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Chapter Ninety-Three
Point of View: Narrator


"Drive faster."

"I'm going as fast as I can."

"No you aren't. Fucking floor it."

"I am."

"No you aren't."

"I thought you were the daughter of a driver's ed teacher?"

"She's not my fucking mother. Now go FASTER."

"I'm fuckin' going as fast as I --"

Kayla flung her leg across the floor to AJ's foot and pushed her own foot down over his, accelerating the truck from 78 to 91.

"Fucking A," AJ cussed as the road rushed at him. He whipped the wheel to pass a car that was going nowhere near 91.

In the backseat, Desi was clinging to the headrests of the seats in front of him. "It doesn't matter how fast you drive," he said, "Leon's always very thorough."

Kayla's stomach was turning.



The paparazzi moved aside as a police cruiser slid its way through them and the gate to Nick's driveway opened up. The cop was a big guy, one they hadn't seen there before. As the gates closed behind him, keeping everyone out, he drove along up the driveway and parked beside the SUV cruiser that was already at the house. Two officers got out of the car. The big guy in the driver's side and a slim, skinny one, who ran to the back door and pulled out a large, bulky bag. The big guy headed into the house, and the smaller one reached for the garage door, pushing it up, stepping inside, and closing it behind him.



Leon was laying on his cot, listening to the radio. He knew it would be on the radio when it happened. He tucked his hands under his head, smiling to himself... and waited.

Leon had given Desi clear directions. He was to call Jake and Nate. They were on the force; they would take care of everything. Within twenty-four hours, one of two things would happen: either Nick would be dead, or Nick would be at the LA County Corrections Center, and Leon would see to him himself. He hoped for the latter.

The fact that Desi could kill two birds with one stone was just lucky. He gave Nate the bag of things from Krystal's house - her journals, her suicide note, her drugs, everything incriminating - and told him to use it to start the fire...



Nick and Zoe were in the kitchen. She was helping him with the dishes. Zoe had just snapped his ass with the dish towel, and he'd cracked up and begged her to teach him how to do that with the towel. "It's all in the wrist," she was saying, "You whip it like a lasso..." she demonstrated, cracking the towel against the cupboard door.

Nick laughed, "That's great." He tried, but the towel didn't snap as cool as it did when Zoe did it.

"Like this," she said, grabbing his wrist and laying hers flat over his and doing the motion of the flick so he could feel it with his own wrist. "But fast," she said.

Nick pulled his hand back and tried again. The towel went flying across the room. He cracked up. "Oh shit, I suck." His eyes were crinkled up and his grin was brilliantly huge.

He looked back at Zoe as he picked up the towel.

A large officer was suddenly standing in the door way beyond him. Zoe blinked in surprise, "Hey," she said. "Sorry, were we being too rowdy?"

Nick stood up. "Hey," Nick said, "Did Calvin go home?" he asked, referring to the cop that had been there all afternoon.

The officer looked at him. "Nick Carter."

Nick hesitated, "I-- yeah..." He laughed, "Who the hell else would I be, right?" he smirked and winked at Zoe. Her face was blank.

The cop nodded. "Leon says hello."

Nick looked up as a smile spread over the officer's face... and he instinctively moved backward to stand in front of Zoe, his arms spread out in a downward V, protecting her.



The paparazzi were going insane. The gates had been left opened. Flashing red and blue lights pierced the night, along with the flash bulbs of their cameras. Kayla had let up on AJ's foot and her hands were clutching the dashboard of his truck as they pulled into the driveway. "No, oh my God," she cried as the house came into view through the trees.

"Fucking hell..." AJ whispered.

The entire left right side of Nick's house was in flames, the garage was leveled. People were everywhere, a herd of paparazzi was being inched backwards by a yelling officer, firemen were dragging long hoses across the grass. A cluster of cops held Nick by the arms roughly as he struggled to break clear of them. He was shouting something Kayla couldn't quite make out.

Before the truck had even stopped, she was out of the door and running across the grass towards Nick.

"Fuck..." AJ whispered, stopping the truck as Kayla shot across the yard.
Desi stared on at the house, and felt sick. What'd I do... he wondered. Somehow it was different, watching as the house glowed orange and yellow before him, than it was when the concept was only in his mind and not his eyes.

As she made her way across the grass, Kayla's heart was pounding harder than she could ever remember it having done before. She was so glad to see him there, to see him moving. "Miss!" called an officer, "Miss, you can't go over there," he yelled.

Kayla ignored him, and ran until she bounced off Nick's chest, her arms wrapping around him. He blinked in surprise at her sudden presence, attached to his chest. "Kayla?" he asked, his voice was raspy.

"What the hell happened?" she asked.

"Go find out if Zoe's okay," he begged.

"Zoe...?" she whispered. She turned to the driveway and noticed the black Prius for the first time. "Zoe's here? Where is she?"

"I don't know," Nick said.