Chapter Two-Hundred-Seventy-Eight
When Conner finished telling his story, Detective Stabler nodded.
“Am I in trouble now? Are you going to arrest me?” he asked, somewhat moodily.
“No I’m not going to arrest you,” Detective Stabler reassured. “You didn’t do anything wrong, yet. You just befriended Aaron Carter…and besides, it isn’t your fault that your parents left you with a shitty guardian.”
“So where do I go from here?”
“You and I go and pick Rosalie up from school right now. That’s all we worry about.”
“Kay…but, what if we’re being watched?”
“You tell me,” Detective Stabler replied. “Do we have to worry about being watched?”
“I don’t think so…Max doesn’t normally spy on you guys when I’m here.”
“Okay then.”
“But I’m extremely paranoid right now…”
“I’ll tell you what,” Detective Stabler replied after thinking for a few moments. “How about you, Aaron, and a person with drivers license go in one car, and I’ll leave in the other a few moments afterwards like I am going back to the station – that’s on the way to the school. No one knows you told me, I’m assuming you don’t have this place bugged or anything like that…” Conner shook his head.
“Sean has thought about it though…just a heads up. He has Trevor with him, so he knows this place inside and out.”
“He’s slowly trying to take over this place, isn’t he?” Kori asked, slowly catching onto this little plan of Sean’s. “I bet he was going to use you to do that too.”
“Yeah well, we definitely won’t be letting that happen,” Detective Stabler replied. “But we do have to go get Rosalie.”
“You’ll have to get someone else with a drivers license Conner, because Scott and I have a lunch date to get to with our son,” Kori explained, sliding her hand into Scott’s subconsciously. It just feels natural to her. Detective Stabler raised his eyebrow as he saw this, and Kori immediately pulled her hand away, realizing what she was doing.
“Right. So…Spencer, where is my son,” She muttered to herself, and she walked past the very amused detective and left the room leaving them standing there.
“Well, this is definitely something…the last time I saw the two of you, she would hardly come near you and now she’s holding hands with you?”
“I guess so,” Scott grinned.
“And the two of you are going out to lunch? What is this all about?”
“We’re going to finally tell Spencer the truth,” Scott replied, and then suddenly his cell phone rang. He reached into his pocket, pulled it out and flipped it open, and he placed it to his ear.
“Hello?”
“Scott quit talking about me and get your butt down here, we’re waiting on you.”
“Talking about you? We aren’t talking about you,” Scott replied innocently.
“Yeah, yeah, just get down here.”
“Yes my queen, I’m coming, I’m coming.”
“Okay smart ass,” Kori replied, and even from upstairs he can tell she is smiling. He can hear it in her voice. He knows she’s a sucker for his sarcasm. He smirked and turned his phone off then and he looked at Detective Stabler who was listening to them still looking amused. He had a feeling they wouldn’t be able to stay mad at each other for long.
“See you all later,” he grinned, and he dashed out of the room like a high school boy going on a date with his first girlfriend. And in some sense…it’s true. She was his first girlfriend…but they aren’t in high school anymore. Detective Stabler shook his head and then looked at Conner and Brooke, getting back to business.
“Right. So a driver for Conner…”
“I’ll do it,” Brooke volunteered. “I’ll drive him and Aaron to the school.”
“Aaron…” Conner replied, looking down at his feet ashamed, as it just dawned on him that he’ll have to tell him the truth. He was beginning to really like the kid…which was only making his job so much harder. The last thing he wants to do is hurt him, or for him to be royally pissed off at him and not want to hang out with him anymore.
“He’s gonna find out once you start staying here Con…you might as well get it over with,” Brooke told him sympathetically. Conner nodded quietly, and he followed Brooke and Detective Stabler out of the room. Meanwhile, when Scott reached the bottom of the stairs to the lobby, Spencer caught sight of his favorite person in the whole world after Wiley, and he grinned widely.
“SCOOOTT!” he exclaimed, before running for the man and tackling his legs and Scott chuckled.
“Hi buddy,” he replied, as he gathered the little boy up, threw him in the air and caught him a few times just to hear him laugh, and then he placed him up on his shoulders and looked at Kori grinning. Kori turned to Wiley and she slid her arms around his waist and pulled him near before looking up into his eyes.
“What are you gonna do while I’m gone?”
“Miss you like crazy,” Wiley answered, as he rested his forehead against hers and caressed her cheek with his finger.
“Besides that?” Kori asked softly, as she could feel her heart fluttering at the sincerity in his words. God does she love this man.
“I don’t know, just hang out. Maybe go and try to make some progress with your sister.”
“Good luck with that,” Kori told him sincerely, and she leaned up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips lightly over his. “I love you,” she reminded him.
“I love you too,” he replied, before kissing her back and hugging her tightly to him. After a few moments when they pulled apart, she let go and looked at Scott who was looking everywhere, but at them. She slid her hands in her pockets and headed for the door then and Scott followed with Spencer still up on his shoulders. He caught up to her and walked at her side and Wiley stood there watching them until they were gone. He sighed softly when they were and raked his fingers through his hair nervously. There is no doubt in his mind that Kori loves him. But he also knows that she loves him as well. No matter how many times she denies it, no matter how many times she tries to hate him, that love she had for him back then is still there. He sees it everytime she looks at him. But will she be able to keep all of that in the past? She reassures him everytime he brings this up that she can, but he’s not sure if he has the heart to make her. He loves her, he does…but he’s not sure he can compete with Scott. There is so much history there. So much chemistry and they share a son. You can’t get any closer then that. Sighing again, he turned and headed back to the playroom where everybody else was. Where Ashley is. He won’t give up on Kori just yet…and he knows the one thing that’s important to her the most is that he gets a long with Ashley. So he’ll try his very hardest. If Scott can get along with her, he can too.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile in the auditorium, Brian gathered up half his choir and practiced with them. They’ve been practicing ever since he got back from New York. He practiced first with one half, and then the other. When he finished with the second half, he had them gather all around him and he made the same announcement to them that he had with the first group.
“You all did so great today,” he praised as he knelt down and slid his arms around Sarah’s waist and pulled her near. “So great, that I think tonight is the night that we surprise the whole Orphanage. What do you think? Are you ready?”
“YEAH!” the chorus of kids exclaimed, and he grinned.
“How are we gonna do that’s Uncle Brian?” Dakota questioned.
“Why, at dinner of course silly!” Brian replied playfully, and she giggled. “There is a small stage in there that you all can stand on. I think it will be a real treat to have some Christmas carols with dinner.”
“When can we start caroling?” Holly asked.
“Tomorrow evening.”
“Wow, really?” another girl named Hannah asked.
“Yes really, I think you all are ready. I’m proud of you,” he told them, causing them all to beam. “Sarah is very proud of all of you too. Huh Sarah?” he asked, looking down at his little helper and she nodded and gave them all thumbs up. He answered a few more questions, and then sent everybody but Josh, Chris, Elenore, Sarah, and Dakota on their way. When they were gone, Brian cleaned up their mess and then escorted his children back to the playroom again. When they got in there, Dakota, Sarah, and Elenore went right back to the coloring table and continued their conversation that they were having before Brian had interrupted them.
“How are you gonna gets this letter to your daddy, Ellie?” Dakota asked as she watched Sarah take her notepad out.
“My daddy always has someone watchin’ us rights? So I was thinking I coulds sneak it outside, gets his attention somehow…and gives it to him.”
“But what if he gets you?? Ellie I don’ts think that’s a very safe idea.”
“If he gets me, my daddy will be mad and gets him. Nobody is allowed to touches me he says so. An’ they all knows better by now.” Sarah leaned over then and whispered something into Dakota’s ear and Dakota voiced the question for her.
“How are you going to do this without being seen? Uncle Kevy will be mad if he finds out an’ there are security cameras everywhere.”
“I will use my stealth an’ makes a mad dash to the doors. You, Chris, an’ Sarah will distracts Kevy an’ security, an’ Joshy an’ I will goes and gives the letter.”
“Joshy?” Dakota asked, and Elenore nodded.
“Yes, Joshy. Because otherwise he won’ts let me do it.”
“When are we going to do this?” Dakota sighed; deciding there is no way to talk her out of this. And anyway, she always said she’d do anything for her best friend.
“Now,” Elenore answered simply.
“How do we distracts security?”
“Sarah, you need helps finding your teddy bear…so you goes into the security room and insist upon them ALL helping you find it. Insist that it has to be ALL of them, an’ when they tell you that only one can, throw a fit.” Sarah nodded dutifully, and Elenore looked at Dakota.
“You an’ Chris are gonna goes to Kevy an’ the boys an’ asks them LOTS of questions an’ don’ts stop, just keep coming up withs new ones. Make sure they’re paying attention to only you so that Joshy an’ I can sneak out.”
“An’ Ashee too. Ashee is too smart for her own goods,” Dakota replied.
“Ashee to,” Elenore nodded, and then she looked at the boys and called them over, before quickly explaining to them what is going on. When she finished, Josh sighed.
“Ellie, will there ever be a day where you aren’t organizing an event that could possibly get us into serious trouble?”
“I wouldn’ts do this if it weren’t important Joshy, I swears.” Josh narrowed his eyes at her.
“Please Joshy…I promise I am swearing off trouble after this, but it’s important that I reason withs my daddy.” Josh snorted.
“You swearing off trouble? That will be the day.” Elenore’s eyes filled with tears then, and her lower lip trembled and Josh groaned.
“Okay, okay…don’t do that,” he pleaded and he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her to him for a hug. Elenore slid her arms around his waist and hugged him back while sniffling. “But I am coming with you. You hear me? If this guy tries anything, he’s toast. TOAST.”
“That’s the plan,” Elenore replied, pulling back from him some, and the smile that she had on her face earlier was slowly beginning to reform. She looked at Sarah, and Sarah ripped out the letter from her notepad before folding it up and writing Daddy on it and she handed it to Elenore. Elenore stuffed it safely in the pocket of her denim jumper and took hold of Josh’s hand and Dakota and Chris went on over to the grownups and immediately put on their charm. The charm that all little kids have that manages to suck the adults right in. Elenore, Josh, and Sarah stood there and waited and when they were sure all of the attention was on Dakota and Chris, they darted for the door and slipped out. Sarah went straight for the stairs headed for security while Josh and Elenore made their way to the lobby being sure to stay out of view of the cameras. When Sarah got upstairs she went down the hall to the security room and appeared in the doorway where she found Marcus, Laney, Drew, Q, and Raul sitting in there watching the cameras. They turned when they saw her though, and Marcus grinned sweetly.
“Hi sweetheart, what brings you up here?” he asked gently, and she handed him her notepad where she had written can’t find teddy bears. Needs help. They all read the note, and then looked at her and she gave them the most innocent look ever. The kind of look a little girl would get if their kitten were stuck up in a tree. No grownup can resist that.
“Aww…Marcus how about you go?”
“I would love to,” Marcus replied, but Sarah shook her head and reached for her notepad again. He handed it back to her confused and she wrote Want all of you to help. She handed it back to them, and just as she did, she noticed two little figures dart across the lobby screen and she flashed them her most innocent look.
“Honey, I bet Marcus would be able to find it in just a snap. He won’t need any of our help.” She then saw the two figures appear on the cameras outside and Drew was just about to look at it when Sarah whimpered and made her eyes water up with tears forcing him to look back at her, his heart breaking.
“Okay, okay, we’ll help you don’t cry…” Laney insisted, and he gently scooped her up in his arms and hugged her close. “There, there…I’m sure your teddy bears are somewhere.” She looked around at everybody else, her lower lip quivering, making sure they were willing to cooperate. When she saw them all heading for the door, she rested her chin on Laney’s shoulder and looked at the screen one last time to see her friends were gone. She sighed quietly with relief as Laney carried her out of the room. Meanwhile outside, when Josh and Elenore had gotten out there they darted inside a couple of bushes and waited until their gut instincts told them that Sarah had gotten security away from the cameras. When they were sure that she had, Josh took Elenore’s hand, gently squeezed it, and then climbed out of their hiding place gently pulling her with him.
“Well I know one thing is for sure Ellie…” he began, and she looked at him curiously. “Being friends with you never has it’s dull moments.” Elenore smiled at him some, and then pulled him forward as she looked around.
“How do you know he is even out here?” he asked, looking around as well.
“Because he always is…”
“And if you know that, why wouldn’t you report him?”
“Well I’ve never seen him Joshy…buts how do you think my daddy always knows what’s going on?”
“It’s called the news…you live with a Backstreet Boy, Ellie.”
“He’s here somewhere Joshy, I just knows…I just have that connection with my daddy…”
“Yeah, and that kind of scares me, Ellie.”
“All kids have a connection with their father in someway…just looks at Kota.”
“I never did,” Josh replied softly, looking down at the concrete and Elenore squeezed his hand gently.
“You have a connection withs Brian though,” she volunteered.
“Yeah…”
“I hope his connection with you is strong enough to sense you two are out here,” an unfamiliar voice from behind them spoke, causing them to whirl around and there was Max, standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Elenore’s eyes roamed over his arms as he stood there in a wife beater and she recognized the tattoos on his arms. She’s seen those tattoos before.
“You works with my daddy, right? I recognize those tattoos…” Josh tightened his hold on Elenore’s hand then.
“Mhm, and I know him well enough that if he knew you were out here he would wring your little neck – literally. You know better Ellie.”
“I just wanted to sees you…because I wants you to give him something.” Max raised his eyebrow.
“And what is that?” Elenore reached into her pocket and pulled out the letter and she held it out to Max. Max took it and started to open it.
“DON’TS OPEN IT!” she shouted, and he flinched and looked at her startled.
“Why not?”
“Nots for you. For him.”
“Fine,” Max replied, stuffing the note in his pocket. “I won’t read it.”
“An’ you will gives it to him?”
“As soon as possible.”
“Rights now.”
“Fine…right now.”
“You promise?”
“I promise,” Max replied patiently, knowing if he upset the little girl, Sean would kill him.
“Thank you.”
“Now go back inside before I decide to spank that bottom of yours for running off without an adult.”
“Wait!”
“What?”
“What if he decides to write back? How will I gets my letter?” Max thought for a moment, before answering.
“I’ll hide it in the weeds outside the gate to the playground. It will be our secret spot. And I will check it daily to see if you’ve sent him anymore letters too.”
“Okay,” Elenore replied gratefully.
“But if I catch you out here by yourself again, I will give you the spankin’ that I know your father would have given you.”
“You won’ts,” Elenore promised.
“Now go,” he replied, raising his arm as if he were going to spank her, but Elenore grabbed Josh and darted for the door. He watched her until she was safely inside the building, and then he set off to deliver the letter that her majesty has ordered. When Josh and Elenore got inside, they rushed back to the playroom and went inside where they found Chris and Dakota still throwing questions at the adults left and right, but slowly beginning to run out of what to ask. Dakota and Chris saw them enter in the corner of their eyes. They waited until they were back at the table and were looking as if they’ve been there the whole time coloring, and then Dakota spoke up.
“Thank you daddy, that was all I wanted to know,” she told him innocently, and with that she turned around an skipped off toward her friends and Chris followed her leaving the adults staring after them with ‘what the hell?’ kind of looks on their faces.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
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