'Backstreet Girl involved in death of Los Angeles Businessman.'
The headline stared at AJ in the face. He was standing in line at the grocery store, holding his frozen pizza and six pack of Mountain Dew when he noticed the headline of the National Enquirer. Underneath the bright yellow headline was a picture of Ang and Brian at last year’s Grammy Awards. AJ quickly grabbed the tabloid, paid for his groceries, and ran out of the store as fast as his legs would take him.
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“Now this is a sight I never, ever thought I would see,” Katelin commented, standing in the doorway of the living room. Nick was in full sweats, music blasting, as he furiously dusted his furniture.
“Funny Blondie.” He glared at her. “Why don’t you stop making wisecracks and come help me.”
“Can’t actually.” Katelin casually strolled into the room and sat down on the couch, waiting for Aidan to come barreling down the stairs. “Aidan and I are meeting Adrienne for lunch. You’re more than welcome to join us.”
“I don’t know…” Nick began.
“Just for an hour or two,” she told him, putting a pleading look on her face. “It’ll be a fun and we’ll hire you a cleaning lady.”
“The social worker’s coming tomorrow, Kate.” Nick threw his dust-rag to the ground and collapsed on the couch, right next to her. “I can’t get a cleaning lady on such short notice.”
“Please?” Katelin begged, resting her head on his shoulder and giving him her best puppy-dog look. “I promise I’ll help you clean later.”
“Kate…” Nick groaned. “It’s not going to work.”
“It used to work all of the time,” she remarked, raising her eyebrows at him.
Nick stared at her surprised for a second before bursting into laughter. “Fine. Fine. I’ll go. Just let me change first.”
Katelin leaned and gave Nick a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek, completely catching him off guard. “Thanks Nicky! You’re the best.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Nick grumbled, jumping in surprise as Kate slapped him on the ass. “Hey!”
“Oops.” Katelin grinned sheepishly.
Nick leaned in close to her ear, his breath tickling her neck. “Watch it, Taylor. I know where you live.”
“Yes sir,” Katelin whispered, watching as Nick smirked at her and then walked out of the room. She leaned back and let out a deep breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Damn. How the hell idd he always manage to do that to her?
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AJ threw the car in park, jumped out, and ran to the front door of the house, banging furiously. When no one came, he peered into the window trying to find someone. Anyone. Hearing voices from the back of the house, he ran around and saw them in the pool. “Brian!”
Brian stopped short of diving into the pool when he heard AJ’s voice calling him. “Bone? What are you doing here?”
“Yeah. What’s the matter, Aje?” Kevin asked from his spot in the hot tub.
“Where’s Ang?” AJ questioned. Brian shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe rehearsal. Why? What’s up?”
AJ threw a withering glance at Kevin before tossing the magazine to Brian. “That’s what’s up.” Brian glanced at it for a second before shrugging. “So? It’s just a trashy tabloid. No one will believe it.”
“Read the article, Bri,” AJ commanded. “Whoever the source is knows a little too much about that night. I wouldn’t be so smug about this.”
“What the hell are you guys talking about?” Kevin demanded to know. Brian and AJ glanced at each other nervously. Besides, Ang, Katelin, and Lanie (who knew about the threats but not why Ang was getting them), no one else knew what had been going on. But, if people bought this story, shit was going to hit the fan. And if that happened, Kevin, Howie, and Nick had a right to know.
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Adrienne heard Aidan’s voice from practically a block away and grinned at the thought of the little blond-haired bundle of energy. She glanced up and was surprised to see Nick walking down the street with Katelin and Aidan. They looked like they could’ve been the perfect family. Strikingly beautiful parents with an adorable little boy. She stood up quickly and made her way towards them, an idea suddenly forming in her head.
“Adri!” Aidan called, running towards her outstretched arms.
“Hey little guy!” Adrienne scooped him up in her arms. She turned to Kate and Nick. “Hey, listen. I feel terrible but I just got a call from that job I applied for. They want to meet with me as soon as possible. So, I’m going ot have to bail on lunch.”
“Oh Adrienne…” Katelin whined.
“I’m sorry, Kate,” she apologized. “I know we planned to have lunch but I don’t want to have to re-schedule.”
“Fine,” Katelin grumbled, looking at her feet. She felt bad that she had dragged Nick all the way downtown for Adrienne to cancel on her.
“Why don’t the three of you stay,” Adrienne suggested. “I’d hate for the reservation to go to waste.”
Katelin glanced at Nick, silently asking. “Sounds good to me,” he said, shrugging. “Let’s go.”
“Alright,” Katlein leaned in and gave Adrienne a hug. “Good luck at your interview.”
“Thanks,” she grinned. “Bye guys!”
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“So what are we going to do?” Ang asked, looking helplessly at AJ and Brian. “Should we talk to your mom, Aje?”
He shrugged in return. “Maybe we should wait to see what sort of response we get. Kevin was right. This could very possibly blow over.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Ang asked, tearfully. This was all getting to be too much. She had to get away from Brian. That was the only way that the group wouldn’t be involved.
“Then you go to the police,” AJ answered. He sighed. He really didn’t want to have to do that. Three years ago when the dead body was discovered, two of their bodyguards had alerted the police to the crime but did not give them any information. They claimed they had stumbled upon the body looking for someone else. The police did not find anything suspicious with their story. They just assumed that the man had overdosed. AJ, Ang, Brian, Katelin, Nick, the bodyguards….they could all possibly be charged with hiding information from the police. Obstruction of justice. That was a serious charge. Was he ready to subject everyone to that? Well, he knew he could keep Nick and Katelin out of it but what about the rest of them? This could, in all actuality, destroy the group.
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Lanie sat down and waited for her client to come back from the bathroom. She was at an Italian restaurant in Tampa on a business luncheon. The deal was just about closed and soon she would be heading out to her office. She checked her cell phone to see if it was on. Nick was supposed to call her around noon and now, at 12:45, she still hadn’t heard from him. It was indeed on but Nick hadn’t called. She sighed and put the phone back in her purse. Looking around the restaurant, she waited patiently for her client to come back when something caught her eye. There, in the far corner of the restaurant, was her boyfriend. Her jaw dropped as she saw Nick, Katelin, and Aidan having lunch together. She scowled at them. They looked like the perfect family. She wanted that. She wanted that with Nick. And she wanted it soon. She was sick of Katelin being around. She was sick of Nick spending all of his time with Katelin and Aidan. She almost hoped that Nick lost custody of his son to the adoptive grandparents. Then there would be no way that Katelin could ever get in the way. As soon as Aidan was out of his house and his life, then Katelin would be too. Lanie was sure about that. But, could she really do that to Nick? Deciding that her relationship was too important to let slip away, she decided that she could. Now all she had to do was find a way to make it happen.