Just My Luck Ch. 10
It had been nearly two days since the attacks against Lance, JC, and Chris. As far as the police were concerned, both attacks were purely separate…there were no apparent connections. That declaration would come back to haunt them eventually.
The police investigators declared Lance’s attack an open and shut case since his assailant had been found murdered within 6 hours of the start of their investigation. Marshall Goines’ murderer had not been apprehended and that was largely due to the fact that there were so few clues as to who committed the crime. Investigators had not only questioned those who worked closely with Goines, but also family members and friends, along with those who worked at the motel where the murder occurred, but they were no more closer to finding the killer than they were 48 hours ago.
Those investigators looking into JC and Chris’s attack weren’t coming any closer to finding the identities of the men who committed that crime either, causing great frustration all around. Where Lance was able to readily identify his assailant, JC and Chris were of no help whatsoever in that department. Chris had been able to give the police a sketchy, at best description of the man who had grabbed JC…his estimated height, weight, and ethnicity, but beyond that, he was lost. He had been knocked unconscious on the porch and never knew what happened beyond that point.
JC, on the other hand, had no recall whatsoever of any of the events that had occurred at Lance’s home. He remembered leaving Joey’s house and driving toward Lance’s, but his memory was a blank beyond the point when their vehicle was within a mile or two of his home…there was absolutely nothing.
Specialized techniques, such as hypnosis had been suggested in helping JC recall the lost memories, but Dr. Shannon had refused vehemently to allow it. It was his feelings that JC’s case of amnesia was a direct result of the situation that had occurred inside Lance’s home and not due to the two blows to his head. His recall had been totally consistent throughout all of his answers to the investigators while Chris’s recall was full of holes during questioning due to the fact that he had sustained such a harsh blow to his head. The investigators were never really sure if Chris’s answers to their questions were correct since they seemed to change nearly everytime they had the opportunity to visit with the young man while JC stayed with the same answers each time. As far as Dr. Shannon was concerned, JC’s mind was dealing with the horrific experience in a unique manner by protecting him from what he had endured. His mind was pushing those memories behind a locked door that only it had the key for. Rushing to bring up those memories might possibly have an adverse effect and backfire on them altogether causing JC enough mental, emotional and psychological distress that could possibly take years to get over, if at all.
So, after much haggling on the part of the police, JC’s family and Dr. Shannon, it was finally decided that JC would be given time for the memories to resurface on their own, but if more than four weeks lapsed without result, hypnosis would have to be reconsidered.
Most of their final day in the hospital had been spent resting. The boys had finally been able to convince their parents and other family members that they would be okay if they were left alone. It was Chris’s mock threats of jumping out the window if his mother fluffed his pillows one more time that finally convinced family members that they needed time to themselves. Once the room was void of family, the five young men simply grinned tiredly at each other before awkwardly climbing out of their hospital beds to head toward the couches at the far end of their suite.
“Need some help there, Joey?” Justin asked quietly as he helped Joey walk across the room while pushing his IV stand in front of him. Although he no longer needed an IV for his blood loss, he still had a bag of antibiotics being fed into his arm.
“Yeah…if you don’t mind,” Joey whispered in reply with a small smile as he held his hand against his chest. JC slowly moved down a bit on the couch that he occupied so that Joey would have room to sit.
“Man…I’m still finding sore muscles where I didn’t know I had any,” JC said with a small grimace and laugh, which was not lost on Chris, who was suffering in the same manner.
“Me too, Jace…me too. How’s your mouth feeling?” Chris asked as he tentatively reached out and barely touched the fading bruise, which covered most of JC’s lower face. The markings were definite and easy to read…a handprint left by one of the attackers…the man’s grip over JC’s mouth had been strong enough to leave the ugly marks but JC had no recall of that. Chris had told him what little he remembered happening on the porch, but his words had not helped JC in the least in being able to bring up any memories of the incident.
JC reached up and touched around his mouth. “Still kinda tender, but it’s not as bad as before,” he answered truthfully knowing that the others would be able to read him like a book if he didn’t tell the truth.
Lance snapped his fingers then held up his pad of paper so that the others could read what he had written. He was totally frustrated by the fact that he would not be able to speak to his friends or family for at least another three or four days…doctor’s orders, but he didn’t want to take the chance of ruining his voice.
“So…what happens next?” Chris read out loud for the group.
“I don’t know…we go home, maybe?” Justin quietly answered before looking at his hands resting in his lap. Joey grimaced at Justin’s quiet tone not knowing that the others with the exception of Justin, who kept his eyes cast downward, were reading his look.
Chris immediately took action before any of the others could answer Justin’s question, which continued to hang in the air.
“Nuh-uh…no way, no how am I gonna go home,” he said with a snort. “Do you guys realize what it would be like for me with five women trying to care of me? Do you?” Chris shuddered at the possible scenes that were popping up in his mind…his mom and four younger half-sisters descending upon his home…trying to nurse him back to health…trying to take away his sanity.
“I’d be ready to check into the fifth floor here…Dr. Shannon would certify me…officially. Nope…ain’t gonna happen…I can tell you that much,” Chris added with a final humph as he sat back against the couch and folded his arms across his chest.
His movements and words elicited a small giggle from JC, which gradually grew into laughter. At the same time, Joey could not contain his own giggles and he leaned his head over onto Lance’s quiet, shaking shoulders while Chris joined in with his own giggles and laughter. Justin, confused at first by the sounds coming from his friends, finally let out a small giggle or two before scooting closer to JC who lifted his left arm and allowed the younger man to slide underneath. For several minutes, the young men laughed out loud as they came up with possible scenarios that Chris would have to endure at the hands of the family until Lance’s silent laughter turned into actual noises causing all joyful sounds to disappear while sounds of Lance coughing took over, bringing the group back to harsh reality.
JC immediately stood up and ran across the room to where a pitcher of water and cups. He filled one of the cups with the icy water all the while hearing not only Lance’s strangled coughs but also Chris and Joey’s confused questions.
“Lance…drink some of this,” JC said as he trotted back over to the younger man’s side with a plastic cup of water while Chris raced from Lance’s side to the door and called out for a nurse.
With Justin’s help, Joey scooted back on the couch until his back was against the armrest then pulled Lance against him so that he was resting between his legs and leaning against his chest. He quietly stroked his free hand over Lance’s head and continued to speak in quiet tones in an effort to calm the young man who was beginning to slightly panic at the fact that breathing was not only becoming very difficult for him, but was beginning to become next to impossible.
Two nurses and Dr. Shannon entered the room seconds later and a weakened Lance was lead to his bed with Justin and the doctor on either side of him. He had barely been settled onto the bed before an oxygen mask was placed over his face and the doctor began assessing his condition.
“Take deep breaths for me Lance,” he said as he placed his stethoscope on Lance’s chest then his back before pulling the earpieces away and pushing the scope into his pocket He then placed his hands on either side of Lance’s neck and gently felt around then pulled the mask back just enough so that he could look into Lance’s throat all the while hearing the young man struggling for each breath.
“Open up wide, son…that’s it,” the doctor said in encouraging tones as he rushed to gaze into the young man’s mouth all the while hearing Lance wheezing breaths becoming shorter and more shallow.
He quickly placed the mask back over Lance’s face then helped the nurse to prop up several pillows behind Lance before gently pushing him back against them. Dr. Shannon then quickly prescribed some medications to one of the nurses who left then returned moments later. With sure movements, the nurses administered the medications and it wasn’t long before Lance was relaxed and able to breath deeply once again.
“He’s going to be okay,” the doctor said to the rest of the group as he and the nurses moved to settle Lance into a more comfortable position since he was no longer able to do so on his own. The medications were strong enough to render him into a shallow state of consciousness and that was just what he needed in order to give his body a chance to recover from the effort it had put into breathing just moments earlier.
“He’s going to be pretty much out of it for a while, but that’s okay too,” he added before turning to look at JC who was staring at Lance’s relaxed features. Lance was struggling to keep his heavily lidded eyes open but both the doctor and JC could tell that it was a battle that was going to be lost very soon.
“What happened?” the doctor asked JC who, once the action had subsided, had stationed himself on one side of Lance’s bed so that he could hold his friend’s hand.
“One minute we’re laughing about something Chris said and Lance wasn’t making any noises…honest and then he lets out a giggle or two and he couldn’t breathe anymore.” JC shook his head at the doctor in disbelief. When would this all end? When would they all be okay?
The doctor sensed the level of distress in the room and looked from one young man to the next. Joey was still seated at the couch, his complexion a shade of gray while Chris knelt on the floor at Joey’s side, one hand on his friend’s leg, the other running his own hair, causing to stand up in all directions. The doctor’s gaze then moved to Justin, who was seated on the other couch, tears silently tracing their way down his pale cheeks. JC followed the doctor’s gaze and he was saddened by what he saw. He glanced down and saw that Lance’s eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and even. He then gently placed his friend’s hand onto the surface of the bed before walking the length of the room to Justin’s couch. Justin looked up when JC stopped before him then simply held up one hand to the older man who quickly gripped it in his own before dropping to sit at his side. Justin leaned into JC’s form as his tears continued to flow.
Doctor Shannon quietly cleared his throat and motioned for the two nurses to leave the room. Once they had left, the doctor walked over to the four young men and spoke in quiet tones to them before leaving the room himself. As the door closed at his back, the doctor leaned heavily against the wall, ignoring the looks that he was receiving from the bodyguard stationed outside the room. He wiped a hand over his face then made his way toward the doctor’s lounge which he quickly entered then locked the door behind him. Silently, he walked to a nearby bench and dropped heavily down upon it’s hard surface. Dropping his head into his hands, Dr. Shannon allowed the walls holding his emotions in place to recede and he cried tears of anger at what had happened to the young men two days earlier…he cried tears of fear at what could have happened to them…he cried tears of sorrow at the innocence lost due to two violent acts.
It was much later that same evening when three figures cautiously exited the stairwell and entered into the long corridor of the VIP level of Mercy General Hospital. They had been able to bypass all safeguards due to the fact that they had someone on the inside working with them to make their plans possible and now they were well on their way to making their sinister plans come to light.
“Remember…we’re after the two we had the other night,” the tallest of the three said as they stood looking down the hallway.
“Make sure the rest are taken care of,” the smallest said as he fingered the strap of the backpack slung from his shoulders.
They knew that this venture was a great risk, but a necessary one. They had not been completely careful two nights ago when the pair of singers had walked in on them and now they had to make sure that all loose ends were tied. The young man known as Joshua Chasez could potentially be able to identify them given the opportunity and they had to make sure that he and the other young man that had been with him, Christopher Kirkpatrick, were taken out of the equation completely…by any means possible. In reality, they had no way of knowing that neither of the young men had any memory of the incident that was worthwhile to the police, but if that knowledge had been known they still more than likely would have carried out the same plans.
“Let’s make this quick,” the remaining figure said as he gave the other two a push in the direction that they were to go.
Quietly, the trio kept to the shadows along the darkened corridor before slipping into a storage room when approaching footsteps were heard. Seconds later, when the coast was clear, they left the room and continued down the deserted hallway toward their destination. At the end of the hallway, the man in front glanced around the corner and saw that one large figure was slumped over in his seat while the other was lying in an awkward position on the floor. The sight caused him to smirk and he turned and nodded at his partners. Apparently, their man on the inside had been able to take care of their main problem…Nsync’s evening bodyguards. He was to have slipped something into the bodyguards’ thermos of coffee that would cause them to become incapacitated long enough that they would be able to carry out what needed to be done.
The figure in the middle reached into his backpack and produced several syringes then gave the others two each. He was to take care of one member of the group that did not have an IV port in his hand like the other four. In order to prevent the one known as Justin Timberlake from spoiling their plans, he was going to use the old fashioned method and he quickly pulled out a leather covered stick and smacked it in the palm of his hand twice before nodding his head at the others.
Quietly, the trio slipped by the slumbering figure and entered the suite being shared by the five members of Nsync without detection. A few minutes later, one of the figures quickly exited the room and grabbed a nearby gurney and wheeled it back toward the suite. After giving the door a quick and quiet rap, it was opened and the gurney was pushed inside.
Dr. Shannon checked his watch…”humph, 3 am,” he quietly muttered to himself. He was on his way to make his final check on the boys before heading for home. Normally, he would have made this check around 10 pm, but there had been several traumas to enter the emergency room and he was needed for each one of them.
The doctor paused in the darkened hallway to get a drink from a water fountain then stopped by the nurses station to let those working there know that he was going to be back by in a few minutes to leave any necessary instructions for the boys. They were going to be released later in the day and he wanted to make sure that all of the paperwork was in order so that everything would run smoothly.
Minutes later, the doctor continued on his way to the suite. Just as he turned the final corner to make his way down the long corridor, he was met with sounds of a muffled scream along with the scuffling of a struggle. Dr. Shannon immediately began running toward the sounds, yelling at a nurse as she exited a nearby room.
“Sally…get security up here on the double!”
Without hesitation, the nurse ran to her station and phoned security while a pair of male nurses took off after the doctor after hearing his shouted instructions.
Two of the three dark figures quickly pushed the gurney into the hallway past the still unconscious body guards and were surprised to see Dr. Shannon and two other men coming to a stop just feet away.
“Don’t go anywhere with him! Stop!” the doctor shouted at the pair of men who were standing over JC’s limp form as it lay on top of the gurney.
The two men began to slowly pull the gurney away with them while the third figure came out of the suite dragging a sluggishly writhing Chris, whose mouth was gagged and his hands were bound in front of him. As soon as the lone figure saw the two large, male nurses standing nearby, he pushed Chris roughly into the nearby wall and ran toward the others.
“Leave him! Leave him!” he yelled as he passed by the confused pair and ran toward the nearby stairwell. “We’ll get them later!”
Almost on cue, the pair violently shoved JC’s gurney toward the nearby wall and, before the doctor could reach him, JC rolled off the gurney as it forcibly bounced off the wall. Limply, he fell to the floor and the doctor winced as he heard his head make contact with the carpet.
At the same time, security exited the stairwell and was able to grab the three men with the help of the doctor and nurses. It was quite a struggle for all involved, but finally, two of the men were subdued, handcuffed, and taken away while the third managed to escape into the stairwell. As security continued their search for the third attacker, Doctor Shannon, along with other arriving medical personnel quickly began assessing the five members of Nsync and their bodyguards, one of whom was slowly beginning to come around while the other remained motionless on the floor of the hallway.
“Sally, call the police and let them know what happened,” Dr. Shannon said as he knelt over JC’s still form. “Call the group’s manager, Johnny Wright…his number is in each of their files. Tell him to get up here immediately.”
Dr. Shannon smoothly pried one of JC’s closed eyelids open and flashed his penlight into the eye. He was encouraged to see that JC’s pupils quickly reacted to the intrusion of light and he performed the same task on the other eye with the same results.
Meanwhile, the two nurses hovering over Chris had gently pulled the thick medical tape encircling the young man’s head and covering his mouth as well as the tape binding his hands. One of the men quickly and carefully scanned Chris’s head for contusions while the other searched for a pinprick mark on his arms and legs.
“Dr. Shannon…we have three more in here,” one of the nurses said as he stood at the open doorway of the suite. “Looks like one of them suffered a blow to the head while the other two may have been drugged.”
At that same moment, Dr. Rajeeh Mohammad seemed to materialize out of nowhere. He had been on his way up to the VIP floor to speak with Dr. Shannon about the cases that they had just finished with downstairs when he had heard of the chaos taking place there and he rushed to see if he could be of any help.
“What do we have Ken?” he called out as he knelt down beside those who were untying a now unresponsive Chris.
“There was an attempted kidnapping…go check in the room and see how the others are. They may have been drugged.”
With a quick nod, Dr. Mohammad stood up and entered into the room and took charge of Lance, Justin and Joey’s assessments.
Several hours later Dr. Shannon, Johnny Wright, Jim and Diane Bass, Roy and Karen Chasez, Beverly Eustice, Jan Scott, and Joe, Phyllis, Steve, and Janine Fatone were seated in a conference room trying to make sense of what had happened. As those in the room quietly shared their feelings about the situation, they were joined by several investigators with the local police department and members of the local branch of the FBI. After introductions were made, the investigators were ready to lay out their plan for the group, but before they were even able to begin, Johnny stood up and interrupted.
“Before you start, we would like to have our say,” he said in a voice that did not hide the fact that he was livid. “We have sat back and allowed those investigating the attacks against the boys do their jobs and we have watched your efforts fail.”
“Now, Mr. Wright,” Detective Roger Pierce began, but he his words were quickly cut short by the angry manager.
“No…you need to listen,” he said as he leaned forward, his hands resting against the table. “Just a few, short hours ago, two of my best bodyguards were drugged and now one is in a coma…and five patients here were assaulted and two were nearly kidnapped! I think it’s time that we as parents and close friends of those young men step in and take care of them.”
Jim Bass slowly stood up and rested a hand on Johnny’s shoulder while keeping his eyes on the investigators.
“We’ve come up with a plan, gentlemen and we’d appreciate it if you would hear us out…give us the same consideration that we extended to you yesterday and the day before…please,” Jim said in an even tone of voice.
Silence reigned at the table as emotions were being barely kept in check by those who cared most for the boys. If looks could kill, the investigators who were being stared down by Beverly Eustice would have been dead many times over. She was still reeling by the fact that her son had nearly been taken from a supposedly secure location. As she sat staring at the men across from her, she felt a gentle hand snake into one of her own then squeeze firmly. Without looking she knew that Karen Chasez’s hand held hers. After reaching the hospital two hours earlier, both women had held their sons in their arms as they awakened from their drugged induced stupors. Neither of the women could comprehend the tremendous fear that their sons had gone through in knowing what was happening to them…helplessly being jerked from their beds…powerless in preventing anything from happening to themselves.
Detective Daniel Welsley glanced at the family members surrounding the table and felt compassion for them and that was what caused him to break the silence, knowing that his words would more than likely cause trouble for himself in the aftermath.
“What is your plan, Mr. Bass?”
“You can’t be serious…” Detective Preston Jamison said as he pushed his chair back away from the table.
“Cool it!” one of the FBI agents said as he placed his hand on the back of Jamison’s chair, preventing it from moving any further.
“It won’t hurt to hear them out,” he added before nodding toward Jim.
“Thank you,” Jim replied as he motioned for Joe Fatone to speak.
“The situation here nearly got out of hand this evening,” the senior Fatone began in a steady voice. “Our sons and their bodyguards, and the medical personnel taking care of them were put into a position that never should have happened.”
“We agree with that statement, Mr. Fatone,” Detective Pierce said, nodding his head.
“We realized that the best solution to the possibility of that happening again is to get our sons away from here.” Joe, Sr. then turned to Jan and nodded.
Jan quietly cleared her throat then began to speak.
“My husband’s parents had a working ranch in Deep East Texas. It’s isolated…about 30 miles in all directions from the nearest town and about a mile from the nearest neighbor. The boys don’t even know about it…well…Justin has heard about it, but I had never gone into any great detail about it’s location. I understand that Lance’s laptop was taken from his home and that it held addresses of each of their parent’s homes…their own homes…safe places…well, my place might be the next best location for them to be in.”
“Who lives at that location?” Detective Pierce asked as he pulled his legal pad toward himself and began writing down information as Jan gave it.
“No one right now. Both of my husband’s parents are deceased and Mike was their only child and he died about 3 years ago in a car accident. I’ve kept the place…I couldn’t bear to part with it and now I’m glad that I didn’t.”
“Everyone is in agreement with this arrangement?”
“Yes,” was the unanimous answer from the opposite side of the table.
The investigators looked at each other and there were several shrugged shoulders.
“Might be the best solution…location sounds good…isolated…not previously known,” one of the FBI agents offered as he glanced at what Detective Pierce had written down.
“You do realize, though, that none of you will be able to accompany the young men to this location,” Detective Welsley offered slowly, realizing that the realization of that fact might toss the suggestion out the window, but Johnny quickly spoke up.
“We had already discussed that and we’ve also come up with a way to solve that problem and the fact that we’ll have to get them there undetected.”
For the next several minutes, Johnny explained that the bodyguards would accompany the family members back to their homes, which were scattered across the US…namely the Chasez’s, the Bass’s and Randy Timberlake’s home since Lynn was still unable to leave Europe. A decoy would be disguised as JC, Lance, and Justin and would be carried by ambulance to the airport where they would be flown to Maryland, Mississippi and Tennessee. In the meantime, separate ambulances would carry decoys disguised as Joey and Chris, along with bodyguards, to their parents’ homes in Orlando. Once the decoys were in place, the boys would be flown from the hospital by helicopter directly to Texas. Granted, the flight would be long and arduous, but without their bodyguards present, a trip through the airport would not be the best thing for them to go through.
“I’ll take my flight from Orlando to Houston just as scheduled then I’ll head out to where the boys will be and take care of them,” Jan said once Johnny had had the chance to lay out the plans that had been made.
Several questions were asked, concerns were ironed out and, in the end, the plan was accepted…and, all had been said without knowing that there had been ears listening just outside the door.
“Better let Mr. Picatti know what’s going on,” janitor Ron Williams said as he left the outside of the room and headed for the stairwell at the end of the hall.