Morgan and Lyn charged up the stairs and onto the bus giggling, Lyn flopped down on one of the couches in the lounge and scooped Blarney and Tipperary up off of the floor, “Hi babies.” She kissed each dog on the nose. “Justin and JC are not going to want to deal with us tonight.”
“How could they not want to deal with two of their SUPER FANS?” Morgan threw her arms in the air and waved them around. She looked in the mirror and smirked, before flopping down next to her.
Lyn rolled her head to face Morgan, “Thanks for asking me to go with you tonight. I had a GREAT time, and I can’t remember the last time we did something together, just the tow of us.”
Morgan looked over at her and shrugged. She started to say something, but then stopped, “Lyn...”
“What?” Lyn smiled.
“Nothing. Never mind.” She was blushing, and she shook her head.
“Mor, I have four younger sisters. Don’t try to pull the, ‘Nothing. Never mind.’ thing with me. What’s up?”
Morgan looked down at her hands, “What’s up with you and Justin? I mean...you and JC are ok right?”
Lyn’s eyebrows shot up, “Justin and I? Good Lord! Nothing is up with us! JC and I are great, I love him with all my heart. Why on Earth would you ask THAT?”
“Well, it’s just...I mean, you have been hanging out with him a lot...and I feel like...I don’t know what I feel like.” She sighed and shifted to face the older woman.
“You feel jealous?”
The corners of Morgan’s mouth turned up slightly, “I guess. I guess I feel kind of...replaced. I have always been the only, female friend he’s really had. I mean, he and Stasia are kind of close, but it’s different.”
“Morgan, I can swear to you, on Lisy’s life, I could NEVER replace you in Justin Timberlake’s heart. You are as important to him as Jonathon and Steven. Whether or not you know it, you hold a piece of his heart that NO ONE ELSE will ever be able to touch. I would hate to be the girl he ends up with, because she is NEVER going to be able to live up to your standards, Justin compares everyone to you.”
“I just wasn’t sure what was up. I mean, you guys have like these new nicknames for each other and stuff.” She blushed a little.
Lyn laughed, “B.B. and L.S.?”
“Yeah.”
“Mor, Justin has appointed himself big brother, get it...B.B.? He calls me L.S. for ‘Little Sister’. He said, now that JC is so wrapped up in being with me, that he can’t watch out for me anymore. So Justin says he’s going to do it now. That’s all it’s about, nothing more, I promise you.” Lyn grabbed her hand and squeezed.
Morgan smiled, “Sounds like him.”
“It should sound like him, I never realized he was as...deep as he is.” Lyn looked deeply into Morgan’s eyes, “Thanks for asking Mor. I’m glad you didn’t keep wondering. I mean, you could have misunderstood, and then we may not have been able to get along.” She cocked her head, “Is this why you asked me to go with you tonight?”
Morgan’s cheeks flushed, “Well...it’s not the ONLY reason.” They both burst out laughing.
“You know, I really like you. No matter what your reason was, I’m glad you asked me to go with you tonight. I had a BLAST!”
Morgan giggled, “Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yay!”
Lyn was gasping for air, she wrapped her arms around Morgan a squeezed her tightly, “You’re the best Morgan!”
Morgan rolled her eyes, “YEAH! I’m the best at being jealous and stupid. You could have made this SO PAINFUL! Thank you for not making me feel like a total idiot.”
“You forget, it wasn’t all that long ago that I was in the same position. I mean, think about how close JC and Stasia have gotten, and she was always around, and I was at home. THEN he was taking her to The Grammy’s and I couldn’t go because of school. Can I tell you what a relief it was when her attention shifted to Lance.” Lyn had an evil glint in her eyes.
“LYN! There was NEVER anything between JC and Stasia. As a matter of fact, she had the two of you pegged from the day she met you.”
“I didn’t say it made sense! That’s just the way I felt, I was jealous for no apparent reason. Stasia had been nothing but nice to me, she had been good for JC, and I was SO JEALOUS!”
“OF ME?” Lyn and Morgan’s heads whipped at the sound of Stasia’s voice. She was standing in the door with her mouth hanging open.
“OH GOD! STASIA! I’M SO SORRY!”
“About what?” Stasia casually leaned against the door frame, her arms crossing.
“I should have told you I was jealous of you! It was so stupid, and I want to die now!” Lyn slouched down, covering her face with both hands.
Stasia smirked, “Lyn, honey...If Lance was out of the picture...I mean if I had never laid eyes on him, JC WOULD have been the one I made a move for.”
Morgan began laughing, “NO WAY!”
“Hey, I know a hot guy when I see him.” Stasia laughed.
“Who’s hot?” JC asked from behind Stasia. All three girls froze. Both puppies jumped down and ran to him.
Morgan laughed hysterically and pointed, “YOU ARE!”
Justin shoved past JC and Stasia, “I thought I was the hot one!” He flopped onto his back on the floor and Blarney waddled over, climbing onto Justin’s stomach. He scratched her behind the ears and she laid down with her head on his chest, “See my girl still shows me love.”
“We all love you fool.” Morgan kicked him on the foot.
“So what did we walk in on? And why is JC hot?” Justin continued to scratch Blarney’s head.
“Never mind!” Stasia tried to change to subject.
“Oh NO! You three clammed up when we got here, what were you talking about?” JC pushed Stasia forward into the lounge.
Morgan grinned, “Lyn was jealous of Stasia because you were close to her before she started dating Lance.”
“MORGAN!” Lyn’s jaw dropped.
“What? It’s true isn’t it?”
“Only as true as the fact that YOU are JEALOUS OF ME!”
“LYN!” Morgan starred at her wide eyed.
Justin sat up a little, causing Blarney to huff and readjust herself on his lap, “Why are you jealous of Lyn?”
Ron stuck his head onto the bus, “Feisty! You riding here or on your bus? We should have already left! Why are you in the wrong place? You know better!”
Stasia started to walk away, but JC grabbed her arm, “Hang with us. RON! Can you get the other guys over here?”
“WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT ALREADY!”
“Big Guy, the longer we argue, the longer we’ll be here.” Stasia winked at him as she dropped her bag on JC’s bunk.
“Girl! You are testing my patience! Don’t make me drag you off of this bus kicking and screaming!”
“I’d like to see you try!” She stuck out her tongue. Ron simply shook his head and laughed.
Stasia flipped open her phone, “Harry honey, Grab Chris and the dogs and come onto JC and Justin’s bus. Uh huh....uh huh...we are gonna have a little group bonding.” She giggled about something, and then shut her phone.
JC elbowed her, “He wanted some one on one bonding huh?”
“HUSH!” She blushed.
Jake, Korea and Busta were charging down the aisle in a large ball of running fur, with Lance following. Chris was hanging from Lance’s neck like a cape. Lance was obviously ignoring Chris, hoping he’d go away. Lance was carrying an arm load of drinks and snack food.
JC ran over and helped her carry the food and drinks, “Why isn’t Chris helping you?”
“He is far to busy annoying the crap out of me.”
Joey and Angela climbed aboard and the buss immediately began moving, “IT WOULD BE NICE TO SIT ANDY!” Joey yelled as he held Angela tightly against his chest, keeping her upright.
“Have to move Joe! Crowd is getting antsy.” Andy called back over his shoulder.
Everyone squeezed into the small lounge area, and settled in. JC eyed Lyn, “Nice outfit Sweetpea.”
“Why thank you.” Lyn looked down at her t-shirt, and shorts, which had been plastered with NSYNC buttons and stickers, “Morgan picked out my disguise.”
Justin sat up again, “Which brings me back to my earlier question, why are you jealous of Lyn, Mor?”
“Leave it alone B.B.” Lyn kicked him lightly.
Morgan shook her head, “No. It’s ok Lyn. I WAS jealous of Lyn, because I didn’t completely understand your friendship. I’m fine now.” She smiled at Lyn.
“Woman, I don’t know why you are so insecure. You have nothing to worry about.” Justin rolled his eyes.
Lyn and Stasia exchanged looks, and Lyn sighed, “May I?”
“Certainly.” Stasia nodded.
Lyn kicked Justin in the ribs, “You know what? You’re an idiot sometimes! You have got the most remarkable best friend in the world. She has been with you since the day you met. How many people do you know that would put up with YOU for that long? OH! THAT’S RIGHT! JUST ONE! Morgan has never let you down, she has never said she couldn’t be there for you. She has put up with nasty rumors and fans saying evil things. She never complains, and she never asks for anything in return. If ONCE for ONE DAY, she gets a little jealous, I think you should consider yourself lucky and SUCK UP TO HER! I swear B.B.! You can be so blind!”
“Hold on a second killer! I said she has nothing to worry about.”
“AFTER you called her insecure. I have never met anyone MORE secure! Do you KNOW HOW SECURE she HAS TO BE to be YOUR best friend? You are NOT EASY TO PUT UP WITH TIMBERLAKE!”
All the eyes in the room were watching Justin closely. Everyone expected him to explode at Lyn, his eyes were locked with hers and she wasn’t backing down. JC was seriously considering whether or not he could save her life, when Justin nodded his head slowly, “You’re right. I’m sorry Mor. She’s right, I haven’t been easy for you to hang out with lately. I’m sorry...woman.” He smirked at her.
“No big deal.” Morgan shrugged. Stasia tipped her head to Lyn, “I couldn’t have said it any better myself.”
“Why thank you. I learned from the master.”
Chris looked around the room, “So do we have anymore group therapy issues we need to work out?”
Joey raised his hand, “I have an issue.”
Everyone turned to face him, JC was shocked that he was opening up to the entire group, “What’s wrong Joe? How can we help?”
“Lance brought all that food, and we haven’t opened it. I’m hungry.” Lance rolled his eyes and threw a bag of potato chips at Joey’s head.
July 16, 2001, San Diego, California
Lyn was annoyed. Very annoyed. She wanted to be outside, watching the taping of MTV’s Road To Celebrity , but she was trapped in the lounge of the bus with Stasia and Jess grilling her.
“When was the first time Mr. Powers made you feel uncomfortable?” Jess asked.
“The day I met him.” Lyn answered, glancing out the window again.
“OVER HERE LYN!” Jess rolled her eyes, “Why did you feel uncomfortable?”
“The very first thing he said to me was, ‘I have heard that you will be the thorn in my side.’ I had only said hello and welcome and THAT was the response I got.”
“And when was the first time he made, any sort of sexual advance toward you?” Stasia looked over the rim of her glasses.
“The same day. He said he’d like to get to know me better. I didn’t think anything of it, I mean, it was his first day, I assumed her want to get to know everyone better. Then he reached out and touched my hair and said something about redheads being wild.”
Jess rolled her eyes, “NICE! What a pig!”
“Tell me about it.” Lyn sighed, “Do we HAVE to do this right NOW?”
“Lyn, we have to get ready. I didn’t fly out to California just to catch some rays.” Jess answered shortly.
“Sorry. I’m still trying to avoid this whole situation.” Lyn played with a loose string on her shirt.
“If we have you completely prepared for the worst, there is NOTHING Powers and O’Boyle can do to shake us.” Stasia tried to comfort her friend.
“I know. Go on.” Lyn nodded
“When was the first time he eluded to the fact that your personal life was in his estimation, unacceptable?”
“I asked for a day off so I could attend an awards ceremony with a friend. Mr. Powers said it was inappropriate for me to attend, and if I did, I would be fired.”
“Did you go?”
“NO I decided to stay in Florida. I did not attend the ceremony.”
“Which SUCKED!” Stasia pointed out.
“Hey! I wound up going!” Jess pointed out.
“We aren’t talking about the Oscar’s we’re talking about the Grammy’s...I went with JC.” Stasia clarified.
“OH! Dude, we better make that clear!”
Lyn covered her face with her hands, “My lawyer did NOT just say ‘Dude’!”
“It’s not like we’re in a courtroom Lyn. I’m a pro, just ask Stasia.”
“She is.” Stasia nodded.
“I know, sorry.”
“OK, so let’s go over the thing about when you were actually fired. First there were pictures of you and JC in Michigan, right?”
“Yeah. He said he saw a picture of us on TV. He claimed that JC was draped over me...or vice versa, I don’t remember exactly, but one of us was supposedly draped over the other.”
“Was that true?”
“Heck no. At the time, we were still just friends. You can ask any of our friends, we NEVER had any sort of inappropriate contact before we started dating.”
“Back up the truck! I have two comments here!” Stasia smiled evilly, “First, rephrase that comment. You don’t want to leave the window open, you never had inappropriate contact, period. Don’t qualify it. Second, if there has been inappropriate contact SINCE you started dating, I should have been given specifics by now!”
Lyn giggled, “You’ve been told everything.”
“Well that isn’t exciting at all.” Stasia settled back against the couch.
Jess smirked, “Haven’t done the deed yet?”
“LORD NO!” Lyn’s eyes were wide.
“I was teasing you.” Jess laughed.
“OK, on to the pictures from my party.”
“Yeah. The ones he STOLE off of my desk.” Lyn nodded.
“Those pictures were so called proof of you being a poor moral example correct?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not enough. The school board wouldn’t have supported the decision solely on the grounds of those pictures. What other stuff did he have?” Jess chewed on the end of her pen.
“I didn’t ask. He said I was fired, so I left.” Lyn raised an eyebrow, “Jess, I SWEAR to you I DIDN’T do anything bad enough to get fired for. He had to have lied.”
“Was there a hearing in front of the school board?”
“Not that I was aware of.”
“OK. I have more research to do.” Jess was jotting down notes, “This thing goes deeper, we just have to find out how deep. I find it very odd that this guy doesn’t seem the least bit concerned about this lawsuit.”
Stasia nodded slowly, I also find it hard to believe that out of all of the lawyers in Orlando, he hooked up with Reagan. That is just not possible.”
“They probably belong to some sleazy club together.” Lyn huffed, “I hate Reagan.”
Stasia laughed, “I know the feeling. Watch this: Hey Jess...Garret.”
“Stupid, slimy, creepy, nasty, filthy, idiotic, good for nothing...” Stasia clamped her hand over Jess’s mouth.
“And he’s MY ex, not hers.” Stasia giggled.
“How many other questions do we have to go over?”
“I want to talk to my PI before we go any further. Let’s see what he has been able to dig up.” Jess flipped open her phone.
“PI?” Lyn was shocked.
“I always bring in an investigator to find as much dirt as possible on the opposition.” Jess grinned, “I keep telling you I’m good at this.”
“I know. You’re right. I’ve just never had to deal with this before. Man, I swear, this summer has already been one FREAKY roller coaster ride. I got fired. Lance and Stasia hired me. Johnny hates me. JC and I get together. This lawsuit starts on an up note. Powers hires Reagan. Every single good thing has had a negative counterpart. My life used to be so...even.”
“It will be again. I promise.” Stasia took Lyn’s hand.
“I hope you’re right.”
July 26, 2001, 10:45 pm Orlando, Florida
Turning the key in the lock, Lyn felt odd walking into her own apartment. She hadn’t been there in two months. Everything was just as she had left it, except now there was a thick layer of dust on everything. She tossed her keys on the table next to the door and flipped on the lights.
The light on her answering machine was flashing wildly and she sighed. She had checked her messages that morning, and now it appeared that she had ten new messages. She pushed the button and cringed at the voice on the other end, “Miss McLachlan, this is Roy Spitzer for the Orlando Sentinel. I would like to get a comment from you on the NSYNC connection to your suit against The Hazelwood School. Please call me bac at...” Lyn hit erase.
Five of the other calls were from the same man. Two were from Bethany, offering any help she could. One was from her mother asking why she couldn’t squeeze in dinner while she was in town. The last call was a hang up. “Thank goodness for hang up calls.”
She walked around her apartment, turning on lights and glancing at the stack of junk mail piled high on her coffee table. Cat had been picking up her mail, sorting it and expressing the important items to her, “Could have thrown the crap out Cat.” Lyn rolled her eyes.
It was odd how empty and foreign her own apartment felt. She had always been perfectly content to live alone. She had love decorating her apartment. Every little item contained in the walls of the space told her a story, reminded her of the day she had found it, or the person she had been with, or the person who had given it to her.
The khaki couch had clean lines. Lyn was not a fluffy, flowers and bows kind of girl. The earth tones in her livingroom were surprisingly cozy. She loved fall leaves, and trees. All of the art work hanging on the walls was black and white photography, mostly pictures of trees. She giggled at the memory of the first time Chris had been over, he accused her of stealing a Pottery Barn showroom.
Her bedroom was comfortable, and she loved the furniture in that room more than any other. She and JC had been shopping together when she was first moving out of her parent’s house. She had seen the warm, dark wood of the bedroom furniture, and fallen in love. But she was living on a school teacher’s salary, and was paying off her student loans, so she had just bought a mattress and box spring, and taken the dresser from her room at home.
She would never forget the day that the delivery men showed up at her door, with a bedroom loaded on their truck. Lyn had been so confused, until she had seen the name on the delivery invoice. JC had bought it for her. She had cried so hard, and when she tried to send it all back, and the man at the store told her that he had been warned she would try to send it back, and that it would not be accepted. She cried even harder. JC had found her sitting on the floor in the bedroom, with her cheek pressed against the dresser sobbing.
“Lynie! I thought you’d like it!” He crouched down next to her.
“Why did you do this?” She sniffled, refusing to look at him.
“Because you are my best friend and I love you. You liked it in the store, so I thought it would be a cool house warming gift.”
“It was way too expensive!”
“Nah! I have a job you know.” He turned her chin to face him, “I thought you’d like it.”
She cried harder, “I LOVE IT!”
Pulling back the white comforter, with it’s blue watercolor tulips. She climbed into her own bed for the first time in more days then she could count and reached across the sheets to the place where JC should be sleeping.
Her cell phone rang and she grabbed it quickly, “Hello?”
“Hi Sweetpea.” His voice was soft.
“JC! I was just thinking about you.” She couldn’t help but smile.
“Good stuff?” She loved the sound of his chuckle.
“Yeah. I was thinking about when you came over after I got the bedroom stuff.”
“And you cried.”
“I still can’t believe you did this.” She ran her hand along the headboard over her head.
“Eh. No big deal.”
“Are you in Vegas yet?”
“Yep. Just arrived. Are you all tucked in yet?”
“Yep. Snug as a bug.”
“Are you all ready for tomorrow?”
“I guess so. I am not excited about sitting across a table from Reagan and Powers, not exactly my idea of a fun way to spend the morning. Not to mention the fact that I will have an MTV camera crew at my door at 7:00 tomorrow morning.”
“Not one of Lance’s best plans.”
“It’s a great plan, just a BAD WEEK.”
“True.”
“I’ll be in the middle of the skills challenge when you get here in the afternoon, you’ll come down and find me right? I want to hear all about the deposition.”
“I’ll be there.”
“You sound sleepy.”
“Just a little.”
“So sleep. I’ll let you go. I love you Sweetpea.”
“I love you too Snapdragon.”
Standing in front of the mirror, Lyn fixed her pearl necklace and finished tucking in her white blouse. She had tried on six suits, before deciding on the charcoal gray suit JC had helped her pick out in New York. She poked at her curls and gave up trying to tame them. She walked back into the bedroom and slipped her feet into her shoes. She grabbed her suit jacket and briefcase and made her way out into the livingroom. Tossing the jacket over the back of a chair, and the briefcase on the seat, she walked into the kitchen to pour herself a third cup of coffee.
The cup in her hand was shaking slightly and she rolled her eyes when she noticed the time, 6:05. She didn’t have to be ready for another hour, but she was up, showered, dressed, had made the bed, dusted the entire apartment, done a load of laundry, packed her suitcase and finished reviewing a stack of paperwork regarding Angel Via’s album release dates.
She nearly dropped her coffee when the phone rang, “Hello?”
“You have cleaned, paced and downed a pot of coffee already haven’t you?” JC’s voice was groggy.
“Yeah. What are you doing up at this hour? It’s only like...3:00 there or something.”
“I’m refusing to look at the clock.”
“You have the skills stuff today and a show, you should be sleeping.”
“The woman I love has to do something she doesn’t want to today. I should be on the phone with her, supporting her.”
“You’re the best.”
“When in there today, looking at ugly and uglier, just remember I love you, and you’ll be back with all of your loved ones by 4:30 Vegas time.” “I will.” She turned her head at a knock on her door, “JC, I think the camera crew is here an hour early.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me.”
“I’ll try to call as soon as we’re done here.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” She flipped her phone closed as she pulled the door open.
“Lyn McLachlan?” There was a man in a delivery uniform standing at the door.
“Yes.”
He turned and walked down the small path to his truck. He returned after a few seconds with an enormous package. “Sign here.” He pointed to a line on a clipboard.
“You make deliveries at SIX A.M.?”
“If the guy pays enough we do.” He handed her the package and walked away.
“Wait! I’d like to tip you!”
“Believe me, it’s covered lady.” He climbed into his truck and drove away.
She set the package on the dining room table and tore the paper. Her breath caught at the sight of dozens of roses. They were pale pink and white and they smelled heavenly. She pulled the card out and fully expected to see ‘Sweetpea’ written on the envelope. She was shocked when instead the envelope read, ‘L.S.’.
The message inside said, “L.S., Good luck today. I know you will do great. Hurry back, so you can see me kick your boyfriend’s butt all over the court. Love, B.B.”
Lyn smiled, “How can I not do well with this much support?”
She sat down on the couch with her coffee and a stack of fan mail. Jamie had sent a big box of fan mail to Lance and Stasia, and Lyn had been shocked when there had been a package for her as well. Each letter had already been opened. Since Stasia’s stalker had communicated with her through letters before he had been caught, Jim and Ford had read every letter. The sent the good and the bad, as long as there were no threats, the letters were sent on to Lance, Stasia and now Lyn.
She sipped her coffee and smirked as she read one letter from a young girl hoping Lyn could introduce her to Justin. She quickly realized that most of the mail had nothing to do with her job at Free Lance and a lot to do with her connection to NSYNC. She decided to answer all of them, since there weren’t very many.
Before she knew it, it was 7:00 and her doorbell was ringing. She sealed the last envelope as she made her way to the door. Pulling it open, she was greeted by Stasia, who was carrying three cups of coffee and followed by Jess, Ron and two TV cameras, “Good morning!”
“Good morning guys! Come in.” She stepped back and allowed the group to walk in.
“How are you holding up?” Jess looked around.
“I’m fine. I talked to JC, so I’m fine.” Lyn smiled brightly as Stasia handed her a cup of coffee.
“Pretty flowers. Did JC send them?” Stasia inhaled the scent of the roses.
“Nope. Justin sent them.”
Jess flopped down on the couch, “SURE! He sends you flowers, and leaves me nasty messages about not leaving his house a mess.”
“I forgot you’d be staying there.” Lyn said as she sat down, “Would you guys like to sit down?” She motioned to the cameramen.
“We’ll just hang out back here. Are you guys ready to go on the record?” One of them asked.
“Can we have like, five minutes?” Stasia asked.
“Sure thing Miss Blake.” The man nodded.
“OK. First of all, I’m Stasia, this is Jess and Lyn. None of the Miss Blake, Miss McLachlan stuff. Second, is it ok if we know your names?”
“Sorry. I’m Mark, and that’s Chris.”
“I think we’ll remember that.” Lyn smiled.
“Our producers will meet up with us in Las Vegas. They didn’t think much would be happening here, so on is in Mississippi and the other is already on her way to Vegas.”
“Cool. Now I know we’re supposed to do those head shot things where we talk to the camera, when are we supposed to do that?” Stasia leaned back in her chair.
“Well, we’ll do one on the plane on the way to Vegas, so you can vent about the court stuff or whatever.”
“OK. Sounds good.” Stasia nodded.
Jess glanced at her watch, “I need to call the office, mind if I go in the other room?”
“Not at all, use my bedroom.” Lyn led her down the hall and showed her where the phone was. Jess sat in the big overstuffed chair in the corner and dialed. Lyn shut the door and walked back into the living room. The light on Mark’s camera was on and she cleared her throat, “This may take some getting used to.”
“You won’t even know we’re here.” Chris grinned.
When Jess emerged from the bedroom, she looked at her watch, “I think we should roll. Let’s get there on time and get out as soon as possible. I could not get them to agree to let the camera’s into the deposition, so you guys are going to have to wait outside.”
“Not a problem. We knew that was a possibility.” Mark nodded.
“So let’s go. We have work to do.” Jess walked toward the door.
Lyn laughed, “I guess we’re going then.”
When they got out to the cars, they split up, Mark followed Lyn into the Suburban in front and Lyn was surprised to see a new member of security sitting behind the wheel, “Hi.”
“Hey. They didn’t tell you about me did they?” He smiled.
“No. I think they forgot about it.” She smiled.
“I’m Don. I think you know my brothers.”
“Hold on a second.” She grinned as she slipped on her suit jacket. “Don...Ron...and Lonnie.”
“Yep. You’ve caught me. I’m one of them.” He winked at her.
“Well I’m very happy to meet you! How many of you are there?”
“There’s a whole mess of us!” He laughed.
Stasia ran over, “LYN! I forgot to tell you about Don!”
“We’ve already bonded.” Lyn smiled as she settled into the backseat next to Jess.
“We’ve had so much going on I completely forgot to tell you we have added some new security.”
“So I see.” Lyn smiled, “It’s no big deal. I’m gald to have Don here on our side.”
“Small family huh?” Stasia smiled.
“Tiny.”
Ron walked up, “We’ve got to go Feisty.” Ron scooped her up under his arm and carried her over to the second car with Chris.
“So I guess I’m hanging with you for while.” Don said as he drove.
“Why do you think we’re bringing on more security?”
“More artists, more staff, more need to have us around.” Don shrugged.
They pulled into the parking lot of Reagan’s law firm. She looked over at Jess who grinned and said, “Game on.”
“Game on?” Lyn raised her eyebrows.
“This is where I turn on. This is where I kick into high gear.” Jess grinned.
“Is that a good thing?”
“Damn good for you. Not so good for this Reagan guy. Or for Powers. Let’s go kick some butt.”
Don slipped out of the car and walked around to open the door for Lyn. He walked ahead of Lyn and Jess and held the door open for them. Ron caught up with Don, and Stasia fell in step with Lyn and Jess.
Mark and Chris followed them into the lobby, but turned off their cameras as soon as they actually saw the receptionist. She smiled weakly and said, “May I help you?”
“Yes we are here for a deposition with Mr. O’Boyle.” Jess answered.
“I’ll let him know you’re here.” There was another weak smile.
A tall man walked casually around the corner and grinned, “Allyn.” He smirked and leaned against the wall.
Lyn nodded, “Reagan.”
“It’s been a long time.”
“Yes it has.” She nodded.
“Can we get on with this. My client has a flight to catch.” Jess rolled her eyes.
“By all means. I wouldn’t want your client to miss anything important. Right this way.” He led them down a long hallway to a conference room. Seated near the end of the table, Lyn’s gaze landed on Mr. Powers and Reagan grinned evilly down at her, “I’d like to introduce my client, who also happens to be my step father.”
