“How much longer until we get there?” Ellen cried from the backseat of Trevor’s Explorer. They were on their way to Paul’s cabin in New Hampshire, the Connecticut State Police following closely behind.
“Probably about two hours,” Howie answered, looking carefully at the map. “Just stay on 95 until we cross into New Hampshire.”
“I swear to God,” Trevor growled. “If he hurts either one of them, I’ll kill him. I really will.”
Howie and Ellen didn’t offer a response. They both sat in silence praying that Christine and Melissa would be okay.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“So,” Ang began, sitting down next to Brian on the couch. “When are we gonna tell everyone?”
Brian shrugged, never once taking his eyes off of the television. “Whenever. Let’s wait until we can get everyone in one place. I don’t feel like making a thousand phone calls.” Ang didn’t say anything and he looked over at her. “You’re dying to tell people aren’t you?”
Ang laughed. “Am I that transparent?”
He shook his head. “Not at all. You’re glowing actually. And I know females. I know there’s no way you can stand to keep this a secret.”
“I could too!” Ang exclaimed in mock astonishment. “Thanks for the confidence.”
“I have confidence in you,” he told her. “I just know you’re dying to pick up that phone and dial Kate’s cell phone number.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine, fine. You got me.”
“So?”
“So what?”
“You gonna call her?” Brian asked.
Ang glanced at her watch. “I know she’ll call me when there’s a decision. I don’t want to interrupt something important up there.”
“Oh right.” Brian had momentarily forgotten why Kate and Nick were in New York. “I hope everything’s going okay. Nick called earlier and said they were headed to lunch while the judge made a decision. That was a few hours ago.”
“They called and you didn’t tell me?” Ang hit his arm. “More importantly, did you tell Nick about us?”
“Did we not just go over this?” Brian laughed. “I thought we were waiting.”
“Oh,” Ang grinned, sheepishly. “I forgot again. I need to tell someone.”
Brian threw the cordless phone at her. “Call your mother, Ang. And then when Kate or Nick calls, we can tell them.”
She leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. “Thanks babe.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Nick closed the door to the apartment behind him and followed Kate inside. Without looking at him, she walked straight up the stairs and down the hall to her bedroom. Nick sighed and shook his head, slowly, not wanting to deal with her at that moment. Instead, he walked back into the kitchen and picked up the phone.
Katelin listened from the doorway to his room as Nick’s footsteps got farther and farther away. She was secretly hoping that he would follow her. That for once he would deal with whatever was going on inside his head. That he would talk to her. But that was just wishful thinking. She knew that he would never open up to him and tell her what was on his mind. He never had in the past and she was sure he wasn’t about to start now.
The doorbell ringing shook both of them from their thoughts. Nick, in the middle of dialing, clicked the phone off and tossed it on to the table. He walked out of the kitchen just in time to see Kate walking down the stairs.
“Who do you think that is?” Nick asked, following her to the door. “I thought that they announced guests at this place.”
Kate shrugged. “Maybe it’s Ang’s mom with Aidan.” She pulled the door opened and they saw Jeff standing on the other side.
“Hey,” Nick greeted. “Is something wrong?” Jeff stepped inside the apartment. “Yeah. I need to talk to you.” He looked pointedly at Katelin who threw her hands up in the air. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”
Nick led Jeff into the den. “What’s going on? I thought we were set on everything.”
Jeff sighed. “Well, we are…Sort of…Nick, I found out something today I think you might want to know.”
“What?” he asked, staring at Jeff curiously. Jeff pointed to the couch. “You might want to sit down for this.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I found out who talked with the social worker.”
“Isn’t that privileged?” Nick questioned, using some of his legal knowledge that he had learned over the course of the custody battle.
Jeff shook his head. “Not in this case. You have a right to know who makes accusations against you. Anyway, it was Lanie, Nick.”
“What?” he whispered, unbelieving.
“I’m sorry,” Jeff told him, sympathetically. “I really just thought you should know.”
Nick’s cell phone began ringing at that second but he just sat there, staring into space. Jeff stood up and patted Nick on the shoulder before showing himself out of the apartment. Nick reached into his pocket and pulled the little phone out. He glanced at the caller id and saw the number to the beach house on the screen. Knowing it was Lanie and not knowing what to say to her, he ignored it and shut the phone off. He was in shock. He had no idea what to do. He knew Lanie didn’t like Katelin. He knew she hated the fact that Katelin lived there. But he never thought she would go that far to actually try and get rid of his son. He was seething with anger and hurt and betrayal. He loved her. He honestly did. He would never understand why that wasn’t enough. It was like he wasn’t good enough for anyone.
“Nick?” He heard from behind him. He spun around and saw Katelin tentatively stepping into the room. “Did Jeff leave?” She asked.
Nick nodded, the look of disbelief still on his face. “Yeah…uh…I think.”
She was surprised by his sudden change of mood. “What’s wrong?”
He looked up at her at that moment and saw the concern in her blue eyes. “Lanie…she…she’s the one that talked to the social worker. She told her everything.”
Katelin’s eyes widened and Nick noticed her face turning an unfamiliar shade of red. “She what?!” she exclaimed. “Jesus Christ! Are you kidding me?”
“Calm down, Kate.” He took a step towards her. “It’s not…”
“Calm down?” She interrupted, stepping out of his reach. “We come this close to losing our son because of her and you’re telling me to calm down. God damnit, Nick! Why the hell can’t you control your girlfriend?”
“We didn’t lose him, Kate,” he yelled. “You were there in that court room! He’s ours.”
“He’s yours, Nick,” she reminded him. “I don’t have any rights, remember?”
He rolled his eyes. “Will you stop it with that? You’re his mother, alright? And I can control my girlfriend.”
Katelin snorted. “Yeah, I can see that. She hates me. She hates Aidan. And obviously she’ll stop at nothing to get us out of your life. Well, if she thinks I’m just going to roll over that easily, she’s got another thing coming. He’s my son. And I’m not just going to walk away.”
“I know, Kate,” Nick sighed, stepping towards her again.
She looked up at him, her blue eyes staring into his. They were both silent for a moment, just staring at each other, trying to read the other’s thoughts. “Why’d you kiss me earlier?” She finally asked.
“What?” Nick was surprised at the sudden change of subject.
“Why did you kiss me at the courthouse?” She repeated.
Nick swallowed nervously. He didn’t know what it was but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth. That he wanted to. That he wanted to do more than that. “I don’t know…Heat of the moment, I guess.” Unconsciously he had stepped closer to her. So close that he could feel his breath on her cheek. He leaned down slowly, his lips mere inches from hers. “What are you doing?” She whispered.
“I think want to kiss you again,” he replied, quietly, before pressing his lips to hers. His arms wrapped around her as he pulled her closer to his body. The kiss gained in intensity and Katelin grabbed his shirt in balled fists, trying to be as close to him as possible. He backed her up until she was standing by the couch and gently laid her down, his lips finally leaving hers and traveling down to her neck.
Katelin stared at the ceiling as Nick devoured her neck. Her hands weaved through his short, unruly blond locks, as his hands moved under the waistline of the wind pants she had changed into. Thoughts ran rampant through her mind. He has a girlfriend. I have a boyfriend. I love Jay…I think. He can’t keep doing this. Just say stop, Kate. It’s that easy. Okay…one, two, three…stop. No words came out. Nick had begun lifting her shirt up as his lips moved back to hers.
Okay, actually say it this time…one, two, three… “Stop,” she whispered against his lips.
“What?” Nick asked, pulling his mouth away from hers and looking in her eyes.
She pushed him off of her. “I’m not doing this.”
Nick groaned. “What now, Kate?”
“You can’t keep doing this to me, Nick.” She jumped up off of the couch and glared at him.
“Can’t keep doing what?” He cried, confused.
“This.” She spread her arms out to the sides as if that would explain everything. “Playing with my head. I can’t deal with this. You want me…you want Lanie…you sleep with me…you sleep with Lanie…Lanie bitches at me…you defend her…you kiss me in front of a zillion people and then look at me like I did something wrong…Lanie tries to get our son taken away…you defend her…this…whatever’s going on right now…I’m not going to do this anymore, Nick. I’m not going to be your whore.”
His eyes grew wide. “You think that’s how I’m treating you? Like you’re a whore?” Katelin flinched as Nick basically exploded in front of her. “You’re hardly innocent here, Kate. There were two people in that bed the other night. Me and you. I didn’t have to do that much convincing, did I? You’re the one that brought your little boyfriend over the very next night. You’ve obviously been doing a little playing with people’s heads too. Don’t just blame me.”
“Oh shut up, Nick,” She yelled. “Why should I sit around and wait for you to finally give up that bitch you call a girlfriend and come back to me? Don’t you think that I’ve realized that it’s never going to happen?”
“You know what?!” He exclaimed. “Maybe it is never going to happen. Maybe I did sleep with Lanie the very next night after I slept with you. And the night before that! But you know what? She’s my fucking girlfriend, Kate. At least I’ve been with her for a long time now. You’ve known Jay for how long? And you slept with him already? How come it took you months to sleep with me? Huh? But maybe that’s just the way you are now. Maybe you are just a whore.”
The loud smack of Katelin’s hand connecting with Nick’s cheek echoed off the walls of the room. They stood there glaring at each other, neither one of them speaking. “Fuck you, Nick. Fuck you,” she growled. “You know, my father was right about you all along. You don’t deserve me. You’re not good enough. You’re just a sorry excuse for a human being. I can’t believe I ever fell in love with you.”
“You and I were fucked up from the beginning, Kate,” he replied, his hands reaching out and grabbing her wrists as she went to push him. “Everyone tried to tell us but we didn’t listen. Now look where it’s gotten us.”
“Stop, you’re hurting me.” Nick saw tears pool in his eyes but he couldn’t bring himself to let her go. They began to spill down her cheeks. “Nick, get off!” She was genuinely frightened by the look in his eyes and what he might do to her. Finally, something in his mind clicked and he realized what he was doing. He pushed her away so forcefully that she fell to the ground. She looked up at him, her cheeks stained with tears. His face was an uncharacteristic shade of red and he just stared at her. Finally, without saying a word, he stepped over her, grabbed his jacket, and walked out of the apartment.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
AJ looked up at the apartment building and debated on whether or not to get in the elevator. He wanted to. He really did. But his feet wouldn’t move. They were rooted to the spot next to his car. Soon enough, her neighbors were going to call the cops on him or something. Accuse him of stalking.
Finally, the sound of a car horn shook him out of his reverie. He began walking towards the entrance of the building. He forced his feet to keep moving towards the elevator and he didn’t stop until he was inside, the machine on it’s way to the sixth floor.
Krista heard the doorbell ring and dropped the magazine she was reading. Who could that be, she thought to herself while making her way to the door of her apartment. She opened up the door and was shocked to see who was in front of her. “What are you doing here?”
“Can I come in?” AJ asked. Krista nodded and he stepped inside the apartment. “What are you up to?”
“Uh…noth…nothing…” She spit out, flustered. She closed the door and led him over to the couch. “Just reading a magazine. What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see…if…maybe…if you’re not too busy…we could get dinner,” he stuttered, looking at his hands.
Krista glanced down at the jeans and sweatshirt she was eating. “Uh..I’m not exactly dressed for dinner.”
“It’s fine,” AJ clarified. “Nothing fancy. I just wanted to hang out…But if you’re busy…”
“AJ,” She smiled and grabbed his arm as he tried to stand up. “Let me just throw a different shirt on and we can go, alright?”
AJ grinned. “Alright. I’ll just wait out here.” He watched as she walked back into her bedroom. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe Sarah was right. Maybe he did belong with Krista.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
The Explorer sped along the dirt road, the two Connecticut State Police cars behind it. Inside of the Explorer, Trevor, Howie, and Ellen sat in relative silence, knowing that were only a few miles from the cabin. Suddenly, they spotted a black Yukon speeding towards them, an unrecognizable face behind the wheel. One of the cop cars attempted to stop it but it kept speeding by them. The second police car quickly turned around and sped off after while the other one signaled for Trevor to stop the car.
“Why are we stopping?” Howie asked.
“He’s telling us to.” Trevor gestured to the officer that was now getting out of the car and walking towards them. Trevor rolled the drivers side window down.
“We don’t want to scare him off if he’s in there with the girls,” The officer explained. “More importantly, we don’t want to make him nervous so that he hurts one of them. We’re calling for back up from the New Hampshire state police. They’re on their way.”
“But what if that other guy is telling him that we’re out here?” Howie chimed in from the back seat.
“Mr. Dorough,” the officer began. “We don’t know if the suspect is armed or what. The last thing we want is to threaten the safety of Melissa and Christine or any of you. Plus, we’re not in our jurisdiction anymore. We can’t just bust in there. The other cars will be here soon enough.”
The next few minutes were a flurry of activity. The other officers showed up and raided the cabin. Howie, Trevor, and Ellen were forced to wait outside. All they could do was stand there while they could hear a struggle ensuing inside the cabin. Finally the last thing they heard was a shot ring out and a female scream before the air was filled with silence.