After grabbing their food, Alison and A.J. headed outside to sit under a nearby tree. The sun was still bright in the sky and the city looked beautiful.
"Beautiful day out," Alison commented, taking a small bite of a chicken nugget.
A.J. smiled at her. "Not as beautiful as you . . ."
Alison burst out laughing. She wiped her mouth off with a paper napkin. "Oh, you sugary sweet thing, you!" she joked.
Slowly, a nice rapport developed between them and Alison began to realize what a genuinely great guy he was. She'd been involved with other guys before - sometimes they hurt her and sometimes she hurt them. She was open to love because she was a poet, but well aware that often one partner ends up getting their heart broken.
A.J. was glad that finally Alison was opening up to him. They discussed poems and songs they had written at various times in their lives, and what made them happy.
"I love being warm," A.J. told her. "You know cuddling up with your special someone in front of a hot fire with lots of warm comfy blankets. Soft, melodic music in the background . . you know what I saying?"
Alison nodded. "Sounds romantic . . ." She smiled, but for the first time, glanced at her watch.
"Oh my God!" Alison exclaimed. "When did you say you had to be back?"
A.J. looked at his own watch then. His eyes bulged. "By 6:30 at the latest, which is right now!"
The couple hurriedly picked up their garbage and deposited it in a trash bin, then began a wild sprint back to their hotel. Alison took the lead, racing around a corner. A.J. was right behind her.
"Can't you keep up?" Alison shouted.
"Just run!" A.J. retorted.
They dashed down the street and slammed through the golden doors of the classy hotel. A.J. spotted Kevin, Brian and Nick standing around together in the lobby. They were glancing around anxiously. He turned back to Alison. "I think I'm in trouble . . ."
"And I think you should be! Spending all that time romancing me when you should have been doing your job!" She laughed. His face remained serious. "Hey! No worries! See ya around!" Alison told him. Then, with a soft kiss, she departed.
"Good-bye beautiful!" A.J. waved.
Kevin spotted him. He stalked toward his friend with a glare. "And where have you been?" Kevin asked. "We have an interview right now! Where's D.?"
"Sorry man, I lost track of time," A.J. told him honestly. "As for D., I've got no clue! He and Grace were heading to some seafood place."
Kevin scowled at him. Nick gave A.J. a commiserating smile. ‘Bad mood,' he mouthed. A.J. nodded and began to look around for Howie, but D. was nowhere in sight.
It was 8:50 p.m. and still no sign of Howie or Grace. There were people rushing around frantically. Denise McLean was going out of her mind with worry, and she constantly nattered to Donna and Johnny on her cell phone. Security members were trying to give instructions to the EMCA they had found to replace Grace's position. Everything was up in the air and the concert had already been delayed by almost an hour. They couldn't wait too much longer.
Brian sat in a plastic chair, gnawing insistently on his finger nails, while Lara never left his side.
"It's going to be okay. They're going to find him . . ." Lara told Brian softly.
Brian looked up at her. "What could possibly be wrong? Where could he be?"
Lara put her hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay . . ." She sighed. "It has to be . . ."
Kevin was trying to get a word in edge wise with Denise. After many unsuccessful attempts, he finally got through to her. "Donna and Johnny can't help right now!"
Denise broke her head away from the phone. "I know that," She snapped. Calming herself, she continued, "We're trying to decide what to do . . ."
Kevin nodded. "I'll see what the guys want to do . . ."
He turned and walked over to talk to A.J.. His friend looked fretful. "Kev, man, Howie's not like this," A.J. started. "He doesn't just lose track of time . . ."
Kevin sighed. "He left his cell phone in his room and no one's answering his beeper. They're checking the local hospitals and police station, but no one has been found with his id, or matching his description. We can't find Grace either . . . They've even checked all the seafood restaurants in the area . . . Could it be possible for him to-"
"No," A.J. cut him off. "You know Howie as well as I do. He would never do this to us . . . Something's wrong . . ."
Nearby, Cora sat with Nick trying to ease his mind.
"I just can't believe it!" Nick said softly. "I mean - it's D. . ." Nick turned to face Cora. "What if something's happened to him?" Nick was near tears.
Cora bit her lip. "Nick, you can't think that way. There are tons of things that could have happened. And maybe Howie will miss this concert, but we will find him. Where ever he is . . ."
"How?" Nick spat in return.
Cora swallowed. "People don't just disappear Nick. Howie's an adult. Maybe something did happen, but we will find him . . ." Cora glanced over at Lara to see that she and Brian were locked in prayer. "Do you want to pray?" Cora asked.
Nick looked at her hesitantly. "Okay . . ."
Far out of the way of anyone else, Alison and Victoria sat face to face in a corner.
"Do you think they're being at all melodramatic?" Victoria asked her friend quietly.
Alison shook her head. "They all went their separate ways for dinner and were going to meet back at the hotel at 6:15. A.J. was fifteen minutes late, he was with me, but Howie never showed up. I don't know the guy too well, only really talked to him that one night for dinner and basketball, but he seemed like a good person - kind of a sweetie. A.J. tells me he would never ever skip out on a concert. He's very reliable, doesn't like to let people down. Did you get any sense about him?"
"Do you mean did I read his aura?" Victoria rolled her eyes. "You know I don't believe in that kind of stuff Alison."
Alison glared at her friend. "The sooner you realize that you do have a gift, the sooner you can put it to use helping people."
"I don't believe in fate and you know it!" Victoria snapped. "How could I know the future if it didn't already exist?"
"I don't particularly care, Vicky," Alison replied harshly. "I've seen all the evidence I need to see to know that you have a special awareness. It may not be psychometry, but it is something, even if you won't admit it." Victoria shook her head brashly and Alison sighed. "At least tell me if you felt anything toward Grace?"
"No," Victoria said coldly. She paused. "I don't - I don't think I did . . ."
"Don't think? This is not the time for don't thinks!"Alison told her. "What if there was a car accident? Or food poisoning? Or they were mugged and beaten or mobbed? They could be-"
"Shut up!" Victoria cried. "I don't want to think about -" Her last words were cut off by a loud gasp.
Howie hustled backstage. "Get the D.J.s to warm up the crowd and get Nova on - We're almost two hours off schedule." He told Denise McLean.
"I'm aware of that Howie!" She snapped. "Where have you been?" For the first time she truly took notice of his clothing. It was messy and splattered with dry blood stains. "Oh my God! What's happened to you?"
"I'm not hurt," Howie replied.
"Where's Grace?" Andrew popped up out of nowhere.
"She's fine. I'm going to the dressing room - I need someone from wardrobe and make-up now!" He told them harshly, hurrying away to the dressing room.
The members of Nova glanced at each other before heading to the green room. Everywhere people were running about, communicating to one another through head sets. The rest of the Backstreet Boys looked to one another. Their vision was obscured by the people hurrying back and forth. Security was all over the place. The fans were near rioting because the concert was so delayed. Their screams could be heard from backstage as the D.J. began talking and mixing. Within minutes Nova would be preforming their new song.
Brian stood up and headed to their dressing room. He threw open the door to see Howie in his preforming clothes and his hair and make-up being done. Blood was being washed from his hands. Brian jumped as Kevin's voce came from behind him.
"We deserve some answers - What the hell happened?" His cousin demanded angrily.
Nick pushed through the door. "Do you have any idea how worried we were about you?"
Howie sighed. "And you had good reason to be. You do deserve answers and I promise to tell you everything after the show, but now I have to warm up if I'm going to sing at all."
"We were ten minutes away from going on without you and telling everyone you were sick!" Kevin shouted. "There are still people canvassing the city looking for you!"
Howie took a deep breathe. "Look! My adrenaline levels are so high right now, I can barely comprehend what you're saying. We have to go on - we have to preform - we can't let the fans down. Now let's go!" He said as the make-up and hair people finished silently
Although his band mates glared at him, their questions ceased as they headed for the green room.
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