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It was a few hours later before we were all sitting in the crummy hotel room. Sarah immediately started to pace the floor while Brian went to take a shower and I stretched out on the bed. My eyes watched her more than the TV that was flashing` bits of shows as I continuously flipped channels.

“Have you come up with a plan yet?” I asked quietly. Sarah stopped in mid stride to glare at me. “That would be a ‘no’, right?”

“I’m not sure that there WILL be a plan, Nick.” Her eyes rolled as she went back to her pacing. I was hoping they wouldn’t charge extra if she managed to wear a hole in the carpet.

“Where do you think they will relocate us to, after all of this is done? Surely, they won’t still ship us off to Hawaii. Maybe we’ll get really cool names and move to, like, Las Vegas or something!” Changing the subject seemed like a good idea at the time…boy was I wrong!

“They probably won’t relocate you, again, Nick. How many times do you think they are going to reinvent your life? You’re a special case, and all, but jiminy cricket!” she let out a quick breath and tilted her head to look at my through the corner of her eye.

“Aren’t they supposed to keep me safe, no matter how many times they have to move me?” Now I was confused. I stood up, walking over to where she had stopped pacing and waited for her to answer my question.

“Technically, they only HAVE to move you like three times or something like that. I saw a show once on TV that was talking about it. There are too many people in the program, Nick. They can’t keep relocating people on a regular basis, it’s completely illogical. The normal person gets a maximum of, like, three shots and if they screw it up…that’s their problem.”

“But in that Mary Kate and Ashley movie, they were relocated every time with no questions,” I countered, looking at her with scrunched eyebrows. I really didn’t understand this. They told me that I wasn’t going to be treated any differently than the other people in the program and now I find out that all I have been getting was special treatment! What gives?

“Okay, I don’t know what disturbs me the most…the fact that your brain retains useless information like that, or the fact that you have, actually, SEEN that movie!” she shook her head and laughed. I just peered down at my feet, a light red creeping up on my cheeks.

“I have sisters, you know.” I scoffed, trying to defend myself.

“Oh, I am sure you were out touring somewhere when that movie came out…it’s not THAT old.”

“So why would they go out of their way, like that, for me? I mean, I know I’m all Mr. Beautiful Baby-face Backstreet Boy or what the hell ever, but, I told them to treat me like all the others.” I explained as I looked up to see Brian emerging from the bathroom. He looked at me with wide eyes and quickly went to turn around.

“I better take another shower.”

“What do you know, Brian? And, don’t lie because you know I can see right through you, when you do.” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest and tilting my head to the side.

“I…um…see…sworn to secrecy!” he gave me that cheesy grin of his and tried to slip back into the bathroom.

“Oh no, you don’t,” I rushed over just in time to block him from being able to close the door. “Out with it, Littrell.”

“See…it’s AJ’s fault.”

“AJ? Details. NOW.” I grabbed his shirt collar and narrowed my eyes as I stared at him. Little side secret for you: he always breaks down if you do that. He’s a dork.

“AJpaidyourcaseworker,” he blurted so quickly that I didn’t catch a single word after ‘AJ’. He was acting VERY guilty and I really wanted to know why!

“Slower and clearer, Brian Thomas,” I sternly kept a hold of his shirt and my nose was only a centimeter away from his.

“Maybe we should watch some TV, guys,” Sarah came up behind me, resting her hands on my shoulders. She gently pulled on me to get me to back of off Brian. It didn’t work.

“BRIAN! NOW!”

“AJ…paid…your…case…worker,” he told me, emphasizing each word.

“To do what, exactly?” I pushed for more information even though I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be impressed with the answer. Brian took a deep breath before breaking free of my hold on him. He pushed past me and collapsed in one of the chairs beside the small table.

“AJ paid him to keep you safe, no matter what. Every time you got recognized, you would get relocated and AJ would pay him off for doing it. Um…I kinda…I helped out a little bit, too, but AJ did all the talking.” Brian hung his head and fiddled with his fingers.

“What? Why? You knew I didn’t want a whole bunch of special treatment!” My voice had risen in volume as I was getting more annoyed.

“Yeah, and WE didn’t want you dead!” He threw his hands in the air and stood up to look me in the eyes.

“Okay, guys, seriously. Let’s bring the volume down a bit, okay? Who knows what people may be passing by?” She stood up between us, looking from one to the other. A sharp knock came on the door. We all panicked, looking back and forth at each other. Brian and I headed into the bathroom and prepared to make a break for it, if we had to. “I hate it when people interrupt my soaps, damn it!”

“Oh shit,” I whispered as I knocked over the soap dish.

“Shut up and listen,” Brian scolded while he jabbed me in the ribs with his elbow.

“Can I help you?” Sarah asked in an annoyed voice. “This better be good because you just made me miss the ending to my soap.”

“Back up into the room,” came a very familiar male voice.

“What do you want?”

“You’re the one who freed that Brian guy, tonight, aren’t you?” THAT’S IT! I recognized him as one of the voices from the building where we found Brian. This couldn’t end well.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t play dumb. Where’s Nick? I want him and I want him NOW!”

“You haven’t gotten AJ to talk?” she asked with a high pitched giggle. “See, all I cared about was getting Brian free. I hate that Nick guy. Do you have ANY idea how annoying his voice is? Trust me, if I knew where you could find him, I would totally hand him over! The world would be better off without his voice in it.” Okay, I know she was pulling an act on the guy, but still, THAT hurt!

“What? You…but then why…I’m confused.”

“I LIKE BRIAN! AJ is kind of okay, too. The others are irritating. Here’s a little tip for you…AJ is a perverted sex freak. All you have to do is get some hot chick to go in there and get him all worked up, once she refuses to let him get off…he’s spill the information. There’s nothing like a set of blue balls to get a guy to talk, right?”

Brian and I were still in the bathroom and we looked at each other with both surprise and amusement as we continued to listen. This was getting good and we couldn’t bail now. Why would she say that, though? I’m just waiting for her to go all Uma Thurman on the guy.

“You are coming with me, my dear.”

“What? Oh no, I didn’t mean me. I couldn’t possibly even…eeeew…can you imagine where it’s been? I mean, AJ is okay and everything…like his voice and stuff, but can you say ‘NASTY’?”

“You have no choice. You are coming and you are going to get him to talk,” the man’s voice insisted. It was only a moment later that Brian and I heard the door shut.

“Great! NOW what do we do?” I slumped to the floor and dropped my head in my hands.

“We follow them, you idiot! COME ON!” He pulled me to my feet and we climbed out the window before heading around the side of the building. We spotted them walking quickly down the sidewalk. He had a grip on her arm but she didn’t seem to be struggling. Wait a tick! Knowing her…she probably PLANNED this! Maybe THAT was why she was pacing…because she knew someone had followed her and she was devising how to handle it! Oooooo, I’m gonna have a talk with that girl.