"That's where's he's been? So close?" Brian whispered.

"You'd think she'd hustle him out of the country or something, not stay in the same friggin' state." AJ muttered. "What a fruitloop."

"We don't know, remember. They didn't find anything to say that Nick was there last time. Things just looked suspicious." Kevin reminded the guys. "Nick may have never been here."

They turned to the window again and watched the officers approach the front door. They knocked and waited and knocked again.

"She's not there! They're gone!"

"Calm down, Brian, we don't know what's going on." Kevin chided.

Two officers went around to the back of the house while another one covered the window. His partner knocked again before turning the knob and swinging the door wide open. The officers hurried in, guns drawn. The guys wait anxiously, unconsciously crossing their fingers and saying silent prayers. The officers emerged eventually, gesturing to each other as they approached the unmarked car.

"She's gone." The senior officer told them. "And we are pretty sure she's the one we want." He studied the four solemn men in the car. "Can any of you identify what Mr. Carter was wearing when he was last seen?"

Brian lowered his head. "I was the last one of us to see him. I might be able to." His voice was lower than a whisper.

"Is he in there? Is he alright?" AJ demanded.

"No, sir, there is no one there, but some effects were left behind that might belong to your friend."

AJ pushed the car door open and stood on the pavement waving his arms at the men still in the car.. "What the hell are we waiting for? Let's go and then you guys can find out where she went with him!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Holy shit! This chick is a psycho!" AJ exclaimed. "Look at all this shit!"

The four men stared at the walls, plastered with the photos of their friend, in amazement.

"This goes beyond being a fan." Howie murmured.

"She's even got his old clothes." Kevin picked up a t-shirt that he recognized as once belonging to Nick, it was obviously too small for him now.

"Speaking of clothes..." One of the officers interrupted them. "Could you step into the other bedroom, please?"

Shuffling down the hall, they stopped in shock as the entered the small room. The handcuffs, ropes and chains still dangled from the bedposts. The used needles, left in Marianne's haste, lay on the bed beside a plastic grocery bag.

"Can any of you identify these?" The officer pulled out Nick's jeans, sweatshirt and shoes from within the bag and laid them on the bed.

"Oh...God...yes...those are Nick's." Brian mumbled, trying to keep his emotions in check.

"What was in the needles?" Kevin asked, as he put an arm around Brian, giving him a reassuring hug.

"They'll be tested immediately. We have to canvass the neighbours and see if they saw or heard anything. We'll search the rest of the house and find any clues we can as to the whereabouts of your friend."

"How could she have...you were just here...how could she have known...?" Howie stumbled over his words.

"She must have gotten suspicious. I'm sorry gentlemen. Officer Hannigan will return you to your hotel immediately. We'll keep you informed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marianne checked both sides of the road and behind her, before she decided to pull the car over to the side of the road. As she got out of the driver's side, she cautiously looked all around. She needed to make sure there was no one around. She'd been discovered once, no more. Only then did she open the back door to examine Nick. He hadn't made a sound since they had left their house this morning and Marianne had driven all day. Nick's complexion was waxy, his face still sheened with a light sweat. Marianne grabbed a wet wipe from the box on the floor and bathed his face gently. His breathing was a bit more normal than when they had left, she noted happily, that was a good sign and his colour was returning.

"Oh Nick," Marianne spoke softly, as if she was afraid of waking him. "You have to wake up soon." She took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I've got no idea what to do with you if you don't." She leaned down to kiss him and stopped, lost in thought. "I hope I didn't give you too much medicine." she mused outloud. "I just can't have you die this way. It's just not the way I wanted it!"