"Hey there," Kevin said softly as he sat down next to Jamie and put his arm around her shoulder. Jamie leaned in to his body for a moment, then pulled herself away reluctantly.

"Not here, Kevin, and not now." She readjusted the baseball cap she was wearing, making sure all her hair was tucked up inside.

"Jaim, we know everyone in here, trust me. I've double checked everything, and it's fine." Kevin glanced around Delta's Crown Room, seeing only Backstreet Boys, wives, girlfriends, and security. "And I think I can sneak a kiss or two, the others won't mind."

"You're ignoring the fact that there's airline staff in here, and you don’t know who they are." Jamie did the same glance around the room, only instead of the calm face Kevin wore, she had an expression of slight fear. "You have to wait until we're back in Florida, Kev."

Kevin wanted to allay Jamie's fear, but he couldn't. He pulled her closer to him protectively, and wrapped his other arm around her as well. "Relax, I'm right here, and I told you I won't let anyone hurt you. And I seem to remember you always relax when I touch you, so no I'm not gonna wait. Not while you're this upset." He leaned down and dropped a kiss on the top of her cap, then on her cheek. "Just relax, you're safe, baby." Despite her resolve, he could feel some of her fear melt away, as she sank further into his embrace.

"Hey man, get your paws off my girlfriend! You're a happily married man, remember?" Nick said loudly, dropping down on Jamie's other side. He pulled Jamie out of Kevin's arms, and settled her in his instead. "This man bothering you, honey?"

Kevin glared at Nick. Nick just smiled back, pulling Jamie closer. Still smiling, Nick hissed under his breath at Kevin, "You're gonna blow this, bro. Do you want to get Jaim hurt again?" He dropped a lazy kiss on Jamie's cheek. Nick continued, more loudly, "Jeez man, I know you don't wanna leave Jamie behind, but don't be playing with my girl. If you want some lovin' go find Leighanne. She's a Backstreet wife too, it's practically the same." Nick heard Jamie give an inelegant snort, and he just hugged her tighter.

"It's not the same, and don't even think about it cuz," called Brian, who was seated across from them, and watching the whole scene with some amusement. "You leave my wife alone."

Kevin growled and turned his scowl on his cousin, "You are enjoying this way too much. Why couldn't it be someone else? Why Nick?"

Brian leaned forward so he couldn't be overheard, "Well, let's see. Leighanne would kill me if I suddenly acquired a girlfriend. YOU would kill Bone, because he'd take this too far. Well, if Amanda didn't get to him first. You can't separate Howie and Alissa long enough for him to help. And since Frack is the only one flying solo these days, he's the logical choice. It's only until we leave Lexington, so just calm down. Just remember we need to act as if Jamie's not here with us."

"I never agreed to this," said Kevin.

"Well I did, so deal with it," said Jamie. Though she was still wrapped in Nick’s arms, she looked at her husband warmly. "You know, I've almost forgiven you, don't screw it up by going overboard again."

"Why can't you see that I'm just trying to. . ."

"End up in the doghouse again?" interjected Nick with a grin. Kevin shifted his jaw, and the vein on the side of his neck pulsated visibly. Nick's eyes widened, and the grin faded as he let go of Jamie. He shook his head. "Forget it. I didn't say a word, I never said anything."

Jamie sighed. "Kevin, I do NOT want to have this argument again, I'm starting to get another headache. Please just stick to the game plan for now. Please, Kev."

Kevin sighed, shaking his head, "Fine, but Nick keep your hands to yourself."

Nick laughed, deliberately hugging Jamie to him once again. "Aww man, that's no fun! Oof. . ." he said as Jamie elbowed him in the gut.

"Quit antagonizing him, Nicky. This needs to work, and having the two of going at each other is making it harder."

Nick mock pouted, then agreed, "Oh fine. Take his side why don't you?"

Jamie smirked and turned a warm gaze toward Kevin. "If I could right now, I'd take a lot more of him. . ." Nick turned red as Kevin gave Jamie one of his sizzling seductive looks.

Nick fidgeted in the seat beside her. "Okay, could you remember I'm still here?" he asked.

Not taking his eyes off of Jamie, Kevin replied softly, "You can always get up and leave, Blondie."

"That would still leave us," reminded Brian. "And we're not moving. C'mon Kev, save that for tonight. You can wait til you get home, can't you?"

Kevin slowly tore his gaze from his wife, and looked over at Brian. "Not one minute longer, cuz."

Brian held up both hands, "I am NOT getting in your way, trust me. But just wait til then. You'll see, once we get back to Orlando, everything will be much better. They're gonna catch this psycho and everything will be back to normal. She'll never figure out we took Jaim with us."

Stephanie was bored. This was the ultimate acting job, who else got paid to lie in bed all day and sleep? But there were only so many consecutive hours a person could sleep, and she didn't want to stay in bed any longer. "Never ever believed that was possible," she thought.

At least Jamie liked to read, so there were plenty of books around. Unfortunately for Stephanie, they didn't have the same taste. "God, how about just ONE Western? If I see one more story about dragons and magic paintings I'm gonna scream. No one is gonna care if I sneak a Zane Grey in here. No one cares what I read, just that I stay here and. . .and staying here has turned me into a nut job. Great, now I'm talking to myself," said Stephanie to the ceiling.

She reached over to the nightstand, and tossed the stack of books to the floor. Feeling slightly better, she reached for the phone, and dialed her agent, since she and Detective Logan were the only people Stephanie was allowed to talk to.

Discussing new assignments she would take after this one was finished, Stephanie never noticed the door was cracked open, then shut again after a minute.

"Sounds good, Sheila. Hopefully, I can make the audition. . .yeah, okay. . .send the script to me through Logan. I don’t think I can get mail here. . . okay, sounds good. Talk to you later." Stephanie hung up the phone, and settled back into the pillows. "What's another nap, right?"

She no sooner closed her eyes, then the door swung open, and a blonde nurse entered the room carrying some flowers. "Well look here, Mr. Peterson, another bunch. . .oh! I'm sorry." The nurse looked flustered as she glanced at Stephanie in the bed. "Guess this isn't 1028."

Stephanie shook her head, "No, I think that's across the hall, this is 1025."

"I always do that! I'm sorry to disturb you, miss. I'll just go deliver these to the right room."

Stephanie smiled, "No problem. They are certainly very pretty."

"Yeah, they are. I'm sure Mr. Peterson will love them." And the nurse left the room, leaving Stephanie alone to her nap.

Ashley leaned against the wall outside the room she just left. She had opened the door a crack to make sure Jamie was alone, and now she was glad she had been cautious. Before peeking in, she had heard a soft Southern female voice speaking. Knowing that the tramp, like all the other Backstreet whores, was a loud voiced woman, she had been surprised to hear this woman.

Ashley had quickly and quietly closed the door, double checking the room number. Yes, it was the right room. The chair where the stupid police officer usually sat was still right beside the doorway. The officer wouldn't be around for a while. She had tampered with his cup of coffee, resulting in the officer spending a good portion of the afternoon in the bathroom.

Dammit, she thought. What did they do with the bitch? She paced the hallway for a minute trying to figure out what happened. She stopped suddenly in the middle. Maybe they moved someone else in there with her. As if having her in there too would stop me. No one will stand between me and Kevin. NO ONE.

Ashley walked slowly back to the nurses station. On a cart behind the nurse on duty was a floral basket. Perfect. Scooping it up quickly and turning the corner, Ashley went to determine what was going on. One last look around to make sure the cop wasn't coming back, then she opened the door with her backside and pushed her way into the room.

"Well look here, Mr. Peterson, another bunch. . .oh! I'm sorry." Ashley faked confusion as she glanced around the room. "Guess this isn't 1028." Only one single bed and the girl who wasn't Jamie was in it.

It was the girl she had heard, because the patient had replied in the soft voice, "No, I think that's across the hall, this is 1025."

Ashley continued the dumb blonde act, getting herself out of the room before this girl got suspicious. DAMMIT! Walking into the next room she could find, she surprised the patient inside by tossing the flowers on the night stand and snarling "Here, get well." She whirled and stormed back out the door, stomping down the hall into the stairwell.

Sitting down on the step, Ashley tried to calm herself down. "Think, think," she muttered to herself. "Only one bed and that girl is in it! Where the hell did they move the bitch to?"

This has been the perfect opportunity. Kevin and the others had been called back to Orlando by their management for some reason, leaving Jamie alone in Lexington. Kevin had to be relieved to be away from the little bitch; she wouldn't let him go for more than five minutes by himself.

Ashley decided she would try to find out where Jamie had been moved. Dusting herself off, she reentered the hallway, stopping as she saw the officer standing in the doorway outside the bitch’s room. Listening carefully, she heard him say, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Richardson, to have left like that, but I think I'm coming down with something. There'll be another officer here in ten minutes to take over for me."

Mrs. Richardson? Not likely. Thinking back to being in the room, Ashley realized that the girl looked similar to Jamie.

"No way!" she said out loud, earning herself a strange look from a passing patient in a wheelchair. Walking towards the far set of elevators, Ashley kept her head down, and kept thinking.

There was no way the police would have been that smart. . . she thought. They couldn't possibly be trying to protect Jamie; Kevin wanted her out of the way so that he could be with Ashley. Everyone knew that. Except the bitch, of course, but she was going to be dead soon, so it wouldn't matter.

Still mumbling, Ashley perked up as she passed the waiting area. On the television were the Backstreet Boys. She paused long enough to hear the broadcast. ". . .returning to Orlando today at the request of their management. They had all been staying here in Lexington while Jamie Richardson recovered. . ."

Wait! Who was that? The girl walking with Nick. . .that couldn't be? It was! That faithless tramp was with Nick, and in front of Kevin! How dare she. . . there was only one thing to do. Ashley walked over to one of the empty chairs and reached for the courtesy phone next to her.

"Yes, when is your next flight to Orlando, Florida?"