- Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hello!

Sorry about the lack of updates lately, as I told my mailing list, updates will be a bit sporadic for the month of May. I hope you stick with me. Just too much going on :OP

I know i'm the Rain man of fanfic authors but i'll probably be changing my update days around a little bit. The next update will be Why I'd do it all Again but probably not until towards the end of this week.

Sorry but at least you're getting a heads up, right? lol
16



Plan B








When AJ finally let the news of the explosion hit him, he dropped to his knees. It didn’t seem real. Things like this weren’t supposed to happen. They tried to assure him that Stacey most likely wasn’t in the building but what were the odds of that?



He knew she was dead, he felt it. They didn’t want him to go, but he refused to stay behind. He needed to see for himself. It wasn’t until he loaded himself into the fire truck that he forgot his brother. Kevin could have been in there too.



His mind raced as he saw the dark cloud of smoke arise from just over the hill they had climbed. Traffic was nearly at a standstill as passersby stopped to look at the huge blaze that lit up the night sky.



“How could this happen?”



“AJ, she probably wasn’t there man…don’t think like that. I’m sure she’s fine and your brother too.”



He nodded, but he didn’t believe the words he heard. His brain was so cloudy he couldn’t even tell you who sputtered those words in the first place. All he could do was look ahead and focus on that huge cloud of smoke. There was already two other fire departments there battling the fire. It was a five alarm and had all the volunteers out and working.



Windows were broken out of cars as well as the neighboring buildings and just as his chief said, there was barely anything left. What used to be a five story building was no more than a huge pile or rubble.



People draped in blankets and crying were scattered everywhere, talking to police, being checked in ambulances. His eyes searched frantically for his fiancé or his brother. He didn’t see either of them. Panic settled in and he found himself running instead of helping. His team didn’t stop him though, because if it was up to them, he wouldn’t even be there.



“Kevin! Stacey!!” He yelled through all the noise, but still…there was nothing.



“I should call my dad…” his hands were shaky and he couldn’t seem to control them at all.



That’s when he lost it, he found himself on the floor, leaning against a street lamp for support as he cried uncontrollably. Unable to even attempt to help, not even wanting to do anything more than jump into the flames himself.



Just a few blocks away, the Richardson’s were in the middle of an uncomfortably quiet dinner, dad just sitting there clinking his silverware as his two sons looked on. Brian wanted so badly to talk to Nick, ask him more questions about what he had said earlier. It seemed so out of character for the young blonde to talk about affairs. It made the agent think that maybe there was more to it than just speculation.



As a matter of fact, lately it always seemed like Nicky was keeping things from him, sneaking around and never really being upfront and honest. As much as he didn’t want to think this way, he often found himself worrying about his brother succumbing to peer pressure and doing drugs or something. It was odd when he got accused of shoplifting…



He didn’t get to finish his thought because all of the sudden a huge explosion came out of nowhere. It was so loud and close that the ground actually shook as well as their windows. The three guys all sailed to the floor by instinct, and then…it was over.



“What the hell was that?” Brian said, getting up from the floor, rubbing at his shoulder.



“I don’t know…sounds like something blew up!” Nick said as Kevin senior ran to the phone to call somebody.



Brian stood up and made his way over to the front door where he found his neighbors staring outside as the huge cloud of smoke seemed to come out of nowhere. “Oh my God…” He said as his little brother joined him on the porch.



“What do you think just happened?” Nick’s voice was shaky. It was as if he was starting to realize that maybe that smoke was coming from a familiar source.



Their dad rushed by them, “Stay here!” He barked as he headed down the street in a light jog.



Brian and Nick looked at each other, before following behind their father and towards the apartment complex that housed the three Richardson’s.





~*~*~*~*~*~






When Charlie heard the explosion he wasn’t quite sure what to do. He was about three blocks away, ironically just down the street from Nick’s house when suddenly the ground shook. At first he thought it was an earthquake, until he saw the smoke. His gang of friends all looked at each other in shock especially when he heard the people on the street talking about an apartment building exploding.



“You don’t think that…I mean it wasn’t the one that…” One of his friends started but then stopped. It was as if he actually said the words, they might ring true, but Charlie already knew, they were true. That thought sent him to the ground where he lost what little he had to eat that day. What if he killed someone? What if there were people in that building when it blew up?



He looked up and saw his friends staring down at him and instantly, he felt embarrassed to lose it like that. He had to show strength and not weakness, so he stood up and wiped off his mouth, “Come on guys…we better lay low just in case.”



“So you really think that…” Once again one of them asked without really asking.



“I don’t know, but if we did, then staying around here isn’t a good idea!”



“Hey what the hell is Richardson doing here?” Charlie turned to see Nick and another guy, who most likely was his brother, running down the street towards the huge cloud of smoke.



“I have no idea, but let’s go before he sees us.” The last thing he needed was to have Richardson ID him near the scene.



Charlie led the boys off to his place, staying in the shadows and hoping that maybe he was wrong.



~*~*~*~*~




Kevin senior’s heart pounded in his chest as he got closer to the apartment building that two of his children were supposedly in right at that moment. He knew he probably should have said something to Brian at least, but there was no room for words. He had called a friend at the police station who told him what had happened and that’s when he tried the fire department.



He let out a small sigh of relief when the woman who answered the call said AJ was on duty and on his way to the fire but he was anxious when Kevin never picked up his phone. It went to his voicemail three times. “Please don’t be in the building son…please.” He said to himself when he suddenly turned around, feeling like he was being followed.



He shook his head when he saw his two children, jogging behind him, trying to keep up. He stopped and waited for them, “I thought I told you to stay home!” He directed his anger at Brian.



“Where are you going dad?” he decided to ignore the scolding and instead focus on what was going on, “What happened?”



Nick kept behind both older men, staying quiet as he stared at the smoke. Another fire engine raced past them along with two ambulances and a few police cars. “There’s been an explosion.”



“Yeah, I figured that much but where?”



When his father didn’t answer right away, Brian’s face turned pale and he started to run at full speed towards what was left of his apartment building.



“Brian, where are you going?” Nick called after his older brother as he too started to speed, but this time his father put a hand on his arm, preventing him from chasing after Brian.



“Where is he going?”



“Son…it’s his apartment building.”



“What? But…AJ and Kevin!” The sound of panic on Nick’s voice almost made Kevin senior grimace.



“AJ is okay, he’s actually there trying to put out the fire.”



“What about Kevin?”



“I don’t know…”



Nick shook lose of his father and continued to bolt up the block and around the corner where it looked as close to the end of the world as you could get. He found Brian standing there just staring in disbelief as crews of firefighters fought the fire and paramedics furiously worked on injured people all around them.



Before Brian realized what was happening, Nick darted past him and through the huge crowd of onlookers screaming Kevin’s name.



“Nicky!” Brian called but was quickly caught up in the crowd and couldn’t move.





~*~*~*~*~*~






To say that Ariana was more than a little annoyed would be the understatement of the year. She was bracing for that phone call, the one that would come from Howie’s people telling him of an explosion that killed his best friend but instead here that best friend was sitting across from her, eating pizza and laughing and joking with Howie.



“I hope you guys don’t mind that I dropped by, this place has the best pizza in town and since I was right up the block I thought I’d stop by.” He directed his question at her because she looked as if he had interrupted something.



“No, that’s fine…I’ll be right back guys.” She smiled and then winked at her husband.



In truth she was going upstairs to make a call to Jack to let him know that Kevin was still very much alive. Hopefully they got the other one though.



Once she was gone, Kevin put down his Coke, “Are you sure it’s okay I’m here? I didn’t interrupt anything did I?”



“No, we were just sitting by the fire with some wine. If we were in the middle of something I would have never let your ass in.”



Kevin laughed, “I just didn’t feel like going home…I saw Jo again.”



“Did you talk to her this time?”



“Do a few words count?”



Howie shook his head, “Kevin my man…do I need to give you a crash course on how to talk to women?”



“Apparently…shit.”



“What?”



“I forgot to put my cell phone back on when I shut it off at the pizza place.”



He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and clicked it on, “Great…”



“Did the office try to get you?”



“No, but my father did…three times.”



“That’s usually not a good thing, right?”



Kevin nodded as he listened to the first voice mail. Howie watched his friend’s expression as he listened, he didn’t like what he was seeing. “What’s wrong?”



“Oh my God.” He said, quickly putting on his jacket with one hand while holding his phone with his shoulder.



“Kevin?”



“There’s been an explosion at my building!”



“What?”



“I have to go!”



“Wait, I’ll go with you.”



Kevin nodded as he clicked off his phone, “It’s bad…”



“AJ wasn’t there was he?”



“No, he was working…but Jesus…Stacey was there.”



“I’ll be right back; I’m just going to go tell Ariana I’m leaving.” Kevin nodded in shock.





~*~*~*~*~*~




“How many times have I told you not to call me here!” Jack was annoyed as he snuck into the bathroom to talk on his phone. Hoping that Anita or her little brat wouldn’t overhear.



“You messed up!”



The anger in her voice made Jack gulp, “What are you talking about?”



“Kevin is sitting in my damned kitchen laughing it up with my husband even as we speak!”



“What? Those friggin kids…I’m going to kill them!”



“Do you think they chickened out?”



“I have no idea! But if they did, they just signed their death warrants.”



“Oh please like you were going to keep them alive anyway.”



“Has there been anything on the news?” He asked as he put on the water, pretending to take a nice long shower.



“I’m not sure, I’ll check right now.”



Howie walked into the room just as Ariana was putting on the television. He startled her, and she instantly looked over at the phone that was lying face up on her bed. “What is it baby?” She asked as calmly as possible, hoping that he wouldn’t go anywhere near that phone. She had a knife hidden in her dresser in a very secret compartment, just in case, but she hoped it would never come to that. Only if there’s no other way out.



“Babe, there’s been an explosion at Kevin’s place.”



“Oh my goodness! Thank God he was here.” She faked while inside she was happy to know those kids didn’t weasel out of their job.



“I know…AJ wasn’t there either thank God…but we’re going to go down there. He’s devastated. He thinks that AJ’s fiancé was in the building.



“Okay…well keep me updated!”



“I will…love you.” He kissed her forehead and then ran down the steps.



When she heard the front door close she walked over to the phone and picked it up, “Well the kids did it.”



“They did?”



“Yes, Howie just came up here and said that there was an explosion.”



She heard the smile forming on her lover’s lips and she was quick to take that away from him, “Apparently AJ is fine too.”



“What?”



“He wasn’t in the building…apparently all your little mongrels managed to do was take out the fiancé.”



“But we planned this out perfectly.”



“The Richardson’s always screw up our plans!” She said with disdain in her voice.



“We’ll just have to find another way.” He said, after calming himself down. To show how angry he was would just be giving her fuel and he didn’t want to do that. “I better go before Anita gets suspicious.”



“When you fuck her do you picture me?”



“Depends, do you picture me when you blow your husband?”



She hung up on him, too annoyed to deal with him and his crap. Putting her hand on her forehead she watched as the local news covered the fire on TV.





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






Nick ran towards the building at full speed, his heart racing as he saw countless amounts of people being worked on by paramedics. Lot’s of people were screaming and crying for their loved ones as gentle hands of reassurance were being placed on them. He continued on, closer to the actual building that was still burning. It looked as if it collapsed in on itself like a house of cards. “Kevin!” He screamed as he walked closer.



“You can’t go past this line son…” A fireman said as he gently placed a hand on Nick’s shoulder.



“But my brother was in there!” He tried to break free of the man’s grasp but it was no use.



“If he’s okay we’ll find him, but for now you have to step behind the yellow tape.”



“No…I have to go look.”



“Nicky Richardson?” One of the firefighters on duty said when he recognized the boy struggling to break free.



“This is AJ’s brother…he’s okay buddy.” Eric said as he bent to make eye contact with the distraught teenager.



“I know, but Kevin!”



“Come on…I’ll take you to AJ, okay?” Nick nodded as tears fell from his eyes. Now more than ever he was convinced that Kevin was dead.



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




Brian began to panic as the crowd still refused to let him through. “Brian!” He quickly turned to find Kevin standing behind him.



“Thank God!” He said grabbing his big brother in a hug as Howie and Kevin senior joined them on either side.



“Where’s Nick?” The father asked when he so no sign of the baby of the family.



“He pushed through the crowd.”



“Have you seen AJ?” Brian shook his head at his brother.



“Come on….let’s go around this way,” Kevin senior said ushering his kids and Howie off to the side and towards the crowd of police.





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




AJ felt so helpless as he sat there and watched everyone else go to work trying to find survivors in the rubble. Eventually he got up and started to help too. Maybe he would find her lying safely in a bathtub. Maybe she had time to realize the place was going down and got herself somewhere safe.



“Have you found anyone in the rubble yet? Any survivors?” He asked one of the marked volunteers.



“Not yet, but we have been pulling out some bodies. I have never seen anything like this before. What a mess.”



“I live here!”



The man looked at AJ with a look of shock on his face, “Than you should be thanking God you were working tonight man.”



He wanted to scream at that point, his grief overtaking him once again, but when he turned his head to look away his eyes caught her standing off to the side safely behind yellow tape, watching as if in a trance.



He took off towards her and when she saw him she burst into tears. “AJ!” She said as she ducked under the yellow tape and headed for her fiancé.



He threw off his hat and grabbed her in his arms, “I thought I lost you!”



“I…we needed garlic so I ran out to the market, I didn’t even put a bra on…I’m wearing my slippers. When I came back…what happened?”



He still held onto her firmly, tears of grief now quickly turning to joy, “I don’t know.”



“AJ!” he turned at the sound of Eric’s voice.



“Stacey! See? I knew she was going to be alright!”



Stacey smiled at Eric as best as she could as AJ wrapped his arms around his little brother, “Kevin! Is Kevin dead?”



“I’m sure he’s fine little guy. What are you doing here?”



“We came as soon as we heard the explosion.”



“Is dad with you?”



“Yes and Brian…I’m not sure where though. We have to find Kevin AJ!”



“I’m right here little man.” When Nick heard his big brother’s voice he jumped on him and wouldn’t let him go.



“I thought you were dead!”



“I’m okay…we’re all fine.” He said looking past AJ and at Stacey as he continued to hug his brother tightly.



“We’ve lost everything.” Brian said in shock as he watched what was left of his building burn away.



“Not what matters most though,” AJ replied once again holding tight to Stacey.



“You went to the store in bunny slippers?”



“I was too lazy to look for my shoes.”



“Thank God for your laziness and lack of garlic.”



The family all stood next to one another and held tight to each other. Thanking God for keeping them all safe.





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




“Oh what wonderful news.” Ariana said enthusiastically as she spoke on the phone to her husband. He couldn’t wait to call her and let her know that everyone was safe and sound.



“She went to buy groceries…what luck huh?”



“Yes, wow…everyone was pretty lucky…it could have been a lot worse.”



“I know… we could have lost all three of them. Even four if Brian was living at home.”



“Well, tell them I said I’m glad they are all safe and sound and I’ll see you when you get home.”



She hung up the phone and couldn’t help but laugh about this situation. How much planning went into this night, how they went to great lengths to make sure that all three of those Richardson’s would be in that house when it exploded. First Brian gets himself shot, but still at least two of them would be out of the way. But no, none of them were there. Instead, the blood of innocent victims would be on their heads.



“Not my head…this is your fault, not mine!” She yelled before falling onto the bed and screaming into a pillow.



“Guess it’s time for plan B…” She said to herself as she once again dialed her lover.