Nowhere to Run Chapter 4
Nowhere to Run: Chapter 4
Later that afternoon they were all crammed into the small hospital room laughing as Chris’s mom straightened Chris’s blankets and fussed over him while Chris complained and fought her off as best he could without hurting his shoulder.
“MOM!” Chris exclaimed as his mother tried to fluff his pillows yet again.
“Christopher!” Beverly mocked back smiling.
“Stop that!” Chris exclaimed shooting a glare over at his three band mates as they started to laugh at him again.
“Listen young man you took years off my life yesterday, I think I am entitled to mother you a little bit, so deal with it.” She said rolling her eyes at her son and turning on the other young men in the room. “And you three aren’t helping!” She said smiling at them.
All three had the decency to look mildly sheepish, but when Chris let out a loud “HA!” the room broke out into laughter again no one hearing a knock at the door and the door opened a crack.
“Mr. Kirkpatrick?”
“Yes?” Chris asked confused and slightly startled by the sudden intruder.
“I’m Detective Davis I’m in charge of you and your friends case. If you are feeling well enough I was wondering if I could come in and talk to you, Mr. Fatone and Mr. Chasez for a few minutes? Ask a few questions? Its important that I be able to talk to you as soon as possible.”
“Uh… sure detective come on in.” Chris said struggling to sit up more with the help of Joey.
“Thank you.” The Detective said stepping in eyeing everyone in the room. “Uh… perhaps it would be better if I talk to just the 3 involved…”
“Everyone in this room is family Detective, I’m afraid they aren’t going anywhere.”
“Very well… Well I should start out by telling you that we unfortunately were not able to catch the man that threatened all of you and shot Mr. Kirkpatrick. We lost him somewhere in the back streets he obviously knew his way around. I was hoping you three would be able to give me some sort of description for now and then sometime in the next couple days at least one of you come down to the station and sit with a sketch artist. And then I just want you three in your own words to tell me what happened. Why don’t we start with you Mr. Chasez do you remember anything thing at all about what this man looked like?”
“Oh… uh… Well I never actually saw the man.” JC stammered looking uncomfortably at Chris.
“Oh. I thought all three of you had.” Detective Davis said glancing between everyone in the room.
“I arrived later than Joey and Chris.” JC said shaking his head.
“Ok… well why don’t you tell me then what happened?”
“Well… we had just left the restaurant and were joking around with each other. Chris and Joey said something to me that sort of um… stunned me for a minute and they took off. By the time I realized they weren’t standing in front of me anymore they were already a good way up the Street. When I reached the edge of the alley I saw them go into I followed and the next thing I know Chris was pushing me back out of the alley again and he was on the ground…” JC said nervously looking guiltily at Chris again. “Joey told me to run and get help and I ran back to the restaurant. After that I came back in where you guys did.”
“Ok… Well Mr. Kirkpatrick how about you go next. Why don’t we start with a description if you can?”
“It was dark so I couldn’t really see the guy clearly… he was wearing all dark clothing… and um… he had dark hair… um… about 6 feet tall I guess… I’m sorry but that’s all I remember.” Chris said helplessly.
“That’s quite alright Mr. Kirkpatrick. It is a start at least. Why don’t you tell me what you remember happening?”
“Ok… well like JC said we were goofing off, Joey and I had just made some crack to JC and took off, and we ran into a nearby alley to hide. We were standing there waiting to jump JC when he came around the corner when we heard voices at the other end of the alley. We could see two men arguing but before we could ask if everything was all right or whatever one man pulled a gun on the other and shot him. Joey and I went to run away but we knocked over a garbage can and the guy heard us and stopped us. He was sort of just staring at us for a few minutes when JC came around the corner and the guy aimed and shot…. And that’s as far as I remember.”
The Detective simply nodded as he wrote a few notes in his note pad.
“Was that other man ok?” Lynn spoke up as silence fell over the room.
“I’m sorry?” Detective Davis asked looking up sharply.
“Was that other man ok? The one that they saw shot?”
“Oh… no I’m sorry but he was dead on the scene when we found him.”
Silence filled the room yet again as its occupants processed the information.
“Ok. Mr. Fatone you’re up. Are you able to give any better description then Mr. Kirkpatrick? When we arrived on scene the man appeared to be right in front of you.”
“I’m afraid not really… he uh had a gun to my head and all I could see was him from the knees down.”
“Ok.” The Detective sighed loudly. “That is going to make things a little more difficult but not impossible… Go on.”
“Well… everything Chris and JC has said but I can go a little further I suppose. After the man shot at Chris I dropped down beside Chris, took off my jacket and pressed it to his shoulder to try and stop the blood. I yelled at JC to go get help and he ran off and as I settled into a better position the man I guess had come closer and the next thing I know the gun was resting against my forehead. He talked about how JC might have gone to get help but it would be too late because he was going to deal with Chris and me then and with JC later. He said that he never liked to leave loose ends. Um… there isn’t really much else to say. He was about to pull the trigger when JC got back with the police. He cursed and said he’d deal with all of us later.” Joey said stopping at the intake of breath from Lynn and Beverly.
“Does that mean he is going to come after them to try and…” Beverly said gripping the blanket on the hospital bed she had be absentmindedly straightening tighter.
“Not necessarily mam’m.”
“But do you think he will?”
“We really don’t know for sure. We think he is probably heading out of the country by now if he thinks these three men can identify him. But in the meantime we suggest that you hire extra security for these gentlemen. Not just Mr. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Fatone and Mr. Chasez but for…” The Detective paused to look at his notes. “Mr. Timberlake and Mr. Bass as well. Just as a precaution. We are going to put a police tag on Mr. Fatone, Mr. Kirkpatrick and Mr. Chasez for the next little while just to keep an eye on them. The more time that goes by the less likely he is to try anything. But while I don’t want to unnecessarily worry you right now more protection is better then less I think.”
“Ok. I’ll call Johnny.” Lynn said reaching for her purse to get her cell phone.
“I’m sorry Johnny?” Detective Davis asked.
“Oh that’s these boys manager, Johnny Wright. You do know who these boys are right?”
“Yes we have been informed and asked to keep this matter as quiet as possible. I can assure you that we are doing everything we can but I can really make no guarantees.”
“That’s very reassuring.” Justin muttered sarcastically under his breath, receiving a glare from his mom for it.
“Alright is there anything else you three can tell me?” Detective Davis asked nodding as everyone shook their heads. “Ok if you do remember anything or need to talk to me here is my number.” He said passing out cards to everyone in the room. “Thank you for your time.”
“Do you really think they can keep this thing quiet? I mean another man was killed?” Justin asked watching as the door slid shut after Detective Davis.
“We will just have to wait and see Justin.” Lynn said patting her son on the shoulder, then smiling to try and lighten up the mood. “Now what does everyone want for dinner?”
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Jake Sullivan sat in front of his TV watching the evening news carefully as he had done everyday for the last week. So far there had been absolutely no word on the double shooting he had committed and that fact puzzled him immensely. He had been waiting to hear any details on what the police have on him and who those three guys might have been making finding them significantly easier.
“Maybe they don’t have enough to go on…” Jake mused thoughtfully to himself shaking his head and dismissing that possibility. “That one kid was shot, Simon Tupper killed, and they saw me… they would let it go like that. Then why are they keeping it so quiet?”
“And finally in entertainment today, Justin Timberlake of the pop group Nsync has announced that for personal reasons work on his solo album is being pushed back a couple weeks, all dates will be rescheduled at that time.” The TV news anchor said, causing Jake to reach for the remote to turn off the TV stopping as a picture of five guys flashed up on the screen, recognition of three of the young men setting in. “Nsync is currently on hiatus from recording together and is expected to return with a new album sometime in the next year or so.”
Clicking off the TV as the picture disappeared and the reporters said good night Jake smiled to himself in the darkness of his apartment.
“Got ya.”