Lanie sat down in the questioning room, resting her handcuffed-hands down on the table. Detective Rogers closed the door behind his partner and they both sat down at the table. “Well, Miss Roberts. Is there any reason you were hightailing it out of here?”
“I’m not saying anything until my lawyer gets here,” Lanie replied, smugly.
“Why do you need a lawyer?” Detective Rogers asked. “Got something to hide?”
“No, I don’t have anything to hide,” she sneered. “I’ve watched enough cop shows to know what my rights are. And I don’t have to say shit to you until my lawyer gets here. So…”
“Detective…” an officer opened the door and interrupted. “I think we’ve got something.”
Detective Rogers stood up and motioned towards Lanie. “Watch her,” he told his partner. “I’ll be right back.” He followed the young officer out of the questioning room. “What is it?”
“The Louisiana State Police just pulled over a car that matches the description of the car at the covenience store in Atlanta,” the officer explained. “The little boy matches Aidan’s description. Their bringing them in now.”
“Has anyone notified Nick and Katelin?” Detective Rogers asked.
“I thought you may want to do that.”
He nodded. “I’m on it. Watch that girl in the room. We’re gonna head over to Mr. Carter’s.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Have we heard anything about Lanie yet?” Ang asked, sitting down on the couch next to Krista.
Krista shook her head, her hands intertwined with AJ’s. “Not yet. I heard they picked her up but nothing else.”
The doorbell rang at that moment and Ang jumped up to get it. She opened the door to see Detective Rogers on the other side. “Hi. Any news?”
He stepped inside the house. “Where are Mr. Carter and Miss Taylor?”
“They’re on the back deck.” Ang motioned for him to follow. “Come on.” She led him back to the deck where Katelin and Nick were staring out at the Gulf in silence. “Guys?”
They both spun around to see Ang and Detective Rogers. “What’s going on?” Nick questioned.
“We’ve found Aidan.”
Katelin gasped. “You did? Where? Is he okay?”
He held his hands up, silently telling her to slow down. “He seems okay. He’s on a helicopter right now on his way back to Tampa. They’re flying him directly to the hospital to check him out just in case. We can take you there.”
They all began walking towards the front of the house, the detective explaining the situation to Nick and Katelin. Lanie was still a question mark. She wasn’t going to talk it seemed like. They also needed Katelin and Nick to make a positive identity on the actual kidnapper. It seemed to be that it was Jay, Katelin’s so-called boyfriend, that had taken Aidan. But he wasn’t talking.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Reporters were swarming the doors of the hospital. Someone at the police station had leaked the information. Nick Carter’s son had been kidnapped. Reporters had jumped on the story and had shown up at the hospital, figuring out that’s where Aidan was.
Security cleared everyone out of the way as the Suburban pulled up to the front doors. Nick and Katelin both jumped out with Billy, Nick’s bodyguard, in tow. Billy shielded them as much as possible from the camera flashes as they all entered the hospital. Security stopped the reporters from following them inside and the three disappeared to the elevators.
“Holy shit there are a lot of reporters here,” AJ commented from the back of Kevin’s 4-Runner.
“I’ll drop you all off at the door and find a spot,” Kevin instructed. He pulled the car up to the curb and AJ, Krista, and Adrienne hopped out, along with a member of their security. Brian, Ang, Howie, Christine, and Brooke were in the car behind them. He watched them disappear inside the hospital and then pulled away, trying hard not to run over a spare reporter here and there.
“Excuse me,” Adrienne ran up to the counter in the emergency room. “I’m looking for my stepdaughter. Her son was brought in by helicopter a few minutes ago.”
“No one’s allowed back there,” the nurse replied, looking at Adrienne skeptically. Stepdaughter? Yeah right. This woman couldn’t have been more than twenty five or thirty years old. There’s no way she had a stepdaughter who had a two-and-a half year old son. Right? “Security’s very tight.”
“We’re family!” Adrienne exclaimed, banging her hand on the counter. “Where the hell are they?”
“I don’t care if you say that you’re the President, Miss. You’re not getting into that room. Now please get out of my way.”
“Listen you little bitch.” Ang was getting fed up with the young nurse’s smug attitude. “That is my best friend back there. If you don’t tell me where the hell they are and if Aidan’s okay, I swear to God…”
“What’s going on out here?” The group all turned around to see Detective Rogers approaching them.
“Detective,” AJ walked over to him. “We’re not here to create a commotion. We just want to know if Aidan is okay.”
“Well Nick and Katelin are back there with him right now,” he told all of them. “I think that they want to be alone for a minute with him. I’ll let them know you’re out here.”
“Thank you,” Ang smiled at him before shooting a glare in the nurse’s direction.
“Miss Taylor? Mr. Carter?” A nurse approached them. “You may follow me this way. Aidan is right back here.”
Nick and Katelin nervously followed her back to the examining room. He was sitting on the bed smiling up at the doctor who was attempting to examine him. “Aidan,” Katelin gasped when she saw his little blond head.
“Hi mama!” The little boy announced happily, as if nothing was wrong.
Katelin rushed over and pulled him into her arms, practically shoving the doctor out of the way. “Oh baby. Are you okay?” Nick had now joined the three of them and was also now rubbing Aidan’s back and placing kisses on the top of his head. He turned towards the doctor. “Is everything alright?”
The doctor smiled. “He seems to be fine. Maybe a little tired. But he’s been well fed and there are no other injuries. He’ll be fine after a nice, long nap.”
“Thank God,” Katelin breathed, bouncing her son on her hip. She looked up at Nick. “This is real, right? I’m not dreaming.”
Nick chuckled, his eyes bright with unshed tears. “No baby. This is real. He’s back.”
The doctor smiled at the young couple and backed out of the room. “I’ll just be right out…yeah…bye.”
Nick and Katelin stood there holding their son, the three of them wrapped up together. Katelin had tears of happiness streaming down her face. Nick went from rubbing Aidan’s back to smoothing Katelin’s long blond hair down her back. “Hey,” he breathed. She looked up at him. “I love you, Kate.” He grabbed her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. “God, baby, I love you so much. I want to spend my life with you. With Aidan.”
Katelin just stared at him, shocked. Nick had been so careful with her since she had come back into his life. Yeah, he had slipped a few times. Taking her to bed with him. But he always backed off. Making her believe that he didn’t really want her. But maybe he was just scared to get close to her again. And stay close to her. But now, it’s like that wall was gone. And he just wanted them to be together.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Next case please!” The judge slammed his gavel on the bench.
“Yes, Your Honor,” the prosecutor began. “The next case is the State of Florida versus Melena Roberts. Miss Roberts is charged with kidnapping and obstruction of justice.”
Katelin and Nick, along with the rest of the Backstreet family, stood behind the prosecution, waiting for Lanie’s arraignment to begin. Nick and Katelin sat, hand-in-hand, silently praying that Lanie would not be released on bail.
Lanie’s defense lawyer stood up. “We waive reading, Your Honor. The defense moves for Miss Roberts to be released on bail. We have no reason to believe…”
“Excuse me, Your Honor,” the Prosecutor interrupted. “We have every reason to believe that Miss Robertson is a flight risk. In fact, she was on her way out of town when she was arrested. We also have reason to believe that she may be a danger to herself or others.”
“Your Honor, that is ridiculous,” Lanie’s lawyer protested.
“She masterminded a plan to kidnap her boyfriend’s child.”
“Miss Robertson has not been proven guilty. This is not a trial.”
“If she were allowed out on bail, there’s a possibility that either Katelin Taylor or Aidan Carter would be in danger.”
“Your Honor…”
“I’ve heard enough!” The Judge banged his gavel on the bench yet again. “Defense’s request for bail is denied. Trial is set for one month from today at nine in the morning. Next case.”