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“What is it?” Nick shot back at her, not turning around, not slowing down, and not bothering to lower his voice. All four of them winced at the volume of the words, while Kevin gave Nick a glare Angie wouldn’t wish upon anybody. Nick turned for a moment just to give an apologetic grin, and then continued on forward, still waiting for her to answer him.
“I was wondering if you could please talk Brian into slowing down. This is too dangerous. You have GOT to make him listen!” Angie pleaded, hoping this man could get his friend to listen better than she could. Then again, as far ahead of them as Brian was getting, he might not even be able to hear them very well anymore. Not when they were whispering anyway, and no one was dumb enough to try anything above a whisper. Well, no one was dumb enough to do it again. Nick just shook his head at Angie, knowing she was right about it being dangerous, but he agreed with Brian. If he’d had his choice, he’d be sprinting down these stairs, probably out the door by now.
A crash beneath the three of them startled Kevin into stopping, Nick into cursing when he hit Kevin, and Angie into a muffled shriek when she almost toppled over Nick. Kevin was about to rush forward to see if his cousin needed any help when the unknown voice reached them.
“Who are you? And what are you doing here?” the man demanded of Brian while pointing a gun to his throat. Brian found it hard to swallow just then, wishing for all the world that Kevin and Nick would stay quiet and not give themselves away.
“I’m Brian,” he replied, hoping his unquestioning obedience would prove the smart tactic.
“What are you doing running around?” the stranger commanded for an answer, seemingly not knowing or caring who Brian was at all. A million thoughts rushed through Brian’s head then; all of them lies about why he might be running down to the lobby when no one else was in the hotel. Maybe he could play stupid, like he didn’t have a clue as to what was going on…
“I woke up in my room and realized that I had slept too late. I was late for an important appointment…” Brian suddenly remembered that he was wearing worn jean shorts and an Adidas t-shirt with sandals, “…with a friend. I haven’t seen them in a while.” Brian suppressed a sigh of relief when the gunman accepted the lie. Brian almost felt as if he was in an interview, although a rather extreme interview he admitted as he remembered the gun, when the man pelted him with yet another question.
“Seen anybody else? Above stairs or in the stairwell?” Brian just shook his head. Something about the stranger had lightened up, almost like the man had just decided that he didn’t need to kill Brian. The idea that he might have just escaped his death left Brian grateful to his Maker yet unable to speak. It appeared that the man didn’t have any other questions as he turned once again toward the door into the fifth floor, motioning for Brian to go first. Brian obeyed without a thought, his friends in the stairs forgotten for the moment.
He about collapsed when he saw the two men huddled together among the other hostages in the center of the hallway. His captor grabbed the back of his shirt to jerk him back on his feet, and then he shoved Brian forward. His first thought as he began walking was that what if they were hurt? As he came closer, that idea faded: they were both breathing evening in their sleep. Or at least they looked like they were asleep. Neither of them had any visible bruises or blood, as well. His next thought was that Angie had lied. She had seen AJ and Howie. Brian’s anger never even had a chance to build before the logical part of his mind formed a third thought. Angie had been realistic; she knew that they couldn’t have saved AJ and Howie. She probably had just wanted to get him and Kevin and Nick out and then tell the police what she knew to help the other hostages.
The gunman didn’t seem to think it mattered where Brian sat, so he decided to put Angie and the other guys out of his mind for the moment and slowly lowered himself to the floor next to AJ, hoping he didn’t look too anxious to be with the two men. His hand fell to AJ’s left shoulder and jerked back when AJ winced. His friend’s head snapped around with hostility marking his face, as if he was about to warn a threat to back off. Until that moment, AJ hadn’t even bothered to look up at the new hostage, not really caring. When he realized who was sitting next to him, tears actually started to plague his eyes.
“Brian?” AJ mouthed, not wanting to make a sound. He couldn’t believe it. He’d hoped and assumed that the others had gotten away somehow. And he’d prayed that they were safe. And now Brian was in the same boat as him and Howie; one that seemed to be sinking faster with each passing moment. His teary eyes weren’t just from the sadness that his friend wasn’t far away and out of this mess, he admitted to himself, but also from the fact that seeing Brian was a relief. He hadn’t tried to believe it, but all the while he was wondering where his bandmates were, AJ was also wondering if they weren’t already hurt. Weren’t already dead. Seeing his friend was a reassurance that Brian was indeed all right. For now.
Brian saw the shock, the sorrow, and the relief stream across AJ’s face as his tears began streaming down his cheeks. Brian felt his own eyes water up just then. Still unable to speak, he just slightly nodded back at his friend, trying his best to form a true smile. Brian knew he had failed when AJ smiled back with strained amusement and thanks. Thanks for making light of the situation with his own smile. Thanks for being alive. Feeling slightly more at peace, both men leaned back against the wall like they didn’t have a care in the world. Pretending that for one moment, all was well.
****************************
The moment he heard the door close and he realized what had just happened, Nick shoved past Kevin and darted down to the fifth floor’s landing. Kevin raced after him, too afraid to cry out for Nick to stop and wishing he could just reach the man, which was still a boy in many ways, before that man did something stupid. Kevin grabbed Nick’s arms just as he was reaching for the door handle. Spinning his younger friend around, Kevin resisted the urge to push him against the wall and smack some sense into him.
“Are you stupid? They have guns, Nick. You can’t fight that, and you’d be foolish to try. They haven’t killed Brian, but more stupid moves like that and they could. They could still kill us, too, Nick!” Kevin whispered harshly, trying to drill this information into Nick’s head. The blond man just stood there a moment, trying in vain to calm down, and then getting worked up again each time Brian crossed his thoughts. Still by the slit window of the door, Nick glanced at the people on the other side. His eyes searched for a short man, probably alone somewhere on the floor. When his gaze landed on three short, familiar men, instead of just that one, all reasoning shattered.
Angie’s fear-stricken eyes met Nick’s angry, accusing ones like a lost doe in the headlights of a car. She didn’t have to guess what he’d seen, and she didn’t need to wonder what was going through his mind at that point. Coming down on her like the predator he now seemed to be, Nick towered over Angie, using his height to every advantage to frighten her. His hands came up to meet her shoulders, giving her a hard shove against the wall. Angie was positive that she was going to have bruises.
“Nick! What the hell?” Kevin demanded in as quiet of a tone as he could, confused and shocked that Nick would act so carelessly and cruelly.
“Yeah… Angie. What the hell?” Nick spat, not even giving her a chance to respond before he went on. “Who the hell are you? Where do you get off lying to us?!” Kevin decided to change his mind about being defensive for Angie’s sake when he heard the word “lying.” He also knew that if they were going to have this discussion, it needed to be somewhere else. He walked over to stand by Nick, kindly moving his friend aside in case Nick decided to lash out at the girl. Realizing that it might not be safe in the lobby anymore, Kevin decided that they might as well head back up to their rooms. It was better than standing in the stairs or a hallway where they could be easily spotted.
Nick acted like the wounded one, as Kevin thought he would, since he was being kept from doing anything with his anger for the time being. Kevin motioned for his friend to start back up the stairs, and then he made Angie go next. He took a sidelong glance at her, wondering what the hell had pissed Nick off so much. He also felt a little bit of sorrow. That was the only reason Kevin hadn’t taken Nick’s side right away: somehow he couldn’t believe that whatever Angie had done had been to hurt them in any way. They had enough problems at the moment, and Kevin thought that Angie probably felt the same way. Did they really need another?
Unlikely Allies