Chapter
12
Howie and AJ both turned down the volume to the TV as soon as they saw
Kevin enter Brian's room. They knew they shouldn't be eavesdropping but they
just couldn't help themselves. They listened silently as Brian expressed his
fears to Kevin and they engrossed themselves in their own private conversation
as Kevin comforted Brian. After a few minutes of hushed conversation, Howie
stood up and made his way towards the room where Brian and Kevin were. When he
reached the doorway, he turned back and looked at AJ and saw AJ nod at him.
Howie slowly and quietly entered the room and saw Kevin sitting on the bed
hugging Brian who had his head resting on his shoulder and was facing the
opposite wall. Howie cleared his throat and Kevin turned to look at him,
acknowledging his presence as he looked up expectantly at Howie; waiting
patiently for him to speak. Howie cleared his throat again and started to say, "Guys
AJ and I were talking just now and we was thinking..." but Brian lifted
his head and turned towards the direction of Howie's voice as he rubbed his
eyes and said, "You may not want to do too much of that, D. You might do
some permanant damage up there. We wouldn't want that now would we?" Howie
just looked at Brian and grinned and reached over and patted Brian on the
shoulder gently when Brian grinned back at him. "Well as I was saying
before is that me and AJ were talking and we thought it may be a good idea to
look for Nicky because you know the sense of direction that kid has. Maybe he
snuck out last night and went for a walk and got lost. This is a pretty big
city and I'm sure it is easy to get lost especially for a 15 year old who isn't
used to be alone in a strange place." Kevin nodded in agreement and gently
pushed Brian over on the bed so he could get up and said, "That is a great
idea Howie, don't know why I didn't think of it myself. Come on Bri, you
ready?" Kevin looked over in the direction of where Brian was and saw him
rubbing his forehead. "Something wrong Bri?" asked Kevin with concern
in his voice. Brian looked up at him and grinned as he slowly shook his head,
"Nope not really just a stupid headache. Come on let's go look for Nicky.
The sooner he is back here safe with us the better." Kevin and Howie both
mumbled an "Ok" in response and walked out of the room and stood
beside the couch and waited a few seconds for AJ to finally notice their
presence and turn off the TV. When he eventually turned off the TV, Kevin asked
them all to sit down and he went over the plan for the search. Brian and Kevin
would search the south and west ends of town and Howie and AJ would search the
north and east ends then in two hours they would meet in front of the hotel and
report their findings. Both groups would carry a cell phone in case of
emergency and in cause they find Nick. Kevin then asked if anyone had questions
and when he heard three replies of "No" he stood up and walked over
to Brian's bookbag and dug out Brian's cellphone. Howie, AJ, and Brian all
stood up and and waited momentarily as AJ grabbed his cellphone and followed
Kevin out the door. When they made it outside the hotel Kevin said a few last
words before the groups departed, "Guys remember if Nick is lost he may be
scared so don't be too angry with him. We will handle everything when he comes
back, ok?" All three of the other men nodded in agreement and they
separated into their groups, hoping that one of the groups would come back in 2
hours with Nick in tow.
***
