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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry about the delay. Thanks for reading!
34





What hides in the darkness…






It was dark and cold and he found himself scared to death. He never really scared easily, out of all of his brothers, he was the most fearless. Everyone thought it was Kevin who could handle just about anything that came his way and deep down, AJ knew that maybe that was also correct. But in the end, he was always the one who pulled everyone back together, the short, clumsy fireman who enjoyed making people laugh no matter what the situation.



The day after their mother died, he sat at the table with his remaining family all of them emotionless from a night of crying their eyes out. He knew he had to do something to make things better, so he cracked a joke.



“How do you catch a unique bird?” He had asked.



His brothers all looked up at him puzzled. None of them quite sure if he was just carrying on a random conversation with himself or possibly had just lost his mind. The only person at the table who ignored him was his father. He sat there as if he was a figurine, escaped from the set of House of Wax.



“What?” Brian finally asked when he knew no one else would.



“I said…how do you catch a unique bird?” That’s when he decided to make eye contact with his baby brother who was just sitting and staring into space. Nicky looked so lost and alone. “Nicky? Do you know the answer to that one?” AJ asked in a whisper, hoping that his brother would come out of whatever sad memory he might have been having just then.



When Nick finally looked over at AJ, he shrugged. It was weird for him to think back on it, but that was the moment he knew that he and his baby brother would forever have a special bond. The look in Nick’s blue eyes just had a quality in them. They begged for guidance, understanding and most importantly protection. He wasn’t sure how long he waited to finish his joke after locking that gaze with his small brother, but eventually he forced himself to smile as he stood up and pulled the boy onto his lap, “Okay I’ll let you in on the joke…the way you catch a unique bird…” He made sure to tickle Nick’s stomach as he said the punch line, “You neak up on him…get it? You neak up on him!”



Nick giggled and that made his day. He was so afraid that after all that had happened he would never hear that laugh again.



“AJ, you’re such an idiot.” Brian said, trying to hide his own smile amidst the grief he was feeling.



“I may be an idiot, but I’m a funny idiot.” He said winking at Kevin who nodded. It was a silent thank you from the brother he admired so much.



Now as he sat in the dark and cold room, staring down at his still unconscious baby brother, he tried to search his mind for another stupid joke he could share with the boy. Something, anything that might make him forget about the hell he was going through, even if only for a fleeting minute or two.



He so desperately wanted to try to wake Nick up but then again the thought of having to explain all that had happened made him think twice before doing it. Besides, Nicky needed his rest after being beaten the way he was. His grip on his brother tightened just at the mere thought of that guy hitting him.



Ariana, was another thing he couldn’t stop thinking about. How could she be involved in something like this? How long had they known her? For such a long time that she was almost part of their family. How many secrets had he shared with that woman? How many times had he let his guard down around her? The answer was simple, too many to count, which embarrassed the fireman.



A small part of him, found himself blaming Howie for all of this. Did he know what she was like? Did he overlook small clues because that was much easier than dealing with real life?



His brother stirring and letting out a soft moan brought him away from his thoughts, “Nicky?” He said softly and lovingly as he stroked his brother’s hair away from his face.



Nick slowly opened his eyes, disoriented and confused, “AJ?” His voice was gravelly as if he had a bad sore throat and hadn’t spoken for days.



“Yeah, it’s me Nicky…you’re going to be okay.”



“What?” He shifted a little which made one more moan escape his lips, “My head…what…where are we?”



AJ placed his hand on Nick’s shoulder to keep him from moving around too much. “Don’t worry about that right now, just relax, okay?”



But Nick wasn’t about to relax, as slowly his memory went to a very dark place of its own. “Oh my God…AJ we have to help them…we need to go back.” He moved away from his brother and tried his best to stand. AJ jumped up to his feet and grabbed Nick just before he went crashing back to the ground. “I’m so confused, where are we? What happened?”



As he led his brother’s body back to the carpeted floor he gently placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder, “Do you remember what happened to you?”



Nick had his eyes closed as he shook his head. “Is this some kind of weird dream? This doesn’t look like my room.”



“Who do we have to help Nicky? You said we needed to help them, who?”



Nick shook his head, “I don’t know…why do I feel like I’m floating? What’s happening?” AJ recognized this as a sign that maybe his brother was in shock. He had memories of what happened but his brain wasn’t quite ready to process them just yet.



“Nicky…”



Before he could say another word, Nick started crying, “AJ…please don’t let her be dead!” He said as he fell into his brother’s chest.



“You do remember?” AJ asked, letting out a sigh.



“He killed them because of me…AJ! We have to go find them.” Nick chocked back his sobs and moved his head away from his brother’s shoulder. “We have to help them before it’s too late.”



“Nicky, I’m sorry…”



“Why?”



“We are in a lot of trouble.”



The solemn look on his big brother’s face made Nick’s heart skip a beat. “We are?”



“Yes.”



“Where are we AJ?”



“I don’t know kiddo.”



“What do you mean you don’t know? Didn’t you bring me here?”



“No…it’s a long story. We are being kept here.”



Nick’s eyes grew wide with fear and realization. “Kept?” He asked, thinking back to the time when he was a child and had been put into this position before.



AJ nodded unsure of how much to tell his vulnerable little brother. He wanted to keep the boy as calm as possible but didn’t feel like lying to him was a good option. “What is the last thing you remember?” He decided to ask after a few minutes of thinking.



Nick looked down to the ground, searching his brain for the last real memory he had. He was having a hard time sorting out in his mind things that had actually happened with things that were too far fetched even for him and his reality. “I remember going camping with Kevin.”



The alarmed look on his brother’s face made him realize maybe that wasn’t the answer he was looking for. Didn’t they go camping? Or maybe that was some kind of dream, or… “We came home though, didn’t we?”



AJ nodded, “What about today? Do you remember what happened to you today?”



“I don’t think I want to remember.” He finally admitted as a tear trickled down his face.



AJ took a deep breath, he didn’t want to say it, but he knew he had to. “Patty…what happened to Patty?”



“He killed her. He shot her and he shot Charlie…oh my God! It’s all my fault AJ...” He said as he shook like a leaf in his brother’s arms.





~*~*~*~*~






Outside the room Ariana was listening to the conversation her brothers were having. She felt like a child with her ear up against the door, straining to hear every last word. She wanted to go in, but a part of her much preferred just listening. To be honest, she wasn’t that eager to make herself known as the bad guy once again, even though Nick already knew.



Why was she having a change of heart concerning them lately? Jack was right; she was willing to kill anyone who got in her way, even Mrs. Richardson who in some ways she looked up to as a mother. Funny that she ended up killing someone who probably would have shown her the love she yearned for all her life. Most likely if she had just taken Mrs. R aside one day and told her the story, she would have listened in the way her loving and kind nature would have allowed and then embraced her as one of her own.

Too bad she couldn’t take back the past.



She never had any intention of killing or hurting Nick though. Even when she poisoned him she knew it wasn’t enough to do very much harm. It was just a game, her way of letting him know she couldn’t be beaten.



As she listened to AJ try to explain what had happened, hearing her name mentioned a few times, Ariana decided to focus on the one person who she was doing this all for, her father. She closed her eyes and tried to picture what he would look like when he got word that his youngest son was gone…correction his two youngest sons.



He probably had no clue that AJ was missing just yet but certainly by now Stacey had tried to contact him or maybe he missed a shift. Sometime soon, someone will realize AJ is not where he is supposed to be. By now her dad was probably let onto the fact that something was wrong with Nick. Maybe Kevin had called saying he went to the house to pick his brother up but he wasn’t there. It was dark now and soon, Nick will miss his curfew. She was sure that would get the alarm bells ringing.



Then she thought briefly of Howie and the messages he had left her periodically through the day. She didn’t think it would be as hard as it was, just kind of cutting him out of her life like an old pair of worn out shoes. Yet, so many times she was tempted to give him a short call back, just one more time hearing his voice as her husband.



“How could she do this to us?” She suddenly heard Nick cry out. He sounded like a child, one who had just been told his best friend had stabbed him in the back.



“I don’t know buddy, but she won’t get away with it.”



“She’s evil AJ, we need to stop her.”



Ariana had to stop herself from going in the room and defending her actions. How dare they call her evil? They would never do that if they knew the truth! It was their father who was the real villain in all of this. That man ruined her life and the life of her mother. He ruined their lives by running out on them. How dare they call her evil? Maybe now was the best time to tell them the story. It wasn’t like either of them had anything better to do. Maybe once they heard the truth, they would go willingly with her. Maybe even help her with her plan of totally ruining her father.



She took a deep breath and unbolted the lock, letting herself into the room.



“Go away!” was heard as she entered and shut the door behind her.





~*~*~*~*~




Kevin was at a loss as to what to do. Every lead he tried to follow turned up a dead end and what was even worse was now he couldn’t find AJ. He was hoping that maybe Nick had called AJ when he failed to return his brother’s urgent message in a timely fashion. Now AJ wasn’t returning any of his calls. Finally out of desperation, Kevin decided to call the firehouse just to see if maybe AJ was there, but he had the night off.



“Something’s going on.” Brian said pacing back and forth in front of the car. They were parked by the cemetery. The final place they had hoped their youngest brother might be.



“How come AJ’s not answering his phone? I mean that’s odd isn’t it?”



“It’s not like J, he always returns his calls. Maybe he’s with Stacey.” Kevin said as he stroked his chin, trying to calm himself down.



“Maybe he is, but even still…should we brain storm, worse case scenario maybe?” Brian decided to sit on the hood of the car as he tagged off pacing privileges with his brother.



Kevin hated this game but he became a pro at it whenever his cases seemed to be hitting a dead end. Try to conjure up the worst case scenario and as a result maybe new clues or ideas would come. Things they hadn’t thought of before. “Okay, I’m thinking Nick called AJ when he couldn’t get in touch with me.”



“Yeah, me too.”



“And AJ probably went to the house to get Nick.”



“But they ran into some kind of trouble?”



“Maybe that Charlie kid?”



“AJ could handle him easily.”



“Not if he was armed. What if he had a gun?”



“Okay, let’s say he had a gun and pulled it on them…if you were a scared kid, what would your next move be?”



Brian let out a small sigh as he tried to put himself in Charlie’s shoes. “I would try to get out of the situation as quickly as possible.”



“So where would you go?”



“I would be afraid to go that far because knowing AJ is a fireman, he would easily take me down. So I’d stay close.”



“Right…”



“You think they are in the house still?”



Kevin shrugged, “We searched it really well.”



“What about Anita?”`



“I already called her; she hasn’t returned my call yet.”



“Stacey?”



“I’d hate to worry her, you know how Stacey is.” Brian nodded in agreement. “I know, but Kev…”



“I know… I’ll try her, but I don’t have her number, do you?”



“No, but I’m sure the fire station would.”



“Okay, here’s what we are going to do. Let’s go back to the Nicosia house, look at it one more time and then if we turn up nothing, we’ll track down Stacey. I’ll call Anita one more time; see if maybe she’ll meet us there.”



“Kevin, what if something bad did happen?” Brian asked innocently as they both got into the car.



“Let’s not think like that just yet, okay?” He smiled at his younger brother, but deep down inside he knew this was the beginning of another nightmare. He just hoped it wasn’t as bad as he thought it might be.





~*~*~*~*~*~




Kevin senior sensed something bad was going on as well. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but there was this eerie feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hated when he felt this way, a sense of dread overcame him. He had felt it so often when he was far away from his family, fear and panic of the unknown. On those days he would be living his other life when suddenly he just had to see them one more time, and make sure they were okay. He used to feel so helpless back then, as he watched his family from a distance, moving on with their lives without him.



His wife always looked so troubled. Jackie was the pillar of strength for her family but when no one was looking she held the weight of the world on her shoulders. Kevin was the only one who could ever tell how lost his wife was without him and he hated himself for it.



He hated himself for a lot of things which is why he never came out from the shadows to tell Jackie everything would be okay. He knew he’d be lying. He wasn’t sure why he ever came out of hiding at all. Deep down it seemed like a good idea, especially when he found out his son was in danger, but in retrospect he should have known that in the end, everyone he loved and cared about would be in danger as long as he was alive.



“You wanted to see me?” Rob, Kevin senior’s long time best friend asked as he walked into the office holding out a cup of coffee. “Shouldn’t you be home right now?”



“I can’t seem to find any of my children.” He said taking the coffee, grateful that his friend knew him so well.



“I can tell you that Kevin and Brian are together at least. What they are doing, I have no idea. Maybe they are with Howie?”



“Nope, I just came from there. Brian was there earlier…and my youngest isn’t answering his phone either.”



“He’s a teenager, he probably saw it was you and let it go to voicemail.” Rob put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “Stop worrying.”



“I can’t help it. Something isn’t right. What if it’s her again?”



Rob moved his hand away from Kevin’s shoulder and took a seat by the desk, “Why do you say that?”



“I got another note the other day.”



“Dammit Kevin, you’re supposed to let me know these things as soon as they happen!”



“Sorry, I just didn’t want to alarm you for no reason.”



“What did it say?”



“No one was safe and to watch the people I love.”



“Do you have it?”



“I already sent it to the lab and it came back clean. No fingerprints or anything else.”



“Do the boys know?”



“No…I didn’t want to tell them.”



“Don’t you think maybe it’s time? Time for them to know the real reason their father left them?”



“I don’t know Rob…”



“Kevin…they could be in danger. At least tell your three oldest kids. They deserve to know, they all do.”



“They hate me to begin with, if they knew the truth…” He paused briefly, “You’re right though…I will talk to them. Of course I have to find them first.”



Rob nodded, “Good man. You’re doing the right thing…and then we can maybe talk about witness protection again?”



Kevin looked up at his best friend, “One thing at a time…” He said as he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down.





~*~*~*~*~






Jack made his way down to the basement of Anita’s house, still steaming mad about the way Ariana had acted. How dare she give him orders and yell at him in front of those two jerks! She made him look like a fool and if it was one thing he was not, it was a fool!



He knew he should have just killed that kid when he had the chance. Now not only would he have to compete for her affection with him but with the other one too. He was sure that most likely he could sway her decision to take the fireman along with them, but Nick was another story. For some reason she wanted that kid to be a part of her life. Just like a new puppy though, he was sure that once the novelty wore off, he would be the one to have to deal with the kid’s needs.



He went to the washing machine and grabbed an old pair of jeans he had mistakenly left behind. Good thing he doubled back to get them, the less evidence he had of ever being at this house, the better when and if suspicions ever got in the way.



As he walked up the steps, he stopped short when he heard the front door open. “Anybody home?” He relaxed slightly when his girlfriend’s voice rang through the air. He was just about to come out of hiding when the doorbell rang. At that point he decided to move back down the steps and into the basement.



He heard footfalls nearing the kitchen followed by Anita’s voice. “I just got here myself but it looks like no one is home.” She said to her visitors.



“Because Nick called and left me a distressed message.” Jack bit his bottom lip when he heard Kevin’s voice.



“Really?” Now Anita sounded alarmed. The last thing he needed was for her to be anxious.



“Yeah, I don’t want to alarm you, but I just was hoping you might know where the two of them could have gone?”



“I don’t know…did you try your father’s place?”



“Yes, they aren’t there. Have you tried calling Patty recently?”



“She doesn’t have a cell phone, she always jokes that she’s the only teenager without one but I always thought they were silly.” The tone of her voice made it sound as if she had instantly regretted that decision and the moment she knew her daughter was safe, they would be heading to the first cell phone stand at the mall they could find.



“Can you let us know if you hear from her? In the meantime and I know this may sound like we are intruding, but I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind if we looked around your house.”



“What for?” She sounded defensive.



“Just to make sure we aren’t all missing something.”



“You think they might be here hiding?” She asked with a sarcastic tone. Jack could tell his girlfriend was upset.



“I know it sounds absurd, but I’ll feel better if we have a look around.” There was a long pause and Jack was hoping that Anita would hold her ground and refuse to let the men investigate.



“Fine, I have nothing to hide.” She said after a few more moments.



“Great…let’s start in the basement.” Kevin said as Jack retreated into the darkness, with one hand on his gun as the two brothers descended down the steps.