Point of View: Kevin
Brian and Leighanne had disappeared back up stairs once the eggs were gone, leaving Dirk Bentley and I alone once again. Dirk had pulled up his lap top and hooked Desi's cell phone to it and ripped the voicemail messages from Krystal off. He made several copies on discs, which he placed in a stack on the evidence pile.
I was still staring at Desi's phone bill for the last month of his service plan.
"So, Bentley," I said, leaning back in my chair the way my mother always yelled at me not to when I was a kid, "Do you think you're going to deliver the miracle I need?"
"He's got a better chance now than he did before," Dirk admitted, looking at our meager pile of evidence. "It really depends on the judge, I guess," he said. "You could still be kangaroo courted if you get the wrong person in the chair."
"Like someone who just wants to bag a culprit?" I asked.
"Or an Nsync fan," joked Dirk.
We both laughed awkwardly. Unfortunately, even if the Nsync part of it was stretched, it was true. It wouldn't take a lot to bias a jury or a judge against Nick just because of his identity as a Backstreet Boy. Especially as one of the wild ones, one of the ones that had gone to rehab...
"Unfortunately," Dirk continued from the Nsync comment, "It's all in how the deck cuts for him, I guess. But we're betting all in, so it's win or lose."
"Odds?" I asked.
Dirk shrugged. "Probably on the down side," he admitted.
I tossed the bill onto the table, and folded my hands behind my head as I balanced. I glanced at the clock. "Jesus H. Christ, it's 5:30," I muttered.
Dirk looked up. He sighed. "Well, Kevin," he said, "I think... for now... we've done what we can. I'm going to head home, get some rest, and research more on the internet for information on this..." he held up the concert review with the photo with the ace bandage. "See what I can find out. Maybe call the hospital in Santa Fe, see if they've got any records to back it..."
I nodded, "Yeah, we need to be awake for tomorrow."
Dirk started collecting his stuff. He dropped one of the CDs into his lap top bag, then shoved the rest at me. There were six in all. "Put these in different places," he said, "So nobody can steal them again," he added darkly.
I took the discs.
After showing Dirk out and locking the door behind him, I dropped a disc off in Brian's kitchen drawer before going upstairs to the guest bedroom and shoving one in my suitcase. The other three I left on the desk in a pile and figured I'd give one to AJ and Howie and Zoe.
I laid down on the bed and pulled the covers up around my face.
In a mere 24-hours, I'd be getting dressed, getting ready, preparing... In a mere 24-hours, they would've already left the jail with Nick in order to get him to LA in time for the proceedings.
I closed my eyes and waited for dreams to come... but I woke seven hours later, at one in the afternoon, having never felt myself sleeping at all. It seemed like I'd blinked.
When I went downstairs, Baylee was coloring on the rug in the living room and a zombie-fied Brian was half asleep in the chair. He glanced up when I walked in, yawned, and muttered, "Hallo..."
Apparently he didn't get any sleep, either.
But for very different reasons.
"So your after sex food is scrambled eggs, huh?" I chided quietly, so Baylee didn't hear, as I sat down on the couch.
Brian laughed his delirious little giggle - haw he he he - and turned red. He looked at me, seemed to size me up, then grinned and leaned closer, "Can I tell you a secret?" he asked.
"Sure, what's up?"
"She's pregnant," he whispered.
We both glanced at Baylee. I looked back at Brian. "Congratulations," I said quietly.
Brian grinned and leaned back into his chair. "She's positively radiant right now..."
"Okay I don't need to know the details," I said, laughing. I looked at my hands a moment, then said, "Dirk was really happy with the stuff he found for Nick last night."
Brian smiled, "I'm going to be so relieved when he's home, I can't even tell you..."
"I know," I answered, "Me, too. But Brian? Seriously? Please, don't get your hopes up. This could still go either way..." My heart ached as Brian's jubliunt face fell. "I just don't want you being crushed if..." I took a deep breath, "...if we lose."
Brian's eyes clouded and he turned away from me in a way I could tell meant he was angry... and hurt.
"Brian?"
He steeled himself. "Don't say that."
"I just don't want you counting the chickens before they've all hatched, Brian."
"Can't I at least count the eggs?" Brian said quietly.
I sighed, hesitating. "Can I tell you something?"
"Sure, I told you something, it's only fair."
I glanced at Baylee, then whispered, "I've... I decided something, Brian, and I'm not sure if it's realistic or if it's something I'm just telling myself to get me through tomorrow..."
Brian looked at me, his eyes glistening. "What's that?" he asked.
It suddenly occurred to me that maybe I wasn't the only one thinking what I was thinking. I breathed the words, "If he's convicted..." I said, "...he's going to die if he goes to jail... if we leave him there..."
Brian swallowed, and nodded ever so slightly.
"I... I wouldn't be able to do it..." I said, building up to my point.
"To watch him die," Brian said quietly.
"I'd help him run."
Brian's eyes were square with mine, "I thought the same thing."
I nodded and leaned back into the sofa cushions. "As long as we're on the same page."
"AJ and Howie are, too," Brian answered.
"Only one of us would have to do it," I said.
Brian nodded.
"Kristen would understand," I added.
Brian nodded again.
I laughed, and the sound of it seemed to shatter the tension. "It's probably just something unrealistic we're telling ourselves to get through tomorrow anyway," I said, shaking my head. "Right?"
"Right."
"I mean, we'd never actually do it," I said, my voice rising as though it were a question.
Brian stared at me a long moment. "I was thinking more along the lines that we'd never actually do it because Nick's going to be set free," he said finally. "Not because we wouldn't do it if he's not. Because I'm seriously not going to stand by and let them kill him slowly. And maybe that's wrong, maybe this is a crazy plan, thoughts we shouldn't even be having, but Kevin, seriously, if he isn't let out by them, then God damn it, I'm doing it myself." Brian's voice was solemn.
We sat staring at each other for a long moment, and I knew we were in agreement. We made a silent pact, a promise that we weren't just talking words... we meant it.
"You boys hungry?" Leighanne's voice broke between us.
Brian leaned back and looked up, a smile on his face, though I've not a clue where he pulled that smile from. "Sure, sweetie," he said. Leighanne reached down and messed up his hair playfully. She, of course, had no idea her husband was planning a jailbreak five seconds before she offered him lunch.
All I could do now was pray to God that it didn't have to happen that way.
