[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter 4

I couldn't sleep that night. None of us could actually. All of our minds and hearts were with Nick. It killed me to think that he might no longer be with us. I don't know if I would be able to handle with that. The more I thought about it, the more I began to worry about Caitlin. She would be nothing without him. I know she wouldn't be able to take it. So I prayed. I prayed that he would be alright and that he would be back with us soon.

She wasn't allowed back in her room so I let her come to stay with me and Leigh. I let them have the bed and I slept on the couch. Well, not really slept, I just kind of layed there. There were too many things on my mind and that wouldn't let me fall asleep. Not only that, but my conscience wouldn't let me.

Everytime I began to fall asleep, my mind was bombarded with images of Nick being hurt. As I layed on the couch, I could hear Caitlins' soft whimpers. She was in a lot of pain, I knew that from the moment she showed up at my door. I wanted now, more so than before, to make this all better, but I knew that was just not possible.

I continued to stare at the celing. I really wanted the phone to ring and have the police tell me that he was found and that he was okay. The night was long and surviving it was hard. I found it rather comforting to hear Leigh and Caitlin talking about this. Leigh kept telling her how everything was going to be alright. There were so many times when I wanted to jump in, but I didn't. I thought that what Caitlin needed was to talk to another woman.

"Brian," I heard a little while later.

"Yes?" I answered, sitting up from the couch so that Caitlin and Leighanne could see me.

"How are you feeling?" Leigh asked me.

"Terrible. Nick is my best friend and he's like a brother to me. I just can't believe that this happened," I confessed.

"You're not the only one who feels like that."

"I know," I said not knowing what else to say.

"Do you think Nick is dead?" Caitlin asked seriously.

"No honey, he's not. I'm sure that he's still alive," I said not only trying to convince her, but myself and Leigh as well.

"Caitlin sweetie," Leigh said, "think. Is there anything that you can think of that at the time might have seemed weird? Or can you think of anyone that looked strange?"

"No. The whole time we've been here, nothing seemed wrong. Nick didn't argue with anyone. Even thinking back to before we came here, nothing was wrong," she said.

"Are you sure?" I asked her.

"Yeah." I heard her let out a long breath of fustration. I could tell that she really wanted to remember something that could help her find Nick. I stood up from the couch and walked over to the window to give myself something new to look at other than the celing and the walls. The sound of a cell phone ringing soon filled the room. I turned around to watch Caitlin pull out her phone.

"Hello?" she answered as I looked on. There was a long pause before anything else was said. I just continued to listen to Caitlin. The whole time I was hoping that it was officer Hudson calling to tell us that Nick was okay. Caitlin continued talking so I turned my attention back to looking out the window. Leigh soon joined me over at the window. I was glad that she was there even though she wasn't saying anything. Her presence was enough for me.

Caitlin was on the phone a while longer. Finally, I figured that it was probably just one of her friends that heard about Nick. I wish that she didn't have to keep talking about this because I knew that it was hurting her. Then again, maybe it would be good for her. She really needed to get it out. I sighed again as I continued to stare out of the window.

Leigh stepped away from me and towards Caitlin. Caitlin probably needed Leighs company now anyway. Finally, Caitlin hung up the phone. I turned to look at her.

"Who was it?" I asked softly, hoping that there was good news about Nick.

"A friend of mine back home," she answered, "what happened is all over the radio and tv. She said when she heard about it, she just had to call me to see how I was."

"That's nice of her," I told Caitlin.

"Yeah," she said and then paused. I looked at her because I knew there was more that was said in their conversation.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"She told me that my ex-boyfriend, Jordan, is missing too," she told us.

"Do you think he has something to do with Nicks disapearence?" I asked.

"He might. We didn't have a friendly break up. He was a really jealious guy. It took me a long time for me to get the courage to break up with him. Honestly, I was afraid of him. Jordan was a rather large man. He was really strong. I remember when I broke up with him, he said that if he couldn't have me, than no one would."

"So, you think he heard about you getting engaged to Nick?" I asked.

"Yeah, and then he looked for us and...." she said trailing off. Not that I could blame her. I wouldn't want to think about what might be. My eyes never left hers when slience fell over the room.

"We need to call officer Hudson," I said.

"I know," Caitlin said crying.

"Shhhhh, it'll be alright," Brian said softly, "it's going to be alright now. We have an idea about who did this."

"Brian, he killed him," Caitlin screamed, "I just know that he did! He may not have meant to kill him but he did. I feel it in my heart. With Jordoninvolved, I don't think Nick made it."

"Don't say that," Leighanne said to her,"he's still probably very much alive and the sooner we call the officer, the sooner we can have him home."

"What if he comes home dead?" Caitlin asked with tears in her eyes, "I love him so much. If he's dead then I won't be able to live..."

"Honey, calm down," I said, "look, I don't think this Jordon guy did anything to Nick. Lets call officer Hudson and see what happens from there." She just looked at me. I turned around and grabbed the phone but stopped and turned back to Caitlin, "Why didn't you tell officer Hudson about him in the first place?"

"I forgot about him. I was so worried about Nick. There wasn't anything going through my mind but Nick." I nodded, understanding what she was saying. Then I pulled officer Hudson's card from my wallet and dialed the number on the card. The phone rang several times before it was answered.

"Hello?" a female voice said.

"Can I please speak to officer Hudson?" I asked.

"Can I ask who's speaking please?"

"Brian Littrell."

"Alright, one moment please," she said and then put me on hold. I just waited until the phone was answered.

"Mr. Littrell?" officer Hudson's voice asked, "did Miss. Miller think of anything that might be of help?"

"Actually, she did," I answered.

"Good," he said sounding almost pleased, "okay go ahead. Tell me."

"Some ex-boyfriend named Jordan might have something to do with this. She said that he was jealious and..."

"Can you put Miss Miller on the phone?" he interupted me.

"Sure," I said, "Caitlin, officer Hudson wants to talk to you." She looked at me and walked over to take the phone from me.

"Hello?" she said. I found myself feeling helpless. That was a feeling that I sure as hell didn't like especially when someone's life was on the line. I listened as Caitlin began to give a discription of Jordon. As she spoke, I could hear her voice beginning to become filled with pain and anger. Suddenly, I found myself biting my nails. I had finally gotten this damn habit undercontrol. Oh well, despriate times call for depriate measures.

Caitlin must have been on the phone for about twenty minutes. Officer Hudson really kept her talking about this Jordon guy. I continued to listen as Caitlin continued to talk about Jordan. The longer she went on, the more I began to understand why she thought Nick was dead. She was talking about how he would beat up guys that just looked at her. He had even gotten arrested for that once.

This guy showed no remorse for anyone. He wanted things his way and he was willing to do anything to have it that way. I never even met this man but I already hated him and I was convinced that he was responsible for Nick's disapperance. I wanted to go after this guy myself but I knew that I couldn't because he would probably hurt me as well.

Caitlin finally hung up with officer Hudson and then turned to me. I looked at her, unsure of what to do now. I wanted to tell her that everything was going to be alright, but I wasn't sure of that myself.

"He said that Jordon probably did have something to do with Nick disappearing," she said, "He didn't exactly say it, but he was leading around that Nick might be dead. After I started telling him about Jordon, I could tell in the instant change in his voice that the chance of Nick still being alive just got smaller."