Nick and the rest of the guys were backstage getting their makeup touched up before they went back out and sang "I Want It That Way." They were in New York doing the Rosie O'Donnell Show.
All of the sudden, Donna, their manager, showed up.
"Nick, you have to leave. Now," she said.
Nick looked at her.
"Why?"
"There's been a shooting at Angel's school."
"What?!"
"And Angel hasn't come out of the building yet and the guy's not letting anyone in."
Nick felt his face go pale. Donna started to escort him to the elevator.
"Johnny got you a flight home. You're going to the airport quick and its leaving as soon as you get there. BJ's going to pick you up at the airport."
Nick got in the elevator and he started to ride down.
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Once Nick got outside, there was a cab there and he got in. It was a 15 minute ride to the airport. Nick sat in the backseat, very nervous. Everywhere he looked, he could see Angel. Her face was on every little girl on the street and it seemed to reflect back at him from every window.
'Please God. Let Angel be okay. Please,' he prayed.
The cab stopped in front of the airport. Nick threw some money at the cabbie, not really caring that he had tipped him $20. He got out of the cab and slammed the door. Nick surveyed the area, looking for the person that was suppose to met him here.
"Mr. Carter?" asked a young, blond woman.
"That's me."
"I'm here to bring you to your plane."
"Can we go fast?"
"Yes sir."
The woman sprinted into the airport and Nick followed. Usually, he would have flirted of something but he was too occupied with thought of Angel. When ever he blinked, he could see her surround by a pool of blood. It was a terrible sight.
Nick got onto the plane and buckled himself in. A few minutes later, the plane lifted off and the ride to Orlando began.
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Meanwhile, in Ruskin, Angel Carter was being held hostage by an unknown gunman along with the rest of her fifth grade class. He had all of them in a corner. It was just the students; the teacher had made his parnter mad and he had taken her out of the room about five minutes ago. They had all heard a gun but didn't want to think about it.
"Which one of you is Angel Carter?" the man growled.
The entire class looked at Angel.
"I am," she told him. She had wanted her voice to be strong, but compared to his, it was as weak as a kitten's.
"Step forward out of the group," he commanded and Angel obeyed.
"Are you going to hurt me?" she asked him.
"You don't talk unless I say you can," he told her.
Angel just nodded. The gunman paced in front of Angel and her classmates, back and forth; back and forth. Angel wondered why he had singled her out from the group of 25. And how he had known her name.
She wished that Aaron was there. Or Mom or Dad. Or Nick. Nick! Did he even know that this was going on? He was up in New York and wasn't suppose to be back home for a few more days.
All of the sudden, the phone on the teacher's desk rang. The gunman jerked his head to look at the phone. He walked over to it and axamined it. Angel prayed that he would pick it up, but he didn't. The phone just kept on ringing, over and over and over and over.
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About an hour later, Nick's plane landed in Orlando. He rushed out of the airport and saw BJ waiting for him right in front of the building.
"What's the latest news?" he asked as he got in the car and BJ sped off.
"They're saying there's two or three gunman," she told him.
"Is anyone hurt?"
"About a dozen. And Nick," she said to him, pulling to a stop. She looked over at her big brother. "Nick, Angel's class is being held hostage."
"Angel?" Nick repeated, his voice cracking.
"Yep. When I left, they were trying to get in touch with 'em but no one was picking up the phone."
"Oh my God," Nick said.
"I know," said BJ. She patted him on the shoulder and returned her eyes to the road.
Nick and Angel had always had some kind of connection. Sure, BJ got along with each of them but they were always seemed to understand each other on a deeper level.
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Back at school, the phone was still ringing. The man went over and finally picked it up. He listened for awhile and then asked,
"Is Nick Carter with you?"
Angel's eyebrows shot up at the mention of her brother.
"10 minutes?" the man asked. "Call me when he gets there." Then he hung up the phone.
The man walked over to Angel with his gun pointed at her. He stopped in front of her and pressed the barrel against her chest.
"Your brother better show up soon. Or you and your little friends are just going to be memories," he told her, his face very close to hers.
Angel's heart was beating fast in her chest. Was he going to kill them like his friend had the teacher? She swallowed and prayed that Nick would get there soon.
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When Nick and BJ finally reached the area were the families were waiting, the first person he saw was Abby, Angel's best friend.
"Abby, where's Angel?" he asked her.
"Still in school." Nick's shoulders dropped. "They're looking for you."
"Who is?"
"The cops."
"Where are they?"
Abby pointed them out and Nick ran over there.
"I'm Nick Carter," he told the cops. "Someone told me that you're looking for me."
"Yes," said one of the cops. "I'm Officer Bink. The man that is holding you sister's class hostage asked for you. We're suppose to call when you got here. Come with me."
Nick followed the cop over to a car.
"This is the guys he wanted," Officer Bink told the officer standing there.
"Good. We were waiting for you," he told Nick. "I'm Officer Loz. I'll call the guy and then give you the phone."
Nick nodded and Officer Loz dialed the number and handed Nick the phone.
"Hello," came a voice after the fifth ring.
"This is Nick Carter. You asked for me?"
"Yes. I've got your little sister in here..."
"How is she?"
"She's fine...for now. If you want her to stay that way, there's something you're going to have to do."
"I'll do anything."
"Good. For every single kid, you have to pay me five thousand dollars."
"Five thousand?"
"yes. That's a total of a hundred and twenty-five thousand. You can handle that, can't you rich boy?"
"Yes."
"You have an hour. Then you have to put the money in the window sill by this room. Just you. No cops. I want all of it before I let anyone go."
"Okay," said Nick. "Is there anyway I can talk to Angel?"
"Angel, wanna talk to your brother?" Nick heard the man snarl.
"Nicky?" he heard Angel's eager voice.
"I told you not to talk!" the man yelled. Then Nick heard him slap Angel. Then he talked to Nick.
"One hour!" he told him. Then the phone went dead.
Nick hung up the phone. Officers Loz and Bink were looking at him.
"What did he say?" asked Bink.
"He wants a total of $125,000 before he'll let any of the kids go."
"$125,000?" gasped Loz.
"In one hour."
"How are we suppose to do that?" asked Loz.
"Let me make a call and then bring me home as fast as possible."
The officers nodded and Nick took out his cell phone. He dialed Howie's number.
"Don't be busy," he said as he punched it in.
"Hello?" he heard Howie say.
"How, it's me. Are all the guys with you?"
"Yeah. Why? How's Angel?"
"That's why I'm calling. The guy that's got 'em wants $125,00 in an hour before he'll let 'em go. I can't get a hold of that much money in that short of time. Will you guys help?"
Nick heard Howie relaying the message to the others.
"They all agreed to help. What do you want?"
"I'm going to need the locations of the valuts and the combos for all of your houses."
"Ok. Just a minute."
"Can you get me some paper?" Nick asked Officer Bink who was standing next to him. The officer handed hom a pad and a pen.
"You ready Nick?" asked Howie.
"Yeah."
"Ok. Mine's in the basement under the stairs. Combo 34-6-28-5. Brian's is in his bedroom in the closet. Back wall. 20-87-62-57. Kevin's is in the kitchen under the fruit painting. 68-71-65-43-54. And AJ's is in the living room in the floor on theh left of the fireplace. 3-16-13-87-61. Got 'em?"
"Yep. Thanks."
Nick hung up and wrote all of the guys' addresses on the seperate pieces of paper.
"Have one guy go to each of these addresses. All the keys are under the front mat. Each can get $25,000 from each," Nick told Officer Bink. After they had given out the addresses, Nick got in a car with Officer Bink and headed for his house at high speeds with the siren blaring.
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When everyone had returned to the area and put all the mey in a duffel abg, they had 10 minutes left. There was exactly $125,000. The plan was for Nick to bring the money and if the guy kept his promise and released the kids, then the cops and those people would go in. They were in the proxess of getting bullet proof vests on.
"Nick, you can do it," his dad said. His mom kissed him and the rest of his family (minus Angel) just looked at him. Then Nick headed towards the school and the window.
He was too wearing a bullet proof vest and he was sweating underneath. He didn't think he had ever been so nervous in his life.
Nick neared teh window and called out,
"Mister, I got you're money!"
The guy appeared at the window with Angel and another kid Nick didn't know at his sides. Each of them had a gun pointed to the back of their heads. Nick inhaled sharply at the sight. He caught Angel's eye and smile a little. She smiled a little back.
"Hand it up here," the guy commanded. "Come over here," he said over his shoulder.
Another man wearing a ski mask appeared and took the bag from Nick. He started to count the money. Nick said nothing. He didn't want to set the guy off. After what seemed forever, the second guy said,
"It's all here."
"It's a good thing you gave us all the money," the first one told Nick. "Or your sister might not be here. I'll let the kids go as soon as you leave."
Nick walked away and back to the street where he had come from. When he got back there, the kids were coming out of the school. After they were all out, the cops went in from every direction. Nick searched the kids for Angel. She was the last one out.
"Angel!" he yelled.
She saw him and started to run towards him. He picked her up and hugged her.
"I'm glad to see you," he said.
"I missed you."
The rest of the family joined them.
"Weren't you scared?" asked Aaron who was in a bit of awe at what had happened to his twin sister.
"Yeah. Mommy, they killed Miss Curti," Angel told her and them started to cry.
"On my baby," said Jane Carter and she took her youngest daughter from her oldest son's arms.
Angel cried for awhile and then someone yelled "They got 'em!"
The Carter family looked up and saw two men dressed in black, hancuffed and being taken to police cars. Jane put Angel down and Angel went back to Nick. He picked her up.
"You saved us," she said to him.
"It wasn't just me. All the cops helped and part of the money I gave the guys was from Howie, part from Brian, part from AJ and part from Kevin. And from me."
"Then all of you are heros," she told him. She rested her head against Nick's shoulder and fell asleep.
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