Hard Choices
When Nick saw the man standing in the doorway, blocking him from leaving, his blood almost ran cold. He recognized him instantly as the same man who he saw in the park with Ariana.
“Hi Jack, we’re just leaving for a minute.”
“We are going to my place.” Nick said, interrupting Patty mid sentence.
Jack didn’t like the look of urgency on the young blonde’s face. Was it possible the kid recognized him? Maybe he just made the connection from the time they met outside the hospital. “I think I know you.” He feigned, trying his best to remain calm.
Nick was quick to shake his head, another bad sign that maybe he did look familiar to the youngest Richardson. “I don’t think so.”
“Yeah…I met you outside the hospital the other day. You were going to help me take things to my car.”
Nick smiled, but it was clearly forced on his part. “Oh…right, I forgot about that.” He rubbed at the back of his neck, shifting nervously from one leg to the other. He looked like a kid who had to pee very badly.
“What a small world, huh?” Jack asked as he laughed.
Nick wanted to push past this guy and run down the steps, he knew he was in danger as well as Patty but there was nothing he could do about it. Why did he make his brother leave? He should have begged Kevin to stay; this was a mistake, a big one.
“Yeah…well we’re going to be going back to my place now, come on Patty.”
“Hang on a second…” Jack still remained in his spot, blocking the door which was making both teenagers uneasy. “How do you plan on doing that? I mean, do you live close by?”
“It’s not a big deal, we can grab the bus right down the street; I do it all the time.”
“Patty’s mom would kill me if I let her take public transportation.”
“I really need something from my house. We can’t do our school work without it.”
“I didn’t realize you guys even went to the same school, I thought you were from way across town.” His eyes closed slightly in a curious way as he looked Nick up and down. Something wasn’t right, this kid knew something and Jack didn’t like that one bit.
“We are but…we still like to study together.” Nick was stammering now, his cool all but gone.
“I’m sure you can wait until later.”
“This really can’t, we’ll be back quick and you won’t even have to tell my mom Jack, she’ll never know.”
“I’m going to have to put my foot down and say no Patty, I’m sorry.”
Nick’s heart sank. Now he was unsure of what to do; part of him, that primal part that usually likes to awaken and get him into trouble, wanted to tackle the guy down to the ground and then race out of the house with his friend. But the more rational side, the one he most likely inherited from his mother, told him to remain calm and play along. Everything would work out as long as he allowed himself to find an easy solution.
“Maybe Nick can go alone then.” He wasn’t expecting that answer and quickly turned towards her and shook his head.
“No, I need you to come with me.”
“I’m not letting you go either Nick, I’m sorry but I don’t think your family would like it if I let you go on a bus alone, even though you say you do it all the time. Once your mom comes home with dinner, I’ll gladly drive you both to Nick’s house, okay?”
He was stuck, but he wasn’t sure why, so he just nodded and smiled, even though inside he was ready to scream. “Okay.” He said shrugging, hoping that the man would at least go away and leave them alone.
Jack actually leaned over and pat Nick on the head, a move which made the teenager wince. The older man took notice of that as well and it made him glad. In a sick way, he wanted the kid to be as uncomfortable as possible.
“I’m going to go finish my laundry…” he said winking at Patty. “I’ll be around if you need me.” He turned and walked out the door.
Patty quickly closed and locked her bedroom door and sat on the bed. “What are we going to do now?”
Nick just looked over at Patty, unable to answer her question.
As Jack made his way back down to the basement, he let his anger get the better of him. Remembering his phone call with Ariana and how insistent she was that they wait it out. He had explained to her how easy it would be to put the plan into motion right then and now. Sure they would be way ahead of schedule but still, they could do it.
She yelled at him through clenched teeth, how stupid he was for even thinking such a thing and that she didn’t come all this way for anyone to start acting irrationally. “As if she should talk about being irrational,” He muttered under his breath as he opened the basement door and was met with Charlie.
“Took you long enough.”
“There’s been a change of plans kid. I need you to go upstairs and entertain Patty and her guest for a little bit.”
“Hell no, I’m not going up there if Richardson is there.”
Jack took out his gun, “Seems like you don’t have much of a choice. You have really messed things up kid. Now either you help me or I kill you.”
He had never really stared down the barrel of a gun before. He liked to act all hard and tough, but Charlie knew in that instant he was living on borrowed time. He almost wanted to cry. Everything caught up with him, the loss of his sister and his friends. The trouble he was in and all the damage he caused. Maybe it would be for the best if the guy just killed him. But he was too much of a coward for that so he nodded his head at the man who quickly put the gun down at his side. “Good boy…I need you to go up to Patty’s room and make sure they stay right where they are. I can’t have them leaving.”
“Why?”
“That is none of your business.”
“Patty is my business.” He said forcefully and that much he meant. He would do anything to protect his girlfriend even if she might be interested in someone else.
“Not anymore, besides it’s not her I care about. Just make sure that boy doesn’t leave.”
“Nick? Why?”
“What did I just say?”
“Okay, I’ll do what you want.”
“Good, and I mean it, if he tries to leave you need to stop him. I don’t care how.”
Charlie nodded but once again was getting a bad feeling about all of this.
As he made his way up to his girlfriend’s room, he tried to figure out why he was supposed to keep Nick right where he was. It made him nauseous that Richardson was in Patty’s room. He was just about to knock when he heard them whispering through the door.
“What about the window?” The muffled voice of his enemy said.
“Charlie always sneaks in that way, it shouldn’t be too hard to get out of here by the window.”
“Okay let’s try that then.”
“Be careful.”
“Always doll.”
Charlie shook his head and rapped on the door, ready to just throw punches at the jerk for calling HIS girl a doll. Why the hell would she even care if he was careful? He meant nothing to her, right?
There was a sudden pause in the chatter as both of them made their way towards the door. When Patty opened it she was surprised to see her boyfriend standing there. “Hey.”
“I thought you left.” She seemed uncomfortable, which he knew she would be. After all she did have another guy in her room with her.
“I did, but when I saw Richardson show up, I felt like I had to say hello to my old friend.” He walked in and slapped Nick on the back fairly hard. “How’s it going buddy?”
Nick on the other hand wasn’t so quick to return the niceties. He shoved Charlie hard against the wall, “You son of a bitch! Why did you attack Howie?”
Charlie saw red for a second and nearly lost it. He clenched his hand into a fist but stopped himself, “What are you talking about kid?”
“You know damn well what I’m talking about.”
Charlie looked over at Patty, “I have no idea what this jerk is saying.”
“Don’t lie to me Charlie…I know you’re in the middle of something bad. You told me so yourself.”
“Patty, we don’t have time for this, we have to go.” Nick motioned for Patty to follow him to the window.
“Where are you going?”
“We need to leave, look…you and I have to talk but right now isn’t the best time.” She whispered to her boyfriend, taking him aside and gently grabbing hold of his hand.
“Patty, I’ve made some mistakes and I’m so sorry I have put you in the middle of them. I love you more than anything in the world.”
She smiled at him, “We’ll talk about this later Charlie, okay? But we really need to leave now. I’ll explain to you later…but my mother’s boyfriend is not a nice man. He’s actually a bad guy.”
Nick, feeling uncomfortable moved towards the window, once again trying to asses how far of a climb it would be. He wasn’t really ever a fan of heights and if his brother AJ knew he was about to do this he’d be laughing his ass off about it.
“You have to stay here, both of you.”
“What are you talking about?” She sounded confused as Charlie’s tone changed from soft to hard.
When he saw her looking alarmed he once again smiled at her, “Because I don’t want you too. I just got here and I have a lot to say to you.”
She looked annoyed now. Couldn’t he see how desperate they were to get out of the house? And didn’t he see that Nick was standing right there listening to every word they said? “Charlie, we can talk later, right now we really have to get over to Nick’s house.”
“Why?”
“Because we need to look up something on my computer.” She nodded at Nick and was impressed by his quick thinking.
“Can’t you wait until I leave?”
“We want to go before my mom gets back. She’ll get mad if she knows we took a bus.”
Charlie had no idea what he should do. Jack said they couldn’t leave but it’s not like he could physically force them to stay. Not without Patty knowing he was one of the bad guys and sadly, that reality sunk in for him just then. He WAS one of the bad guys. What’s even worse is, he also realized that Nick was one of the good ones.
At that moment he had to make a choice. Little did he know that it would cost one of them their lives.
“Okay, but if you guys are going, then I’m going with you.” He said sternly, his voice shaking ever so slightly.
Patty looked over at Nick “Is that okay?”
The blonde glanced over at Charlie and sighed, “Yeah, now let’s get out of here!”
All three of them went over to the window and one at a time they made their way out of the house.
When Kevin walked into Howie’s hospital room, he felt like he had entered party central. “What’s going on in here?” He asked smiling as he reached down and hugged his friend who was looking a lot better than he had the last time he had checked up on his best friend.
“Your family are nuts!” Howie said smiling at AJ who was wearing a sombrero on his head and shaking a pair of maracas.
“I know this, and what in the world AJ?”
“When B told me what happened to Howie, I felt like he needed some cheering up pronto.”
“So you thought…hey how about a sombrero and maracas?”
“Don’t forget the piņata.” Brian added, holding up a broken donkey.
Kevin just had to laugh, “You guys are ridiculous.”
“But it worked, they made me feel better.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
“Brian said you had a lead on the kid that did this.”
“I thought I did, but turns out he wasn’t where I thought he’d be.”
“Oh, well I’m sure we’ll find him.”
“Where’s Ariana?” Kevin asked when he noticed she was missing from the festivities.
“She was down in the cafeteria getting coffee.” AJ said, his voice dropping a few notches which didn’t go unnoticed by both of his brothers. “Well, I should go…I told Stacey we’d meet for brunch before our shift started.”
“Tell her we all said hello.” Howie said, winking at his younger friend.
“Kev, can I talk to you for a sec?”
He nodded at AJ, “Sure thing buddy…I’ll be right back D.”
“Take your time; I’m sure Brian will keep me entertained.”
“I can always do the Mexican Hat Dance you know.” Brian said standing up and dancing around with the piņata.
“On second thought, hurry back.” Kevin laughed at that as he and AJ left the room and moved down the hallway so they could speak in private.
“What’s up?”
“I’m worried about Nicky.”
“He’s okay AJ. I just dropped him off at Patty’s house.”
“I think he’s hiding something big from us man. Something really big and I’m afraid he’s getting himself into trouble.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, I saw some things he printed out on his computer and I think he suspects that Ariana…”
“Did I just hear my name?” Both brothers turned to look at Howie’s wife as she approached them, carrying a bag and a coffee.
“Hey there sweetie, how are you holding up?” Kevin asked as he walked over and kissed her cheek.
“As good as can be expected. I am so tired and am ready for like a ten hour nap though….so are you talking about me young man?” She asked AJ with a look of feigned sadness on her face. “You know it’s not nice to talk about people when they aren’t around.”
For some reason, he saw her in a much different light. Maybe it was the shifty smile; did she always smile like that? She gave the kind of look that is meant to look through you and not at you? He felt uncomfortable, as if that fake sadness was really a mask for anger. That’s what it was, anger. She seemed so angry.
“Sorry, I was just asking how you were doing.”
She nodded, “Relax AJ…I figured as much.” She walked over and kissed him. He actually felt himself move away. Why was she making him feel so uncomfortable suddenly?
“Is he awake?” She asked Kevin, moving away from AJ and towards the door to her husband’s room.
“Yes, Brian is in there with him now.”
“I better get inside then, are you going to join me?” She asked extending her hand towards the FBI agent, hoping that she could get him to follow her.
She was getting a bad feeling about things, starting with the call she got from her dumb boyfriend wanting to speed up her plans. It took her a lot of convincing to make him see what a big mistake that would be. She told him to keep Nick there, just in case she changed her mind but she wouldn’t. No, things had to go the way she had always fantasized they would. Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, she comes out of the elevator to hear her stupid ‘brother’ talking about her. She didn’t like the tone of voice he was using either. He sounded as if he was telling Kevin something urgent, and for that reason alone, she had to make sure they didn’t have a chance to talk further.
Maybe that stupid, spoiled brat did go home and say something to his brother after all? That thought made her mad because then maybe it would make sense to grab the kid now. If he was yapping his mouth off to AJ, what was to keep him from doing the same to Kevin or even his own father? HER own father?
“I’ll be there in a second honey.” She looked up and nodded at Kevin then once again glanced over at AJ. He seemed nervous, like he wanted her to leave so he could continue whatever it was she had broken up.
“Okay, well don’t wait too long; I’m sure Howie is anxious to see you.”
She half heartedly made her way into her husband’s room but wanted more than anything to be able to eavesdrop. That’s when she came up with her idea, “Damn! I forgot I have to make a call…I’m going to go to the nurses desk and see if they’ll let me use their phone. I don’t want to bother Howie.”
She smiled as she walked past AJ and once again, didn’t like the expression he had on his face when she changed direction and walked towards the desk. She saw out of the corner of her eye, that he was watching her and as sad as that made her, she had to make a hard choice right then and there. She would call Jack and tell him to go ahead with the plan.
AJ watched her carefully and his heart sank when he saw she was in range of their conversation. “We’ll talk later I guess.” He said to his older brother.
“I’m sure everything is fine AJ…don’t worry about Nicky, and about the other thing you were saying, I’m on that.”
“You are?”
“Kind of…in fact, after I leave here I’m going to go check out some things…okay?”
AJ nodded and smiled at his brother. He then once again glanced over to Ariana who was on the phone but also looking over their way. Once she saw his eyes, she looked away.
“I’ll see you later.” Kevin pat AJ’s shoulder and then headed back into Howie’s room.
He really didn’t want to pass her but he did anyway, trying his hardest to hear what was being said as he got closer. She put her hand over the receiver and smiled at him as he walked by her, “See you later AJ, and thanks for helping me make up my mind.” She winked at him.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll see…be safe at work.”
He nodded at her but didn’t like the unsettling feeling that conversation left him with as the elevator doors closed.
“Are you still there?” She asked Jack once AJ was gone from sight.
“Yes, are you sure? What made you change your mind?”
“Just do it, okay? I’ll try to get myself ready and meet you in about an hour. We have to work fast.”
“What about the girl?”
She made sure no one was in ear’s range before she went on in a whisper, “I don’t care what you do with her; just make it look like an accident. Better yet, why don’t you give my little brother something to do later?”
“Oh…I see what you mean.”
She laughed, “I knew you would. I love how quickly you catch on.”
“Okay, well I guess this is it then. I’m kind of excited about it.”
She wished she was too, but it felt too soon and not according to plan. Damn AJ, what if she was making a mistake? “Just don’t mess up!”
“I won’t, I promise.”
“I love you.” She confessed, probably one of the only honest things that had ever come out of her mouth.
“I love you too.”
She hung up the phone and sighed. “Hi Ariana.”
She turned and saw her father standing there, “Hi.”
“How’s Howie doing?”
“He’s doing much better.”
“Good, I am so sorry to hear about what happened.” He moved close to her and gave her a hug. She closed her eyes and soaked it all in, happy in the thought that later on, her father would be devastated.
