There'd been no opportunity on the plane for peace and quiet once AJ had decided to acknowledge their fans. Much to the flight crew's dismay, he and Howie spent most of the flight moving from row to row signing autographs and meeting starry-eyed women. Sam and Dani had been left to their own devices and spent most of next hour trying to decide whether the blond man was paying any particular attention to their little group or not. Sam was adamant that he was. "I don't know," Dani said. "It's hard to say if he's paying any more attention to us than anybody else on the plane is. Everybody's watching us! I still think he's just a tourist," she added. Sam huffed at her friend's words. "I repeat, I am trained to notice details! It is the same man!" she enunciated slowly. Dani rolled her eyes and laughed. "Sam, I know you're a terrific journalist. You're very, very good at what you do," she said, humoring her friend, "but you aren't as observant as you think. AJ was right, you know. Even Nick has picked up on things that you've missed." Sam stuck her nose in the air, an offended expression on her face. She threw her hands in the air and dropped them into her lap with an exasperated sigh. "I'd expect a comment like that from Bonehead, but not you," she said, her tone telling Dani plainly just how offended she was. "And just what is it that you think I didn't notice?"
"Look. . .," Dani began. Both women suddenly grabbed onto their seats as turbulence shook the plane for a few seconds. Sam noticed that as the Captain switched on the "fasten seat belts" sign, the flight attendant used the opportunity to end the commotion created by AJ and Howie. She motioned them to return to their seats in the back of the plane, much to the dismay of some of the other passengers. Dani's face paled and as the shaking stopped, she threw her hand over her mouth, willing herself not to throw up. An airplane bathroom was the worst place she could possibly think of to be sick. She closed her eyes briefly and dropped her hand back into her lap. "Hey," Sam said gently. "You okay?" Dani nodded without opening her eyes. "Yeah," she said, "just give me a minute. Turbulence always does that to me." Sam cocked one eyebrow as she looked skeptically at her friend. "And you doubt my powers of observation," Sam said, shaking her head. "It's not motion sickness and you know it. It's morning sickness."
When the plane finally landed in New Orleans, one of the flight attendants helped remove their carry on luggage from the overhead compartment while they waited for the other passengers to disembark. Howie, afraid that they might not be able to slip through the airport unnoticed, had arranged for airport security to escort them off the plane and to the VIP lounge. As they left the plane, a crowd of screaming fans as well as the media greeted them. "What the hell," AJ grumbled as they left the plane. "How on earth could this have gotten out?"
As the fans began crowding around and jostling the group, Sam's nervousness was obvious. Aware that airport security was a far cry from the Boys' own highly competent security team, she moved closer to Alex. He smiled reassuringly at her and, taking her bag and slinging it over his shoulder, he clasped her hand in his. "Don't worry sweetheart, happens all the time. We can handle it. Just hang on."
Dani had already linked her arm in Howie's and they were making their way slowly through the crowd. Howie and AJ were smiling and reaching out to the fans, greeting them. Later, none of them would be able to recall exactly what had happened except that the crowd suddenly surged forward around them. An overzealous fan tripped Dani in an effort to get closer to Howie. She would have fallen to the floor if she hadn't dropped the laptop she was carrying, grabbing on to Howie with both hands. Howie had steadied her and security quickly ushered them forward. Another fan grabbed Sam by her braid and pulled her backwards. AJ and a security officer freed her from the girl's grasp, but not before she heard the girl comment that she had had no idea Amanda was so old.
When they finally reached the lounge, guards were posted at the door and the four were cautioned not to leave the lounge until they were escorted onto their flight. "Wait!" Dani called after the head of security. "I dropped the laptop I was carrying when I slipped. It's very important that I find it!" she said worriedly. The man assured Dani he would take care of tracking down her property personally, and told her that someone had probably already turned it in. Dani paced back and forth as she waited. Being jostled by the crowd of fans hadn't bothered her. It wasn't the first time that she'd been in the middle of a scene like that, but she couldn't believe that she had let the laptop fall out of her hand.
Sam sank down on the couch. "I don't know how you can go through that every time you show yourself in public," she said to the other three. Dani shrugged as she continued her pacing. "Marcus and Nelson, and the others would never be so sloppy as to let something like that happen," Dani said indignantly.
"Yeah," Howie agreed. "Remind me when we get home to talk to the guys about giving the fellas a raise."
"You'll get no argument from me, Bro," AJ concurred as he squatted down in front of Sam. He rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Pretty scary, huh?" he said.
"Tell me about it," Sam said. "I'll take my chances on my own at the next airport." She winced as she rubbed the back of her head. "That girl almost snatched me bald," she complained, inwardly seething over the girl's remarks.
"We're just picking up more passengers in Houston. We won't have to change planes," AJ told her. "And Dallas is a much bigger airport. They should have better security," he said, trying to reassure her. At that moment the security head entered the lounge and approached them. He looked apologetically at Dani. "I'm sorry. We haven't been able to locate your computer yet," he told her. Dani groaned and covered her face with her hand. "Shit!" she said under her breath. "The CD was with the laptop!
The man walked quickly to the line of waiting cabs outside the airport. He hailed one and slid into the
back seat, laughing silently as he congratulated himself on the success of the little diversion he had
created. It had been a simple matter to alert the media, and thus the fans, of the impending arrival of two
of the Backstreet Boys at the New Orleans airport. The fact that the crowd had gotten a little unruly had
worked to his advantage as he managed to stay relatively close to Dorough and the web designer. When
the woman stumbled, he saw his chance to grab the laptop. And the confusion had covered his getaway
nicely. "Couldn't have worked out any better," he laughed snidely to himself. Popping the laptop open,
he smiled as he saw the CD. He inserted it into the drive and brought up the files. His expression froze
and his eyes grew cold at what he saw appear on the screen.
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