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On the way to the parking lot, Jamie quickly explained what little she knew about Kevin and Nick’s situation. The guys were stunned to say the least. While they all remembered the promotion, none of them remembered the girl or anything happening that would lead to Kevin and Nick being arrested. Jamie was comforted by that thought, but at the same time still frustrated.


"AJ, can you and Howie take Nick’s truck and follow us to the police station?" Jamie asked. "Oh, and call Denise and have her and someone from The Firm meet us there. Management is going to need to run some serious damage control. The less this makes the 6:00 news, the better it will be for all of us."


"Sure, Jamie, I’m on it," AJ said, shaking himself out of his shock, pulling out his cellular and hitting the speed dial to call his mom.


Looking at a very distraught Brian, Jamie touched him on the upper arm and asked gently, "Hey Rok, come with me in Kevin’s truck, and keep me company, okay?"


"Yeah, whatever." A million thoughts were running through Brian's mind. He wasn’t sure whether he was upset, mad, scared or all the above. His cousin and his best friend had just been arrested. This had to be a bad dream, didn’t it? And on top of that, neither had told him anything, they had kept it to themselves. Brian couldn't believe that they felt they couldn't trust him with this.


"Jaim, have you known about this all along?" asked Brian softly. Jamie stopped walking, forcing him to do the same. She turned to face him and equally as softly said, "Yes, I was there when the detectives called Kevin and Nick, and I went with them to the station."


"Why didn't you say anything to us? To me? I'm Kevin's family!"


"I know you are, and I wanted to tell you, really I did. Kev asked me not to say anything because he was sure that nothing would happen, and that he would not be arrested. He didn't want to worry all of you."


"Yeah? Well, I'm worried now!"


"I'm sorry, Brian. You know how Kevin is, he thought he could take care of this by himself. He wanted to protect Nick from all of this, and you as well, and he thought the best way to do that was not to say anything."


"He thought wrong." Jamie went to hug Brian, but he stepped back away from her. Hurt, Jamie said, "I'm sorry Brian, I would have told you if I could have. Please don't be mad at me, or them. They both need you right now, more than any of us can imagine. Can you forgive us, Brian, please?"


He looked at her, and said, "Right now, I honestly don't know if I can." He walked away from her, heading for Kevin's truck. Jamie closed her eyes and sighed, then opened them, and slowly trailed behind Brian to the truck.


Jamie and Brian were very quiet on the way to the police station. Brian just stared out the window as Jamie drove. Jamie, on the other hand, unable to say anything else, slowly switched to attorney mode. She had gone from being scared to death to ticked off – and ready for a fight. She was quite vocal when they finally reached the police station. AJ and Howie were already there, waiting for them and looking very worried.


The officer at the front desk looked up as the four of them practically ran up to him.


"We’re here to bail out Kevin Richardson and Nick Carter. They were just brought in," Jamie said confidently, taking control of the situation.


Checking his list, the officer replied, "I'm sorry ma'am, but it is going to be a while. They just took them to central booking for processing." Jamie glared at the officer. Almost afraid to tell her, he said, "It'll be at least two hours before they can be bailed out."


Jamie’s face reddened. "Two hours? Damnit, well then I need to speak with Detective Corin, and I mean NOW."


The officer immediately picked up the phone and dialed some number. "What is your name, ma'am?"


"Saxon, Jamie Saxon. This is regarding Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson."


Just then Denise came up to the desk. "Jamie, what is going on? Are they here?"


Jamie tried to calm down, "They are still at central booking, and it's going to be a couple of hours before we can get them out." Jamie turned back to glare at the desk officer, who stammered, "Uhhhm, ma'am? Detective Corin said that he can meet you in his office in 10 minutes, if that's okay with you?"


"That is just fine, tell him I will be there." Jamie was beginning to calm down, but she was still very much in attorney mode, keeping control as best she could. "Listen, Denise, I need to go talk to the idiot detective on this case. It is very very important that the press not get too involved with this, you know?" Denise nodded as the man who arrived with her spoke up.


"You’ve sure got that right, if the press gets a hold of this these guys are ruined. Their career is finished, I don’t care how talented or cute every twelve year old in America thinks they are."


Jamie was getting steamed again, and her glare became focused on the man in front of her. "Let me guess, you're from management, right? Well listen, you are paid to run damage control and that is exactly what you are going to do. But you know what? I could care less about their career right now – I just do NOT want this case tried in the press. It is going to be hard enough for Kevin and Nick to get through this, we don't need the press picking the wrong side and killing them before this ever gets to trial – IF it ever gets to trial. That is where I come in, okay? Just keep the press away from me, and ALL of the guys. Earn your money for once." With that, Jamie stomped off toward the elevator to meet with Detective Corin.





About an hour later Jamie met the guys and Denise back downstairs in the waiting area.


Jamie walked up to Denise solemnly. "Denise, I am really sorry about my little tantrum before. I shouldn’t have gone off on that management guy like that."


Denise laughed out loud. "Honey, listen, I have wanted to do that since the day I met that guy, you just did it for me."


All the guys chuckled along with Denise and Jamie. Howie spoke up. "Yeah, our new management is pretty cool, but let’s just say that they are a little more. . .uptight than we are used to. So anyway, Jamie, did you find out anything from the detective?"


"Well, here's what he told me. I guess after we met with the detective and he sent his report to the district attorney, the DA had a meeting with Molly – that's the girl's name, Molly Coughlin. Anyway, she basically got hysterical when the DA told her that the guys didn't remember anything and basically denied the whole thing." Jamie started, recounting what the detective had conveyed to her.


"I guess she kind of pressed the issue, changed her story a little bit, kind of went ballistic, and the DA decided to go ahead and press charges based on this information."


"What do you mean, she 'changed her story'?" AJ asked angrily.


Jamie paused carefully before answering him. "Well, from what I can gather she insinuated to the DA that more happened than just sexual assault. But before you say anything, just remember, they are only charged with assault, so maybe we should count our blessings for now."


"Count our blessings? What is that supposed to mean?" Brian stood up, almost screaming. "My cousin and my best friend may have raped someone and you are saying that we should count our blessings?" Brian glared at Jamie and stormed out of the waiting area.


Jamie started after him but Howie stopped her. "Let us go get him Jamie. It's nothing personal against you, but Brian is taking this whole thing really really hard." Jamie just shrugged her shoulders and let Howie and AJ go after Brian.


She said quietly, "Oh, Howie, it is personal." Denise touched her shoulder. Jamie looked at her for support, "Denise, this isn't my fault."


"I know, honey, Brian is just very sensitive sometimes and this hit him totally by surprise, just like it did the rest of us. I guess he just can't deal with it right now." Denise put her arms around Jamie and hugged her. "It's going to be fine, really it is."


"I don't know about that, Denise. Brian is really very angry at Kevin, Nick and me for keeping this to ourselves."


"He will deal with that. You'll see, it will be fine," she repeated. Jamie just murmured, "I hope so."


The two women waited nervously until finally the desk officer called them over and told them that Kevin and Nick could be bailed out.


The officer got them to sign all of the necessary paperwork and told them, "The preliminary hearing is scheduled for nine a.m. tomorrow morning."


The women paid the bond and eventually Nick and Kevin came out to the waiting area. Kevin ran over to Jamie and hugged her as if he hadn't seen her in forever and Nick just stood there with his head down. When Kevin and Jamie parted, Jamie walked over to Nick and reached out her hand to lift his chin up, "I don't want to see you with your head down, you understand me?"


Her voice took on a big sister quality to it, "You didn’t do anything wrong and you have nothing to be ashamed of. We are going to straighten this out, got it?"


Nick lifted his head a little and nodded, feigning a small look of relief.


Jamie hugged him tightly and kissed him lightly on the cheek, "Didn't I just promise you Nicky, that everything will be just fine? It will be, you'll see." He hugged her back just as tightly and closed his eyes, hoping it was all just a bad dream.


Kevin looked around, "Did the guys come with you?"


Denise said, "Yes, they did, but Brian isn't taking this very well. They went to get him calmed down, and just to talk. They'll be back later." He nodded in response.


After explaining to Kevin and Nick what Detective Corin had told Jamie, the four of them walked out to the parking lot. Denise bid them farewell and promised to call and check on everyone that evening. Kevin, Nick and Jamie quietly drove back to Kevin's place.





It was almost five before they got home. Jamie wanted Nick to stay with them; she didn't think it was a good idea for him to be alone. Nick agreed and the three of them ordered Chinese takeout and ate in silence. After some giggles at their fortune cookies, Nick started to talk about the situation.


"Hey Jamie, are you going to be our attorney tomorrow? Do we need one?"


"Well, I am going to have to ask the judge in the morning, since I am not allowed to practice law in Florida, but usually prelims aren’t a big deal. Basically, the cops have to show that judge that they have enough evidence – that they have probable cause – to continue with the charges."


Nick went on, "So what happens at this thing tomorrow?"


"Well, the judge will read the charges against you guys, then ask how you plead, and you say not guilty. Then the DA will most likely call either a police officer or Detective Corin to the witness stand and ask them questions about the whole thing. If the judge hears enough evidence to keep the case open, he will bind you two over for trial."


"What does that mean, 'bind us over'?" Kevin asked.


"All that means is that he will continue your bond, you will still be out of jail, and he will schedule a date for a trial."


"What are the chances that they won't have enough evidence to schedule a trial?" Nick said hopefully.


"Well, not very good. Very few cases are thrown out at the preliminary hearing. It doesn’t take much to be bound over. Especially considering that the charge is only assault," and not something worse, Jamie said to herself, "the chances that this will go to trial are pretty good."


Kevin looked at Jamie like a child to a parent, "So, if you want to, will the judge let you represent us at trial?"


"I doubt it, at least not by myself. Someone licensed in Florida needs to be on your case and represent you in court. But you know what, I have a very good friend from Oklahoma who could represent you. I went to school with her and she is licensed in Florida." Jamie got a big smile on her face. "Want me to call her?"


Nick looked at Jamie and said deadpan, "Isn't one female attorney enough?" He burst out laughing as Jamie swung at him. "That’s it Carter – you’re dead." Nick ducked behind Kevin and the three of them starting play fighting until they were all winded and laughing.


"Well at least you guys are in a little better mood now," Jamie chuckled. "Now, let me see if I can convince Taylor to come down here to help us out." She walked into the kitchen dialing numbers on the cordless phone.


A few minutes later Jamie came back into the living room, speaking confidently, "Well, you guys are in luck. Taylor will be here tomorrow evening."


"You say that like you just called in the cavalry," Kevin stated.


"You never know, maybe I just did," Jamie said, a smile of relief moving across her face.