Chapter 4

Nick, Kevin, Howie and Brian sat in the hospital waiting room, all nervous and desperate for word that AJ was ok. They all kept shooting anxious looks at their bodyguards, sitting a fair distance away, but still close enough to protect them.

"Do you think that was the guy?" Brian finally asked the question everyone had been thinking. "Did he poison AJ?"

"Let's wait until we hear from the doctor," Kevin replied, shaking his head. "AJ was drinking like there was no tomorrow, he could have just had too much."

"He didn't drink that much," Nick argued. "Plus, you saw how much pain he was in, you don't really hurt like that when you drink too much, you just throw up."

Kevin just pursed his lips and stared at the floor, wishing the doctor would show up soon. He jumped up when he heard the door to the room open, accosting the white-coated doctor before he could walk fully into the room. "Is AJ ok?"

The doctor looked at him solemnly, and nodded. "Yes, he is, but…." He looked at the group gathered, a curious expression crossing his face. "How long as he been under treatment for alcoholism?"

Kevin's eyes widened, and he stared at the doctor, "what?"

"AJ IS under treatment for alcoholism, isn't he?"

"AJ's no alcoholic," Nick said angrily. "Is he ok, or isn't he? That's all we wanna know."

"AJ is fine," the doctor said firmly. "But he should have known that drinking, with the medication he is on, is a dangerous thing."

"What medication are you talking about?" Howie asked, looking at the doctor in confusion. "He's not on anything."

The doctor's own face grew confused, and he looked at Howie. "We found a large amount of Disulfiram in his bloodstream…he's not taking it by prescription?"

"What is it, and why would he be?" Brian asked.

"It's used to treat alcoholism, well, it was, it's rarely given anymore, but…" the doctor looked at the expression on everyone's faces, and frowned. "It causes a violent physical reaction when mixed with alcohol."

"Used to treat alcoholism," Kevin said dully, before turning to look at his bodyguard and telling him to call the FBI. "Can we see AJ now?" He asked, returning his attention to the doctor.

"Yes, you can take him home, he just needed to get the alcohol out of his system," the doctor said. "Tell your friend that he shouldn't drink on Disulfiram anymore, though, while it won't kill him, the side effects are unpleasant, as they are meant to be."

"He's not a goddamn…" Nick started, but Kevin waved at him to be silent.

"Yes, thank you," Kevin said kindly. "Where is he?"

The doctor pointed towards AJ's room, and they all headed in.

"Hey," AJ was lying on his back in the hospital bed, and he sat up when they walked in, forcing a weak smile onto his face. "So, the doctor told you?"

"AJ, why didn't you tell us you were trying to stop drinking," Kevin said softly, sitting down on the bed next to him.

AJ rolled his eyes and hit Kevin's leg with a groan, "because I'm not, asswipe. I didn't take anything."

"But, the doctor said…"

"But I didn't take anything," AJ said harshly, glaring at Kevin. "Jesus, even I'm not that stupid, if I was on some shit that was gonna make me feel like that if I drank, I wouldn't have."

"Then how'd you get it, Bone?" Nick asked with concern, walking around to the other side of the bed and sitting down. "You were watching your drinks, weren't you? The FBI told us…"

AJ sighed, and shrugged, "I was a little drunk, Nicky, I guess I might have gone to the bathroom and left it on a table once or twice."

"AJ, after everything we heard today…" Kevin sighed. "You were supposed to be careful."

"Christ, I will be now," AJ replied, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know if I'm ever gonna drink again, that was awful."

"Hurt us with what means the most to us," Brian shook his head sadly. "AJ, alcohol."

"Alcohol does not mean the most to me," AJ shot back angrily. "That's bullshit."

"This guy thinks it does, apparently," Howie agreed with Brian. "Look what he did? You couldn't keep it down."

AJ shivered, "that's just spooky."

"He got to us," Brian said grimly. "That's what he wanted to do. Show us he could get to us."

"Well, he showed us alright," Nick frowned. "So what do we do now?"

"You don't say anything," Agent Palmer walked into the hospital room, nodding at everyone. "AJ, how do you feel?"

"Pretty fucking awful, thanks for asking," he said sarcastically. "Where the hell were you when this guy poisoned me?"

"We had no idea he was going to try something tonight," she said apologetically. "We're going to need to be more careful from now on."

"What do you mean, we don't say anything?" Kevin asked her. "I called an ambulance, the press is going to be all over this."

"They'll keep quiet," Agent Palmer said firmly. "He wants you to be afraid, he wants to know he's getting to you. You can't give him what he wants. You say nothing, and start your tour as you are supposed to."

"Just pretend nothing happened?" Howie asked in disbelief. "Look what he did to AJ! He could have just as easily put something worse into his drink and really hurt him!"

"As I told you, this guy doesn't want to kill you," she replied evenly. "That's your biggest advantage right now. He won't kill you until you're all afraid."

"So we have to pretend nothing's going on, and we're not the slightest bit worried?" Kevin asked.

"Exactly."

Nick ran a hand through his hair, "that's not gonna be easy, not now."

"You're telling me," AJ muttered.

"You're going to have to. It will keep you alive," Agent Palmer said, looking at AJ. "I'm going to head over to The Firm, I need to find out who had access to that room. I'll be in touch, ok?"

"Find out who the hell did this, and stop him before he does anything worse," AJ replied with a frown. "I don't like playing this game."

"We will," she reassured them as she turned to leave. "I promise, we will.'

*******************************************************************

"Oh, and the webpage is back," Tara rolled her eyes when she saw the url referenced in an e-mail. She sighed and clicked on the link, watching as the now familiar logo appeared. Her eyes widened when she saw a "new" image next to the link to the diary, and she clicked on it, wondering what she was going to see.

She had scoured the news reports over the past few days, looking for some report on what had happened at the party for the Backstreet Boys. Andy had said something about the guys leaving early, but that was all, no mention of anyone getting hurt, and thank GOD no mention of anyone getting killed.

"But…." She whispered in disbelief when she read the diary page, which proclaimed 'Strike one, success!' in big red letters. There had been NOTHING in the papers!!

According to this, AJ had been poisoned, he'd been slipped some drug that had interacted with the alcohol he'd been drinking, and had ended up in the hospital. She stared at the picture on the website, showing the contents of a pill capsule being poured into a drink. "He was at the party?" She said in amazement, shaking her head. But Andy had said security was so tight….how had this guy gotten in.

Maybe he was really just full of shit? AJ was fine, the papers would have said something if he'd been hurt, wouldn't they?

But here was his second hint, for his second strike.

"I never thought that I would lose my mind, that I could control this. Never thought that I'd be left behind, that I was stronger than you. One marriage every 10 minutes in this town, or so the locals like to say. The Backstreet Boys roll in, but someone won't roll out..."

Tara shivered, and bit her lip, staring at the words on the screen. "One marriage every 10 minutes?" She whispered to herself, picking up her coffee and taking a sip. "Where the hell is that?"

Aah well, for now, she would do what she could. One click, and the webpage, and the account, were gone.

********************************************************

Tara walked into Andy's apartment after work, rolling her eyes when she heard loud music coming from the living room. "Hellooooo?" She called.

"Backstreet central's this way, darlin," he called back.

Tara laughed, and made her way through the apartment, her eyes widening at the group of people gathered around the living room. "Hi?"

"Hey, everyone, meet Tara," Andy stood up and gave her a hug. "Tara, you know Jessica, and then Alison, this is Mark, and Paul."

Tara waved at everyone, before yanking on Andy's arm, "can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure…"

"In private?" She added, gesturing to the other room.

"Oh, sure." Andy told his guests he'd be back in a minute, and followed her out of the room. "What's up?"

"Did anyone get hurt at the party for the Backstreet Boys?" Tara sat down in a chair and looked up at him hopefully.

Andy sat down across from her and shook his head, "no, you already asked me that, babe, I told you, they left early since they had their tour kicking off the next day."

"And that's it?"

"That's it." Andy looked at her closely, before sighing heavily. "You're still worried about this guy?"

Tara bit her lip hard as tears filled her eyes, blinking rapidly. She was NOT going to cry over the goddamn Backstreet Boys. Jesus. "I know I'm acting nuts, Andy, but I swear to god, he is going to hurt them. He says he already has! I have to do something."

"Like…?"

"Do you have their tour schedule?"

Andy got up and walked over to his computer, pulling up a website. "Right there babe, for the world to see."

"And if I wanted to meet them, how would I do it?" Tara asked, leaning over his shoulder to read the dates listed.

"Keep dreaming?"

"Very funny," she sighed.

"I'm serious, Tar, you're not going to. Well, you will, when they hit here in a month, I got us backstage passes for that."

"You're not going to take one of your Backstreet buddies out there?" Tara asked, waving out to the living room, where she could hear squeals of laughter.

"Please, and have them fight me for the boys?" Andy rolled his eyes. "I'm better off taking you. I KNOW you don't want any of them."

Tara smiled, and nodded. "Now that's true." She continued peering at the screen, frowning at a date listed in two days. Las Vegas. "A marriage every ten minutes," she whispered.

"What?"

"Can you print this for me?"

"Sure…" Andy printed off a copy of the tour dates, and handed it to Tara. "Now, babe, if you're going to go follow the Boys around the country, you better call me first."

Tara sighed, and shook her head, "Don't worry about me, Andy. I may just have to take a road trip, that's all." She turned to leave, waving the paper at him. "Thanks for this.."

Andy grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, looking at her closely. "Are you ok? I mean, Tara, this isn't like you, getting all swept up by, of all things, the Backstreet Boys."

She shook her head and sighed. "No, I'm not ok. But if I take a little trip, I think I just might be. See for myself if this guy is full of shit or not."

"He is, baby, trust me."

"I really hope you're right, Andy," she sighed. "For their sake, and mine."

*****************************************************************

Kevin, Nick and AJ were in their dressing room, getting ready for the night's performance, when Brian ran in, his face white as a ghost. "He just called me," he said, shaking from head to toe.

"Who just called you?" Kevin asked, staring at his cousin. "Brian?" He walked over to him and hugged him, murmuring for him to calm down.

"I can't calm down Kevin, this is bad, and nobody's doing anything to stop it!" Brian pushed Kevin away, and shook his head. "I'm sending Leighanne home tonight, I don't want her around this. You should do the same with Kristen."

"What did he say?" AJ asked.

"He sang to me," Brian shuddered, and waved off Kevin's attempt to hug him again, sitting down in a chair. "He fucking SANG one of our songs to me."

"Which song?" Nick asked.

"Was he any good?" AJ cracked, rolling his eyes when nobody laughed. "Ok, I TRY to lighten the mood here…"

"Don't Wanna Lose You Now," Brian said, hugging his arms across his chest. "We should cancel the tour now, this is insane…"

"All he did was slip something into Bone's drink, anyone could have done that, Brian," Kevin said softly. "He's just trying to scare us."

"Well goddammit, it's working!" Brian's voice raised in a panicked tone. "What is that song supposed to mean? What is he doing?"

"Never thought that I would lose my mind, that I could control this," Nick sang softly, running a hand through his hair. "It's a love song, who knows what it could mean."

"Hurt what we love most, that's his shtick, right?" AJ sat down, and thought carefully. "That's why he got me with alcohol, and he's said what he wants to do to Brian and Nicky."

"So who's that song for?" Nick asked.

"Either me or Howie, I guess," Kevin sighed. "We'll call the FBI after the show, let them know. Ok?"

Brian shook his head slowly, "no, Kevin. Not ok. Not anywhere near it."

*********************************************************

The next night, Tara found herself in her car after work, on the road to Las Vegas. She'd gotten some advice from Andy on how to find the guys, but once she found them, it would be entirely up to her to convince them she wasn't insane.

"And how the hell do I do that," she muttered, smacking the steering wheel with her hand. And how was she gonna figure out what was supposed to happen tonight, even.

Andy had said that the Backstreet Boys would probably leave after the night's show for the next town, so the trick would be to catch them at their hotel going out to their tourbuses. Back entrance was best, he said, and late at night, 12 - 1am was her best bet.

She popped the Backstreet CD she'd swiped from Andy into the car's stereo, and settled in for the ride, listening to the lyrics carefully. "Vapid, boring music," she grumbled, fighting the urge to eject the cd. Her ears perked up when she heard the line from the latest 'clue' sung by a whiny voice, and she turned up the music, listening to the words carefully.

"It's a love song," she said, then laughed. "What else do the Backstreet Boys sing, except love songs, please…" she sighed, and continued to listen. Ok, so it was about LOSING someone you love. So for this guy….he'd threatened Kevin's wife once before.

That was it, then. Kevin's wife. The one who wouldn't be rolling out.

"Oh jesus christ," she cursed, and pushed down on the gas pedal. Now that she'd figured it out, she had to get to Vegas, and soon.

Because he was going to kill Kevin's wife.

***

ß Back | Next à