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Against All Odds - Chapter 22

“So did you get anything out of Jack, Mister Smooth detective?” Brian mocked as he watched Nick sink down onto the bar stool next to him.

“Well, he really seems like a nice guy, he was more preoccupied with his niece being an AJ fan. He told me that she would give anything in the world to have an autographed picture. Now that’s funny,” Nick smirked.

“Nick, are you telling me we still don’t have anything to go on?” Brian shook his head in dispair.

“N-nothing solid,” Nick stammered. Sweat was beading on his forehead and the room seemed to narrow and then go back to it’s normal size. Nick shook his head slightly, hoping to put the room back into focus.

Brian picked up on Nick’s behavior immediately. “You had something to drink, didn’t you? After I told you specifically to keep your head clear you---”

Nick jumped up, cutting Brian off from his lecturing. “I gotta take a leak.”

After sucessfully getting away from Brian, Nick decided what he needed more than anything was fresh air and fast. Blindly pushing the on the exit door, Nick literally fell into Jack’s arms.

“Hey, are you okay pal?” Jack asked as he caught him and prevented Nick from falling to the ground.

Nick sleepily rubbed the palm of his hand across his forehead, messing his hair. “I-I don’t feel right.”

“You don’t look like you do either, come on, let me help you to my car, you need to sit down,” Jack offered as he pulled Nick in the direction of his vehicle.

“N-no, I just need air,” Nick protested, but his body wasn’t obeying the commands of staying put.

Jack ushered Nick to the passenger side of his car, the whole time looking around making sure no one was witnessing them. Jack quickly took his place behind the steering wheel and started the engine.

Panic started to set into Nick’s drug paralyzed body. His mind was screaming ‘run..run’ but he couldn’t move. Before the car even left the parking lot, Nick had passed out.

*~*~*~*~*

Brian glanced at his watch. “Okay, fifteen minutes is plenty of time, where the hell did that little shit run off to now?” As he stood up, he asked the bartender to have Nick stay put if he wasn’t back before Nick showed up again.

“I’m going to kill that kid,” Brian mumbled under his breath as he walked towards the bathroom. “He better be constipated for the amount of time he’s been taking in here!”

Walking into the restroom, Brian was met with empty stalls and only two men standing at the urinals. He decided it wouldn’t be a clever idea to ask two men if they had seen Nick for fear he could be labeled as gay. “Thank you Nick for planting that idea in my head,” Brian said to himself through gritted teeth.

“Hey! Aren’t you Backstreet Brian?”

Brian was nailed before he barely crossed the exit by two young women.

“Yes?”

“Cool! I thought you were! My friend Susie said there was no way that Brian Littrell would be in a bar, but here you are!”

Brian pasted a thin smile on his face, always the gracious one of the group, but his mind was in other places and the girl instantly picked up on it.

“Are you looking for Nick?”

“Huh?”

“Nick, Nick Carter? I saw him sort of stagger out of the bar and then he fell into this guy’s arms and he left with him, talk about weird,” the girl gushed.

“Who did he leave with?”

“He left with that one dude, Jack, he’s a regular here, he’s cool,” the girl replied confidently.

“Whoa...wait! Do you know where he lives?”

“Nope, no one really does, I’m sure he will take Nick back to your hotel, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Brian thanked the girl, but there was a gnawing in the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Chapter 23