Chapter 18

 

Leighanne gripped the phone so hard that her knuckles were white.

 

“AJ?!  AJ!?” she screamed, calling his name over and over again.   “AJ, please say something!”   But all she could hear on the other end was heavy, gasping breaths. 

 

Just moments earlier, she had heard his scream and several more following it.  But now the screams had stopped, and she heard only the ragged breathing.   And within the next few seconds, there came a click, and all went silent.

 

Choking back a sob, she hung up the phone, then picked it back up again and dialed another number.

 

***

 

Kevin was alone in his hotel suite when his cell phone rang.

 

“Hello?” he asked, answering the phone.

 

“Kevin!” screamed a panicked female voice.

 

“Who is this?” he demanded, sitting up abruptly.

 

“It’s Leighanne!  Kev, something happened to AJ!   He’s hurt!” cried Brian’s wife.

 

“Huh?  What are you talking about?!” Kevin asked, fear clutching at his heart.

 

“Please, go get help!  Hurry!” Leighanne begged, her voice shaking with terror. 

 

Kevin tossed down the phone and ran down the hall to AJ’s room.   He banged on the door, which was locked on the inside.   “AJ!” he yelled.  “AJ, open up!”   But AJ didn’t.  

 

Terrified, Kevin raced back to his room, grabbed the phone that was sitting on the desk, and dialed 911.   He hurriedly asked for an ambulance, giving the operator the name of the hotel and AJ’s room number, and hung up.   He was about to run back out of the room, but stopped when he saw his cell phone lying on the floor, still turned on.

 

“Leighanne?” he asked breathlessly, putting it to his ear.

 

“What happened?  God, is he okay?!” she cried.

 

“I don’t know.  I can’t get into the room.  But I called 911, and they’re on their way.  I’ll call you when I know more,” Kevin told her and hung up.  

 

Desperate to get to AJ, he ran down several flights of stairs to get to the lobby of the hotel, where he hurriedly explained as well as he could what was going on to the receptionist, who gave him a room key to AJ’s room.  Grabbing it out of her hand, Kevin raced back up the stairs, running faster than he knew he was able to.

 

He fumbled with the little keycard, desperately jamming it into the lock.   Finally, the door clicked open, and he burst inside.   “AJ!” he screamed, looking frantically around the suite. 

 

Upon entering the bedroom area, he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

 

AJ was lying half on the bed, his legs dangling over the side, his body slumped forward at an odd angle.   The back of his shirt ripped and stained bright red with the sea of blood that covered him and the bedspread beneath him.   And with every blink of Kevin’s eyes, the amount of blood seemed to double. 

 

Kevin began to breathe in rapid gasps, all the color draining from his face.   His stomach turned at the gruesome sight, and he felt nauseous.   Suddenly, uncontrollably, he began to vomit.   Feeling dizzy and queasy, he sunk to the ground, vomit dripping from his mouth.  

 

“AJ?” he heard a voice call, but it sounded far away and distorted.  

 

“Oh, my God!  AJ!!”

 

“Oh, God!”

 

“AJ, no!!”

 

Through blurry eyes, Kevin saw three figures hurry past him to the bloody body on the bed.   And then, he passed out.

 

***

 

On the outside, Brendan was just as shocked and horrified as Nick and Howie were.  But on the inside, he was smiling.   AJ would never find out the truth now.   If he wasn’t already dead, he surely would be soon.  And sweet, kind, religious Brian was the last person anyone would suspect.  

 

I’ve committed the perfect crime, thought Brendan with pride.   It seemed too good to be true.  It had all been too easy.   He had gotten AJ’s extra key, hidden under his bed, and when AJ had come into his room, stabbed him.  AJ never even knew what was coming.  And he never saw who had done it.  So even if he did somehow make it, he wouldn’t be able to tell who his attacker was.  

 

“Someone call 911!” Howie shouted, his voice high and shrill.

 

But there was no need to.   Kevin must have done it before his collapse because at that moment, three paramedics arrived, wheeling a stretcher.   Two of them rushed over to AJ, while the third pushed Brendan, Howie, and Nick back, then went to check over the unconscious Kevin.

 

Within a few minutes, Kevin had woken up.   But things did not look so good for AJ.   Brendan felt a sick sense of satisfaction as he watched the paramedics perform CPR on AJ, knowing that the man was on the brink of death.   And even if they did manage to resuscitate him, Brendan figured he would probably die anyway. 

 

Perfect.

 

***

 

 

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