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** KEVIN **

Nick was whining, AJ was bitching, Howie was uncharacteristically sullen, and my cousin was being an idiot. It was all enough to make me wish that I hadn’t woken up.

“Are you sure that you don’t remember anything else?” Agent Adams was peering into my face with forced concern. Little balls of sweat were rolling down his temples and dampening the collar of his well-worn striped shirt. He looked as though he wanted to be anywhere but standing next to my hospital bed, and I didn’t blame him.

“I’m sure.” I repeated the statement, trying to make myself sound convincing. Truthfully, I knew that there was something that I was forgetting.

I had gone over the situation again and again, both in my mind and aloud to Agent Adams and the other guys.

I had left the hotel to get coffee.

I had gone out alone even though I had been explicitly instructed not to go anywhere without security.

I had bumped into some guy on the street.

I had spilled coffee on his expensive shoes.

I had been ambushed by another man.

I had tried to run away.

I had seen his face.

I had seen his face. That’s the part that was giving me the most trouble. I knew that I had seen the man’s face, yet I couldn’t remember what he looked like. Every time that I tried to picture my attacker all that I was able to conjure up was a big, grey blob. The worst part was that I knew that I had recognized him. Before I had blacked out, I had known his name. Now, I knew nothing aside from the fact that I had been beaten so badly that I had been in a coma for nearly two days.

“It’s okay, cuz.” Brian gave me a smile that was just as forced as my conviction. “You did good.”

I pushed my head back into my pillow and squeezed my eyes shut. Maybe if I kept my eyes closed they would all just go away. I couldn’t stand the forced cheerfulness, the looks of sympathy, or the unmistakeable exchanges of concern.

“Have you heard from Ashley yet?” Nick’s voice filtered through my closed eyelids. “Has she written the next chapter?”

“I’m expecting to hear from her sometime today.” Agent Adams’s reply was terse, agitated. “I’ll let you guys know.”

I wanted to groan. I wanted to roll my eyes. I wanted to jump out of the bed and slap Nick in his stupid face. The entire Ashley situation was a load of shit. As if some random fan fiction writer was predicting our future! The thing that I still didn’t understand was how Nick had managed to convince the FBI to go along with his ridiculous theory. These people were supposed to be highly trained professionals, but I was beginning to have my doubts. Anyone who blindly followed Nick was an idiot; hence, the reason why I was currently so annoyed with Brian.

“Actually, I was hoping to speak to you all about the plan going forward.” Agent Adams was still speaking. “I know that we had initially tossed around the idea of cancelling the tour ...”

I kept my eyes firmly closed. I was not going to weigh in on this discussion. I was just going to let the other guys decide. I was tired of being the leader, of being the ‘big brother’. If I had managed to keep my opinions on the fan fiction nonsense to myself then I could definitely keep my mouth closed when Agent Adams told us that we had to cancel the tour. That’s what we should have done in the first place, but Howie had convinced Nick to keep going, and then Brian and AJ had followed dutifully along like a couple of retarded sheep. It’s not like my opinion had made a lick of difference anyway.

“We’ve actually decided that it would be better for you all to continue performing ...”

My eyes flew open; so much for not getting involved. “What?!”

“Ashley has indicated that it will be easier for her to continue her story if the five of you remain together.” Agent Adams paused as he took in the fact that all of my monitors were currently beeping like crazy as a result of my increasing anxiety. “She specifically suggested that it would be best if you kept performing.”

“Jesus Christ!” I exploded, sending the monitors into a frenzy. “We are NOT going to keep performing because some fucked up fan says that it will be better for her fucking story! This whole deal with Ashley is a load of shit!” I turned to Nick as I continued. “The others may be too afraid to tell you that you’re an idiot, but I’m not! You’re delusional if you think that Ashley is the answer to our problems. She’s nothing but some crazy fan with too much time on her hands who likes to write about the five of us fucking ...”

“Kevin!” Brian was on his feet; clearly torn between comforting Nick who was cowering in the corner like a wounded animal and screaming at me. “You have no right to speak to Nick like that! You weren’t there when we met Ashley, and you haven’t even read what she’s written ...”

“I know that I wasn’t there, Brian!” I spat. “I wasn’t there because I was busy getting my head beaten in by the person who is trying to kill us! I’m sorry that I didn’t have time to weigh in on the discussion while I was unconscious and fighting for my life!”

“Kev, that’s not what Brian meant ...” AJ started, but I cut him off at rapid speed.

“Stop defending him! I’m so tired of the two of you backing each other up like you’re fucking Lucy and Ethel. This is real life AJ! You need to grow a pair and stop agreeing with whatever it is that comes out of Brian’s mouth.” I was on a roll; the monitors beeping uncontrollably as proof of my rage. “I did not get the shit kicked out of me for nothing! We are going to let the FBI do their job and catch the person who is responsible for putting you in that wheelchair, for poisoning Howie, and for making me lose two full days of my life.”

“It’s not like I can’t get around without the wheelchair ...” AJ mumbled. “It’s hospital policy that’s all.”

“Enough!” I screamed. “Stop making excuses, AJ! We are not continuing with the tour!”

“We should all get a vote, Kev.” Brian argued.

“No!” I shouted. “We will not vote on this again!”

“You don’t have any choice.” Agent Adams deadpanned. “Once you and Mr. McLean are feeling better, the tour will continue. It’s already been decided.”

“Who made that decision?” I challenged, shooting daggers at the others. “Did you all sign something while I was unconscious? That’s so fucking typical ...”

“I’m the one who decided.” Agent Adams owned up to his actions. “I think it’s the only way that we’re going to catch the person who’s after you. Like I said before, if you all go your separate ways it will be nearly impossible for us to keep tabs on all of you. It will be easier if you stay together, if you follow the script that Ashley is writing for you.”

“Jesus ...” I ran a hand through the rough stubble on my face and forced myself not to launch into another round of insults and accusations. Everyone around me had clearly lost all of their common sense.

“Give it a chance, Kev.” Nick’s voice was soft, wounded. “Maybe Ashley will surprise you. Maybe I’ll surprise you.”

“Nick ...” I paused, unsure of what it was that I wanted to say. I hated it when Nick looked as if I’d let him down. I hated to think that I had hurt him. He was my baby brother, and he needed me to be strong. He needed me to believe in him. “...is this really what you think is right? Do you really want to carry on with the tour, with the lies? If we keep going, you’ll have to keep lying to Lauren. Is that really how you want to start your marriage?”

“Nobody’s lying, cuz.” Brian butted in. “We’re just withholding information. There’s a difference.”

“We lied about Howie being sick, and we lied about AJ’s fall being an accident.” I clenched and unclenched my fingers as I struggled to refrain from screaming at my little cousin. For someone who was so open and honest about his faith and the importance of being a good Christian, Brian sure did have a way of circumventing the truth whenever it suited him. “Or did you tell Leighanne the truth about what’s been going on?”

It was Brian’s turn to look wounded. “I would never tell her ...”

“It’s not like you haven’t gone behind our backs before.” I interrupted; my anger bubbling to the surface. “Your wife is not the sixth member of this group ...”

“He said that he didn’t tell her!” Nick raised his voice to cover mine. “I don’t want us to fight right now. I don’t want us to not trust each other.”

“Trust is a funny thing, Nick.” Howie spoke for the first time since the discussion had begun. “Once you lose it, it’s almost impossible to get it back.”

I was momentarily derailed by Howie’s cryptic statement and the others’ reactions. AJ dropped his eyes to the floor, Brian looked unquestionably guilty, and Nick simply stared at Howie in confusion. Something had happened while I was unconscious; something bigger than Ashley and the whole fan fiction nonsense.

“So, it’s settled then?” Agent Adams brought us all back to the moment with a loud smack of his Halls. “You’ll continue the tour?”

“Fine.” I gave up, just like I always did. “We’ll keep touring, but only with increased security and with your guarantee that the FBI will be doing everything in their power to catch the person who’s clearly trying to kill us.”

“We’re doing our best, Mr. Richardson.” Agent Adams forced a smile. “Of that, you have my word.”