Chapter 18:
One Down…
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That meeting scared me to death. I knew that Brian and AJ had found something
in Nick's hotel room but I was completely unaware of the extent of information
they had found. It made me sick. Sick and mad. I could have avoided this entire
situation if everyone had just opened up to me. No, we had to keep secrets. If
AJ and Brian told me about the phone calls, I would have taken care of it. I'm
not sure how, but I would have brought it out in the open. Maybe then, Nick
would have come clean about the threats. I even asked him! "God, how
stupid could I have been?"
"It wasn't your fault Kevin" Howie said coming over to me and
gripping my shoulder. It didn't make me feel better. I knew it was my fault.
"I should have realized it was Nick. In fact I DID. That's why I went to
visit him the night before our meeting. I got a call saying someone was gonna
take my baby brother" Howie closed his eyes. "I got that call too! IF
this is your fault , then it is also mine. In fact Brian and AJ all recieved
the same call. We are all to blame! Come on now Kevin, we just got Brian
feeling better about this. Don't take his place, besides there is only one
person to blame. The person that actually took him" that being said Howie
smiled at me and left down the hallway.
The person that took Nick will pay for it. It's funny because you never realize
how important someone is to you until they disappear. I have always had it in
my nature to watch over that boy. Even though most times I wanted to kill him
myself. There's something about Nick that makes you want to protect him. He is
so naive. Immature, yet smart. The thought of him held up somewhere was not
making me happy.
I ventured over to the restroom for a smoke. I told everyone I quit, but since
Nick's disappearance, I had started again, That's when I heard her. She was
angry and nervous about something. I almost knocked she seemed so upset, until
I heard those words..
"NO!! Don't kill him now! you have to wait do you understand me?" Oh
my God. That made my heart jump. I pressed my ear against the door. What the
hell was she talking about? "Okay good now bring him back downstairs and
take some Haldol for the voices" I listened intently to every word.
"So, you're not gonna kill him than right?" She was talking about
killing. I heard a few more jumbled words until the most important word of all
"Now, bring Nick back downstairs and go and rest." Oh my God she said
NICK! How could that be possible? I panicked actually walking around in circles
trying to figure out what to do next. I was just about to run for help when she
opened the door.
She looked up at me and tried to brush past me but I grabbed her.I wouldn't let
her out of my grasp. I was hoping I didn't hear right? Could Trish actually be
talking about Nick? Our Nick? Impossible.
"Why?" I asked her holding her so tight I knew she would be bruised
as a result. She nervously tried to break free.
"Kevin get off of me!"
"I asked you why Trish?" I pushed her against the bathroom door and
together we landed inside.
"I..I..I have n..no idea what you are t..t.ttalking about" She was
stuttering. I never let up.
"Nick! why did you take him and who were you talking too?" She looked
away. I began to shake her, "ANSWER ME DAMMIT!!" She began to laugh.
I loosened my grip on her. She sat on the floor. "You have NO idea what
you are talking about Kevin. I suggest you leave it alone"
"You suggest I leave it alone? Well I'm not gonna! Tell me where he is
Trish!" She kept laughing. I wanted to kill her. I've never felt that way
before. If Nick's life didn't depend on it, I may very well have killed her.
"Kevin I can't tell you that. I can tell you that If anything happens to
me, he will die" I couldn't believe it. Even as the words were coming out
of her mouth I couldn't believe it.
"We trusted you! Nick trusted you!" I was screaming at her. She was
laughing hysterically. Howie and AJ appeared at the door. At this point I had
picked her up and pinned her against the wall.
"Oh my God Kevin get off of her! Have you lost your mind?" Howie said
pulling me away from the crazy woman. "Who has him Trish? Tell us
now!" I screamed even as I was being forced away.
"Kevin calm down, you're not making any sense" Howie said alarm
growing in his voice. Trish tried to make a run for it but was stopped by AJ.
"So..it is you?" He said. Both Howie and I looked over at AJ.
"AJ, I have no idea what you or Kevin are talking about now let me leave
this room or else!" AJ didn't budge. Howie loosened his grip on me pulling
away in shock. I made my way back over to Trish. I looked over at AJ.
"Call the police now!" He nodded and bolted out of the room.
She turned to me with a coldness in her eyes. I actually took a step back. I
hadn't even thought about the possibility that she was a cold blooded killer.
She might have had a weapon on her. I had put all of our lives in danger. Howie
sneaked over and locked the door so Trish wouldn't try to escape. Now if she
had a weapon, we would be seeing it.
"You have no idea what you are doing! You have just killed Nick. I hope
you're happy"
"What are you talking about?" Howie asked still not fully
understanding what was going on.
"Trish kidnapped Nick" I said. He was trying to grasp the new
information. "Well, Trish and someone else. She won't tell me who"
"Oh my God! Trish is he okay?" Howie pleaded with her. The glow in
her eyes told me that is exactly what she wanted.
"No, he isn't. I luckily calmed down my partner but it won't happen twice.
If he doesn't hear from me. He will kill Nick! You have to let me go"
Howie and I looked at each other trying to make up our minds just as the police
ran to the door...
****************************************
I opened my burning eyes to see a blur. My head throbbed and I couldn't sit up.
I licked my chapped lips trying to make enough saliva to swallow. I tasted
blood. I placed a hand on my face to feel blood coming from one of my cheeks. I
moaned. I moved my hand upwards to feel the huge bump on my head. I felt the
back of my stiff neck, again my hand came back bloody.
What the hell happened to me? I rolled over on my side. I was on a cold floor.
I noticed my bed lying upside down in the corner. I tried to sit up again only
to feel a shooting pain in my right shoulder. I slid myself over to the
bathroom. I would use the tub to help me stand up.
I got into the bathroom and forced myself into a sitting position even though
my entire body racked with pain. Come on Nick, you can do this! The cold
porcelain felt good on my back. I sat there for a minute trying to get my
bearings. I vaguely remembered the fight. Me struggling with Joe. He was
talking to someone important. Someone I desperately wanted to talk to. One of
the guys I think.
Joe? I wonder if he was caught. Maybe AJ..yeah it was AJ, maybe he heard me.
The adrenaline gave me the energy I needed to grab on to the tub and lift
myself off of the floor. I screamed from the pain. Come on come on you can do
this! Nick don't wuss your way out of this! I talked myself through the pain
and managed to get a look at myself in the mirror. I didn't even recognize the
reflection staring back at me. I was pale. Really pale. My hair was a matted
mess of blood and my clothes were ripped. I had dried blood all over my face and
neck. I took a minute and washed some of the grime off of me with a damp towel.
It felt good on my skin. If I had all the time in the world I would've jumped
into the tub for a nice hot bubble bath. I paused gripping the sink as a wave
of dizziness overtook me. I closed my eyes willing it to pass. Luckily it did.
I limped out of the bathroom into my main living area.
Signs of a struggle were everywhere. It looks like I gave Joe a good fight. I
smiled at the idea. I knew I had to get out of there. If Joe was still here. He
was mad. I went over to the bed and tried to remove one of the metal poles
holding the bed in place. They were a little loose from being thrown. I jiggled
it and played around with it until it finally became free and fell on my lap. Excellent!
That's when I heard the door open. I quickly hid the pole next to the bed and
took my original position lying face down on the floor...
*******************
The police entered the bathroom in need of an explanation. I had breifly toyed
with the idea of not saying anything, but I couldn't.
"This woman is responsible for Nick's kidnapping" I said. I looked
away as they cuffed her hands.
"You have the right to remain silent.." the officer was saying in the
background.
"I didn't do anything!" She kept screaming over and over again.
Howie, AJ and I watched as the arresting officer finished reading her, her
rights and began to escort her out of the room.
"You just killed your brother!" She screamed. "I hope you're
happy!"
"We're running out of time" Howie said. The thought sent chills down
my spine...
***