Howie rolled over and looked at the clock. 6:47 a.m. He supposed it was time to call the police. Padding down the stairs, he heard Ellen and Trevor talking quietly in the kitchen. “Hey,” he greeted when he entered. “How long have you all been up? If I had known, I would’ve come down instead of staring at the ceiling.”
“I couldn’t really sleep,” Ellen admitted, sipping some coffee. “I mean, my girls are missing.”
“Me neither,” Trevor piped in. “Do you think we should call the police now?”
“I don’t see why not,” Howie stated, standing up to get the phone.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“You’re staring at me again,” Ang whispered, as she opened her eyes to see Brian gazing down at her.
“I know,” he answered, matter-of-factly. “I was just thinking of last night. And how we’re going to be waking up like this every morning for the rest of our lives.”
Ang grinned. “I love you, Bri. I feel like everything is so perfect right now.”
“It is, Ang,” he told her. “Nothing is going to stop us from getting married. Nothing.”
“I hope you’re right, Brian,” she said, warily. She couldn’t help but think that her whole nightmare wasn’t over yet. It couldn’t end that easily. Something had to go wrong.
***** ****** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Where’s Melissa?” Christine demanded, when Paul walked back in the cabin without her sister, whom he had left with.
“Couldn’t tell you,” he answered nonchalantly.
“What the hell did you do with my sister?!!” she exclaimed, her arms flailing. The big burly guy that had stayed at the cabin with Christine quickly reached out and grabbed her arms before she could go crazy on Paul.
“I don’t know where she is, Christine,” Paul told her, calmly. “You see Jay has some friends and I just dropped her off with them. I have no clue where their taking her.”
“I swear to God, Paul,” Christine hissed. “If anything happens to my sister…if they so happen to lay one god damned finger on my sister, I’ll fucking kill you. You understand.”
Paul, the same stony expression plastered on his face, slowly walked over to her. He reached a finger out and lightly traced a finger down her jawline. “Christine, baby…” He leaned in and placed a light, lingering kiss on her cheek. “I don’t see how you’re in any position to make demands.”
Christine tried her best to blink back her tears. “You’re fucking crazy,” she whispered. “Fucking crazy.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
JC heard a light knock on the door but didn’t feel like getting up to answer it. Ever since he found out that Brooke left…left without saying a word to him…he didn’t even want to come out of his room. What the hell did Kevin have that he didn’t have? Okay, so she definitely owed Kevin an explanation, but didn’t he deserve something too? At least some sort of notice that she was leaving? She didn’t give him anything. Not even a goodbye. That confirmed everything for him. She wasn’t in love with him. He had mistaken her need for someone on the road for love. Boy was he wrong.
The incessant knocking at the door shook him from his thoughts and, finally, he stood up and angrily yanked it open. “What?”
Justin, hand poised to knock again, smiled warily. “Hey J…Uh…how are you doing?”
JC glared at him. “How does it look like I’m doing, Just.”
Justin stepped inside the room looked around. The place was a shit hole. There were empty bottles all over the place. “J, don’t do this to yourself. No girl is worth this.”
“Really, Justin?” JC questioned, his eyes blazing. “How would you feel if Britney just up and walked out of your life? No explanation. No nothing. Huh? How the hell would you feel?”
“Probably the same as you,” Justin answered, honestly. “But mine and Brit’s situation is ten times different than yours. She and I have been together for years. You and Brooke…well…you guys haven’t even known each other that long and she’s engaged to another man. Maybe you should just let her go.”
“I can’t,” JC said, quietly. “I don’t know what it is about her. But I can’t let her go. I love her.”
“Do you really?” they heard a voice from the hallway. Both Justin and J.C.’s heads whipped around and spotted Brooke standing in the open doorway. “Answer me, JC. Do you really love me?”
The two were staring at each other so intensely that Justin had never felt more out of place than he did right then. He began walking towards the door. “I’m just gonna…uh…call…uh…yeah see ya.”
“You’re back,” JC commented, quietly.
Brooke smiled a little bit. “Looks that way. I guess I just couldn’t stay away.” She stepped inside the hotel room and closed the door, before slowly walking over to him. “So, you never answered me.”
JC was still staring in awe. “Huh? Oh…right…what’d you ask me again?”
She lauged softly, grabbing his hand in hers. “Do you really love me?”
He nodded, swallowing nervously. He had really hoped that she didn’t fly all the way from Orlando to Las Vegas just to tell him that she was going back to Kevin. “Yeah, I do.”
“I think I do too,” she whispered, before slowly leaning in and letting her lips touch his.
“You what too?” he asked, pulling away slightly and looking her straight in the eye.
“I think that I love you too,” She replied. “I told Kevin everything. And then I gave him back his ring.”
JC couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to have her in his arms. She had just made his day, no, his whole life. He picked her up and spun her around. “You have no idea how happy that makes me feel.”
She laughed, nervously, until he put her down. “So, uh, what do we do now, Mr. Chasez? I mean, technically, we are married.”
“Well, Mrs. Chasez,” he began, leading her over to the bed. “I can’t remember having a proper wedding night….Uh pretty much since I can’t remember even getting married. So, first, we’ll take care of that. And then when this tour is over in a few weeks, maybe we’ll have a real honeymoon.”
“I love you,” she whispered, before leaning in to kiss him.
“I love you too, Brooke,” he said, sincerely. “And one day, I promise we’ll have a real wedding.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Nick and Katelin sat nervously with Nick’s attorney, Jeff, at a small café in Manhattan. The three of them picked at their food and tried, unsuccessfully, to make small talk until they got the call that the judge had made his decision. Nick was staring off into space, praying silently that his son wouldn’t be ripped out of his life. He couldn’t even imagine it. Couldn’t imagine what Kate had been through two years ago when she knew what was going to happen. That as soon as she brought this wonderful little boy into the world, that he was going to just be, literally, ripped out of her arms and handed over to someone else.
His thoughts were interrupted by the waitress approaching the table. “Can I get you anything else?” she asked.
Jeff glanced at the other two at the table and when neither of them made a move, he answered. “Just the check please.” She smiled and walked away.
“What’s taking so long?” Katelin questioned, quietly. She looked up at Nick’s lawyer and he could see genuine fear in her eyes. “Is this bad?”
Jeff reached over and grabbed her hand. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for the two of them. Especially if Aidan was taken from them. “This isn’t bad, Kate. I can’t make any promises on what’s going to happen. But the decision taking this long doesn’t mean a thing.”
Nick glanced at his watch for, like, the two hundredth time in ten minutes. “It’s already three o’clock. What could he possibly be deliberating about for three fucking hours?”
“I don’t know, Nick,” Jeff began as his cell phone started to ring. He picked it up and said a few words to whoever it was on the phone and then slammed it shut. “Well, it’s time. Let’s go.” He threw a few bills down on the table and followed Nick and Katelin out of the restaurant.
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“I don’t know what to do anymore, Aje,” Howie said, quietly into the phone. “I mean, I’m pulling my hair out. We’ve got nothing to go on.”
“I don’t get it,” AJ commented. “I mean, why would Melissa be in on anything that Paul wanted to do to Christine? I thought she disliked him about as much as you did.”
“Same here,” Howie replied. “I don’t think that she did this on her own. Something’s up and I think Melissa’s just as much of a victim as Christine is.” He heard a beep, indicating that another call was coming through. “Hold on, Jay. Someone’s on the other line.” Howie clicked the line over. “Hello?”
“Hello?!” He heard a frantic voice exclaim. “Who’s this?!”
Howie’s eyes grew wide. “Melissa? Is that you?” He looked up as everyone from the living room ran into the kitchen. “Melis, it’s Howie. Where are you?”
“Oh god!” She cried. “Howie! You have to help us. Christine…Paul’s got her…” The phone began to cut out. “Cabin…” was all he heard before the line went dead. Howie clicked the phone back over again. “Aje, I gotta go,” and hung up the phone before AJ could respond.
Everyone began shouting at once. “Was that Melissa?” “Is she okay?” “Where are they?” “Is Christine with her?”
Howie held his hands up to silence everyone. “I could barely understand her. But she mentioned something about a cabin. Is there a cabin that they’ve been to?”
Everyone was quiet for a minute before Ellen’s eyes lit up. “Yes! There’s a cabin a few hours north of here. Up in New Hampshire. Paul used to take Christine there all the time.” After that, everything was a flurry of activity. Trevor, Howie, and Ellen, climbed in Trevor’s Ford Explorer, with two marked police cars and an unmarked one tailing them.
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AJ stared at the phone, a weird look on his face, before shrugging his shoulders and hanging up the phone. There was a knock at his door and he made his way to the foyer. Swinging open the door, he didn’t see anyone standing there. Just as he was about to close the door, he noticed a plain, white envelope sitting on the doorstep. Picking it up, he stood up and leaned his head out, looking from side to side, trying to see if anyone was out there. Without seeing anyone, he shrugged his shoulders and closed the door.
AJ walked back into the kitchen, all the while tearing open the envelope. Stopping next to the counter, he tossed the empty envelope on to the surface and opened the letter, his eyes widening.
Mr. McLean,
Think you’re slick, huh? Going to the cops was a huge mistake. You don’t think that I’ve known about your involvement. I’ve been watching you all like hawks. You and all of your friends. Throughout all of this, I’ve left you alone. But I’ve just about had enough of you playing hero to that little bitch. She is going to pay for what she did. But now it seems that I have to give you a message also. So, consider yourself warned: Stay out of this. Leave Ang alone. This is her problem and she should have never dragged you into it in the first place. If I see you talking to the cops again, you will pay. I know how to hit people where it hurts. I’m sure you don’t want anything to happen to the ones you love. I think I’ll leave Sarah alone. We all know she’s not the one you really want anyway. But, Krista…hmmm…poor, unsuspecting Krista. She has no idea about this, does she? She never did. So sad what happened to that baby of yours. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to her too, would you? Seeing her life slipping away? Gasping for air? You wouldn’t want that for the love of your life now, would you? Stay away from the police.
AJ let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding and collapsed into the chair. He never even thought that they would’ve come after him or anyone that he loved. The threats had always been directed towards Ang. It had been quiet recently and they were all so sure that whoever was doing this had finally backed off. But they were wrong. Whoever this was had been watching the entire time. Waiting for them to make a move. And they had made the wrong one. They had gone to the cops. And they had been watched the entire time.