Chapter 13

After searching the whole city for two hours and not finding anything, both groups made their way back to the hotel hoping that the others had more luck than they did in finding Nick. Brian and Kevin were the first ones back to the hotel and they both waited for AJ, Howie, and hopefully Nick to come back. A few moments later AJ and Howie showed up alone and all four men let out a disappointed sigh when they realized no one had found Nick. They solemnly made their way up to their suite hoping like before that Nick found his way back and was waiting for them. Kevin got his key out of his pocket and opened the door and shook his head at the other three men as he looked around the room, signaling that no one else was in the suite. The three younger men silently followed Kevin into the suite, shutting the door quietly. Kevin threw himself down on the chair by the couch and stared out into space. The other three looked at him for a moment then all sat down and also escaped to a world which momentarily carried them away from their own troubles. As the sun left the sky and left the dark in its place, the four young men sat in silence, hoping somehow they would find out the whereabouts of Nick and that he would come back to them.

In the meantime

"Tom hurry up" whispered Charlie as he held the back door to the small secluded house where they were, open. "Coming Charlie. Quit being so impatient" stated Tom. As soon as Tom was clear of the door, Charlie released it and told Tom to put the package in his arms in the rear seat of the Explorer and that he would be in the house helping Adam pack some stuff they would need. Tom nodded in response and turned towards the Explorer as Charlie entered the house. He balanced the item in his arms and grabbed the door handle of the rear door and slowly opened the door to the Explorer. When the door was opened Tom laid the item on the back seat gently as he stared at it for a few moments. He looked back towards the house to see if anyone was coming out and he reached his hand out touching the object. He stared as he hoarsely whispered, "I'm so sorry this happened kid. I never thought this would turn out so bad." He took in the image of the young boy who laid motionless and was breathing shallowly in the backseat of the Explorer.

The face of the young boy was bruised and his nose bloodied. Tom had been shocked at the sight of the child moments earlier. He had lain down for a nap and when he came back, he discovered Charlie and Adam had both beat him even more. When he asked them why they simply stated that he needed to learn a lesson and they wanted to make absolutely sure he wouldn't be able to give out information about them. He remembered how he felt as the anger started to rise within in him, but he knew he had to keep his mouth shut because Charlie was now the man in charge since their "Boss" had left earlier that day. Tom was shaken out of his thoughts and turned around to meet Charlie's cold brown eyes. Charlie smirked and said, "Ready to get this job over with Tom? We dump this kid in the alley on 7th street and put Littrell's wallet in his pocket so the cops will know who to contact and then we wait at the hospital and as soon as Littrell is alone, we take him, got it?" Tom nodded in agreement as Charlie handed him Brian's wallet to put in Nick's pocket. Tom gently rolled Nick over on his side momentarily as he placed the wallet in the left pocket of his jeans and rolled him over on his back gently. He then shut the door and climbed in his seat at the front of the vehicle. Charlie then started the Explorer and they was then on their way to 7th street. By the time they reached their destination it was completely dark and the streets were almost empty.

The three men climbed out of the vehicle and opened the back door, taking out the body and laying it down on the cold, wet ground and walked away. When they reached the vehicle, Tom quietly asked Charlie why he had chosen the alley on 7th street and got the reply that at about 9:30 every night a policeman makes his rounds and checks most of the alleys and that he chose 7th street so they would have enough time to get away before the policeman came and found the body. Tom stated that was a great plan as the three men stopped and looked back at what they had left in the alley. Satisfied with the location of the body, they turned around and climbed in the Explorer driving towards the hospital to wait for their next victim.