Chapter 18

“Was it Lila?” The small group looked up in surprise. It was the first time Becca had spoken since she had arrived there.

“Was it Lila?” she repeated. She did not cry, she did not lose control. She seemed devoid of emotion, and her eyes were flat and expressionless. Ellie didn’t quite understand it. She did not know Becca well, but she knew that the friendship she had with Lila was very powerful, much like the one she herself had with Julie. The difference was, if Julie was the one in Lila’s position, Ellie would have been even more hysterical than she was now. She supposed that this was just the way Becca dealt with his kind of situation.

“I don’t know,” Marie said. She was sitting on the ground with her arms wrapped around her knees, her voice was hoarse and her eyes were red from crying.

“You shouldn’t sit on the concrete,” Becca said absently. “The cold will go straight through your butt and you’ll catch cold.”

“Becca?” Ellie said softly. “It’s not cold out. It’s 70 degrees.”

“Oh.” She was still staring off into nothing. It was almost as if she wasn’t completely connected with reality. She turned her head slowly at the approach of a young man. She raised her eyes to look at him, and suddenly she seemed to be actually looking at something. She didn’t say another word; she just stared. She had been just as in to the boy band craze as Lila had earlier in her life, and she knew exactly who she was looking at. He came to a stop before them, looking miserable.

“Do you know?” Ellie asked him, afraid to hear the answer.

“Yeah. Lila’s ok.”

All of them let out a sigh of relief, except for Becca, who continued to stare.

“So are our friends.”

“Thank goodness.”

“What happens now?” Marie asked in the same voice as before.

“My friend over there is going to get the cash to pay them off, and hopefully they will hold to their word and release the ones that are left in there.”

“You don’t have to be so elusive. We know who you are,” Marie said.

Howie’s eyes went wide at this. Had the situation been any different, Marie would have laughed.

“We do?” Julie asked, confused.

“Yes,” Becca said suddenly, snapping out of her daze. “We do. Oh Mylanta. You are Howie. I can’t believe this. My best friend is in the hands of murderers, and I am talking to Howie of the Backstreet Boys. Lila is going to kill me when she gets out of there.”

“No she won’t,” Marie said dryly. “Who do you think is in there with her?”

“Don’t even tell me.”

“Yes.”

“Holy shit.”

At first Howie was offended that they carried on like this when they were in the middle of a crisis, but he had caught a glimpse of that blank expression on Becca’s face, and decided that he liked what he saw there now better than what he had seen a moment ago. He had a feeling she was not one to show much in the way of sentimentality or fear, and whatever she could do to keep her sanity was fine by him. He wasn’t sure how he knew this, but he was certain he was right. It was a little like Kevin wanting to play rock, paper, scissors. He knew what she was going through.

“Please don’t breathe a word about who we are to anyone. The police are fighting the press of with everything they’ve got to keep them out of here and keep them finding out just who is involved. The worse thing that could happen is that those assholes in there find out exactly who they’ve got in there. There’s no telling what they might do then.”

“Are you implying that the lives of a couple of Backstreet Boys are more important than my best friend?” Becca demanded hotly.

“Not at all!” Howie exclaimed. The sweet innocent in his eyes was easy to see. It was enough to make Becca see that he really hadn’t meant it the way it sounded, which was saying a lot. She did not take kindly to people who thought they were superior to others.

“All I meant was that if they realize how much money Brian and A.J. have, things could take a turn for the worse.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve never had to deal with a friend in a hostage situation,” Becca said softly.

“Me neither,” Howie said, looking at the ground.

“What if they don’t release them?” Julie asked, interrupting them.

Marie and Becca exchanged nervous glances, and Howie refused to meet her gaze.

“What are they planning to do?” she asked, more persistent this time.

“If things don’t go well with the next exchange, they want to move in and use force.”

“If things don’t go well?” Becca cried, for the first time showing her true emotion. “That means if someone else dies! That could be Lila! We can’t risk that.” She looked furious.

Howie sighed. “Kevin is bringing them the cash. He and Nick are being escorted to a bank to get it. And then, Kevin, the damn fool, is going to make the drop.” He paused to get a grip on his emotions: anger, fear, and worry all rolled into one. “The trick is what the criminals are going to do next. I doubt they will release everyone, because that leaves them no way to escape themselves. The cops would just shoot them dead when they showed themselves.”

“Oh shit,” Ellie said. “So what are they going to do?”

“They’ve gotten the blueprints for the place. They’ve found a back entrance that they are trying to figure out how to use.”

As soon as the phone was “disconnected,” thief number one backed off of Brian, not before giving him a spiteful kick in the head, and signaled to his cohort. The gun was removed from A.J.’s face as he went over to his partner. It took all of A.J.’s restraint to keep from bolting over to Brian, who was lying limp in a ball on the floor. He had tried to protect himself from the blow, but to no avail. He began to step forward, but the click of both guns made them halt.

“Don’t bother. He’s fine where he is. You watch her,” one of them said, indicating Lila.

A.J. could feel his rage flowing through his veins like a disease. He had never despised anyone more in his entire life. He continued to stand and stare at him for a moment, but a menacing thrust with the weapon forced him to sit down. He kept his concentration on Brian, but glanced over to Lila. Her eyes were closed. A flutter of alarm tugged at him, but he could see her chest rising and falling. He could tell that it was shallow and quick, but at least she was still alive. How much longer she would stay that way, he didn’t know. He flicked his attention back and forth between the unconscious girl and his unconscious friend.

This is quite a mess you’re in here, Bone. I hope you can find your way out of it.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before Brian stirred. A.J. was facing his back and couldn’t see his face, but at least he was moving. He could see his friend crane his head around, not moving any other part of his body, looking for another potential assault before deciding it was safe to get up. Convinced it was clear, he placed one of his hands flat on the floor, leaning heavily on it. He looked around and let his gaze settle on A.J., who flinched when he got a good look at him. Blood ran from a cut near his mouth, and he could see the bruises already starting to form.

“Lila? Is she ok?” Brian murmured. His elbow buckled and he slammed the other hand down to keep himself from falling.

A.J. wanted to slap him. He was worried about her? That was Brian for you. Unbelievable, he thought.

He nodded back at him. Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie. She was still breathing, she just wasn’t conscious, and didn’t look too good.

Brian pushed himself painfully up on his knees, and paused a moment to shake off the dizziness he felt. Boy, did he have one hell of a headache. He tried to get his feet underneath him, but A.J. stopped him.

“Relax a minute B-Rok. Just give yourself some time.”

Brian clearly hated the thought of allowing the abuse they had given him to stop him, but A.J. was right. He looked over to the source of his pain, and saw both criminals on the phone. Although they were speaking, both were watching their hostages closely. Brian’s face hardened towards them, he pushed the pain back inside of him a little further, refusing to allow them to see it. He found his balance and rose to his feet, much to A.J.’s dismay, and walked unsteadily over to his former spot by the wall. Once he was sitting back down on the floor, he began to tend to Lila. A.J. helped him change the bandage again, and they managed to shake her into wakefulness, but it didn’t look as if she would stay that way for long. Brian wasn’t sure she was entirely in touch with reality as it was.

“Gorgeous, he won’t find you,” she rasped out. “I won’t let him. I promise I won’t.”

“Lila,” A.J. said gently. “Lila, can you hear me?”

“I’ll do it. Oh God, I don’t want to but I’ll do it. Please don’t make me do it.”

“We’re not making you do anything,” Brian soothed, trying to ignore the pounding in his head. What is it you don’t want to do?”

“It’s my fault,” she whispered. “It’s all my fault.” She began to cry, her body shaking with her quiet sobs. Brian looked at A.J. with alarm.

“What is she talking about?”

“She’s delirious,” A.J. said with a concerned frown. “This is not good.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” He cupped Lila’s chin in his hand, and directed her gaze to his own. Her eyes were open, but she didn’t seem to be looking at anything.

“Lila. Lila, it’s Brian. Do you hear me?” He shook her gently. Her eyes cleared a little, and she looked at him.

“Where am I?” she said, taking in a sharp breath.

“Still in the convenience store.”

“Still here…”

“Stay with me now, ok? You slipped away there for a minute, and we can’t have that. Focus on me. Keep your eyes on me.”

She nodded shakily. Brian wished he could do something to quell the terror that possessed her, but unfortunately, he felt it too.

A.J. glanced at his watch. It was only a matter of time before they would have to go through that damn lottery again. He couldn’t take it anymore. He had to do something.

“I don’t like that look, Bone,” Brian said weakly from beside him.

“What look?”

“That one. The look you get whenever you’re about to haul off and do something stupid.”

“You must be thinking of Nick. I don’t know what you mean, B-Rok.”

“No, this is what Nick looks like when he’s about to do something less than intelligent.” Brian demonstrated for him, and A.J. had to admit it was a good impression.

“Please don’t do something stupid.”

“What if I tell you it’s not stupid?”

“I won’t believe you.” His voice got stronger, and more determination came to his face as he objected. A.J. was glad to see it, because he would need it.

“You give me no credit. None at all.”

“Should I?”

“We’ll see.”

“Tell me. Tell me, then I’ll tell you to forget it.”

“There’s a backdoor.”

“What?”

“I saw it when we were moving the shelves and stuff. I tried to hide it so they wouldn’t see it.”

“And?”

“It’s locked from the outside, but not the inside.”

“How do you plan to get out the door without getting killed?” Brian asked skeptically.

“I don’t.”

“Oh really. Then what was it exactly you wanted to do?”

“We’ll get you and Lila out. You tell the people in blue outside what’s going on, and then they can figure out how to get me and the other chick.”

“Oh no you don’t. I am not going to leave you. They already don’t like you, and without me to keep a rope around your smart mouth you won’t get out of here alive.” Brian sounded sarcastic and patronizing, but it was nothing but a pathetic attempt to cover up his real feelings. The thought of leaving A.J. was absolutely terrifying. He would not abandon his friend. He would never have considered it in a thousand years. A.J. was like a brother, and since he was younger, he felt the need to protect him. He would not leave him alone, and that was final.

A.J. took one look at Brian’s face and knew exactly what he was thinking.

“We have to do something, Rok,” he said quietly. “She doesn’t have the time. You know that. We have to do something to help her. I’ll be ok. You know that.”

“Bullshit you’ll be ok. No, and that’s that. I have faith in Kevin, Nick, Howie, and the people outside. They won’t let us down. We’ll only fuck this up more.”

“Ordinarily I’d say you were right, but they don’t know how bad she is. How long do you really give her, huh?”

“I don’t know,” he said helplessly.

“Exactly. This is what we are going to do.”

***

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