Both AJ and Kevin looked over at me when I gasped. I didn’t even realize I had done that. I guess it was just a reaction to, I don’t know…finding out the people who just clunked you on the head were standing right in front of you disguised as police officers. “I don’t mean to be rude but I was wondering if I could maybe see your badges?”
For having a head injury, that was pretty clever thinking on my part. Knowing how anal Kevin was, if they didn’t have those badges, he would never let them do anything. But of course after a few moments of hesitation they both pulled out their ID’s and handed them to me.
Great!
I looked over them carefully, used to seeing on TV and the movies that when someone has a fake badge they usually cover up a corner of it and then quickly put it back into their pockets before any questions could be asked. Not these two though, no, they were slick. They handed them right over to me, even smiling as they did.
The badges looked authentic which made my predicament even worse. Now what do I do? “Can I have those back now?” I looked up at the female officer. She had a suspicious look on her face. The last thing I wanted was for her to figure out I knew who they were.
“Sorry,” I said as I handed the badge back, “but you can never be too careful these days. There are a lot of crazy people out there.”
“I understand. Actually I commend you for being cautious.”
“So do I.” Great I get brownie points with Kevin too.
“Tell us what happened Mr. Carter.” The male officer said seemingly running out of patience.
“I don’t really remember all that much. I was here helping clean up the house. I had no idea there was someone else in here with me.”
“You didn’t hear anyone break in?”
I shook my head as I held the ice pack to my head. The one that AJ so graciously got for me when he came back from his second smoke in less then fifteen minutes. “How many people were there?”
“I’m not sure, maybe two or three.”
“Did you get a look at any of them?”
I gulped before answering this one. It would have been so much easier to lie without Kevin and AJ in the room. Once I started lying up a storm there was a very good chance that both of them might call me on it. Kevin would be the most likely candidate to do so and I couldn’t take that chance. “Kevin, can you go get me a glass of water?”
He seemed surprised by my sudden request, maybe also a little annoyed. “Water?”
“Yeah, I’m really thirsty.”
Of course Kevin looked over at AJ about to ask him to do it but luckily AJ caught the look of pleading in my eyes and understood what that meant. Maybe it’s because we were always the two to get into trouble when we were younger or maybe it’s just because we were the two Backstreet babies. (Somewhere a few of my crazy teenybopper fans just awed) but whatever the case we both had the ability to read each other’s body language better than anyone else. For instance, all the times that AJ would sneak back into the hotel drunk, partying long after curfew. The next morning would arrive and Johnny or Kevin would look over at him and then ask me when he got back to the hotel. AJ would give me a small nod and tilt his head which indicated to me that I had to lie for him, otherwise he would beat my ass. Ah, what fond memories.
Of course he did the same for me on more than one occasion, especially on those nights that I would go out partying under aged when told specifically not to. He would of course tell me that the second someone asked he’d spill the beans and get me in trouble, but no matter what, he always had my back.
“Hey Kevin, can you bring me a Coke too while you’re at it?” I tried not to laugh at the look on Kevin’s face when AJ said that. Good old AJ, he’s the best.
“Uh…sure, does anyone else want anything?” He asked the officers. If he had the power to kill with his eyes, AJ would be dead.
“No thank you…” The female said while the male just plowed ahead, “So, you didn’t see these people?”
I paused briefly, waiting for Kevin to actually leave the room before I began to lie, “No I didn’t.”
“What about hear them?”
“No.”
“So what happened then?”
“I was bending down to pick up my phone when I was hit from behind.”
“And that’s all you remember?”
I nodded at the officer, “The next thing I knew I was on the bed.”
“Did they take anything of yours?”
“Not that I’m aware.”
“Nothing is missing?”
I shook my head, feeling AJ’s eyes on me. I knew I’d have some explaining to do but I also knew he wasn’t going to tell them anything. “Sorry I couldn’t be any more helpful. I was knocked out.”
Both officers looked at each other and maybe I was being extra paranoid but I sensed great relief on their faces. “That’s okay Mr. Carter, we’re glad that you weren’t seriously hurt.”
“So am I.” I said, giving them my best smirk.
The female officer, Linda I guess, gave me a sweet smile in return and then closed her notepad, “Well, I guess we have all the information we need right now. Thank you for your help and if there’s anything else you can remember give us a call at the office.” She handed me a card with her name and badge number on it.
“Thanks, I will.” I responded, taking the card and putting it in my pocket just as Kevin entered the room with AJ’s Coke and my water.
“You’re done?” He asked surprised to see the officers getting ready to leave.
“Yes, if you need anything else Mr. Richardson, give us a call.” She gave him her card as well. I bet AJ felt left out.
“Okay, thanks…let me show you out.” He said handing the drinks over to AJ and escorting the officers down the steps and out the door.
“Dude, what the hell just happened?” AJ asked, taking a swig of my water.
“That was them AJ.”
“What was them?”
“Those two were the two who broke in. She was the one who hit me over the head.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, pretty damn sure.”
“Do you think they are real cops?”
“The badges seemed real enough to me.” I opened the can of Coke and took a sip.
Kevin came back up the stairs and gave us both his trademark look when he saw me drinking the Coke and AJ drinking my water. “So…Why did you get rid of me?” He asked, crossing his arms in front of him. I’m sure if I bothered to look down at his feet they would have been tapping.
“Because I had to.”
“Why?” He was annoyed as he sat on the bed and grabbed my coke out of my hand, taking a sip for himself.
“Because I had to lie to them and I couldn’t let you and your honesty mess that up.”
“You lied to them?”
“I had to Kevin.”
“Why the hell would you have to?”
“They were the bad guys.” AJ filled in for me which was a good thing since my head was really pounding now.
“They what?”
“It was them. They were the ones who clocked Nick in the noggin.”
“Are you sure?” He asked me, his eyes wide and unbelieving.
“I’m pretty certain.”
“We need to tell someone then.” He actually went to grab a phone…gotta love Kevin.
“No Kevin! We can’t, it’s too dangerous.”
“What? We can’t just let them get away with it.”
“We’re not but I need a plan first. Just hold off okay? We have no proof. It would be my word against theirs.” I put my hand over his as he held the phone.
“Why do these things always happen when the two of you are around? If I invited Howie and Brian none of this would have gone on.”
“We make your life so much more exciting, don’t we?” AJ said giving Kevin a friendly wink.
“No more keeping me in the dark about things.” Kevin pointed his finger at me as if he was my daddy.
“I promise.” I answered once again taking the ice pack and placing it on my head.
“Good, glad to hear it. Are we ready to go back to the hotel now?” Kevin stood up and sighed. I felt sorry for the guy. All he wanted was for us to do a quick fix on his house while we bonded, but now he’s in the middle of some gay mystery/suspense novel.
“Yes, let’s get out of here.” I said standing up, a little unsteady on my feet still.
“Are you sure you want to leave? I mean isn’t there an anvil that needs to fall from the ceiling and hit you on the head or something? It’s not truly a party unless we have to go to the emergency room, right?”
“Shut up!” I went to whap him but missed. “You’re lucky my head is spinning.” I added when Kevin decided to offer his assistance probably before I fell down the steps.
“I think I may install an alarm system in here.” He muttered as we walked out the door.
The next morning I woke up feeling stiff and not very good. I swear this little vacation of mine was going to end up killing me. I also woke up to the sound of snoring coming from my floor. “What the fuck?” I said aloud which made the snorer in question open his eyes.
“Hey.” AJ sat up and rubbed his neck.
“What are you doing in here?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“So you broke into my room and decided to sleep on the floor?”
“Dude, you are a heavy damn sleeper. I must have pounded on your door for ten minutes before letting myself in.”
“Why were you pounding?”
“Because I couldn’t sleep and I wanted to see if you were awake.”
“Well when I didn’t answer the door after you pounded on it for ten minutes, that should have given you a hint, don’t you think?”
“Listen smartass, I was worried so I thought I’d see how you were.”
I know he meant well, it actually was a very kind gesture, but for some reason I was annoyed. Probably because I was attacked by a pack of bad police officers yesterday. I tried to be nice though, that’s one of the things my therapist said I needed to work on, my quick temper.
“Thanks man but there was no need to sleep on my floor and watch me like a dog.”
“Well, I did anyway, so shoot me.”
“Bang bang.” I said, holding up my fingers as a gun. He placed his hands on his heart and rolled over, his feet in the air and his tongue hanging out of his mouth. We were so stupid sometimes. Okay maybe that’s the wrong word. Not really stupid, more like kid like? Yes, somehow that sounds better than stupid.
“AJ, I have to tell you something.” I said when I was bored with his playing dead act.
He came over and sat on the bed next to me, “If it’s about Kevin, I know already. He told me last night.”
“He did?” I felt slighted in some way, since I had to drag it out of him but yet he told AJ willingly.
“He said you asked him if he was leaving.”
“I did, I didn’t mean to but it just kind of came out,” I confessed. I thought he was going to be really angry at me but he seemed fine with it. Not Kevin potentially leaving, but with me asking him about it.
“It’s okay, he said he’s not sure if he’s going to or not, but I think he will.” He sighed as he said it. “Anyway…He said he doesn’t think it’s a good idea to talk about it in front of you.”
“Why? God damn him. I’m tired of being treated like I’m fucking five years old.”
He shrugged at me. “He probably thought you had too much other stuff going on.”
“Well, he can kiss my ass.”
“Do you want to talk about him leaving? Isn’t that what we have been trying to avoid since we’ve gotten here?”
I scratched my head; okay maybe he had a point. “That’s not the point.”
“What is? You make no sense Carter.”
“And this surprises you how?”
He laughed and shook his head at me. “My bad, let’s change the topic. This shit is too depressing. What are we going to do about this bad cop thing?” He rubbed his hands together as if he had a pair of dice in them. “How are we going to take them down?”
“We aren’t, first we need to figure out what they were looking for.”
“The book, you said they took it right?”
“Yeah, but I have a feeling there’s more to it. We need to really explore that house. Maybe with the three of us splitting up and each taking a floor…”
“Hang on. You really think Kevin will help us, after everything that went on?”
“You don’t?”
He looked at me as if I had boobs coming out of my ears…man boobs. “Nick, you were just attacked by people who want something in his house. Those people broke into his house. He’s anal, remember? There is no way he’s going to help. He’s going to say we need to call the police.”
“No he won’t. He knows the police are involved. He’ll help. Kevin may be a bit on the anal side, but deep down he’s just as adventurous as we are.”
“You were hit in the head.” He gingerly placed his hand on my head, “Yup, there’s the bump.”
“I’m telling you, he’s going to help us.”
“Want to make a bet on that one?”
“Sure, how much you got?”
“Ten bucks.”
“Wow, these are desperate times aren’t they?” I joked while searching through my wallet to make sure I had ten dollars to give him, just in case.
“He’ll never help.”
“If he thinks we’ll do it anyway, he’ll help.”
“Son of a whore!” Ha! He knew I was right with that last statement but it was too late to take back the bet now though.
“I hope you have that ten on you…I need some breakfast money. Speaking of that, where is Kevin?” I glanced over at my clock to notice it was almost 11 a.m.
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. “Well, speak of the devil. He probably just wanted to let you sleep in.” AJ said as he walked over to answer the door. “And he still might not say yes to helping us out.” He winked at me just as he opened the door to let Kevin in.
Only it wasn’t Kevin.
“Mr. Carter.” Officer Daniels said as he tipped his cap at AJ and then me. “I’m sorry to bother you here at your hotel but we’d like you to come into the office.”
My heart started beating faster, “Why?” I said while trying my best not to stutter.
“We want you to look at some pictures for us.”
“But I told you, I didn’t see anything.” AJ and I exchanged worried looks.
“I know, but it’s possible that once you get a look at some of the pictures, something might spark your memory.”
“I don’t see how anything can be sparked. There’s nothing to spark and we were just about to go out.”
The officer looked at me in my boxers and tee shirt, “Like that? I can tell you that if you went out dressed like that anywhere around here Mr. Carter, I’d be bringing you to the station for indecent exposure.” He laughed at his own joke, but it was a forced one. You could clearly tell he was annoyed and didn’t feel much like arguing with me.
“I mean I have an appointment in about a half hour.” I answered, standing up and walking towards the closet. Looking like I was trying to find a suit to wear for the imaginary meeting I had just created. I was a master at those fake meetings. They have gotten me out of plenty of messy situations.
“This won’t take long.” One thing was clear; this guy wasn’t going to let up unless I went with him.
Now what?
I once again shot AJ a look. He seemed at a loss for words as well. “I guess I should get dressed then.” I said as I made my way over to the bathroom. Maybe if I took long enough in there, he’d get bored and leave.
“I should tell Kevin. He might want to go too, since it was his house that was broken into.” Thank God for AJ. Seriously, the next time I start dissing him, remind me he tried to save my ass once again.
“That’s a great idea, call Kevin!” I nodded and smiled at AJ but our evil little police officer didn’t seem the least but amused.
“Actually we just need you. It’ll really only take a few minutes of your time.” Okay the fact that he was so eager for me to be alone with him made me really scared. I kind of just wanted to push him and run out of the room. Make a break for it, head for the hills. I could tell that AJ felt the same way. Only thing is, he could head for the hills and wouldn’t get shot in the back for running away.
“Let me get dressed.” I smiled at Officer Daniels, trying to act calm as a cucumber.
He nodded at me as I walked past him. “Don’t take too long now.”
I turned to look at AJ once more, glad to see he wasn’t going to leave my room, also happy to hear him talking to Kevin on the phone as I locked the door to the bathroom.
