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Chapter Twenty Two – December 13

The ship docked in Miami at 8:30 the next morning. While the fans disembarked, our group spent an extra hour on board. It felt strange not to hear people running this way and that, the only noise was coming from the main deck where luggage was being rolled off and people were saying their goodbyes.

From the open door of our cabin, Nick and I watched Brian and Baylee wrestling in the hallway. Nick had a funny look on his face.

“What’s with the face?” I asked. Nick looked at me and smiled.

“I was just thinking about the baby,” he said. He gestured out to the hall. “Raising a boy is easy, but a girl…”

“Are you saying us girls are difficult?”

Nick laughed. “No, raising a girl’s just different. And I don’t have anyone to copy off of.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed him softly.

“Something tells me you’re going to do just fine,” I said.

“Well, I bet I can teach her to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on her armpit,” Nick said thoughtfully.

“Nick…”

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A little before ten, we finally left the ship. The sun was out and the combination of wind and surf mixed up a perfect perfume of home.

“You guys flying back to Atlanta today?” Nick asked Brian as we walked along the dock. Brian shook his head.

“No we’re going to take Baylee to Disney World. Belated birthday present.”

“Disney World?” Nick said excitedly.

Brian laughed. “You want to come? We can ride the teacups together.”

“Dude…”

Before Nick could say anything else, reporters appeared from out of nowhere. Microphones and cameras were shoved in Nick’s face as reporters closed in.

“Nick, what happened in Cozumel?”

“Did you run into Aaron while you were there?”

“What happened to your face?”

“What’s your reaction to the search for your brother’s body?”

Nick didn’t know what hit him. He looked around in mass confusion; he seemed to be organizing the questions in his brain. I saw a look of utter horror cross his face.

“What do you mean the search for Aaron’s body?” Nick said loudly.

“You don’t know?” The reporter sounded surprised. “Witnesses spotted your brother jumping off of the Punta Sur lighthouse into the rocky waters below yesterday morning. His wallet and several pieces of clothing washed up on shore later that afternoon. He’s presumed dead.”

Nick stopped in his tracks. The rapid fire sound of clicks and flashes were all around. Two of our security guys managed to get in through the throng and pull Nick and I away from the crowd. We were ushered into a car; the doors were quickly locked, the tinted windows stayed rolled up.

Nick took a couple of deep, slow breaths and then dove for his Blackberry. He quickly dialed home; Angel picked up. I could hear her crying on the other end of the line.

“Angel, what’s going on?”

Angel didn’t know much more than we did. Jane had called her early that morning to let her know that she was asked to fly down to Cozumel to confirm that the pieces fished from the water were actually Aaron’s. Cozumel officials had assured her that they would scour the waters for another few days before issuing a death certificate.

Nick hung up slowly, his body began to shake.

“I killed him,” he said quietly. I looked at him in surprise.

“What?”

“When I was arguing with Aaron, I ended up dumping that cocaine all over the ground. He told me he was a dead man. It was my fault…”

“It’s not your fault,” I said.

Nick was completely stoical as the car dropped us at the airport for our flight back to Tampa. As soon as we were at altitude, his phone rang. It was Angel again. She informed him that the family was meeting at his house.

By the time we got home, cars stretched out along the driveway. The door was open. I was surprised to find not only Jane (who I thought would be on a plane to Cozumel by now), but also Nick's dad Bob, sitting in the living room. BJ, Angel and Leslie were gathered in the kitchen. Angel's eyes were completely red, she clutched a balled up tissue in her hand.

BJ was the first one to spot Nick. She raced at him, threw her arms around his waist and began to cry. Nick hugged her tightly.

"What happened to you?" Leslie gasped. Unlike BJ, she was staring directly at Nick's swollen face.

I saw Nick weigh his options. On one hand, he could brush it off as a stupid accident on the trip. On the other hand, the news stations would be combing police documents and interviewing everyone they could think of. More than likely it would soon become public knowledge that Aaron punched his lights out.

"I bumped into Aaron in Cozumel and it didn't go very well," Nick said softly. BJ made a loud noise between a hiccup and a sob. She pulled back, her eyes wide.

"You saw Aaron?"

Nick nodded and turned his attention to the living room. Bob came up and hugged him tightly. Jane hung back. I felt sad that it took something like this to get both his parents in the same room and still only one could hug him.

"How was he?" Bob asked. "Did he seem depressed? Did he give you any clue?"

"What did you say to him?" Jane asked. My eyes widened slightly; nothing like your own mother insinuating your blame. Nick stiffened; I could tell he felt the same sense of accusation in her tone.

"Aaron was sitting at a table in the club with some rough looking guys," Nick explained. "He was snorting cocaine."

Leslie gasped.

"The last time I talked to him he told me he was clean," BJ argued.

"I don't believe it," Jane said.

"I believe it," Angel said quietly. Every head turned in her direction.

"He called me a week or so ago and told me that he was in a lot of trouble that he didn't think he could get out of. He wouldn't tell me where he was, but he told me under no circumstances was he coming home. Then," her voice broke. "he told me that he loved me and that he hoped he'd see me again someday."

Angel broke down in tears. Leslie and I both went over to comfort her.

"What happened after you went up to him, Nick?" Bob asked.

"Well I told him he needed to come home and get help. He refused and we got into a little argument. I knocked the drugs off the table and the goons he was with got a little upset."

"They put a knife up to your neck, Nick," I argued. "I think that's a bigger reaction than a "little" upset."

BJ gasped. "Did they beat you up?"

Nick shook his head. "Our security guards fired off some warning shots and Aaron ran after me out of the back of the building. We had some words and then he cold clocked me."

"What happened to Aaron after that?" Jane asked. She seemed to want to skip over the part where Nick's face was smashed.

"He took off. One of our guards gave chase, but he hopped over a fence and disappeared. That was the last I knew until...until this morning when I got off the ship."

"I just don't believe that Aaron would do something like that," Jane finally said.

"Of course you don't," Bob said coolly. "That's because you've always turned on the blinders when it comes to Aaron. Except when money's involved."

That was all it took to ignite the fire. Within seconds Bob and Jane were at each other's throats. Nick looked like he wished he could be anywhere else in the world; I thought at the moment that he would even take crazy fans dropping out of the ceiling tiles.

"ENOUGH!" he finally yelled. "What good is arguing? I just want everyone to SHUT UP. If we're all going to stay here today and wait for updates then I'm not having any arguing. The last thing I want is to have to call the police here."

He stomped up the stairs. I heard our bedroom door slam. Everyone looked around uncomfortably.

"I've got to go anyhow," Jane said. "I'm flying down there to confirm..." she wiped away a tear. "to see if the things the police found are really Aaron's."

Leslie walked Jane out to wait for a taxi. Angel and BJ stared down at the floor. Bob broke the awkward silence.

"You must be Olivia," he said holding out his hand. "I'm Bob, Nick's father."

I had already pieced that one together.

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By eleven o'clock that evening, everyone was gathered in front of the TV in the living room. After cooling off, Nick had come back downstairs and tried to take some control of the situation. Throughout the course of the day, Nick received phone calls from Brian, AJ, Howie, and even Kevin. Each time Nick ended the call in tears.

The sight of a 'Breaking News' headline on the screen caught everyone's attention. A picture of Aaron appeared in the right hand corner as the reporter explained what we already knew: Aaron was seen jumping off the lighthouse, his wallet had been found, etc.

"Aaron's mother, Jane Carter, arrived in Cozumel late this evening. Sources report that she has indeed confirmed that the items found in the ocean belong to Aaron. Boats have been on the water all day, but the combination of fast currents and the rocky terrain below the lighthouse are still leading authorities to believe that Aaron Carter has died just days after celebrating his 23rd birthday."

Bob's sobs overshadowed everyone else's. He lurched forward, his hands covering his face. Leslie wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his back. My arm went around Nick; he was like a statue. His eyes stayed glued to the TV in disbelief. Shots of Cozumel, where our feet had treaded just days before, flashed on the screen.

It all seemed like a bad dream.