Chapter 5

"Where the fuck are they," Tara grumbled, holding her cup of coffee tight in her hands. It was 2am, and she had been standing outside by the tour busses for nearly four hours now. At least she was alone, she thought to herself, it would hopefully make it easier for her to talk to the guys. Earlier, there had been a fair number of girls waiting out here, but they had left as the hour grew late.

Tara sat down on the sidewalk and yawned, fighting to stay awake. She shivered, and wrapped her arms around herself, wondering why on earth nobody ever told her Las Vegas got so cold at night. "It's a fucking desert, for chrissakes," she grumbled.

She jumped up when she saw the back door to the hotel opening, and ran towards the man who came out, instantly recognizing Brian Littrell. "Brian? Brian…oof," she ran directly into a wide arm blocking her path, and nearly fell down. "Hey! I need to talk to Brian!"

"Back off," the large man said to her, holding her back until Brian was safely on his tour bus.

"But," she stammered, watching helplessly as the man got on the bus, and it left. "GODDAMMIT," she cursed, shaking her head. One down, four to go, god, how was she going to do this…

Tara stared at the door, willing it to open again. "Come on, come out," she muttered, bouncing up and down to stay awake. Now she was ready, she knew what to do.

Finally, the door opened, and two guys walked out, followed by two large bodyguards.

"AJ! Nick!" Tara ran towards them, this time anticipating the bodyguard's reaction, and ducking under the arm he put out to stop her. "AJ!"

"Hey baby, you want me to sign something?" AJ turned towards her, a half smile on his face. He looked at her face, then down to her hands, frowning when he saw they were empty. He shot a panicked look at Nick, who had stopped as well, checking Tara over.

"AJ, how do you feel?" She said quickly, knowing she had an instant before the bodyguards yanked her away from him.

"What?" AJ pulled off his sunglasses to stare at her.

"The poisoning, are you ok?" Tara asked again.

AJ's mouth dropped open, and he backed away from her, "look, lady, I don't know who the hell you think you are…"

"I know what he's doing! He's been posting it all on a website, please, I know what he's going to do next!" Tara felt the bodyguards grab her arms, and screamed, kicking out at them to stop. "You have got to listen to me, I can't stop him!"

"Get on the bus, AJ," Nick shoved AJ towards the bus, his eyes still fixed on Tara struggling against his bodyguard.

Tara groaned when she felt an arm wrap itself around her waist, squeezing her tight. "Don't Wanna Lose You Now," she cried, before the arm shoved itself into her stomach, forcing her to double over.

"Wait," Nick was halfway onto his bus when he heard that, and he turned around, looking at her carefully. "Let her go," he said to the bodyguard.

"No way," The man had picked Tara up and was preparing to carry her far away from his clients, not wanting to risk any danger to them.

"You're hurting her, put her down!" Nick said fiercely, glaring at the man.

"She could be the freak," AJ poked his head outside of the bus to warn Nick.

"She's not," Nick replied, waving at AJ to come back out.

"She tried to attack you, man," the bodyguard warned.

"I'm trying to warn you!" Tara felt tears well up in her eyes at the pain in her stomach, and struggled helplessly against the arms holding her tight. "Please?" She pleaded, staring at Nick. "Nobody else will listen to me."

"Let her go," Nick insisted.

"Fine," the bodyguard dropped Tara, smirking when she fell to the ground at his feet.

Tara landed on her knees, grunting in pain. She struggled to catch her breath, accepting the hand that was offered to help her stand up. "Thanks," she said softly, standing and finding herself looking up at Nick.

"What did you say?" Nick asked her, tilting his head to look into her eyes as best he could in the darkness.

"I said," Tara gasped and pressed a hand into her stomach, god, that man had grabbed her hard. "I said I know what he's going to do next."

"What's he gonna do?" AJ climbed down off the bus, and glared at her suspiciously. "How the hell do you know? And how'd you know about me? NOBODY knows that!"

"He put it on his website," Tara replied, wobbling awkwardly on her feet. "He's put everything on his website, complete with pictures. He's scaring the shit out of your fans."

"He's scaring the shit out of us," Nick muttered, receiving an elbow in the ribs from AJ for his comment. "Fuck, man…"

"We're not supposed to say anything," AJ reminded him.

"She knows, Bone," Nick shot back. He turned his gaze back to Tara just in time to see her trying to sit back down, and grabbed her arm, hauling her up. "Hey, don't zone out on us yet."

"I can't stand up anymore," she said weakly, clutching his arm. "It's been a really long day, I'm sorry, I'm kind of a mess."

"Come on my bus, you can sit there, ok?" Nick said kindly, leading her towards the bus.

"Nick, you're being awful nice to her," AJ warned. "This could be really stupid."

"Or really smart," Nick argued. He lead Tara onto the bus and sat her down, waving to AJ to join them. "Now finish telling us when this guy is going to act next."

"Tonight," Tara said grimly. "Something with Kevin's wife. The guy had said she won't roll out….I'm guessing it means he's done something to the bus."

"To the bus?" AJ's brow furrowed. "A driver's been on that bus for ages, Kristen's probably getting on it right now, when would anyone have done anything?"

"Don't let her get on that bus!" Tara's eyes widened with alarm, and she looked from Nick to AJ and back again, panicking when they didn't react. "Goddammit, nobody fucking believes me! You have got to stop her!"

"Calm down," Nick said soothingly. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Fuck you all, goddamn pansy ass pretty boys," Tara cursed, standing up and awkwardly making her way off the bus, ignoring the laughter she could hear following her off. She climbed off in time to see Kevin walking out, and ran over to him, before a bodyguard's arm smacking her in the face stopped her. She ignored the pain and screamed at him, "Kevin, get your wife off that bus now!!"

Kevin looked at her and stopped walking, turning to face her. "Pardon?"

"I'll explain later, but please, trust me, get your wife off of that bus," Tara said again, shoving at the bodyguard trying to grab hold of her. "Let me go, goddammit!"

"She says something's wrong with the bus, Train," AJ walked off of the other bus to look at Kevin. "What could it hurt, right? Get her off."

"Fine," Kevin walked over to his bus and called for his wife to get off. He told the bus driver to drive the bus around the corner, and they'd meet him there. He turned around to look at Tara, "So why the big…." His sentence was interrupted by a loud bang from inside the bus, and his head whipped around to stare at it. "What the…"

"Oh god," Tara shuddered, staring at the bus.

The driver reopened the door and climbed down off of the bus, staring at Kevin in horror. "I put the bus in gear, and something blew up in back, I don't know what the hell happened…"

Kevin bounded aboard the bus and stared at the back, which had been completely destroyed by the explosion. "Holy shit," he cursed, walking back off to grab his wife in a tight hug.

"You were right," AJ said softly, touching Tara's shoulder lightly.

"Yeah. I know," she replied grimly, her eyes fixed on Kevin and Kristen. "But, I don't get it, that would have killed Kevin?"

"Nope," Nick explained. "Security reasons, the buses are always in gear before we get on them. Kristen was on the bus already, the driver would have put it in gear before Kevin got on, and then…"

"Bang," AJ finished his sentence.

"Oh god," Tara said again, running a hand through her hair and breathing heavily. "He's really doing this."

Kevin looked at Tara, then his bodyguard. "You're going to take Kristen to the airport, and put her on the first plane back home, understand?" He ignored Kristen's pleas, and shook his head, turning to her, "baby, I want you safe, and you're not safe here anymore. Brian was right, I should have sent you home days ago." He watched as she got into a car with his bodyguard, returning to Tara when it had safely pulled away. "Now, how did you know that, and who the hell are you?"

Tara took a deep breath, her knees wobbling as the adrenaline keeping her moving began to leave her body. "My name is Tara, and I'm," she stopped and grabbed her head as a wave of dizziness swept over her. "Your bodyguards…" was all she got out before she fell over, hitting the ground hard.

"You're hurt," Kevin said softly, bending down and helping her back up. "I think its safe to say we're not going anywhere tonight, will you come inside with us?"

Tara looked into Kevin's eyes, and nodded. She'd come all this way to talk to them, she wasn't about to back down just because she'd been beaten up a little by some bodyguards.

"Ok." Kevin barked at the bodyguards standing around watching, telling them to let the hotel know they weren't leaving, and they were all going to spend the night. Orders given, he slipped an arm around Tara's waist, and helped her walk into the hotel.

A few minutes later, Tara found herself settled on a couch in what had to be the largest hotel room she had ever seen in her life. "Thanks," she murmured, accepting the glass of water AJ handed her. She looked around the room and smiled at them, grateful for their kindness, given what had just happened.

At the knock on the door, Nick got up and let Howie in, "we thought he should hear whatever you had to say," he explained. "I'd introduce you, D, but I don't know her either," he then explained to Howie, who replied with a confused shrug.

"So," Kevin sat down next to her and looked her over, frowning at her face. "You're going to have a nasty bump there, want some ice?"

He was already half out of his seat before she told him no. "I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"It's just one more bump," Tara said softly, gingerly pressing a hand into her stomach. Her head, her knees, her face, what was one more.

"You went to a lot of trouble to save my wife tonight," Kevin said, sitting back down and turning to her. "Why?"

Tara smiled wryly, and began explaining the entire story. She watched Kevin, AJ, Nick, and Howie carefully as she spoke, wondering what they thought of the story, and of her believability. She had to admit, if she was just hearing it from some stranger she would be questioning their sanity. But after everything she'd seen, she was now more sure than ever that she was right, and this guy was determined to hurt them. "When I saw you guys were playing Vegas tonight, I knew that line meant he was going to strike here. I had to stop him," she finished, biting her lip as she looked around the room. "You probably all think I'm insane," she sighed, shaking her head. "I had to try…."

"I just saw my bus blown up in front of my own eyes," Kevin said wryly. "I don't know what's sane anymore."

"And you know far too much," AJ said, his eyes narrowing at her. "Either you're the one doing this, or you're telling the truth."

"I can show you his website, next time he puts it up," Tara said quickly. "I mean, I killed his account again today. But I'm sure he'll be back, he always comes back."

"Why haven't you gone to the police?" Nick asked her. "We're working with the FBI, they should know about this."

"I can't," she said sadly. "I asked our lawyer more times than I can count by now, I begged him to let me tell someone, he said no."

"So you came here?"

"I had to do something. After what he said happened to AJ," she looked at him consolingly. "I couldn't stand by and watch anyone else get hurt." She ended her sentence with a loud yawn, and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, it's been a very strange night."

"That's ok, I think we're all pretty exhausted," Kevin agreed. "Do you have someplace to stay tonight? You can't drive home now."

Tara stared at Kevin dully, then shook her head. "Honestly, I hadn't thought past getting here and getting your attention." She shrugged, "I can probably drive back tonight just fine…"

"No you're not," he insisted. "We have big enough rooms, you can stay with one of us."

"No, really, I can't put you out," she argued, standing up and stretching. "I'll be fine."

"You're staying with me, and that's that," Nick stood up and put an arm around her shoulder, smiling at her. "I got a couple bedrooms in my suite, you can have one all to yourself."

"Ooh, lucky me," she said sarcastically.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not the slightest bit impressed by us?" AJ asked her, standing up and walking with her and Nick to the door.

"Because I'm not?"

"Gotcha."

"We'll talk some more in the morning," Kevin walked over and pulled her in for a tight hug. "I owe you so much, thank you."

"You don't owe me anything," Tara argued, pulling away and fighting back a blush. "I did what I had to."

"You saved Kristen's life. I owe you the world," Kevin replied. "Take good care of her tonight, Nick," he smiled, and showed them out.

Tara followed Nick down the hall, her head spinning from the events of the night. He waved her in to another huge suite, and she sat down on the couch, shaking her head. "This is far too much room for one person," she remarked, looking around in awe.

"Probably," Nick agreed, plopping down next to her with a silly grin. "I manage to use it all up somehow."

"How?" She challenged.

"One room for Nintendo, one for Playstation, one for Dreamcast, one for my dogs, when they're here." Nick stopped, and looked around. "What else. One for my luggage…"

"Ok, ok, I get the point," Tara snickered, and shook her head. "And Andy teases me for having a separate tv for my consoles."

"Andy?"

"Just a friend," she said softly, staring out into the distance. "God, would he die if he knew where I was right now."

"He a fan?" Nick asked.

She nodded, "oh yeah."

"You a fan?" Nick asked coyly.

"Oh no." She laughed, and shook her head. "Sorry. Just not my thing."

"So why did you go through all of this to let us know what was going on? If you're not a fan, I mean, why did you care?" Nick asked her softly, moving closer to her on the couch.

"I had to," Tara replied, her eyes widening when Nick moved even closer. She shifted away, and sighed, "nobody else believed me. I couldn't let someone die before I did something, even if it was a Backstreet Boy he wanted to kill."

"Thank you," Nick said softly, touching the bruise forming on the side of her face. "You really did save Kristen's life tonight."

"I know," Tara looked away from him, feeling tears fill her eyes. "You don't know what relief it is, knowing that finally, someone believes me," her words caught in a sob, and she turned her body away, determined not to let him see her cry.

"We all believe you, Tara," Nick's hand slid to her shoulder and squeezed it gently. When she didn't reply, he pulled her into his arms, holding her tight as she began to cry. "You've been through a lot, huh," he said consolingly.

"Just worried I was losing my mind, with the stuff this guy was doing," she sniffled, and pulled away. "I'm tired, I'm normally not this weepy, I swear," she chuckled, and wiped at her eyes.

"I like weepy," Nick smiled, and wiped her cheek with his fingers.

Tara stared at him for a moment, before squirming out of his grasp and standing up. "So, um, which bedroom's mine?"

Nick raised an eyebrow raised in surprise. Ok, THAT wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting. "Pick one," he shrugged, standing up.

"Thanks," Tara smiled at him. "I guess I'll take that one," she pointed. She walked into the room, pausing with her hand on the door, feeling like she was supposed to say something. Nick was still standing by the couch, watching her with a stunned expression on his face. "Thanks, Nick," she said softly, smiling lightly at him.

"No problem. Goodnight, Tara," he smiled back.

"Goodnight," she said, and closed the door.

***

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