Part 511
Billy spotted them coming and swiped the keycard on Nick and Becca’s suite. Nick had told him to expect them shortly, and he was ready and waiting. Kevin looked him square in the eye and a silent understanding passed between them. Billy was pissed. He’d been taken advantage of, and it would never happen again, Billy would see to it.
They expected to find Becca in hysterics, or at least a broken mess. What they didn’t expect was to find her pacing by the window, her jaw set in anger. Nick looked up as they all walked in, and the look on his face wasn’t much better.
"Nick?" Howie asked, not quite sure how to read the situation.
"He was here, Howie. That bastard was here, inside our suite."
"Becca?" Sarah pulled away from Howie and rushed to her friend.
"I’m okay, Sarah," she reassured her. "Well, now I’m okay."
Kevin was quick to speak up. "Bec, how did he get in?"
Becca ducked her head. "I’m sorry, Kevin, I-"
"He managed to trick Billy into leaving." Nick hastily stepped in, not willing to let Becca shoulder any more of the blame than she’d already taken upon herself. "Becca heard someone at the door and mistakenly assumed it was Billy coming back."
"Bec, did he hurt you?" Kevin’s eyes were angry slits. He was incensed at the lengths Lou would go to just to get to them.
"No, Kevin, really, I’m fine," she insisted with false bravado.
"Bec, what happened?" Sarah asked quietly. "There has to be more to this or Nick wouldn’t have called."
"He threatened me, sis." Becca’s voice dropped and her lower lip trembled, proving that she really wasn’t fine.
"Threatened YOU?" Brian was appalled. "Bec, that’s just crazy. You, of all people?"
"He’s trying to blackmail her," Nick spat.
"Nick, it’s not-"
"Wait a minute," AJ interrupted Nick. "With what?" he laughed. "Becca, out of all of us, you’re the one with the spotless reputation. Lou could never have anything on you." He laughed again, expecting Nick and Becca to join in, and when they didn’t he started to worry.
"Bec, you need to tell us what happened," Kevin said softly. "All of it."
"He wanted me to call the rest of you off, to make sure none of you bothered him again or interfered with his book."
"Okay, that makes sense," Howie said. "Perverse sense, sure, but I can see where he might try something like that. But Bec, he has nothing on you."
Becca shivered, and then whispered, "Andrew."
"Andrew?" Brian frowned. "Andrew’s dead, Bec. That was a long time ago."
"He says … he says …" Becca stopped, her voice failing and her eyes brimming with tears.
"Bec, what?" Sarah asked, squeezing her hand.
"He says he has …" She couldn’t continue, and stopped to wipe her face as Nick pulled her into his arms.
Over her head, he looked at his friends and continued, "He says he has a video of Becca and Andrew." He felt her begin to shake, and held her tighter, rubbing her back as she cried softly.
"A video?" Sarah asked blankly. "A video of what?"
Becca lifted her face and looked at Sarah, her eyes filled with fear. "The night … oh god," she paused. "The night Andrew and I …" her voice trailed away and Sarah knew it could only mean one thing.
"Oh dear god," she said. "He wouldn’t, Bec. How could he…?"
"He said that-"
"Wait a minute," Kevin said. "Y’all lost me. What are you talking about?"
Becca turned away, biting her lip. She’d known this was going to be hard, but not how hard.
"Bec," Nick whispered, "You have to tell them. Baby we talked about this."
"I know, Nick. I know." She turned to face them, and gladly took the glass of water that Brian pressed into her hand.
"Sis, it was a long time ago." Sarah reached out to tuck her hair back behind her ear. "They’re family and they want to help."
Becca nodded and let Nick lead her to the sofa, where she sat and began her story.
"We met at church," she said. "A long time ago. I wasn’t director yet, but I was on my way, and he was just a guy that showed up and liked to sing." Becca stopped to take a drink of water. "He seemed nice enough, friendly but not too friendly, you know? A bunch of us used to meet after choir, just for fellowship and to talk about church stuff, and eventually Andrew began to join us. We’d go out for coffee at the Denny’s that was close to the church, and even had a regular table." Becca smiled, remembering some of the heated discussions that had taken place amongst the eclectic little group.
Sarah reached for Howie’s hand and squeezed it gently. She knew where all this was leading, and how much it must hurt Becca to have to re-live it all. Howie squeezed back and kissed her forehead.
"After a few months he asked me out, and I accepted. I had no reason not to. He was a regular member of the choir now, and had a great sense of humor … we got a long great. Pretty soon we became a steady item, and I was crazy about him. He was so polite and always a gentleman."
Nick snorted and rolled his eyes, but otherwise kept quiet so that she could continue.
"I’d never really dated before. I was always too busy with my music. Sarah used to yell at me in school and tell me to get out and get a life." They all chuckled and it helped break the mood, but only for a moment. "I was so naïve. I began to picture myself with Andrew forever. I wrote his name in the margins of my planner and I daydreamed constantly. I never wondered why he never pressured me for sex, because I chalked it up to his good manners. Finally he made his move and I was thrilled. I was ready, I was in love and it was perfect."
Kevin caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and he looked over to see Sarah wiping her eyes. Nick’s face held some emotion he couldn’t define, and he looked back at Becca as she continued.
"He planned the perfect weekend for us. I had that Sunday off and we were escaping from it all. We went to a resort on the coast, south of Tampa. It was so beautiful. I’d picked out just the right clothes, had my hair done and even …" She choked on her words and had to stop.
"Bec, stop." Nick had his arm around her, and he knew this was killing her.
"I’d done my homework," she continued after blowing her nose. "I was a virgin. I knew what to expect and I trusted Andrew to …"
Fuck. AJ closed his eyes and sighed. He knew where this was leading, Hell, by now they ALL knew where this was leading. "Bec-"
Becca ignored him and pressed on. "He was nothing like I thought he would be. I’d dreamed of romance and candlelight. I’d dreamed of someone to make love to me and make me feel good, but he didn’t." She was crying openly and everyone in the room was hurting equally as much. "He was rough and inconsiderate and when I begged him to stop, he didn’t. After he was finished, I cried myself to sleep."
Nick picked up the story from there. "When she woke up, he was gone. She found the asshole in the bar with his buddies, laughing about what a score he’d made. He’d planned the whole fucking thing and then they’d taken bets on whether or not he could get her in bed."
"Jesus …" Brian sighed.
"And now …?" Kevin asked.
"Lou says Andrew made a tape of it all. He says he has it, and that’s what he’s holding over Bec," Nick explained.
"But how would Lou get his hands on it?" AJ asked. "Assuming it even exists, which I highly doubt."
"He said one of Andrew’s friends was desperate for money, and he paid for it." Becca shrugged her shoulders.
"Bec, Andrew was a jerk. Baby, you know that, right?" Kevin reached for her shaking hands and held them fast in his own.
"I know Kevin, but-"
"We’ll take care of this, Becca. We’ve already talked to the attorneys. They’ll be here in the morning, and then we can figure out how to proceed."
"There’s more," Becca whispered.
"Bec-" Nick began, but stopped when he saw Becca’s _expression. If she could do it, he could too.
"He said some things about Nick, too."
Kevin drew in a harsh breath and looked at over at Nick, his eyebrows raised in question.
"I told her, Kev, it’s ok. She knows."
"Knows what?" AJ leaped to his feet. "What the fuck is going on?"
"Lou said some things about Nick and the ‘other Carter boys’." Becca saw the look on Sarah’s face and knew she’d also begun to add things up.
"It’s the reason I’ve made sure that mom tours with Aaron. I know everyone thinks she’s just a bitchy stage mother, but … when I was a kid, when we were just starting out, Lou made a pass at me."
"He WHAT?" Brian was on his feet, followed immediately by AJ.
"Nicky, why-"
"Why didn’t I say anything?" Nick swiped his hand over his face. "Because J, it would have ended our careers right then and I knew that. We wouldn’t be here right now if I’d told."
"But to let that sick fuck touch you?" AJ was astounded and was having a very difficult time wrapping his mind around this turn of events.
"He never touched him," Kevin said quietly. "I made sure of that."
"You knew?" Howie asked.
"I had to tell someone," Nick said quietly. "Kevin was my biggest brother," he added almost shyly.
"Why do you think I encouraged you to hang close with him, Brian?"
"Hell man, you always were telling me to keep the ‘pesky’ kid out of your sight."
Nick smirked. "And you did just that, Rok. It kept me away from Lou too, because he would never have tried anything in a crowd."
"Sonofabitch …" AJ mumbled. "Kevin, this bastard has to be stopped."
"Precisely why the legal team has already been contacted. Becca, I’m sorry you had to go through this. But you have to know that you haven’t done anything wrong. All of us have something at stake here, and we’re gonna get through it together."
"Thank you," she said, trying to stifle a yawn. "Thank you all."
"Baby, we’re family," AJ said getting up to give her huge hug. "And nobody fucks with my family."
By now they were all on their feet. Confession time was over, and the long day was beginning to take its toll on most of them. Becca’s eyes were beginning to droop and she could no longer smother her yawns.
"You two go get some sleep," Kevin said. "We’ll talk more tomorrow, but sleep in. You both need some rest."
"We have a baby, Kev, there IS no more ‘sleeping in’." Nick grinned as the others laughed.
"Sis, come get me if you need me and I’ll take Garrett for you." Sarah hugged her best friend and whispered, "I’m proud of you, Bec. I know that wasn’t easy."
"Thanks," she whispered back. "But what if …"
"No ‘what ifs’, Bec. Kevin and Howie will take care of it. Trust them."
"Come on, Bec, I’m beat." Nick took her by the hand and pulled her off toward bed as the others milled around, at a loss for words.
After the bedroom door closed, AJ looked at the rest of them and summed it up succinctly.
"Fuck."
A single tear slid down Sarah’s cheek and Howie hugged her to him as the others noticed.
"Baby, are you okay?" asked Kevin softly.
"Yeah, I am. I just wish I could have protected Becca and Nick from all this."
"We all do, Sarah," said Brian. "We want to protect you BOTH from this but Pearlman is…"
"Is a bastard," seethed AJ. Looking at Sarah in Howie’s arms, he said, "Sarah, I swear…"
"Alex, stop. I’m okay….really. I just want to protect Becca. We’re all she’s got now."
Kevin smiled and reached over to brush her hair back. "Baby, you’ve got a lot of your husband in you…"
Sarah grinned putting her hand on her stomach, "You got THAT right."
All four men laughed as Kevin went on, "That’s NOT what I was talking about. Look, you keep telling me I can’t control everything all the time. Well, YOU can’t protect Becca all the time." He cupped her chin in his large hand, his thumb caressing her cheek. "One, she’s got Nick and us to do that too and two, you’ve got yourself to think about. You need to take care of yourself and those twins. Now, it’s been a LONG day. Let Howie take you to bed and get some sleep. You’ve gotta perform tomorrow night."
"You mean tonight," corrected Sarah. Standing on her toes, she gave Kevin a kiss. "Thanks, ‘Boo’…." Looking at AJ and Brian, she said, "Thank you guys too! It’s like having my brothers around."
"I bet your brothers never did things to you like I did," smirked
AJ wagging his eyebrows at her.
Shaking her head, "God, AJ….GET OUT OF HERE!" and she pushed him towards the door.
AJ turned to give her a kiss on the cheek before going out the door calling back, "’Nite, ‘D’…hope you get to finish what Nick interrupted," followed by that maniacal laugh.
As Brian went by, he gave her a kiss too, "Good night, Sarah….’D’, we’ll see you guys later."
That left Kevin and he looked at Howie. "When are you going to call Steve?"
"Right now."
"Let’s plan to meet around eleven with the attorneys and Steve. Sarah, do you mind setting up lunch in here?"
"No, that’s fine, Kevin," said Sarah as she rejoined the two and putting her arms around Howie’s waist.
Kevin shook his head. "You put ALL thoughts of making ANY kind of statement to the press out of your head, you hear me?"
"Yes, Dad," cracked Sarah.
"You don’t, and I’m turning you over my knee. Got it, young lady?"
"Ohhhh…PROMISE?"
"God, Howie…do something with her," smirked Kevin giving her a kiss on the cheek. "See you two later."
"Good night," chorused the two and as the door closed behind Kevin, Howie said, "Let’s go to bed, ‘Angel’."