incessantly willing it to get there faster. Just like he had done earlier at the hotel. When it came she happily walked in and didn't even look his way as the door closed.

"Why the hell would she lie?" He asked himself over and over again on the way back to the hotel. It made no sense. None of this did.

4

By the time Howie reached the hotel room that Brian and Nick had shared, he was met with four pairs of questioning eyes. Well, three pairs of questioning eyes and one pair of murderous ones.

"What the hell were you thinking going out there by yourself?" Dave, the head of security asked while circling Howie like a shark out for the kill.

"Sorry, I was just being spontaneous"

"Well, it was a dumb thing to do. I expected better from you Howie, you know the drill"

"It won't happen again"

"Damn right it won't happen again. None of you leave this place without my knowledge. Got it?"

They all nodded, and with a huff, Dave left the room. "He was mad a little" Brian smiled at D.

"So, what's the deal bro?" Now it was the boys turn to circle around their friend. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Not really" Nick noticed the rolled up paper under Howie's arm and went to grab at it, Howie recoiled, "Come on D. I heard I killed myself! How cool is that!?!"

"Not cool at all Nick. Nothing about suicide is cool"

"Relax D, the kid is still alive and well" AJ leveled his gaze at Nick, "For now at least" Nick stuck his tongue out and grabbed the paper that Howie had so generously handed over to him. He walked over to the bed plopped down and stared at himself on the ledge of the building.

"SO, why exactly did you feel the need to go back to Jive? It's that secretary isn't it? What's her name?" Brian snapped his fingers and looked up at the ceiling trying to recall the name.."Jessica" AJ finished for him.

"Right Jessie, do you have the hots for Jessie?" Howie rolled his eyes. He really didn't feel like dealing with the immature ramblings of a bunch of teens.

"I was hoping she could give me some information about that picture"

"What the one of Nick?"

"It's not me" all heads turned to Nick, when he saw them all looking at him, he continued, "This picture isn't me, this guy is WAY older then I am" He threw the magazine down in disgust.

"I know that's not you. I was trying to find out who it was" Now Brian lifted the magazine off the floor and sat next to Nick staring at it, "Wow it really looks just like you. A long lost Carter?"

"You never know there are like a billion of those things running around"

"Hey!"

During the joking, Howie's serious somber mode made him let out a heavy sigh, "I saw that guy at Jive yesterday"

"You did?" Howie sat down on the bed opposite Brian and Nick while AJ took a seat right next to him, "Yeah I did"

"But if you saw him yesterday, then it can't possibly be him on the ledge, I mean do papers really get their info that fast?" Howie shrugged.

"The guy was upset. He was crying, totally distraught over something then I see this picture"

"It's gotta just be a coincidence" Brian passed the picture over to AJ now. He had gotten a quick look at it in the shop, but he wasn't paying much attention to detail. He squinted, "this is definitely Jive D"

"It can't be, they acted like it was just a normal day"

AJ held the paper to Howie and pointed at the corner, where he saw a small yet unmistakable logo. The logo of Jive.

"This is really weird. I don't understand" Howie mumbled.

"Maybe they are just trying to keep a low profile or something" Nick seemed like he was ready to drop the topic, like it was boring him, he rolled off the bed and went for his Gameboy.

"But even the news cameras didn't pick it up. I mean it's in the middle of town. If there was a guy on the ledge, don't you think other magazines besides the Inquisitor would see it?"

"I don't know AJ, it's all strange. SO what are you thinking Howie?" He looked up to be met with Brian's concerned eyes.

"I'm thinking something isn't right. You had to see this kid yesterday Brian, he was talking to Jessica as I was leaving and he sounded terrified about something"

"What did Jessica say? You asked her didn't you?" He nodded, "She said she didn't know what I was talking about"

"Maybe she didn't"

"No J, she knew him. She knew him very well too. She lied to me"

"Why?"

"I don't know"

Brian interrupted the conversation, "You think we should go to the police?"

"And say what Bri?" He tried to formulate a sentence in his mind but nothing came. Howie was right, what do you say?

"Maybe ask if there was a suicide committed over at Jive, surely if there was, they would know"

"Maybe.."

"Why don't you talk to the Inquisitor people. Find the reporter that took that picture" Everyone looked over at Nick who said that only in passing as he played his game.

"How does he do that?" AJ's gaze remained fixated on the 17 year old while Brian and Howie continued their conversation, "Yeah, go see the people there or maybe have someone do it for you"

"No, I'll do it myself"

"Cool let's all go, I'm bored!" Nick threw his Gameboy to the floor. "So that's what you do when you're bored? You just toss things around huh?" Brian laughed at Nick.

"I don't think so buddy, it would look pretty odd if four of us all walked in there together.

"I guess you're right, kind of like walking into a lion's den"

"They'll salivate all over us" AJ stuck his tongue out and placed his arms up like paws, which caused the three younger men to ripple with laughter.

Brian stopped laughing and looked over at Howie, "At least bring security with you. Dave will have your ass if you don't"

"Yeah, I'll let him know this time"

"And D, please be careful" AJ said his tone unusually stern and serious.

"I will be"
~*~*~*~*~
Dave reluctantly drove with Howie to the offices of the Inquisitor. One of the leading gossip magazines in all of the USA. He knew he would feel slimy going in there. Instantly showering as soon as he made it back to the hotel, but he had to go. He wasn't really sure why he had so much interest in the entire thing. More then likely it would be just a stupid case of a picture being imposed onto a ledge.

Maybe it was just boredom pushing it's way into Howie's system, afterall when was the last day he had off anyway? Maybe this was just his way of keeping busy. But that guy was so sad and helpless, he just had to know. Make sure this guy was alive and well.

"May I ask why in the hell are we going to this place?" Dave turned around to face Howie. He looked disgusted, "I just need to ask them a question"

"Why not call?"

"I need to do it in person, or else I will get the run around"

"Suit yourself" The car came to a stop by the back entrance of the Inquisitor. Dave leapt out of the car and opened the door to let Howie out.

They entered the huge building. For such a trashy magazine, the place was huge. Almost as big as the Jive building. The air conditioner was on full blast, which Howie was grateful for. People were running around all like chickens with their heads cut off. Dave moved in closer to Howie, "Do any of these people just walk?" Howie laughed. Then he was spotted. At first the young guy that saw him squinted. Once again Howie saw that moment of recognition come across the man's face and immediately the guy ran over to meet him.

"Well, isn't this a lovely surprise. Mr. Dorough, I'm Steve Kirkland" He extended his hand which Howie grabbed in a firm shake. He didn't like the uneasiness seen on the faces of some of the other people as Steven tried to nonchalantly motion for one of them to get someone in charge.

"So, what can we do for you today?"

"I was actually wondering if you could tell me who took the picture that appeared on your cover this morning?"

The man nervously moved his fingers along the line of his lips. Not sure of how or whether to even answer that question. Luckily he was saved when a big man in a black suit and navy blue tie made his way towards Howie. Seeing this, Steve relaxed, "Mr. Dorough this is Mr. Bolten"

"How are you today Mr. Dorough?"

"Please call me Howie"

"Alright then. Howie, what can I do for you?"

"He would like to know who took the picture on today's cover" Steve quickly cut in. The two business men exchanged glances and then a smile formed on Bolten's lips.

"Why don't you follow me to my office and we'll see what I can do" Howie nodded and followed Bolten back to his office.

Once inside, Howie found his eyes glancing all around the room stopping and taking in all the pictures of this guy with tons of famous and important people. There was even a picture with the President.

"Oh, I was invited for one of his gala's. He's a very nice guy. Told a lot of very dirty jokes" The man let out a huge laugh, then when it wasn't reciprocated, his demeanor took on a more serious tone.

"About the picture..." He grabbed a copy of the magazine, "Yes, well..do I need to get my lawyer in here Mr. Dorough?"

"I don't plan on suing anybody Mr. Bolten. All I want to know is where I can find the man who took this picture" At that statement, Bolten seemed to relax a bit, "I'm sorry Howie, I can't give you that information. We don't give out our sources"

Of course he was going to say that. "It's just that, I would like to ask him to take some pictures for me" That made Bolten smile, "Really? Well I have to say that's a new one"

Howie ignored the snide remark and handed Bolten a card with his cell phone number on it, "Look, if he happens to come back in, can you give him my number?"

He grabbed the card, looked it over and then placed it in his pocket, "Oh and one other thing, if anybody else calls me from here with that number, I WILL sue you" He stood up and let himself out of the office.

Once Howie had disappeared out of site, Bolten's smile turned into a frown as he picked up the phone and dialed, "We have a big problem.."

5

By the time Howie got back to the hotel, he found the beginnings of a bad headache threading it's way around his eyes. He just wanted to take a nap and call it a day, even if it was barely 1 in the afternoon. He bypassed Nick and Brian's room because he knew if he walked in there, he would receive question after endless question that he was just too tired and drained to answer, so he walked passed their room and keyed into his own, praying that AJ had decided to stay with Brian and Nick while he was out.

Happily, his room was abandoned when he turned on the light. He slipped his shoes off of his feet and decided to lay on the bed by taking the Nick Carter bed flop. He started at the closet and took a running leap for the bed. He would usually just stand there looking impartial when Kevin yelled at the blonde one for doing it, but the second he would be alone, he found himself doing all the silly and stupid things that that kid did. His guess is, that Kevin did the same, more than once too.

He was just about to close his eyes when his cell phone rang. He rolled over and grabbed for it, but realizing he left it in his little briefcase by the door he sighed as he stood up to answer the phone. He pulled it out of the bag and looked at the number before picking up. He learned that the hard way after a few fans found out his number. He had picked it up and politely, talked to them the first few times until eventually it got so out of hand, he had to change the number all together.

Now he had the sense to look before he answered and if it was a number he didn't recognize, a generic voice mail would tell them to leave a message. That was another mistake he had made. Putting his own voice on his message. So now he just had the electronic sounding woman talking on his behalf. His real friends knew how to get in touch with him, everyone else could wait until HE wanted to talk.

When the caller ID showe 'Unknown' he walked back to the bed and sat waiting to see if there was a message. He yawned and stretched moving his neck around in a circle, "Being a private eye is tough work" He said out loud in his best Sherlock Holmes British accent. "I'm talking to myself now cheerio cheerio good day" He put the phone to his ear, "Aha me thinks I have a message" Still staying in his Van Dyke British voice. He dialed up his voice mail and pressed in his code and patiently waited...

"Mr. Dorough. You are sticking your nose where is doesn't belong. I suggest you stop and move along before someone gets hurt"

Howie's playful mood went out the window when he heard the low, gruff voice on the other end of the line. He replayed the message about ten times, just to see if he heard any kind of joking quality to this guys voice. When no comedy was sensed in what Howie could only conceive as a threat, he got off his bed and nervously paced around his room.

Tons of thoughts going through his mind as he did so. He stopped pacing finally, moved back to the bed and dialed up the front desk.

"Can you look up a number for me please?" While the desk clerk looked through the Yellow pages for the number of The Inquisitor, Howie searched for a paper and a pen.

He was going to call that Bolten guy and give him a piece of his mind for giving out his number to some whacko. Once he got the number down on paper, he called the magazine demanding to speak with Bolten, who conveniently was out for the rest of the day. "Tell him Mr. Dorough called and I want a returned call back ASAP!"

He hung up the phone and found himself yet again, calling his voice mail and listening to the threat. "Ridiculous" He said slipping his shoes back on his feet and going back to Brian and Nick's room, suddenly not wanting to be alone anymore.
~*~*~*~*~
Nick was restless, he loved the thought of having the entire day off, kind of like getting a snow day at school. Not that many of those existed in Florida but even still, a free day was a free day. Management had insisted that they just relax in their rooms. Since no parents had accompanied them on this trip and Kevin was away, maybe today was a great day to just catch up on some sleep.

Sleep shmeep was his thinking, he and Brian were going to go play some basketball. Maybe AJ and Howie could play against them. All they had to do was find a court. He was sitting alone playing some generic game on his Gameboy while AJ laid on one bed and Brian on the other. He knew he only had a small window for them otherwise they would become sloth like for the rest of the day leaving him alone to entertain himself.

That's when Howie walked in, once again letting himself into the room, "You know D, even though you have a key the polite thing to do would be to knock" Brian said from his lazy position on the bed.

Howie walked in and sat on the bed next to AJ, "Why? Are you hiding something?"

"Oh yeah can't you tell?" Nick rolled his eyes, "So, tell us what happened at the paper dealie?"

"Nothing"

"Nothing? What do you mean nothing?"

Howie had decided not to tell them about the call. No need to get them upset or anything, just pretend nothing happened and maybe they'll stop asking and move on.

"I mean nothing Nicky, I talked to them, they told me they couldn't say where the picture came from"

Nick sat up, by the look in his eye Howie could tell this was a little too much fun for him, "Well then what's are next move?"

That made D smile, "WE don't have a next move" Nick looked dejected, "Awww, come on Howie there's gotta be something we can do"

"Nick, it's not a game. I told him to call if he had any info and now I'm just waiting"

"Cool! Wanna play basketball?" Nick's mind and short attention span sometimes got the better of Howie. He could bump from one topic to another so quickly and seamlessly his thoughts almost seemed to fit together.

"Nah, I'm kind of beat" Nick stood up, "Aww come on, will one of you play with me?" No one answered.

"Fine then I'm going alone"

Howie moved off of the bed, "On second thought, let's go play Nick. Maybe a trip around a court will wake me up" He remembered the threat and even though at this point it was baseless, he wasn't going to take any chances.

Nick laughed, "Come on D, you suck at basketball. It won't even be a challenge"

"Suit yourself" Howie said moving back towards the bed and pushing AJ over.

Nick let out a huge sigh, "Okay come on, let's go"

"You are a needy kid you know that?"

"Jesus Howie what are you just figuring that one out?" AJ asked muzzled by the pillow he was laying face down on.

"Come on Howie, let's just go for a walk or something since playing ball against you would be too easy"

"Howie you should play against the kid and win just to make him stop being so damn cocky" Nick started running towards AJ ready to jump on him, "Do it and I'll kick your as Kaos"

"You are NO fun"

Howie made his way to the bathroom to throw some water on his face and put his hair up in a ponytail. He really didn't feel much like spending the day entertaining Nick, but he also didn't feel like just sitting there dwelling on all that had happened. Not that much had happened. Really he didn't know if anything happened at all. The threat could have been completely unrelated, but the guy called him by name.

When he left the bathroom he was met with Nick patiently waiting outside the door for him, "I'm sorry about the basketball crack" He said grabbing D in a hug.

"Yeah whatever. You know I would beat you anyway" Nick laughed, "Yeah that's it"

"Sure you all don't want to come?" Nick called back to AJ and Brian they mumbled a half asleep "Yes we're sure"

Nick and Howie walked down the hotel hallway towards the elevator. Nick still carrying his basketball even though they had decided to just go for a walk. "Where's your hat?" Howie asked the young blonde who nonchalantly bounced as he waited for the elevator doors to swing open.

"Dang! I knew I forgot something" He threw the ball to Howie and ran back towards the room, "Don't go anywhere I'll be right back"

His cell phone rang again, causing him to jump at the sound. He was jittery all of the sudden, that's what a threat will do to you he guessed.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Dorough, this is Miss Wigton over at The Inquisitor" Howie moved away from the elevator and walked down the hall to get better reception, "Yes?"

"I am the new interim head of The Inquisitor and I was told that you had called"

"Yes, I did, but I called to speak with Mr. Bolten, is he in?"

There was a long pause, "I'm sorry Mr. Dorough, but Mr. Bolten no longer works for this magazine, any business you had with him can now go through me"

"But, I was just there less then an hour ago.." Howie seemed at his wits end, so preoccupied with his call that he didn't even notice Nick standing there staring at him.

"It all happened very fast I'm afraid, I can't give you any more then that. Now, what can I do for you Mr. Dorough?"

"Um...nothing, I'm sorry to have bothered you"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes...I mean, yes thank you" And then Howie hung up the phone. He looked over to Nick who seemed to be staring back at him with concerned eyes, "D? What's going on?"

"I don't know, something big though. Mind if I give you a rain check on the walk?"

"Why?"

"There's some place I need to go"

"Where?"

"Jive"

"Again?"

"Yup" Howie pressed the down button.

"I'm coming to" Nick said grabbing the basketball back from Howie.

6

In all the years the boys had dealings with Jive records. The amount of times they had been to this building for meetings and interviews and even fights with attorneys present. This was the first time that Howie could remember coming here three times in two days. It almost embarrassed him a little. Especially when it came to Jessica. He was sure she would think he was stalking her or something.

Nick fidgeting brought his gaze back towards the blonde. AJ it was easy to get rid of, all he had to do was tell him to go back to his room, this one on the other hand, would have followed him. He had learned that the hard way once when they had first started. Kevin and Howie had frantically been searching for a missing thirteen year old who took it upon himself to follow the older men out on one of their excursions. Finally he had turned up at a police station, having the common sense to walk in and say how lost he was. After that, all the boys were careful to make sure that Nick stayed where he was told to stay. Even though he was seventeen, he still tended to think like that thirteen year old from time to time.

"So, why are we going back to Jive?" He asked resting his head on the basketball which he had strategically placed on the window as a bouncy pillow.

"I don't really know. I just think Jessie can answer my questions"

"And what questions are they?"

"I don't know exactly" That made Nick laugh, "D, you better stick to singing because detective work doesn't suit you so well"

"I just think that whatever the heck is going on, Jessica is behind it some way. Not directly as a bad guy.."

"Oooh I love bad girls" Nick wasn't taking this seriously at all. "Oh holy crap!" Howie exclaimed placing his hand to his head, "We forgot to tell Dave where we were going again"

"Ooops" Nick cringed, not looking forward to a long lecture from the security man.

"Maybe Rok and AJ will cover for us"

"I hope so, otherwise this is all your fault Howie" Nick smirked.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
This time around, the offices seemed dead. How quickly things could go from flat out busy to almost stagnant. The two boys walked over to the main desk where one of the other receptionists was sitting reading a book. Nick's ball bouncing had her look up, "Oh my goodness" She said smiling, "Back again?"

Howie nodded, "And I see you brought in reinforcements this time" She said winking at Nick who actually blushed. The kid was such a push over.

"I'm looking for Jessica, is she around?" The woman's happy face took a sudden turn, "Oh...no I'm sorry Howie, she just left"

"To go to lunch or for the day?" Howie had hoped it wasn't the latter.

"Permanently"

"She quit?" He asked a little louder then he had intended to. This made the receptionist tense and she stood up motioning for him to come closer, "Between you and me Howie, I think she may have been fired. She was called into Fink's office and then about a half hour later, she came out crying. I asked her what happened and she wouldn't answer me, just took a box, threw her pictures and everything in there and took off" Howie was shocked, this was so strange. He had a hard time grasping the situation.

"How long ago? I mean it couldn't have been that long ago. I just saw her"

"It hasn't, actually maybe twenty minutes or so"

"Wait a minute, I thought Fink was out of town on business. Isn't that why he canceled all of our appointments?" Nick asked now joining Howie over at the desk. He gave Nick credit. That was a good point.

"Shhh, keep your voice down or else I will get fired too, but yeah, he is actually here. Has been all day but he has also been busy in meetings so he probably wanted us to let all of his clients know he was out of town to avoid calls maybe"

"Maybe" Howie said shrugging. Then behind her, he spotted the form of Jessica standing there and watching him talking, he glanced over her way as she slunk back behind the cover of a big cherry wood door.

"Excuse me a minute"

"Sure thing" The receptionist said picking up her book and letting it carry her away. He looked over at Nick, "Go sit and don't move!" The tone in his voice made Nick just roll his eyes and bounce his ball to the waiting area. Content to see Nick sitting in his own little world staring out the window and bouncing his basketball, he turned his attention back to the room where Jessica was hiding. He had hoped that she was still there by the time he got over to her.

Happily she was.

He walked into the small office and once he did she whispered, "Close the door"

He did as he was told and she walked over and locked it. She looked awful. Her eyes swollen from crying and her face pale. This was definitely not the happy and joking Jessica he had seen only an hour or so ago, well before he had inquired about that blonde.

"Why are you back?" She asked sitting down and hugging her box of belongings to her, like a shield of protection.

"I don't know exactly, I think I have questions"

"You think?" She laughed, never raising her voice louder then a whisper.

"Were you fired Jessica?"

"Howie, you need to just leave things alone" She started to bite her bottom lip nervously.

"Leave what alone?"

"Everything. Trust me okay?"

"I don't understand, what am I supposed to leave alone?"

"For one stop asking questions about everything"

"I only asked about that blonde"

"Forget about him"

"So you do know who I'm talking about then!"

"Howie, you have to forget about him, forget about this conversation, and forget you know me"

"Why?"

"Just do it or you will end up getting hurt" There was that threat again, but then she continued, "Or someone you know will"

"Jess, I don't understand...Should I call the police? Is your life in danger?"

"Howie, no! No police...look, I have to go, just promise me you'll stop!" She stood up and tried her best to fix her hair by brushing her fingers through it.

"Just tell me if he's dead Jessica I want to know"

"Bye Howie" She said walking out the back door of the room, closing the light on her way out and leaving Howie even more confused then he was before.

What the hell was THAT all about?

He sat there in the dark trying to process all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. First there was the crying Nick double who was standing on a ledge of this office building, which no one happened to know anything about, then there was Jessica arguing with this guy who she then swore she didn't know. Then Bolten losing his job now Jessica losing hers. It seemed like anyone the boy came in contact with either disappeared or got fired.

What the hell was going on?

He sighed and headed back towards the main lobby to pick up Nick and head back to the hotel where he was sure they would catch hell from Dave. He stopped by the desk and smiled at the woman who was still busy reading her book, "thanks" He said winking at her, "Your welcome doll" He then walked towards the waiting area, stopping dead when he saw nothing but the ball that Nick had been bouncing laying in the middle of the floor.

No Nick anywhere in sight.

He frantically walked back over to the desk, "Excuse me, did you see where Nick went?" She looked up from her book, "No, I didn't even know he was gone.

"Maybe he went to the bathroom?" He didn't mean to sound alarmed but Jessica had him spooked, and it was unlike Nick to leave a basketball in the middle of a business lobby. His room yes, not here though.

"Maybe"

He found himself running towards the restroom and crashing through the door. "Nicky are you in here?"

When there was no answer he walked up and down the stalls to check for feet. "Nick?"

He walked out of the room in a near panic and back towards the receptionist who was no longer sitting at her desk. The ball was still in the middle of the floor. He went to go grab it, not knowing what the hell to do next, then his cell phone rang again...

7

Howie couldn't even breath by the time his phone rang. All he kept picturing was some maniac grabbing Nick and dragging him out of the building. His screams going unnoticed by the small crowd of people in the front of the building. The scariest part about that scenario was, it wasn't a totally unbelievable one. Afterall, there was a man standing on a ledge of this very building and no one seemed to be any wiser about it. He closed his eyes and hoped for the best as he said a very hesitant.."Hello?"

"Howie! Where the holy hell are you now?" It was Dave, besides a kidnapper, the person he was least excited to talk to at the moment.

"Uh...hi Dave. I can explain"

"No! No explanations Howard. I told you to stay put or tell me before you go out somewhere and then lo and behold, I find out that you have disappeared again. YOU are supposed to be the dependable one here Howie!" He was screaming so loudly, Howie had to actually take the phone away from his ear.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"Is Nick with you too?" Howie bit his bottom lip when he heard the name. "Nick?"

"Yeah, you know, the young impressionable blonde who just loves to get into trouble. Tell me he's with you Howie"

Howie searched the lobby with his eyes once again not exactly sure how to answer that question, "Um..yeah he came with me, I can't find him at the moment" There was a pause, "What do you mean you can't find him at the moment"

"I'm sure he is probably just in the bathroom or something"

"Well, this is what you are going to do Howard, you are going to sit your ass down..where the hell are you?"

"Jive"

"Again?"

"Yes"

"Okay fine, you are going to sit your ass down in the lobby of Jive and not move until someone comes to get you. Do you understand me Howie?"

"I'm not a child Dave"

"I don't care if your ninety Howie, you are my responsibility and what I say goes. Now do you understand me?"

Howie hated to be treated like a child. But at the moment he had more pressing matters to worry about then his pride. "Yes, I understand. We'll be waiting"

"Good!"

After he hung up, he decided to try the bathrooms one more time but seeing the blonde walk back into the building in a huff made him exhale his breath. He pretty much held it since Nick had vanished. Nick noticed Howie and ran up to him.

"Hey D"

"Hey D? Is that all you have to say? Hey D? I have been looking all over the damn place for you!"

Now it was Howie's turn to scream and he was yelling. Nick put up his hands and moved them up and down hoping to calm his friend down. "D, take it easy, I wasn't gone that long and besides I found him"

"I don't care how long you were gone...All I know is I was worried si... wait a minute, found who?"

Nick smiled, "Him! My look a like guy. I found him while you were talking to that Jessica chick"

"Where is he?"

"He was walking along the street, I decided to follow him but I lost him"

"Where did he go exactly?"

"He went into a club, that's why I came and got you. I can't get in alone" Nick raised his eyebrows in that I want to go on an adventure gesture.

"Why on earth would you go in after him anyway Nick? That was a stupid and dangerous thing to do" Nick slanted his head slightly, the same way a dog would.

"Why would it be dangerous Howie?" He wanted to beat his head against the wall for even bringing that up. Out of all the guys, Nick was the ONE that wouldn't drop it. All he knew was his time was running out. He needed to find that guy. Now he felt like it turned into a personal thing. It stopped being curiosity after he got that threatening phone call.

"Nick, just sit down and wait. Dave will be here in a second"

"Where are you going?"

"To that club"

"But you just said it was dangerous. Can't I come?"

"No"

"Why?" Howie rolled his eyes and stared at his watch. If he didn't go right now, Dave was going to ruin everything. He walked over to Nick and grabbed him up, "Let's go!"

"Dave is gonna kill us for this" Howie said under his breath as he and Nick ran around the corner and down the street in search of the club.
~*~*~*~*~
They ran for about a block and a half, getting odd looks as they did so. Howie wasn't concerned about that, he was on a mission now. Even if it did seem like a semi stupid one. "D, you never answered my question, why is this dangerous?" Nick asked between huffing breaths.

"You know, if you put in some time at the gym, you wouldn't be so out of breath" Nick slapped Howie on the arm, "Seriously man, answer the damn question"

"Not now okay? But just stick by me Nick. I just don't think this is safe"

"Then why not call the police?" That was beginning to seem like the only logical choice. And coming from Nick of all people, Howie didn't understand why it was he didn't do that yet. But Jessica's fear filled eyes when he had mentioned the police to her, had him rethink that. "I don't think we should do that Nick"

"Why not?"

"I don't know"

"For a man on a dangerous mission, you don't seem to know very much about any of this do you?" Howie looked at the blonde who seemed to be getting taller then him every second of every day and shrugged. "Well, that's the club right there" Howie looked at it. The place looked like a complete dive. This wasn't a night club, this was a strip club.

"Why didn't you tell me it was a strip club?"

"You didn't ask"

"You can't go in here"

"Howie I'm 17. I have seen more then one naked woman in my day" He laughed, "Well, I don't really care how many naked girls you have seen Nick Carter, they aren't going to let you in"

"Not alone anyway, why do you think I came back to get you?"

"Because you had no idea why you were even chasing your look a like in the first place"

"Neither do you!" That was a good point. How ridiculous was he being anyway? Howie never did anything like this before. He was a strictly by the book kind of guy. About the only thing Howie ever did that would be considered living on the edge, was showing up ten minutes or more late for important meetings. He began to rethink his whole agenda. All he was really concerned about was if this guy had actually killed himself or not. But since they were following him, he obviously wasn't dead in the first place. That should be enough.

Why wasn't it enough?

"You again?" He was shaken out of his thoughts by the tall blonde man he had encountered at Jive yesterday. He looked a little more ragged today. His hair a little greasy and pulled back in a pony tail. He also looked a bit older then he had on first meeting. He also looked pissed as hell.

Before Howie could answer him, the blonde had him pushed up against the wall, "Are you following me?" Howie's heart was thudding quadruple time, he had never been in this position before.

"Get off of him" Nick said as he tried to pry the man away from Howie. The guy answered with a push. "I asked you a question!" The stranger said hie angry eyes never leaving Howie's.

"I know I know...Uh.." Howie was actually stammering.

"I said get off of him!" Nick managed to pull the blonde off of Howie, and was met with a swift right hook, knocking the kid on the ground.

"Hey!" Howie defended pulling the guy away from Nick and shoving him against the wall. Nick sat on the floor on the outside of the strip club holding his chin in his hand and watching Howie kick some ass.

"That was not cool man! I only wanted to make sure you were alive!" The blonde who had been struggling against the Latino stopped when he said those words. "What do you mean by that?" His sudden surprise caused Howie to back away from the stranger, and in response the man straightened his clothes and continued to hit Howie with a questioning gaze.

"I saw a picture in a magazine of you on a ledge, I was just worried" The man cast his gaze over at Nick who was still on the floor holding his chin now looking just totally confused and a little scared. "Why did you bring him?" Howie turned his attention to his young friend and walked over and helped him up. "You okay?" He asked gripping his arms and looking into Nick's eyes. He seemed startled and a little embarrassed. "Yeah I'm okay" Howie nodded.

"We should go inside it's not safe out here" The older blonde said. Opening the door for both Howie and Nick. He was looking around the street nervously which made Howie pick up his pace. He pushed Nick through the doors of the dingy strip club a little scared that maybe he was getting in over his head.

THis is for Alana and Sherry :)

8

Even at this time of day, the music was booming. There were a few people hanging over at the bar but no girls dancing around poles. Howie had to shuffle Nick along as he strained his neck hoping to see some buxom naked girls. "This is a rip off, not a single lady in sight"

"Nick just keep your eyes straight ahead and keep moving"

They followed the mystery man through a long corridor, stopping when they came across a bouncer. "Hey Phil, these guys are with me" The bouncer nodded and let them all pass.

"That was cool" Nick said as Howie continued to pull him along.

Once down the corridor the man opened up a dressing room door and led the two of them into it. He closed then locked the door behind him. When Howie heard the lock clasp, he grimaced. Not smart Howie D not smart is all he could manage to say to himself as he watched the blonde, the stranger, pace in front of both him and Nick. He held a protective hand on his young friend's shoulder. Just in case.

"So what's the deal man?" Nick spoke first, causing the stranger to stop his pacing and look at the kid.

"Wow" He said moving closer to Nick and grabbing his chin. Howie immediately pushed himself between the two, "Hands off" Nick was taken back at how fierce Howie sounded. The man pulled his hands away from Nick's face, "Relax man.. I was just looking. We really do look a lot alike don't we kid?"

Nick nodded unsure of where this conversation was going. The guy sat down on a table and then motioned for the other two to take a seat on the chairs. "Okay...look, I am fine"

"You didn't have to take us all the way back here to tell us that you know"

"I know. I took you back here to tell you to drop all of this"

"Drop all of what?" He looked at the young blonde. "How old are you kid?"

"17"

"Wanna live to see 18?" Nick nodded.

"Then stop asking questions" Howie felt a sense of dread and decided to let his logical side win out for once. "You know, you are right. Thank you. Like I said I just wanted to make sure you were alright" Howie turned to leave pushing Nick along.

"You better hope they don't know you have been asking questions" That made him stop. "Who?"

"Once they know they'll never leave you alone" When Howie looked back at the man, he once again looked like that young vulnerable man hiding under the desk crying.

"Who?" He asked again moving closer to the blonde while Nick stood beside the door ready to run and get help if need be. He wanted an adventure but this was just a little too creepy for him.

"I can't tell you"

"Why?" Just like that the man snapped out of his melancholy mood and got defensive once again.

"Look, just don't say I didn't warn you. It's best to get out of here now. You definitely don't wanna be seen with me, I am a marked man"

"What's your name?"

"Call me Nick"

"That's my name too"

"I know that kid"

"You told me you didn't know who he was"

"I lied, you have to leave NOW!" That was enough for Nick, He unlatched the door and made his way out of the room, making sure Howie was following behind. As they both left the room, Nick, the older one, said "Watch your back Howie. Once they know they'll never leave you alone" Howie nodded and had the door swiftly slammed in his face. Nick was already up the corridor and once again looking for naked girls.

Once Howie caught up with Nick, he grabbed him by the arm and pushed him out of the place, "God Howie stop being so pushy"

"Sorry we just really need to get out of here Nick"

Howie's cell phone ringing made both men jump. "He's gonna kill us"

"Yeah, thanks Nick, I know that already"

"Hello?"

"Howie where the hell are you?" Dave was screaming so loudly that he had to pull his ear away from the phone.

"Sorry...I'm right up the street, Nick and I wanted..." He looked to his left and saw a hot dog vendor, "A hot dog"

"You what? Never mind, get back to Jive now!!"

After Dave hung up on Howie he turned to Nick and grimaced, "I really think we are in big trouble"
~*~*~*~*~*
"Howie this behavior is so unlike you! What is going on? You know it's one thing to just be irresponsible and go out by yourself but bringing Nick was just ridiculous"

"Sorry" Howie had decided that no matter how much yelling and screaming he was going to endure all he was going to do was politely take it. He knew he deserved it. Dave was right, leaving like that was very unlike him.

Actually everything he had done in the last two days was very unlike him, but he supposed he would have some time to think about it, since he was now forbidden to leave the hotel for at least the rest of the night. It didn't seem fair that here he was in his mid twenties and still being told what to do. He hated that. Absolutely hated it, but it was the price of fame. Still didn't seem fair though.

"What the heck were you guys doing out there? Dave was so totally pissed D" Howie looked at AJ who was sitting on his bed patiently waiting for his friend to come back from his scolding, to get the dirt.

"We went exploring" AJ sat up and draped a pillow around his midsection, "You have to be more specific since my ass can't even go out tonight because of you"

"I know...I'm sorry about that"

"Eh, not like I could do much anyway, so tell me what happened at Jive?"

Howie thought back on the things that Jessie told him and the final words that came out of Nick the elder's mouth. "Not much. It was pretty uneventful"

AJ sat back and sighed, "I was hoping something semi exciting had happened"

"Sorry to disappoint you"

AJ turned his attention to the television and the conversation was forgotten. Until Nick and Brian walked in and brought it up again, "So, D. Tell him about the strip club, he didn't believe me" AJ turned back towards Howie and the two that had just entered, "Strip club?"

Nick smiled, "Yeah..man I was in a strip club, that weird look a like dude, who's name was also Nick brought us there"

"So you DID find this guy and he wasn't dead? That seems to be news" Howie glared at the blonde once again. Why on earth didn't he figure out the glare meant to shut up? You would think he would have figured that out by now.

"So is all of that true Howie?" He looked at Brian and kind of nodded while plastering a stupid and false grin on his face.

"Howie, why didn't you tell me any of that?"

"Because it is unimportant"

"It was a cool experience" Nick seemed totally unfazed by the threat his look a like issued to them. More like a warning actually. It was all a big game to him. He couldn't believe it.

"D, fess up now...what happened exactly?" Howie was forced to tell them everything and watched Brian and AJ's expressions turn from surprise, to confusion to apprehension by the time he hit the finale.

"SO that's it then?" Brian asked taking a sip of water from Nick's bottle.

"Yeah that's it. I guess the big mystery is solved...end of story"

"End of story? Are you nuts Howie? I mean there are still so many unsolved questions like what is up with Jessie?"

"Not my concern. I'm bummed she lost her job but she told me to drop it and so did this Nick guy. So that's that. We drop it!"

"But..."

"No buts on this one Nicky, we do it my way" Nick nodded hesitantly and then he turned his gaze to AJ and Brian who did the same. Good he had successfully made them all drop this. No more adventure. He had his fill.

As Brian and Nick were getting ready to leave, Howie's cellphone chimed again. Nick grabbed it and tossed it over to D, who clicked on expecting to hear his Mother on the other end.

"Hello?"

"I thought I told you to drop this...now it's too late" the caller then hung up. Leaving Howie silent while goosebumps formed on his skin, the other three looking on with wondering eyes...

Here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy :)

9

"Who was that D?" Howie ignored AJ's question, in his mind, the man's harsh words lived. If he was standing, that voice would have made his knees buckle. It sounded like the same voice that had threatened him earlier.

"Howie! Please answer one of us, is everything okay bro?" Howie looked over at Brian and wasn't sure whether to nod or shake his head. Does he tell them what he just heard? Or does he drop it? Which would be more helpful to them, which would keep them out of it completely?

"Yeah everything's fine" He placed the phone on the bed next to him, "So are we agreed that we drop this then?" He looked over to each boy as they reluctantly shook their heads, his eyes lingering the longest on Nick who refused to nod in agreement. "Nick?"

"Oh okay fine. You are NO fun Howard!"

"Good, thanks guys and I'm really sorry for getting you all in trouble tonight"

"Yeah you suck by the way" A smiling Brian said. Howie tried his best to plaster a smile on his face but if it was something he was never very good at it was definitely lying. He wore his emotions on his sleeve. That is why it was always so easy for all of them to pick on him.

"You're lying to us aren't you?" Howie wasn't surprised by AJ's accusation. If anyone could read him it was AJ; closely followed by Kevin who thankfully wasn't there to be witness to any of this.

"AJ, just drop it okay?" That got Nick's attention peaked once again, "Oh my God, who was it on the phone Howie? Was it my look a like?"

"I don't know who it was but we just need to drop it okay?"

"Howie seriously man...if the shit's gonna hit the fan we need to know about it"

"Look J, I'm not sure if shit is going to be hitting the fan but I will tell you the more we talk about it the worse it gets okay?"

"How?"

Howie just wanted to run out of the room screaming in frustration. Why wouldn't these kids understand him? This wasn't a game. He was threatened. Blatantly threatened, and in some way that could mean they were all in danger now. because of something he refused to let drop in the first place.

"Enough discussion about this!" The other three boys pulled back when Howie screamed that. He felt bad that he made them wince, but he had to do something.

"Okay fine man...you don't have to jump down our throats" And with that AJ walked out of the room and the conversation was finally dropped.

Not in Howie's mind though, he kept running through all the information he had received over the last few days. He couldn't help but think that it all had something to do with the Inquisitor. That or even worse Jive.

He wasn't going to allow himself to think much more about it. Hopefully in time like everything else in his life, this would go away. So, he hung out with the guys, ordered a pizza and talked about nonsignificant things like sports, sex and fame. Happily the strip club wasn't mentioned at all.
~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Early the next morning Howie found himself out on the balcony, sitting there and watching the sun gradually make it's way through the clouds. He didn't get much sleep. He found that every time he closed his eyes, thoughts of what the other Nick said would run through his mind. "Once they find out it's too late" Then the phone call, did that mean they found out? Was it too late.

"What are you doing out here?" The sound of AJ's voice made Howie jump almost dropping the bottled water he was drinking down onto the lower balcony. "God AJ you scared the holy hell out of me"

"Sorry man...why are you so jumpy?"

"No reason, I just thought you would all be asleep"

"Howie, what is going on? Do you think it's something we should talk to the police about?"

It was weird hearing AJ ask such a responsible question. But one look at the boy you could tell how worried he was about his friend. "I don't know J, maybe if things get weirder which I hope they won't"

AJ took a seat next to him and pulled out a cigarette. "Why are you smoking? You know that stuff is bad for you right?"

After taking a puff of his cigarette he slowly blew the smoke out then let out a satisfied sigh, "Eh...everything is nowadays"

Yawning and rubbing his face he decided to stretch to remove the last chance of sleep from his tired body. Jumping once again when his cellphone began to ring. The way he looked at it with both eyes bulging confirmed what AJ had been thinking. That there was more to this story then Howie was letting on to.

"Aren't you gonna answer it?" AJ watched his friend just listen to it ring, "I mean it could be important"

"Not this early in the morning"

"This early in the morning is when I would think something was wrong"

The phone stopped temporarily allowing Howie to breath. AJ picking up on how relieved his friend seemed shot him another suspicious look. "D?.."

"AJ I know what you're going to say but I'm asking you to drop it. Okay?"

"But..."

"No AJ, not this time. Just drop it. It's nothing" The finality in the man's voice made AJ realize that that was the end of discussion right there.

Feeling defeated AJ stood up and pat his friend on the shoulder. "If you need me"

"I know"

Nodding, AJ threw his cigarette down on the patio floor and stepped on it before heading back into the hotel room leaving Howie alone with his thoughts.

Howie must have sat on that uncomfortable patio chair for at least two hours after AJ left him. Just slowly sipping on his water and trying to reassure himself that none of this was real. Just his overactive imagination, until the phone rang again. He jumped and by instinct reached over and answered it, before AJ woke up again.

"Hello?"

There was static, sounding like whoever was calling him was under a bridge or driving through a tunnel. Cell phone. It had to be.

"Howie"

He kind of recognized the voice but couldn't put a face to it.

"Speaking"

"Because of you....I am dead" Then a click.

Stunned, Howie dropped his phone to the floor barely able to breath. Putting his head between his knees he whispered to himself to calm down. Calm down and call for help. His cellphone rang again making him let out a small gasp this time.

"Look whoever this is...you're not funny so stop it!"

"This isn't funny Howard and if you know what's good for you and your friends I wouldn't be calling the police...by the way better be up nice an early, all hell is about to break lose" With that the man hung up the phone. Not Howie though, he held it to his ear, listening to first the dial tone then a busy signal. Too afraid to move...

Thanks Sam and Alana :)

10
Howie woke up from a night of barely any sleep at all, sore and with a headache. He had fallen asleep right out on the balcony. In the chair; his arms dangling off on either side. After he got that phone call he had contemplated with the thought of calling the police or at the very least security but not sure if this was real or not, unfortunately leaning towards it begin VERY real, he decided it was best to follow the man's instructions and not say a word.
So, he just sat, his heart racing and his skin tingly with anxiousness, the next thing he knew he was waking himself up. He sat up straight and worked a kink out of his neck. He needed to go in because the early morning chill was not doing any good for that headache of his. He stood up and made his way inside, locking the balcony as he did.

"Did you sleep out there?" Howie turned quickly in a move of self defense which made AJ jump.

"Woah...easy D"

"Sorry J. Yeah I guess I fell asleep out there"

"Must have been comfortable" He smiled as Howie continued to rub his own neck.

"Why are you up so early?" Howie asked while making his way on to his bed to lay down, knowing sleep was out of the question.

"I had to pee"

"Oh"

"So...are you ready to talk about it yet Howie?" AJ had climbed back into his bed, lying on his side with one hand holding his head up.

"There's nothing to talk about AJ, I told you that already"

"I know, but you are a horrible liar D"

Howie sat there in the semi darkness, biting his bottom lip while covering himself, "I know" How he wanted to tell AJ about the call. But he just couldn't. Not yet anyway. He would have to just wait to see how it all played out. With that thought in his mind he dosed off.


~*~*~*~*~*~
He wasn't exactly sure how long he was asleep, but judging by the sun's position in the room, how it was only representing about half of it, he knew it couldn't have been for more than just 30 minutes or so. He sat up, listening to the snores of his friend from the other bed, he got up and ran into the bathroom.

"I look like crap!" He said as he poured some ice cold water on his face.

The digital clock he kept in the bathroom said 8 am. Maybe he did sleep longer than he thought he would.

He roamed back into the room ready to attempt another round of sleep when the phone next to him rang. He jumped at first but once he realized it was the hotel phone he quickly calmed himself down.

"Hello"

"Howard!" He tensed once more at the sound of Johnnie's voice.

"Yes"

"Get up, grab AJ and get down to our meeting room pronto!" He didn't sound happy at all.

"Okay sure thing...is there a problem?" He heard his manager laugh sarcastically, "Problem? Damn right there is a problem now get your asses down here NOW!"

Howie hesitantly woke AJ and managed to get dressed while his younger friend grumbled. All that kept running through his mind was the shit was about to hit the fan. But what level of shit was it exactly?

"Oscar is in a bad mood?" AJ and Nick had lovingly nicknamed Johnnie Oscar one evening, because Johnnie was Always in a bad mood.

"Exceptionally bad"

"Super"

"Let's go see what crawled up his ass and died today" Even as stressed as Howie was, he couldn't help but laugh.


~*~*~*~*~*~
When they got to Johnnie's room he was already screaming. AJ held onto the door handle as if it were hot and a fire was blaring on the other side. "We might as well get it over with J" AJ nodded and opened the door.

There sat Brian and Nick who looked so grateful for a reprieve. Now he can yell at you guys for a little while was written all over the kids face. He looked pale and totally unhappy.

"It's about freaking time!" Johnnie spit the words at Howie who nodded apologetically.

"What's going on?" He asked in a small voice. He didn't want to know.

"Oh...look at that, he wants to know what's going on" By that time he had made his way closer to where Nick and Brian were and that's when he saw the tears in the younger blondes eyes. Brian was patting him on the back.

"I'll tell you what's going on....a whole lot of trouble... that's what's going on"

AJ took a seat as far away form everyone as possible, leaving Howie standing next to the screaming, unhappy man.

Howie kept staring over at Nick who refused to make eye contact with anything but the floor. "You want to explain to me why you took a 17 year old kid into a strip club?" Howie's gaze shifted from Nick to Brian confident that he was the one that blabbed. How the hell was he gonna explain this without sounding dumb?

"It's not like that..."

"Oh yeah I know...I already heard the tall tale from that one over there" He pointed at Nick whose posture had taken on the look of a five year old.

"I just needed to talk to somebody"

"Oh well that's great...just great, because you know what Howie, now everyone is going to know about it"

"Why?" Johnnie grabbed a paper from the table which held uneaten bagels and threw it at him, "Page 10 bottom corner"

Howie hesitantly flipped to page ten and allowed his eyes to go to the small picture. It was of him and Nick walking into the strip club. The headline read, When Good Boys Go Bad

He started to bite at his nails as he scanned the small article. It had to be only two paragraphs at the most. Two of the newest Boyband sensation The Backstreet Boys went looking for some grownup action at The Lion's Den yesterday afternoon...

"The Lion's Den?"

"It's the name of the club....I guess" Nick finally whispered.

"Go on... did you get to the part about the drugs yet? Oh that was my favorite part!" Johnnie said walking over to the window and tearing open a pack of cigarettes.

"Drugs?"

"Yeah...apparently it says one of the guys that works there said you guys went in looking for drugs" Brian answered looking sympathetic, knowing none of this was the truth.

"That is a blatant lie!" That once again got Johnnie into an uproar, "Oh that is a lie huh? Well, kid if you had stayed the hell here and Not gone out this would have never happened. It's his word against yours. He insists you were there and he said you guys went in looking to get laid and that drugs were mentioned"

"NO! Absolutely not...it's not like that at all"

"Then what IS it like then? This one over here says you were chasing his double!" Johnnie through his hand over to Nick's direction and shook his head. Nick wiped a tear away.

"It's.."

"You know what Howie? Don't even waste your breathe" Johnnie walked over to one of the chairs and sat down. "Lou is Not happy, either are his parents" He said pointing over to Nick.

"Its not true Johnnie"

"What...you didn't go to a strip club?"

"Well....yeah we did but.."

"Then I don't care, that is the mess, no matter what else you say, no one will care"

"So....what happens now?" AJ asked from his chair by the window"

"Oh....now the real fun starts, first we wait and see if anybody cares about this article, it's so far back that hopefully no one will care, but if they do...and then there is Jive to worry about"

"Jive?"

"Yes, Brian remember that record company that spent a ton of money on you? Yeah them...they won't be too happy about this, and then if the police.."

"Police?" Howie asked, his voice almost cracking.

"Yes, Howie, the police. You think they are just going to let the whole drug thing lie? Maybe they will but if not we have to be prepared, plue he is a minor which doesn't help at all!"

"I'm sorry" Nick said from the bed.

"Oh it's too late to apologize now kid! The damage has already been done"

Howie sat down feeling a little weak. He looked over to Brian who returned his gaze with a sympathetic one. "What about Kevin?"

"He is on his way here. He wasn't very happy either not that I give a damn or anything but I bet you will be sorry about that" Great now not only did he have to contend with all this crap but he had to endure the wrath of Kevin. Could things get any worse?

"Okay so this is the plan, you are going to lay low, chances are reporters will be in the lobby looking for a statement of some kind. I suggest you get your story straight with dumbo over here and then we maybe can release a statement" Johnnie stood up and began to pace as he listed what he needed to do to fix my mistake.

"Then we should schedule a meeting with Jive, just to make sure we are still on their good side. Lou will also want to meet with you...I hope you are proud of yourselves" He said staring at Howie and Nick.

Then is if he was hammering the last nail in Nick's coffin he said, "Your Mother wants to talk to you mister"

"I can't talk to her yet"

"I don't care, she said have him call me so I am having you call her NOW!"

"Can Brian come?"

"No, you got into this mess without him you deal with it"

Brian gave his young friend a hug and Johnnie led him out the door, "Stay out of trouble" he warned before yelling to our security, "If anyone tries to leave that room shoot them!"

"Oh my God what a mess" Howie said throwing his body back against the chair not realizing that it was only the beginning...

11
It seemed like forever and a day; the wait for the unexpected. For Howie it was probably one of the worst feelings in the world. Knowing he had caused so much trouble for everyone, knowing that this was solely his fault. He sat in the corner of the room, after Johnnie and Nick exited and barely said a word to his fellow band mates as they sat anxious, waiting and wondering what was going to happen next.
So, no one even noticed when Kevin came traipsing in weary and looking a bit sleep deprived. He sat down on a chair next to the wet bar and didn’t say a word to a sole. Howie looked over at him but refused to make eye contact. He knew Kevin was aware whose fault this whole thing was.

“So, anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on?” He finally asked once ready to deal with the situation. All the question did was give Howie another knot in his stomach.

“Okay if no one wants to talk then I will” Kevin stood up and made his way over to Howie who stood up, ready to take whatever came his way. “We are in a whole mess of trouble. Do you have any idea how many reporters I had to pass to get up here D? What were you thinking?”

“I’m sorry Kevin, but we really didn’t even care that it was a strip club, that’s not why we went in”

“Why DID you go in then?”

“It’s a long story and I’m getting a little tired of telling it over and over again”

“I think I am entitled to an explanation Howie”

Howie sighed, his shoulders visibly shrugging. “Okay fine…we went in to look for a guy”

“What guy?”

AJ, seeing Howie ready to just crumple under the stress of the situation decided to take over for him, “He found this guy who was crying under a desk..”

“What?” The explanation only seemed to be making Kevin mad, more and more confused.

“There was a guy who looked just like Nick and he was upset over at Jive”

“What does that have to do with the strip club?”

“Remember the picture in the paper Kev; the one of Nick standing on the edge of the building?”

“Yeah I do, it wasn’t him though...although after his Mom gets done yelling at him we might want to lock those windows”

“Is it that bad?” Brian asked his cousin, the first time he had spoken since Johnnie and Nick’s departure. “It sounded pretty rough. I was in there for a few minutes and Nick was in tears trying to get a word in with no success"

“Uh oh, the wrath of Jane…”

“He deserved it AJ, that was stupid and frankly, I think you should have to incur the wrath of Jane too Howie”

Howie nodded. As much as he wanted to argue with Kevin, he knew he was right. He was also feeling a little better knowing that Kevin was back and maybe he would take control of the situation. As if reading Howie’s mind, Kevin continued, “Anyway what’s done is done, now we just have to try to fix it”

The door opened up revealing a very sad Nick and an angry Johnnie, “Well that was anything but fun!” Johnnie said going to the fridge and grabbing a beer. “You touch this any of you and I will break your fingers!” He pointed to all of the alcohol in there. Nick went straight for the bathroom not even saying a word to anybody.

“That woman is not happy, and I wasn’t very happy that I had to deal with it” He took a swig of beer and plopped down on a chair, “Okay so while Nick was being yelled at, I made a few calls on my cell. We are releasing a statement about this whole stupid thing very soon. Right now we are having Linda working on it.

Linda was the band’s publicist and she was a gem in her field. If anyone could clear things up it would be her. Howie relaxed a little at the mention of Wonder Woman’s name. “So, I guess my advice to you guys would be; go back to your rooms, relax, and stay the hell away from the phone if it rings... and absolutely NO leaving this hotel or even going down to the lobby unless I tell you to. GOT IT?” He looked all the guys up and down stopping the longest on Howie. Once he received the nods he was looking for he walked out of the room slamming the door on his way out.

“He is so nice isn’t he?” AJ said going over to the half empty can of beer that Johnnie had left and took a sip.

“ DAMMIT AJ!” Kevin said grabbing it from him and throwing it in the garbage. “Enough!”

Brian walked past his cousin and lightly knocked on the bathroom door, all the other people in the room’s eyes followed his actions. “Nick buddy…you coming out?”

“I’m peeing I’ll be out in a minute” Nick’s voice was a mixture of irritation and agony; the high pitched crack that comes with crying followed by the gulping that comes with the cover up. Brian just stood there standing at the door waiting for his friend to come out, not even sure why. It wasn’t like he was a child or anything. But at the time he needed to keep himself busy doing something and tending to Nick seemed to be the most natural activity. Finally the toilet flushed and out came Nick who looked like a mess. He smiled at his friend, tears all but gone from his eyes and made his way over the rest of the guys.

“Hi Kev” He said feigning a smile.

“Hi”

“Did Johnnie tell you guys that he plans on releasing a statement?”

“Yeah Nick, he told us while you were in the bathroom”

“I told him all about the guy that looks like me Howie, but I don’t think he believed me”

“Of course he didn’t because it’s ridiculous” Kevin sighed and made his way over to the window, “you know I can’t leave you guys alone for ten minutes without something happening”

“Oh please…save it” AJ walked over to his older friend ready for an argument. It’s funny how personalities really showed in times of tension. Kevin was a blamer. When something went wrong he laid blame on everyone but himself but then always tried his best to fix it. AJ on the other hand would fight, with anything or anyone. Brian couldn’t ever seem to keep still, pacing back and forth or biting his nails anything to keep him from slowing down enough to deal with a problem and Nick would cry or sleep or yell anything overdramatic. Howie was the one that usually just stayed in the back, keeping everyone around him calm. Not this time though, this time he was the reason for it.

The funniest thing about the situation he thought to himself as he watched his band mates trying to cope with all of this, was that no one really knew if this situation was as bad as they thought it was. Kevin did say he saw a bunch of reporters but where they on the news? Did they make it into the huge papers? Or just the tabloids?

“You know if it was just the tabloids, it would be easy to deny” All the guys looked over at Howie as he verbalized his thoughts. “I mean, who believes that stuff anyway?”

“If it was just a tabloid do you think Johnnie would be having such a cow?” Leave it to Kevin to burst his only bubble of hope.

“No…probably not, but maybe he is just being over dramatic”

“Not Johnnie!” That got a laugh out of everybody. Good old AJ always good for a laugh. “Well no matter what happens, I think as long as we tell the truth we will be okay” Nick said nodding his head as if that was the only logical conclusion.

“Oh yeah; that you were chasing your double who had thrown himself off of a building. Yeah they‘ll buy right into that”

“They might”

“Nick wake up and join us in the real world for a minute okay?”

“There’s no reason to be rude”

“I know…sorry” Kevin calmed his tone and walked back over to join the rest of his group, “But I just think Johnnie knows what to do. The less you guys say the better”

“I mean wasn’t it a tabloid that printed that story in the first place? Of course they would believe it” That was a light bulb moment for Howie. Nick was right. “I bet it’s them” once again all eyes shifted their gaze to Howie, “What D?” Brian asked.

“I bet it was them. They are the ones that were there to see” Then it all became so clear to him. Hadn’t he given his number to the guy over at the Inquisitor? It had to be him. The one calling, the one threatening. “I’m gonna call them”

“Johnnie said no phone calls” Kevin stood up and blocked Howie from leaving.

“No he didn’t. He said we shouldn’t answer the phone”

“No way D. you can’t call a tabloid! God what has gotten into you?”

Kevin was making so much sense. Why on earth call the one source that could drag their names to the ground? He just felt like this was the answer. “I just know Kevin. I know it’s them. They probably followed us there”

“So what is calling gonna do besides let them know you really WERE there?”

Howie looked up at Kevin and then to the rest. They all seemed to be in agreement with Kevin; all except Nick who nodded his head egging Howie on.

“Okay you’re right”

“Good, I knew you’d come to your senses D. Let’s let the pros handle this one”

Howie sat down next to Nick and smiled.

“Everything will be okay”


~*~*~*~*~*
Howie and AJ made their way back to their own room and Howie was happy for the retreat. Maybe he could take a nap since his night of restless sleep was now catching up to him, besides the less he thought about the things the better he felt. So, when AJ headed into the bathroom to take a shower Howie plopped on his bed and tried to close his eyes. “God I hope my Mother didn’t hear about this” He found himself saying out loud”

“Yeah then you’d know how I feel” Howie jumped, his heart leaping into his throat.

“Where the hell did you come from?”

“I snuck in”

“When?” now his heart was racing so fast, he knew sleep was not going to happen.

“You must have dosed off. I needed to get away from Kevin. He can be a real pain sometimes” Nick was sitting in the corner of the room almost under the table. The kid for being as lanky and clumsy as he was, could sneak around like a ninja. Once he spent a whole night under Howie’s bed, Howie was still waiting for an explanation about that one.

“You scared me”

“I know…sorry”

“Did you get into a lot of trouble?”

Nick made his way from the table over to the bed and sat across from Howie, “Uh…yeah you could say that. Mom wasn’t pleased”

“I’m sorry I got you into trouble”

“Yeah so am I” The smirk on his face showing that he secretly loved this little adventure; his next question further proving that. “So, you gonna call that place now?”

“I don’t know Nick…I think it’s a bad idea”

“You didn’t before Kevin hounded you about it”

“I know but…”

“But nothing Howie, I think it’s a good idea”

“That’s even more reason not to do it”

“HEY!”

Howie laughed at the pout that Nick plastered on his face. That kid was too much sometimes.

His cell phone rang twice before he picked it up this time. He only went for it because if he didn’t Nick would.

“Hello?”

“Tell the kid it’s you’re Mom and you want to be alone” That voice again, gruff and mean. HE knew Nick was in the room. How?

Howie moved his hand over the mouthpiece, “Nick if you don’t mind it’s my Mom”

“Okay cool…tell her I say hello” Nick stood up and left the room.

“Good” The man said.

“How did you know he was here?”

“Lucky guess…so…looks like we need to have a discussion”

“Look I think I know who this is…”

“Believe me kid you have NO idea”

“You need to stop bullying me around”

“You started it”

“Why did you frame us?”

“Frame you?” The man laughed, “I didn’t’ frame anybody. You went into that club”

“What do you want?”

“Careful about your volume Howie…you never know who is listening” Howie felt the need to look around the room just then; expecting to see someone jump out from under his bed.

“Well? Answer me dammit! What do you want?”

“I just want to make sure we are clear about what it is you are going to tell the press”

“I’m not telling the press anything”

“Good boy. And what about the police?” “Nothing”

“Good. Nice to see you are a fast learner Howie...Because I would hate for it to get out that you were the last person seen with a corpse” Howie went numb, his heart once again in his chest.

“Wwwhat did you say?”

“You heard me right. It would terrible just awful if those pics ever made their way out in public don’t you think? You pinning that blonde guy to the side of the building”

Howie didn’t know what to say, he wanted to strangle the phone, “You are a…”

“Easy Howie…seems like your fate is in my hands. Imagine everyone’s surprise when they were to arrest you on suspicion of murder”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nick of course…tall blonde…looks a little like someone you know”

“But…he is alive”

“No Howie…he WAS alive. Now he is not, because he didn’t do what he was told. Are you going to do what you are told?” Howie didn’t answer. His mouth opened wide staring at the wall in shock as if there was a huge monster about to eat him alive.

“What do you want?” He barely managed to get out.

“All in due time kid” There was a brief moment of silence. Howie could actually hear the man smiling on the other end of the phone.

“Like I said it would be a shame if word were to get out…I’ll be in touch” The man hung up and Howie un nerved just sat there shaking.

Unaware that AJ had heard most of his conversation.

12

At first AJ stood there, right outside the bathroom door; not sure if he should pretend that he didn't hear what he had just heard. He watched as Howie hung up the phone and noticed how he was visibly shaking. Howie, one of his best friends was terrified about something. That kind of helped him to make up his mind. He took a deep breath and walked over to where his friend sat. When Howie noticed AJ walking towards him, he tried his best to pull himself together. He didn't want AJ to think anything was wrong. Everything was wrong though, and Howie wished he had the power to turn back time and just let things be. He had NO idea what was in store for him but whatever it was it wasn't going to be good. That much he knew for sure.
Was it possible that he was really the reason for someone no longer aloud to live? If what the guy said was true, could he really be responsible for someone's murder?

"D?" Howie jumped at the sound of his friend's voice.

"Hey J" He said standing up and folding some clothes he had left neglected on the floor. Besides he felt the need to keep himself busy doing something, anything; otherwise he might just start screaming and never stop.

"D, who was that on the phone?"

"Oh...my Mom. She sends her love" He kept folding, unaware that AJ was shaking his head.

"Why are you lying to me man? I know that wasn't your Mom" Howie turned to his friend with a look of surprise. He was never any good at lying, the guys loved to call him out on it too, whenever they had the chance.

"Sure it was, I'm gonna go run to get a Coke. You want a Coke?"

"Howie...what the hell is going on? I know that wasn't your Mom"

Howie just blantantly ignored AJ as he searched his pockets for change. "Howie!"

"Dammit AJ! It's none of your business who that was anyway!"

Howie's odd demeanor matched with the sudden outburst just about did it for AJ, who sat down on the bed, worried. "Howie who is threatening you?"

Howie stared at AJ for a few minutes, refusing to answer. He couldn't answer, for fear of his own life and his friend's. One man was dead already because of him; one stranger. He found himself traveling to the part of his brain that was trying to cope with that. How would he ever get over knowing that he caused someone's death. Was is something he was supposed to get over? Maybe it wasn't even the truth. For all he knew it could have been that look a like guy making the call in the first place.

That was it. It WAS that Look a like guy. How obvious! What better way to get money out of someone then to fake their own death and then blackmail them about a frame up. Genius!

"Are you even listening to me?" AJ had now moved next to Howie and had placed a hand on his shoulder. I wonder when he did that? Howie thought as he stared into his friend's concerned eyes.

"AJ, it's nothing okay? Please just leave me alone about this. It's really none of your business"

AJ shrugged finally giving up; for now anyway. Once Howie saw his younger friend give up, he exhaled a relieved breath. Temporarily convincing himself that for now, everything was okay.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nick was restless; anxious and restless. Closing his eyes he let those harsh words his Mother had spewed at him once again flash in his brain. She was pissed off! Saying things like those boys are not a good influence on you and how dare Howie take you to such a place. He had to bite his tongue from telling her if you think that's bad too bad you didn't see the time when...fill in the blank. For a 17 year old, he has had a pretty exciting life.

Brian had decided it was best to hang out in his cousin's room for a little while leaving Nick to himself. A place that he hated to be. Luckily within seconds of thinking that, AJ came waltzing in looking anything but happy, once again giving Nick somehting to do.

AJ walked in and sat on Brian's bed in a huff. "Something is wrong with D"

Nick turned to face his friend, lying on his belly hands holding up his chin, "What are you talking about?"

"I overheard him talking to someone..."

"Yeah his Mom called" Nick said a little bummed and quickly losing interest in the conversation.

"It wasn't his Mom"

"Uh huh...yeah it was"

"No it wasn't Nick...he was lying" Once again Nick's interest was peaked, "Howie...LIED?" He asked sounding a bit like a five year old finding out there was no such thing as Santa.

"Yeah kid, he lied"

"Why would he do that?"

"Not sure, all I know is he was being threatened"

"Why would you think that?" Now Nick was sitting up, looking like he was ready to burst off of the bed at any minute.

"I heard him say soemthing about being framed"

"Oh my gosh...AJ who do you think it is?" AJ shook his head, "No idea but I intend to find out"

"How?"

"That I haven't figured out yet"

"Do you think anyone knows?"

AJ shook his head, "No way man. If he were gonna tell anyone it would be me"

"Oh please, he is as close to me as he is to you"

"Whatever, did he tell YOU anything then?"

"Not really. I tried to convince him to call that tabloid place"

"The Inquisitor?" Nick nodded, "But then he threw me out of the room saying his Mom was on the phone"

AJ sat buried in his thoughts, thinking maybe this was a little more serious than he percieved it to be. Thoughts about calling the police or security crossed his mind, but he had dismissed it. Right now they were in such deep shit with management and security this would only add to it all.

If only he would have gone with his gut, maybe things would have turned out different; but he didn't and quickly all thoughts about calling the police or security left his mind. He could solve this little mystery on his own...well almost on his own.

"What are you thinking?" He looked over to find Nick with a very curious expression on his face; part constipated and part amused. It made AJ laugh, "What?"

"You look like you have to fart or something"

"That's gross but now that you mention it..." AJ braced himself for the worst but nothing came, "I'm just teasin you Bone"

"I think maybe WE should call the Inquisitor" Nick said as he walked toward the phone, the action made AJ a little nervous. "NO! I mean wait, don't you think we should have at least a clue as to who to talk to?"

Nick sat with phone in hand, pondering what AJ had just said, "Yeah...think we can trick D into telling us?"

"I don't know"

Kevin bursting into the room without even knocking brought an abrupt end to their little conversation. He made himself comfortable on one of the plush chairs leaving AJ and Nick annoyed.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Nick asked the older man sarcastically.

"Uh, I just figured out that the two of you were in here alone and I wanted to put a stop to that before you did anything stupid and made things worse"

The two younger men glanced at each other, Was this guy a mind reader too on top of everything else? was pretty much the thought the two were thinking.

"Why would you say that?" AJ asked defensively, that's when Nick realized that maybe Kevin had just overheard their entire conversation. Funny mind reading came to his head before eavesdropping.

"I don't know...just seemed like the right thing to say and obviously I was right" He said raising an eyebrow at Nick who still seemed at a loss for words.

"Where's Howie at?" Nick finally asked.

"He's in my room with Brian, that's why I figured I should come check on the two of you"

"We don't need a babysitter Kev" AJ's posture relaxed, Kevin hadn't overheard anything.

"Well maybe not but I would feel better if we all hung out together, talked things through, maybe did something productive" He said standing up and walking towards the door. "My room in five minutes guys...okay?" Both boys nodded.

When Kevin left the two stared at each other, "Guess maybe we should just go to his room before he blows a casket" AJ said standing up ready to leave.

"Yeah good idea"

"I don't think we should tell anyone about our suspicions just yet" AJ said to the blonde who once again had the phone in his hands.

"I agree, our secret!" He said crossing his heart over his chest.

"Cool let's go!"

"I'll be there in a second, I want to call my Mom real quick"

"Okay but hurry!"

Once AJ was out of the room Nick took a deep breath and picked up the phone, dialing up the front desk's number. "Hello...I was wondering if you could give me the number to the main office of the Inquisitor"

*Hey guys sorry about the wait. I'll try to get another chapter out to you by Wednesday! Thanks for reading :) *



13
By the time AJ arrived in Kevin’s hotel room, the oldest band mate had already begun to nervously pace. He walked into and sat down on the bed next to Brian who was biting his fingernails.
“Where the hell is Nick?” Kevin asked stopping his pacing long enough to shoot AJ a death stare.

“He’s talking to his Mom”

“That’s weird, what he didn’t get yelled at enough? He felt like going for round two?” AJ shrugged at Brian but then glanced over to Howie who was sitting over by the window, staring off. He didn’t look good at all, not that AJ ever really took notice of things like that, but still Howie was pale and seemed off; like a man who had something to hide.

On the short walk over from his room to Kevin’s, AJ had decided that no matter what, he was going to get to the bottom of things. Howie would eventually let his guard down and talk; it would only be a matter of time. Once Howie knew he had his best friend on his side, maybe he would feel better.

He was just about to get up and walk over to where Howie sat staring blankly out the window, when once again Kevin started asking a ton of questions.

“Okay, I really have been thinking a lot about this D…”

Howie looked up when he heard Kevin say his name, “Yeah?”

“Yeah…and I think as long as we just kind of apologize…everything will be smoothed out. When we go into Jive let me do all the talking”

Howie didn’t answer, just once again turned his attention over to the window. “So do they really want to see us then Kev?”

“Yeah; they called Johnnie before he could even call them”

“That’s usually not a real good sign right?”

“I don’t see what the big deal even is; I mean they have all kinds of people on their stupid ass label. People who have done a whole hell of a lot worse”

“That’s true AJ, but this is different. We are for the younger fans”

“I’m sorry I screwed everything up” Howie said still looking out the window. “I really am so sorry” “Howie, we all make mistakes, it’s no biggie. We will recover. Like Jay said, it could be a lot worse”

Howie turned to his friend and nodded; if only you knew the story Kevin. It is about as bad as it can get. He heard his brain screaming.

He wasn’t really listening to what Kevin was saying; he was too busy being lost in his own thoughts. He found himself wondering what it was that the person who was blackmailing him really wanted. Would he call for money? Or did he want something else? What if it was something that Howie couldn’t get for him. Then what? Would it put his family in danger? His friends?

“Is that cool with you Howie?” Once again Howie looked over and nodded at Kevin. He would just have to trust that what he had agreed to wasn’t that bad.

“Okay then that’s the plan guys” Kevin said finally sitting down; signaling the end of their little meeting. Brian put on the television as AJ made his way over by Howie’s side.

He sat down next to his friend and smiled, Howie smiled back. Not a word was exchanged; there would be time to talk later. Besides, AJ knew that if Howie was going to open up to him, he wouldn’t do it under the watchful eye of Kevin. No, this conversation would have to wait until tonight, in the privacy of their own room.

The room was quiet temporarily until Nick came running in. Like a hurricane, Nick just had a way of blowing into a room. It was very uniquely Nick. So, all eyes landed on him when he barreled in, like a battery just charged and ready to go.

“You missed our meeting” Kevin said matter of factly from the bed.

“Sorry…I was talking to my Mom”

“Again?” Brian said in a kind of half chuckle.

“Yeah…she wasn’t done yelling before. She wanted a second go around…J…can I talk to you for a second” He nodded at AJ.

AJ was amazed that nobody picked up on this blatantly suspicious behavior. The kid had I’m lying written all over his face.

“Sure” He stood up and pat Howie on the back as he did so, as if letting him know we would be talking later.

Nick grabbed onto AJ’s arm and dragged him all the way to the door; once again no one even gave them a second look.

“What is the deal?” AJ asked pulling his arm away from the blonde.

“I did it”

“You did what?”

“I called” He didn’t even have to finish the rest of his statement. AJ immediately knew what he was talking about. He grabbed Nick’s arm this time and pulled him close, “I thought we weren’t going to do that yet man!”

“I know but I did and the guy had some interesting things to say to me”

“What did they say?”

“I can’t tell you here” He said motioning to the rest of the guys who were still ignoring them. Except for Howie; he was glancing at them suspiciously. Hoping against hope that he wasn’t the main topic of their discussion.

“Well when do you plan on telling me then?”

“Hey Kev… AJ and I are going back to my room”

“I really think we should all stay together” This time it was Howie who spoke up, “I mean…don’t you think it’s best that we all stay together?” He even stood up and moved toward the younger members of the band.

AJ and Nick both looked at each other. “Awe come on D…it’s not like we are going to set the place on fire or anything”

“I don’t know….it’s a possibility” Brian joked which didn’t help any.

“I think Howie is right guys, I really think we should stay together”

Nick was just about to protest when there was a knock on the door. It made Howie jump about ten feet in the air. His heart actually stopped. What if this was it? What if whoever had killed that one guy was behind the door, ready to kill someone else.

Suddenly he felt an urge to run, run past his band mates and open the door before one of them got hurt. He did just that, he almost tackled AJ before he had a chance to open the door, actually knocking his friend to the ground.

“Jesus D! What the hell is your problem?” AJ asked annoyed and nursing his writs after Howie had tackled him to the ground. Everyone was standing around AJ who was obviously in a huge amount of pain.

“I’m so sorry AJ…it’s just that I thought…”

“I think my wrist is broken” Howie gently grabbed his friend’s arm and sure enough his wrist was swollen; his fingers quickly swelling as well.

Brian ran to the small refrigerator to grab some ice while Kevin opened up the door to let in their manger who, when noticing AJ on the floor, Howie squatting down at his side, looked less than pleased.

“I have a feeling I don’t want to know what the hell just happened, but whatever it is just tell me it’s not your damn fault this time” He said to Howie, who couldn’t even make eye contact.

“AJ fell going to answer the door, we think his writs might be broken” Kevin said taking charge of the situation which the rest of the boys were grateful for. Johnnie Wright moaned, possibly even growled depending on how active your imagination could be.

“Oh well isn’t this just FANTASTIC!” He screamed into his hand which was gripping his head.

“It really hurts” AJ said now almost crying from the pain. Nick stood and watched as Kevin ran over to ice their friend’s wrist. Brian stood beside AJ on one side while Howie who was at a loss for words remained next to J on the other.

“DO you really think it’s broken?” Johnnie directed the question to AJ, who only nodded now small tears forming on his eyes.

“Okay…I’ll call security and they will take you to the hospital”

“Can I go with him?” Howie asked.

“No friggin way! You need to be at this damn Jive meeting. Brian you go with him” Brian nodded secretly relieved that he was spared having to go to this meeting from hell. Nick looked visibly disappointed, “Oh don’t even Carter! We wouldn’t even have to GO to this meeting if you had not been dumb enough to follow Howie into that damned strip club!” Johnnie helped AJ to his feet in one swish and guided him over to the bed, “Someone will come to get you in a second” He said rather calmly to AJ before turning to everyone else, “And we are due at Jive in about an hour…you think we can stay in one piece until then?” They all nodded.

“Great! Glad to hear it”

When Johnnie left the stress didn’t go with him. “God AJ I’m so sorry”

“Why the hell did you tackle me like that?”

“I just…I…”

“Howie, what is going on man?” Now it was Kevin’s turn to ask.

“Nothing, I just thought I heard something”

“Yeah you heard someone knocking on the door D” Brian laughed trying his hardest to break the tension. Even Nick didn’t smile at that one.

“I’m sorry” Howie said again, ignoring everyone but AJ who was now thankfully calmer. “Felling any better?” Kevin asked once again going to check the swelling. Nick had now moved over to the dresser and sat down watching the scene in front of him, choosing not to say a word.

“Yeah the ice is numbing the pain a bit”

“Good”

“That was one hell of a way to get out of a meeting J” Nick said, this time everyone smiled.

“Yeah, I guess so”

“Hey Howie… will you tackle me next?” everyone laughed except for Howie who felt so incredibly bad that he almost wanted to cry himself.

“It’s okay Howie, no real harm done. I’m okay and I still think we need to have a nice long talk when I get back”

Howie looked at his friend, “Take care of yourself AJ”

He was hoping that by the time his friend came back from the hospital he would be so drugged up that he wouldn’t remember the conversation they were supposed to be having. About ten minutes went by before a member of security came in to escort both AJ and Brian to the hospital.

“I’m sorry J” Howie made sure to get in one more time.

“I know”

“Good luck guys” Brian added as they walked out of the door. Boy didn’t he really get off lucky, Nick couldn’t help but envy his best friend, he would have rather poked himself in the eye with an electric eel then go to this meeting.

“I can’t believe I did that to him” Howie said to the floor.

“Howie enough, it’s okay. What is your deal man? You just aren’t acting like yourself”

Nick looked at his two older friends and almost spilled the beans about everything. The phone call he made, the information he was given and told NOT to tell anybody. He had so wanted to let AJ in on everything. He had managed to set up a meeting with someone who claimed to know something, he hadn't wanted to go alone and knew with AJ by his side, it would be easier to allude security; now he had no idea how or what he was going to do. He wanted to console Howie, let him know that he was on the way to figuring everything out. But he kept his mouth shut as they left for Jive, unaware that they were being watched while a small black car followed AJ and Brian to the hospital.

14

Brian didn’t like hospitals, it was a proven fact. He hated them when he was little and even now that he was completely grown and healthy, they just gave him the eebie jeebies. He didn’t say much as he and AJ left for the hospital and now that they were sitting on two very uncomfortable chairs in the eerily vacant emergency room, he looked at his friend and didn’t really know what he wanted to say.

AJ was also not very talkative. In fact, he seemed far away. His wrist had stopped hurting and was now just throbbing; he kind of felt guilty for carrying on the way he did. He knew he made things worse for Howie and the one thing he didn’t want to do was make things worse for a guy who over the years, had managed to get him out of a fair share of trouble.

They both just sat there staring at each other in an uncomfortable silence, thankful when a doctor finally came in to look over AJ’s injury and even more thankful when that same doctor said it was probably nothing more than a nasty sprain.

“Glad it’s not broken” Brian said hesitantly while messing around with some tongue depressors that were left in his reach.

“Well, he said MAYBE, I think, that’s the word we have to really be cautious of” Leave it to AJ to be a drama queen, Brian thought as one of the depressors flew out of his hand and landed on the floor.

“Nice one Rok. I can’t take you anyplace” Brian bent down and picked up the wooden stick, “God, I don’t think they ever clean under these gurneys. It’s gross down here”

“Jeez Brian just get up off the floor” AJ smiled when a nurse walked by, afraid that they would be thrown out of the hospital before he even got a nice shot of some pain medication. Any pain medication; he wasn’t picky. He subconsciously started to once again feel a pain in his wrist.

Brian was now up and wiping the dust off of his hands, “Boy you weren’t kidding were you?” AJ said when he noticed the small cloud of dust Brian was making. He laughed at the way Brian was just roaming around the small area they were assigned to, “You remind me of Kaos you know that?”
Brian stopped pacing, “How so?”

“You guys hang around together too much”

“Why?”

“You just do, he would have done the same exact thing with those tongue doohickies”

Brian laughed, “You’re probably right…I wonder how the meeting is going?”

AJ shrugged, “Don’t know I’m just kind of glad I’m not there to find out” Brian nodded in agreement just as a new doctor walked in. Both men stopped and looked at the guy, who seemed like he was in a really awful mood.

“Alex McLean?

“Yes, that’s me” AJ said holding up his semi bandaged wrist.

“I am supposed to take you down for some more x-rays and bloodwork”

“Bloodwork?” Brian asked a little curious.

“Why would I need bloodwork? All I have is a sprained wrist”

“Doctor’s orders” Once again AJ shrugged and got into the wheelchair, “Can my friend come with me?”

“No, I’m afraid not but he can wait in the chairs right outside”

“Sir, is there somewhere a little more private that I can sit? We are celebrities and I don’t want to be recognized” If the man looked disgusted before it was nothing compared to the way he looked now.

“I suppose there is a special room you could wait in right down the hall” He said as sarcastically as possible. He then pointed off in a random direction down a random corridor. Brian wanted to ask the jerk to elaborate but didn’t feel like being a bother.

“Take care man, I’ll be over…uh there I guess” He said pointing to the hallway. AJ laughed.

“Later Rok”

Brian looked on as AJ was wheeled down the corridor and out of the swinging doors before he attempted to find this mystery room. He supposed he could just ask at the front desk; but that one guy made him kind of paranoid about sounding stupid. He hated people with attitudes, so often he wanted to say, “You know it takes more effort to frown then smile” That was his Mom’s absolute favorite expression and he liked to use it often with the guys; especially Kevin. No matter what, it would bring a smile to his cousin’s face. That’s what he would do; he would call and leave a voicemail for Kevin saying those words. Even if the meeting was as horrendous as he assumed it would be, that should lighten the mood again. He had made up his mind that after he found this mystery waiting room for the stars, he would make that call.

He walked up to the nurse’s station and smiled at the young nurse on duty. She didn’t seem to recognize him but being in the states he was kind of used to that. Even though they did have a following here it wasn’t yet that big. He was hoping that would change. Suddenly he felt really dumb for requesting a private waiting area in the first place. He could probably stand right in the middle of the emergency room and go unnoticed. He was just about to walk away when the nurse acknowledged his presence.

“Yes can I help you with something?” She sounded very friendly. That was a refreshing change.

“Um…yeah I was wondering if there was a private waiting room I could use while I waited for my friend?” She looked past him to the bodyguard that had escorted them to the hospital.

“Sure…I can put you in one of the rooms down the hall”

“Thanks so much”

“Not a problem…you are a singer right?” Brian nodded wishing that obnoxious nurse, doctor or whatever he was could have seen that he had been recognized.

“I like your music” She said through a wink. He wasn’t even sure if she knew who he actually was but he smiled anyway.

“Someone should be coming to get your friend in a little while; we are kind of backed up right now. I hope that’s not a problem”

“Actually some guy just brought him down to x-ray a few minutes ago”

“No, that’s impossible; they called and said they are backlogged” Brian glanced over at the bodyguard they brought with them, which caused him to come immediately over.

“It was a guy; some guy said his doctor ordered bloodwork and an x-ray”

The nurses calm demeanor went out the window as she nervously searched for his chart. “That’s possible…maybe they took him down for the bloodwork first”

Brian didn’t like how she said that, kind of like she didn’t believe it but was saying it purely for his benefit. “Why don’t you call down there then?” he suggested.
She nodded and picked up the phone. Brian started to bite at his bottom lip. He didn’t like the feelings that were running through him, anxiety and anger. She moved away from the desk a bit so this way no one could here her conversation, “I am going down there to check it out myself” The bodyguard said. He felt bad that he hadn’t even learned the guys name yet. The whole idea of security was so new to him, he couldn’t quite comprehend why they needed people to keep watch over them, until that nurse walked back not a minute later, “I’m sorry your friend is not down at X-ray, they are looking for him now, maybe he was brought to the wrong place” After she said that and his heart began to race, he suddenly found a better understanding about why they needed to be kept safe.

~*~*~*~*~*

Before entering the big intimidating office of Mr. Johannes Fink over at Jive; Kevin stopped just short of the door, “Okay guys, Remember let me do most of the talking. Nick you sit in-between Howie and I. I don’t want you sitting on the end and drifting off into your dream world. Normally a comment like that would have made Nick argue or roll his eyes and comment under his breath, but this time he just nodded.

“It’s not like he’s going to bite our heads off or anything right?” Nick asked looking from one boy to the other hoping to see a firm shake of the head, when there was nothing but blank looks staring back at him he really began to panic. “Why couldn’t I go with AJ?”

“Relax and it’s because YOU got us partly into this mess…that’s why” Kevin answered placing a calming hand on Nick’s shoulder.

They walked into to the huge office. Howie had only been there a few days earlier. Only a few days but it felt like years ago, that he had met with this guy. Isn’t this how this whole mess got started? He caught himself glancing over to the office that he had found the guy crying in. The door was closed and a name was now on it. If he had only waited until today to have his meeting with Fink, he would have never encountered the guy at all.

Fate. Sometimes it really sucked.

Fink was sitting on his desk, sipping on a coffee just waiting for the boys to make their way into the room. There already seated were about four men in suits and carrying briefcases. Johnnie Wright was also their looking as nervous and everyone felt.

“My…my…my we certainly have gotten ourselves into a pretty pickle haven’t we boys?” Fink asked while smirking. Smirking? That was a good sign right? He wasn’t cursing or yelling and screaming, but smiling.

“Johannes, Lou extends his apologies for not being able to attend since he is away on business” Johnnie said very professionally. Fink nodded while the four well dressed suits stared.

The boys sat in the order that Kevin had suggested with Nick in the middle. He was already fidgeting crossing one leg over the other and then switching positions. They weren’t even in the room for ten minutes when Nick got his first of many pokes from Kevin.

“Let me get straight to the point gentlemen…cute baby faces who do nothing wrong sell records in this business, not perverted guys who go into strip clubs in the middle of the afternoon” Fink said this last line looking directly at Howie who chose to nod and look down at the floor.

“I mean, I have enough people on this label who get in trouble with the law, they have an older audience, so even though it’s a pain in my ass, it helps sell records…now if you getting in trouble helped to sell records I would say good for you, go to some xxx theater and get busted. That’s not the case” Now he stood and walked over to Nick, which of course made the teenager squirm, “This however…baby face blue eyed heart throb who has millions of kids looking up to him should not get into trouble. You think Mommy will let Suzy go out and buy your albums after hearing you were in a strip club?” Nick shook his head even though he didn’t really agree with the guy.

“Exactly, then why is it we shouldn’t drop you guys right now before the shit really hits the fan?” He was once again staring at Nick, but it was Howie who answered, “Because it will never happen again”

“Really?” Can you guarantee me that Howie?”

“Absolutely”

“Can you guarantee all the parents who will be sending us bitch mail?” Once again he nodded. Boy he really felt like crap.

“Mr. Fink, I know this was an unfortunately incident but I think our image aside that people would still buy our stuff based on our talent”

“Kevin we would like to think so, but nowadays talent is only a small reason people buy albums”

Fink made his way over to the other businessmen in the room, “We have decided to keep you on our label” He said after a few minutes of silence, “But we have to o something in order to squelch the rumors about you guys going top this Lion’s Den place”

“But we did go…so technically it’s not a rumor” Both Kevin and Howie poked at Nick as soon as he opened his mouth.

“No you didn’t!” fink suddenly raised his voice causing the young blonde to flinch. “I don’t care if it’s lying. You were not at that place. You never were and the second you tell anyone otherwise we are releasing you from our contract. Got it?” All three boys nodded. “It happens all the time boys, eventually everyone will forget this incident and it will go away; until then I suggest you stay out of the spotlight for a while”

Johnnie stood up to shake Fink’s hand; all the boys took that as a cue to do the same. They walked out of the room and didn’t breathe until the door was shut on them. “Well, that went well” Johnnie said wiping the sweat off of his neck. “You guys were lucky this time”

“We know” Kevin answered. “STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!” He scolded and then he made his way out of the building and probably to a bar. Howie once again stood in that corridor, right outside Fink’s office staring at the door where all his troubles started.

“What’s wrong D?” He jumped at Kevin’s words, “Oh…it’s nothing, come on let’s get out of here”

“I wonder how AJ is doing” Nick said stopping at a water fountain and taking a drink. “It’s hot as hell in here”

“This is nothing; you should have felt it a few days ago”

“I am going outside, I’ll see you guys out there” Kevin said wiping his own sweat away from his forehead and walking towards the exit. Nick waved as he continued to drink.

While they were stopped Howie whipped out his cell phone and decided to give AJ and Brian a call. He got Brian’s voicemail “Hey B it’s Howie…the meeting went well, just checking up on you guys, give us a call to let us know how things turned out for ya”

“No answer?” Nick asked wiping away the excess water from his chin. Now Howie went to the water fountain, “No answer” He replied right before bending down to take a sip.

“Hey D…isn’t that the chick you were talking to when we were here the last time?” Howie stood, not even bothering to wipe his mouth and was greeted by Jessica, who was staring at him.

15

Howie stood open mouthed, staring at Jessica as she walked right passed him and headed for the water fountain herself. She pretended she didn’t even know him which had not only him but Nick baffled as well. She smiled at them both as she bent down to get a sip of water. “Jessica?”
She didn’t answer at first, choosing to ignore him. “My… I was really thirsty” She said and smiled.

“What are you doing here?” Howie had so many questions to ask her, he didn’t even know where to begin.

“I work here Howie….remember?”

He softly pulled her close, “You told me you were fired”

“I was never fired, now if you excuse me I really have to…”

“Jessica what the hell is going on?” She ignored his question and started to walk away.

“What kind of freaky ass twilight zone episode is this?” Nick asked no one in particular as Howie ran after Jessica.

“Jess…wait!” She picked up her pace to almost a run. “JESSICA!” He screamed causing two passers by to look their way. She turned around, now looking scared, “Why are you running away from me? And what the hell is happening?”

“Howie I really have to go; I’m sorry”

“No Jessica! My life has been turned upside down because of you! Now tell me what is going on”

“That’s not a fair statement” She said in a whisper. It relieved the man who really started to think this whole thing was in his head.

“Okay…maybe but then it’s not fair for you to act like you haven’t been fired when I KNOW you were”

“Why are you here?” She asked, now inching closer to Howie who was starting to get paranoid that maybe someone would be listening to his conversation.

“I had a meeting…look can we go somewhere to talk?”

She looked around the hallway, the passers by were now gone and it was just the two of them. “I have to finish working”

“But they fired…”

“They gave me a second chance” She tried to push him away again.

“Jessica, tell me what’s going on”

“I really don’t have time for this conversation Howie…I really need to go… sorry” She turned away from him and started heading down the hallway.

“Is it true? Is he really dead Jess?” That made her stop. While her back was turned her head slumped down and she pulled her hands to her face. “I thought he told you to drop it Howie…why couldn’t you just listen?” Now Howie slowly inched up to her until he was right behind her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she answered with a turn and a hug.

He wanted to ask again but he figured her tears were enough of an answer, “Meet me at my place tonight” She whispered into his ear. So softly that he could barely hear.

“Where is that?”

“Fourth and Brighton…make sure no one follows you”

“You mean security?”

“No…I mean them”

“Who? The guys?”

“No Howie…” She abruptly pulled away from him and pulled herself together when she heard the sound of voices approaching the hallway.

“Tonight” She mouthed as she smiled at the men as they walked by. She turned and followed them, “But Jessica…” He called after her but she didn’t answer.

“What does she mean by following me?” He asked himself still looking to the spot that Jessica had just vacated.

“You were talking to yourself?” Howie jumped and gasped at Kevin’s voice.

“You scared me”

“Nick said you were chasing a hot chick” He laughed imitating Nick’s voice.

“Yeah…something like that…but I lost her”

“Well we should be going; seems there is a little bit of a problem at the hospital”

“What kind of a problem?”

Kevin started walking towards the exit so Howie followed, “Seems the hospital lost AJ”

“What?” Kevin kept Howie in suspense until they were out of the building. He was getting so frustrated with people not answering his questions.

“Kevin? How did they lose him?”

“Don’t know…Brian called in a near panic”

“Why was he panicking…I mean is everything okay?”

“Relax Howie…he’s probably chasing after some nurses somewhere” Nick joked as the three men entered the car.

“Stupid ass hospital” Kevin muttered under his breath.

“Did you talk to her?” Nick whispered to Howie while Kevin was preoccupied with talking to the driver.

“Yes…she wants me to meet her tonight”

“Where?”

“Her place”

“She said make sure no one follows me”

“I want to come”

Howie looked at the blonde and smiled. He knew he should say no, but truthfully he didn’t want to go alone so instead he said, “We’ll see”


**~*~*~*~*~*~*
Brian was growing impatient with the run around he was receiving from everybody. It was a living breathing person they lost, not some little toy or dog or something. The thing that was making him most mad was the conflicting stories he had heard since he began his little search for AJ through the many floors of the hospital. The x-ray department said he wasn’t there and to try the blood lab. The blood lab said he wasn’t there and maybe they had him waiting by orthopedic. The bodyguard went to check it out there and they claimed they never saw him but maybe he was brought to the children’s wing.

That’s when Brian had to take a breather and step outside for fresh air. He wasn’t sure why, but he was nervous for his friend. He had called Kevin at that point and told him all about it. At first he wasn’t even going to do that because he would have blown things out of proportion but when AJ failed to show up anywhere he decided to make the call.

Brian suddenly felt uneasy, like he was being followed. Now he was freaking himself out. He turned around quickly to find no one there but an old man in a wheelchair being escorted by a younger woman talking sweetly to him. Just the same, he decided it was time to go back inside. Once inside he was greeted by his body guard, which he finally remembered was named Bart.

“I thought I’d have to find YOU now” Bart grunted. He certainly didn’t look like he was in a very good mood.

“Still no AJ?” The bodyguard shook his head, then picked up his cell phone and walked off, no doubt going over the situation with somebody.

Brian once again grew restless. He decided to walk down to the chairs and have a seat. He grew uneasy when he noticed a man looking at him from behind a newspaper. It was almost too cliché to be happening so he brushed it off as his overactive imagination. Once again he looked up to find the same man staring at him. When their eyes met, the man behind the newspaper quickly looked away.

“This is freaking weird” He muttered to himself while shifting in the uncomfortable plastic chair.

He decided he wasn’t going to even look that way anymore. He closed his eyes and tried to relax; only to be woken up in a matter of seconds by Nick who plopped down next to him. “Hey Brian…still no AJ?”

“Nope”

“No one really knows where he is?” Brian finally decided to open his eyes to see his cousin and a nervous looking Howie talking to Bart and three security guards.

“No, no one knows where he went”

“You think he is okay?”

“I hope so…Nick see that guy over there?” Nick started to turn around to blatantly look at the guy but Brian grabbed his shoulder and pulled him close, “don’t let him see you looking”

Nick looked over to the man pretending that he was looking past him at the clock on the wall, when he turned back to Brian he answered, “Yeah…what about him?”

“He’s been staring at me”

“You’re famous Brian”

“Yeah…but I don’t know I get a bad feeling that’s all”

Nick looked over to where the guy was sitting to find an empty seat. “He’s gone”

“This is weird” Brian got up and walked back over to where his cousin and Howie were, Nick following at his heels.

“Everywhere?” He heard as he got right up next to them. Howie looked about ready to vomit.

“Hey” He said once he saw Brian standing there.

“Hey…so any news?”

“They think he left”

“Why would he leave?”

“I don’t know…was he scared or something?”

“Kevin he’s not 5. He was totally fine and looking forward to pain medicine”

“This is my fault” Howie said to his friends.

Kevin placed his arm around him, “Howie stop…it’s not your fault”

Brian walked back over to Nick, “There he is again” Nick turned to see what Brian was talking about and sure enough, the man who was sitting in the chairs reading his newspaper was now standing right by the front doors acting like he was waiting for someone but really glancing over at the boys and listening to their conversation. Once he noticed Brian’s eyes he walked away out of sightline.

“Guys, I think we should go talk somewhere else” Everyone looked over to Brian confused. “We should stay by the main entrance Bri, so this way if AJ does happen to walk by he’ll see us” Kevin sounded disgusted.

“What’s wrong Brian?” Howie walked over to Brian, picking up that something was wrong.

“I just think we need to…”

“They found him!” One of the security guards said running towards the guys.

They all looked at each other, “Is he okay?” One of them finally dared to ask. “They said he’s unconscious”

“Where is he?”

“This way…follow me” The guys raced after the security guard as he led them to their friend.

The man who was watching them came walking back into the main area and once he saw them bolt down the hallway, he nodded and walked out the front doors.

16

Howie’s heart raced with fear as they walked briskly through corridor after corridor. Unconscious, the one word ringing in his ear; they had found AJ unconscious. He couldn’t bear to think that something horrible had gone wrong and as they finally came upon AJ’s sleeping form he knew the answer wasn’t very good.

“What’s wrong with him? Why is he not awake?” Kevin asked just beating Howie to the punch. The nurse who was tending to AJ shooed them away, looking a little annoyed that suddenly the room had turned into a three ring circus. “Excuse me, you all can’t be in here. Go wait in chairs and the doctor will be right with you”

“What’s wrong with him? Is he alright?” Nick asked walking over to his sleeping friend and gripping his hand.

“I can’t answer that. The doctor will be here in a minute”

“Surely you can tell us what is wrong. You clearly know” Kevin sounded mad and when he sounded mad he was also intimidating, so the nurse cringed slightly, “Okay look…all I can tell you is that he overdosed”

“What?” Now it was Brian’s turn to sound outraged, “That’s impossible, he was only in here to get his hand worked on. Did you guys give him too much medication or something?”

“Sir, you have to wait outside or I WILL call security” This time all the kindness was gone from the nurse as she began to push the boys and their security out the door.

Once outside in the waiting area, Howie began to pace. “Where is this damn doctor we are supposedly waiting for?”

“Good question” Kevin walked over to the nurse’s station and demanded they page the guy working on AJ. While doing that Nick walked over to Brian, “You see that guy anywhere?”

“What guy?” In the confusion, Brian had forgotten but then his eyes quickly lit up with recognition, “Oh….no. Why do you?”

“No, but I’ve been looking”

“Let me know if you see anything”

“You think he’s okay? I mean he overdosed”

“We don’t know anything yet Nick” That was Brian’s way of telling Nick to be patient. He had done it as long as he had known the boy and Nick answered with a nod. Luckily after a few more minutes of stressed silence, the doctor finally made an appearance.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Everyone sat in a stunned and confused silence as the doctor began going over AJ’s condition. He had disappeared briefly from everyone and then had resurfaced in the maternity ward of all places. At first everyone kind of ignored him up there thinking he was a father who needed a breather, but when he visibly slumped over in his chair almost falling out of it completely, people began to notice.

Immediately he was brought down to the emergency room where security had noticed him and then called for the boys. A police officer was also sitting there right outside the hallway.

“That’s impossible, AJ does not do drugs of any kind” Kevin yelled at the doctor. “There has to be a mistake”

“No mistake I’m sorry, he overdosed on Heroine. He must have had to sneak away from you to do that”

“That’s insane! You are all insane” Howie said taking a step forward.

“Mr. Dorough, it’s possible that you were not aware of your friend’s problem but believe me, now you can get him the treatment he needs”

“He’s not a drug addict” Brian said, also joining in the argument. Nick just sat silently looking at AJ while he slept, his hand now finding the needle marks that the doctor was talking about.

“He took too big of a dosage; since you’re not his family we aren’t really at total liberty to discuss it any further”

“Is he going to be okay?” Nick asked looking at the doctor with a scared look on his face.

“He will be fine”

The doctor left, the boys all standing around not knowing what to say or do next. Howie walked over to AJ who stirred in his sleep. “How long has he been doing this?” Kevin asked no one in particular.

“He doesn’t do drugs Kev. You know that”

“Then why the hell did they find heroine in his system?”

“It has to be a mistake” Brian said but to Howie it was only a distant whisper because in his mind this had been done on purpose. Something was definitely wrong with this picture. If AJ was doing seriously heavy stuff, he would have known about it. True he had done little things here or there and Howie had made sure he was right there to help him out or talk him out of it if need be, but Heroine? No way.

AJ slowly woke up to find everyone staring at him. He had a nagging headache and felt a little shaky. Off kilter like he had too much to drink. He didn’t even realize he was in the hospital until he saw the IV in his arm and his hand in a splint.

“What happened?” He asked Nick who still had a tight grip on his arm.

“He’s awake guys”

“How are you feeling AJ?” Howie asked bending down so that he could be at eye level with his friend.

“Weird, why the hell am I in the hospital?”

“You came to get your hand fixed. Remember?” Brian said softly.

“Yeah. I do remember that, but what happened to me? Did they accidentally take my gall bladder out or something?”

“Seems you overdosed” Kevin said not moving from his spot. He was furious, everyone could tell.

“What?” That made AJ attempt to sit up only to be pushed back down by the other three guys.

“The doctor said you had heroine in your system”

“That’s…that’s impossible” AJ seemed really distressed.

“Look, don’t worry about it now. You have to rest”

“I never did heroine. God what is going on? They made a mistake”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Howie had now taken a seat next to his friend up on the bed. Nick moved back to give Howie a little more room.

“I left for an x-ray and something else”

“Blood work” AJ nodded at Brian, “Right, blood work…then” He really was trying to concentrate on remembering. It almost hurt to watch him trying to recount his lost minutes. “I don’t remember, next thing I knew, I was here. I don’t do that shit. You gotta believe me guys” He said looking from one boy to the next.

“It doesn’t matter if we believe you or not Jay, seems like you are going to end up in rehab because of it”

“But…God, I don’t understand what is happening”

The nurse who had given them attitude came in again, “Okay time to let Mr. McLean rest for a while” Kevin walked out not even giving AJ so much as a smile. The others were a little more sympathetic though. Nick looked almost ready to cry for his friend and reached over to give him a huge hug.

“Everything will be okay AJ. You’ll see” Brian said winking and his friend.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this Jay. I promise, but for what it’s worth I believe you” Howie gripped his friend’s hand tight into his own.

“Thanks. Because I don’t do that shit Howie. I swear it on my life. On my Mother’s life”

“I know, now get some sleep” As Howie walked out of that room he could swear he saw people watching him. Maybe it was just his overactive imagination, but he still sensed it and he didn’t like it very much. What was happening?

“Maybe you should go back to the hotel for a little while” Kevin said

“What about you?”

“I think I am going to stay here and keep AJ company” Howie wanted to insist that he stay too but he also knew he had a meeting with Jessica which he needed to keep. A meeting that would most likely explain what the hell was going on including AJ’s sudden addiction to heroine.

“Okay, look Kev…tell AJ if he needs me I’m only a phone call away”

“I will. Do me a favor and make sure no one finds out about this okay?” Kevin asked everyone including the bodyguards. How Johnnie didn’t catch wind of this yet was a sheer miracle and he wanted to keep it that way. He wasn’t quite ready for the ramifications that this new little discovery would hold for his career or AJ’s. Especially AJ’s.

As everyone sans Kevin was piling into the van Brian looked over to once again notice the same guy who was watching him earlier sitting on a bench pretending to read a paper. He tapped Nick who looked over and nodded. “Something really strange is going on” That caught Howie’s attention who up until that point had AJ’s problem on his mind.

“What are you talking about?”

“Him” Howie looked over to see the guy stand up, fold his paper and walk away. “What about him?”

“I swear to God he is following us” Before Brian could even finish what he was saying, Howie was quickly out of the van and following the guy. The remaining three Backstreet Boys chasing after him with their bodyguards on their tail.

Howie caught up to the guy who seemed unaware that he had a posse following him. He grabbed the man by his shoulders and began to shake him, “Who the hell are you and why are you following us?” The man didn’t answer but smiled.

“Who sent you here? And what the hell did you do to my friend?”

By now Nick and Brian had caught up to Howie and together they pulled him off of the guy, “Let me go! I want answers” Howie said trying to break free from Nick’s hold.

“Take all the money you want but please get off of me” The man said shaking and terrified.

“Howie stop” By now Bart made his way over to the scene and took over holding Howie from Nick who thankfully let go.

“What is the problem here?” Bart asked

“This guy is the reason AJ overdosed” Once again the man shook where he stood almost in tears.

“Howie cool it, we’re sorry sir but you just looked like you were following us that’s all” Brian said handing the paper back to the man after Howie had made it drop to the floor.

The man said nothing only grunted and walked off. “Why are you letting him go?”

“Cool it man” Brian said now in Howie’s face. “It was a mistake”

“I don’t think so Brian”

“Howie I’ve never seen you like this before”

That made Howie calm himself down a little bit. That and the fact that now people were beginning to stare at him. “Look, let’s just go back to the hotel and regroup for a while”

Eventually they were able to calm Howie down enough to get into the van and take off. They sat in silence, before Howie’s cell rang.

“Hello”

“Well Mr. Dorough, seems like your friend managed to get himself into quite the pretty pickle huh?”

Howie didn’t care who heard him this time. He had enough, “Look you son of a bitch! I don’t know what kind of game you are playing here but…”

“I would stop this conversation right now Howie or we can have your friend OD again” That made him stop.

“I would hate to have that happen. He’s a young guy after all. Has his whole life ahead of him, just like Brian. It is Brian in there sitting to your right isn’t it Howie?” Howie looked over to his right where Brian was sitting and staring, mouthing the words, “Who is it”

“Yeah”

“And then we have the very young and naïve Nickolas on your left. If he didn’t make that call this would not have happened. Maybe you should tell him to stay out of your business” He looked over at Nick. “What are you talking about?”

“For now that is unimportant all you need to know is that I am watching you Howie. I know every move you make and everything you do. Tell Jessica I said hello when you see her tonight. Give her my love and tell her we’ll be coming for her soon” Howie gulped. Actually gulped from a sudden lack of spit in his mouth brought on by fear. “Take the kid with you, by the way. You know he’ll follow you if you don’t and the last thing we need is another injured Backstreet Boy right?” The man laughed which caused Howie to grip his phone so tight he just about cracked it in half.

“Why?” Howie looked down to avoid the stares from his concerned friends.

“One never needs to now why, but when…remember that. It could come in handy someday”

Click

“Howie who was that?” Brian asked.

“Wrong number” He said and continued to stare out the window wishing that he could just jump out of the car and let it run over him a couple hundred times.

“It was obviously not the wrong number who…” Howie shot Nick a look which quickly shut him up. “I’m done talking”

He closed his eyes and tried to drown out the man’s voice. Scared for the lives of everyone he loved and cared about.

17


Nick really wasn’t paying any attention to the magazine he had in front of his face. He was looking at the pictures of some of the buxom brunettes on the pages and kind of skimming the articles, but what he was really focusing on was Howie as he paced back and forth in front of him.

They had been back at the hotel for nearly an hour and not so much as one word had been uttered ever since Howie made the declaration that he didn’t want to talk anymore. Both Kevin and Brian took that as almost a sigh of relief and decided to obey his wishes. Nick on the other hand was not as easily swayed. He relentlessly tried to rehash the subject of AJ in the car only to be shot dirty look after dirty look.

Finally he decided to just shut up and wait to catch Howie alone, where he would be able to tell him what he had found out. At first he wasn’t going to; he knew Howie would be pissed because he had went behind his back, but after AJ’s mysterious overdose, to keep it from him would have been a sin. So Nick decided that when the time was right he would spill the beans.

The time was right.

Nick sat up and gulped some water, then putting his magazine down he tried to get his friend’s attention as he continued to pace.

“Howie”

“WHAT?” Howie answered with so much ferocity that Nick almost jumped back. He recoiled, wondering if maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to mention the conversation to the paper in the first place.

Howie stood glaring at Nick but once he saw the slight trace of fear in the blonde’s eyes, he softened. “Sorry Nick…I was just…”

“I know. I’m worried about him too”

“It’s not that…I mean I AM worried about AJ but…”

“Howie I have to tell you something” Maybe it was in the innocent and sad way the words came out of Nick’s mouth, but Howie decided to walk over and sit down next to him.

“What is it?”

“I called that guy”

“What guy?”

“The guy from the Inquisitor. AJ and I knew you were in trouble and decided that we…” Suddenly Howie’s calm face turned a nasty shade of gray.

“You okay?” Nick moved his hand on Howie’s back.

“Oh my God” He whispered under his breath.

“What?”

Howie turned to Nick, “He said it was your fault for meddling”

“What? Who said that?”

“That phone call I got in the car” Howie stood up and once again began pacing.

“The wrong number?” Howie nodded. He paced back and forth in front of Nick at least five times before stopping to ask, “And what did this guy say?”

“He said it was MY fault?” Howie looked over to Nick who had ignored his question entirely. He felt bad for even saying that, it must have hurt; a lot.

“Nick…let’s not worry about that right now. I need to know what that man said to you”

Nick looked down at his shoes, near tears. How could he have let AJ get hurt? He should have never made that call. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder, “I’m sorry Nicky. I’m sure this wasn’t your fault. I didn’t mean to tell you that”

“He said we are in big trouble. That once they start with you they never stop, not until they get what they want” He never made eye contact with Howie when he said it, only stared straight ahead.

“Who did you talk to?”

“I’m not sure. Whoever it was…expected my call though. He talked really softly and gulped a lot. It sounded like he was terrified. He said he would be in touch”

“You gave him your number?”

“Yes…my cellphone. God Howie, I’m so sorry. I should have never called”

Howie now moved his hand from Nick’s shoulder to around his back and grabbed him in a hug. “Nick, I know you were just trying to help, but from now on let me handle things okay? This doesn’t even concern you”

“What do they want from you Howie? And who IS they?”

“I wish I knew; well maybe soon we will” Howie stood up to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“Jessica…” He began to put on his jacket and remembered what the man on the phone had said about Nick, “You wanna come?”

Nick nodded.

“Nicky, I really don’t want Brian or Kevin to know about this yet. Let’s keep this between us for now; we don’t want anybody else getting hurt…okay?” Once again Nick nodded as he placed his hat on his head.

“How are we gonna get out of here without Dave throwing a fit?” That was a good question, Howie had been wondering that himself. After all the crap that had been happening, security was going to be intense. If he wanted to get out of here, he was going to have to come up with the best of lies.

“I’m not sure but we have to think of something” Now it was Nick’s turn to pace; walking back and forth in front of Howie with his hand holding onto his chin to better help him strategize. Finally he stopped right by the door and smiled his most devilish smirk. “I have an idea”


~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kevin had just about enough of all the crap that had gone on since he dared to go away. He knew it wasn’t his fault but he still felt the sting of responsibility, especially when AJ was concerned. How could he not see the signs? Is it possible the boy had been doing heavy drugs under his watchful eye?

“Kevin, stop blaming yourself. It’s not your fault…besides; I don’t think AJ really took those drugs”

“You don’t? Then how did they end up in his system?” Now Brian wished he had the answer for that one, but unfortunately he didn’t.

“I don’t know, but I just feel like something isn’t going right. I mean don’t you think this whole thing is kind of sketchy?” Kevin stood staring at the phone he was talking on for a second and then looked away, “I don’t know Bri…I mean it’s weird and we know AJ had a tendency to…”

“I know, but he’s not an idiot. You weren’t at the hospital with him when I was Kevin. He was nowhere near high. He didn’t appear shaky or anything. I mean have you ever seen him like that?”

“No, but still…I’m here now and they seem to think he is an addict”

“How is he?” Brian sat up a little straighter and pulled the phone even closer to his ear.

“He’s sleeping. They threw me out. They are giving him a psych evaluation, the doctor said most likely he will have to go to detox or something like that. I’m on a payphone in the lobby”

“That sucks! He isn’t a drug addict, you may think I am being super paranoid but I think he was set up”

“Why? I mean who would do that?” Brian was just about to mention that weird guy who had been following them in the hospital. True Howie had freaked out on him and he seemed innocent enough but even still, something was not right; but as he was going to open his mouth to mention that Dave wandered in.

“Where are the other two?”

Brian put his hand over the phone receiver to answer, “In Howie’s room”

“Okay” Dave looked annoyed.

“Why are you looking for then?”

“They called me up here. They said there was an emergency”

“What kind of emergency?”

“Brian? You still there?” Hearing his cousin on the phone he removed his hand, “Yeah...look Kevin I have to go. Call me with another update”

“Is everything okay?”

“Huh? Uh…yeah. Tell Jay we say hang in there” He hung up on Kevin and immediately started to interrogate Dave as he was leaving the room.

“What kind of emergency?”

“I don’t know. I was just told that Nick called very upset and wanted to see me immediately. I was a little surprised that he wasn’t in here with you”

“I’m coming with you” Brian followed Dave out the door.


~*~*~*~*~*~
“He’s not gonna believe you” Howie said to Nick just as the door opened and in walked Dave followed closely by a concerned Brian.

“What’s the problem Nick?”

“I lost my wallet!”

“What? How?”

“When we were in our meeting…I must have dropped it when we were talking to that Jessica girl. You remember Howie?” Howie looked over and nodded. He was impressed with the kid’s acting skills sometimes. He actually looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

“Okay well, I’ll call Jive and...”

“NO! I mean…Can’t I just go get it? There are So many personal things in there and I don’t trust anybody to look for it but me”

“No Nick...you are staying here”

“Please?”

“I’ll make a call and…”

“Can you at least go and get it? You are the only one I know and really trust”

Brian was watching this little show suspiciously. Something was up and he was going to find out what it was.

“Nick, I don’t have time for this”

“Please Dave? Or like I said I can just go get it”

“Okay, I’ll go get your stupid wallet, but you owe me a hefty reward” He said rolling his eyes.

“You got it!” As a fitting end to his little dramatic turn, Nick breathed a nice loud sigh of relief, “You are a life saver Dave. My Mom is so mad at me to begin with, I didn’t want to have to tell her that my wallet was gone”

“Alright, well I will be back. I’ll ask Jared to keep an eye on you guys while I’m gone” Howie nodded again, glad that he didn’t have to lie. He was awful at it. Nick made it seem so natural.

When Dave walked out of the room Howie and Nick high fived forgetting that Brian was in there watching the whole thing. “Okay…what’s going on?” He asked with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Nothing, why do you ask?”

“Because of that!” He pointed over to Nick’s shoe; his wallet tucked away safely on the inside.

“Oh…There it is…oops” Nick said as innocently as he could muster.

“Nick, give it a rest, whenever you say you are missing something you always hide it in your shoe. Everyone knows that”

“Apparently not Dave” Howie said under his breath.

“Why are you sending Dave on a wild goose chase, isn’t he mad enough?”

“Brian don’t worry about it, but promise me you won’t say anything”

“Why? Hey wait a minute where do you think you’re going?” He asked as Howie and Nick put on their jackets and hats.

“Nowhere”

“Bullshit nowhere. Let me come with you guys”

“It’s best that you don’t Brian…okay? I promise I’ll explain everything to you when we get back”

“Why are you bringing Nick?”

“Because this is all my fault” Nick was quick to answer.

“Just stay here and if anyone asks tell them I am in the shower and Nick is taking a nap. Okay?”

Brian looked from Nick to Howie and finally just nodded. “Okay but I don’t like this. I mean isn’t enough crap going on without you guys sneaking out?”

“We have to”

“Whatever” he sat on the bed furious and Nick almost toppled under the pressure of upsetting his friend, but Howie seeing that grabbed Nick by the arm, “We have to go”

“Sorry Brian, don’t be mad” Brian ignored Nick as they both left the room. After they were gone, Brian thought about calling Kevin again and letting him know what was happening but then decided the best thing to do would be to follow them. Make sure they were staying out of trouble, so he grabbed one of Howie’s baseball hats and his jacket, one of many he left lying around the room and ventured out after them.

*Hey guys, sorry about the delay. THis is for you Celtic Rose lol it was your comment that finally got my butt in gear to update this one so thanks!*

18

It was pretty easy dodging security when Dave wasn’t in the picture; almost too easy. Howie and Nick carefully made their way out of the hotel briskly with heads down, ready to run at the mention of their names. There was no way either of them were turning back now. Too much was at stake.

Once successfully out of the hotel and at least two blocks away they lightened their pace to a casual walking speed.

“You think he’s gonna tell on us?” Nick asked sounding like a five year old who had just left a little sister to lie for him.

“I don’t know Nicky…I hope not”

“This is a mess Howie”

“I know, but hopefully Jessica will have some answers” Howie stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder. He felt like he was being followed.

“What is it?” Nick asked looking around confused. Howie grabbed his arm and started walking a little faster. Even though he didn’t see someone following him, he felt it. “Let go of me D!” Nick said pulling away from his friend and rubbing at his arm.

“Nick we are being followed, let’s pick up the pace a bit”

“I didn’t see anybody”

“Doesn’t matter, I just know we are” With that being said both men picked up their pace to a jog. Nick’s long legs causing him to run a bit faster than Howie. Making it harder for the Latino to keep up.

“Nick! Slow down!!” He yelled after Nick stopping for a moment at the sound of his name being called from behind. He stopped and turned around when he heard the southern drawl and instantly felt a bit relived at the site of Brian running after them.

“Brian what the hell are you doing?”

“Why are you running?”

“I thought someone was following me!” Howie said looking around for Nick who had run so far ahead he was now out of their site. The temporary relief he felt was now gone replaced by a whole new panic.

“Following you? That’s it; I want to know what is going on now”

“We don’t have time for this” Howie said instantly picking up his pace to try to find Nick. He relaxed when he turned the corner and saw Nick leaning against a wall of a building, trying to catch his breath.

“I knew it!!” He said when he saw Brian with Howie, “I knew you were going to follow us I should have bet money on that one”

Howie turned to look down the block in the direction which Brian had come from, he still felt like there were eyes everywhere and he didn’t like that now he had two people to worry about instead of one.

“Howie who would be following you? What is going on?”

“Not now Brian”

“Then when?” Howie rolled his eyes ready to just leave the two younger guys behind and find Jessica himself.

“Brian I have to go meet up with someone who will hopefully give me the answer to that question. I promise I’ll fill you in once I know what the hell is going on myself but for now we have to move!!”

At the urgency heard in Howie’s voice Brian nodded and followed Nick and Howie around the corner and down the street towards what they hoped was Jessica’s house.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Kevin sat and stared at AJ as he slept, twisting and turning, very far from a nice restful slumber. He placed his hand behind his neck to try to work out the kink that had formed over an hour ago. He had been trying to reach Brian for the last twenty minutes but only got his answering service in return.

“Now where the hell did he go?” He asked himself surprised to hear an answer, “Where did who go?” He looked over at AJ who was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Aw AJ, go back to sleep”

“Who can’t you find?”

“Brian’s not answering his phone”

“Oh”

“How are you feeling?”

“Like the world has come crashing to an end….you?”

Kevin laughed, “How very overdramatic of you Jay”

Dave came in shortly after the exchange looking annoyed and flustered. “What are you doing here?”

“Stupid Carter lost his wallet”

“Is he here?”

“No, I told him I’d go looking for it, have you seen it by any chance?”

Kevin looked at AJ and both shook their heads. “Sometimes I think that boy just likes to send me on wild goose chases”

That made a few bells and whistles go off in Kevin’s head. Something was wrong. He didn’t want to worry AJ who already had enough to deal with. His Mother was on her way up from Florida and not very happy. He was spared detox since he didn’t really display signs of drug abuse but he was admitted into a three day in hospital program.

He was going to the psych ward.
Once Dave had left, Kevin leaned in towards AJ, “Hey, do you mind if I leave for a little while? Just for a bit. I want to find Brian”

“Nah, go ahead. You don’t think anything’s wrong do you?”

“No…I just want to make sure”

“I’ll be okay”

He didn’t look very convincing at all when he said it but Kevin chose to ignore it, the feeling he had in his gut was saying that something was wrong. He hugged AJ and left, heading towards the elevator.

He got as far as the front desk before they grabbed him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Are you sure you have the address right?” Nick said squinting at the small paper Howie had given him containing Jessica’s address.

“Yeah, I’m positive. This is the place” He said once again looking over his shoulder.

“It looks dark in there. I don’t think she’s home” Brian said. On the walk over, Howie and Nick had filled him in on some of the details of what had been going on.

“You guys stay here okay?” He whispered motioning for them to stay put. They nodded as Howie made his way slowly to the front door. He knocked a few times, trying to get a good look at the inside of the place. Like Brian had said, the place was very dark. If she was there, she was pretending she wasn’t.

Didn’t the man that called him say they knew they were going to see her? Suddenly he felt nauseous. Maybe she was already dead. Maybe this was a trap.

He felt the sudden urge to run when the door opened. He turned to look at the door and was surprised to see Jessica standing there, dressed all in black, almost like a ninja. Her hair unkempt and her eyes all red.

“Hurry up” She said ushering Howie quickly inside. “Wait! I have them with me” She looked disturbed by that but waved to them to come which Brian and Nick did.

She brought them in and double bolted the door behind them, then lighting a candle she ushered them into her dark apartment and towards what looked like a closet.

“Someone has gone cuckoo” Nick whispered to Brian. He couldn’t help it, this was a little weird. Brian laughed even though he didn’t want to, which caused both Jessica and Howie to throw a dirty look their way.

She opened the door to the closet “Quick get inside” She said just about pushing Howie in. Brian followed which left a very leery Nick just staring at her. For some reason the thought of squeezing into a tiny closet with three guys and a potential psycho was not a good idea. Brian grabbed at his arm and pulled him in before he had a chance to contemplate further.

She closed the door and turned on the light. The closet wasn’t as small as it appeared from the outside but without question it was still a closet. And it appeared that she had been living in it. There was a sleeping bag, packs of snack sized chocolate bar wrappers and some opened cans of soup.

“What is going on Jessica? Are you living in the closet?” Nick asked looking all around at the mess that was created.

“I have to…they know my every move. The only place I am safe is at work”

“Who are they Jessica?” She looked from one boy to the other than began to cry. Holding her hands to her eyes, she rocked back and forth while the boys just watched. Howie put his arm around her.

“I loved him you know…he was my everything”

“What happened?” Brian asked sounding flustered.

“They killed him”

“For the love of God who the hell is THEY?” Howie yelled which caused everyone in the small space to flinch.
“I am so sorry Jess; I didn’t mean to yell I just am getting frustrated”

“The magazine Howie. Nick...” She looked over at Nick then looked away, “I mean my Nick…started working for them for some extra money. They said they could pay him a lot because he looked so similar to him” She said pointing over at Nick.

“So he worked for the magazine?”

“You ever wonder how they get so many pictures of people in compromising positions Howie? You think people are just always in the right place at the right time? No… of course not. They are paid big bucks to be in the right place at the right time”

“I don’t understand…why are they trying to hurt me and my friends?” She nervously looked around the closet as if at any moment something was going to come through the walls and eat her alive.

“Because YOU were at the wrong place at the right time”

“Do you know who is behind it? I mean a name so I can go to the police?” She laughed, “It’s too late Howie. You can’t go to the police. It’ll just make things worse”

Howie’s heart was racing so fast that he had to take a few deep breaths to calm down. That made Nick anxious; he put his hand on the knob ready to run out of the small closet and out of the apartment.

“This is so much bigger than you think it is Howie. They are only the beginning” She once again began to cry into her hands.

“Only the beginning…” She repeated as she rocked.

“What can I do? Do they want money?”

“I don’t know what they want”

“Why are you afraid of them? Brian asked ever curious. Nick still clutching to the doorknob ready to make his escape.

“They know I…”She stopped abruptly her eyes growing bigger as she looked around the closet. “You have to go now!”

“But Jessica, please, come with us, we can try to protect you. Get you some help…please, let us help you”

She looked into Howie’s pleading eyes and smiled. “It’s too late for me Howie”

“Don’t say that Jessica. We can figure something out. They killed your boyfriend” She teared up again. “At least come with us, until we figure out what to do next” He placed his hand on her shoulder once again looking into her eyes. How he did have a crush on her. To think before this mess even happened he was thinking about asking her out. Maybe after all of this was over he would.

“Okay I’ll come with you” He smiled and so did Nick who gratefully opened the door and bolted out of the closet.

“I’m just going to go upstairs and get some stuff”

“Okay…want me to come with you?”

“No, why don’t you wait outside, I’ll just be a minute”

“You aren’t going to try to bolt on me are you Jessica?” She shook her head. He had meant it as a joke, but by the way she shook her head maybe she had thought about it.

He watched as she walked up the steps and then moved to the front door. Brian was standing with the front door open and had taken a few steps outside and Nick was still making his way towards the door standing by the steps. Howie was just turning to yell to Jessica to see if she needed anything when the huge explosion from upstairs sent all three boys flying off of their feet.

*See guys? I told you I wouldn't keep you hanging for too long lol*


19


Howie looked frantically for his friends amongst the crowd of people gathered around the scene of the explosion. It was a mess and his ears were still ringing, making it difficult for him to make out the voices he was most anxious to hear.

Time had stopped for a brief second or two and in that time he was convinced he had died. There was no way he could have made it out of there alive. He heard the boom, it sounded like a tornado right on top of the house. He had only experienced one tornado in his whole life and he had always said one was more than enough. The sound was nothing compared to the intense heat he felt afterwards. That’s when it dawned on him that it was no tornado but an explosion. And he was going to die.

Following the explosion that had sent him flying towards the front door and almost through it, it became eerily quiet. Like the world had decided to stand still. He had placed his hands over his head because by instinct that’s where they ended. He wasn’t sure if he lost consciousness or not. The paramedics that checked him out at the scene said besides a few scratches and bruises here and there, he was unscathed.

When he dared to look up after the heat had left and the smoke remained like a big cloud right over his head, he dared to search for his two friends. He had quickly found Brian who was in the process of limping up the front steps most likely to do some searching of his own.

They had quickly made eye contact when he rushed over to make sure his older friend wasn’t hurt. Brian had placed a comforting hand on Howie’s shoulder, “What the hell happened?”

Howie didn’t answer because somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, his brain was trying to process the same question.

Then Brian said Nick’s name and ran off into a cloud of smoke. In that time Howie allowed himself to sit up and take a look around; realizing for the first time that something really bad had happened.

The sound of Nick coughing brought Howie out of his daze and he slowly had pulled himself off the floor. “Howie help me” He heard Brian say. He walked over to see him helping a startled Nick off the floor.

That was the last time he had seen his friends. They had managed to walk out of the burning building unharmed, well for the most part at least. He was pulled away by a fireman, he in one direction and Nick and Brian in the other. After being poked, prodded and given a clean bill of health, he had begun searching for Brian and Nick. Growing more and more concerned with every waking minute he didn’t see them.

“What a mess” He heard one fireman say to another as he walked by, ignoring the gazes of onlookers whispering the word Backstreet Boy as he passed them.

“Howie over here!” He heard Brian yell from over a crowd of reporters, once again giving him a familiar look. He didn’t care about all that right now, he just needed to make sure they were alright.

When he got closer to Brian he relaxed, seeing him sitting in an ambulance with a small bandage over his right eye. Nick was being worked on by a paramedic.

“You guys okay?” Howie asked happy he had finally found his voice.

“Fine…you?” Brian asked staring at his friend. He looked so shaken up. They all did.

“I’m okay. My ears are ringing. Is Nicky okay?” He asked glancing a concerned eye over at Nick who had his head down while the paramedic worked on him.

“He’s shaken up and got a pretty big bump on the head but otherwise, he’ll live”

It wasn’t until he heard the word live that he remembered Jessica. Maybe his mind blocked her out for a reason. He couldn’t take another person’s death.

“Jessica?” He dared to ask Brian who suddenly looked down at his feet “They didn’t find her yet”

“Maybe she got out” Howie said as if clinging onto his words as a last hope.

“Gentlemen, the police would like to ask you a few questions…well after you are done doing what you need to do in here”

The man who said that was tall and wearing a brown overcoat. No sign of a badge or anything. “We are almost done here” The paramedic assured the police officer, well if that is what he really was.

“Okay good”

The man backed away from the ambulance to let the medics finish their job. “I would like you to go to the hospital for further evaluation Mr. Carter” The medic said in front of Nick who immediately shook his head almost in total distress.

“No!!!”

“It’s for your own good; you have a nasty bump on the head. It looks innocent enough but you can never be too sure”

“No, I don’t want to and you can’t make me” He said growing more agitated and now trying to squirm away from the paramedic. Brian seeing his friend begin to make a scene jumped right next to him. “I want him to go to the hospital for further tests” He said to Brian hoping that he would be able to calm his young charge down.

“Nick it’s not a bad idea”

“No Bri…God do you remember what happened to AJ when HE went to the hospital?”

That’s when Howie stepped in, “He’ll be okay. I promise we will watch him like a hawk and if there is any change we will take him…okay?”

The medic nodded but skeptically.

“Howie don’t you think that’s a bad idea?” Brian asked when he saw the look of relief sweep over Nick’s face.

“I don’t want any of you out of my sight anymore. We will watch him, he’ll be fine”

There was no arguing.

About a minute after that, the man in the brown overcoat made his way over to the guys, “Hello fellas...my names Detective Brown” He extended his hands to them and they shook one by one.

“Pretty nasty explosion huh?” They all nodded.

“Care to tell me what happened?” He looked over at Nick hoping that he would spill first but he only continued to look down at his feet not saying anything.

“There’s not much to tell actually. We were all standing downstairs when it happened”

“Is this your residence?”

“No…a friend of ours”

“And that would be?” He took out a pad of paper and a pen.

“I don’t want to seem rude…but can we see some credentials?” Howie asked. Maybe it was the stereotypical overcoat followed by the generic name to match the color, but Howie felt like this guy wasn’t who he said he was.

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out his police badge, “Sorry. I sometimes forget people don’t always want to believe I am for real. The question would be why?”

“You can’t be too careful” Brian said with a nervous laugh.

“Right…especially if you have something to hide” Detective Brown shot back at him.

“What is it we can do for you detective?” Howie asked wishing that Kevin was here to help them out of this mess.

“Well I guess I would like t know why the three of you were here in the first place”

“Like Howie said…” Brian started but was suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Don’t answer another question son” They all looked up to see their manager staring at them, looking annoyed and flustered.

“Are you their lawyer?” Detective Brown asked snobbishly.

“NO, but they have nothing more to say until we do have a lawyer present. Come on guys we have to get you back to the hotel”

“I will be in touch” He said nodding at all the boys but glaring at Howie.

Once the detective was gone Johnnie’s look of annoyance took an angry turn, “What did you tell him?”

“Nothing, there’s nothing to tell” Brian defended.

“Why the hell are you here?” He softened his tone when he saw the reporters begin to swarm around the ambulance they were sitting in.

As Howie opened his mouth to open Johnnie shushed him, “Not here and now, when we get back”

The look of dread was evident on their faces as they made their way past the crowd of people staring at them on the street. Reporters, onlookers, police and fire crews all staring at them with suspicious yes, well at least that’s how Howie felt.

He felt like he was suddenly guilty of something.

He placed a comforting hand on Nick’s shoulder, who had for the most part been quiet through this whole ordeal. “You okay Nicky?” He whispered as they walked with Johnnie to the awaiting van.

“No, I’m not okay. God Howie what the hell happened in there?”

“I said don’t talk about it now!” Johnnie shot back at the two men which stopped the conversation.

“Howie would you like to make a statement?” Some random reporter shouted at him. He shook his head. “They say you were inside at the time of the blast…”

“We have nothing to say” Johnnie said forcefully plowing into the barrage of reporters waiting by the van.

“They think you had something to do with this…it that true?”

“No comment” Johnnie yelled. Howie’s heart numbed at the words he had just heard though. They were blaming him.

“Were all three of you involved in a drug deal gone wrong? There are reports that AJ is in rehab for drugs” One arrogant reporter said getting up into Brian’s face this time.

“No comment” He answered ushering himself along, grateful when he saw the van door opening for him.

“Howie…Does this have anything to do with your reported fight at the Lion’s Den?” Howie’s eyes shot up to the man that asked that question. He had an Inquisitor badge on and was smiling from ear to ear.

In a second without even thinking about it, he charged at the reporter and knocked the man off of his feet. “You son of a bitch! Why are you doing this to me?” The crowd parted at the scene as men tried to pry Howie off of the reporter.

As they were on top of each other the man whispered, “Only the beginning” Before Howie could get a final punch to the guy, Dave had successfully pulled him off of the reporter and literally flung him into the van.

“We have no comment on anything. When we are ready to make a statement we will” Johnnie said before he ran into the van.

A policeman was talking to the reporter as he was rubbing his neck in disbelief. “Why the hell did you do that?” Johnnie hissed, beyond the point of making civil conversation anymore. “Since when do you have anger management issues?”

“I…”

“Wait, I don’t even want to know. I am tired of you boys tonight. You are beginning to be worth more trouble than any of us could have bargained for. You guys have some real explaining to do. This is a mess”

None of them said anything, just kind of looked at each other. Nick was wiping tears away from his cheek still looking down at the floor.

“A big mess and to top things off, Richardson is MIA”

“What?” Brian asked looking past Johnnie to Dave, who had made the declaration from the front seat.

“Oh yeah, while you guys felt the need to send me on a wild goose chase, Kevin decided to just disappear on us”

“He wouldn’t just disappear. It’s not in his character”

“Oh kind of like you guys just running off and starting a fire”

“We didn’t do it!” Nick said very defensively. He looked mad. Very agitated.

“Well you need to get your story ready for our lawyer because the police will be back gentlemen and they will want answers”

They sat quietly for the rest of the ride, knots forming in their stomachs unsure of what was going to happen next.

*Hope you all had a great holiday :)*


20


They sat in their hotel room listening to their lawyer prattle on and on about what not to say. Howie had tried numerous times to let the guy know there was nothing not to say because he didn’t know anything. What he did want to know is if the firemen had found Jessica and if she was okay.

“Can we stop now? I have a headache” Nick said rubbing his neck and closing his eyes. The lawyer glanced over at Johnnie who nodded while still throwing a mean glare over Howie’s way.

“Okay gentlemen but like I said once the police come, let me do all the talking. Got it?”

“They got it” Johnnie answered on their behalf. “I will be right back so DON’T MOVE!” He warned as he walked the lawyer to the door whispering something to him as they went.

Brian Nick and Howie all looked at each other not sure how this nightmare was going to end but like that man from the paper had said this was only the beginning.

“Where do you suppose Kevin went?” Nick asked hesitantly. All of the men had that question on the tip of their tongues but were all afraid to verbalize it. They weren’t entirely sure if they wanted to know where their older brother had disappeared to. Chances were it wasn’t good.

“I have no idea but I hope he is okay” Brian said biting his bottom lip just like he always did when he was worried about something.

“Maybe we should check up on AJ”

“He’s fine” Johnnie said walking back over to the guys and sitting down. They all really wanted him to go away so they could talk.

“Now…mind telling me what the hell is going on?”

“There’s nothing going on Johnnie”

“Oh really? Then it’s a coincidence that you happened to be at that place just as it happened to catch on fire?”

“It wasn’t a fire…it was an explosion” Brian and Howie looked over at Nick as if he let something slip, even though it was no secret. Not that part of it anyway.

“Oh silly me…my mistake. Explosion”

“We were visiting a friend”

“You weren’t supposed to be visiting a friend Howard. You were SUPPOSED to be in your hotel room right where we left you”

“I know and I’m sorry”

“Well seems like you may a have a hell of a lot more to be sorry about”

“What do you mean?”

“They think you had something to do with this and to be honest, I’m having my own doubts”

“With what? The explosion?” Brian stood up when he asked that question as if he was ready to jump out of his own skin.

“Yes the explosion and your only possible alibi was sent on a wild goose chase to the hospital” This time Johnnie sent a glare over to Nick who still had his head down and was once again rubbing his neck.

“We had nothing to do with this Johnnie. I swear it”

“Then why all the secrecy? Why send Dave away so you can sneak out? Something smells rotten boys”

The three guys looked at each other at a loss for words. “Do we know where Kevin is yet?” Brian asked hoping to distract the manager from their dire situation for a moment.

“No but the police seem to be looking for him too now”

“Why?”

“No damn idea” Johnnie said throwing his arms up in frustration. A knock on the door once again had the manager glare at all the boys. “Don’t move!” He said going to answer the door.

“Why the heck are the police looking for Kevin?” Nick asked looking from Brian to Howie for an answer.

“Okay guys, seems like Detective Brown is coming to talk you boys again. Remember what Grimes said, don’t speak, and let him do all the talking. I just have to make a call to get him back over here….what a friggin nightmare this is turning out to be” He muttered under his breath as he went to go call the lawyer.


~*~*~*~*~
He wasn’t sure where he was. Just that it was dark. Very dark and a little cold as well. He stood up and walked over to the small window realizing that it was raining. Unsure of what to do but refusing to panic he took a seat on the cot and intertwined his hands. The last thing he was going to do was yell for help. He had watched enough dramas in his life to realize that he didn’t want to bring any attention to himself. Not yet anyway.

So he sat patiently and rocked, occasionally blowing on his hands to warm them.


~*~*~*~*~
Brian, Howie and Nick were all taken to the police station for questioning. They went reluctantly and half scared out of their minds. Nick clutched onto Brian’s hand as if he were a five year old going into a haunted house; tears already making their way down his face.

They wanted to be questioned together but of course Detective Brown wouldn’t allow that so they were brought into three separate rooms. Johnnie the most afraid of what Nick might say decided that Grimes should go with him. That left Brian and Howie to fend for themselves. Lou was sending his full team of lawyers to help out but for now they had to just refuse to answer any question as they were reminded by a now sneering Johnnie.

Howie sat at the end of the table and poured himself a glass of water; deciding if now would be a good time for him to mention everything. Of course maybe that’s why Kevin had disappeared. As a reminder that if he was to say anything his friend would be harmed. Just thinking that way sent chills down his spine. He had never let himself think like that before.

“Hello Mr. Dorough” Detective Brown said taking a seat right next to him and pouring himself a glass of water.

“Hi” Howie answered, not really wanting to but knowing it was the polite response.

“I have some questions for you”

“I know”

“I can probably guess that your lawyer already told you not to answer them so we can do this the hard way or the easy way”

“I have nothing to say sir. It’s not even that I don’t want to it’s that I have nothing”

“Why were you at this house Howie?”

“I told you I was seeing a friend”

“Yes….that’s right and her name was?”

“Is…” He was quick to correct, He was not going to refer to Jessica in past tense. Not yet anyway.

“Jessica”

“Why would she be there?”

“She lived there”

“Was she there at the time of the blast?”

“Yes. She went upstairs to get something…that’s when it happened”

“And did you send her upstairs?”

“No”

“Are you sure about that? Because your friend said she went upstairs after you convinced her to go with you” Howie looked away.

“Why did you believe she was in danger?”

Howie hesitated. “I think I should wait for my lawyer now”

“What can you tell me about Kevin Richardson?”

“Kevin?”

“Yes”

“Why are you asking about Kevin?”

Brown stood up and walked past Howie over to mirror, “Why was this Jessica person living in his condo?”

“What?”

Brown turned back towards Howie and once again took a seat but this time opposite Dorough so he could look him in the eyes.

“The place where you were when the explosion went off”

“That wasn’t Kevin’s place”

“Seems your wrong about that Howie. See we did a little investigating and it seems that your friend Richardson holds the deed to that property and has been paying rent on it for at least the last three months”

“That’s impossible” Howie felt his heart settle in his throat. Could Kevin be behind this?

“It’s not impossible Mr. Dorough; does Kevin have a connection to Jessica?” The Detective smiled seeing how disjointed Howie had become.

“No…well I mean he knew her from the office…”

“The office?”

“Jive. She worked there”

“Do you know where Kevin might be?” Howie just shook his head.

He was asked a few more questions and this time he followed his manager’s orders and didn’t say a word. Before he left Detective Brown smiled at him and said, “Mr. Dorough, don’t think about leaving town, we’ll be talking to you again”

When he met up with his friends again he saw Brian hugging Nick whose eyes were swollen form crying. Brian looked pretty distraught himself and even Johnnie looked a little upset.

“You guys okay?” He asked when he met up with his friends; they nodded.

“We are in big trouble aren’t we?” Nick asked wiping a new round of tears form his eyes.

“I don’t know”

“Do you think Kevin really?” Both Brian and Howie looked at each other and didn’t answer Nick.

“We need to find him” Howie nodded in agreement. Hoping that his friend was okay.

*lookie another update ;) lol*

21

They all sat around a small table in Howie’s hotel room, surrounded by boxes of Chinese food barely touched. All of them dealing with their situation in their own unique way. Brian called his parents shortly after getting back from the police station. He wanted them to know from him personally before they saw anything on the TV. They had already talked about getting a lawyer of their very own.
Nick just kind of sat quietly playing with his food and shaking his foot nervously. He had no intention of calling his parents at all but of course Johnnie did.

Howie’s thoughts also went to his family. How does he call his Mother, a devout Catholic woman who never has seen the inside of a police station in her life, well except for when she would spontaneously bake cookies for the charity events they would sponsor, how does he call her up and say…Mom I’m in trouble. Big trouble.

He wasn’t even sure if he was or not. It seemed that they were suspecting Kevin more so then him which was totally unexpected. Kevin? Did he even know Jessica by name? He always referred to her as that pretty secretary at Jive. The one who has a crush on you Howie. Why on earth would he be paying her rent?

The more he thought about it, the less it made sense. He began to suspect the people who had set him up. Why were they now setting Kevin up as well? Of course they had also done that to AJ hadn’t they? Didn’t he insist that he did not drug himself up? That he was not an addict? Isn’t that why he was currently forced to do rehab?

“What are you thinking Howie?” Brian asked from across the table.

“Just…something not’s right about this whole Kevin thing”

“I know. I was thinking the same thing”

“I’m worried about him” Nick said putting down the spoonful of fried rice he had momentarily thought about eating.

“Yeah I am too” Nick looked over at Brian, secretly hoping that they would have laughed and called him paranoid.

“I don’t even know where he could be”

“Maybe home? Did you try your aunt’s house B?”

“NO…but if he’s not I don’t want them to worry”

“I want to go see AJ”

“I don’t think they are going to let us go see AJ anytime soon” Howie looked over to Brian, “We need to find your cousin”

“I know that…but how?”

“You have NO idea where he would go? None?”

“I don’t think He WOULD go. It’s Kevin. He would never just leave without telling anyone where he was going”

None of them knew what to say to that so they all just kind of stared at each other.


~*~*~*~*~*~
He was growing restless now. Restless and nervous. He had been gone a long time, at least it felt like that, and no one had come to explain to him why. They treated him just fine. Didn’t rough him up, didn’t hold a gun to his head, just kind of escorted him out of the hospital and told him to get into the van.

He stupidly went along.

If he had realized that he was being taken against his will he probably would have put up more of a struggle, but he knew these people. Or so he thought.

“Kevin”

At the mention of his name he stood up, “Who are you and what is this all about?”

“I knew you would have a ton of questions”

“Well then good for you. I want to leave, is this some kind of joke?”

“Hardly”

“What am I doing here?”

“Seems you are in a bit of trouble Kevin”

“Trouble?”

“Yes”

“How so?”

“Police think you may have been responsible for arson”

“What?” Kevin stood up holding his head like he was going to pass out. He was just so confused about everything.

“Yes, the condo you helped Jessica pay for just kind of exploded”

“Excuse me?”

“You know. Jessica? The one who…” The man stopped talking as the door once again opened.

“What are you doing here?” Kevin asked the guy who was now walking across the room right towards him, “What am I doing here? I don’t have time for these games”

“Kevin this is NOT a game. You guys are in a ton of trouble; I’m just trying to help you out”

“I’m confused”

“The police are looking for you Kevin. They think you murdered someone” If Kevin was shocked before he was just appalled now. Did he hear right?

“Murdered?” He said it slowly grimacing the whole time. The word tasted like poison in his mouth.

“Yes, there was an explosion”

“He told me about that already” He said pointing to the man who had broken the news about Jessica’s place.

“She didn’t survive”

“She was in the place when it exploded?”

“Yes and she wasn’t the only one. Brian, Howie and Nick were there to”

“Oh my GOD! Are they okay?”

“They are fine…thankfully”

“What were they doing there?”

“They wouldn’t say”

“Why do the police think I did it?”

“Because they saw your name on the deed to the place”

Kevin sat down on his cot very slowly, this could not be happening. Not to him. He had done it to help her out. She came crying to him in desperation one day, he hadn’t told anybody. Not one soul. He thought he was doing the right thing. Now she was…dead?

“Jessica is dead?”

“I’m afraid so, they just found her remains in the rubble. Even now as we speak the police are drawing up a warrant for your arrest. It’s best you just stay here and lay low”

“But that will make me look guilty I have to go to the police and they…”

“No, Kevin trust me on this I am your lawyer” Grimes said putting a gentle hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “It’s best to just lay low until a little more investigating can be done”

Kevin placed his hands over his eyes to shield the tears that started to form there, “Do the other guys now about this?”

“Yes, I told them not to make contact with you”

“What about my family?”

“Not yet, we are trying to keep it out of the press for as long as we can”

Kevin nodded as Grimes started walking towards the door, “Kevin I will be in contact with you, don’t worry”

Once again Kevin nodded at a loss for words.

Once Grimes was out of the door he was stopped by the man who had initially told Kevin the bad news, “So, they did find the body then?”

“Not yet…” Grimes pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, “But now they are going to”

He paused until the man he was calling answered. “It’s done. I talked to him…should we start the next phase?”

“Did he believe you?” The man with the gruff voice said.

“What do you think?” Grimes said smiling.

“Okay good….then yes have the men start working on the next part of this plan”

“You’re the boss”

He hung up and then gave a picture to the man who was waiting patiently for his next set of orders.

“So we do what was originally talked about then?” Grimes nodded.

“Okay”

“I better get back to the hotel or the others will start to wonder where I went”

“Sounds good” the man said staring down at the picture of Brian.

“Keep him comfortable” Grimes said to one of the men positioned outside of Kevin’s room.

“Will do”

“I’ll keep in touch” Grimes said as he walked out the door and into the sunshine.

*Here's another update thanks so much for the positive feedback you guys really are the best!*


22

AJ was just about going out of his mind in the hospital. He didn’t know how these people would put themselves in this situation. Being forced to listen to story after story of one drug addict after another was enough for AJ to realize that drugs were never the way to go. After sitting back and being a silent witness for most of these sessions today was supposedly his turn to have to speak out about why he was there.

Just thinking about that brought a smile to his face. Like the people that worked there would believe him if he said he was never a drug addict and that he had never even done anything more than pot. Wasn’t admitting you had a problem the first step in recovery? Hell yes it was and how did he know that? Because he had heard it repeated over and over again by countless people who sat there just like him, refusing to admit they had a problem. The only difference between them and him is that HE really didn’t have one.

He stayed up all night trying to figure out if it would just be easier for him to lie, say he had done crack and promise that suddenly he saw the light and he would never do it again, or if he should come right out and tell them the truth. That he had been set up.

It seemed like a classic no win situation that either way would result in him being stuck here forever. Things were sucking badly. The worse part was that no one was allowed to even visit him or call him. He was going out of his mind.

Maybe that’s how they wanted it. He also couldn’t help but wonder if the other guys believed him or not. Did they think he was doing drugs? Did his Mother?

“Alex...” AJ looked up into the face of the woman who was holding the session today. And staring back at him were many many glazed over eyes. They looked at him with a mix of contempt and pity.

“Yeah?”

“Are you ready to tell us why you are here today Alex?”

“Call me AJ…only my family and my closest friends call me Alex” He cringed at how defensive he sounded. Didn’t defensive people always have something to hide?

“Why are you here AJ?” The woman corrected while seeming not to really care about the answer to the question she was asking.

“I don’t know”

That brought a snicker from someone sitting in the back.

“You don’t know?”

“Well I know that I was drugged” He chose the innocent and framed route. He was not going to admit to doing something he didn’t do.

“Oh yeah sure you were” The same guy said who had snickered at him earlier.

“Look, I don’t care if you believe me or not. I was framed. I came to the hospital because I was hurt and the next thing I know I’m supposedly a drug addict”

“So you’re not a drug addict then?”

“Hell no… I’m not…” He stopped himself, “I mean not that there’s anything wrong with being a drug addict…well yeah there is I guess but I’m saying that me personally I would never do that” He wanted to bite his tongue wishing that the Carter babbling syndrome hadn’t chosen right then and there to surface on him.

“What? Are you saying you are better than the rest of us Alex?” Once again the guy in the back said that hissing his name, obviously trying to start a fight.

“No, I’m not saying that at all”

“Well that’s what it sounds like to me” Now the man stood up and started making his way over to AJ who was readying himself for the attack. The social worker stood up and scolded the man whose name was apparently Waldo; poor guy, no wonder why he was so hostile and defensive.

Suddenly another guy who had been silently watching everything made his way to the front where all the commotion was taking place and stood in front of AJ.

“Back off man! He didn’t mean anything by what he was saying” AJ took in a deep breath when he saw that for the first time since he had stepped foot into that hell hole that maybe there was someone on his side after all.

Waldo suddenly stopped in his tracks. As the much bigger man guarding AJ never let his eyes falter off of the crazed drug addict. Finally Waldo put both of his hands up as a sign of defeat, “Whatever man!” He said and then went and sat back down. The social worker nodded and sat down, “Very well done Waldo, I am proud of you”

AJ refrained from snickering at that one. Instead he looked over to the guy who had helped him out, “Thanks man”

“Not a problem Alex. It’s the least I could do”

“What do you mean by that?” The man looked around nervously “I’ll tell you later” He said and then walked off back to his room leaving AJ wondering what the hell that was all about. The session came to an abrupt halt shortly after the outburst of Waldo so AJ decided to try to find that guy and ask him what the hell he was talking about.

He could not get used to the place he was in and especially the stupid slippers he was forced to wear. For some reason they confiscated everyone’s shoes too afraid that the patients would use the laces to hang themselves. So they replaced his shoes with some lame ass paperish/styrofoamish type of slipper that swished when you walked which made it virtually impossible to sneak around the huge oval hallways.

He walked past his own room where his roommate was snoring away. He thought maybe his fame could have bought him a room of his own but everyone was to be treated equally in this place. So the lady who took his shoes, watch and all other personal belongings had said to him.

“In here” He heard whispered as he walked past another door. He was at first hesitant to enter afraid that might have been Waldo in there but once seeing the guy who stood up for him standing there with his finger to his lip and pointing to the security camera, he decided to follow the guy into the room.

“Thanks for sticking up for me; I was sure that psycho would have beaten the crap out of me”

The man closed the door as much as he was allowed to, then turned off his light and motioned for AJ to follow him towards the window. Intrigued AJ followed.

“I know why you’re here” the man said slightly opening his blinds to let a little sunshine into the room. AJ just stood in silence as the guy continued to speak, “And I’m gonna get you out of here”

“I don’t understand” AJ said slowly backing up from the guy, beginning to feel like maybe coming into this man’s room was a mistake.

“You shouldn’t be afraid of me Alex McLean…I can get you out of here”

“How is that possible?”

“Because I’m the one that got you in here in the first place”


~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Where the hell can Kevin be?” Brian asked losing his cool. He had refused to let all of this get to him. Absolutely refused but his cousin had been missing for awhile now and not only that but accused of setting that explosion, now he mysteriously disappears. It made no sense and he was growing impatient.

“I don’t know Bri…but I’m sure he’ll turn up soon enough” Howie answered.

“I hate not knowing anything, why are they keeping us in the dark about everything?”

“Not sure”

Howie looked down at what was left of his fingernails. He had pretty much bitten them down to their stubs which was kind of ironic because he had never really been much of a nail biter to this point.

Johnnie suddenly opened up the door which caused the three boys to jump. Nick who had fallen into his video game world was abruptly brought back to earth. “What’s going on?” He asked holding his chest to keep his heart from exploding out of it.

“It’s officially a murder case” Grimes answered walking into the room shortly after Johnnie and sitting on a chair.

“Jessica?” Howie asked not even recognizing the sound of his own voice.

“They think so…yes although there isn’t enough left of her to make a definite ID. They are going to be doing some tests”

Howie sank down onto the bed with his mouth opened wide. This couldn’t be happening. Not again.

“Kevin is now their lead suspect. We have to find him boys. By him fleeing…he’s making himself look very guilty” Grimes said so matter of factly that Brian had all to do not to go over and strangle the guy.

“Kevin would never do anything like that. They’re wrong” Nick said tears gradually welling up in his eyes”

“Are you sure he didn’t tell you boys where he was going?” Johnnie asked Howie, who only nodded in reply.

“Maybe he talked to AJ” Brian said, “Yeah…maybe AJ knows where he is”

“He wouldn’t even be allowed anywhere near AJ” Johnnie said dismissing Brian desperate attempt at a solution.

“No…maybe he did” Grimes was quick to answer, “Maybe Brian’s right…we should go down and talk to AJ”

Grimes stood up to leave the room and then turned to Brian, “Would you like to come?” He asked.

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea for them to be seen in public” Johnnie said almost stepping between Brian and the lawyer.

“I agree but no one will know. I just think maybe AJ will be a little more ready to talk to Brian then me” Grimes said convincingly which was enough for Johnnie to nod.

“I’ll be back” Brian said then turned to Howie, “Let me know if Kevin calls okay?”

“I will and tell AJ we love him okay?” Brian nodded and followed Grimes out of the room.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“What do you mean you’re the one that put me here?” Now confused and angry AJ wasn’t exactly sure if he should call for help or just start pummeling the guy.

“Look…I didn’t have a choice; they would have killed me otherwise”

“What? I’m confused…”

The man looked around his room nervously as if at any moment someone was going to come out of his closet and eat him. “It’s hard to explain but I know you’re not a drug addict, I know you were brought here against your will and I know that things are only going to get worse”

“Worse?”

“A lot worse”

“Did you drug me?”

“Yes”

“Why?”

“Because they would have killed me otherwise”

The guy now moved away from AJ and sat under the windowsill, the light shining on the top of his blond head. AJ hadn’t really allowed himself to look at the guy before but in this light he looked just like…

“Oh my God…” AJ whispered causing the blond to look up. He nodded, “My names Nick” He said then glanced down at the floor knowing that AJ knew exactly who he was afterall.

*is it possible? Can it be? Two chapters in less then a week? No way!! lol well yes way and it's because of you guys and all the positive feedback you have given me. I didn't want to keep you hanging for too long. Enjoy!*

23

“You’re the guy that started this whole thing aren’t you?” AJ said his face quickly flushing with anger. He stood up and walked over to the man who did nothing to try to defend himself.

“I didn’t start this your friend Howie did and don’t raise your voice. Trust me you don’t want anybody to hear this conversation”

“Trust you? How the hell do you expect me to trust you?”

Now the man stood up. He was huge; AJ took a step back afraid of what the man might do to him. Seeing that; Nick smiled, “I’m not gonna hurt you”

“Oh my mistake….you only drug people!”

“I said keep it down” Nick said eyeing the room nervously once again.

AJ took a deep breath and decided to sit down on the floor so this way the bed would hide him from view.

“Okay fine” AJ said bringing his voice down to a whisper, “But now you have to tell me what the hell is going on”

“I only know what they tell me and they didn’t tell me a whole lot”

“Well why don’t you start out by telling us who we is” AJ said sarcastically trying his best to control his temper.

Nick once again looked around the room nervously and then licked his lips, just like the real Nick. “His name is Bolten”

“Bolten? Where have I heard that name before?” AJ kept saying the name over and over again trying to figure it out. He had heard that name recently as recently as…Then it hit him like a charge of electricity, “That was the guy who Howie talked to at the Inquisitor”

Nick sat back and took in a deep breath, like a man that started something he didn’t intend to finish, “Yeah that’s the one”

“You work for the Inquisitor?”

“No…I work for Bolten…he hires people privately who need to make a few extra bucks”

“Doing what?” Again Nick looked around the room nervously, a thin film of sweat forming on his brow.

“Posing as celebrities”

“What?”

“He hires people who look like celebrities to do compromising things and then he conveniently has a photographer there to snap a picture”

“I’m still not following”

“Half of the people that appear on those magazines aren’t the actual celebrities you have to know that right?”

“I guess”

“Well it’s people like me, who happen to look like a few people that get the call to make themselves available to pose”

“I don’t get what that has to do with anything that is happening” AJ was becoming frustrated now; he wanted an explanation of what was going on.

“Look kid…I got the call to pose as one of you guys”

“You mean Nick?” The man nodded.

“I was supposed to be seen hanging around the Lion’s Den”

“So? Big deal”

“It is a big deal”

“Why?”

“Because that’s not all that was supposed to happen” Suddenly some noise outside of his room had him stop cold, he put his finger on his mouth and motioned for AJ not to say a word. Then he ducked down almost lying under the bed so as not to be detected. Once the outside noise became more distant he continued, “They’re looking for me”

“Who is? And what else was supposed to happen?” AJ felt like he had a million questions for this man who was trying to reveal so much to him.

“They wanted something to be dramatic enough to make all the headlines, they wanted a murder” AJ’s blood ran cold when he heard the word murder.

“They wanted you to kill somebody?” Nick shook his head.

“I don’t under…”

“I said I wouldn’t do it, so they decided maybe my career should come to an end”

“So did they fire you?” The man who looked identical to Nick Carter laughed, “No…it’s not that easy, if you knew as much as I knew…”

“What do you know? I mean why not just go to the police? They could put this Bolten guy behind bars”

“Bolten is only the end of the totem pole. He answers to somebody else who answers to somebody else. There is a long long chain my friend and believe me there are a few links in the police offices around the country.

“So who is Bolten’s boss?”

“I have no idea; all I answer to is him”

“I don’t understand where we come into all of this. So, you look like Nick, so you were going to pose as him by some strip club…big deal”

“It is a big deal. They had big plans for you guys and Howie messed them up” He took another long breath, “He was never supposed to see me in that office, he was never supposed to realize it was me in that picture”

“The one that appeared with you on the ledge?” Nick nodded. “I wasn’t supposed to be there and the guy was never supposed to take that picture. It was all a mistake, it cost him his life I’m sure”

“What? This is sounding ridiculous now” AJ stood up refusing to listen to anymore of this man’s nonsense.

As AJ was leaving he was brought back by this, “But then they decided why hire doubles this time? Let’s make this one for real just to see if we can” He stopped in his tracks and turned to face Nick who was still sitting on the floor with his legs crossed pretzel style.

“What do you mean?”

“They are experimenting with you guys; let’s see how far we can go without anyone realizing it’s all staged”

“Go on…” AJ said once again sitting down this time slowly as he perked his ears up to really listen. A sense of dread filling him.

“Don’t you see? They aren’t going to be happy until they get what they want”

“And what is that?”

“In Bolten’s case…a great story”

“And what story is that exactly?” Nick took another deep breath.

“He won’t be happy…they won’t be happy until one of you is dead”

They both just stood and stared at each other for a few moments as AJ let those words sink in. This couldn’t be happening could it? Suddenly three men appeared in the doorway. Nick took a few steps back ready to try to fight them off.

“There you are Mr. Brown, we were wondering where you went to, it’s time for your treatment”

Nick pushed one of the men back, “What treatment?”

“You know your treatment…your ECT”

“I don’t take any treatments” HE pushed the second guy away who this time grabbed onto his arm backing him up against the wall. AJ wasn’t sure what he should do, so he just stood there watching like it was a scene in a movie.

“Your electric shock treatment, Mr. Brown don’t make this harder then it has to be”

“I don’t take those treatments; get the hell off of me!” He said then turned to AJ, “See what I mean?”

“Mr. Brown do we have to get a straight jacket?”

“Get off of me!!” The three men had Nick in a hold which he couldn’t get himself out of as a fourth came along to place him in a straight jacket.

“You need to get out of this place AJ! They will do this to you too” He screamed while wrestling with the workers.

“You need to get out and warn him before they kill him!” He screamed as he was being led out of the room. AJ ran out after him, “Who? Kill who?” It was too late as Nick was dragged out of view while lots of the patients, half of them to drugged to care about what was going on just stood and stared.

AJ jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, “Oh easy Alex…I just wanted to say don’t listen to Mr. Brown, he is a bit delusional”

“He seemed totally sane”

“Not everything is as it seems Alex” The woman, the same one who had held their earlier group meeting said, “Besides you should get yourself ready for a visit. You are getting some guests”

When the nurse walked away AJ leaned against the wall to try to catch his breath, he felt winded from all of the information he had just received. And now he felt a huge fear building up inside him, fear that one of his friend’s lives was in danger and there was nothing he could do about it, and an intense fear of who would be visiting him.


~*~*~*~*~*~
Brian was walking a little faster than usual, anxious to see his friend. He felt bad for AJ, he really did and he wasn’t entirely sure if he should tell him everything that was going on. “Should we tell him about Kevin?” He asked, stopping his gait and looking back at the lawyer who had accompanied him to the visit.

“I think we need to start off by asking him if he has come in contact with Kevin”

“Yeah I know, but then do we tell him about Jessica and the explosion?”

“I don’t know, let’s see how he’s holding up first I guess” Grimes said picking up his speed to keep up with Brian.

“Are you sure you don’t have any idea where your cousin is Brian?”

“I told you, I have no idea”

“Okay, I’ll stop asking then, hopefully AJ has talked to him”

“Hopefully” Brian echoed knowing it was probably a long shot, knowing there was something terribly wrong concerning his cousin.

“Oh my GOD” Suddenly he stopped at the sound of a teenager, he was used to hearing oh my God which had to mean one thing, he was recognized. He turned towards the voice and sure enough there was a girl of about 17, possibly Nick’s age maybe a little younger, standing there wearing a pair of jeans, and a Backstreet Boys tee- shirt.

“You’re Brian” She said positively giddy and jumping up and down. Brian was in no mood to deal with this and if he wasn’t… Grimes really wasn’t. The lawyer had a look of complete disgust planted on his face. The girl didn’t seem to care though.

“Oh my God, I love you guys so much! Can I get your autograph?”

Brian nodded as the girl fiddled through her backpack in search of something to write on; happy when she took out a piece of ripped notebook paper and a highlighter.

“Brian we don’t have time for this” Grimes growled looking around in hopes that a crowd would not gather.

“It’ll just take a minute” He then focused his attention on the fan, “So what’s your name sweetheart?”

“Julie”

Brian took the time to write her name on the paper with to my biggest fan next to it, signing it and then handing back to her. She bounced up and down when she read it. “Thank you so much Brian…um…can I have a hug?”

“Sure darling” He said grabbing the girl in a hug.

“Thank you SO much you have no idea how great this day has been for me” He smiled at her.

“Brian we need to go!” Grimes said pointing to his watch.

“Okay…thanks Julie!” He really meant it too. The fans always had a way of making him feel better; temporarily letting him forget the hell that was going on around him.

He smiled at her one last time as he walked away closely following Grimes, “Relax man…wouldn’t it have made things worse if I ignored her?” Grimes turned to Brian without even looking away from the papers he was reading, “Brian at this point I don’t think anything could get worse”

“Great attitude” Brian said sarcastically as they made their way into the entrance of the hospital.

Once out of site Julie bent down and grabbed her cell phone.

“It’s done” She said before closing it and dumping the entire backpack in the garbage next to her including the autograph that Brian had given her.

*thank you so much for being patient with me. I hope you are still reading this story :) *

24

AJ squirmed around in his chair sweaty and anxious until the door opened and Brian walked in. The relief that fell over him when he saw a familiar and friendly face almost made him burst into tears. Brian looked the same way, almost giddy to see AJ. The two men walked towards each other and embraced, “You look good AJ. How are you holding up?”

“We have a lot to talk about Rok” AJ whispered, careful that no one would hear what he was saying. That man Nick being carried out of the room saying ‘they will do this to you too’ still echoing in his ears.

“I know…tell me about” Grimes walked towards both men and broke up their embrace, “Gentlemen let’s sit down and talk shall we?” he pulled up a chair at the end of the table and Brian and AJ sat across from each other.

“I am so happy to see you guys, when can I get out of here?” AJ asked Grimes with pleading eyes. He had to be on the outside to be of any help to them.

“It’s hard to say actually, I will ask them before we leave today”

“But I thought that was why you are here, to get me out!” He didn’t mean to raise his voice but he was desperate. The other people gathered in the waiting room turned their attention towards him and his little outburst.

“Jay relax man…we will get you out of here but first I have to know…has Kevin been here to visit you?”

“Kevin? No… why?” He saw an exchange of looks between Brian and Grimes that made his blood run colder than it even was before. “Is something wrong?”

“We can’t seem to find Kevin”

“He’s missing?” Now the temporary relief he was feeling from seeing Brian was gone; once again replaced by the fear of what was to come.

“Now I didn’t say missing” Brian started squirming regretting having said anything to further stress his friend out. “I just said we can’t find him. He probably took off to do some thinking, you know Kevin”

“Oh come on Brian…you don’t believe that. You think something happened to him” AJ said now standing up and taking a seat right next to Brian. “We need to talk but not here. Bri, you need to get me out of here”

Maybe it was the way that AJ said those words or maybe it was the look of terror in his eyes, but whatever the case Brian felt a whole new sense of panic rise in his gut. “AJ what is it?”

“I can’t say here Rok, people are listening” Grimes looked over to both boys contemptuously, “Excuse me, but it doesn’t help if you whisper and sneak around me too so tell me what is going on?”

Brian turned towards their lawyer, “We need to get him out. Can’t you maybe go see if you can do something about that?”

Grimes looked ready to argue but instead closed his paperwork and stood, “Fine, besides I can tell you guys need to catch up, I’ll see what I can do” With that being said he strolled out of the waiting area in search of a nurse or doctor leaving AJ and Brian time to themselves. “I think Kevin’s life may be in danger” He mouthed not even allowing himself to say the words out loud and careful to make sure no one was looking his way. Brian at first didn’t understand what he said so AJ was once again forced to mouth it, “I think Kevin’s life is in danger”

That time Brian figured it out and asked out loud, “Why?” AJ could only answer with a head shake. “Did you talk to someone? Were you threatened?” Brian asked this time in a barely audible whisper. “I need to get out of here Brian, before something really bad happens” Was the only thing AJ felt safe saying.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He stood at the door wanting to leave, face whatever consequences he was meant to face. He was a Richardson and no matter how bad things got, a Richardson never ran away from their problems. At first he thought it was a good idea, lay low until they could figure something out. Mostly to protect his family, they would be devastated if they knew what he was going through. Never once would they think he was guilty of the crime he was being accused of, but still it would take a toll on his Mother that he was unwilling to bear.

Having a few days to think about it though, he started to change his mind about things. Face the music; explain the circumstances and the truth would indeed come out. After all he was nowhere near the crime scene and there was NO evidence to trace him back to what had happened.

So that is why he began to grow restless just waiting for someone to come back to talk to him so he could let them know he intended to leave. What he didn’t understand though, maybe what he was trying to ignore all together was the fact that he was locked in the room they had him hiding in.

Why on earth would they need to lock the door on him? He knew he was stubborn and all but that was a little ridiculous. Then he had reached for his cell phone only to find that it had mysteriously disappeared from his bag. By that point he had already kind of figured out that something wasn’t quite right, but when he banged on the door repeatedly asking for someone to open up and let him out only to be answered by silence, he became scared.

He heard the voices right outside his room, he knew they were there but yet they ignored him. “I hear you people! Let me out of here now!!” He said pounding with both fists on the door; so loud that his voice echoed through the room. They ignored him again, to which all he could do was let some choice four letter words spew out of his mouth loud enough so that they could hear them.

He walked over and sat on the bed worried sick about what was going to happen. Briefly thinking if he was here, were the others to? Had they all been dragged into this? His lawyer had said that Brian, Nick and Howie were in that house at the time of the explosion, what if they weren’t okay?

“Oh my God!” He stood up and once again started to pound on the door “Let me out of here now!!”

The man on the other side of the door walked away from the yelling and dialed Grimes number.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*
After a few minutes of silence, AJ stood and motioned for Brian to follow, “Where are we going? Can we leave this room?”

“Yeah I think so, we’ll know I guess if they stop us” So Brian hesitantly stood up and followed AJ out of the meeting room without anybody giving notice. “Let’s go back to my room, maybe we could talk there” He said once down the hall a little ways.

They walked slowly towards AJ’s room, glancing at the people sitting in their own rooms staring at the wall or talking to themselves. “You don’t belong here man” Brian said as they reached the room, where AJ led his friend in and closed the door behind him, “I’m not sure if they will let this door stay closed but at least I can buy us some time”

“What’s going on AJ? Why do you think Kevin is in trouble?” AJ recounted what had happened as quickly and quietly as he could, skipping over minor details but letting Brian know about Bolten.

“AJ that is insane”

“I know it is, but now suddenly Kevin is missing”

“Don’t even say that Jay, he’s fine. He has to be”

“Brian you have to find this Bolten guy. WE have to find this Bolten guy”

Brian nodded just as the door to AJ’s room swung open. A nurse was standing there looking at the two men suspiciously, “There you are, we have been looking for you Mr. McLean….no visitors allowed in the rooms I’m afraid”

“Sorry” AJ said standing up and walking past the nurse who once again had a suspicious look on her face. He didn’t know who to trust in this place, he didn’t trust anyone. As they approached the meeting area where they were earlier they heard Grimes yelling at someone on the phone, “I don’t care, just do it!” He immediately cut his conversation short when he saw the two boys enter the room, “Was that about me?” AJ asked hopefully.

“Uh…no, sorry. I don’t think it’ll be as easy as we think to get you out of here AJ. They aren’t fully convinced that you are clean”

“That is ridiculous”

“They seem to think that it’s not ridiculous at all”

“Well then how damn long do I have to stay here for?”

“Not too much longer, maybe another three days”

“God, I can’t spend another three hours in this place let alone three days” He turned to Brian, “Rok please!” Brian feeling sorry for AJ in light of all that he had heard turned to Grimes, “There really isn’t anything we can do about this?”

“Sorry there isn’t. My hands are tied on this one” Before AJ or Brian could argue their case any further the nurse walked in with a police man. They walked over to AJ to which Brian stood up defensively to help, “What are you doing?”

“Mr. McLean needs to go back to his room; I’m afraid he needs to be isolated for a few more days”

“Isolated? Why?” Brian grabbed onto the guard who had AJ by the arms. “Because of this” She said holding up a small vile, “We found it in his room just now, but you know that already don’t you?” Brian looked confused so he turned to Grimes who walked over to look at the vile. “I don’t even know what that is let alone what you are talking about” Brian said totally disgusted with the whole situation.

“This is a vile of crack!” The nurse said then finished talking to the police not even looking at Brian anymore. “I caught these two sitting in AJ’s room, they looked like they were hiding something so I did a random check and that’s when I found it, under his bed”

“I have no fucking idea what the hell is even going on! I don’t do drugs!!” AJ screamed as he was slowly being led away by two men who had come to help.

“My guess is he got it from that guy right there” The nurse said pointing at Brian who was still in shock with how quickly things were unfolding, “I don’t even know what that is” He said once again as the police man walked over to frisk him, “We’ll just see about that” The uniformed man said feeling his pockets, “What do we have here” He said slowly reaching into Brian’s jacket pocket and coming out with two more vials of crack. “I have no…it’s not…God, Grimes” Brian was near tears and AJ was at a loss for words as well.

“Brian don’t say anything else right now….”

Suddenly another police officer now was on him placing his hands behind his back, “you have the right to remain silent…” Which he did, in a total state of shock as AJ was led down the hall into isolation.

25

Howie stared at the digital clock sitting next to the phone, wondering why it was taking Brian and Grimes so long. He was happy that they were getting to spend some alone time with AJ, but even still didn’t they realize that in the process they were keeping he and Nick hanging. He then stared at the phone wanting it to ring; something had to happen, the waiting was killing him. It was also killing Nick who had remained oddly quiet since Brian left. He had at first laid down to take a nap claiming that his head hurt but Howie knew it was because he was at his breaking point. When things got too hard to handle for the youngest member of the group, he dealt with things by shutting off his brain and going to sleep. Not that he would ever sleep; sometimes it freaked the rest of the guys out when they would look over at him and see him awake but in a trance like state maybe staring at the wall or up at the ceiling.
Lucky for Howie he wasn’t doing that now, after saying he was going to sleep he laid there for about thirty minutes and then sat up and placed his walkman on his ears to listen to music which is what he had been doing ever since.

Once again Howie looked over at the phone wanting it to ring. Where was Kevin and why hadn’t he called yet. He knew something was wrong but as the hours and days passed he began to heighten the level of wrong. At first it was a simple case of thinking that maybe he had been in a minor accident and couldn’t get in touch with them. That had turned into maybe the bad guys got to him and have him drugged up somewhere. Now, he was at a full blown level of panic, thinking Kevin was lying dead in a gutter, never to be seen or heard from again. Not that he would ever admit that to anybody, he wouldn’t even let himself say it out loud.

He jumped when the phone finally did ring, surprised by the sense of dread that overtook him. He had wanted that thing to ring so badly but yet, now he didn’t even want to answer. Nick threw his earphones off his head, “D are you gonna get that?” He asked eyeing the phone like it was a venomous spider.

Howie nodded and then placed the phone to his ear. He sighed deeply when he heard it was Brian, a great sense of relief washed over him. “Hey Bri, how’s AJ”

He didn’t like the hesitation coming from the other end of the phone. It sounded like Brian was in a crowd of people and his voice was shaky. Had he been crying?

“Brian? Buddy are you there? What’s wrong?”

“Howie I…God, this is a mess” He definitely was crying and suddenly Howie felt himself turn away from the questioning gaze of Nick.

“Talk to me Brian, you are scaring me. Is it Kevin?”

“No, Kevin hasn’t been to see AJ” He tried to mask the disappointment in his voice, “Oh okay well then what is wrong? It’s not AJ is it?”

“Howie I have been arrested”

“You WHAT?”

“Listen I don’t have much time, Grimes is with me right now, they think I gave AJ crack or something like that. I was set up! But this is what you have to do. We are running out of time. AJ seems to think that Kevin’s life is in danger”

“Why would he think that?” Nick by now had moved to once again face Howie, wanting desperately to know what was going on.

“That guy…the one that looked like Nick, told him so”

“But he’s dead”

“No he isn’t he’s alive. You need to go talk to a guy named Bolten”

“Bolten?”

“Yes…I have to go, Howie go find this guy and be caref…” And then he was gone.

“What happened Howie?” Nick asked his eyes bulging with fear.

“We have to go find Bolten”

“That guy from the Inquisitor right?” Howie nodded still trying to figure out if he wanted to tell Nick what Brian had said or keep it a secret. At this point it seemed, the less he knew the better it would be for his safety and at this point, his sanity.

“Did Kevin go see AJ?” Nick asked with a hopeful expression on his face.

“No” Nick’s hopeful eyes turned down to the floor as once again visible signs of his brain shutting down were seen.

“AJ said that Bolten is behind all of this”

“And he would know because?”

“We don’t really have time to talk about it; I need to go see him”

“How? And…well…is it safe?”

Howie took a deep breath. It wasn’t safe, none of this was. He was terrified to even leave the hotel but he knew to get his friends out of trouble all three of them; he was going to have to find this guy and confront him head on. He looked over at Nick, “No Nicky, I don’t think it will be which is why I think you should stay here”

“Absolutely not D!” Nick stood up and grabbed his jacket.

“Nick, don’t argue with me, this isn’t even open for discussion. I need to do this alone”

“No way José…”

“Nick! Enough” Nick just stood there staring at his friend. He wasn’t intimidated by Howie at all but yet, he also knew from years of being around his older band mates, that when they were in ultra serious mood they were not to be argued with. This was such a time.

“But Howie…I’m scared to be by myself. Every time we split up something bad happens, I mean thank God not to Brian but look at what happened to AJ and now Kevin”

Howie hesitated, he hadn’t thought about it. He was too caught up in his protective mood to allow himself to even consider taking Nick along with him, but the kid was right. It was better if Nick stuck to him like glue at this point. As much as he didn’t want to bring him right into the middle of everything, he knew he would have to.

“Okay fine, but listen to me Nick…” Nick nodded, “you stay right next to me at all times do you understand me? And if anything happens you run like hell. Even if that means you have to leave me behind”

“I will don’t worry”

“Oh very nice…I thought you would have at least hesitated a minute before saying that” Nick laughed and then so did Howie, they needed to relive stress for a second, but then they went right back into serious mood as Howie opened the door to his hotel suite and snuck out with Nick right by his side.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Brian sat nervously tapping his fingers on the table as the detective asked him question after question, how did he get the drugs? Who was his supplier etc…? Questions Brian was tired of saying I don’t know too. He now had a better understanding of why people would admit to doing things they really didn’t do, because after awhile even you wouldn’t believe your own profession of innocence.

When the officer left him, he sat there with closed eyes trying to recount how in the heck he could have possibly gotten drugs. It all made no sense; he was never around anyone that could have…Then he jolted his head up as if shaking off a bad dream, “That girl!!” He yelled to his lawyer. Grimes looked up from his paperwork, “Pardon?”

“The one who wanted my autograph…she must have put something on me”

“Brian I highly doubt…” Before the lawyer could change his client’s mind the detective came back inside.

“Mr. Litrell have you thought anymore about this?”

“Yes! I have actually, when I was just about to go into the hospital there was a girl who asked me for an autograph. She must have planted that garbage on me”

“A girl? How come you haven’t mentioned her until now?”

“I forgot about her. I think her name was…it started with a J I think” Brian stood up and began to pace, trying desperately to remember the girls name, “Julie!! Her name was Julie!!” He jumped when he said it, like he had just won final Jeopardy.

Brian described Julie in detail right down to her backpack. The detective wrote down all the information as he was talking, not really looking like he believed the story at all.

“Was there anyone who saw you talking to this girl? An eye witness?”

Brian smiled; Thank God…this was the break he was hoping for. “Yes, Grimes saw. He was right there standing next to me”

Both the detective and Brian looked expectantly over at the lawyer who had a look of surprise on his face. “Is that true Mr. Grimes sir? Did you see this Julie person?”

“No, I’m sorry Brian I can’t lie for you. I don’t know what he is talking about”

The detective shook his head, “Mr. Litrell you are in enough trouble as it is, I suggest you keep your story straight” Brian had a horrified look on his face as the detective stood up and walked out of the room. Grimes stood up as well, ready to follow but was stopped, “You’re part of this aren’t you?”

He tried to ignore his client but was once again stopped by Brian, this time with a forceful pull of the arm, “Answer me Grimes…are you a part of all of this?”

Grimes turned towards Brian, “Now don’t get yourself all worked up son. I suggest you sit down and try to collect your thoughts before you go and accuse someone of something they had no part of” He couldn’t help but laugh at the ironic statement he had just made.

“Why did you lie?”

Once again Grimes blew off the question, “I am going to go and see about getting your bond posted. In the meantime if I were you, I’d stop talking” the look in his eyes as he got close to Brian made the Backstreet boy shudder. “You never know who might be listening” He whispered which made Brian’s eyes grow wide.

He sat down trying to control his shaking hands. His lawyer was involved, which meant that he was nothing more than a sitting duck right now. He couldn’t call anyone; he couldn’t run away all he could do was wait for Grimes to make his next move.

Another even more chilling thought took him over causing goose bumps to form up and down his skin, if Grimes was in on this than who else that they trusted with their lives was too?


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The two men carefully approached the hallway, making sure that security had left the area. Luckily they had security timed perfectly; easy as pie.

They made their way over to the door using fast and light foot steps and then knocked and stood ready to hit and grab target number four as discussed. This one was supposed to be the easiest one.

“He’s not answering” The man holding the huge sack said, “Maybe he’s hiding under the bed or something” They both laughed.

“We break in then?”

“I guess so…what other choice do we have?” They both nodded as the one holding the baseball bat took out some kind of gadget and used it to open the door. Once inside they worked quickly scanning the large room for any sign of the Backstreet Boy. Noticing the bathroom door was closed they both stood on either side and counted to three before kicking it in and searching inside.

After searching the room for the third time, they resigned themselves to the fact that they would have to call and tell their boss that number four was a no show, so hesitantly one of them called the number for Grimes, when he answered he didn’t sound happy to begin with.

“He isn’t here” The one man said while biting his lip.

Grimes turned his head in disgust, “What do you mean he isn’t there?”

“Howie must have taken him”

“But that wasn’t the plan!! Dammit!!!” He yelled, not liking the unwanted attention his screaming brought to the police surrounding him as he processed Brian’s paper work.

“I know sir…sorry”

“Well this is just fantastic!” He said holding his head as he talked, smiling to the secretary at the desk as she handed him the final papers he would need to get Brian out of jail and right where he needed to be.

He walked away from the crowded lobby to a quieter location in the building, “Better call and tell Bolten that two of them are on their way. He’s only expecting Howie to show up”

“Okay what do we do about Nick then? Doesn’t that put a HUGE wrench in our plans?”

Grimes stood in deep thought for a minute, up until now everything had been flawless. Gone off without one hitch. Everything they were supposed to do they did. Every anticipated move they made had been exactly as predicted except for this. He could have bet money that Howie would have left Nick behind. “I knew it should have been Kevin. Kevin would have NEVER taken the kid with him” He paced once more, “Okay I’m taking Brian out of here in a minute and then we can figure something out, I’ll call J and see what he says”

Grimes took a deep breath. He really didn’t think this phone call would have to be made not at all, but if this was gonna happen then it would have to happen now. The longer he waited the less time he had.

The phone rang about ten times before the man picked up on the other line.

“Yeah?”

“Johnnie…we have a huge problem!”

26

Kevin sat on his cot with his fingers intertwined; a look of worry so deeply etched on his face that he feared when he made it through this he would forever bare the wrinkles as proof of his ordeal. Maybe it wasn’t even a when anymore; now it was fast becoming an ‘if’ and that thought alone almost made him throw up right where he was sitting.

Things like this didn’t really happen. People didn’t really get kidnapped and framed for murder; this was only a product of storybooks by author’s who had incredible imaginations.

When he had finally wore himself out yelling to the people who had ignored him on the other side of the door, his knuckles red from knocking, he realized it was a desperate situation. No longer was he in hiding, he was being kept from being seen. Two very different things.

The first one he would have had control of, the second one he didn’t.

The man who had at first ignored his yells had then finally made an appearance at the door; letting Kevin know that perhaps he was right to be worried. He had walked in forcefully and locked the door behind him.

“I want to leave, what is going on here!” Kevin had demanded to know as he walked towards the door ready to push the man out of the way and run for it.

“Kevin….you don’t mind if I call you Kevin right?” The man said, leaning against the wall and taking out a cigarette.

“You can call me whatever the hell you like, just let me the hell out of this room!” The man laughed. Kevin eyed him carefully trying to figure out if he could win if a fight broke out. Normally it would have been no contest, he was a big guy who worked out and had the muscles to prove it, but this guy also worked out. He could tell by the huge arms the guy had on him. He was also nearly three or four inches taller than Kevin was.

“You are trying to figure out if you could take me down aren’t you?” The man said slightly amused.

“How did you know that?”

“It’s my business to know what people are thinking. I get paid a lot of money for it; you might as well have a seat Kevin. I know you have already figured out you are not going anywhere anytime soon” More out of shock Kevin did what he was told. He took a seat on the cot and watched the man as he leaned against the wall and continued to puff on his cigarette.

“Don’t worry Kevin, you aren’t going to be hurt or anything, we just need you out of sight for a while”

“Who is we?”

“That is unimportant”

“Yeah maybe to you but not to me” The man laughed again, “Yeah I guess you’re right about that. Well, since you are soon going to have some company I guess I can tell you I am talking about your lawyer”

“Company?” Kevin asked sitting up a little straighter, trying to figure out what was coming next.

“Yes, that should make you happy. You won’t be alone any longer. Lucky you!”

“Who is it?” He bit his bottom lip then as the man threw his cigarette on the floor and stepped on it.

“You know what I think is funny? Even though you aren’t related you all have the same habit of biting your lip when you are nervous. All five of you do that…very interesting”

“Is it one of the guys?” The man nodded.

“Why are you doing this to us?” He asked when it appeared that his visitor was leaving him once again with a ton of unanswered questions.

“Kevin…now you know if I told you I’d have to kill you right?” He looked over to his prisoner and smiled when he saw the look of deep concern on his face.

“Relax, I am only joking…believe me this is something you will actually thank us for later” He said and then he opened the door half expecting Kevin to charge at him, according to his profile that would be something he would do. He stood with his back turned to him for a minute almost wanting Kevin to do it, but let out a sigh when nothing happened.

“Guess you are too nervous to try to tackle me huh?” He said slowly turning around and looking at the Backstreet Boy sitting on the cot.

“I would have if I didn’t know about my visitor” He said through clenched teeth.

“Ooh of course, now that makes sense. Take care Kevin, he will be here shortly”

That was almost two hours ago; Kevin thought to himself wishing he knew what was to happen next. By process of elimination, he had assumed it was AJ who would be showing up at his doorstep. It made sense now; AJ was set up just like he himself was. He found himself feeling guilty for ever believing that the kid had done drugs. It must have been frustrating for him.

He started to formulate a plan of his own, with AJ he would figure out how to get out of the room and then break free and run to the police, maybe they could even find a phone lying around somewhere and call for help. He was sure the guards that kept watch outside his room had phones. He heard ringing every once in a while. So all he would have to do is call for help and then…

He stopped abruptly when he heard footsteps approaching his door; walking over to it he stood and waited. Maybe he would tackle the bad guys as soon as AJ was brought in.

But it wasn’t AJ; and that in itself threw him off.

Brian was pushed into the room with talk of a reunion coming from the smartass who pushed him. The door was then quickly locked behind him. Brian and Kevin stood staring at each other for a few minutes, words escaping them.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Howie and Nick were making their way towards the Inquistor building via cab. Sneaking out was getting easier and easier every time they tried it. Howie couldn’t help but feel like maybe no one was even caring if he left anymore. When they had snuck out, not even one bodyguard was waiting for them. They ran out of the hotel like two bats out of hell and then decided to get lost in the middle of a crowd before finally hailing a cab and making their way to the building that they hoped would hold all the answers they needed.

“It’s gonna be hard tracking Bolten down” Howie said looking out the window as the numbered streets just kept going higher and higher. He really felt like he was way in over his head now, not knowing what would even happen once they did find the man who supposedly knew what was going on.

“We should have waited for Brian to come back from the hospital before we left” Nick said tapping his fingers nervously on his knee. “I mean now he’s gonna be alone. I don’t like that D”

Howie looked over at his young friend and smiled, “He’ll be okay. He told me he was just gonna be waiting with AJ until we came back” He felt horrible for lying to Nick but he had to do it.

“Good, because I don’t think I could take it if something happened to him. It’s already all my fault that AJ was hurt”

“Nicky, it wasn’t your fault; it’s whoever the hell is doing this to us”

“Yeah that Bolten guy, I might just have to smack him around a bit when we find him” The look on Nick’s face coupled with what he had just said normally would have brought about a laugh to the guys but the only thing Howie could do was nod in agreement.

They drove on in silence right until the time when they got to the traffic light up the street from their destination, “I’m scared Howie” Nick confessed. Howie looked over at his friend and placed an arm around his shoulder, “I am too Nicky”

“I just hope we can find him”

“Me too. He doesn’t work their anymore according to that woman I talked to earlier but I bet she would know something. Someone has to know something”

“If Bolten doesn’t work their anymore Howie, then why are we going there?”

“Because I have no idea where else to go”

The ringing of a cell phone made both men jump just as they reached the main building of the Inquisitor. Nick bent over to the driver to pay him as Howie looked at the phone; there was no way he was going to pick it up.

“Who is it?” Nick asked as they both made their way out of the cab and onto the street. “It’s not Dave is it? You shouldn’t answer it if it is”

“It’s not Dave, it’s Johnnie” Both boys looked at the phone as if it was going to start yelling at them at any minute.

“What should we do?” The sound of silence made them both let out a sigh of relief, “Maybe he’ll leave a message”

“He’s gonna be pissed at us for leaving. I think our career is over Howie”

Howie had a better idea of what that phone call was about. It probably had something to do with Brian’s arrest. Most likely he wanted them all to meet the problem being that one was missing, one was a drug addict and now one was a drug dealer. This was getting way out of hand and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he knew Nick was right. Their career was fading away.

The phone rang again, not that Howie was surprised. “He’s not gonna stop until I answer Nick”

“Are you going to?”

“No! Come on he said taking his phone and throwing it into the garbage can”

“Wow D! I am impressed”

“Nicky listen to me, you stay right next to me at all times I mean it”

Nick grabbed Howie’s arm, “Don’t worry I will”

“Let’s go” He said and taking a deep breath, he opened the door to what he hoped was the truth; as his cell phone chimed in the background buried under trash.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
All AJ could do was rock back and forth in the very small room he was forced into at the hospital. It was the closest thing to a rubber room he had ever been near. “This will make a funny story some day” He chuckled to himself. He had to laugh because if he didn’t he would have lost his mind. The stress was overwhelming him. Never in his life had he felt this desperate; this ready to pack it in. Thoughts of suicide as he was led away from his friend overcame him. Maybe that was the only way out of this mess.

But then again maybe that is what the bad guys wanted. “Well screw you people because I am NOT going to kill myself!!!” He yelled at the wall.

“AJ?” He looked around his room convinced that now he was hearing voices.

“Who said that?” He asked standing up and walking towards the voice. It sounded warm and familiar.

“AJ that is you isn’t it?” Again AJ recoiled and looked around hoping to see the person matching that voice.

He walked towards the far corner of the room where there was a little window. Maybe the voice was coming from outside. He walked over to one of the chairs next to his bed and placed it by the window and climbed up to take a peek.

Sure enough he saw her head, just barely, “Who are you?”

“AJ listen, we are going to try to get you out of there but you have to listen to me”

“I’m all ears go ahead” AJ said hopefully not able to conceal his excitement at the thought of being rescued.

“Someone is going to come in and give you some dinner, there is a key to your room taped under the tray as well as a key card to let you out of the ward” She stopped and for a moment AJ thought maybe he hallucinated the whole thing.

“Are you still there?” He asked desperately.

“I am…but I have to go, they can’t know I’m here but this has gotten out of hand. Anyway once you open the door you are gonna have to try to sneak out. Unfortunately you are on your own at that point…” Once again she stopped abruptly. He heard people’s footsteps right outside the window and became fearful that something had happened to his savior. He was afraid to call out to her again just incase there were people watching.

“AJ I have to go… good luck”

“Thank you” He answered as he watched her run away back through the small wooded area that surrounded the hospital.

Now he had a means to escape but how would he be able to do it without anyone knowing?

27

Kevin and Brian sat leaning against the wall, edgy, nervous and cold. At first when Kevin saw his cousin enter the room he was confused; then the confusion turned to relief until the grim reality set in. Why was he happy to see his cousin in the same desperate situation he was now in?
After hugging Kevin, Brian relayed the day’s events to him right up to his frame up in the hospital.

“This is not good Bri”

“I know”

“We have to get out of here. What do they want from us?” Kevin stood up and walked over to the door, as if hoping he could use his mind to open it up and get them out of there.

“I don’t know; after I figured out what a scum Grimes was I wasn’t quite sure what would happen. I asked him a few times in the car what was going on but he just ignored me. I really thought he was going to take me to a back alley and slit my throat or something Kevin…I have never been so scared in my life” Kevin turned towards his cousin and gave him a sympathetic smile, “I’m happy you are okay Brian”

“Yeah me too…but I’m not sure about AJ though”

Kevin nodded and blew out a deep breath; the fact that AJ was trapped didn’t help him feel any better. “What about Howie and Nick?”

Brian shrugged, “When I talked to D, I told him to find Bolten”

“Brian why the hell would you do something like that?” His harsh tone cut through Brian.

“I didn’t know what else to do”

“You don’t think he’s dumb enough to actually go there alone do you?” Kevin asked walking over to the other end of the room just in case he had missed an escape route.

“He will probably bring Nick with him”

“No he won’t that’s way too dangerous. He would leave Nick behind. But I hope he brings security. This is a real mess!” He said finally giving up and sitting on the bed.

Brian stood up and walked over to Kevin, “I hope they don’t intend for us to share this small cot”

“Maybe they don’t plan on keeping us here for much longer” Brian winced at the thought. Kevin turned away and once again started to formulate a plan to try to escape because who knew what would happen the next time somebody was to walk through that door.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Howie stood hesitantly in the main hallway of the huge building. It didn’t look this menacing before to him, but now the giant entranceway looked like the mouth of a monster, ready to take them in and swallow them whole. There entrance seemed to go unnoticed by the people who were bustling through the lobby; most had their heads down and hands filled with papers.

The receptionist however was staring at them with a look of curiosity. As Howie and Nick walked closer to her desk, she straightened her nicely ironed red suit and picked up a phone.

“Here we go” Howie said looking over at his young charge and smiling. Nick had nothing but a look of terror on his face as they continued forward towards the desk.

She looked at them and smiled, “Hello Mr. Dorough, we have been expecting you” Her statement caught Nick off guard, but nothing seemed to totally surprise Howie anymore.

“Who is expecting us exactly?” He asked bending closer to the lady in red. She was beautiful, long blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. If he weren’t in such a situation he would totally be flirting with her right now. Going out with a worker from a tabloid. Talk about irony.

“That would be me” The woman who said that was standing directly behind both boys causing their heads to turn very quickly. She was about 40 years old and had her hair firmly placed in a bun. She was turning prematurely gray but there was no mistaking her for an old woman. Not by a long shot. She wore the word important on her sleeve. You could tell just by looking at her.

“Dorothy Wigton” She said extending her hand to first Nick than Howie, who recognized her name instantly as the person who replaced Bolten at the magazine.

After exchanging small pleasantries she looked over to Howie, “If you will follow me this way Mr. Dorough I’m sure Mr. Carter can get nice and cozy on a chair in the lobby until we are done”

Howie took a step forward and then stopped, “Why would Nick have to wait out here?”

“I was told my meting was to be with you and you alone”

“Who told you that? And how did you even know I was on my way?”

“Follow me and I’ll enlighten you” She said, “Maria, if anyone calls for me just take a message, Mr. Dorough and I will be a while” The blonde nodded and went about her business.

“Actually Miss Wigton…I’m not going anywhere unless Nicky can come too” Nick let out a breath that he had been holding ever since he thought he’d be trapped in this place alone.

She laughed, “Howie…it’s not like there are a pack of lions out here ready to eat him”

“Tabloid reporters are close enough for me” He said which could have been conceived as a joke if there was any humor on his face, but he was dead serious; so Dorothy huffed, “Fine, come along Mr. Carter”

Nick picked up his pace to catch up to both Howie and the woman. “Thanks man” He whipered into Howie’s ear as they headed towards the ladies office.

Dorothy Wigton however was not happy not at all.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
AJ sat on the floor of his room counting to sixty over and over again, trying to calculate how many minutes it was going to take for this tray of food that held his escape to come. He had gone over in his head about a thousand times all the reasons why leaving would not be a good idea. For starters, who was to say that person he talked to earlier could be trusted. Maybe she was just trying to set him up farther by having him caught leaving the premises.

Then what would happen if he were to get caught? Would he end up having those same treatments that the Nick guy was having? Shock therapy or whatever it was called?

In crisis situations like this, there was never a doubt in anyone’s mind of escaping. In all the movies and TV shows he had ever watched. You have your chance to leave….you take it.

But now as it was getting closer to time, he was really having second and third thoughts about it. He heard the people delivering dinner; he could tell by the squeaking wheels he heard slowly making their way down the hallway. From his calculations he was going to be the next one and sure enough his door opened and two ladies dressed in white walked in and placed his tray on the table, “Now eat up Alex. It’s roasted chicken tonight” One of them said smiling.

He didn’t even acknowledge them, just sat on the floor staring at the bed. Once they clicked the door closed he stood up and ran over to the tray knocking it over, not even caring he was leaving a mess behind. He had to make sure the key was there; and it was. Taped to the bottom of the tray. A key and a key card were both double taped to the tray. Right in the middle where no one could see them. AJ instantly began to sweat, his heart racing as he pulled the keys from their hiding spots and stared at them.

“Okay AJ, don’t be a wuss! This is for Kevin. He needs you and boy will he owe you big for this” He said as he took the keys and placed them in his slipper sock. He would attempt to leave during visiting hours. That was the best time. Too early and he would be noticed. Too late and it would be to obvious to the hospital personnel. So he would have to wait it out until he heard the bingo g the loud speaker announcing that visiting hours were almost over. He was going to do this and it was going to work.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nick and Howie sat in the office. The same one Howie had visited earlier on when his quest to find the man jumping off the ledge was no more than idol curiosity. How quickly things had changed, if he could have taken all of what had happened back he would have. Totally ignoring the man crying and pretending that the jumping off of a ledge was just a figment of his imagination. How many people’s lives have changed forever because of his persistence?

“Okay I know you have some questions Mr. Dorough”

“Call me Howie” She smiled, “Okay fine Howie”

“Actually all we really need to know is where Kyle Bolten is. Do you know where we can find him?”

“Why do you need Mr. Bolten?” She sat up straight behind her desk and glanced from one boy to the other.

“We just need to talk to him; this is about a personal matter”

“You know we can’t hand out personal information Howie. It just isn’t done”

“How did you know we were coming? Um…I mean you said you were expecting us” Nick added which caused the older woman to give him an evil stare. Nick was becoming more and more convinced that underneath those hoity toity clothes she was wearing lived the essence of an old witch.

“That is unimportant...”

“Frankly Miss Wigton nothing is unimportant to us any longer”

“Like I told you on the phone when we had last spoken, Kyle no longer works here. He left that day and we haven’t heard from him since”

Howie sat back in his chair frustrated as he watched this woman. She definitely knew more than she was letting on and he couldn’t help but think that maybe if Nick wasn’t in the room she would be opening up more about things. “Miss Wigton…before you said you were only expecting me. Does that mean if Nick left the room you would be willing to tell me more?” Nick looked at the lady while biting on his lip. He didn’t like where this conversation was going.

She bent closer to Howie then, “Perhaps” is all she said before leaning back in her seat again, giving Nick a small smile.

“Whatever it is you have to say to Howie you can say to me too. We are in this together”

“I beg to differ honey. I really do” With that, what Nick was dreading most happened as Howie turned his way, “Buddy…you can wait right outside the door I promise I will be right there”

“But Howie…”

“Nicky it’s okay…” then he looked sternly over at Dorothy, “If he disappears or anything happens to him at all I will hold you totally accountable!”

“Relax…” She laughed, “I guess it’s true what they say about you guys. You are very protective of each other aren’t you?”

“We will be about two minutes, think you can manage? If you’d like I can get an armed guard to…” The sarcasm in her voice made Howie want to smack her. If she had any idea what kind of hell they had been through the past few days; but then again she might very well know wouldn’t she?

“Nicky…I promise I will be right out” Howie said in a soft loving voice, as if he was promising a three year old some ice cream.

“Okay D…but you better not try anything on him either!” Nick warned wagging his finger in the air at the lady.

“Oh goodness no, I would never dream of it; I would not want to contend with you!” She said winking at him.

They were nothing more than a joke to this lady.

Seconds later Nick left the room very hesitantly, once gone Howie became all business, “Okay what do you have to tell me?”

Dorothy Wigton leaned over her desk and handed Howie a piece of paper. “I don’t have anything to say…just a note to give you”

Howie grabbed for the note and read it. It was very short and sweet.

Meet me at the Lion’s Den

Come alone and all your questions will be answered.

K. Bolten

“When did he leave this here for me?” Howie asked as Dorothy stood up and went for the door, “I think your two minutes are up, we don’t want poor Nick having an anxiety attack do we?”

“But when did he…”

“It was nice meeting you Howie” She said extending her hand towards the confused Latino who kept staring at the note.

As he walked out the door he could feel her eyes staring at him from behind; most likely a smirk was on her face. He almost turned but didn’t when he once again couldn’t manage to find his friend sitting in the lobby.

“Well this is beginning to feel a little familiar” He said to himself taking a deep breath and heading for the front desk in hopes that maybe she had seen where Nick went off to this time.

*Okay here goes nothing lol*


28

Howie approached the neatly pressed secretary quickening his pace before he felt anymore eyes on him. Surely Nick hadn’t managed to disappear in the space of a few minutes. Not without kicking and screaming at least. That’s why his confidence was up when he approached the desk; he wasn’t as nervous as the last time the same thing happened at Jive.

“Excuse me” The woman turned her gaze towards Howie and smiled, “Yes?”

“I was wondering if you saw my friend out here?”

“Oh Nick you mean?” Howie nodded.

“Yes…he left” Now his confident feeling left him, confusion taking it’s place, “He left?”

“Uh huh”

“When?”

“A few minutes ago, he ran out of here as if his pants were on fire” She chuckled but Howie didn’t find it funny.

“Was he alone?”

“I believe so, but I have to admit I wasn’t really paying much attention”

“So he left without even leaving me a message or anything?”

“Maybe he’ll be right back. You’re meeting wasn’t very long…perhaps he thought it would take you longer besides it looked like he was meeting someone…”

“Mr. Dorough what seems to be the problem?” Dorothy asked when she noticed that Howie was still lurking around the lobby; happily interrupting the conversation taking place.

“You tell me! Nick is missing!!” She seemed put off by the accusatory tone he was using.

“He must be around somewhere…but for now I must be going, Maria, I will be gone for the rest of the day” She said and then smiled at Howie as she walked past him towards the front doors. Howie was soon to follow, “Wait you aren’t just going to leave…Nick is missing! Where is he? What did you do to him?”

She ignored him and hailed a cab. When one stopped right in front of her she opened the door and jumped in, Howie tried his best to stop her, “Wait” He said but she pushed him away and closed the door. As she drove off he was left confused and now scared for Nick.

Howie paced a few times in front the main entrance before once again entering, he wasn’t going to leave without Nick. No more people were going to be in danger on his watch.

“Excuse me again…I’m sorry to bother you but….”

“He left with a woman” She said making sure no one heard her.

“He what?”

Once again Maria looked over her shoulder and then repeated, “Your friend…I saw him leave with a woman. She waved at him from the window so he went out there to meet her than they both took off.

“A woman?” She nodded.

“What did she look like?”

“I don’t know she was pretty bundled up but I think she was a blonde. Not totally sure though”

“He seemed okay to you though?” He realized it was a dumb question but one that really needed to be asked. He had to make sure that Nicky was okay because despite everything, Nick needed babysitting; it was kind of an unspoken rule that the four older members had with each other. He probably would until he was thirty. To leave Nick alone was just an awful mistake. One that he was forced into.

Now he had no idea what to do. None at all.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AJ stood right behind his door as the first bing announcing visiting hours were soon over came on. Taking a few deep breaths he carefully slide the key into the lock and clicked it open. Peering his head out the door he looked down the hallway before stepping outside, he didn’t have much time, if he was caught now he was done for. So he trotted towards the door with his head down. In front of him there was about ten people saying goodbye to loved ones all hugging and kissing. AJ tried his hardest to blend in with them, not even allowing himself to look up or make eye contact with anyone.

In his right hand he rubbed the key card trying his hardest to conceal it from view.

It wasn’t really a long walk to the door considering the place was not really that big but it felt like the hallway was getting bigger and bigger and the faster he pushed towards the door the farther away it got.

The second bing announcing that visiting hours were now over blared through the ward and AJ seeing a gaggle of staff congregating by the door decided to turn a corner for a minute. He had forgotten that they watch the people leaving, to make sure he guessed that they weren’t taking anyone with them.

“Okay…okay calm down you can do this” He said to himself as he once again peeked over to the door. Most of the crowd had now left; once the two nurses standing by the door left, he would make a break for it. Of course one of them was the same bitch that framed Brian. His thoughts temporarily drifted to his friend and his safety, but he shook those thoughts away. To be able to get out of this he had to concentrate on escaping.

After about three minutes and a few suspicious looks later, the nurses finally left their post. “Now or never Mclean…go now” he started his brisk walk towards the door. Looking back he saw no one was paying any attention to him so he placed the key card into the slot and the door popped open.

A shot of adrenaline hit him just then as he managed to get one foot out of the door, he was almost free…almost.

Unfortunately because it was a ‘special’ wing of the hospital the only place he had to hide once outside of the locked area was the small space where the elevator was. A group of people stood around waiting as the lighted numbers showed a slow climb up to the floor he was held hostage on.

He smiled at one of the women who was waiting. She seemed like a nice enough person, except when she glanced down at his feet. He had forgotten all he had on was slipper socks. The woman instantly become uneasy as she shifted her gaze quickly away from him and to the door that was securely locked behind them. He knew his time was running out as the woman casually walked over to the door and rang the bell. AJ’s pulse started to race knowing it was because of him. He frantically searched the area for another escape route. Happy to see the red Exit sign by a window. A flight of stairs would have to do. He ran towards it, not even caring if it made him look completely guilty.

Shouts were heard as he closed the door and started his rapid descent down the steps.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kevin looked at his cousin making sure he understood what exactly he was supposed to do. “So you understand the plan?”

“Yes I understand the plan! How many times are we going to go over it?”

“Brian, sorry I know you’re not stupid but this is important. One wrong move and we could be dead”

At that Brian looked over and nodded, what exactly could he respond to that? He was terrified of what was going to happen to them.

“The next time someone comes in Bri…and if for some reason it doesn’t work, don’t even look back…do you understand me?”

“Kevin don’t be stupid…” Kevin grabbed his cousin by the shoulders, “I said do you understand me?”

“I won’t leave you here Kevin”

“I hope you don’t have to” He said, looking grim. Truth was he had no idea what would happen at all. Everything had been very quiet ever since Brian made his appearance in the room, no one seemed like they were even keeping watch outside anymore.

Kevin wasn’t sure which of the scenarios in his head was worse, them coming back or them never coming back.

“Do you think the others are okay?” Brian asked from his standing position by the door. The place where he was assigned to stand when the time came to tackle whoever it was that walked through the door.

“I hope so…but Brian; we can’t think about that right now”

“I know…sorry”

Before Kevin had time to rehearse the plan once more…footsteps were heard outside the door.

“It’s time are you ready?” Brian nodded at his cousin, knowing full well he wasn’t ready for what had to be done. He had never attacked another human in his life. Not even his brother. Not even in jest.

There was a little commotion at the door as a few voices spoke, then it opened up. Just as Brian was to jump on the man who walked through the door, he stopped when he recognized the familiar voice.

“Hello boys” He said as he entered the room with Johnnie walking in behind him.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*
AJ got down about one flight before he heard the door swing open and a bunch of quick footsteps climbing down the steps. He quickened his pace as well.

“Stop!” The man yelled to AJ, definitely a guard, he could tell by the sound of the walkie talkie shouting commands. Not totally paying attention to what he was doing AJ missed a step and went flying down about ten steps landing on his back and rolling over on his side. He heard the footsteps fast approaching him and even though he was in pain he forced himself up and continued his climb down the steps.

Than another walkie talkie was heard. This time it was moving up the steps towards him. They were coming at him from both ways He was trapped. Unsure of what to do he stood by the doorway of the landing he had stopped on and tried to scream when he was pulled through the door.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Howie had given up hope; he decided to wait around for Nick just incase, like the receptionist said he were to come back. An hour had passed and time was precious. Nick was not coming back; that thought alone sent goose bumps up and down Howie’s spine. As much as he didn’t want to do it, he had to leave. Go to the Lions Den and talk to this Bolten guy. He walked out the door and heard the garbage can before him ringing.

It was his cell phone. He walked over and picked it up out of the garbage can to read the number on the caller ID.

This time it was an unknown number but a very familiar code; 911. He hesitantly clicked open the phone anxious to see who it was and shuddered when he heard that familiar voice.

“Times running out Howie” Than a click; before Howie could even say anything.

He put the phone in his back pocket and hailed a cab of his own; “Lion’s Den” He said to the driver as he took one last look at the Inquisitor building before zooming off.

*special thanks to the people who have sent me feedback both at my site and here. You are the ones helping to write this! Thanks a bunch*

29

AJ tried to scream but the person who had pulled him to safety placed his hand over his mouth, “You make a sound and they’ll find you and trust me AJ, you don’t want that to happen” So he nodded while still grabbing his captor’s hands that were covering his face. The guards were right outside of the door now, AJ could clearly hear them scrambling to open it up. The knob turned but the door didn’t move which made AJ sigh a breath of relief. “That will keep them for awhile but we need to go. If I take my hand away from your mouth will you not scream?” AJ nodded, so the guy in turn removed his hand and helped the Backstreet Boy up.

“Come on…we need to go” He said shaking AJ back to the reality of his situation; he was in the middle of an escape.

“How did you get out of there? The last time I saw you…well it wasn’t good”

The man AJ only knew as Nick the double nodded and made it clear by putting his finger to his lips that now was not the time to have this conversation. He grabbed AJ’s arm and together they rushed down the hallway.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Howie stood facing the Lion’s Den feeling a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t want to go in there at all, yet he had no choice. He walked towards the door and opened it with game face on.

Music was blaring in the background, some Euro pop song that just looped the same dance beat over and over again. One girl was swinging around a pole and a few waitresses were gathered around but otherwise the place was deserted.

In contrast to The Inquisitor, when Howie walked into this place he felt like he was invisible. No one even looked his way. Taking a tissue out of his pocket he wiped away a small bit of sweat threatening to spill from his forehead into his eyes, all the while squinting to make out anyone who looked as out of place as he must have.

Sure enough there was a man sitting in a booth in the way back corner of the club. It was almost impossible to make him out except for the curls of smoke rising above his head. Howie placed the tissue back into his pocket and started to walk towards the smoke signals. If this was Bolten he was closer than ever to finding out what the hell was going on. Just the thought made his heartbeat quicken as he was now so close he could smell the stench of nicotine in the air.

He wasn’t sure what he should do once he was finally all but on top of this guy he had so desperately wanted to find. Does he just sit down and make himself comfortable? What if it wasn’t him though?

Howie walked past the table where he saw a man who was only a little taller than he was. His face looked haggard and unshaven; like a man who had forgotten what the meaning of sleep was. “I’ve been waiting for you” He said leaning on his elbow, not even looking towards Howie.

He found himself looking back towards the front of the club making sure no one was watching them, once confident that they were in their own bubble of a world, he scooted into the booth. Bolten still wasn’t making eye contact with Howie at all but smiled once he heard the swish of leather underneath Howie’s butt as he moved.

“Are you Kyle Bolten?” It sounded more like an accusation than a question to which Bolten just nodded. Howie surprised himself then and forcefully grabbed the man’s arm, “You wanna tell me what the hell is going on?”

Bolten finally made eye contact, “I thought you were supposed to be the nice calm one. Let go of me please” He said and then forced his arm out of Howie’s grasp.

The Backstreet Boy was about to apologize but stopped himself, he needed answers and he needed them now. “You need to tell me what is going on”

Bolten put his hand in the air to summon a waitress over to their table; a barely dressed woman walked over and smiled, “What can I get for ya Mr. B?”

“Vodka and cranberry juice…you?” He looked over to Howie who was growing impatient. When he failed to say anything Bolten continued, “Bring one for my friend too, I’m sure he’ll feel like drinking after I tell him what he needs to know” The waitress wrote the order on her pad and then left.

“So what do you have to tell me?” Bolten sat more relaxed now as he lit another cigarette, “Howie do you trust the people around you? You seem like a very trusting person”

“How can you make that assumption? You don’t know me at all”

“Oh, but there you’re wrong. I know you…I know about all five of you”

“I don’t understand…” Bolten cut him off, “So answer my question then…do you trust the people around you?”

“Not entirely I mean I trust my close inner circle, my friends and my family”

“Well there‘s your first mistake my friend”

“First of all I am NOT your friend second of all are you trying to say someone I know has something to do with this?”

“No…I’m not saying someone you know…there is more than one person involved in this little crisis you have found yourselves in”

“The only person I am blaming right now is YOU!” He raised his voice and tried his best to remain sitting and not lunge at this guy who seemed to enjoy this little game he was playing.

“Me? I haven’t done anything wrong”

“You’re the one who has been calling me!”

“I have never called you Howie. Not even once. Besides if there’s someone to blame for any of this it’s you! Not me. In fact you are the reason I lost my job! Do you have any idea how long I have worked at that place Howie? Almost twenty years and nothing like this has ever happened before. It’s never gotten this out of hand”

“Then what is it you have to tell me? I mean if you supposedly have nothing to do with any of this, why bother listening to you? I have to find my friends. I don’t have time for this!”

The waitress came back holding her tray of two drinks which gave Howie enough time to calm himself down. He didn’t like how his voice was raising with the level of anxiety he was feeling. If he kept it up he would start sounding like a girl.

Once she was gone, Bolten continued, “I am just as much of a victim in this as you are”

“Well, I find that hard to believe” Howie said under his breath. He was running out of time and felt like the only thing this guy was doing was stalling. Maybe buying someone else time.

“I know it all…I can tell you everything you need to know. I have nothing to lose anymore by doing it either” He pulled out a big manila envelop from next to him and handed it over to Howie. “You’re the only one that stands to lose anything here”

Howie hesitantly took the envelope and opened it gingerly.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It felt like they ran forever and in slipper socks that wasn’t a very easy thing to do; so by the time they finally stopped about five blocks away from the hospital, AJ sat down and rubbed at his aching and cold feet. “I think we’re safe for a little while at least” The blonde man said slinking down next to him on the hard dirty ground. They hadn’t spoken at all since their escape, every time AJ tried to get a word out he was quickly quieted by the man who helped him.

“Did that woman help you escape? You know the same one that gave me the key?” The blonde looked away from the street and smiled at AJ, “Yeah she’s something else isn’t she?”

“Nick…what the heck is going on?”

“Call me Matt”

“What?”

“My name’s Matt. I’m done being Nick now”

“Okay” AJ wanted to ask further but decided there were more important questions that needed to be answered. “What is happening?”

“Not now AJ, I mean I know you want answers but not now. She’ll tell you everything you need to know once she gets here with Nick”

“With who?”

“Nick…your Nick. The real one”

“I’m confused” Matt laughed, “I bet you are buddy, but don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine now”

“Who is she?”

“My girlfriend” He looked down at his watch, “She should be here any minute now…unless there was a problem”

“What kind of problem? And why would she have Nick with her?”

“Because he was going to be next. They had a plan to take Nick. It was the last item on their weird macabre to do list”

“Is everyone else alright?” AJ asked now finally just taking the socks off his feet. Matt looked down, “We’ll stop off and get you some shoes when she gets here” Then realizing he didn’t answer the question he shrugged, “I wish I could say for sure AJ, but truthfully I don’t know”

“Do you think they’re still looking for us?” Matt nodded, “But they won’t find us” He turned to AJ and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry you’re safe now” He knew it should have calmed him down but it didn’t. Sure he was safe but what about everyone else? And was he really safe? He found himself trusting this guy that pretty much had started this whole thing to begin with.

“Thank you for helping me back there by the way” AJ said smiling despite his feelings.

“Not a problem, I’m sorry I didn’t act sooner. We both are” Matt looked down at his watch again and AJ picked up a little bit of worry outlining his face.

“She’ll be here soon right?” He asked more to squelch his nerves, but the hesitation in Matt’s reply didn’t help.

“Actually she’s late. She’s never late. I hope everything is alright” He tried to hide his fear from AJ, but it wasn’t working. Matt was scared for this woman who supposedly was helping Nick. That thought alone made AJ shiver.


~*~*~*~*~~*~*
She waited and watched; head covered so only a small amount of blonde was showing through her hood. Standing right outside of the Inquisitor could have easily been suicide. It would only take one person to recognize her, one person to realize it was her and that in spite of everything she was not only alive but now going against them. True most of the people involved knew she was alive, heck they had planned it that way from the beginning. But to pull this off, she was told; everyone had to be convinced of her death. Even her boyfriend. They were playing him too. All of them.

She looked at her watch when she saw them both enter, careful not to be noticed as Howie threw his cell phone into the garbage. “Poor guy” She said under her breath knowing how much this whole thing was killing him. She had wanted to call him when she had decided to change sides. She wanted to tell him that she was alive and none of this was really his fault, but it was too risky.

They had let her in on most of the plans from the way beginning when it all just seemed like nothing more than a good idea. If she had known how badly things were going to turn out she would have never even began flirting with him; ever.

Once Howie and Nick had entered the building she knew it was only a matter of time that they would force the blonde to leave the room, then they would grab him. It wasn’t the first plan they had but because Howie was unpredictable they had to go with plan B.

She was going to be waiting for him when the time came. She would give him the sign and grab him. Explaining to him everything on the way back to pick up her boyfriend Matt who was helping AJ. She smiled knowing that by now they most likely were already in the process of escaping that horrible hospital.

She was a hero; Jessica Sullivan…a poor stripper turned receptionist turned hero.

Just as she had anticipated about ten minutes from the time the two boys entered the building only Nick emerged alone. Standing in the lobby looking terrified of being there.

She was just about to enter when another woman brushed past her almost making her fall. She walked right up to the door and waved to him, summoning him to her.

“Oh my God what the hell is she doing here?” Jessica asked to herself seeing the instant look of acknowledgment on Nick’s face. She banged on the glass very lightly to get his attention but it was too late, the other woman managed to lure him out.

“No! Nick don’t follow her!!!” She said in a little whisper, hoping she would gain some psychic abilities which would keep Nick from following this woman he trusted so much.

But once he left the building that other woman grabbed his arm and hustled him along. Jessica knew than that it was too late. Now the only thing she could think of to do was follow Howie which she did right to the Lion’s Den, where she watched and waited for him to exit the building.

*sorry about the wait, I hope you are sticking with the story*


30

She stood outside the nightclub trying her best not to look suspicious. When finally out he came half running out of the place. She was reminded of the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Howie seemed like he was late for a very important date. Right down to him looking at his watch while stepping out into the street trying to hail a cab.

Up until now, she hadn’t thought of how to approach her friend without making a scene. That was going to be the tricky part; how in the world does she get his attention and lead him away without everyone who was clearly watching his every move, not notice it?

Looking around she decided to make her move especially when she saw the cab slow. Just as Howie walked into the cab she jumped in as well.

“What the heck? I was here first!” He began to argue, before noticing it was her, once he did, he sat with his mouth agape.

“Where are you going?” The cabbie asked growing ever more impatient.

Jessica bent towards the man and gave him a street corner while Howie totally confused just stared.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“So if she’s never late that probably means something bad happened then?” AJ asked while pacing in his little corner in the back alley they were hiding in. Matt was growing impatient and tired of his companies constant questions. He was worried about his girlfriend. He was worried about everything.

“Well?”

“Shhh” Matt said pretending to busy himself with watching the street.

“Don’t tell me to shush. Where the hell is she?”

“I wish I knew”

“Why don’t you?” Again Matt started to ignore AJ who was ready to bolt. His trust waning with every unanswered question.

Luckily right before he announced his exit a cab pulled up to the corner with a bewildered looking Howie and a beautiful Jessica getting out of it.

“I thought she was supposed to have Nick with her” AJ said still watching as the two made their way towards the alley. “She was” Matt said walking past AJ to his girlfriend and grabbing her into an embrace.

Howie walked over to where AJ stood and placed his arms lovingly around his friend pulling him in to a hug, “Are you okay?” Howie asked, not sounding quite like himself.

AJ pulled away, “I’m fine but where’s Nick?”

Before Howie could answer Jessica interrupted, “We have a lot to talk about…let’s go”

The men not knowing what else to do followed her and her boyfriend around the corner and down the street.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~
Nick sat in the car with his head pressed against the glass. The scenery moving past him so quickly everything looked like a big blur of colors. He wished he knew what was going on. Why was he leaving Howie. Boy was he ever gonna be mad.

“You know…you could have at least waited until Howie got out of his meeting. I know he’s going to be worried”

“No he won’t. He knew I was coming. I just told him not to say anything to you”

“That makes no sense” The blonde sitting next to him glared which quickly quieted him down.

Biting on his bottom lip he looked away from the woman growing ever more leery of her, not that he wasn’t leery to begin with but especially now with everything else going on, he no longer trusted anyone.

Not even her.

“Where are we going anyway?” He asked uneasily.

“Why are you nervous?” Her tone was accusatory which made him flinch.

“I’m not nervous…just that, like I said D will be worried”

“He’ll live” And that was the end of the conversation.

Not for Nick though who continued the rest in his head, “I hope so”


~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Howie and AJ followed behind the couple for about three blocks at a pretty quick pace. They roamed in and out of streets, through back alleys and even hopped over a fence just in case they were being followed.

The whole time not one word was exchanged, just a whole lot of looks. Mostly fear laden looks; they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Well Howie a little more enlightened now that he had gotten a peek in that envelope. He still couldn’t bring himself to tell AJ what was inside.

A friendly tap on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts, “You okay Howie?” He nodded at his friend who was a little out of breath and rubbing his feet. Looking down Howie noticed the slippers and laughed. That made AJ smile, “Oh sure it’s really funny that by tomorrow my feet will just be two big blisters”

“You need some shoes”

“We’re working on it” Matt said walking by Howie and grabbing his shoulder. “I’m glad you are okay man”

“No thanks to you!” Surprised by his venomous tone, Matt decided to nod and walk away. He couldn’t blame Howie for being annoyed. This did seem to be all his doing.

Jessica walked over after seeing the unfriendly exchange, she was greeted with, “I thought you were dead”

“You sound disappointed” At first she looked truly sorry but in another light, a darker one, she almost seemed like she was enjoying this.

“I’m not…just surprised. They tried to blame Kevin for your murder” She walked beside Howie then and leaned against the wall, “Yeah I know. That was the idea”

“So you were in on it then?”

“Kind of”

“How can you be kind of in on it?”

“Okay I was very in on it. Now I’m not”

“Your boyfriend…” Howie paused, not wanting to call him Nick after hearing the brief name change but not quite remembering what his name actually was, “Matt” She added seeing Howie’s search for a name. He nodded, “He said something about you supposed to be showing up with Nick? He left with you?”

“Not exactly”

“What do you mean not exactly?” Jessica started to fidget, “I was going to get him to come with me, you know make sure he was safe but then someone interfered”

“Someone? Anyone you know?”

Jess rolled her eyes and looked at her watch, hoping time would stop this conversation. “Kind of yes, I mean only just recently…”

“So should we be worried about him or not Jess? Is he okay?” Now AJ had moved in on the conversation upon hearing Howie’s escalated voice filled with a tinge of anxiety.

She looked from one boy to the other, “I wish I could say no…but I can’t”


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nick once again fidgeted with the lock on the door, whenever he clicked it open it promptly was clicked closed again from the front seat. She moved to the front after scolding him and now was whispering to the driver of the car. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her, so many things he wanted to know. Starting with how in the world she knew where to find him when everyone including his management and security hadn’t known they had left.

More importantly why was it she didn’t yell at him about that. She had to realize by now that he had snuck out of the hotel. It all made no sense.

He once again tried the door, clicking it unlocked. He almost got it open at the red light before it was quickly clicked locked again.

“Stop it Nick!” She yelled from the front once again looking in his direction with that glare of hers. The same one that had frightened him since he was a child.

“Mom what’s going on? Why won’t you let me leave the car?” She gave him a half smile then said in her most motherly voice, “It’s all for your own good baby. You’ll thank me for this later. I promise”

With that being said, Nick gave up and slumped back into the back seat while the car drove closer to their destination.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kevin and Brian sat still and quiet on the very small cot in the room that held them like a make shift prison. They could have actually gotten out of the room if they weren’t so surprised by who showed up to greet them. Now they just sat in a stunned silence listening to the plan unfold. Not knowing whether they should laugh or scream. Grimes, the lawyer they had so grown to trust just stood there with a smile plastered on his face, like he was hearing the best plan in the world coming from the mouth of the person who had totally surprised them.

At one point they just exchanged glances, still unsure of what it was they should do. The door was left open, and Kevin’s eyes kept glancing over to that direction. About ten steps to freedom were his calculations. But for some reason he was stopped, maybe it was because it was too late. The damage had already been done. What would be the point now? But there was a part of him that wanted to try.

He had to try, if he didn’t by the end of all this one of them would be dead. He had to try to get out of there and he had to try now.

“Aren’t you listening to me Kevin?” Kevin looked up at the person talking and nodded.

“Don’t even think of leaving. It’s too late”

Kevin looked over at Brian and then at the door to hope that his cousin could pick up on the subtle hint of what was about to go down. He smiled when Brian nodded.

“So, I hope you were listening” The person said standing right in front of Kevin now.

“Yeah I heard you”

“Good, because like I said it’s too late”

Brian jumped up first which caused Kevin to counter with the same move as they both tackled the person standing in front of them.

*sorry I took so long to update. I suck!! But you still love me...right? lol*

31

All you could see was a jumble of arms and legs as Brian and Johnnie rolled on top of each other. Kevin managed to grab one of Grimes legs and pull him to the ground before he could help Johnnie thwart his cousin’s attempts. The impact from his head hitting the floor temporarily knocked him out.

An extra weight on Kevin’s back made him realize that there was someone else on top of him now, pulling at his hair and trying to lift him off the ground.

“Get off of me!” Kevin screamed but the guy didn’t move. He figured out it must have been the guy who had come in earlier and talked to him. The one who supposedly new his every move.

Kevin managed to move his arm around to make contact with the guy’s jaw which caused a groan, quickly his grip loosened enabling Kevin to roll over and push the guy off of him. Giving him a swift kick in the head as he got up.

Before fully standing up, he looked over at Brian to see that now he was sitting on top of Johnnie and despite all that was going on he actually laughed at the site.

“Get your ass off of me Brian!” Johnnie hissed from under Brian’s weight.

Grimes after being attacked by Kevin just laid motionless on the ground afraid to move and meet the same fate as the other guy Kevin had clocked.

“I have a lot of questions for you”, Kevin said walking over and grabbing Johnnie’s hair much the same way that had been done to him.

“Let go of me Kevin! I can explain everything, you are blowing this out of proportion!”

Brian looked at Kevin unbelieving what he just heard. “Excuse me?” Brian said bouncing down harder on Johnnie’s back.

“I know you probably are wondering what the hell is going on but it’s really nothing”

Kevin let go of Johnnie’s hair which made his head fall and hit the ground. “Bullshit it’s nothing!”

Kevin helped his cousin up and did a quick check on him, “you okay?” Brian nodded.

“Where are the other guys? Did you kidnap them too asshole?” Kevin asked wanting to go over and kick Johnnie once more for fun.

The three men just remained quietly lying on the floor.

“Answer me Wright! Are the others okay?”

He said nothing but the rustling of Grimes and the other guy he had taken down made him realize the answers he wanted would have to wait until later, right now he had to get his cousin out of there and find the others and try to clear his name.

They both walked over to the door, very happy that it opened without much of a fuss. “Give me the key” Brian said walking over to the third guy.

“Kevin you are making a mistake. Let us explain, don’t leave” Johnnie said slowly getting himself up off of the floor.

“Go to hell” Kevin responded wanted to spit at him, “Give him the key!” He said walking towards the guy he had walloped before. The guy reached into his pocket and flung the key at Brian who happily bent over to pick it up.

The two cousins made their way out of the door and closed it right as Johnnie started to dash towards them. “Quick lock it before they get out!” Brian said pushing against the door with all his might.

“You are making things worse for yourselves!” Johnnie yelled as he continued to push the door hoping to win the battle with Brian. Kevin frantically tried to fit the key in the hole to lock the door and keep it shut.

Finally with one final push against the door, Kevin was able to do just that.

“Don’t worry Johnnie the police will be here to let you out in no time” they left the door to a muffled chorus of curses.

“I didn’t know you had it in you Kev” Brian said looking at his cousin in a new light.

“I do when I’m pissed and right now I am pissed as pissed can be!”

“Let’s get out of here” Brian said taking the lead and trying to find his way out.


~*~*~*~*~*~
Nick didn’t say much after his mother yelled at him. Butterflies may their way into his stomach though as he couldn’t help but feel like she was up to no good.

He loved his mom to death but all of his short life this far, she had proved to make one critical mistake after another. She was tired of living in poverty and had seen her kids as a quick way to make money not realizing how talented they were. At first Nick was happy to help, doing what he truly loved doing, but that’s when his relationship with his mom changed. She went from caring about him to caring about his assets.

He knew the change would occur when she started to insist on having a say in what the Boys were doing. The other guys were often mad at her, and even though they would never tell him that to his face, it made him awkward when they sat in on meetings where his mother suddenly became demanding.

The car stopped in front of a very familiar site which made Nick cringe even more. She walked over and opened the door for him.

“Mom why are we here?” He asked her as she gently pulled him out of the car and fixed his shirt, “Nick Carter, is it possible for you to just keep your clothes on straight even for a few minutes?” She said as she lovingly fixed his shirt and ran her fingers through his hair. “You are a mess”

“What are we doing here?” He asked again as they approached the big building.

“Business meeting” She answered opening the door and ushering him in.

The building was stuffy again, you could tell the air conditioning was still not working properly. “Are the others coming? Is it about AJ and Kevin?”

She didn’t answer but smiled at the receptionist as they walked towards the desk, “We have an appointment with Mr. Fink” She said placing her hand on her son’s back and patting it gently.

“He’s been expecting you go on up”

“Thanks” She said and then started walking towards the elevators.

Nick not feeling right about this had just wanted to make a run for the front doors but stopped himself because he was too afraid that his mother would actually try to stop him. He had dreams sometimes once his fame slowly began to escalate, about his mother actually killing him and taking his money. Stupid dreams he always thought…until now. Now seeing the look of determination on her face made him nervous and fearful. What if good old mom finally went over the edge?

He got in the elevator deciding to leave it up to fate.


~*~*~*~*~*
Howie and AJ sat down next to each other sharing a bag of Doritos and a Coke. They hadn’t eaten very much since this whole ordeal had started and now that the adrenaline started to wane the hunger and the tiredness set in.

AJ extended the bag to his friend as he took a sip of Coke, “Thanks” AJ nodded.

They decided to take a little break while Jessica and Matt formulated a plan to get them out of the mess they were in and in the process try to find and rescue Kevin and now Brian.

They thought that Brian would have been at the police station but when Matt called saying he was a reporter for a local paper, he was a bit surprised to find that Brian had left in the care of his lawyer. That’s when they knew he was also in trouble.

“I wonder what is going on with the others” AJ said looking down at his brand new ten dollar Keds that Matt had bought him at a Payless they passed on route to where they were currently hiding.

“I don’t know but I’m worried about them” Ever since seeing the picture that was in that envelope, he couldn’t look AJ in the face. He wouldn’t be able to look any of them in the face.

“We are in a whole heap of trouble aren’t we D?”

“Yeah I do believe so AJ” Howie said looking around at the people roam aimlessly and carefree on the street.

“Maybe we can go and get a job at Disney after all this. You think they are hiring?” Howie laughed, “Yeah they’d really want a drug addict working for them”

“Wow are careers are really over huh?” Now AJ’s tone was somber causing Howie to wrap an arm around him, “I don’t know J”

“At least we know Kevin isn’t an arsonist murderer” AJ said trying to find any light at all in the situation.

There was a long pause and some crunches of chips before AJ continued, “Who is doing this to us Howie? Who is behind all of this? I mean we know Grimes is dirty but he can’t be it can he?” That was the question that Howie had been dreading.

“I have to tell you something AJ” Howie grabbed the envelope from his pants where it was hidden and handed it over to AJ.

“That guy from the Inquisitor gave me this. It says a lot about what is going on I think”

AJ hesitated a minute before opening it. Howie looked away not wanting to see the reaction the picture would have on his friend.

As the picture came out of the envelope AJ’s eyes grew big and disbelieving, “Oh my God…” He whispered, “What is she doing?”

Howie didn’t need to answer because he knew that deep down inside AJ understood exactly what was going on in that picture. “I’m sorry J, I didn’t want to show you but I needed to”

AJ had tears forming on the corners of his eyes and he continued to stare at the picture. “Why?” He asked as Howie took it back and placed it in the envelope.

“I wish I knew”

Jessica and Matt came in about a minute later, “Come on boys we’re going to the Lion’s Den”

“Again? I was just there”

“No not that one. The real one!” She held out her hand and helped Howie up while Matt did the same for AJ.

“The real one? I don’t follow”

“Not the strip club silly, that is just a name. You have heard that saying haven’t you Howie?” He shook his head confused.

“Walking into a record company is just like walking into a big Lion’s Den, if you aren’t careful they will eat you alive! and we are going to talk to the den master himself…Mr. Fink!”


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Brian and Kevin felt like they were walking through a maze with no ending. Just as they would turn a corner and think that they had found an exit they would only find another hallway which led to nowhere. “Where the hell are we?” Brian asked as they turned yet another corner that led to nowhere.

“I have no idea but my guess is we are way down in the basement somewhere because it is cold as hell down here!”

“Why do you think Johnnie has gone through all of this trouble?”

“Brian I wish I knew”

They turned another corner but this time there was a set of steps. “Finally!” their hopes faded when the door was locked.

“You think they have a key back in the room?” Brian asked not really too excited to go back and find out.

“Probably but I don’t think it’s a good idea, I mean we are out numbered even though they are really a bunch of wusses”

“So what do we do now?”

“Keep looking, there’s gotta be another way out of here” Just as Kevin and Brian were about to turn another corner they heard someone coming down the steps. They moved around the corner and silently waited. The door opened and two men came out of it. Both Kevin and Brian decided to stay out of the way quietly as the two guys walked down the corridor. Luckily the weight of the door made it close very slowly so Brian was able to bolt and grab it before it actually shut completely.

They ascended the steps very quickly just in case the two guards had heard them leaving.

They climbed for about three flights before they saw a door. They opened it and the only thing there was an elevator. “Should we?” Brian asked a slightly out of breath Kevin.

“Why the hell not, I’m done with the steps for now”

They both walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. The elevator door binged open and the men went inside. The elevator only went as far as sub basement two so they pressed the button hoping they wouldn’t run into any more of their captors.

Once the doors opened they were once again faced with another series of mazes. “This is like the CIA or something, do people really go through all this trouble to come down here?” Kevin looked around at all the stacks of boxes they passed by, “I don’t really remember how I got down there in the first place what about you?”

“Me either. I think I was to afraid of being shot or something” Brian said side stepping around a pile of papers in a corner. “This looks like a big storage room or something”

“Oh my God…Brian come here” Kevin said picking up one of the folders lying on the ground.

“What is it?” Kevin opened the folder to reveal the contents; mounds of pictures of all five of them.

“What the hell is going on?”

“I wish I knew” Kevin glanced from picture to picture. Most of them were paparazzi style shots, the ones that they were unaware were being taken but a few were head shots. “How did they get their hands on these?” Kevin asked his cousin who had a very troubled look on his face, “I think I know how…look” He said pointing to a whole stack of boxes, so high they reached the ceiling. They all had the same logo on them, one the boys were very familiar with. “We are in the Jive building”

32

Kevin took a step back temporarily shocked about their hiding place. “Why are we here?”

Brian just continued to leaf through the pictures of them in various places, even a few of them sleeping; he was so wrapped up in looking through their lives he had forgotten they were on the run.

“Kevin I have no idea what is going on but now I’m willing to bet that in some way Fink is in on it”

“Well we already know that Johnnie is…Jesus why the hell pick on us?”

Brian shrugged handing him a picture of all five of them sitting in the hotel room from just a few days ago before all the hell started.

“We should get going Brian before they find us” Kevin grabbed at some pictures and tucked them on the inside of his pants.

“What are you doing?”

“Just bringing some proof”

Brian nodded and did the same taking some of the more revealing photos, the ones of them in their hotel room or talking on the phone. There was even one of AJ sitting on the toilet.

The two were just about to leave when they heard the rattling of the doorknob. They quickly hid behind the huge set of boxes, the only thing hiding them from view and quickly turned off the light.

The two guards they had passed earlier were now running into the room furiously looking for what Kevin could only guess was he and his cousin. They sat quite and still, trying hard not to even breathe.

“Did you find them?” A voice growled on the radio one of the men were carrying. “That’s a negative, it looks like they might have come in and left already” Kevin tried to pick out the voice he heard, it sounded familiar and of course why wouldn’t it be. It was the man responsible for bringing them together in the first place; Mr. Lou Pearlman.

“How the hell did Johnnie let them leave?” He said once again yelling into the radio. The guards continued to hunt in the room which caused both Brian and Kevin to move further into the stack of papers they were hiding in.

“Not sure sir, but if they are here we’ll find them”

“You better find them; we are too close to let something else go wrong now!” Lou said then harshly clicked off, leaving the two men in a state of panic. One of the men was about to turn on the light switch when the other once again opened up the door, “I thought I heard some footsteps coming from right above us” He said which caused Brian to let out a small sigh of relief. Just like that the two guys were gone, running after some phantom footsteps from above.

When the coast was clear Kevin crawled out from his hiding place and once again turned on the light, “We really need to get out of here” Brian nodded, “But how? They are right above us. They’ll definitely hear us if we try to run now”

“We’re trapped” they both looked at each other unsure of what their next move should be.


~*~*~*~*~
“I don’t understand what we are doing here mom” Nick huffed as he watched the elevator continue up to the top floor where Mr. Fink’s office was. It didn’t seem to make sense that they were going to a meeting with such an important person without the others. Unless... “Are the other guys meeting us here or something?”

At this point, Jane seemed annoyed with her son and his endless barrage of questions, “Nick, this is a meeting for just us”

“But why?” She gave him a look hoping to stop him.

“Mom?”

“Nick…we are about to make some really important decisions”

“Huh?”

“Just trust me”

“Mom this isn’t a good time for all of this. Things are not going well; I mean Fink is kind of mad about me and the whole strip club thing…”

She laughed, “I know but honey there is never going to be a best time”

“And Kevin is missing” He stopped himself, not sure if he should have told his mother so much information but yet not totally surprised when she seemed to know already.

“Honey let me just do all the talking okay?” She said just as the elevators opened on the top floor.

He felt uneasy, his stomach churning and getting queasy but he nodded at her, and after all she was his mother.

She hugged him as they exited the elevator, “We are going to make a better life for us right now baby…you’ll see”

“Okay mom” He said resigned to the fact that he had to meet with the guy who scared him to death just to make his mother happy.


~*~*~*~*~*~
AJ stood on the curb nervously shaking his leg and biting on his bottom lip, “I’m not sure that this is such a great idea”

“Me either but we have to trust they know what they’re doing” Howie said as he looked over at Jessica trying to hail a cab.

“It just seems like a dumb thing to do”

“I just want this nightmare to be over J, find Kevin and Brian and hope that Nicky is safe”

“I wonder why Jess wouldn’t tell us who he was with”

“At this point, I’m not even sure I want to know” They both just quieted down after that, deep in thought. Howie was so scared of doing this although he wouldn’t admit it to AJ. He feared for his friend’s safety.

Jessica had managed to flag a cab and motioned for Howie to join her inside, “Howie please be careful” AJ said grabbing his friends shoulder and giving a squeeze.

“I will you too”

“We’ll be right behind you” Matt assured as he walked Howie towards the cab and gave his girlfriend a kiss.

Once in the cab, Howie decided to speak up about what was on his mind. “Maybe I should go alone, since it’s me that they seem to have a problem with”

Jessica looked at Howie with a forlorn expression on her face, “It’s not just you sweetie, you were just the easiest one to manipulate. They figured you would easily stop and see what was wrong with Matt”

“Why?”

“They needed you to be seen with him”

“Jessica why?”

“They wanted a picture of the two of you together, you talking to a sad Nick in an office”

“Nick?”

“Yes, Howie so many things just went wrong, I wish I could tell you how it all got out of hand but the truth is I still don’t know myself. All I do know is that my Matt needed to lure you in and he did. They were sure you would fall for it, that’s why they sent Kevin away”

Howie nodded, of course wasn’t it Johnnie that had given Kevin the go ahead for some personal time. That was so unlike Johnnie considering he was the one who had suggested it in the first place.

“You look tired son…why don’t you take this weekend off?” The other four boys had stopped what they were doing and all stared at their manager.

“That’s ridiculous Johnnie, I can’t do that”

“It’s no big deal…they only have a small meeting and then they are pretty much done with things. Just a few days, I think the guys agree don’t you boys?” They had all seemed totally shocked and it took them awhile to even say anything at all.

“Yeah I guess so” Howie was the first one to respond, “Maybe it is a good idea Kev, I mean you haven’t been feeling that good”

“But what about the meeting with Fink? I know you guys hate dealing with him”

“Howie will handle it won’t you Howie?” That was also Johnnie giving D a stern look as he said it.

“Of course”

So Kevin reluctantly went on his little break and Howie was left holding all the responsibility. “I was used” He said feeling sick to his stomach.

“Yes you were” Jessica gave him a sympathetic look, “We all were Howie”

He looked away from her then and stared out at the window as the huge skyscraper came into view.


~*~*~*~*~*~
Kevin and Brian waited for a few more minutes before opening the door and once again climbing the stairs. They both decided that the longer they waited around the less chance they had of actually getting out of there. At least if they were caught they could scream and make enough noise to bring attention to themselves, unless everyone in the damn building was a part of it.

The climbed the steps very slowly careful not to even breath too loudly when finally they reached a landing where there was another elevator. “How many levels does this place have?” Brian found himself asking again.

“I don’t know” Kevin said carefully looking through the small window before opening the door where the elevator was. They cautiously got in and were relieved when they saw a button that said lobby. “Here we go” He said as he pressed the button.

“You know they’ll be waiting for us”

Kevin nodded, “I know”


~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nick looked around the huge office feeling like a small child. He hated business meetings like this because that’s how he always felt, like a kid. Especially when his mother was involved. At least when all the guys were there they all felt equally as small, well everyone but Kevin and maybe Howie who both had a business head on their shoulders. Nick would just sit there in silence and fidget which would bring a not so friendly tap on the knee from one of the guys or even worse from Johnnie.

“It’s about time you got here we have been waiting for a long time” Nick looked over to Lou who had a less then pleased look on his face. This was it; he thought to himself, they have called me up here to fire me.

“Why is he here?” Jane held her son a little bit closer at the venomous tone coming from a very strange source; He had been used to hearing it but never quite directed at him. Usually it was at her own son even though she never made it a big secret that Nick got on her nerves.

“Relax Denise; I had to take him here”

“No you didn’t!” Lou yelled as Nick found himself standing behind his mother. “You think I was going to let those people grab him and drag him here?” Jane said pointing an accusatory finger at Lou.

Nick couldn’t believe what he was hearing but it was right then and there he realized that he was in a whole heap of trouble.

“They weren’t going to hurt him Jane”

“Yeah right, well I wasn’t going to take my chances” She shot back at Denise who seemed to be less then comfortable sitting in her chair next to Fink.

He looked at both women, “We have a lot of work to do” Then he glared at Nick before putting on a deceptively devilish smile, “Come and sit down Nick…”


~*~*~*~*~*~
As the elevator got closer to the lobby, Brian felt his chest tightening. As much as he loved video games and the adrenaline he would feel pumping in his veins when chasing bad guys, this was all too real for him and this time the bad guys were chasing HIM.

“What if they have guns Kev?”

“They won’t have guns. I haven’t seen a single gun yet have you?”

“No, but what if now they do?”

“We will be in a very public building Brian. I think we’ll be okay but just in case…you stay behind me”

Just as he said that the elevator opened up to the giant lobby of the Jive building.

*once again sorry for the delay*

33

Kevin and Brian hesitated before stepping out into the crowded area. People were walking with heads down rushing from one end of the building to the other without even looking up. Their first inclination was to run but when Brian started to quicken his pace he was pulled back by his cousin, “Bri, let’s not attract attention to ourselves. Slow and steady” He didn’t look like he agreed but he listened anyway.

They both scanned the perimeters around where they were standing seeing if they recognized those guards from earlier or anyone else who could eventually cause them trouble. “Seems like they just disappeared” Kevin said looking back at his pale cousin.

The elevator doors once again closed and started it’s ascent back downstairs, “Kevin I have a feeling we should move because when that elevator comes back up most likely it will be carrying those guys again” Kevin nodded in agreement and they both slowly made their way into the busy lobby.

A few people looked their way and smiled at them as they tried their best to go unnoticed.

“Where should we go now?” Brian whispered into his cousin’s ear as they temporarily stepped into a small secluded hallway.

“Not really sure but…” Kevin stopped in his tracks and quickly pushed himself right next to the wall motioning for Brian to do the same. “What?” Brian tried to ask but was quickly hushed by Kevin who pointed to the elevators they had just gotten out of. Sure enough there was one of the guards that was searching for them earlier, talking into his shoulder. He wasn’t what really made Kevin wince, what really did it was the site of Johnnie walking behind him not looking pleased in the least. He was disheveled and rubbing at the small wounds that were inflicted on him earlier. His back must have hurt from being tackled and bounced on.

“He got out”

“Yeah and he doesn’t look happy at all” Just for a split second Johnnie seemed to look right in their direction and Kevin gasped.

“Oh my God I think he saw us” Brian panicked and started to back up further into the hallway.

But luckily Johnnie turned away from them and instead headed for the main elevators on the other side of the lobby but first stopping at the front desk and speaking to the secretary. One of the people who smiled at them earlier.

“I hope he doesn’t ask her if she saw us”

They waited until they saw Johnnie and the guard walk out of view before they stepped back out into the lobby. It was then that they saw Jessica enter the building.

“Come on” Kevin said now walking towards the main door this time being pushed back by Brian. “Hold on Kev…let’s just wait until the coast is clear”

“That’s impossible” He said as he stopped and just watched as Jessica walked over to the main desk.

“What’s impossible?” He pointed over to Jessica, “Her…she’s supposed to be dead” They both couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw her plain as day and as alive as can be, “This is great news Kevin! That means your name will be cleared”

Jessica laughed with the secretary and then turned once again heading for the exit, “We’re gonna lose her. We should follow her” Brian said as they both started walking behind Jessica, careful to stay a far enough distance away so as not to be detected by her.


~*~*~*~
Howie stood right outside the main entrance constantly looking at his watch. He really didn’t think this was such a good idea, them demanding to go up and talk to Fink. Chances are they would be walking into a trap. Couple that with the fact that he wasn’t entirely sure he even trusted these people. He kept glancing down the road hoping that at any minute he would see another cab carrying AJ. He really didn’t want to leave AJ behind with Matt. From now on after this was all over, IF this was ever going to be over, he would never leave his friends alone ever! Maybe he would just have to insist they all move in together. This way something like this would never happen again.

Jessica came walking out of the building a few moments later, “Seems like Fink isn’t here. At least that’s what Samantha said”

“Do you believe her?”

“Not really. She said it the same way I always did when I knew he was here but not to be interrupted. Anyway I told her to tell him the Phoenix was back from the dead. She looked at me like I was drunk but that will get him to let us up if he’s there”

“Shouldn’t AJ and Matt have been here by now?”

“Relax Howie you know there is such a thing as traffic” He tried to laugh but once again found nothing funny about this situation, “I just want this to be over” He said glancing back towards the huge double doors to Jive. He was just about to turn his head again to watch for AJ, when something made him look back into the building, “Am I seeing things?” He asked. Jessica looked at him and then looked inside. There they both saw Brian and Kevin staring at them.


~*~*~*~
Kevin and Brian stood looking at the two people right in front of the building trying to make triple sure one of them was indeed their friend. When they saw him peer back at them a sense of relief washed over both men as they headed out the doors to see their friend.

Howie smiled as they came out of the building squinting because the sun was so bright in the sky. “Christ Kevin I was so worried about you” Howie grabbed his friend in a big bear hug. But before the pleasantries got too out of hand Jessica ushered them off to the side, “Not a good idea to cause so much of a scene people” she said making sure that no one was watching them.

“You were killed. I was there when your house blew up!” Brian shouted at her ignoring Howie and Kevin was they watched.

“I know you were, but I’m alive”

“What were the two of you doing in there?”

“We were held captive in the basement. God knows how long I was there for and then Brian came a little bit afterwards. Guys there is a lot I have to tell you. Starting with Johnnie and Fink” “We know about it already” Howie said sounding very sad as he did.

“They’re all in on it everybody including Pearlman” Kevin said looking around making sure they weren’t followed out and around the building. “I’ll be right back just want to make sure Matt and AJ aren’t waiting for us out front” Jessica left in a hurry and darted around the corner towards the main entrance.

“I’m so glad you both are okay. I was totally worried about you guys. You have no idea”

Howie walked over and gave Brian a small hug, “Should I even ask how you managed to get out of jail?”

“No, I’ll tell you after this is all over” It looked like he just realized something was missing, “Where’s Nick?”

“Not sure, someone took him while I was at the Inquisitor”

Kevin and Brian exchanged concerned glances. “But we know where AJ is?”

“I’m right here” The guys turned at the sound of his voice and all three went over and hugged him. “Hey it’s almost a reunion, now I’m not terrified almost…almost”

“Where is Jessica and Matt?” Howie looked at his three friends so happy to know they were now back together again. “They went inside to see if Fink is ready to see us. Is it wrong of me to say I hope he isn’t here and doesn’t want to?”

“Not at all, I don’t know what happens next actually”

“I’m sorry guys, I kind of feel like this is all my fault” AJ said solemnly leaning his head against the wall.

“How is this your fault?” Kevin walked over and put a loving arm around his young friend. “Howie did you show them the picture yet?’ He shook his head at AJ.

“We found a ton of pictures of us as we were making our escape” Kevin pulled out the now crumpled up pictures of them, “It’s kind of creepy actually”

AJ and Howie looked at them in disbelief, “How did they get these?”

“No idea D” After a slight pause, Howie took the envelope housing the picture that AJ was talking about and the handed it over to the other guys to see, “This is what the guy from the inquisitor gave to me”

Kevin’s eyes grew wide when he saw what appeared to be a very affectionate Denise Mclean kissing Fink. The couple was wrapped in an embrace but there was no doubt in Kevin’s mind at least that they were right at Jive.

Brian looked over to AJ, “You didn’t know about this?” He sadly shook his head.

“This probably has something to do with their relationship”

Before they could ponder further Jessica and Matt came back around the corner, “Well it appears that Fink IS in after all but currently with someone else right now. He told us that he wanted to see us immediately and we should head right up. This is it boys. Are you ready?”

“What are we going to do exactly?” Kevin stood stock still as if he were bolted to the ground. There was no way he was going to trust anyone and do anything without a solid reason to do so.

“We are going to call him out on all this stuff and demand to know what is going on and why it’s going on. Then I don’t know about you guys but I intend on calling the police on his ass!” They all were a bit surprised about the hateful tone in Howie’s voice.

Kevin nodded, “Okay well let’s go then…”


~*~*~*~*~
Nick sat tense and worried as he heard them talking about his career like he wasn’t even there. All the big plans they had for the boys after this incident was over. He took a minute to carefully look at everyone in the eye, trying to take in anything he could. His Mom looked at the table the whole time until the talk went to business then she was alert and made eye contact with everyone in the room. Denise kept glancing over his way and smiling at him, that ‘don’t be scared it’s going to be okay honey’ type of smile that he wasn’t buying even for a second.

Fink was stern and had a disgusted look on his face the entire time anyone spoke. Especially his mom. Lou was there too and he was doing the same thing that Denise was doing but most of the time his eyes were down.

“I’m telling you Robert this will work”

“I know you would like to think so Jane but it’s too late”

“How is it too late? I mean Nick is here he will cooperate, won’t you baby?” His mother looked over at him with pleading eyes, just say yes, don’t even hesitate just say yes.

Nick didn’t say anything though only sat with head down, fidgeting in his seat.

“I know it seemed like a great idea at the time but the boys have not cooperated and too many things have gone wrong. It’s too late and now we have to just cut our losses”

“You can’t talk about them as losses they’re boys. Our boys” Denise said angrily standing up and pacing in front of Fink, “We have ruined these kids lives and now you want to let sleeping dogs lie?”

“You are behind all of the crap that happened?” Nick asked his mom as if no one else was in the room.

She didn’t answer him and instead continued her argument, “Please listen to us, Denise and I have really thought this through, it’s not to late, we can still claim that Kevin and Brian are missing. That’ll get the publicity…”

“Then we can link that to the other things that have been happening and say that someone was setting them up” Denise continued.

“That was before they escaped” Fink said very annoyed. That statement gave Nick hope, “Escaped? Who escaped?”

“They got out?” Denise asked surprised.

“Yes they got out and are roaming around the streets somewhere it’s only a matter of time before we are caught so we need to stop that from happening. I’m sorry but it’s over. We have to have them terminated”

“You mean you’re firing us?” Nick asked not really thinking through all that had been said.

Jane stood up now, “NO! You can’t!!” She insisted. This as Johnnie was walking into the room.

“I don’t see any other way out of it Jane”

“Mom don’t let them fire us”

Fink walked over to Nick with a smug expression on his face, “We’re not talking about firing you kid”

Jane stood distraught with Denise now next to her, “What does he mean mom? Mom?” Fink grabbed Nick up off of his chair suddenly which caused the boy to let out a groan as he struggled in the man’s grip. “There has to be another way” Johnnie said standing up appearing to come to Nick’s defense. Jane grabbing for him as well.

“I don’t see any other way”

“Let go of me!” Nick said kicking his captor repeatedly on the leg.

The phone on Fink’s desk rang which helped to break up the tension. Fink never letting go of Nick’s wrist walked over and answered it. He stood and listened while Nick struggled.

“Help…” He tried to get out but was slapped in the face which once again brought Jane running towards the two of them.

Nick remained silent as a small drip of blood made It’s way down his face. Fink finished his conversation and pushed Nick to the ground, his mom running to help him up.

“Get away from me” he hissed at her.

“Seems like we are very soon to get some company up here” Fink said smiling from ear to ear and turning towards Nick, “your friends are on their way up so I guess we won’t have to track them down after all” Jane, Denise and Johnnie all stood around Nick as Fink continued, “Kid…time to get you ready for the show. I hope you aren’t afraid of heights!”

*sorry...hope you enjoy!*

34

Howie looked from one of his friends to the other focusing for a moment on each one. Kevin looked as if he had aged about ten years since the last time he had seen him. His hair disheveled, his clothes all wrinkly and dust all over his face.
Brian looked about the same but even paler than he was before. AJ’ s foot was nervously twitching as he bit on his bottom lip watching the numbers ascend in the elevator.

He had an overwhelming feeling of guilt about all of this, “Guys” They all looked over at Howie as he continued, “I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry for all of this. If it weren’t for me…”

“Not now D. This is no one’s fault besides we have to concentrate on what we are doing. Promise me you are focused” Kevin put a hand on his shoulder like he had done so many times before. He answered his friends gaze with a nod, “More than ever. I just want this to be over. NO matter what happens”

That was a lie. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know how deep Denise was in on this, or Lou or even Johnnie. It made him sick actually to think those people who he trusted so much could have a hand in doing all of this to them.

When the elevator doors opened Grimes and Johnnie were there waiting for them. “Hello boys” Johnnie said smiling at them all, his gaze falling on Kevin and staying there as if to say ‘don’t worry I remember what you and your stupid cousin did to me’

“Fink is looking forward to our little meeting” Grimes offered not pretending to be as cordial as Johnnie was.

“Well what are we waiting for then? Let’s get going” Howie said pushing ahead of everyone including Kevin. He felt as if it was his duty to take the lead in the situation since he blamed himself for everything that happened in the first place.

When the door opened, there was Fink sitting at the end of the table just like he had so many times before. The room was thick with cigar smoke. It was making Brian nauseous as he took a seat right next to their boss.

Lou Pearlman was sitting on Fink’s left, his eyes fixated on the table. He didn’t even bother to look up and greet the men.

“Hello Jessica so glad to see you are well” Fink said ironically ignoring everyone that entered prior to her.

“Bullshit…you are wishing I was dead”

Fink smiled and nodded to Johnnie to close the door which he did, also locking it before sitting down next to AJ.

“I think it’s time you came clean to us about everything” Howie looked over to Kevin and was surprised that he didn’t direct the question to Fink but to Lou who was now looking directly at the eldest member.

“You need patience…we know you have a ton of questions but they will be answered at my discretion” Fink answered.

“You know that line only goes so far Mr. Fink…but you have crossed over that line and unless you want us to call the police right now I suggest you…” AJ stopped when he saw the adjoining door open.

“We only did this for you honey. All five of you” There was a shocked silence as Denise went over to her son and kissed him on the cheek.

“AJ there are so many things you have to do in this business. So many roads you might not necessarily want to go down but to be famous you just have to”

“I don’t understand…” That’s when Jane came out of the same room that Denise was in, “We didn’t expect you too. That’s why we never intended on you finding out”

“I’m confused…what’s going on Mom?” AJ looked back at his mother who now had tears in her eyes.

Fink becoming impatient took over, “The best ending in the world. That’s what she’s talking about! AJ…boys. What’s better then a great scandal? Think about it” Now all the boys were standing around AJ who was still looking at his mom the same way that Nick had earlier.

Fink continued his little speech while circling the boys like a shark, “All throughout history think about all the scandals. There was Strawberry Fields when played backwards you hear Paul is dead. Think it was a coincidence that Paul disappeared for a little while after that?”

He walked past Brian and continued, “Then there was the mysterious and untimely death of Jim Morrison of the Doors. Think about what that did to their record sales”

“What is the point?” Kevin said sounding disgusted.

“The point? Well if you guys want to amount to anything you need something more than what you have. Denise, Jane and your management wanted to make sure that we supplied that for you”

“What? Our MUSIC is all we need!” That made everyone in the room except the four boys laugh. Even the two moms smiled, “That is so sweet of you to think that. That’s not true though. It’s not the music that makes people want to know about you and buy your records it’s your story.

“Story?” Howie was starting to get a headache. This whole thing had to be a dream right? Because something like this wouldn’t…couldn’t really happen.

“Yes a story. You guys are too goodie goodie. Think about what a good scandal would do for you. You know like maybe one of you being addicted to drugs” He said looking at AJ, “Being so addicted that you are actually admitted into rehab” Fink walked down to Brian, “Then imagine finding out that it was the holy boy who sold them to you”

He continued to talk, “Then we have Kevin here who possibly had a house burnt down to the ground for the insurance money…don’t you see what happens? You end up in the papers. Not only Bop or Teen people but all of the real papers. They start talking about you, giving your fans sound bites. They’ll say things like they would never do something like that. They are being framed” He paused as he stood next to Howie, “Suddenly you have people like Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters calling you for interviews. Think that would have happened before?”

“That’s about the dumbest thing I have ever heard”

Fink smiled, “Is it? You know how long this has been going on? Do you think this is new guys? This kind of stuff has been happening long before any of you were even born. Plane crashes that have never actually happened are still keeping famous people in the news to this day. Meanwhile they are out living on a little island somewhere waiting for their big return”

“We don’t want that to happen for us”

“It’s too late Kevin…”

“So is this another part of the deal? You terrorize your acts as well. Make them think their lives and their friend’s lives are in danger?”

“No…not always. Usually they are right in on it along with us. They thought it was best if you didn’t know” Fink looked over at Denise and Jane who were now sitting next to Lou and looking as if they wanted to run out of the room and never come back.

“That was a wise choice because now that we know we want to put an end to it”

“That’s the difficult part” Fink said now walking towards the small door that both Jane and Denise had emerged from.

“What do you mean?”

“We can’t have you guys leaving this room and going to the police. I have worked to hard for that and of course if you did that I wouldn’t hesitate to point a finger at all of these people who have worked so hard to get you to where you are”

“What are you saying then?”

Fink opened the door and led the boys inside, Denise and Jane followed, “Don’t please! There has to be another way!” Jane pleaded as they entered the room to find Nick sitting at the table, tears in his eyes but just sitting there staring into space.

Kevin picked up his pace and walked over to his young friend and kneeled down beside him, “Nicky?...are you okay?”

Nick glanced up from his trance, he hadn’t even heard the door open. Nothing much seemed to matter to him anymore. He was devastated by his mother’s own betrayal.

“Kevin? Oh my God I was so worried about you…”

Kevin placed a protective hand on his friend’s shoulder and turned to face the people he had trusted with their careers. “What is wrong with him? What did you do?” by this time Howie, Brian and AJ were now standing behind Nick and all looking at the others as if they were staring at the most evil people in the world.

“He’s had a hard day boys. Leave him be, it’s not everyday you find out your own mother sells you out behind your back” Jane stepped forward and smacked Fink across the face.

“I’m not listening to this anymore. You are an ass and I want this to end. I don’t care if I go to prison either. Come on baby we’re getting out of here”

“He’s not going anywhere Jane. He’s mine, all these kids are. So if you want to leave be my guest but the kid stays”

“Mom…don’t go I don’t want you to get into trouble…please?” Nick said blandly. Like the words were not sitting right in his mouth. the look of contempt on his face just added to the tone in his voice.

“He’s right Jane, we’re so close to being done with this. Let’s just see it through”

“Oh it’s easy for you to say…” Jane said making her way over to Denise, “It’s not YOUR son who is the endgame!”

“My son already did his time now it’s your turn” The two women argued forgetting that everyone was in there watching. Fink was smiling, finding the whole thing amusing but the boys and even Lou and Johnnie all had a look of intense disgust on their faces.

AJ however was far from being pleased. He looked ready to burst. “What the hell are you talking about… endgame?” He shouted making everyone in the room look his way.

The two women stopped fighting and now turned as Fink started to laugh.

“I’m not finding any of this funny” Howie said, anger tingeing his voice.

“I still want to know what the hell Jane meant by endgame?” AJ said once again walking towards his mother.

“This is the final act gentlemen. That’s what she means” Fink said pushing his way past the two mothers and walking right up to AJ, staring him square in the eyes. “This is what we have been leading up to…aren’t you excited? This is the moment of the big reveal” He walked past AJ this time and over to Nick who was still sitting quietly at the table, but now had his head down.

Jessica intercepted Fink before he could make his way to the young blonde, “you aren’t going to do this Fink. Absolutely not. I will not let you do this”

“Come on Jess….where’s the enthusiasm you had before? Don’t get cold feet on us now”

“Look it’s obvious this has gone as far as it can possibly go. Let them all leave and that’s that” She said placing a hand on Fink's shoulder as if to push him away.

Kevin began looking around the room for an alternate escape route. He and his cousin had done this once before and they could very well do it again. And leave those two stupid excuses for parents behind as well. He wasn’t sure how he was ever going to be able to forgive these people in this room for dragging them through hell. This was a mess, but all the talk about endgames and letting them leave made him realize that maybe if he didn’t act quick he wouldn’t be alive long enough to find out if forgiveness was in the cards.

“I have invested far too much time and money into them to just write them off. No way….we go on with this scheme as planned. Sorry you don’t like it but ah well, it’s to late to back out now”He forcefully grabbed Jessica's hand and pushed it off of his shoulder.

Kevin gave Brian a look, who was still standing behind Nick and had his arm on the kid’s shoulder. Howie was standing off to the side now staring at Kevin as well.

“So that’s that then?” Denise said as if feeling the need to prove to her only son that she was worthy of his love by finally taking a stand and doing the right thing. “you are just saying ah well? Well I don’t except that”

“Too late Denise, you should have thought about that before” He now once again walked towards Nick. Jessica knowing full well what was about to happen ran behind him and once again grabbed his arm, making him turn back towards her.

Fink then pushed Jessica away which caused Matt to come to her aid and he did this by punching Fink square in the nose. Fink wasn’t expecting that and fell to the floor with a thud. The others in the room didn’t know exactly what to do but Kevin’s instinct told them to move and move now. So he motioned for Howie to move to the door and Brian quickly followed. Kevin pat Nick on the shoulder as he moved past him and grabbed AJ as well, “Let’s go” He said to both AJ and Denise.

By this time Johnnie stood like a deer seeing an oncoming car ready to hit him. He wasn’t sure if he should run or just stay put. Maybe tackle the guys or call it a day and leave the country. Lou however had his own idea of what needed to be done as he stood blocking the main doorway along with Grimes.

Once the guys all bolted out of the smaller room Nick slowly stood up and made his way to the window, ignoring his mother’s pleas for him to stop.

He turned to her with tears in his eyes. "Why Mom? this is the endgame isn't it?" He clicked the lock and slid the window opened, taking a deep breath he slowly climbed out onto the ledge.

35

Kevin stood ready to tackle Lou to the ground if the need to do so arose. His emotions were playing tricks on him now and he wasn’t sure who he could ever trust again. The only thing certain was he was making his way out of that room even if it meant running over the man who had jump started their careers and made them everything they had become.

What exactly had they become anyway? He felt himself shudder at the thought. “Let us out of here Lou”

“Now Kevin, I know you are upset son…but listen to me”

“No, we’re done listening to you. Never again Lou, now get out of the way or we are going to have a serious problem”

Before he could say another word on the issue Jane’s pleas were heard echoing throughout the room.

Howie turned to see Jane walking past the door with a panicked expression on her face, “Nick” He said without thinking.

Brian quickly followed Howie as he ran into the room and stopped short when he saw Jane standing near hysterics next to the opened window.

Howie scanned the room and his heart stood still when there was no sign of Nick anywhere. By this time Fink was now slowly getting up off the floor and was smiling ear to ear as he sat down staring at the window. The only one who seemed to notice was AJ who made his way over to the man and grabbed him by the collar and pushed him off the chair, “Where the hell is he?” he screamed completely losing any composure.

“The window” Jane managed to gasp out between sobs, “He jumped out of the window”

“No!” Howie ran to the window and hesitated before looking out. He couldn’t bear to see it. There was no way he could live with the image of Nick splattered all over the street.

Kevin did look out the window without even thinking twice and to his relief there was no sign of Nick guts anywhere. He did see a white shoe out of the corner of his eye. For some reason, that scared him more then seeing Nick lying on the floor a few thousand feet below.

“Nick!” He yelled now moving his head out of the window trying to get a better look at the distraught teen, “What are you doing out there?”

All he could see was Nick’s left foot and his arm hanging on to the building. “Leave me alone Kevin”

“What? Come back in here now before you fall!” He thought about going on the ledge after him but couldn’t make himself do it. By now Howie was standing next to him, still not allowing himself to look out the window. “He’s on the ledge…” Kevin said looking down at his own feet, “Why is he on the ledge Jane?”

Jane didn’t answer, only continued to cry on the floor. Denise walked over to AJ and gently caressed his shoulders from behind. “This is it baby, This is the endgame Jane was talking about?” He pulled away from her at that point, “What?” She made sure to whisper only so he could hear since everyone was already so occupied with focusing on the window. “you knew he was going to do this?”

“This has been the plan all along” Denise now made her way from her son to Jane as she continued to sit and cry on the floor. “What have I done?”

“Everything will work out. Don’t worry he won’t jump” Denise assured her. AJ just stood dumbfounded watching the two parents console one another as his baby band brother was on the ledge at the top of a sky scraper.

“Nick please come inside! You are going to fall” Brian pleaded as he to now made his way over to the window. Kevin had since left the main window to try to find another way to get to Nick.

By this time a crowd of people had gathered below, Nick allowed himself to look down for just a moment; a huge mistake since he suddenly felt woozy realizing what he had actually done. He was outside on a small ledge hundreds of feet high and he, Nick Carter was afriad of heights. He laughed, he couldn't help it.

"NIck, get the hell back in here" Brian said, now quickly loosing his cool.

"Bri...i'm afriad of heights"

"I know that! Look Nick don't do this, whatever it is we can work it out"

"No...don't you see? It's to late Brian. I have to do this or it won't end"

"Nick..." He quickly stuck his head back in the room only to notice it was now full of people bussling in trying to find out what was going on. Someone mentioned calling the police.

"What is he talking about?" He asked Fink directly who only shrugged and suddenly feigned worry.

"There's no way to get to him except for going out there" Kevin said running back into the room in a panic.

Now reporters were making their way into the room and it was suddenly becoming a circus. "That's it, i'm going after him"

"Are you nuts Kev?" AJ said laying a protective hand on Kevin's shoulder.

"Got any other ideas?"

"Yes, we should wait for help to arrive. They'll be here in a minute"

"Jay Nick is a clutz, he's lucky he can walk two feet without tripping over his own feet, I don't know if we CAN wait a minute"

"Let me go then" Howie said voice low but convincing. He was looking down at the floor but when he said that he made eye contact with all three boys. "Let me go out there and get him"

"No way D! It's dangerous. I know I can handle it"

"But I can't?" He was still staring a Kevin, "You need to let me do this" He sounded so full of guilt it almost hurt to hear him.

"Fine but be careful Howie we don't need two Backstreet Boy on the ground"

"Oh that's very reassuring" He said walking over to the ledge and sticking his leg out.

"What is he doing? Where are you going?" Howie heard Denise as he continued to make his way out the window.

The flashbulbs of some more reporters coming into the room were on overdrive now. He tried to ignore that as he took a deep breath and climbed out onto the ledge.

It was surprisingly bigger then he pictured a ledge to be. He actually had about two to three feet of room out there. He looked at Nick who had his back against the building and firmly grasping the wall. "Nick" The voice so close almost made him lose his balance. Howie put his hands up as if to catch him, but luckily he steadied himself.

"Howie? What are you doing out here? Go back inside"

"I will when you do buddy"

"I can't" He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "I have to do this and everything will go away. That's what Fink said"

"What do you mean? That bastard told you to jump? Nick don't listen to him everything..."

"No! Not to jump but to climb out onto the ledge. He said if I did this all our troubles will go away"

Now sirens in the distance could be heard. Actually they were right outside the building forming a small barracade. It looked like Christmas with all the police lights.

"He said that once I did this that everyone's name would be cleared and we would come out on top as heros"

Howie slowly went to grab for Nick's arm, careful not to startle the teen too much. He grabbed him which made Nick open his eyes, "Nicky....let's go inside. Come on. This has gone to far. We will deal with anything that comes our way but not like this. Come on" Now there were tears in Nick's eyes as he tried turning towards Howie, "But then AJ, Brian and Kevin will still be in trouble"

"We'll deal with it Nicky"

A police officer stuck his head out the window, "Son are you okay?" Howie nodded, "We are going back in now" He still had Nick's arm in his grasp, "Come on baby, it'll be okay"

"Howie...don't tell them what I told you, okay?" Howie nodded but as he was about to climb into the window he felt Nick grab onto him with his other hand. To his horror he saw Nick slowly loosing his balance and starting to fall. "Jesus!" He screamed as he grabbed onto Nick as tightly as he could, Nick now dangling off the side of the building. The policeman was quick to offer his help as was the rest of the guys and together they all managed to pull Nick to safety inside the building. Cheers were heard coming from the crowd below.

Once inside he collapsed to the floor quickly surrounded by the guys but Howie on top of him. "don't you ever do anything like that again Nick or I swear I will throw you out a window myself!" Kevin yelled.

The room exploded with life at that point. Reporters and police streaming in trying to get to Nick and Howie only to be pushed away by Fink, Johnnie and Lou. Jane was now sitting on a chair covered in a blanket and talking to a news person while paramedics made their way into the room to check Nick to make sure he was okay.

"Howie was able to hear bits and pieces of random conversations going on around him, "Something to do with illegal drug activity by a few members of the band" Then he turned to see another reporter standing off to the side. He walked close to him to hear, "Kevin Richardson was suspected on arson and murder while his cousin Brian was accused of selling drugs..."

Now it was almost a hypnotic state he was in, trying his hardest to find out what the heck people were saying about them.

"People think the teen was reeling over his friend's troubles and maybe one or two of his own"

"Mr. Dorough?" He looked up to see a female reporter sticking a microphone in his face, "What you did was heroic out there, rescuing your friend...tell me what do you think led him to doing that?"

Howie thought long and hard, taking in the scene before him. The tons of police and Jive personel all staring at them. Reporters furiously writing and photographers flashing pictures. "No comment" He said finally realizing why Nick was on that ledge and finding himself wanting to go back out there again for good.

Fink walked behind Howie and grasped his shoulder, "I'm sorry but right now none of the boys are willing to make a statement. Let them relax and we will be back with that statement shortly, Howie come with me" He said smiling at the cameras and leading Howie out of that room and past even more press people.

Once they were safely tucked away Howie grabbed Fink by the shoulers, "Why the hell do you tell him to do that?"

Fink pushed him away and grabbed HOwie turning him towards thw window where he was a helicopter from a local newstation, "Look out there Howie! What do you see?"

"It's a zoo"

"You're right and you know why they are hear? Because of you guys"

"God you really ARE a monster"

"No i'm not Howie, i'm a businessman" He let go of Howie and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, "Now I must admit, I didn't think you would go after him but since you did i'm sure he told you what I said?"

"Yes"

"Well then you know that soon you guys are going to be cleared of everything. Just one big misunderstanding after the other and the poor Backstreet Boys caught in the middle of it all"

"I'm not going to let you get away with this" Fink smiled, "Oh really?"

"Yes really" He was just about to walk out the door when Fink said, "Then I guess we'll have to use this then" That made him sotp and turn around, at first scared to death that when he did he would be facing a bareel of a gun. Fink holding yet another manilla envelope and smiling met him instead. "What's that?"

He threw it to Howie, "Why don't you check it out. It was about to find it's way on Barbara Walter's desk but I managed to intercept it... but Howie not sure how long I can keep covering for you guys" He was enjoying this game he was playing and Howie wanted to leap at him and rip his throat apart.

He held the envelope in his hand for a few minutes contemplating on just tearing it up and dealing with the consequences, but his curiousity got the best fo him and he tore into it only to find two pictures.

The first one was in front of the Lion's Den when he had Matt slammed against the wall in a threatening way after he had pushed Nick to the floor. Only thing was nick was not in the picture.

"Yeah what about this?"

"Wouldn't it be a shame if people saw you bullying your youngest band member? I mean if a kid is pushed so far there could be consequences like trying to throw himself out a building for instance"

"That's not Nick you know perfectly well that that isn't Nick" Fink shrugged, "Do I? It looks an awful lot like Nick"

Then the next picture was of Matt all beaten up and brusied. "Yeah that one is awful isn't it?"

"You're a bastard"

"Imagine what would happen if the press got a hold of these pics, couple this with your two drug addict friends and the other one who likes to burn down houses. Seems like you guys have a quite a problem"

"All I have to do is have Matt and Jessica come forward and tell everyone what a lying scumbag you are"

He laughed again, "Howie I have to say it's odd hearing you cuss. I'm glad we picked you"

"What are you talking about?" Matt made his way into the room, "Boy it's really is a jungle out there!"

"How is everyone holding up?" Fink asked now thumping out his cigarette.

"good, they are all being swarmed by reporters and all very curious to know where Howie is"

"He'll be out in a minute, we are just finishing up" Howie looked at Matt with disgust, "Howie come on if you got as much money as they paid me you would have done the same thing"

"No I wouldn't have"

"They paid me a lot to disappear which is what I plan on doing right now" He looked at the pictures Howie was holding in his hand, "I'm sorry about all this" He said before walking out the door.

"Balls in oyur court Howie. You keep everything to yourself and everything will be fine but if I hear on thing about me or anyone else being behind this then unfortunately I won't be able to keep these pictures in hiding and that also means that to do so Nick might have to be seriously hurt. We wouldn't want that to happen would we?"

He didn't answer only stared at the wall. "Choice is yours and by the way those aren't the originals... He said pointing to the pictures. "Don't wait too long people are waiting to hear from the hero!" Then he walked out the door leaving Howie standing there clutching the pictures so hard he was crinkling them.

epilogue

Things happen for a reason. When you are dating a wonderful girl for years and you think she's the one until one day you find her in bed with somebody else. Maybe at that moment you think your life is over until you are coming out of her apartment with a box of your stuff in your hands and run into the real woman of your dreams.
Another scenario for you. Maybe you are suddenly laid off work after being with the same company for 15 years. Just like that... laid off, but in that free time you manage to write a novel the one thing you have always aspired to do and then in the process become a famous author never having to do something other than what you have always dreamed of.

Things happen for a reason.

The scenario that fit for the boys went something like this. Someone turns your life upside down, even people you have grown to love and trust. The whole time it's happening you feel betrayed, bruised, battered. Never seeing a happy ending in sight until suddenly all the negative attention turns positive. People who never cared about you before, who even used to make fun of you on their shows are inviting you in for exclusive interviews.

You are being handed book deals, movie of the week deals, people wanting your life story. The guys who were set up, betrayed and almost ruined. Everyone wants a piece of you. Suddenly you become more than just a boyband from Orlando, you become the Backstreet Boys, able to stick together no matter what the odds.

All because you choose to let things happen for a reason.

When Howie walked out of that room he wasn't sure what was going to happen. He knew that to do anything but report these people to the police would have been morally wrong but yet he also knew it would never end if he did. Possibly even putting their youngest's life in danger.

With that knowledge he gathered the boys into his hotel room, pushing past a horde of reporters who had gathered outside. Looking at his friends who all seemed as lost and confused as he was, sat them down and told them what went on in that room.

"So you're saying that Matt was in on it the whole time?" AJ asked pacing back and forth in front of the bed.

"I don't know AJ he seemed to be"

"And what about her?" Her meaning Jessica.

"I guess"

"But they saved me Howie. I mean I'd still be in that place probably getting my brain fried"

"I have a feeling that was always the plan J. To help you out to gain their trust"

"Trust seems like such an irrelevant word" Kevin had said staring off into space.

He was right. After that night they no longer trusted anyone, well except each other.

"So what did he say he'd do to me?" Now Nick looking a bit pale had asked.

"He didn't really say Nicky but it was a threat and it was against you"

"So what do we do? We can't let them get away with it" Brian looked from one boy to the another. "Can we?"

No one had said a word, they all looked off in one direction or another. None ready to admit that maybe saying nothing would be the best way to handle the situation.

"If we don't say anything then we're as bad as they are" He said as if to confirm the dire consequences of the action which they might take.

"If we do...this will never end Brian" Kevin said surprisingly calm.

"Everything happens for a reason" Howie interjected. "Maybe this was meant to happen"

They sat in that hotel room all night No one slept, no one visited. Not even Pearlman or any of the people directly involved. It was almost as if they decided to leave fate in the hands of the boys.

Their decision didn't come until the next day when they were greeted by a knock on the door. Considering all they had been through that day and the days leading up to it, they thought it was best to stay in the same room never leaving each other's sides ever again.

Despite how exhausted they were none of them got more than a few hours sleep. It was Howie who walked over to the door and answered it. Surprised but not really, to see Jessica standing there waiting to be invited in.

"I'm sure you have questions" Was her greeting and Howie answered by moving out of the way and allowing her access to the room.

"Hi" She said surprised to find all of the boys sitting there staring at her.

"Well?"

"You guys have to realize that sometimes things happen you have no control over.

"I used to have control of my life" Howie said walking around her and standing with his brothers.

She laughed. It wasn't a menacing laugh just an uneasy one. "Honey that was before you went into this business. When was the last time any of you actually made your own decision? Really think about it" They all looked at each other for an answer. It was Nick who innocently enough answered, "Just this morning I was trying to decide on whether to eat a Mars bar or a Reeses Peanut Buttercup for breakfast"

"And what did you decide?" She asked smiling at his innocence despite the situation all that he had been through.

"I guess I didn't" He said pointing to both unopened bars on the nightstand.

"I think he proved my point"

"And what point is that exactly?" Kevin asked moving closer to where Jessica was standing, blocking her from Nick's view as if she was going to open her mouth and swallow him whole.

"I'm not the enemy here Kevin"

"Just get to your point"

"Fine...the point is, you choose this business it's the nature of the beast. Once you did that you lost yourselves in the process"

"Jessica I don't car what anybody says about the music business you can't tell me everyone goes through what we just did"

"No not everyone...only the most successful ones. Think about it boys, you have the chance of a lifetime here to capitalize on everything that has been so carefully planned for you. If you don't take that chance someone else will"

"How do they plan on getting us out of this mess anyway?" Now it was AJ's turn.

"By blaming Matt. He's already left the country. I was just coming to say good-bye. Fink had it all set up that from the beginning he paid Matt to take the fall. Now the only thing missing for this thing to work is your cooperation" She looked away from AJ and back to Howie, "It'll all work out"

"Can I ask you a question?" Howie asked once again taking center stage, "When this whole thing started I saw you arguing with Matt, it was right after I saw him in the room crying"

"Yeah"

"What were you fighting about? Or was that all for me as well?"

"No, it wasn't for you. We were fighting because he was having second thoughts about things and I threatened to leave him. It didn't seem real he had said until you actually fell for the bait and went in to talk to him. He wanted to stop things right then and there but I wouldn't let him"

"You wouldn't let him?" Up until now Howie was sure it was all Matt's doing, the bad guy behind the plan.

"Howie with all the money we were offered, we had to go through with it. I made sure I was fired that day to speed up the process, leaving him no choice but to get things moving"

They all sat and listened to her talk as if she was telling them a tall tale by a campfire. "Every detail of every little thing was mapped out perfectly. Our little rendezvous at my house, my disappearance, AJ kind of just helped out even more by hurting himself"

"I actually hurt him" Howie said once again giving AJ a sad look.

"When we heard he was at the hospital it was very easy to have him drugged"

"See? I told you I wasn't an addict!" They all knew that but he still felt the need to say it.

"Then someone also planted that stuff in my jacket. It was that fan who stopped me wasn't it?" She nodded at Brian.

"You know a thought occurred to me that maybe if they spent as much energy on our music career as they did on setting us up they wouldn't have had to resort to doing that in the first place" Kevin ran his hands through his hair in disgust.

"I just wanted to tell you all I'm sorry but make this all work for you please. I would hate to see anything but a happy ending"

Howie walked Jessica to the door, despite everything he still found her attractive. "You know I used to think we were a perfect match" He said as he opened the door for her. "We would have been" She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. Waving to everyone she took one last look into the room before running away.

He turned back to the guys who all looked drained. "What do we do?"

None of them spoke out with an easy answer. So they just sat in silence...

And chose to do nothing.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fink as well as the rest of the people involved had stuck to their word. About two days after the ledge incident there was a major report of a disgruntled employee at Jive records, someone who had it out for Fink as well as his newest clients The Backstreet Boys. This man who had a thousand different aliases and almost impossbile to trace, big surprise there, had concoted a scheme to frame the boys one by one hoping that the one he resembled, Nick Carter would kill himself after being told garbage like his mother was a fraud and only cared about money.

Luckily a very crafty person working for the company who also by no coincidence happened to be their lawyer, was able to put two and two together. Their was a warrant out for Matthew's arrest but he would never be found. Nor would his accomplice a beautiful secretary who used to work for Jive and regularly flashed Howie smiles in the hallway.

Because Jane Carter, another innocent victim was dragged into this she decided to write a book based on the experience. Denise did the same. Neither of their sons had a strong relationship with their parents ever again.

Both VH1 and MTV didn't hesitate to jump all over the story by offering the boys a special. VH1 gave them a special Behind the Music and MTV did a two hour special news presentation.

It didn't stop there though, radio stations picking up the story about this up and coming boyband that almost lost their lives because of jealousy and greed started to play their songs. Their singles instantly flew up the charts. People were buying their albums and all merchandise BSB.

They became one of the biggest bands in the world.

None of them spoke about what truly happened and in time they came to forget. Sometimes it's easier that way. When you have everyone all around you calling you a hero then you must be a hero.

It wasn't until one sunny day almost a full year later, while waiting in a green room between TV appearances that Howie said out of the blue, "Does this make us bad people?"

Their entourage all around them, none of them knowing the real story because since then everyone had been replaced, all were confused. It was only the other four that understood.

"It's the nature of the business Howie" AJ said patting his friend's back, "Sometimes you have to lay with the Lion's in their den or you get eaten"

He nodded in understanding and that was that.


The End

Just a little note...

I wanted to say thank you to all of you for sticking with this story. When I started it I had Big ideas

I had always intended for it to become a choose your own adventure story. But as it came along and I began to write on about 5 stories at the same time, I realized it wasn't going to happen. Because of that I feel like this story didn't get the love and attention from me that it deserved making you guys suffer the most.

Sorry about that

Now maybe someday i'll go back and add on more endings possibly but for now fittingly enough it came in like a Lion and went out like a lamb.

For anyone reading this just a few thank yous. A very few lol

Mersey throughout this whole story you have given me constant feedback and postivie feedback and I really do mean this, you are the only reason I actually finished this thing.

Sam I would put this story out of my mind until I would get one of your mails begging me to write more and telling me it rocked! lol so seriously guys this was for you!

Thanks!