Kevin shook his head as he paced the room. Marcus was sprawled out on the floor at the foot of the bed, snoring loudly from his drunken stupor and Nick was still unconscious on a bed.
“I don’t know what to do,” Kevin sighed.
“How about we involve the police,” Howie suggested.
“NO!” AJ and Kevin answered quickly, followed by AJ moaning from the yell, causing his head to throb.
“No, listen, we explain the entire situation to the police, they’ll work along with us and probably suggest a few things that we can do to make sure Nick, Lizz and Brian aren’t harmed in any way. It makes good sense to me,” Howie explained.
“You know, it does make sense,” Kevin agreed and then narrowed his eyes at Marcus’s body laying on the floor. “But remember, we have to make this perfectly clear that we were told about no police involvement, agree?”
Howie and AJ gave slight nods and watched as Kevin dialed the hotel operator and requested the Oklahoma State Police.
As quickly as Vinnie’s smile appeared on his face, it turned sour. He tore the cell phone away from his ear and clicked it off.
“THAT SONOFABITCH IS PLAYING AROUND!” Vinnie yelled.
Brian and Lizz both jumped at his sudden outburst.
“He’s probably still passed out,” Lizz pointed out. She shied away when Vinnie raised an open hand towards her, but Brian quickly stepped in front of her to shield her from her attacker.
“Maybe so, but Carter should have answered the phone. I told him to go crawling down to that room. What a pathetic sonofabitch,” Vinnie mumbled.
Both Lizz and Brian exchanged worried glances, both wondering if this meant that Marcus had done something to Nick or was in the process of doing something to him. Lizz tried to see if she could feel anything that Nick could possibly be feeling with the link that they shared, but all she felt was the knot that had been in her stomach for the past four hours.
“Well, I guess we’ll give Marc the benefit of the doubt and give him some time,” Vinnie said as he settled down in an old, dark stained chair that was situated against the wall opposite of Brian and Lizz.
State Troopers Jordan and McKnight were new on the state police force, fresh out of the academy. Although it was unusual to have two rookies working side by side, due to a scheduling glitch, they were thrown together. Making their way to the fourth floor, they anxiously knocked on the door to room where the request for help had been made.
After hearing a lock click, the door slowly opened and they stood before Kevin Richardson. He managed to paste a thin smile on his face as he opened the door further and nodded for them to come in.
Trooper Jordan eyes swept the room, first noticing an obese, shirtless man laying on the floor, evidently passed out. A younger man laid on the bed, dried blood spattered on his shirt, an eye that was bruised and swollen looking as well as a few scrapes on his face and hands from an obvious fight that had taken place. Another man was over in the corner, looking pale and disheveled, holding a towel to the back of his head and neck.
“Okay, explain the situation once again to us,” Trooper McKnight directed the question towards Kevin.
As Kevin explained the story up to the point of where they were at, one of the officers was furiously scribbling down notes to everything that was being said. Kevin ended the details with, “We need to do this without anyone getting hurt and without any obvious signs of police involvement.”
“The one guy threatened to kill either Brian or Lizz if we got the police involved, so you can see how important this is,” Howie added.
The ringing phone interrupted their conversation. Trooper McKnight told Kevin to answer.
“Yeah.”
“Who’s this?” Vinnie questioned.
Kevin looked at the officer, and nodded when he understood the meaning of him pointing over at Nick.
“It’s Carter,” Kevin stated gruffly.
“Oh yeah, Lazarus, how the fuck are you?” Vinnie hissed. “Put Marcus on.”
“He can’t, he’s still drunk.”
“Sonofabitch,” Vinnie muttered.
“Sonofabitch is right. Now, here’s the deal, we have something you want and you have something we want,” Kevin stated in an even tone.
Vinnie’s eyes widened. “Oh shit, where’s Marcus?”
“Still passed out on the floor. Now, I need to know how Brian is, he is okay?” Kevin asked. The trooper had already gotten the phone lines tapped, so they needed roughly three minutes to find out the location of where Vinnie was calling from. After the call was into one minute, the officer held his hands up in the air and shook his head. With Vinnie being on a cell phone, Kevin could talk to him for five hours and it still wouldn’t pinpoint the man’s whereabouts.
“Brian’s fine and so’s that girl, for now,” Vinnie warned.
“You touch so much as a hair on their heads and you will pay for it with your life,” Kevin hissed.
One of the state troopers gently placed a hand on Kevin’s shoulder, hoping that he would get the hint to calm down. Kevin relaxed a bit, but his jaw was still set with determination. “So, where are you so we can make the exchange?”
“What makes you think I’m interested in Marcus’s sorry ass?” Vinnie cackeled.
“I... I don’t know,” Kevin stammered. “Please, all I want is the two of them back alive, I swear I will leave you alone, please tell me what you want.”
“Ah, I hear the sweet sound of desperation seeping into your voice,” Vinnie laughed.
Kevin sighed. “Yeah, I admit it, I’m desperate. Now, please, can you tell me where to meet you?”
Vinnie was silent for the longest time. Minutes seemed like an eternity. Kevin resisted the urge to speak during that time, instead he strained to hear any type of background noise that could possibly lead them to their hiding place.
“How about I think about this for a minute, I mean, you’re probably tired of Marc and all, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to give them up. I mean, I really haven’t had time to fully enjoy their company,” Vinnie stated, the last words he pronounced with a little crisper tone in his voice and then suddenly, Kevin heard the sickening sound of flesh being driven into flesh and Brian’s crying out.
“Please, for the love of.....” Kevin gave up speaking when he heard the distinct sound of a click followed by a dialtone.
“What happened?” AJ questioned as soon as Kevin placed the phone back onto the receiver.
“He said he needed to think about it because he didn’t have time to enjoy their company and then it sounded like he punched Brian,” Kevin replied in a monotoned voice.
“That bastard!” AJ growled.
“Did you hear any background noises that would help us out?” Trooper McKnight asked.
Kevin sadly shook his head. “No, nothing.”
