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** HOWIE **

“AJ, you really need to sit down.” I cringed as AJ hobbled towards the door for what was probably the hundredth time in the past five minutes. “They’re not going to forget about us.”

“They’re taking too long.” AJ ignored my request for him to take a seat. “It can’t be good news if it’s taking this long.”

“You don’t know that.” Kevin spoke into his hands. “You don’t know anything, so just do as Howie suggested and sit down and shut up.”

“I don’t want to sit down!” AJ looked as though he were on the verge of punching a hole in the wall. “Why don’t you and Howie just both shut the fuck up?!”

I licked my lips. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I held them back. There was no point in trying to reason with AJ when he was upset. Instead, I watched him drag his bandaged leg to the door, peer out the small window, and then hobble back to the other side of the room.

“Still nothing.” AJ stated the obvious to Nick as he finally sank down next to him on the couch. “What the fuck is taking so long?”

Nick turned to AJ; his eyes wet and unfocused. “It should have been me. I was the one who was supposed to get shot.”

I resisted the urge to scream. Nick had said the same line probably twenty times since we had arrived at the hospital. If he said it one more time, I was going to leave. I couldn’t handle listening to him blame himself. Didn’t he understand that Brian had always been the intended target? Brian was the one who had taken Charles’s place in the group, not Nick. Maybe if Agent Adams showed up and confirmed my conclusion, Nick would finally be able to stop beating himself up. Until then, I would just have to continue to hold my tongue.

“You gotta stop blaming yourself.” AJ took the words out of my mouth as he slung his arm around Nick’s hunched shoulders. “I think that Charles had his own plan all along. I think that he was always after Brian.”

“You think?” Nick sniffed, his eyes focused on AJ’s desolate face. “Then why was he copying Ashley’s story? I don’t get it.”

That’s it. I was actually going to scream. The blood was rushing to my face so quickly that my skin felt as if it were on fire. I had told Nick the exact same thing no less than ten minutes ago, and my words had been greeted with silence and a blank stare. I guess that’s what happened when you crossed Brian; you were shunned with no chance of ever being forgiven.

“If this is anyone’s fault, it’s mine.” I drew my eyes away from Nick as Ashley slipped into the room. She hovered by the door, obviously unsure about whether or not her presence was welcome. “I’m the one who gave Charlie the idea to do what he did.”

“I don’t understand.” I shook my head. “Did Agent Adams tell you that Charles was the un-sub? How did you know his name?”

“Charlie – Charles is – was my boy – the guy that I’ve been seeing.” Ashley’s face was reddening as she spoke. “I didn’t know about his past, ummmm, history with you guys. He, obviously, never brought it up.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Kevin stirred beside me. “You’re saying that the asswipe who may have killed my cousin is your boyfriend?”

“Ex-boyfriend!” Ashley looked positively terrified as Kevin extricated himself from the couch. “I’m – I’m sorry!”

“So, you were a part of this?” Nick had also stood up. His eyes were sharp and focused for the first time since setting foot in the hospital; he looked murderous. “How can you even show your face in this room!? Why hasn’t the FBI arrested your lying, cheating ass?! How did it work? Did you write the story and then show it to Charles so that he could act it out, or did he come up with the dirty stuff and have you put it into words? Did you somehow know that I would read it and track you down? I can’t believe that I was so fucking stupid! I trusted you! Brian trusted you!” Nick paused for breath, his face contorting in anger. “What about that night after the bar, Ashley? What would have happened if I hadn’t shown up when I did? What was your plan? Was Charles waiting in the room?”

Ashley’s eyes widened as Nick’s anger increased. “Nick, no! I didn’t – I would never – What happened with Brian – You don’t understand.”

“Then tell me!” Nick’s fists were clenched. “Tell me what it is that I don’t understand!”

I jumped up as Nick took another step towards Ashley. My mind was reeling as I tried to figure out what he was talking about. Clearly, something had happened that only Nick and Brian knew about. While I wasn’t surprised that the two of them had a secret, I couldn’t help feeling wounded. Even when he wasn’t around, Brian knew more than I did.

“Do you know what happens when you make assumptions, Mr. Carter?” Agent Adams pushed his way into the room; his mouth noticeably free of Halls. His appearance stopped Nick in his tracks. “Maybe you should wait to hear what I have to say before you attack Ms. Bass.”

I dared a quick glance back at Nick. He still looked murderous, but at least he had unclenched his fingers. I turned my attention back to the pudgy FBI agent. “We’re all waiting.”

“I’m sure you are, Mr. Dorough.” Agent Adams rolled his eyes. “Am I right when I say that you all saw your attacker, and that you all recognized him?”

I nodded on behalf of the group. “Keep going.”

“You’ll be happy to hear that Mr. Edwards confessed to all of the attacks. It seems as though he’s been harbouring an intense grudge against Mr. Littrell for a number of years, and that he is not worried about the consequences of his actions. Apparently, he was, at one time, a part of your ... band.” Agent Adams smacked his lips as he continued. “Mr. Edwards had no problem telling our interrogation officer that he acted purely out of revenge. Now, while Ms. Bass was not directly involved, Mr. Edwards did acknowledge that her writing was the catalyst for his sudden desire to seek his revenge against the five of you. As Ms. Bass has explained, she and Mr. Edwards were romantically involved.”

“We know all of this already.” I was getting impatient, although I did feel vindicated in the sense that Agent Adams had just confirmed my theory that Brian had always been the primary target. “Get to the point.”

“The point, Mr. Dorough, is that Mr. Edwards read Ms. Bass’s work of fiction without her knowledge. He stated that he accidentally came across the story that was backed up to her Cloud account while he was utilizing the computer in Ms. Bass’s office. Apparently, simply finding out that Ms. Bass was such a huge fan of your band is what set him off. To use his words, Mr. Edwards simply ‘couldn’t handle losing to Mr. Littrell for a second time’. He felt that by bringing Ms. Bass’s fiction to life he would be able to hurt, not only the five of you, but Ms. Bass as well.”

“None of that explains how he was able to get so close to us without anyone noticing him.” Kevin pursed his lips. “We had security with us at all times.” He paused. “Except for that time when I left the hotel alone.”

“His job is what allowed him to stay hidden.” Ashley spoke for the first time since Agent Adams had entered the room. “Remember how I mentioned that I met Charlie because he delivers speciality food items to the Blueberry? Well, the hotel where Howie was poisoned and the concession stands in the venues that you guys were playing in are all clients of his company. Nobody paid him any attention ... he was just a delivery man.”

Agent Adams grimaced at Ashley’s words. “He really did have the ideal cover. He slipped by two of our checkpoints this evening without incident. The gun was hidden inside the skid that he was using to unload his product. We checked both him and the product, but we didn’t inspect his equipment. For that, I’m truly sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Kevin looked worn out, defeated. “It’s done now. You guys got him.”

Agent Adams nodded at Kevin. He, too, looked worn out. “We’ve also apprehended the two men who helped him carry out his attack against you. They’ll both be facing some jail time, but nothing compared to what will happen to Mr. Edwards. If Mr. Littrell doesn’t survive, you can bet that Mr. Edwards will be walking death row before the year is out.”

“Brian’s going to be fine.” Kevin stubbornly announced. “We’re just waiting for them to come and tell us. That’s all.”

I bit my lower lip as I watched Kevin struggle to keep his face neutral. I knew that he was putting on a brave face for Nick. Like me, Kevin couldn’t handle it when Nick was upset. The big brother mentality was so harshly ingrained in both of us that we would literally say anything to shield Nick from the truth.

I gave Kevin a quick nod as he caught my eye, and I immediately saw the guilt flash across his face. Kevin was scared, really scared. He knew how badly Brian had been hurt. He had seen the blood and the glassy eyed stare just as well as I had. No matter what lies were spewing from his mouth, Kevin knew the truth; he knew that Brian had virtually no chance of rejoining us.