If Nick had been honest with himself, he would've turned back the moment his feet hit the pavement outside of the hotel building. His sneakers had felt as heavy as anvils and his stomach kept telling him - in a loud pinched voice - to turn around and go back. He didn't realize that this feeling is called FOREBODING, and usually means that something bad's about to happen. He figured it was because he was being rebellious. He glanced back at the hotel, feeling guilty, and wondered if Kevin realized he was gone yet. Of course not, he realized - nobody but Gopher knew he had even left, and it had only been a few minutes. In fact, he realized, nobody at all would probably miss him anyway, even if he didn't rush. The only way any of them would know he'd even left was if he told them. So much for teaching Kevin a lesson.
He'd almost turned back then, upon that realization, but since he was already on the crosswalk he figured he might as well get his french fries first, then go back. At least if he got the fries first he had something to munch on while he sat in his hotel room, wondering if anyone cared he'd been missing for several minutes.
As he stepped into the door, he felt a hand wrap around his elbow, pulling him back. He looked down. There was no mistaking those claws. He closed his eyes, taking a deep preparatory breath, then turned to look at Isa. "Isa," he said, his voice smooth as butter.
Normally Isa would've melted at this, he knew, but her eyes were stone cold as she glared into his and only seemed surprised for but a moment upon realization of who it was before her. "Nick?" she asked, her eyebrows puckering, "What are you doing here?"
Nick glanced at the inside of McDonald's. Wasn't it obvious? "Getting french fries," he responded after a hefty pause. "You?"
Isa looked at her cell phone absently. "Oh... Um. Same thing."
Nick nodded cautiously, "Well. Okay then, I'll see ya?"
"I'm here on a date, actually," Isa interjected suddenly.
He wasn't entirely sure why she had told him that. "Yeah? That's cool," he answered. "Anyone I know?"
Isa laughed, that obnoxious horsey laugh, and nodded, "I think you may have met."
At that moment, Nick became aware of a second person in their cluster, but before he could turn to see who it was, he felt heavy, bulging hands grab onto his upper arms from behind. "Hey there, Jack Taylor," Fat Freddy's voice grunted into Nick's ear. Nick froze. "Wanna go for a little ride?"
"Isa --" Nick started, but before he could tell her to run, Fat Freddy quickly lifted Nick up with one arm wrapped around Nick's torso and carried him quickly down the alley way beside the McDonald's. Freddy clapped a hand over Nick's mouth. Nick kicked his legs, squirming against Freddy, but of course he was no match for the gangster who was three to four times his size. A million things went through Nick's head: the fact that nobody except Gopher knew he'd left, that Gopher didn't know how long he was going to take. Would anyone notice he was missing? Would Gopher finally tell Kevin or someone? Would they be able to find him? He struggled helplessly. What about Isa, he suddenly wondered, pushing his body away from Freddy, trying to at least see where Isa was, to see if she got away or if another of the henchmen had been right there to grab her, too. But to his surprise, he found Isa following Freddy closely, a smile on her face.
"What'sa matter, baby?" she asked in a cold, teasing voice, "Didn't expect us to be here?" She stuck out her lower lip, pouting at him mockingly. Isa laughed, "Or maybe you didn't expect me to be the one that would be here?" Her eyes glistened. "Didn't you know what my Daddy does for work, Nick?"
Nick struggled against Freddy, "Isa, c'mon, you can't do this, you know me..." he paused, realizing he had one card to play. "Isa.. When I saw you at the pizza place the other day, I was so glad to see you again, I couldn't believe it was really you and ---"
"Save it," she answered, rolling her eyes. "Look, Nick, personally -- I wouldn't hold this shit against you. But -- ya know, my Dad he's... Well, he's not as forgiving as I am. And he doesn't really take too fondly to my boyfriends anyway. Especially ones who dumped me, stood me up, and left me crying, waiting for you to show up...." Isa shook her head. "Man, Nick, to me it sounds kind of like your goose is cooked."
"How did you know where I was?" he asked, whimpering almost now.
Isa laughed, opening the door to the large stretch Hummer that belonged to the Boss. Nick had seen it the other night at the docks. He felt his entire blood stream run cold a moment, his stomach turning, and his hands go clammy as Fat Freddy pushed him closer to the door. Just as Freddy pushed Nick into the Hummer, Isa said, "Let me put it this way, Nick.... a little bird told me."
-----
Agent Bryant sat in his office, pouring over several documents concerning the Wednesday Bombing at the Embassy. He played with a Slinky while he read the notes, sighing every now and then. On the wall behind him, the clock ticked monotonously. He paused, dropping the toy to the desk, and bent his head to one side, listening. He could hear nothing. Yet something suddenly very much was bothering him. He grabbed his Rolodex and quickly flipped through the cards, pulling out Nick's name, he lifted his phone and dialed the number.
No answer. The phone clicked, then went to voice mail. Bryant furrowed his brow. Well... maybe he was doing promotion or something.
But the funny feeling in Agent Bryant's mind didn't go away, even after he'd lifted the Slinky and resumed reading.
-----
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
Nick froze, looking down toward his pocket. He'd been tied, his arms behind his back and his ankles bound before him. There was no way he was gonna reach that phone... Maybe Kevin had noticed, maybe somebody had, anyway! A surge of hope - however slim - rose up in his stomach. Isa reached down from her seat and across him, sticking her hand into his pocket to grab the phone out of it. "Don't get excited, pervert," she snapped, "I'm just getting your phone." She pulled the phone out and looked at it. "New York City Police Department?" she raised an eyebrow. "We have friends on the force now, do we?"
Nick shook his head, "He's just a friend."
"And I'm sure you've told him everything about what - and who - you've seen, haven't you?" she asked.
"No," Nick said too quickly.
Isa laughed. "Well, it's okay. You won't need this anyways." She unrolled the window and tossed the phone out into the pavement as the Hummer drove down the highway.
------
Kevin had sprung into action - his heart pounding in his chest and adrenaline pumping through his veins. He shoved passed Gopher into the hallway and quickly moved into the gaping doorway that was Nick's hotel room. Brian and Howie emerged from their rooms as well upon hearing the commotion in the hallway. They looked around, confused. Brian's eyes were wide open, like a deer caught in the headlights of an eighteen wheeler. Gopher stood calmly behind them, watching the scene unfold. Kevin came back out into the hallway, his eyes flashing with nerves, having confirmed that Nick was gone.
"What happ--" Brian started to ask, but Kevin held his hand up, cutting him off.
"Get AJ," Kevin commanded in a low, solid tone. Brian instantly jumped into action, hurrying down the hall to AJ's hotel room door, knocking like a maniac and calling his band mate's name. "And you, Howie, call the NYPD, talk to Bryant and tell him what's going on. Use my cell phone, the number's stored."
Gopher shook his head negatively even as Howie rushed off to get Kevin's phone. "Don't involve the police," Gopher said. "You don't know what they might do to him."
Kevin glared at Gopher, "What's it to you if I'm calling a friend?"
Howie galloped into the room and looked about in a panic until he spotted the phone on the counter of the kitchen. He snatched it up and rushed back into the hall. "What am I telling him?" Howie cried, frantic. Kevin looked at Gopher for the answer.
"He was kidnapped," Gopher said smoothly.
"Kidnapped?!" Brian yelped just as AJ's door opened.
AJ was dressed in just a pair of sweat pants, his tattoos showing, and a pair of iPod headphones around his neck. "What? Who was kidnapped?" he asked.
"Nick," Kevin answered.
"Oh shit! No!" AJ's eyes widened to match Brian's.
Gopher sighed as Howie dialed the NYPD's number. "Oh don't you guys get it yet?" he asked. He reached out and grabbed Howie's arm, making him drop the cell phone. It clattered to the floor, but stayed flipped open as it landed a few feet away at the base of one of the walls. "It's NOT just Nick that's kidnapped, it's ALL of you." He withdrew a gun from his pants' waist band and pulled Howie closer to him, and positioned the gun to aim at Howie. Howie gulped. "Now... Do we have ANY arguments whatsoever, or does this gotta get messy?"
Brian, AJ and Kevin all raised their hands in surrender.
-----
Agent Bryant grabbed the phone on the third ring, having thrown the Slinky down into a desk drawer, certain that it was Nick returning his call. "Bryant's desk??" No response. "Hello???" He scowled... prank callers. Then he heard something...faintly. He pressed the phone closer to his ear.
"ANY arguments whatsoever, or does this gotta get messy?" the voice sounded vaguely familiar.
"Please don't hurt him!" Brian's voice. Panic spread through Officer Bryant. This was not good.
"Gopher," Kevin's voice was stronger than Brian's had sounded, clearly he was trying to command authority over the situation. "C'mon man, this is crazy, let's just sit down and talk calmly..."
"Don't MOVE!" Gopher - the first voice he'd heard - shouted. "Don't even THINK about moving or I swear I'll shoot this Hispanic pain in my ass right now." Someone there let out a whimper.
Bryant waved another officer into his office and scribbled a note.
TRACE LOCATION OF THIS CALL I'M ON... NOW.
The officer scurried away to get the equipment.
"Now. We're going to go on a little field trip. First, we're going down to the docks to visit Nick. Then, once he is disposed of, we're gonna go watch the Embassy become a firework display. Sound good to you?" Gopher laughed.
Bryant quickly scribbled down this piece of information. It was soon -- TOO soon! They'd changed their plans for the bombing, and they had Nick. Bryant punched the table, frustrated. The officer with the tracking equipment returned to the office and began hooking up the line. Bryant grabbed another piece of paper and scribbled furiously:
SENT TROOPS TO EMBASSY.
KEEP SMALL BACK UP RESERVED FOR ME IN UNMARKED CARS AT FOLTON'S. NOW.
He shoved the note to the officer, who nodded and bolted away with the message.
-----
Gopher motioned with his gun to the stairs. "Nothing funny, at all. I still have Howard here, remember. Act. Natural."
"Yeah, like that's possible," AJ scoffed.
"Would you rather act dead?" Gopher intoned, "It can be arranged." AJ looked away and stayed quiet. "OK then. That's better. Let's go." Gopher began shepherding the Boys out the door and down the stairs like a flock of stupid sheep. They stumbled about as they walked, not making any chattering sound, as they normally would, but Gopher apparently didn't mind this lack of natuality.
Kevin closed his eyes, more afraid that he'd ever been before. He felt a guilty, like he'd caused all this to happen. He'd been the one to decide to bring Gopher back to the hotel with them, and he was the reason the Boys had been in separate rooms to begin with -- if only he'd let Nick get those damn french fries. Kevin felt sick inside and he realized with a pang that he'd been too hard on Nick on several occassions during the past couple of days and over the years. He shuffled along behind Brian and AJ, feeling like they were on a chain gang together, and promised himself that if he and Nick both lived through this he'd go easier on him in the future.
The Boys filed through the kitchen of the hotel, Gopher uncomfortably close to his back for Howie to feel comfortable or act too naturally. The wait staff smiled, too distracted by their own jobs to notice anything funny going on with the Boys. Suddenly a large, boisterous chef stepped in front of them when they'd nearly made it to the door.
"Why hello! My favorite room service customers!" he bellowed, clapping his hand on Brian's back. Brian looked ready to throw up on the contact, his nerves built up far too much for it. "How was the steaks last night?"
The Boys were quiet a moment too long, and Gopher pushed his gun a bit further into Howie's back. "Great!" Howie cried with a jump, "Amazing, even! Thank you!" Kevin nodded agreement, though the other two only stared stonily at the closed door to the back alley. Who knew what awaited them?
"Where's Nick this night?" the chef continued, not picking up on the uncomfortable air that hung between them all.
Kevin shrugged, "We're going to go catch up to him. He's doing promo."
AJ piped up, "The other side of the Brooklyn bridge, right Kev?"
Kevin nodded, "Yes."
The chef chuckled, "Ah in Brooklyn, 'eh? Always a charm down that way. Hope you Boys got your body guards! Stay safe!" With that, he turned and resumed his cooking. Gopher gave Howie a good push, and they continued to the door, stepping into the alley to find a large white van waiting for them.
For the briefest of moments, AJ imagined opening the van's double doors in the back and finding Officer Bryant and like fifteen of his strongest SWAT team members, just waiting, with Nick in tow, to save them from this psychotic mobster. But when the doors swung open it wasn't so. Inside was a burly man with facial hair that resembled Howie a bit. "I am the Goose," the man greeted them with a wicked smile. AJ felt the color drain from his face. The Goose laughed, a sound that Brian was sure had to be a byproduct of Hell. "I see you've heard of me." And with that, the Goose and Gopher hoisted the Boys one by one into the van, and slammed the doors behind them.
Saving the Day for Blondes (AKA How Nick Carter Became Involved in a Terrorist Mob, Quite By Accident Really!, And Thereby Managed To Save The World For The First Time Ever, Much To Kevin's Surprise.) by Pengi
