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Sitting Ducks



We laid there as quietly as possible, not in the most comfortable of positions. I was lying on my back in the tub and AJ was lying on top of me and off to the side. We didn’t even have time to close the door but that was probably a good thing since that might have looked suspicious. Fortunately the tub was big enough to hold us both, but all someone had to do was come in and turn on the light and we’d be caught.

“What the hell are we going to do if they get inside?” AJ asked with a tinge of panic in his voice, “There’s no way they won’t think to look in here!”

He had a good point but it was too late to change hiding spots. “Is there anything we can use as a weapon in here?” I asked him since I was stuck pretty much underneath him and couldn’t move.

He peered out of the tub and looked around. “All I see are disposable razors and maybe a hairbrush.”

“Who do you think it is?” I asked him. For some reason talking made me feel better even though I knew we should probably have stayed quiet.

“Let’s hope it’s your uncle.”

“I don’t know, I think maybe if he found us in here it would be worse.”

“Who do you think it is?”

“I don’t know…maybe it’s a maid who’s having trouble with her key?”

“In the middle of the night?” He looked down at me in disbelief.

The door stopped moving which made both of us stop talking for a few seconds, anticipating what would happen next. Those seconds seemed like hours to me as we lay basically motionless in the small space together.

I couldn’t help but think how the British tabloids would have a field day with the idea of the two of us being in a tub together. That was the biggest rumor surrounding us in Europe. They all thought we were gay and thinking about that right at the moment was better than thinking about what potentially was waiting for us on the other side of Max’s door.

“Do you think the coast is clear?” I asked after about ten minutes had passed. My arm was numb and developed a nasty case of pins and needles.

“I’m not sure, but we can’t wait in here forever.” He got himself out of the tub and tiptoed close to the door.

I started to move but he gave me the wait sign with his finger. “Stay put just in case. I’m going to go out there and see if I hear anything.”

“Be careful and don’t do anything stupid!” I was kind of impressed with his bravery and the fact that he made me continue to hide while he checked to make sure we were safe. It seemed like a very un- AJ-like thing to do. Although in his defense, he could be kind of protective when he wanted to be. It just seemed like a ‘want’ he never wanted very much.

I sat up in the tub as if I was taking a bath and waited for AJ’s return. He came back a few minutes later. “I think they’re gone.” I nodded and climbed out. My legs were kind of numb. Next time we have to jump in a tub to hide from potential psycho killers, I am the one who is going to be on top.

“Where do you think they went?” He asked me as we both walked over to the balcony and looked out the window. The snow seemed like it was slowing down. It was dead outside. No one was coming or going anywhere which kind of scared me to death. That meant whoever tried to break in has been here the whole time.

I shrugged, “Do you think they knew Max left and was waiting for a chance to get in here?”

“Probably.”

That’s when it occurred to me, “AJ, what if they moved next door?”

He had the same look of alarm on his face at the realization that most likely if they knew Max was staying in this room, then they had to know we were staying in the suite next to his. “Jesus, we have to go make sure they are okay!” He said “Dammit! I need to just start bringing a baseball bat with me no matter where I go!”

I crawled under the bed and grabbed the briefcase.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“This might be what they wanted, and there’s no way I’m letting them get it! Besides, it will also serve as a weapon if we need it.”

He nodded and we walked to the door and opened it as quietly as possible. Tiptoeing, we made our way back to our room not sure if we should let ourselves in or not. I put my ear to the door to see if I could hear anything.

“It’s really quiet in there.” I whispered to AJ who had taken the briefcase from me and was holding it up in the air ready to strike anyone who crossed our path. “Think it’s safe to go in?”

“We might as well.”

I nodded at him and carefully unlocked the door and walked into the suite. It was still dark and everything seemed just like how we left it. There weren’t any signs of a break in, thankfully but I decided to make my way back to my room and check on Kevin just in case. AJ followed me with the briefcase in hand.

I opened the door a crack and was relieved to hear Kevin’s snoring come from his bed. I shut the door before waking him up and went over and repeated the routine for Howie and Brian as well. Once we saw they were all safe, we headed to the couch and sat down by the lit Christmas tree.

“Why do you think they left?” I finally asked after sitting in silence with just my thoughts for a few minutes.

“I don’t know but I hope they aren’t coming back.”

“Maybe we should wake the guys and let them know what’s going on, just in case.” I wasn’t thrilled with my idea but at the same time, if whoever was trying to get in to Max’s room did try ours we would be sitting ducks. This way, we could maybe come up with a plan of some kind.

“And dude, your mom is still alive. What the hell? I mean it’s a good thing. Considering all the crappy shit that’s been happening, but still, what the fuck?”

I still couldn’t wrap my brain around the fact that my mother was alive. It’s so weird. I know I should have been happier about it. There was a part of me though, that felt nothing but betrayed. For all I knew it could also be some kind of trick. I couldn’t afford to get my hopes up because if it turned out to not be true, it would kill me. Especially with everything else going on.

“Max made it seem like my mom had nothing to do with any of this. This all happened before my dad even met her.” I answered after what I know seemed like forever to AJ.

“Why didn’t Max tell you about her? I would think after everything you’ve been going through, finding out your mom was alive would help a bit, don’t you think?”

I shrugged, not really sure what to think about any of this. It seemed like once we found out something, there was just another thing lurking around the corner waiting to be revealed. “And what about this thing? When Max comes back and sees that it’s missing, he’s going to go ballistic.” He put the briefcase back into my hands as if it was suddenly burning hot.

“I need to see what else is in here.” I was just about to put in my birthday again when the fire alarm in the hallways went off creating a loud, hotel wide alarm clock. “What now?” I asked just as Kevin came running out of the room all disoriented.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Sounds like the fire alarms went off.” I answered suddenly realizing maybe the alarms had to do with the near break in to Max’s room.

Brian and Howie wandered out a few seconds after Kevin, “Should we leave or is it a false alarm you think?” Brian scratched his head and yawned.

“I think this has something to do with us and this.” I held up the briefcase and the three of them had no idea what the heck it was.

“Huh?” Yeah, like I said…

“AJ and I broke into Max’s room and…” my story was interrupted by an abrupt knock on the door.

I tried to stop Kevin from answering it but it didn’t even matter because the person let themselves in, “You need to exit the hotel immediately.” A member of hotel security said. “There’s a small fire on one of the bottom floors.”

I glanced over at AJ feeling helpless to do anything but follow the man’s orders. Brian, Howie and Kevin all ran back to their rooms long enough to put on some clothes and we grabbed our coats and followed the hotel security guy down the hall. “Is this hallway all clear?” He asked another member of the hotel staff who was rounding up all the patrons.

“Yes,” was the short answer as we followed the man down the stairs.

“How big of a fire is it?” Kevin asked the man as we continued to descend the steps. The alarms were so loud that they were almost distorted. The flashing lights on them just added to the feeling of dread.

“Not that big, someone lit candles in their room. It’s under control but just to be safe we have to move everyone off of the floors and down to the lobby.

Even after that explanation, I still felt like this was too much of a coincidence. I mean, what are the chances that someone tries to break into my uncle’s room and then a fire happens. The people who are behind all of this like fire, this much we know.

When we got down to the hotel lobby, it was sheer pandemonium. There were so many people there that I almost hyperventilated. If we were anywhere else but America, we would have been mauled by the crowds. Thankfully no one here gave two shits about us…well except for psycho fire starters. Remind me to write a book about my life when this is all over.

“Maybe we should try calling Max.” Kevin broke me out of my thoughts as I found him looking at me for a nod of agreement.

“I don’t think we should. I mean, it’s really late and this isn’t an emergency.”

He gave me a questioning look, “Nick, forget the fact that you broke into his room. This is a little more serious than that. He told us not to leave our rooms or even answer the phone and now we’re stuck in a lobby with everyone who stays here. We’re out in the open like…”

“Sitting ducks.” I finished for him.

“Yes, so…I think I’m going to call him.”

I reluctantly nodded just as a fire truck pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. I glanced around at everyone surrounding us. Most of them were in their pajamas looking disoriented and a little annoyed. A few people were laughing, trying to make the best of the situation. The main topic of discussion was about the blizzard and how long it took the fire truck to make it here in the first place.

“Where’s the briefcase?” I jumped when I heard AJ whisper that in my ear.

I suddenly panicked when I realized that I had left it in the room on the couch. I turned to answer him, “Shit! It’s upstairs.”

“How could you forget to take it with you?”

“I don’t know…I got distracted!”

“Well, it’s too late now.” He actually rolled his eyes at me and made me feel like a stupid kid. I almost wanted to tackle him. Okay not almost, I actually did want to tackle him. I only refrained because the lobby was too crowded and I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.

Speaking of the lobby being crowded, I was beginning to get that anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. The one good thing, the only good thing that has come out of all the crap that has happened the past few days, is I haven’t really had the time to feel the anxiety I had been feeling for months prior to this. I have had so much on my mind that you probably could lock me in a room with fifty people, a platypus and an alligator and I wouldn’t care.

Until now…

I was finding it harder and harder to breathe as I felt like everyone in the room was staring at me. What if one of these people was the bad guy from my dreams? He could be only inches away from me and I wouldn’t know any better. Maybe this was the plan? Set off the fire alarm and have us all in one common area.

The faces of all the people around us took on a more sinister look. Even those, who were laughing about what had happened, now seemed more solemn and serious. Everyone was staring at me with evil looks in their eyes.

“Are you okay, Nick?” I turned to Brian who had his hand on my shoulder.

“I think I’m going to pass out.” I grabbed at his arm and he anchored me onto him.

“That’s not good. Let’s go outside for a few minutes.”

When Howie saw Brian clinging on to me he came over and placed his arm on my other shoulder. “What’s going on?”

“He said he feels like he’s going to pass out.”

“That’s not good. “

Sometimes we all share a brain.

“Maybe we should go outside for a few minutes.”

See?

The three of us made our way past a lot of concerned gazes and outside. AJ was following behind, probably thinking that I was being a drama queen. It was nice to know that the ‘protective’ AJ was hibernating once again.

When the doors opened the cold air hit us like a canon. It was so cold outside that I actually had a brain freeze and my eyes instantly started to tear. I leaned over and felt someone’s hand on my back. “You’re going to be okay Nicky, just breathe.”

I was starting to feel much better already. “Thanks, D.” I said as I slowly stood upright again.

“Anxiety attack?” Brian asked me through shivering teeth. I felt bad that I made them all come outside.

There were only a handful of people dumb enough to be outside in this weather. Most of them were smoking. Some of them were hotel workers and there were two firemen talking to what looked like management.

“Yeah, I just got antsy. Sorry guys, we can go back in now if you want.”

“We probably should. My cousin will have two and a half cows if he comes back and doesn’t see us.”

I nodded forgetting that in my haste to get outside, we forgot to let Kevin know where we were going. That was a mistake of epic proportions but maybe he didn’t notice.

We walked back inside where the crowd was still kind of mulling about. Most of them close to the elevators now, waiting for the all clear. I glanced around the lobby to the front desk where Kevin was last seen making his call. “Uh guys, where is Kevin?” I asked when he was nowhere to be found.

All four of us started looking around the lobby for any sign of our friend. It was so packed down here that he could have been right next to me and I wouldn’t have known it. I really was trying to stay calm, but when Brian, Howie and AJ all came back to where I was standing, Kevin-less, the panic level in me rose to a new height.
Chapter End Notes:
I have officially caught up to myself. I knew it was only a matter of time. I hope to have a new chapter out by next Saturday but it might not happen. Not sure if you guys are even reading this anymore to be completely honest so if you are, i'd love some feedback. I am thinking you have either given up on the story or hating the direction it's taken based on the last chapter.

Have a great weekend!