Marcia gradually let go of her grasp on Lalie and Tony.
"You found me," Lalie whispered in happy tears. "No, you found us," she corrected herself as she turned to Tony.
Adelyn couldn't take her eyes away from the man standing in front of her. "This may sound like a strange question," she said slowly, still staring at his curly hair. "Is your name Phil?"
Lalie turned and gave Tony a strange look, although a smile from her thorough happiness was still evident.
Tony blinked a few times and didn't answer right away. "Phil?" he asked. "What would make you ask something like that?"
"You have an uncanny resemblance to my boyfriend. Since I've already met one of his brothers, I just thought that since you look so much like the two of them, that you would be Phil. Am I right?" Adelyn asked, a confused expression on her face.
Tony was taken aback by what Adelyn just said. "I suppose you are," he admitted. "I'm Phillip Timberlake."
"You mean," Lalie began as she backed away. "You're not-? You lied to me?"
Phil looked at Lalie and didn't say anything right away, he noticed the hurt in her eyes. "I'm not Tony," he admitted to Lalie, as his eyes wandered back over to Adelyn.
"Your brother is worried about you!" Adelyn warned Phil.
"Is he really?" Phil asked her in a sarcastic tone. "Surprising," he said. "No one has ever thought twice about me," he told Adelyn, his anger surfacing. "Hell, when I wanted a college education, I couldn't even get that!"
Adelyn took a step back, blinking. She obviously had no idea about anything that he was saying. "I'm just telling you that Justin's worried about you. He thought you were in Pennsylvania, you know," she said, but then added, "and he had a baseball scholarship and worked very hard for his education."
Phil crossed his arms. "Please don't remind me of Justin's perfect education. I've heard all I want to hear about it."
Adelyn ignored his last remark. "How come you didn't call if you were back in town? And more importantly, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Why bother letting everyone know?" Phil rhetorically asked. "Everything would still be the same," he told her. "I'm here because I thought I was helping out a friend, who I met in Pennsylvania," he began to say as he looked around and found Marcia crouched in the corner of the room. "Marcia Santiago," he pointed out to Adelyn. "She's the reason why I'm here, why Lalie's here," he finished.
"Some friend Marcia turned out to be," Lalie agreed, folding her arms and looking at Marcia in the corner with disgust.
Adelyn approached the cowering Marcia and put handcuffs around her wrist, quickly reading off Marcia's rights. Once Marcia was apprehended and standing, Adelyn looked back at Phil. "So, are you saying you're an accomplice to this crime?"
Phil took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, I initially did help Marcia with this," he admitted, glancing over at Marcia. "Then, something happened and I ended up being held against my will right along with Lalie."
"He's telling the truth," Lalie stepped in.
Adelyn let go of Marcia's arm and walked over to Phil. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to come with me to the station. It's not that I don't believe you, but you did have a part in this and you will need to pay for it." She snapped another set of handcuffs on his wrists and said the rights once more.
Lalie watched on as Phil stood there in handcuffs. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him as she bit her lip. She thought seeing him in handcuffs would be everything, but it wasn't. Marcia came into Lalie's view as Adelyn dragged her from the back of the room.
Lalie picked up her purse and keys as Adelyn began to escort Phil and Marcia out. Without looking back, Lalie followed the rest.
At the police station, Adelyn had Marcia and Phil sit in the two chairs next to her desk before she took them in the back. She was calling Kevin to let him know about Lalie being rescued.
"It's true then," Lalie started as she stood next to Phil's chair. "You're not Tony."
Phil looked up at her. "I was going to tell you," he truthfully told her. "I didn't completely lie. Anthony is my middle name," he explained.
"We confided in each other," Lalie told him in a serious tone.
"Everything I told you was the truth," Phil defended.
Lalie accepted what he said. "I believe you because I think you're a good person no matter what people say," she told him. "I told you that in the room and I still think that."
Phil couldn't believe it. "I'm sorry, Lalie," he told her. "While we're being honest, did you mean what you said that other time?"
"About what?" Lalie asked him in confusion.
"The good looking part?" Phil asked her with a half smile.
Lalie put her hands on her hips and smiled. "You are something else," she simply said as Adelyn walked over and gave Lalie a look like she couldn't believe she would be smiling with her abductor.
"Your family is on their way," Adelyn informed Lalie with a smile, as she signaled Marcia and Phil to stand up and led them off into a back area.
Lalie sat in the chair that Phil was in and nervously awaited the arrival of her family and friends.
Phil sat nervously in the back of the police station, awaiting whatever was coming his way next.
Unfortunately, he could never have prepared for who stepped through the door five minutes later. First, he saw the curly hair first, and then his gaze fell on his brother's piercing blue eyes. He tried to stand up, but Justin's glare forced him to sit back down.
"Do I even want to know what you're doing here?" Justin asked as he walked to stand in front of his older brother.
"Do you even care what I'm doing here?" Phil shot back.
Justin didn't respond.
"So, I got into a little trouble," Phil went on. "With any luck, I'll be out by tomorrow."
"Maybe spending the night in jail will teach you a lesson."
Phil's eyes narrowed. "Did you learn your lesson?" he asked. "Don't think I don't hear things about you. I know what you did, little brother, so don't pretend you're all high and mighty when what you did was far worse than my crimes."
"I don't even know what you did," Justin admitted, his eyes softening. "But you have no idea about the circumstances. I did what I had to do."
"That's no excuse," Phil scoffed. "Everyone does what they have to do, Justin."
Justin looked away from his brother and toward the exit. "Have you met Adelyn?" he wanted to know, obviously changing the subject deliberately.
"I've met her. She seems nice... though I don't know why she's with a self-righteous jerk like you."
"This conversation is over," Justin informed Phil. "And when you want to talk like a mature adult, please, give me a call, because I miss my brother."
As Justin turned to walk away, Phil stood up. "You can't miss a brother you never knew was there," he said, but Justin continued to walk away. Phil wasn't even sure if he heard him. Giving up, he fell back onto the metal chair and gave a heavy sigh.
Phil felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked up, only to find an officer looking at him. "Yeah?"
"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Mr. I Know Everything, and I must say that I agree with everything you said. I don't understand why Adelyn is with him either."
Phil looked up at the man, confused. "Who are you?"
"I'm Officer Blake Pertel... Adelyn's partner," he said. "And your brother's the biggest jerk I've ever met."
Lalie stood up as she saw her mother and father walk in followed by Kevin and James.
"Lalie!" Carole cried out as she rushed up and hugged her daughter.
"Mom," Lalie cried, as she hugged her mother. "Is Heather here?"
"She wanted to be," Carole began to explain. "I told her it would be safer if she stayed in Florida."
"That's true," Lalie agreed.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Harold told her as he kissed and hugged Lalie very tightly.
"I'm fine," Lalie told him as she looked towards Kevin and James.
"I thought you were supposed to show me around the city, Lalie," James joked, hugging Lalie.
"I wanted to!" Lalie told him, drying her eyes. "It sounds like you had a good vacation, though, James. How's everything with Georgia Caldwell?" she laughed.
Kevin looked impressed as he kissed and hugged Lalie. "You were able to keep up on the latest gossip?" he wanted to know.
"Oddly enough, I was," Lalie replied. "It wasn't your usual kidnapping," she stated. "Oh, my God, I can't believe Marcia did this just so she could take advantage of the extra hotel space," she said, looking at everyone.
"Marcia is somebody that we never have to worry about again," James assured her.
"I hope you're right," Lalie agreed as an Officer walked into the room.
"Officer, where's Adelyn? I wanted to ask her if there is anything more we have to do here or are we free to take Lalie back to the hotel?" Carole asked him in a polite tone.
"Adelyn's spending time with Mr. Dependable," Pertel replied. "So, I came to see how Lalie's doing and to get her statement. Are you ready, Lalie?"
The five of them gave a confused look as to who Mr. Dependable was, but Lalie nodded and headed off with Pertel to make her statement about her ordeal.
Chapter 27
Non-Nsync {Fiction}
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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