Under Pressure

Chapter 22

I was really nervous. Very, extremely. My fingers were crossed that this might finally be the end of the nightmare, and that nothing would go wrong. I was glad Brian was with me but I was even more worried because if something did go wrong, then he was in it too. It wasn't just me anymore.

I leaned my forehead against the cool window on the bus and watched the sunny scenery run by. Everything was sunny. The people looked sunny, even the cars looked sunny. It was too happy for me. It made me even more worried. I couldn't turn back now though. What would Brian think?

"Nick?"

"Yeah?" I turned my head from the window and caught his gaze.

"Are you looking at the directions? You know where to go?" His voice was easy-going. I looked down at the paper crumpled in my hand. Directions. Right. Where were we going?

"Here," I said, holding them out to him. "You wanna figure it out?" He rolled his eyes, but took them from me and started reading the signs. Good thing he was here or I'd probably get lost. We'll still probably get lost, but now it wouldn't be entirely my fault. And I wouldn't be alone.

I went back to looking out the window. Brian and I didn't talk for the whole rest of the trip, which must've been about a half an hour. I wondered if AJ would come to the conclusion that we hadn't been on a snack run. Who knows. I shut my eyes for a second and felt Brian's hand on my shoulder as the bus pulled slowly to a stop, breaks screeching.

"This is our stop," Brian said softly. "C'mon."

I pulled myself up from my seat and followed him through the aisle to the door. It was one of those city buses that had all the seats facing the aisle and the poles to hold onto at the top. We got out of the door in the middle of the bus and looked at the signs as it pulled away again.

"We have to walk a little," Brian said, looking up from the piece of paper and at the signs around him. "I don't know how far ... a couple blocks I think."

"Okay. Let's just remember where we are now ..." I looked around at the bus stop and hoped that we'd be able to find it again once we left it.

"You wanna take a taxi back instead?" Brian offered suddenly. We had started down the street, trying to follow the signs. It was pretty hot out.

"I don't have any money."

"I'll take care of it."

"Oh, okay. Thanks, Brian." God, and I was glad just for him coming. He just nodded absently.

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this," he muttered after a minute. I just smiled softly.

The restaurant that KC had named was actually a few blocks down, but we found it without too much trouble. It seemed like a bar/grill sort of place. The minute we walked in the door, KC waved us over to a table. She actually smiled.

"Hey guys," she greeted lightly. "What's up?" We just shrugged and sat down across from her. I saw her look at Brian, a smile playing on her lips. "You must be Brian. I'm KC."

"Hey," he greeted. "So what're the plans to get ol' Nicky outta trouble, huh?"

"We'll get to that. You guys want anything to eat or drink?" She waved a waiter over. "What do ya want?" We both got cokes and the waiter disappeared. KC looked back at us and I noticed she was dressed really darkly. She was even wearing sunglasses, even though the lighting in the restaurant was pretty dim to begin with. "Did anyone follow you?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Follow?" I glanced over my shoulder towards the door. "I don't know. Did he?" I looked back at her and caught her rolling her eyes. "What?"

"You're just not careful." She looked at Brian. "Did you see anyone?" He shrugged.

"I'm new at this stuff."

"Yeah, both of you. Do you have the key with you by any chance?" Her voice got lower. I shook my head. "Okay, that's fine. Fine." She paused as the waiter brought our drinks and slid them in front of us. He left after putting the check on the table. "Here's my plan. The cops know that Sean's the one they're after. So what we'll do is make an appointment for us to meet at the bank, you give me the key, I get the safety deposit box. I'll make sure Sean knows this is happening, and I'll send a hint to the cops that their suspect might show up at the bank. How's that sound?"

"Too easy," Brian muttered. KC glanced at him.

"Well that's it. Simple as it sounds, that's what's going to work. Nick?"

"Okay." I shrugged. Sounded like it would be good for me. I glanced at Brian and gave him a questioning look. I wanted to make sure he thought it would be okay too. "Rok?"

"Yeah, Nicky. We'll go for it," he said with a sigh. He looked back at KC. "If this doesn't work and get this kid out of this mess, I swear-"

"Relax, honey. I've got it all covered," KC interrupted. How could she be so sure of herself? "Until then, take care of yourself. Kid, be careful, ok?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Alright, boys. It's been fun but I gotta go. The cokes are on me." She grabbed the check and slid out of her seat. "I'll get in touch about when and where the bank will be." With that, she turned and went to the counter to pay the bill. After that she disappeared out the door. I looked over at Brian, who was sipping his soda.

"She's nice, huh?"

"You better hope what she said works," was all he said. "Because if it doesn't, Nick, we're screwed."

"It'll work. It has to." I was starting to relax. Things were going to work out. Finally.

"Well let's get back to the hotel before Kevin and the guys can think of any more ways to kill us than they already have, huh?" He pushed his soda away and grabbed my arm, pulling me up. I hadn't even touched my soda but I didn't argue with him. It wasn't worth it.

"Brian ..." My voice caught in my throat and I froze as we stepped through the door and onto the street outside. Brian turned at my words and frowned, touching my arm.

"What's the matter?" I heard him ask. I just stared straight ahead and swallowed. "What is it ...?" He trailed off and followed my gaze to the side of the street. It was Sean and KC. He had her pressed to the side of the building and was holding something to her side. A gun? The street was somehow empty except for the four of us.

"We're not involved," Brian said shakily. His hand tightened on my arm. "We're not. Let's go."

"Brian ..."

"We're not," he hissed, voice still shaky. "C'mon." He started dragging me in the other direction, even though we didn't even have to go that way. I started shaking my head. If anything happened to KC, then there went my way out. That was it. She was the one helping me get out of this nightmare.

There was a shot, and I jerked around in the direction. Brian turned too, never letting go of my arm. I glanced at his face and it was sheet white. KC was still standing and Sean was still standing. He must've fired into the wall. Sean caught sight of us and starting yelling. At the same time, KC looked up.

"Go," she mouthed. "Get away."

We didn't even think twice before we ran as fast as we could in the other direction, around the block. There was another gunshot behind us, but we didn't turn once.

-

Chapter 23

By the time Brian and I stopped running, I had no idea where we were. I leaned against the building and gasped for breath. My whole chest hurt. I looked at Brian, who was breathing heavy too. I let my back slide down the wall and sat down on the cement. My head was kind of dizzy.

"Where are we?" I had to stop in between in word to catch my breath.

"I don't know ..."

"How're we getting back?"

"I don't know ..." Brian came and crouched down next to me, leaning against the wall. "You okay?"

"I think so ... You?"

"Pretty much." He squinted at the sky and shook his head. "This is too much, Nicky. We gotta get out of this." He stood up and grabbed my wrist, pulling me up. "Let's find a taxi."

It took us almost an hour to find a taxi because we had no idea where we were and there were absoutely no cars around. All I kept thinking was that we were going to be dead when we got back. I just knew it. We finally got a taxi when we got into the more populated parts of the town, and got in for the half hour trip back to the hotel. To doom.

I think we were both exhausted by the time we got to the hotel and up to our room. Brian took out his key and paused before sliding it in the door handle. "Be calm," he whispered. The second we set foot in the door, the guys were on us.

"Where the hell were you?" Kevin was the first to explode at us, not surprisingly. I silently said a prayer and wondered what my family would say at my funeral. I couldn't think of anything good.

"You take that long on a snack run and come back with nothing?" AJ asked, crossing his arms. I could tell he was pissed that we had lied to him. Or that he had believed us.

"You guys okay?" Leave it to Howie to actually care. We could be lying on the floor dead and Kevin would still probably chew out our carcasses.

"Look, we can explain," Brian started. I glanced at him, wondering how he was even going to try.

"Save it, Littrell," came Kevin's reply. "I can't even trust you two anymore, can I? I thought we agreed not to go anywhere without a guard? Without telling anyone?"

We told each other, does that count? Somehow I doubted it.

"Look, it's not a big deal, everything's fine," I started. I got glares in return and shut my mouth. Okay, don't try and listen to me. Then I won't listen to you either.

"Everything's not fine," AJ was saying. "And the sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be." I tried to ignore him, which was pretty easy with my aching head. Should the floor be spinning like that?

"Nick, you okay?" Brian asked suddenly. I looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah. " But what was that ringing noise in my head. "I think."

"You think?" Kevin rolled his eyes. "Go sit down, I can still yell at you from here." He must've seen the look on my face because he just chuckled. "I'm kidding. Go sit."

Okay ... No objections here. I went to the couch and laid down flat, burying my face in the cushions. Within a minute I was fast asleep.

-

When I woke up, it was srill sometime in the afternoon. The room was bright from the light streaming in from the window, and I squinted against the glare. I sat up a little and rubbed my eyes.

"Hey, Nick."

"Hey, 'D," I answered softly. "What's up?"

"Not much. How're you feelin'? We were getting worried."

"I'm fine," I answered, lookng up as Brian came into the room with Kev. "Just my head."

"Maybe you should take a couple Tylenol or something," Brian offered, sitting down across from me in a chair.

"But you can't have more than six in a day," I answered absently.

"So? How many have you had today?"

"Five."

"Five?" Kevin repeated incredulously. "At once?" I nodded. "Jesus, Nick."

"It's not over the limit," I defended. He just ran a hand through his hair, exasperated.

"You really don't think sometimes, do you?"

"Thanks a lot," I answered hotly.

"Guys, come on," Howie interrupted. "Don't fight now."

"We're not fighting," I told him. It's everyday conversation. He just rolled his eyes.

"Nick, we called the station back and got in touch with the cop," Brian started. "And he wants to talk to you again-"

"I'm not going back to that station," I interrupted. "You can't make me."

"You don't have to," he answered. "He's coming here."

"What?!" I stared at them. "When?"

"In about an hour."

I groaned. This was going to ruin everything. I just wouldn't tell them anything, that's all. Then I'd go through with the plans from KC and everything would be alright. If KC was still okay. Forget the cops.

"I'm not telling them anything."

"Oh, yes you are," came Kevin's response. "If you don't, I'll kill you."

"Well, then I guess I won't have to worry about this whole thing anymore, will I?"

"Guys, stop it," Howie interrupted again. "God."

"Nick, come on, bro. You gotta tell them everything."

"Why? It's not gonna help anything. I know how I'm gonna solve this and it doesn't include cops."

"Oh really. Care to share?" Howie asked. I shook my head and crossed my arms. It was a secret.

"Well the cop'll be here in less then an hour, so get your story straight," Kevin said, getting up from the couch and heading to the kitchen.

Maybe I could just make up something to tell them. I tried to think of something creative.

-

Chapter 24

The guy was a nerd. I had never seen such a stereotypical nerd before. I didn't think they existed until I saw the guy walk through the door.

"Are you kidding me," I muttered to Kevin, watching the so-called 'detective' make his way into our room. Kevin just gave me one of his 'you screw this up and I will kill you slowly and painfully' looks. He would too, but I figured I had more things to worry about than that. So I just gave a sweet smile and knew by his look that he didn't trust it for a second.

"Nick, this is Detective ... Wallace," Howie said as he led the guy into where I was sitting. When the nerd wasn't looking, AJ crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue. I giggled softly as Kevin went to grab AJ.

"Hi, Nick, nice to meet you," Wallace greeted, pushing his glasses up on his nose. I took in the suspenders and striped shirt, the high pants and the ... was that a pocket protector?

"I don't remember you," I said. "I didn't talk to you before." I glanced at Brian, who was sitting next to me. This wasn't the guy we had talked to, was it? I know my memory's not that bad.

"No you didn't," he said. "I was sent by Sergeant Peters, who you spoke to before. He had some business to attend to." I didn't know whether or not that was true, I had never gotten the other guy's name to begin with.

"Oh."

"Can I take a seat?"

"Go ahead," Kevin filled in when I was silent. Wallace the nerd took a seat across from me in the armchair.

"Alright, if you would start from the beginning please," the man said, taking out a pad of paper and a pen from his pocket. So that was a pocket protector. Hm ... So where were we. The beginning?

"Well, I was born in upstate New York," I told him. "And-"

"Don't be funny," Kevin interrupted with a murderous glare. Oh. I looked at Wallace, who smiled thinly at me, ballpoint pen poised above the paper. His ready stance obviously.

"Oh." I didn't trust this guy.

"Start from the day it happened," he said. I cleared my throat.

"Well, it was a dark Wednesday morning and I was walking down the street when all of a sudden, these bright lights came out of the sky. When I looked up I saw this giant spaceship above me. There was this little grey alien waving and-"

"Excuse us," Kevin said suddenly, grabbing my arm and wrenching me off the couch. He dragged me toward the kitchen, grip never loosening.

"Kev," I started.

"What did I tell you before, Nick?" He didn't even let me answer. "What the hell are you doing, huh? What are you thinking?"

"Kevin, it's-"

"This is serious. I know you know that. But you're acting like an idiot. Aliens?" He raised an eyebrow.

"It was good, huh?" I tried to smile.

"No. Just stop, Nick." He looked at me. "I know you don't trust him, right?" I nodded. Not one bit. "Look, just tell him what happened and get it over with. Don't be a baby. Once you tell, then you're done. Let them take care of the rest." I just looked away and studied the wall. It wasn't going to work. "I'll buy you ice cream," he said with a teasing tone. I caught his smile.

"I'm not a baby," I answered. I smiled slightly and pulled away from him, heading back to the main room. Everyone was in the same position. I sank into my seat and stared at the nerd with his pen still hovering above the pad.

"Go ahead," he said with a crooked smile. I went ahead and told him everything. Well, almost everything. Not quite. I guess I could've been a little less vague too. I told him all he needed to know. His response to everything I said was 'Uh huh' or 'Mm-hm'.

"And that's it," I finished, leaning my head back and shutting my eyes. That's the story.

"And the key? Do you have it?"

"Why?" I opened my eyes and looked at him skeptically.

"We would like to have it for evidence," he explained. I tried to see behind his eager, 'trust me' look. I didn't trust him for one second.

"I don't have it," I lied. "I threw it out."

"Oh ..." He frowned. I don't think he believed me, but I didn't care. I needed the key for when I was going to meet up with KC at the bank. "Well then, I guess that's it."

"Bye," I answered.

"Thank you for your cooperation, young man," he continued.

"Bye," I repeated. He just nodded with his faded smile and headed for the door, letting himself out. I let out a breath and shut my eyes again.

"What a nerd," I muttered. AJ started to laugh. "That was a total waste of time."

"Maybe they'll be able to help," Brian said.

"I don't even think he was a real detective," I said, shaking my head.

"You don't trust anybody."

"Why should I?" I answered tiredly. I wonder if I'd be able to take that extra Tylenol now? I'd been trying to ignore my headache for the past half hour.

"You guys wanna go grab something to eat?" Kev was asking. Why is it that all anyone can ever think about is food? That's what it seems like. No, I wasn't hungry. No, I didn't want to go out. "Nick, you hungry?" I groaned.

"No ..."

"You want pizza?"

I stared at him tiredly and shook my head. If I wasn't hungry, why the hell would I want pizza?

"C'mon," Brian said softly, shaking my arm. "Try and eat something. Please?"

I sighed. "Fine ..."

We wound up going to Pizza Hut, which I would have normally liked, except my whole side and stomach were really bothering me. I think all the Tylenol was wearing off. The guys didn't make me eat anything, but they forced about twenty glasses of soda on me. The second we got back to the hotel, I went straight to bed.