Chapter 36

"He's not answering his phone," AJ said angrily, glaring at the cellphone in his hand. "What good is Kevin carrying a cell phone if he's not going to answer?"

"Do you know Tommy's address?" Brian asked, his face white as a sheet, his body trembling. "We have to find him!"

"No, he took the paper he wrote it down on with him," AJ frowned, and shook his head. "Shit, shit, shit, what do we do?"

"Tell the FBI?" Brian suggested.

AJ snorted, "what the fuck is Palmer gonna do? She doesn't know where Kevin is any more than we do."

"I don't KNOW," Brian shouted, beginning to panic. "All I know is some madman's out there trying to kill my cousin!"

"I know who it is," Howie ran into the room, out of breath. "I just met with Philly," he explained as he panted for air. "I was going to look for Jessica, when it hit me who the guy must be."

"WHO?" Brian ran to Howie, staring at him. "He's gonna kill Kevin today, spit it out!"

"Andy. It's gotta be, he's friends with Jessica, and I KNOW it's her," Howie said, his brow crinkling when Brian just stared at him dully. "What?"

"But…Nick went to Andy's."

"Oh shit," Howie gasped, patting his pockets for his cellphone. "Call Nick, stop him!"

"I got," AJ dialed quickly, lifting the phone to his ear. The two men watched him impatiently, as his eyes widened with hope, before narrowing in anger. "Jesus fucking christ, what is it with those two?"

"No answer?" Brian whispered, unable to believe how awful the situation had become.

"Nope," AJ closed the cellphone, before throwing it against the wall in anger. "FUCK!"

"Guys?" Marcus, AJ's bodyguard, stuck his head in the room, looking at them curiously. "You all ok?"

"Just peachy," AJ said sarcastically.

"Ok," Marcus looked at AJ curiously, before shrugging. "Look, there's a guy by the elevator, says Nick sent him to talk to you. You wanna see him?"

"Who?" Brian asked hesitantly, shooting a worried look at Howie and AJ.

"Says his name's Andy. He said that Nick told him to show you guys this, that then you'd believe Nick really sent him," Marcus handed AJ a gold pen.

AJ gasped as he looked at the pen, his mouth dropping open. "Arrest him," he said flatly.

"What?" Marcus looked at AJ, unsure whether or not he'd heard him correctly.

"You heard me," AJ shouted, throwing the pen to Howie before glaring at Marcus. "That guy is the fucking asshole who's been terrorizing us! Tell Palmer and ARREST THE BASTARD!"

"Ok, you got it," Marcus nodded, and left.

"So if Andy's here," Howie asked, sitting down on a couch and frowning. "Where are Nick and Kevin?"

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Tommy looked at Nick for a moment, a smirk creeping across his face. "Why, Nickolas!" He chuckled softly, before bringing his knee up as hard as he could, striking Nick firmly between the legs. "So nice to see you again," he said as Nick fell to the floor, holding his crotch in pain. "My, did that hurt?"

"Bastard," Nick hissed, rolling over onto his back to try to get his legs under him and stand up.

"I figure, the bigger you are, there more there is to hurt, isn't there?" Tommy asked, before kicking Nick, hard. He laughed when Nick screamed in pain, "I guess so."

Nick pushed himself up to his knees, ignoring the burning pain and determined not to let Tommy get the best of him. His eyes widened when his cellphone began to ring, and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket. "Thank god," he breathed, an instant before Tommy kicked the phone out of his hand, sending it flying into the wall. "Shit."

"Nice try, Nicky boy," Tommy laughed, and grabbed the collar of Nick's shirt, dragging him down the hall. "Come on, I got some people who would LOVE to see you."

"Let me go, you asshole," Nick struggled as he was being pulled down the hall, successfully landing a fist in Tommy's stomach. He jumped to his feet when Tommy doubled over, and punched the man again, sending him careening into the wall.

"What, no tire iron this time, Nick?" Tommy gasped for breath, before continuing down the hall backwards, watching as Nick followed. "No?"

"No," Nick said slowly, shaking his head. "I swore I'd never do that again, and even you won't make me break that promise."

Tommy snickered, and laughed, "you were always such a good boy at heart, Nick. Just that temper you got, it's gonna kill you."

"Almost killed you," Nick took a swing at Tommy, frowning when he missed. "I should have then."

"Almost will get you nothing," Tommy danced away from Nick's fists, still laughing. "You couldn't fight then either."

"HELP!"

Nick's head shot around at the sound of the scream, and he gasped in horror. "Tara?"

Tommy grinned, "your girlfriend's here. Wanna see her?"

"What the fuck is she doing here?" Nick took another swing, striking the wall with his fist. He grunted in pain, before whirling around to glare at Tommy. "She's not part of this."

"Now she is," Tommy said, before reaching out and shoving Nick hard. He watched as Nick went flying down the stairs backwards, striking his head hard when he reached bottom. His eyes widened when he saw Nick lying in a crumpled heap, his body still, and shrugged. "Oh well," he whispered, laughing at Tara's loud scream of Nick's name. "I guess Kevin won't be the first to die after all."

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"Oh jesus," Brian moaned, sitting down on a couch and covering his face with his hands. "Do you think Jessica has them?"

AJ shook his head slowly, "I don't know. It's not like them not to answer their cell phones, though."

"What about Tara? Maybe she's heard from Nick?" Howie suggested, twirling the gold pen around in his fingers.

"Maybe," AJ looked at his shattered cellphone lying on the floor, and laughed lightly. "Anyone got a phone?"

"Here," Brian threw his phone to AJ. "Try her on the hospital's phone, Nick said her cell was still in the hotel room."

"Gotcha," AJ dialed, biting his lip as he waited for an answer. He asked for Tara's room, before sitting down with a hard thud, his mouth dropping open. "Are you sure?" He asked, his face turning a strange shade of green. "Ok."

"What?" Brian looked at AJ, his eyes narrowing. "What did they say?"

"Tara's gone," AJ threw the phone back at Brian, his eyes full of confusion. "They said they don't know what happened, all of her stuff's still there, but she's just…gone."

"Tara wouldn't have left the hospital, Nick said she was in horrible shape," Howie said, shaking his head.

"She wouldn't have left the hospital by choice, you mean," AJ said grimly. He frowned, looking at the gold pen Howie was spinning around. "Shit, shit shit. Wait!" He sat up straight, and gestured to Howie to throw him the pen, "give me that."

"Ok," Howie tossed the pen to AJ, looking curiously when AJ peered closely at the gold, running his finger over it. "What are you doing?"

"Aren't these things normally engraved?" AJ asked, holding the pen up to his eyes and looking closely. "FUCK!" He shouted, standing up and running into the hallway.

"What?" Howie and Brian ran after him, watching in amazement as he ran down the hall, yelling at Marcus to stop.

"That's not him, leave him alone!" AJ shouted, grabbing Andy's hand and pulling him away from Marcus.

"What?" Marcus looked at AJ, totally confused. "Man, but you said…"

"I was wrong," AJ yanked Andy away from Marcus, shaking his head. "Call off the troops," he gestured to the FBI agents standing nearby.

"You sure?"

"Positive." AJ pulled Andy down the hallway and into the room, waiting for Brian and Howie to walk in before slamming the door behind him. "The fucking pen. No wonder Nick thought it would be proof," he said, shaking his head. "Leave it to me to not read the damn thing…"

Andy was in a complete state of shock, his eyes wide open as he stared at AJ. "Huh?" He squeaked out, looking at the pen in AJ's hands.

"Look," AJ handed Brian the pen, and pointed. "Read the inscription."

Brian gasped, and stared at AJ in horror. "Oh shit."

"What's it say?" Howie asked, walking over and peering over Brian's shoulder.

"To our darling son, Gayle Thomas," Brian read, before looking up at Andy. "Do you know where they went?"

Andy nodded slowly, still staring at AJ in amazement. "Nick said to tell you he was going to Tommy's, and to bring the cavalry."

"Nick went to Tommy's?" Brian asked, standing up and shaking his head. "Oh god, no, that's not good…Kevin and Nick are both there?"

"Nicky's gonna kill him," Howie said, his eyes wide with fear. "We gotta get over there."

"Unless he kills Nick first," Brian's eyes filled with tears as he stared at AJ. "He's gonna kill both of them!"

"MARCUS!" AJ ran back out into the hallway, screaming for Marcus to recall the FBI. "We gotta go! We got some asses to kick!"

Andy just watched as the room filled with large men, all with solemn, serious expressions. "Oh my," he said softly, unable to believe this was happening to him. The men charged out of the room, and he finally let out his breath, looking around at the large empty suite. "Wow," he breathed, shaking his head.

"Hey, Andy?" AJ stuck his head back into the room, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah?" Andy looked up, feeling his heart stop beating at the sight of AJ.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Yeah," Andy prayed his legs wouldn't give out on him when AJ patted him on the shoulder, gently guiding him down the hallway. "We got some boys to save, don't we."

"Yeah," AJ agreed. "It seems like we do."

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