Just My Luck Ch. 4
Red and blue flashing lights pierced the night sky as darkness slowly descended upon the small, rundown hotel where Marshall Goines had been murdered earlier that afternoon. The hotel was now crawling with police and homicide detectives investigating the mysterious execution style death, none of which realized the connection between the murder and the attack of a famous celebrity earlier in the day.
“What do you have here, Brian?” Detective Jack Lewis asked as he stepped beneath the yellow tape hung outside the door and entered the small, overcrowded hotel room.
Detective Brian Segura stood up from his crouched position over a covered body and shook the fellow detective’s hand before answering his question.
“It looks like an execution style…three shots to the head and upper body. Looks like he’s been here about 4 to 6 hours. The manager found him when he hadn’t checked out this evening as he had promised to do.”
“Any id on him?” Detective Lewis asked as he lifted the edge of the sheet covering the corpse, wincing at the brutality of the fatal wounds.
“Um…yeah,” Brian answered as he lifted a plastic bag containing the victim’s opened wallet. “His name was Marshall…Marshall Goines.” Detective Lewis spun around and quickly made his way over to the man’s side and glanced over his shoulder at the plastic covered evidence.
With a slow whistle he pulled out his cell phone as he made his way toward the room’s door and quickly made a phone call after leaving the hotel room. Minutes later, he hung up and re-entered the room.
“What was that all about?” Brian asked as he carefully bagged all of the evidence before handing it over to one of the senior detectives to take to the police station for documentation.
“I was called in to investigate an attack on a young man earlier today,” Jack answered. “Your victim had an APB out on him in connection with the attack.”
“Does that mean you might have some suspects lined up?”
”No…not with this other victim.” With that said he motioned for the other man to follow him outside and for the next several minutes, he carefully disclosed the attack on the celebrity known as James Lance Bass.
“Oh…so you don’t think any of Mr. Bass’s friends could have done this?” Detective Segura asked, his eyebrows still raised in disbelief from hearing the news. His oldest daughter was a big fan of the group Nsync and he had heard all about the attack from her when her when he had called home from work earlier in the afternoon.
“No way,” Jack answered. “Their management has kept them under pretty tight security up at the hospital and I’ve heard through the grapevine that they will remain under the same for the next several days.”
Detective Segura snorted at that remark. He knew celebrities and their fickleness when it came to authority. He had definite doubts that their security would be able to keep even the tightest of reigns on anyone of the young men.
Detective Lewis seemed to be able to read the other man’s thoughts and quickly spoke up.
Listen, Brian…everyone got a pretty good scare today and what I heard was that apparently no one will be taking any undue chances.”
”Okay…okay, but I believe it when I see,” Brian replied with a small wave of his hand before trying to get back to the murder victim they had just left in the hotel room behind them.
“But…if this is the guy that was involved in the Bass attack, don’t you think it’s all over?”
“Maybe, but think about it…someone wanted Goines dead apparently and that same person is out there somewhere…possibly out for more…maybe even one of the members of Nsync.”
The statement sent the gears whirring in Segura’s mind. There were definite possibilities there and with such high profile young men involved the consequences were overwhelming.
”Then…I guess we need to look for some sort of connection between the killer, Goines, and Nsync,” Detective Segura said as both detectives moved out of the way of the stretcher bearing the body of Marshall Goines.
“Yeah…so that one of those young men don’t end up the same as him,” Jack said solemnly watching as the stretcher was loaded into the coroner’s vehicle.
“I still can’t believe that this is happening,” JC said in a bewildered tone to Chris as he drove through the darkened streets of downtown Orlando. The pair had left the hospital a short time earlier and was now on their way over to Joey’s place, then Lance’s to pick up a few things to make their hospital stay a more comfortable one.
Somehow, they had been able to convince their security team that they were needed more at the hospital than with them and this gave them a chance to talk privately.
“I know…” Chris replied, his voice dropping off. He was unsure of exactly what to say about the entire situation. What could he say…really? This type of thing was only supposed to happen on television or in the movies…to someone else…not one of his brothers and certainly not at the hands of a WEG/Nsync employee.
“If Joey hadn’t…if he hadn’t gone to the trailer when he had…” JC said in a voice that was threatening to break.
Dr. Shannon had disclosed just how close Lance had actually come to choking to death. If Joey had arrived at the trailer just five to ten minutes later, Lance would not be lying in a hospital bed…he would have been lying downstairs in the hospital’s morgue.
Chris took his eyes off the road just long enough to see that JC was staring out the window, but was not actually seeing anything…well…what he had to be seeing was probably the memory of what he, Joey and Justin had discovered when they opened Darren’s trailer door and found Lance seated in a chair, bound hand and foot with a cord wrapped tightly around his neck. Although he had not been there himself, Chris was sure that his wild imagination could not possibly equal the harshness of the reality in seeing Lance in that helpless position.
Chris reached over and put his hand on JC knee and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“They’re going to be okay, C…Joey and Lance are going to be okay,” Chris said quietly in an effort to comfort not only the distraught man seated beside him, but also himself.
JC patted Chris’s hand and gave his friend a wan smile before gazing, once again, out the passenger window.
Three figures stalked stealthily through the darkened home, being mindful of the fact that they had breached a portion of the house’s security by disabling the fuse box, but were unable to know exactly how long they would remain undisturbed in their search. They had been sent there in the hopes that they would find some connection between Lance Bass and Marshall Goines in order that it could be used to their boss’s advantage.
“Find anything to tie the two of them together, Matt?” the slightest of the three asked as he opened a drawer in one of the cabinets that lined the entertainment room.
“No…not yet,” was the quiet reply as the trio moved from the downstairs area of Lance’s home to the upstairs not knowing that they would soon be interrupted.
“I have a feeling that it was all just a fluke and not meant to happen…I mean…Goines was just penny ante…you know what I mean?” Sam, the tallest of the three said as he sifted through several drawers in one of the bureaus that he had found in the large, master bedroom.
‘”Yeah…but are you going to be the one to tell the boss that?” a quiet voice answered from the office across the hallway.
“Nope,” Matt answered.
“Didn’t think so.”
“Let’s get finished with this…I don’t like this one bit and the sooner we’re out of here the better,” Gary said quietly over his shoulder as he left the office to head down the hallway to the next room. He was extremely nervous about the whole setup. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck raising, giving him the impression that something was going to happen and it wasn’t going to be good…not good at all.
“Okay…let’s make this quick,” Chris said to JC as he opened his car door and stepped out onto Lance’s driveway. “I’m ready to get back to the hospital.”
The outside lights, or booger lights, as Lance liked to call them, illuminated the long sidewalk leading from the driveway up to the front porch of the home and both young men’s shadows played against the walk and home ahead of them.
“Sure,” JC quietly replied as he fished his key ring out of his pant pocket and followed Chris up the sidewalk to the front porch.
As JC walked, he flipped through the assortment of keys on the ring before finding the one that he needed while Chris nervously bounced on the balls of his feet in front of the door. JC smiled at Chris’s nervous movements and shook his head as he stepped in front of the door then slipped the key into the lock only to let out a small gasp in surprise when the door easily swung open.
JC looked back at Chris and gave him a look that was a mixture of mild bewilderment and shock.
“It wasn’t locked, Chris,” he said quietly.
“That’s weird,” Chris answered as he stepped closer to the front door, trying to get a look into the darkness before them without opening the door any further.
“I guess maybe Lance got into a hurry and didn’t lock the door?” Chris looked at JC and shrugged his shoulders before once again peering into the darkness before him.
“That doesn’t sound like him,” JC commented as he cautiously pushed the door open to reveal a darkened entryway.
He reached around the doorframe in search of the light switches and flipped them on, but found that nothing was happening. He stepped back and Chris reached around and found the same result when he tried the switches.
“This is too weird…I don’t think we need to go in there,” JC said slowly as he took a small step back away from the door. Maybe the entire day was catching up with him, causing his cautionary instincts to push into overdrive, but for the moment, he was unwilling to take any unnecessary chances.
Chris gazed at JC and caught the look of slight fear that was quickly replacing the look of surprise that had been on his face just moments earlier.
With a slight shake of his head and a small sigh, Chris stepped closer to JC, his mind quickly trying to come up with something to say that could possibly lighten the dark mood that had descended upon his friend. Seconds later, Chris began to speak.
“Now…JC…don’t let your imagination run away from you here,” Chris chided him with a grin on his face. “Things have been so crazy with rehearsals and all…it would be no wonder that Lance would forget to lock up at 5:00 in the morning.”
Chris couldn’t tell if his words were making any headway so on he plowed with a bit of news that was bound to help JC out. “Good grief, JC…you won’t believe this…well…knowing me, you probably will…” Chris began with a grin that was gradually growing at the memory of what he had done just that morning as he shook his head once more and looked down at his feet in near embarrassment. This would certainly cause some jokes later on if JC chose to let the others know, but…that would be okay if he could only lighten JC’s attitude.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Chris looked up and saw that JC was watching him with an expectant expression.
“Oh…I guess you want to hear what I had done this morning,” Chris said with an embarrassed grin that was probably matching the shade of pink that he could feel invading his cheeks. Luckily for him, the darkness would hide at least that display of his embarrassment.
JC nodded his head patiently and watched as Chris shook with laughter before speaking.
”Man…you should have seen me this morning. I was looking everywhere for my keys…my pants from yesterday…my dresser…the kitchen…in between the couch cushions…the bathroom…even the refrigerator, man…everywhere man!” Chris said as he wave his hands exaggeratedly.
JC couldn’t help but smile at the display before him. He knew what Chris was trying to do and it was working.
“You would never guess in a million years where I finally found them…never…never…never,” he said, shaking his head with each ‘never’ spoken.
“Where?” JC asked, with another smile spreading across his face as he tried to imagine exactly where his older friend could have possibly left his keys.
“I found my keys…get this,” Chris said as he stepped close enough to put a hand on JC’s shoulder.
“I found them outside in my front door lock this morning…now…how wacked out is that?” Chris said in a triumphant, ‘you will never beat that one,’ tone of voice and with an even bigger grin on his face.
He patted JC on the shoulder as he continued to speak in hopes that humor would continue reach through the fear that he had been seeing on JC’s face.
“Okay…I know his fuse box is in the laundry room and I’m pretty sure I can get there without breaking my neck if we go around to the other side of the house and then go in through the kitchen…alright?”
JC wiped a hand over his face and wearily laughed then nodded his head behind his hands.
“I’m sorry, Chris,” JC said, his hands muffling his voice. “I guess this whole day really has me freaked out,” JC apologized after dropping his hands only to cross them over his chest.
“Hey…I didn’t see what you and the others saw in that trailer, Jace…it’s okay…don’t worry about it,” Chris quietly replied as he wrapped an arm around JC’s shoulders. For several seconds, JC and Chris stood in that position at the doorway. Once receiving the reassurance and understanding that he so badly needed while the other unselfishly handed it out even though he was in need himself.
“Why don’t we lock this door up and head on back there,” he added as he gave JC’s shoulders one last squeeze before moving forward to shut the door as JC stepped back to give him some room…right into the strong arms of a shadowy figure.
Nurse Carol Blanchard navigated her way about the large, but very crowded hospital suite. Carefully, she walked around several cots and pull out couches that had been set out in anticipation of the many friends and family that would be spending the night with the two celebrity patients in order to reach the two hospital beds on the far side of the room.
Very quietly, the older woman opened one of the two charts in her hands and quickly poured over the information in front of her.
‘James Bass…22 years old…assault victim…vitals…stable…throat swelling…minimal…breathing…partial assistance…abrasions and cuts…covered and medicated.
Carol closed the chart and moved to the young man’s bedside. She was surprised to see a pair of very unusually colored eyes looking curiously back up at her.
“Well…hello, Mr. Bass,” she said very quietly, in an effort not to awaken the patient sleeping in the next bed. “My name is Carol and I’m your night nurse.”
Lance gave the older woman a half smile and small wave.
“I understand you need to stay quiet, Mr. Bass. You just need to answer my questions with a nod or shake of your head. Do you understand?”
Lance nodded his head and watched as the nurse pushed a few buttons on a machine that automatically began to take his blood pressure then placed a thermometer into his mouth.
“Has your throat been bothering you?” she asked as she reached for Lance’s right wrist and took his pulse.
Lance gave his head a “so-so” movement.
“If you could gauge the pain on a scale of 1 to 10 what would you give the pain…use your fingers, Mr. Bass...not your voice, please,” the nurse gently reminded him.
Lance momentarily closed his eyes as if in deep thought, then raised 7 fingers then opened his mouth for the nurse to remove the thermometer.
“Well…when I finish here, I’ll be sure to get you something to help out more with the pain,” Carol replied as she recorded the information that she had received from Lance, along with that of the machines.
“Everything looks really good, Mr. Bass. Are you having some trouble sleeping?”
Lance reached down for a small pad of paper and pen on the other side of his bed and quickly scrawled a short message before handing it over to the smiling woman.
‘I want to be awake when my parents get here.’
The nurse gave the young man a pat on the arm and bent closer to him as she spoke again.
“Wouldn’t your visit with your parents be much better if you were more rested?” she quietly asked. “I know that if you were my son, it wouldn’t matter to me if you were awake or asleep when I got here just as long as you were safe and sound. Do you understand?”
Lance nodded his head and gave the nurse small smile and mouthed the words ‘thank you’ as tears threatened to fall from the corners of his eyes. He was so very anxious for his parents to arrive. He needed their reassurance that everything would indeed be all right. The very thought of their impending arrival caused his tears to slowly track their way down his pale cheeks.
Noticing the tears, Carol reached over to the nightstand by the bed and grabbed a tissue, which she handed to the young man.
“They’ll be here soon, Mr. Bass…very soon,” Carol said as she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave it a tiny squeeze.
Lance nodded in agreement and pressed his head into his pillow. He slowly brought his left hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose in an effort to regain some control over his emotions. Carol reached for his other hand.
“Let me take care of that tissue for you, Mr. Bass.”
Lance opened his eyes and meekly handed over the tissue.
“Now…are you ready to get some rest with a little help?” she asked quietly after taking the tissue and throwing it away.
“Let me see what I can do about that too,” she replied. “Thirsty?”
After a nod of his head, the nurse poured Lance a cup of water and helped him to drink from the cup before finishing with her duties then moving over to Joey.
She made quick work of checking Joey’s vitals without his even stirring. The blood loss, in combination with the surgery and pain medications, had caused the young man to lapse into deep unconsciousness, but the doctors were certain that he would be awakening fully by the next morning once his body was given time to recover.
Carol made sure that the IV lines and oxygen tubing under Joey’s nose were all tangle free and that the gauze wrapped tightly about his right hand was not showing any signs of possible bleeding. Beneath the bandages, Joey had at least 20 surface stitches and numerous stitches deep within his hand and any signs of bleeding could possibly lead to the young man having to return to the surgical ward for repair work.
The nurse continued here quick check and was pleased when she found everything looked good. With a satisfied sigh, she took the time to look carefully at the young man’s placid features. His face was pale…his beard and mustache a stark contrast to his washed out complexion. His dark hair hung limp over his forehead and without thinking twice, the older woman gently smoothed Joey’s hair back from his forehead, again, without his seeming to even notice that he was been touched.
The nurse smiled and quickly finished her duties then turned around to see that Lance was holding up a note for her to read.
‘How is he doing? Please tell me.’
“He’s doing fine,” Carol reassured the pale young man who was looking up at her with an apprehensive expression written on his face. She gently placed a hand on his arm as she continued to explain Joey’s condition.
“He’s still unconscious due to the surgery, the blood loss and pain meds, but he’ll be waking sometime tomorrow.”
Lance held up his hand and gave her a questioning look, which the nurse understood the reasoning behind.
“You want to know what happened to his hand?” she asked.
Lance nodded his head earnestly in reply and gave the nurse an apprehensive look as if he weren’t quite sure whether or not he really wanted to know what exactly had happened to his friend’s hand.
“No one explained anything to you?”
Lance shook his head and for the next several minutes Carol quietly explained the surgical procedure that Joey had undergone using his hand as a model. Several times Lance winced at some of the descriptions, but at the same time he was grateful to finally know what Joey had gone through.
Just as Carol was finishing with her explanation, her words were interrupted when a small knock sounding on the door and an anxious looking couple cautiously entering into the room. Carol looked back down at the young man lying before her and instantly knew that he was going to be okay when she saw him mouth the words ‘Mama…Daddy,’ while losing his battle with tears once again.
Carol excused herself, letting the couple know that she would be nearby to answer any questions once they had had a chance to visit with their son, before quietly exiting the room.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes with those medications, Mr. Bass,” Carol said from the door as she watched the tearful reunion.