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Sometimes, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles…




AJ looked at his little brother curiously, “So, aren’t you going to tell me why we are going to the park?”



Nick just continued staring out the window, “No.”



“Of course you aren’t…silly me for thinking we could actually communicate.”



“I left something there.”



“And you’re just remembering it now?”



“Better now than never right?” AJ shrugged, deciding maybe it was best to stop this line of questioning before he found himself learning information he would later regret.



“So…I’m engaged!” AJ made the announcement as if it was the first time anyone had found out.



“I know, congrats again. I’m really happy for you.” Nick tried to sound excited but he was just too worried to even begin to think about anything other than getting his sketch pad. It seemed like his brother was going about five miles an hour but if he told him to speed, that would lead to another round of questions so he patiently sat there in the seat and willed his pokey brother to drive a little faster.



Finally they made it to the gates of the park, “Wait here I’ll be right back.” Nick said, jumping out of the car before it even came to a full stop.



“Jesus kid, be careful!”



But Nick ignored his brother as he ran back towards the place he had hid out all day long. “I can’t believe I was so careless!” He grumbled under his breath as he walked through the trees. He stopped when he saw the man sitting there on the bench still. “AH! Why is he still there?” Nick quickly hid behind a tree, and took a deep breath. “Okay think about this Richardson…what would Kevin do?”



He glanced once more around the tree and at the man who was sitting there; he seemed impatiently waiting for someone as he shook his foot and stared at his watch, but it was the thing he picked up next that had Nick’s heart stopping. The man Ariana referred to as Jack was now looking at his portrait of Patty. “Oh shit!”



He was being daring now as he took a step closer, because even though he saw the guy looking at the picture, he still didn’t see the entire sketch book. He was glad he hadn’t finished that drawing yet so his name was nowhere on that particular piece. He felt hopeful when he noticed his book sticking out of the trash bin right beside the bench. There was no way that he would be able to grab it with the guy sitting there.



He saw Jack slowly turn his head and quickly Nick ducked behind the tree once more; he felt his heart pounding in his chest, sure as hell that this time he had been caught. He almost took off running again but his instinct told him to stay put. He was glad he listened because a few seconds later Jack stood up and finally walked away.



Once he was positive that Ariana’s lover was gone, he made his way to the trash can and grabbed his sketch pad, not even standing there for a minute, he turned and made his way back towards AJ’s car.



“Well, that took forever.” AJ said as Nick got back “Don’t worry though, it’s not like I have anything better to do than be your taxi.”



“You were the one that insisted on driving me home from school, remember?”



“Yeah…yeah, so… what’s that?”



“My sketch pad.”



“You left it in the park? I thought you never let that thing out of your sight.” Nick was about to answer when he saw Jack walking in their direction.



“Let’s get out of here now AJ.” He urged while his eyes stayed on the man who was looking down at the picture torn from Nick’s pad.



“Oh so now you’re in a hurry. You make me wait forever but now that you are ready to leave I’m just supposed to go?”



Nick swallowed hard as Jack continued to get closer to the car. If the man looked up he would surely be spotted. “Let’s go please?”



“Okay fine…” AJ shook his head and started the car up just as Jack’s head came up from the picture. Nick ducked down in his seat, in hopes of not being seen.



“What are you doing down there?”



“Just drive AJ!”



“Good lord you are weird.” AJ took off down the road just as Jack got into his own car and headed in the same direction.





~*~*~*~*~*~








By the time that Patty got home from her shift at the hospital she was in a horrible mood. First running into her mother’s creepy new boyfriend and then having a fight with hers. She didn’t like the way Charlie stormed away from her. He scared her a little bit; she caught that glimpse of him that she had been warned about so many times. He was playing the bully, the one with the hot temper who was known to beat people up for no reason, the one that Nick had mentioned to her just the other day.



She wondered if it was true, what Charlie had said about Nick being caught shoplifting. It seemed so out of character but then again, how well did she really know him? “Boys suck!” She said under her breath.



“What did you say sweetheart?” She smiled at her mother then kissed her on the cheek.



“Nothing…I saw Jack at the hospital today.”



Anita looked up from the dishes she was washing, “You did?”



“Uh huh…he said he was visiting a friend who broke a leg.”



“That’s funny…he didn’t mention anything like that to me.” Somehow that didn’t surprise the young girl as she nodded and took a seat at the table.



“Charlie’s sister died mom.”



“Oh my God…that’s horrible. What happened?”



“I don’t really know, but he’s not taking it well.”



“Let me know if there’s anything I can do for him okay?” Patty nodded just as the front door opened and in walked Jack. She couldn’t help but let out a sigh, once again he was there. It’s like he owned the place.



Anita went running to him and quickly embraced him, “I heard you were visiting a sick friend today.”



Jack grimaced at the words; the stupid kid didn’t waste anytime did she? “Yeah, one of the guys I work with hurt himself. It’s not a big deal.”



He walked over to the little brat and smiled at her, handing her the picture he had gotten in the park, “I got you something. When I saw it, I couldn’t help but notice the resemblance.”



Patty looked at it and smiled, he was right. This looked exactly like her, “Wow, thanks Jack. Where did you get this?”



“I found it lying on a park bench. It was almost as if it was waiting for me.”



“It’s beautiful; I’m going to go hang it up in my room.”



“You do that sweetheart.”



He watched as she walked out of the room and then he glanced over at Anita, “I love you baby.” He said as he grabbed her and held her tight. If she only realized how important she was to him tonight, his alibi just in case anything went wrong. He tried not to think about it though; he knew that the kid he had hired was more than capable of doing what needed to be done without even realizing it.



He couldn’t help but smile…things will change tonight and he couldn’t wait to be a witness to it all.





~*~*~*~*~*




Nick sat quietly in the living room as he watched Brian reading a book. He almost told AJ about what he had seen in the park but stopped once he brought up his fiancée once again. He realized it wouldn’t be fair to lay this all on AJ when he was still so excited about his life. So he sat quietly and tried to figure out who he should bring this up to.



There was no way he could go to Kevin or his dad about this because they would ask too many questions and there was no way in hell he was going to tell Howie… so it would be Brian. Now, the only question that remained was how was he going to tell his brother?



“What do you think about Ariana?” He decided to ask.



“You mean Howie’s wife?” Nick nodded. “She’s nice, very organized and pretty funny…why?”



“I think she’s cheating on Howie.”



Brian sat up and winced a little at the pain, “Why?”



“I think I saw her kissing somebody.”



“Nick, where is this coming from? When did this happen?”



“I….” That’s when he realized for the first time that maybe if he came out with the truth there would be more consequences than just getting in trouble for playing hooky. If word got back to Ariana that Nick saw them kissing, his life could be in danger. He didn’t trust her or that guy; he knew they were bad news. He always felt like she was bad news, what if she tried to harm him or worse yet, his family.



“Well?” He looked over at Brian.



“I…could be wrong I guess.”



“Where did you see this happen?”



“Never mind…I’m being dumb.” Brian looked at his baby brother suspiciously, why on earth would he bring something like that up?



“Nick, if you know something…”



“I don’t, I mean I thought I did but I could be wrong and that’s a pretty big accusation if I am, right?”



“Yes, but still…if you really think you saw her kissing another guy…”



“I’m not positive; I just wanted your opinion on it. Do you think its something she would do?”



“It’s hard to say, I mean she’s a gorgeous woman but she seems so in love with D. I’d be kind of surprised to tell you the truth.”



He knew what he had to do; he had to investigate this matter on his own. Really find out what was going on, before he brought this up again. Maybe he could follow Ariana home from work one day, see if she was meeting up with this Jack guy. Once again he found an odd sort of thrill in the sneaking around.



“Everything okay buddy?”



Nick glanced over at Brian and then nodded, “Yup…everything’s fine…I’m going to go do some homework, I’ll be back down in a little bit.” He turned and ran up the stairs, determined to make up a plan of his own.





~*~*~*~*~*~*~






“So you’re cooking for me tonight?” AJ asked.



Stacey nodded and smiled at her soon to be husband, “Absolutely, I figure it’s the least I could do since you took my shift. Thanks babe.”



“Not a problem, I needed the money and besides I’m getting a home cooked meal out of the deal.” She walked over and gave him a hug.



“So, have we thought about a date yet?”



“Honey we just got engaged yesterday.”



“I know, but we should decide because churches and halls book up fast.”



He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled, “I’m hot aren’t I?”



“AJ…focus.”



“Sorry…how about summer?”



“This year? Will that give us enough time?”



“How much time do we need?”



“AJ, this is the only time I plan on getting married…I want to get it just right. I was even thinking Disney.”



“What?”



“You know…getting married in Cinderella’s castle.”



“Honey…just, no.” He laughed but when he saw her un-amused face he regretted shooting the idea down so quickly. “You were serious?”



“We’ve discussed this, you know how much I love Disney…I can’t believe you laughed at me.”



He walked over and held her close in his arms, “I’m sorry baby…I didn’t mean to laugh, I know it’s your happy place. I just think it’ll be too expensive, but if it makes you happy, you can look into it, okay?”



She kissed his lips, “I love you.”



“I love you too, now I need to go, I’ll be back soon.”



“Late dinner for two and if you’re good an erotic massage for dessert.”



“Oh…Stace, I’m so there! You give me one of those and I’ll let Goofy perform our wedding.”



“But he’s already playing the part of the groom.”



“Hahaha, very funny.”



She smiled and winked at him as he made his way out the door and down the steps, pausing to let a few teenagers into the building who were fishing for their keys.



“Thanks man.” One of them said.



AJ nodded and then got into his car and drove off.



“I’m glad we didn’t have to break in at least, the boss was real clear that he wanted this whole thing to be neat, no screw ups.” Charlie said to his friend as he held opened the door that AJ had let them through. Once inside, they all made their way to the basement and walked down the steps.



When they got down to the laundry room, Charlie felt his heartbeat quicken. He had been so mad about his sister that he didn’t even think about this job until a few minutes before he was called into action.



This job had meant a new life for him and his family. He was going to use this money to not only give him and Patty a fresh start, but to also guarantee that his sister would be taken care of. Now, all those thoughts went away and he only had one thing on his mind, revenge. If he pulled this off, not only would he get money but also a name, the name of the person who killed Nadia.



“You have the tools?” One of the kids asked and Charlie quickly handed over the screw driver and went over to the door and locked it shut. He didn’t need anyone walking in on them while they were doing this.



They went to work immediately, taking apart the washing machine just as their boss had ordered them to do. They practiced on a few of them to get the timing just right, using his mom’s beat up old one or breaking into a Laundromat and working on taking it apart and putting it back together again. His boss said in and out in ten minutes flat, another thirty to get themselves clear of the area, that’s all the time they were allowed, anything more and there would be consequences.



“How’s it coming Reggie? You almost done?” Charlie asked, staring at his watch to see that about eleven minutes had gone by.



“Yeah, I just need to detach the hose and then it’ll be apart.”



“Excellent…work fast.” Charlie took out the briefcase that he was given and thought about opening it up. He was so curious about what was inside. He was almost sure there was a stack of money in there. This place was going to be a meeting point perhaps. He even contemplated on opening it up, stealing what was inside and then taking off with the money he was paid plus the money he had just stolen, but he wasn’t sure how dangerous the people he was working for actually were.



He was getting paid well enough to not be that greedy. Besides, he did want an opportunity for a second job if it ever was offered to him, so as much as he wanted to, he refused to look in the locked case and instead stood patiently waiting for Reggie to finish his part of the job.



“Okay done…hand it to me.”



Charlie handed him the case, “Put it right underneath there,” He said pointing to the exact spot his boss told him to place it.



Reggie did as he was told and then quickly went to work re-assembling the washing machine as if it hadn’t been touched. Fifteen minutes later it looked good as new as they unlocked the door and wiped any fingerprints from the scene, just as they were instructed to.



“Alright, let’s get out of here.” Charlie said, motioning to his friends to get out of the room as quickly as possible. “Here’s to a new life!” He mumbled as he shut the door and headed up the stairs and out of the apartment building.





~*~*~*~*~*~*






A knock on the door startled Stacey just as she sat down to watch some television. She smiled when she saw Kevin standing there. She liked him; in fact she liked all the Richardson men, even her soon to be father in law seemed nice enough when he wanted to be. Growing up as an only child to a single mother, the thought of suddenly having so many men in her life thrilled her.



“Oh, hey Stacey…is my brother around?”



“Actually no, he was a doll and took my shift for me.”



“Wow, he must really love you.”



She laughed at that, “So what’s up Kevin?”



“Nothing much, I was just going out for a bite to eat and wanted to see if he wanted to tag along, what about you, you hungry?”



“I would say yes, but I’m actually cooking a very late supper for AJ.”



“Aww, okay then…well let him know I stopped by.”



“Will do!” He winked at her and then left.



His mind was racing a mile a minute. He wished AJ was home because sometimes just hanging out with his goofy brother made him forget about all the stress that was his life. The fact that he knew someone had poisoned Nadia and that it most likely was someone from his own office wasn’t sitting well with him. It wasn’t since the baby killer case, that there had been anyone untrustworthy at his office.



It was as if going back onto high profile cases was a curse for the FBI. What he hated most was not being able to share the information with Howie, but just as he knew would happen, Howie came back as one of the last people to come into contact with Nadia before she died. That was no surprise since it was Kevin who placed him in that position, but even still, seeing D’s name on the suspect list actually made Kevin sick to his stomach.



“Hey Kevin.” The agent looked up and smiled at the beauty who said his name.



“Hey Jo.” She lived right down the hall from him, very nice girl. They both enjoyed the occasional flirt when they met up in the hallway going for their prospective mailboxes or heading down to the basement to do laundry, but neither of them actually ever made an attempt to have an actual conversation.



“Laundry night?” He asked when he saw her wearing what appeared to be pajamas.



“Yup, although stupid me, forgot my change. I hate when that happens.”



He laughed at her, “I have some quarters.”



“No, that’s okay…I have a roll of quarters sitting on my kitchen table.”



They both stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes, “Well…have fun.” He finally said and gave her a half shrug which caused her to smile.



“You’re such an ass!” He said to himself as he walked out the door and to his car, “Why didn’t you just ask her out or something? This is why you’re younger brother is getting married before you…hell this is why Nicky will end up getting married before you!” He scolded himself but at the same time couldn’t help but laugh. For someone who seemed to be incredibly brave and strong, he was such a giant wuss when it came to being around the opposite sex.



“Maybe I should just go to my dad’s for dinner, or I’ll go grab something and bring it back to my place.” He tapped his hands on the steering wheel trying to figure out what to do.



“Quiet night at home…” He decided as he drove over to the nearest pizza place to get a few slices to go.





~*~*~*~*~*~*~




Ariana sat snuggled next to her husband while staring at the fire he had just lit in their fireplace. With the music going and the crackling sound of the flames as they danced around, she actually found herself relaxing. This night had her very nervous and tense. She knew that after today, things were going to start moving fast and she wasn’t quite sure if she was ready for it all.



“Would you like some more wine baby?”



She looked up at him and smiled; he was a good looking man and very sweet as well. Sometimes she found herself getting attached to him in an odd kind of way. She knew that in a few hours his life was going to be turned upside down, she really felt bad about that. But…sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.



Her mind wandered to Jack as Howie stood up to get her some more wine. By now everything would be in place and soon…it had to be soon, things would start happening. So long they had planned this entire thing out, ever since they had to lie low about 8 years ago. Revenge was finally at hand, it was just a sin that so many people had to suffer because of one man’s mistake. The worst part was that man didn’t even have a clue what he had done to begin with.



She smiled thinking about the pleasure it would bring her to let him finally know, right before she killed him. “But not before ruining his life…” She whispered as she watched the flames dancing before her eyes.





~*~*~*~*~*~*






“AJ you are probably the worst poker player I have ever seen in my life!”



“Shut up and deal again Eric, best four out of five.”



“You know I’ll win this one as well, right?”



“You know you could let me win for once, after all I am getting married and have a wedding to save up for. Stacey wants to get married at Disney World.”



Eric laughed as he dealt another hand to the firemen as they sat around, “Don’t they all?”



“They do?”



“My wife wanted us to get married on a beach in Hawaii.’



“Okay, well I feel better than.”



“Don’t…I know Stacey…you’re going to get married by Mickey dude.”



“Only if Mickey pays for it.” All the guys laughed as AJ sighed.



Suddenly the alarms went off in the house as the dispatcher came running in to the guys. “Shit…ah well, playtimes over I guess.” One of them said as they hurried to get their gear on.



“AJ!”



“Yeah?” He asked Molly, the woman taking the calls for the night. She had a very serious look on her face as did the chief who was standing next to her. “What is it?” He asked slowly.



“The call we’re responding too…it’s your apartment building. There’s been an explosion, there’s barely anything left.”



AJ suddenly felt light on his feet, “Oh my God…” He said as the sirens on the fire truck blared to life.


;o)

Thanks for reading! And i'm going to say it one more time so bare with me for a second, but if you want to vote on what kind of story I will write next, go here:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Brain_Candy_mailing_list/

I'm kind of at a loss for ideas but already seeing some votes i'm starting to think about things lol so yay! Anyway, i'm overwhelmed by the response so far! I just wanted to make sure I put this on all three stories. Thanks guys! It looks like it's between a combo story or a drama.

Have a great weekend!