38

A Bullet to the Heart

“Howie? Can you hear me? Damn it!! Howie? This is AJ!! We need help.” He knew it was useless. The cell had cut out. He tried to get a signal but it was no use. “Great just friggin’ terrific!” He shouted at the empty room. He needed to pull himself together and get back to Nick. They had to get out of there.

He slowly crept down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, “Nick?” He whispered glancing under the table and surprised not to see him sitting there. “Nick?” He said again. This time a little louder than before.

“You know, it’s not nice to hit a woman AJ. Didn’t our father teach you anything?” Ariana asked as she walked into the kitchen holding the gun.

“Where is he? What did you to with him?”

She glanced over at the basement door, “I threw him in there. Now first things first, hand me back my phone.” She held out the hand that wasn’t holding the gun and motioned for him to throw it at her. “You’re responsible for any calls you made that show up on my next bill.” She joked. She was actually laughing. She thought this was funny.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Didn’t I explain this to you already? God, don’t you listen?”

“Look, just let Nick go. You can have me, okay? He’s just a kid.”

“I don’t think you’re going to want me to leave him here because we’re going to set this place on fire. How’s that for irony Mr. Fireman? You’re going to help me set this house on fire.”

“What’s that going to accomplish?”

“A lot actually, now hand me my damn phone or I am going to start by torching the basement and if you make me kill my baby brother I’m not going to be very happy with you. I have spent too much time on this plan to let you ruin it for me!”

AJ was trying to come up with as many scenarios as he could in his head, but they all ended with her winning, so dejectedly he tossed her the phone.

“Thank you, now if you don’t mind…we have some work to do.” She said handing him some lighter fluid as she grabbed matches out of her pocket. “Try anything stupid and we make Nick a human flame torch.”

“Everything is going to be okay Nicky, don’t worry.” AJ shouted at the door. He became nervous when he didn’t receive an answer. “He better be okay or I swear to God…”

She rolled her eyes at him, “Please, your empty threats mean nothing to me.” But she knew the reason Nick wasn’t answering. He wasn’t saying anything because he wasn’t really in the basement. Truth was she had no idea where he was and that thought unsettled her.

 She hadn’t planned on torching the house, but now she had no choice. She couldn’t leave any evidence behind. They had made a mess of things already but that was okay. Things would work out in the end. The flames coming from the house would basically act as a huge mouse trap for her baby brother. Once Nick saw the fire and knew AJ was still here, he would come running back. She wasn’t afraid that he got too far with his injuries. He was probably just within reach.

When she came running back inside, she did a thorough check of the first floor. If he was upstairs, the smoke would make him come running down. The last thing she did was lock the basement door just incase they were dumb enough to hide in there. So, who knew? Maybe he WAS down in the basement. She actually smiled when she pictured that.

“What’s so funny?” AJ asked looking at the lighter fluid as if he was holding a dead baby.

“Nothing…” She answered trying her best to ignore the fact that when this was all said and done, he would be nothing but burnt ashes. She had no intention of taking AJ with her. Not now. He was one of the many messes that this fire would have to clean up for her. As much as she hated to admit it, Jack was right about that much.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“That son of a bitch! I’m going to kill him!” Howie yelled at the steering wheel as he drove to the Richardson place. He planned on having it out with AJ and catching them both in the act. How dare he have an affair with Ariana? AJ was family for God’s sakes! How could he do this? He was engaged to be married! He briefly wondered if he should call Stacey and let her in on the situation. Maybe he wouldn’t have to kill AJ. She would do it for him! All those thoughts were racing through his mind as he continued to drive towards his destination.

The thoughts of maiming the fireman diminished though when he saw all the police cars gathered outside the house. “What the hell?” He said as he got out of the car and made his way inside.

He had to show his badge to at least five different people before he found Brian walking down the stairs. “Howie!”

“Brian, what happened here?”

“It’s AJ and Nick, someone has taken them. At least we think so.”

“What? But that’s impossible…I just spoke to AJ.”

Brian had a hopeful look in his eyes, “You did? How long ago? DAD!” He yelled before Howie had a chance to answer.

Kevin senior came running down the steps, “What is it?”

“Howie said he just talked to AJ.”

“When?”

“I talked to him a few minutes ago.”

“Is he okay?”

“He answered my wife’s phone. They were together.” Howie sounded so sad when he said that. It’s like any happiness he had left got punched right out of him when verbalizing this information to someone else.

“Is he okay? What did he say?” Kevin senior asked again.

“He was breaking up so I couldn’t really understand what he said.”

“How did you know it was him?” It was Brian’s turn to take over the questioning now.

“At the end I recognized his voice. It was clear as a bell.”

Brian glanced over at his father who also suddenly seemed deflated, “My God.” He said as he sat on the bottom step of the staircase. “My God…It all makes sense now, of course…why didn’t I see it before?”

“Dad, what is it?” Brian asked as Howie looked on curiously.

“It’s her.”

“What?” Brian seemed confused although as he asked the question he had his own moment of clarity. “You mean?”

“Yes.”

Howie was growing impatient as Brian flew into action. “We need an APB put out on an Ariana Dorough!” He shouted at the nearest police officer.

“What’s going on?” Howie asked looking over at Kevin senior who continued to ignore him.

Seeing how he wasn’t going to get any answers from the patriarch of the Richardson family, Howie chose to follow Brian around as he barked out orders to the police and fellow FBI agents who were all around the house. “Yes Ariana, the one who works for us! We need to find her whereabouts stat!” He said to one of his fellow agents before turning towards another, “Is there a way to triangulate a location from a cell phone call?”

“If it’s still on, yes.” The guy answered.

Brian turned to Howie, “I need your phone.”

“Brian what’s going on?” He asked, blindly handing over his phone. “Why are you looking for my wife?”

It was only then that Brian took a second to realize the implications of what he was about to tell his brother’s best friend. He didn’t want to be the one to break the news, but he also didn’t have the luxury of time. Under other circumstances, he and Kevin would take D out on the town, get him all drunk and then break the news that his wife was a potential homicidal maniac. Now he’d just have to blurt it out as if it was any other person on any other day.

“Howie, it’s a really long story and one that I don’t even fully know myself.”

“Enlighten me.” His tone was sharp and serious.

“We have reason to believe that your wife…Ariana…is the one that’s…”

“That’s what?”

Brian took a deep breath, “She’s been behind all of this Howie. At least we think so.”

Howie took a few steps back as if he was just hit with a bullet to the heart. “What are you saying?” He asked.

Brian walked closer to him and laid a hand on his shoulder, “I know it’s a lot to take in. She has reason for wanting revenge on our family and we believe she’s the one who is responsible for Nick’s disappearance.”

He pushed Brian’s hand off of his shoulder, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! How could you think that? She’s been nothing but a great friend to all of you!”

Kevin senior made his way into the room, “Do we have any idea where she is?”

“Not yet, but the tech team is working on it.”

“How could you let them think she’s some kind of a monster?” Howie yelled at the older man.

“She’s only a monster because I made her that way.” He answered before looking at Brian and then leaving the room again.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” He asked Brian.

Things would never be the same after this. Not for any one of them. That was one of the many thoughts running through Brian’s mind before he answered his most likely soon to be ex friend.

“Ariana is my half sister. My father cheated on my mother and Ariana was the result.”

Brian then took a few minutes to explain the details he knew. He told him everything his father had just relayed to him. It broke his heart as he saw what this was doing to his friend. As Howie took in the news, he just became quiet and numb. You could tell he was trying to be impartial and process everything that was being said but you also saw a little of him die with each new piece of information learned.

“I know this is a lot to take in Howie…I don’t want to believe this either.”

“I can’t be true.” He whispered to himself, but the sound of doubt was edged in the patterns of his words.

Just then another FBI agent handed a few papers to Brian, “These were found outside. Your father wanted you to see them.” He said, before giving Howie a sympathetic look as he left.

Brian looked down at the papers and his heart sank, “Jesus Nicky…” He found himself saying as he sat in the closest chair he could find.

“What is it?” Howie asked, even though he was pretty sure he didn’t want to know the answer to that question.

“He figured it out before any of us. He knew and I just ignored him…”

“What?” Howie asked again.

Brian looked at his friend and then handed over the papers. They were tattered and ripped but there was no mistaking all the notes about Ariana that Nick had written down.

Howie read them slowly, letting each word register as he went along. “This can’t be true. There’s no way this can be true.” He looked up with desperation in his eyes.

“There’s no way to know for sure.” Brian answered.

“Yes, there is actually.” Kevin senior said, once again entering the room. “You can call her back. Find out where she is and then we can straighten this mess out.” He continued, this time facing Brian, “They tried to trace the location but the phone needs to be active. We need someone to place a call to her.” They both looked over at Howie.

“Will you do it?” Brian finally asked.

Howie sat quietly for a few seconds, not sure exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted this all to be a big mistake, but the more he thought about it, the more his own suspicions came back to his mind. All the unexplained late night absences, all the unreturned messages and dropped cell calls played on his mind. She was always more curious about the Richardson’s lives then her own husband’s. Was he that stupid to fall in love with someone who had this deep dark secret past?

He finally nodded and took his phone back, “I’ll make the call.”

“Thanks Howie!” Brian said as he turned to his dad, “Has anyone heard from Kevin yet? We need to let him know about this as soon as possible.” He asked just as Howie slowly dialed his wife’s number.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kevin had the wind knocked out of him. He looked at the place where his phone fell and was just about to move to get it when he felt a kick to his ribs. He rolled over in pain to see Jack make his way over to the phone and stomp on it. “Whoops! Looks like you’ll need a new one of those.” He said as he kicked it aside.

Kevin tried to stand as he held onto his ribs. “Where is Nick?” He was barely able to get out in one breath.

“If I were you, I’d worry more about yourself than your brother.”

Kevin felt incredibly weak from the kick and the hit to the back of the head. The ground was spinning beneath him but he was not about to show any signs of weakness at all. He had to make it seem like he was on top of his game. He nonchalantly felt for his gun and was happy to feel it in its holster.

“Where is he?” Kevin asked again with more authority in his voice.

By now Jack had made his way back over to Kevin and stood about a foot away from him. Staring at the girl as she lay on the ground he smiled, “Ready for me to put you out of your misery sunshine?” Jack asked walking his way over to Patty as she began to cry.

“Leave her alone!” Kevin said moving for his gun. Two moves was all he needed. Un-holster aim and shoot. He could unlock as he was aiming. He was that good at it. He was taught by the best.

“Not so fast Richardson! I know you have a gun. I bet I can shoot her before you aim at me. Want to try me? I’m a pretty good shot. I’ve had lots of practice.”

Kevin actually thought about it, he was sure he’d be able to get a shot off but possibly not a kill shot and then what? He needed to buy time. Get him distracted. “What’s the difference? You just said you were going to kill her anyway.”

Jack shrugged, “You’re right. But maybe I’ll have a change of heart. I mean chances are if I don’t shoot her, she’s going to end up dying out here anyways, right?”

“Why don’t you just let her go? She’s just a kid. She’s not going to say anything. You have me. Let her, that boy over there and my brother go.”

“You are under the assumption that I have your brother with me. It’s not a good thing to assume. You know how that saying goes, and as far as the other kid…” He walked over to where Charlie was lying and made an over exaggerated grimace, “I don’t think he factors much into the equation anymore.”

With that being said Patty let out a huge cry of grief. She had lost so much in her young life all because of the Richardson family. By all rights it should have been her standing there with the gun and not this guy is what Kevin was thinking as he tried his best to block out her cries of mourning.

Kevin was slowly inching his way towards Jack every time he looked away, even if it was for a few seconds. “Why are you doing this? Who are doing this with?”

Jack turned back towards Kevin, “Excuse me?”

“I know you aren’t doing this for you, so why are you doing this?”

“For the fun of it. Isn’t that why you do what you do?”

“No. I don’t think this is fun, believe me.”

Jack laughed, “Then you need another job. Didn’t you ever learn that if you don’t think your job is fun than you aren’t in the right profession?”

“Who has my brother?”

“Actually, it’s brothers…plural.” Kevin was shocked to hear this latest development.

“AJ.”

“Yup.”

He felt a little better knowing that AJ was with Nick. Although he didn’t have the training, AJ definitely had the survival skills. So, as much as he hated to, he tried to block that information out of his head and refocus his attention on getting himself and Patty out of there alive.

“Whoever it is, is just using you, you know. When their done with you…”

“What? She’ll kill me? Don’t think I haven’t thought about that.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“I already told you, because it’s fun!”

“Who is she? I know her don’t I?” He asked now moving a tiny bit closer. Jack seemed so distracted that he hadn’t even noticed Kevin’s slight shifts in position.

Jack laughed, “Boy, do you ever.”

That was all Kevin needed to hear to know who they were talking about. “Ariana.” He said out loud and confidently, even though he wanted to be wrong.

He seemed surprised at Kevin’s guess. Maybe his girlfriend wasn’t as inconspicuous as she thought she was. He’d have to give her hell for that when he saw her later.

“How long has she been stringing you along?” Now he was just trying to get Jack angry and disoriented.

“She’s not stringing me along.”

“Sure, she’s not. Just like she’s not stringing her husband along.”

“Now, he’s a stupid ass.”

“I’m sure that’s what they say about you too.”

“What do you mean, they?”

“Oh please, Howie has known about you for a long time now because she comes home and tells him about it. They laugh about how gullible you are. I just didn’t make the connection it was you until now.” Kevin lied.

“I don’t believe you!” He said but Kevin was able to tell that Jack was starting to crack a little.

“I don’t care if you believe me or not, it’s true. She thinks you’re a big joke. Howie and Ariana are into that kind of thing. She gets in on with a guy and then they re-enact it after the fact. It’s one of the things I don’t enjoy about my best friend.”

“You’re full of shit!” Jack yelled.

By now, Kevin had Jack exactly where he wanted him. By talking about Charlie, he knew he’d make the man move towards the dead kid and away from Patty. And by making him mad, he wasn’t concentrating on his gun as much as he should have been. That’s all he needed. Now he could fire off a shot without worrying about Patty getting in the way. So in one flash, Kevin raised his gun and fired.

The shot hit Jack square in the right shoulder and as a reflex the gun went sailing out of his hand. Once that happened, Kevin charged for Jack with all the strength he could muster, knocking them both to the ground.

They wrestled for the gun that was in Kevin’s firm grasp. Jack was a lot stronger than Kevin thought he would be even after being injured and at one point, managed to get his own hands on the gun.

Jack managed to wiggle his way temporarily free and kicked Kevin in the face as he did. When that happened, the grip on his gun loosened and Jack took a hold of it. Before he could stand up Kevin retackled the man and they both rolled around on the ground until the sound of one gunshot was heard.