Chapter 82
‘Bull’ understood Kevin’s frustration and he was mad at himself for letting Tyler get out of his sight. He said, "I came to get Billy and the others to help me look for her. The police are looking for her now."
Kevin snarled, "Is that suppose to make me feel better, Anibal, cause it doesn’t."
‘Oh shit.....Kevin’s pissed if he’s using ‘Bull’s’ REAL name,' thought Howie. He spoke calmly, the voice of reason, "Calm down, Kevin. Let’s go do the sound check and let Billy and the guys do their jobs. We can’t do anything right now."
Everyone agreed with Howie trying to calm Kevin and Kevin looked at them. Then he looked towards the doors. He was desperate to get Tyler back but he knew they were right. He looked at Billy, "Find her."
"We will, Kevin."
******************************
Outside, Tyler was struggling to get through the crowd. When she’d been pulled away from Kevin, she’d fallen and now she thought her wrist was broken. Holding her arm, she looked around and saw the doors to the arena and they were being guarded by the local police.
‘Cool. I’ll be able to show them my pass....shit, where’s my pass? Never mind. I’ll just tell them who I am and they’ll let me in,’ thought Tyler.
Tyler made her way through the crowd and to the guards. When she tried to get through the barricade, a HUGE man pushed her back.
"No one across the line," he barked.
"I need to get inside. I’m Kevin Richardson’s wife."
"And so are a thousand others out here. You’ll see him tonight at the show."
"Look you jerk! I’m pregnant, I have a broken arm, and I’m wearing a wedding band. Kevin is my husband and if you don’t let me through, I’ll see to it that you get into serious trouble," said Tyler irritably.
The man got in Tyler’s face, "If you don’t BACK OFF, I’ll have you arrested and you won’t see the show tonight."
"Fine! Arrest me!" said Tyler as she pushed her way through the barricade.
Several other policemen converged on Tyler, all as big as the first, and placed her under arrest. She was escorted away to the ‘boos’ of the crowd and taken to police headquarters. She demanded to be able to use the phone and was given one phone call.
Almost two hours after being separated from Kevin, Billy arrived at the police headquarters looking for Tyler. He had ‘Bull’ and Carlos with him and they were all irritated.
"Where the hell is the person in charge?" demanded Billy.
The chief stood up and said, "I’m in charge. What’s your problem?"
"I’m head of security with the Backstreet Boys and the wife of one of the guys is missing. Your officers were told to look for her because she got caught in the crowd and now I find out that they have NO FUCKING IDEA what I’m talking about. I want some heads."
The chief looked at the man who had brought Tyler in and then at Billy. "What does she look like?"
"SHE’S PREGNANT FOR GOD SAKES....WE TOLD YOUR MEN THAT. HOW FUCKING HARD IS IT TO MISS A PREGNANT WOMAN?"
All the officers became extremely nervous and the chief became extremely cooperative. "I am so sorry for the mix-up. Come with me."
The chief led Billy back to the holding cells where Tyler was sitting with a bunch of prostitutes and drunks. He had to snicker seeing Tyler sitting there but when Tyler saw Billy, he stopped smiling. She said coolly, "Someone is going to pay for this!"
The chief had the guard let Tyler out and Billy escorted her out to the outside room.
The chief said, "Mrs. Richardson, my deepest apologies for the misunderstanding. I’m sure you understand that we can’t let just ANYBODY who claims to be a wife into the arena. We’d have NO control what-so-ever."
Tyler turned on the chief and said, "Oh, I understand perfectly well. I learned a few interesting things while I’ve been here. You should have been doing your jobs rather than worrying about which prostitutes to lock up and which ones to let work the hotel where the boys are staying so that you get YOUR kick-back. The time for crowd control is BEFORE the crowd gets started and you’ve known for months the Backstreet Boys were coming! You also knew what happened the last time they were here."
"We were told they had their own security," the chief said meekly.
"They DO but it’s not THEIR job to control the crowd. I’m sure the Backstreet Boys generate quite a profit for you in this city when they are here. How would you like to be held responsible for them NOT coming back and the riot that would have been caused if they cancelled tonight’s show? I can almost guarantee that if I hadn’t been found BEFORE the show, they wouldn’t have gone onstage and then you would have had a major RIOT on your hands."
"Mrs. Richardson, I am truly sorry," stammered the chief.
Tyler turned to Billy, "Get me the hell out of here."
Once in the limo, Billy said, "You’re really pale. Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"
"The baby’s fine. It’s my arm. I think it’s broken."
Billy instructed the driver to take them to the closest hospital where Tyler was immediately taken in. It took almost an hour to x-ray and set her wrist and they were headed to the arena.
This time, Raoul and Marcus met the limo and all five men escorted Tyler into the arena. As they went, Tyler heard girls asking who she was and others who had seen her arrested cheering for her. She didn’t acknowledge them though and moved quickly with the men.
Inside, the guys were scattered about the backstage area doing their own thing. Nick and Brian were shooting hoops with several of the male dancers and Tyler didn’t see Kevin or Howie. AJ was watching Brian and Nick and was the first to spot Tyler.
"Hey guys, Ty’s back," called AJ as he rushed to greet her. He was careful of her arm as he hugged her close. "What happened to you?"
Tyler didn’t have a chance to answer before she was swarmed by everyone. They left a path for Kevin to get through and he took Tyler in his arms hugging her tight. "Baby, are you okay?"
They walked to the guys’ dressing room to sit down and she told them about getting separated. "I’d have been fine if I hadn’t fallen. ‘Bull’ had me in his sights until then and when I finally managed to get my fat self up, I couldn’t find him."
Kevin hugged her and whispered, "Baby, you aren’t fat."
"Why didn’t you just come to the doors and get them to let you in?" asked Howie.
"I did but I lost my pass somewhere and when I told them I was Kevin’s wife, they didn’t believe me."
Howie snickered, "I’m surprised you didn’t cuss them out in Spanish."
"So, where have you been for the last four hours?" asked Lex.
Billy started laughing, "She was arrested for trying to bust through the lines, broken arm and all. We went to the police station because the idiots outside had no clue what we were talking about. Then we took her to the hospital to take care of her arm. Of course, we probably should have taken the police chief to see if he had an ass left after Tyler got finished with him."
They all looked at Tyler and Howie said, "I hate to ask, but, what did you say and did you say it in Spanish?"
"I said it in English. I told them they shouldn’t have been so worried about which hookers to lock up and which ones to send to the hotel and done some crowd control. I also told them that they would have been the cause of you guys not coming back to Rio and the riot that would have ensued if I hadn’t been found before the concert. Look, I’m tired...I’m hungry....and I hurt. All I want to do is lie down."
"We’ll clear out so you can rest," said Sonja. "Glad you’re okay."
Everyone cleared out except for ‘Bull’, Billy, and Howie. Billy said, "I’ll take care of the lost pass, Ty. Just don’t go anywhere without one of us until we get the new one."
"No problem."
"Tyler, I’m really..."
"Save it ‘Bull’. It wasn’t your fault and I’m okay," said Tyler as she got up to give him a hug. "I’m sure Kevin didn’t mean all the things he said when he found out I was missing."
‘Bull’ laughed, "He actually used my real name."
"Gee, Kevin, were you that mad?"
Kevin pulled his wife back into his lap, "Yes! Sorry, ‘Bull’."
Billy and ‘Bull’ left and Tyler looked up at Howie.
"Is the baby okay?"
"He’s fine," said Tyler yawning. "Look, ‘D’, you were right so let’s skip the inevitable argument."
"No argument. I’m just glad you’re okay."
"I’m fine....soar and tired."
Howie gave her a kiss on the forehead and left the couple alone. Kevin pulled Tyler down to spoon with her and held her close. He began kissing her neck as he rubbed her belly.
"Are you sure the baby is okay?" whispered Kevin against her neck.
"I’m sure." There was a long pause before Tyler said quietly, "I think I’d better fly home and let you finish the South American leg without me."
Kevin grew silent and stopped kissing her neck. She felt his tears in her hair and the tremble of his hand so she rolled over to face him.
"Baby, don’t. Please," he begged fighting hard not to cry. "I can’t do this without you."
"Yes, you can. You love it, Kevin. I watched you coming from the airport. You love every minute of this."
"Sure, but it wouldn’t be anything without you by my side, Tyler. I meant it when I said I’m not going to be voluntarily separated from you."
"Are you sure you don’t want me to go home where it’s safe?"
"Tyler, I want you by my side."
Tyler leaned to him kissing him softly, "I want to be by your side, ‘Boo’."
Despite the cast on her arm and the fact that she was showing, Kevin insisted that she dance a couple of the songs with him that night. She wore part of his costumes in order to cover her belly and the cast and had a blast.
