The next week was a busy one for Taylor, Jamie, Kevin and Nick as they prepared for the trial. Kevin and Nick tried to go to the studio to record. The press, however, waited for them in full force, asking for statements and interviews. Finally with Denise's help, Taylor and Jamie drafted a statement to the press which said the boys were innocent of all charges, they fully expected the trial to bear their belief out, and that they would not speak to anyone until after the trial was over. The statement appeased the press but not for long. Since they couldn't record, Brian, AJ, Howie and Denise were at Kevin's house every day trying to help and lend support as best they could.

Nick went back home one evening to pack some things to take back to Orlando, only to be inundated by reporters and television crews on his front lawn. It took a police escort for Nick to get into his house, throw some things into a suitcase, get back into his truck, and drive to Orlando. The Orlando police department was only slightly better at keeping the press and the growing crowd of fans under control. But the situation at Kevin's house was slowly escalating.

Taylor and Jamie worked as best they could amid all the chaos, trying to finalize their strategy and theory of the case. They needed to predict testimony and counter with good cross-examination, write an opening statement, and prepare Kevin and Nick to win the jury over. Both attorneys had the feeling that there was something else, something that was missing, but neither could figure out what exactly it was. Going over the whole case with Kevin and Nick repeatedly, as well as with the others, did not alleviate the nagging sense that there was some key element missing. While the eight of them shared their frustrations with each other, to the rest of the world they gave the appearance of a solid, united and confident front.

At night, the case was put away, and everyone tried their best to forget about it. Fierce games of foozball or Nintendo raged as they all took their frustrations out on the machines. Jamie and Kevin would disappear each night into his bedroom, away from everyone else. The others respected their wish for privacy and usually left them alone. Jamie and Kevin spent the time wrapped in each others arms, either talking or watching movies. Sometimes they simply held one another, the silence giving them some solace from all the noise of the day.

For her part, Taylor welcomed the other guys staying at the house with them. The one thing she feared was being left alone with Nick. He tried once to talk to her alone in the kitchen, so they could discuss what had happened in Tampa. She wouldn't meet his gaze, instead concentrating on making dinner, and she gave only monotone answers. Annoyed, Nick finally reached out to pull her around to face him. Taylor blanched, twisted out of his grip and moved away from him. She responded by giving the longest answer Nick had heard from her in days. "Do not grab me like that ever again. Nick, this is not the time to talk about this. You are going to have to wait until after all of this is over before I decide whether or not I even want to get into this with you."

"What if I won't wait? What if I want to talk about this right now?"

"I don't care, you have no choice in this. I am not going to talk about it now. If you want this conversation, you're going to have to have it alone." She walked away from him, and announced that dinner was ready to the others. After that encounter, Taylor made sure she was never alone, never in a position to have Nick corner her again.

The doorbell rang the day before the trial. As the others looked at each other, Taylor answered the door cautiously.

"Tom! How did you get through all of that?" she asked, waving absently at the circus outside.

"I know one of the officers watching you. Can I come in? I don't want to be out here any longer than necessary," he said. Apologizing, Taylor opened the door wide enough to let him in, then quickly closed it, drowning out the shouted queries of the reporters.

After quick introductions and a offer to get Tom coffee, everyone settled in the living room to hear what had brought Tom out to the house.

"I thought I would come over because I didn't want to tell you this over the phone. You never know about those reporters," Tom began. "Anyway, I did some more digging like you asked, and I've come up with some new information that might help you. I thought it would be best to show you."

"Great!" said Jamie. "We need something else, what have you got?"

Tom pulled out a manila folder from his briefcase, and laid it on the coffee table in front of Jamie and Taylor. Taylor opened the folder.

"These look like canceled checks."

"Very good, Tay. I see your mastery of the obvious hasn't changed," grinned Tom. Taylor gave an exasperated sigh.

"Okay, okay. You are right, there are copies of two canceled checks, both made out to Miss Molly Coughlin. But look at who they are from," said Tom.

"Trans Continental Media," said Jamie, peering over Taylor's shoulder. "You already told us that she had a contract with Pearlman. Aren't these her paychecks? What's so special about them?"

Tom shook his head back and forth, "Jamie, look at the amount. Do those look like paychecks to you?" Jamie noticed that each check was written for $50,000.

By this time, Brian was staring at the papers over Taylor's other shoulder. "Wait, not just that. Look at the date on that check, that's last month."

Taylor's eyes grew bigger as she looked at the other check. "And this one is from two weeks ago." She looked up at Tom, "What's going on?"

Tom said, "Based on the dates you gave me, the first check was paid by Mr. Pearlman to Miss Coughlin three days before the promotion you boys had at Tower Records. The second was made to Miss Coughlin two days after Kevin and Nick were arrested."

Nick looked confused, "Wait, I thought you said her contract ended with Trans Con six months ago. Are these residuals?"

Jamie said, "No Nicky, I don't think so. They don't look like residuals from her contract, or for any jobs she might have done for Lou."

Taylor grew thoughtful, "No, I think you're wrong Jamie. They are for a job she did for Lou." She remained quiet while the others slowly grasped her meaning. Tom was beaming at Taylor.

AJ, who had been staring at the papers on the coffee table, suddenly snapped his head up. "You were set up!" he shouted. "She was paid to do this! Lou set the whole damn thing up!" As Tom nodded, the look of outrage on the others' faces grew.

"That's what it looks like," said Tom. "There's also one other thing you should know. I ran a chain of title on her house like you asked me to, Taylor. The previous owner of the house was. . ."

"Trans Con," said Taylor in a low voice.

Tom nodded again, "Taylor, are you sure you want to keep practicing law? You have all the makings of a great private investigator." She smiled faintly, and said, "No, at the moment, I am better off at being an attorney. But thanks."

Kevin asked, "Are there any other bombshells you have for us?"

Tom said no and stood up, "Well I think I have given you enough to think about. I should be going now. Is there anything else you need from me?" When Taylor said no, Tom packed up and allowed Taylor to walk him out. Taylor closed the door behind him, and returned to the living room. The looks she saw on the other seven faces ranged from incredulousness to anger to shock.

"Well kids, I think our strategy has just changed," she announced.

As every one settled back down pondering Tom's news, Nick spoke up, "Taylor, are those checks enough to prove that we were set up?"

Taylor looked over at Nick with a softness that had been absent for a while, "Well, not really, but they might be enough to get the DA to drop the charges."

Kevin's head jerked up, "Let's tell him then. . ."

"I'm not really sure if that is the best option here, but it is an option." Taylor responded.

Jamie continued, "I think I see where you're going with this Tails, if we take it the DA, he could drop the charges. But if he doesn't, then he has some time to prepare Molly to refute it on the witness stand, and we lose our tactical edge."

"Whereas," began Taylor, "if we just sit on it, we could nail her on cross, and most likely give the jury some reasonable doubt."

"What about Lou, would you have to get him to testify?" Kevin asked.

"Well, Lou is really a whole other situation. I don't see any reason to try to get him to testify, there's no way we could get him to admit anything on the stand," said Taylor.

"So he's gonna get away with this?" Nick asked.

"Well, I doubt he'll get off completely," Jamie spoke up. "The DA will probably try to charge him with something when this all comes out, don't you think Tayl?"

"Probably." Taylor thought for a moment, "Molly will probably get busted too. . ."

Nick looked over at Taylor with a very surprised expression. She noticed this and searched his eyes for a reason. Nick looked away. Shaking it off, she turned back to Jamie. "Okay Jamie, we have a lot of work to do before tomorrow morning, we need to figure out an approach for this. Let's get settled into Kevin's office."

"Can we do anything to help?" Kevin spoke up as everyone else nodded, indicating their willingness to do something.

"Not really guys, but thanks," Taylor smiled at them. "Your part in all of this won't change. Why don't you guys relax or go out or something."

Jamie leaned over and gave Kevin a quick kiss. "Yeah darlin', the slave driver and I are going to be working for a while. Go have some fun, forget about this for a while, okay? We are going to earn our fee." Nick choked when he heard Jamie's phrasing.

"Damn, I knew I forgot something." Taylor gritted.

Everyone looked up at once and Jamie asked her seriously, "Uh oh, what did you forget?"

"My whip!" Taylor smirked. And with that Taylor and Jamie went to work while the others decided to go play basketball.