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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.