Nick gripped the doorknob, his fingertips red, and his knuckles turning white. “Frank,” he gasped.
“Nick.” The older man smiled, his eyes glinting dangerously.
“How did you get past security?” He knew it was obviously a moot point now, but his mind instinctively asked the question. He was a celebrity living in the Los Angeles area. Of course his condo complex had 24 hour security surveillance.
“I have my ways.”
Nick momentarily closed his eyes and recalled his entrance into the parking garage just minutes before. He punched his personal security code (Nacho’s birthday) into the keypad by the gate just like he always did. He didn’t remember acknowledging the security guard, nor did he even recall who it was sitting in the little windowed building by the gate. Was there even anyone sitting in the little building by the gate? He’d just taken for granted that someone was always there. He opened his eyes and studied his smiling, estranged father, then gulped and sent up a silent, startled prayer when he saw the metal blade flash in the moonlight.
********************
“Hey, Kris. I just wanted to check in and see how Drew’s doing.’” Annie drummed her fingers atop the console as she looked out the window over the ocean. It sparkled and danced in the moonlight as waves crashed gently across the shore.
“Oh, he’s great!” Kristin answered. “He ate all his dinner, and he’s in his jammies. Mason and Kevin are helping him build a Lego tower now. He’s getting sleepy, I think. You might as well leave him here tonight. No sense in disrupting his sleep by coming by late to pick him up.”
“Hmm… We may just do that,” Annie agreed. After all that had been going on for the past couple months, she knew she’d definitely neglected any personal time spent with Nick. In fact, they probably hadn’t really spent any quality time together, just the two of them, since the night of their engagement. That seemed so long ago, even though it had just been two months.
“We’d love to keep him,” Kristin gushed. “He’s just the cutest little thing, and he’s really no trouble at all.”
“Well, I don’t know about that, but I’m glad he’s being good for you. I knew about the terrible two’s, but really there’s no preparing for them until you’re experiencing them.”
“Oh, just wait until he’s three!” Kristin laughed. “At least you have a few more months to prepare.”
Annie rolled her eyes and sighed. “Just let me think it gets better, okay?”
“Oh, it does. I promise. I even miss it sometimes. Toddlerhood is such a sweet age, even though it’s tough.”
“You’re right. It is.” Annie never knew it was possible to love someone so much who could drive her so crazy. Of course, the same could be said about Nick sometimes…
“So leave that sweet little toddler with us tonight and spend some time with your man!” Kristin insisted. “Call us in the morning and we’ll arrange pickup.” Annie reluctantly agreed and hung up. She took note of the time on her phone as the screen faded to black. Nick had been gone over ten minutes. It shouldn’t have taken him so long to just grab a bottle of champagne and a couple of glasses, right?
********************
Howie locked the studio behind him and turned on his heel with a little extra bounce in his step. Nick had handed over the reigns to him to listen to the second edit of “Soldier” and “Love Somebody” with Morgan and Prophet and suggest some tweaks before their scheduled listening session with all five guys in a couple of weeks. They had just finished up, and Howie spent some time looking over a couple of contracts by himself before locking up and heading back to his West Hollywood townhome. Leigh and James were heading back to Florida the next afternoon, and he and his son had an early morning date at Dunkin Donuts and the park down the street from the small house. He jogged to his car waiting in the near-empty parking lot and stopped just for a second to breathe in the ocean breeze and enjoy the end of the sunset as the brilliant pinks, purples, and oranges faded into the horizon. He didn’t notice the black SUV parked across the street as he climbed into his car and turned the key in the ignition. He turned the radio up and sent Leigh a quick text to let her know he was on his way.
He was zooming up into the Hollywood hills when he noticed the bright lights from the dark colored SUV behind him creeping closer and closer in the rearview mirror. He lightly tapped on his brakes in an attempt to get the driver behind him to let up, but to no avail. The beams of the headlights inched even closer, and got brighter as the driver turned on the high beams. Howie looked for a place to pull over and let the obviously impatient driver pass, but only found a guardrail on his right and the other lane flanked by mountainside on his left. He gripped the steering wheel and pushed in on the gas pedal slowly, steadily increasing his speed to a level that was uncomfortable as he maneuvered through the mountainous curves. He slowed to clear a sharp break in the mountain and glanced back up into his rearview mirror just in time to see the headlights disappear from view and hear the characteristic crunch of metal on metal. Howie’s heart leapt up into his throat and a sheen of sweat broke out across his forehead and upper lip as the car lurched forward. It was clear that the SUV behind him had no intention of stopping or slowing down. As he was still met with only guardrail on one side, he jerked his car into the other lane in an attempt to let them pass on the right. The car slowed to stay behind him, so he slammed on his brakes and prayed for no oncoming traffic. The black SUV did the same. As the headlight beams from a large truck came into view in front of him, Howie frantically slammed on the gas and swerved to the right, back into the path of the SUV. The driver revved the engine behind him and Howie pulled his car forward, speeding into a blind curve. He wasn’t sure if he lost control of the vehicle before or after he once again heard the tell-tale crunch of metal on metal and felt the himself being plunged towards the steering wheel. He struggled to gain control of his car, but it was too late. He crashed into the guardrail and flipped into the ravine below.
Run by emily_michele
