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The contents of Howie’s stomach churned. He had 5,206 votes. Nick, who was in second place, had 4,347 votes. There was less than a minute left on the clock. There was absolutely no denying it anymore; he was going to win. Howie watched as the timer ran out. His name began to flash on the screen; officially letting the entire world know that he was everyone’s least favourite Backstreet Boy.

“I’m sorry, Howie.” Kevin whispered. “It was never supposed to turn out like this.”

Howie looked at the older man in pity. “You had nothing to do with this, Kev. You didn’t tell the fans to vote the way that they did. I know that they rigged the vote to save Nick and Brian. I’m used to it by now. I’m used to coming in last even when I come in first.”

“No.” Kevin shook his head. “I am responsible. I’m the one who brought him here. I’m the one who sealed your fate.”

“That was over two decades ago.” It was Howie’s turn to shake his head. He couldn’t let Kevin continue to dwell on the past. He couldn’t let Kevin continue to blame himself. “You made the choice that you thought was right, and it was the right choice. We are who we are because you made that phone call. Even if you’d never asked Brian to come down to Florida, Nick or AJ would have eventually taken the lead. It’s always been all about the three of them, Kev. You and I are just the fillers, the background, the ones who are replaceable.”

Kevin’s voice was thick; laced with emotion that he was trying to keep to himself. “That’s just the thing, D. You’re not replaceable. As much as you don’t always see it, we need you. I shouldn’t have been so quick to listen to Lou. I should have stood up for you when he asked me if I thought that we needed another member. I should have given you more of a chance to prove yourself.”

“You don’t have to apologize for the choices that I made, cuz.” Brian interrupted. “The rest of you busted your assess to make it into the group, and I just strolled into that warehouse and opened my mouth. I felt like I was untouchable. So, when Lou started coaching me to step up and take the spotlight away from Howie, I just blindly did what he told me to do. I wanted the fame and everything that came with it so badly that I didn’t even bother to think about the consequences for me or for anyone else.”

“I don’t want to talk about any of this.” Howie looked pointedly at Brian. “Regardless of why it happened, this is the way that things are. I don’t – I don’t want to die being angry at any of you. So, if I don’t come back from whatever it is that these guys have planned for me; I just want you all to know that I love you. Regardless of what’s happened between us in the past, I wouldn’t change a minute of the past twenty-three years.”

“You’re not gonna die!” Nick captured Howie’s eyes with his own; as if pleading with him would somehow change the outcome of what their captors had planned. “They – they don’t want to kill us. They need us all for the next challenge. We just gotta keep thinking that the police are gonna come; that we’re gonna make it out of this.”

“They’re escalating.” Howie challenged. “They started by scaring the shit out of me, and they followed that by making Kevin chronically uncomfortable and physically useless. Then, they made AJ mentally and physically sick, and they gave you a superficial injury; not enough to do any real damage. Next, they mutilated Brian to the point where his body will never be the same.” Howie swallowed hard; forcing himself to continue. “Don’t you see, Nick? They thought for sure that you would be the winner of this last poll. This is the last event, the final show. You were supposed to be the player, and they never had any intention of letting you survive.”

“Fuck, that little Latino is smart.” Angelo clicked his tongue against his teeth as he loaded the bullets into the handgun’s chamber. He turned to Carl. “You almost ready to go?”

Carl nodded. He quickly attached the silencer to his own gun and checked to make sure the safety was still on. He raised his eyes to his brother. “We’re taking Howie first?”

It was Angelo’s turn to nod. “We’ve got to keep them guessing. So, we’ll take Dorough first and get him situated. Then, we’ll come back for the others and take them in pairs. After what happened last time, I doubt that they’ll be dumb enough to attempt another escape.”

“Right. So, we’re going with the pairings that we already decided on?” Carl asked the question only in a futile attempt to calm his nerves. He already knew the answer. Any hope that Howie taking the lead in the poll would cause Angelo to change his mind about killing the five men hidden in the basement had vanished. He should have known that his big brother would simply alter the plan to suit their needs.

“I’ll tell you if I change my mind.” Angelo smirked. He finished loading his gun and twisted his own silencer into position before motioning to Carl that he was ready to go. “Let’s get this show started! The fans are waiting.”

Carl nodded numbly. He picked up his weapon and followed Angelo out into the darkening winter day. The ground was frozen beneath his feet; his shoes crunching loudly on the icy grass as he trailed after his big brother. This was it. The money was in the account. The final transfer was pending approval. He had gotten what he needed. Now, all that he had left to do was to finish what he and Angelo had started.

Leighanne picked aimlessly at the pink polish on her thumb nail. It had taken all of her emotional strength to pull herself out of her self-induced ball of pity and rejoin the other wives. If it hadn’t been for Baylee, she probably wouldn’t have bothered. The words that had left Brian’s mouth had put a permanent crack in her heart; the notion that the other women pitied her because of his words made it worse.

“Oh, God, they’re coming for him!” Leigh leaned forward towards the television. Thanks to Baylee’s technical prowess and a random HDMI cable, they were now watching every chilling detail unfold on fifty inches of 1080p with surround sound. “Oh, God!”

Leighanne stopped picking at her nail polish and instinctively held out her hand to Leigh. The other woman grabbed it tightly and squeezed her fingers into a death-grip. Rochelle and Lauren had assumed a similar position on the other loveseat, while Baylee had moved himself closer to Kristin on the remaining couch. Everyone had their eyes trained on the television screen; watching and waiting for what was going to happen next.

“Looks like you’re the big winner this time, Howie.”

Leigh’s stomach leapt as the two men let themselves into the room. Their voices were muffled by the fabric that covered their faces, but that didn’t make them any less intimidating. Her eyes drifted to her husband who was sitting next to Kevin with his back against the wall. She had never seen Howie look so defeated. It was like he had already given up.

“Let’s go, Dorough.” The bigger of the two men commanded. He waved his gun in the direction of the door. “We don’t have all day.”

Howie ran his tongue along the front of his teeth and pushed himself into a standing position. It was taking every ounce of his concentration not to cry; not to break down and beg the two men to spare his life. He knew that Leigh was watching, and he wanted to make sure that she didn’t remember him as a coward. If he was going to die, he was going to die with what little dignity he still had left.

“You’re so quiet.” The bigger man laughed as he wrapped his beefy hand around Howie’s upper arm. He jerked him roughly towards the open door. “That’s a shame. It makes things more interesting when you guys are talkative.”

“I’ve got nothing to say.” Howie spoke firmly; surprising himself at his ability to keep his voice even.

Out of the corner of his eye, Howie could see the slightly smaller man keeping his gun trained on the others. He could see Nick’s bunching his fingers into fists. He knew that he had to get out of there before his youngest friend did something stupid.

“I have to say, I was very surprised to see that you won.” Angelo continued to laugh as he led Howie out of the room. He waited until Carl had securely locked the door on the other four Backstreet Boys before he let go of Howie’s arm and pushed him forward into the other room. He smirked as the tiny man tripped over his own feet. He knew that the Latino wasn’t going to try to run away; there was nowhere for him to go. “I thought that Frick and Frack were the fan favourites.”

Howie shrugged. “Sometimes our fans surprise us.” He could no longer disguise the tremor in his voice as he caught sight of the noose hanging from the ceiling.

“Well, I think it’s worth repeating, that I was very surprised to see you come out on top.” Angelo grinned beneath the fabric that covered his face. He motioned towards the stacked risers that were placed just beneath the noose. “Up you get.”

Howie darted his eyes frantically around the room. There was nowhere for him to go. Still, he debated about making a break for the only door; the one that the other man had already secured. He knew that getting shot was probably better than being hung, but something in the back of his mind made him comply.

Howie knew that if he didn’t do as he was told that the men would just take out their anger on the others. Regardless of how the poll was supposed to have turned out, he had emerged as the winner. It was his turn to play the game.

“Good boy.” Angelo taunted as Howie tentatively stepped up onto the risers. “Or, should I say, good Backstreet Boy?” He laughed manically; swiftly looping the noose around Howie’s neck and pulling it tight.

Howie gasped as the rope tightened around his neck. He instinctively brought his fingers up to claw at the rough fibers that were already digging into his skin, even though he knew that the action was useless. Right now, his feet were planted firmly on the top riser, but he knew that his toes would barely reach the second one, and that he would be dead before his shoes touched the bottom one.

“Oh, I’m sorry; did I make it too tight?” Angelo laughed. “I’m afraid that I can’t loosen it, but don’t worry; it won’t take us long to round up your friends.”

“What?!” Howie could barely get the word out. He could feel his skin heating up in panic. “But, I’m the winner! I thought that this was going to be all about me!”

Howie’s mind was racing. All of the other games had focused exclusively on one person. Why was this one different? He had complied so that nobody else would get hurt. Sure, they had used Nick to convince AJ to drink, but Howie could sense that this situation was different. He had been tricked. God, he was stupid. He should have known that they would never make this all about him. It didn’t matter that he had won the poll. These men had wanted Nick or Brian to win, and now they were going to alter the situation to suit their own needs.

“Howie, Howie, Howie, you’re so naive.” Angelo clucked as he motioned for Carl to unlock the door. “This is the final installment of our little show. It wouldn’t be fair to make this game all about you. Besides, you should be used to sharing the spotlight, Howie. After all, when are you ever allowed to be front and centre?”