Chapter 86:
Confusion
It took all of his willpower to
concentrate on what Sam was saying while at the same time trying to discreetly
watch Xavier. Tensing up whenever the bodyguard spoke, Kevin kept himself as
distant as he could from Xavier, not completely confident of his own ability to
mask his feelings. He sighed inwardly, wanting badly to know how AJ and Nick
were faring with Brian but knew he'd just have to wait and find out later.
Sam seemed to be doing a pretty good job
at keeping Xavier busy, posing all sorts of questions to him and the other
bodyguard, Eric. Kevin sneaked a quick glance at his watch as the three rounded
the corner ahead of him, trying to gauge how much time Nick and AJ needed. He
bumped right into Xavier, who had halted abruptly in front of him and Kevin
looked up, startled.
"Oh, sorry about…," he blurted
out then stopped, his voice fading as he saw Brian standing next to Xavier. His
cousin's face was flush, his eyes too bright and Kevin had to stop himself from
asking frantically what was wrong. Xavier knew though. With a special smile he
fished out a small bottle, shaking two pills out. Brian impatiently snatched
them from his hand and swallowed them whole, closing his eyes. When he opened
them a second later, he looked directly into Kevin's eyes, daring him,
challenging him to pass judgment.
Knowing Xavier's eyes were upon him, Kevin
shrugged indifferently, as if bored by the whole interruption. Inside, his mind
was screaming. What was Brian doing here? Where were AJ and Nick? What could
have possibly happened in that short amount of time?
He listened carefully as Brian told Xavier
in no uncertain terms that he wanted to leave. The bodyguard nodded and turned
to Sam, his eyebrows raised in question. "Need me for anything else?"
Xavier didn't give Sam time to object. "No? Okay. Guess I'll take Brian
back to the hotel." He slapped a heavy hand onto Brian's shoulder and
Kevin watched his cousin wince as they walked away.
Throwing Sam a concerned look, Kevin
quickly turned and shouted, "Hold up!" Xavier and Brian twisted their
heads to see Kevin hurrying to catch up with them. "I need a ride to the
hotel too," he informed them bluntly and walked ahead of them, opening the
exit door with a flourish. He ignored Brian's peculiar stare and smiled grimly
to himself, vowing to find out once they reached the hotel just what the hell
had happened.
* * * * * * * * *
AJ grabbed Nick and hauled him back,
keeping him from running after Brian. "Don't!" he said harshly,
shaking his head. "Brian is in too much pain. Let him go. We can find him
later."
"But.…," began Nick, his head
turning frantically from AJ to Brian as he watched his friend disappear around
a corner.
"Nick! I said let him go! If you
follow him, he'll only get angrier!"
Nick ran his hand through his hair,
spinning on his heel in frustration. "God, AJ! What the hell are we going
to do?"
AJ closed his eyes in resignation. "I
don't know." He followed Nick out of the conference room and stopped for a
second to put his glasses on. "Let's go find someone to take us to the
hotel. We gotta talk to D."
* * * * * * * * *
Brian could sense the slight aggravation
in Xavier's attitude as he drove them to the hotel, but was too tired to give
it much thought. All he wanted to do right now was to make it to the hotel and
sleep for about a hundred years. Sleep. It had such a soothing, alluring
appeal, something he thought about constantly. It offered everything he wanted.
No pain, no fear, no nothing. Glancing at Xavier's coat pocket, Brian felt a
flush of anger surging through him, resentful that he had complete control over
the pain killers. Brian wondered how many Xavier still had, how many it would
take to guarantee no more pain, ever. A dull throb pulsated down his back and
jolted Brian out of his daydream, slightly shocked at where his thought process
was going. Was he thinking about himself or Xavier? Did he wish it was him or
the bodyguard that was dead? Dismayed and shocked at how the medication warped
his thinking, his pressed his lips together tightly, vowing to wean himself off
the pills, regardless of how desperately he wanted them. He needed to be
thinking clearly for the next few days. Just a few more days and then this nightmare
would be over. He could last till then. He must. He would.
* * * * * * * * * *
Kevin kept his face turned towards the
window, his elbow propped on the armrest, his hand covering his mouth as if
casually contemplating the passing scenery. Instead, his mind was racing,
screaming with worry, trying without success to figure just what had happened
back at the arena. The plan had seemed so simple, so perfect. Find Brian.
Convince Brian. Save Brian. End of story. Only everything had exploded into one
big mess. Not only did it look like AJ and Nick were unsuccessful, Brian's
wild-eyed plea to leave only confused things further. And what the hell had
Xavier given Brian? He had seen Xavier's knowing little smile, had known that
Brian frantically wanted the pills. Was Brian addicted? Is that how X had
control over him? Through drugs? Kevin shook his head. There was more to it
than just that. Much more. But what exactly?
Kevin turned his gaze away from the window
to glance at his cousin. Brian seemed asleep, something for which Kevin was
grateful for. He wanted Brian to get all the rest he could cause as soon as
they reached the hotel he was going to get to the bottom of this, once and for
all.
* * * * * * * * * *
Nick felt AJ slap him on the arm, pointing
down the hallway to where the rest of their bodyguards stood. He nodded,
following the smaller singer over to where they were, his mind playing over and
over again what had happened just moments before. He was still in a state of
disbelief, in complete shock over Brian's appearance and behavior. He had been
so sure, so positive that everything would be all right once they reached Brian
that it never dawned on him that things might not turn out as planned.
Everything had exploded in his face, gone so wrong, so horribly wrong that it
took all he had not to cry out in despair when he saw Brian's chest. He felt
like breaking down right then and there when he realized what Brian had
suffered because of their stupidity with the accountants. Now, Brian didn't
want to have anything to do with them and rightfully so. Nick knew he had been
no help to Brian at all, in fact he had only exasperated the situation further
to the point where he felt like a complete failure. Nick wondered if he could
ever again redeem himself in Brian's eyes, to make up for all the mistakes, the
grief he had knowingly and unknowingly caused. A bitterness so intense, so deep
overwhelmed him that it took the excited shouts of crew members and the soft
boom of a crash a few yards away to snap him out of it. Nick looked over to see
a portable cart, filled with sound equipment scattered over the floor, an
excited stagehand yelling defiantly that it wasn't his fault. Nick eyed the
young man curiously, a slim, weasely type of person
that had recently hired on. Nick had heard some strange rumors, some wild
gossip floating around about him but had shrugged it off, not really interested
at the time. Now as he studied the red-faced youth more closely, and idea began
to form and suddenly he was interested. Very interested indeed.
***