Howie opened the door to the club just as John and Kevin finished their drinks. He knew the minute he saw their faces that something was wrong. He never dreamed that the conversation would lead to Kristina.

"What’s up?" he said as he hugged them both. "Why the sudden urgency to get me back into town?"

John looked at Kevin and then to the floor, evidently hoping to not be the one to explain.

"Kev?" Howie said as he pulled out a chair.

"Have a seat, ‘D’ and I’ll do my best to explain!"

Howie sat down at the table, across from John and just to the left of Kevin, as Kevin ran his hands through his hair and sighed.

"I don’t even know where to begin" Kevin said softly.

 Howie put his elbows on the table and smiled optimistically. "How about from the beginning!"

"Well, I was in town and thought I would stop by the club and hang out for a little while with your brother. So, last night I get to the club around eleven, hoping to catch this new act that is supposed to be so hot."

"Did you see her?" Howie asked excitedly. "Is she as hot as John says she is?"

Kevin looked at John and then towards Howie. "Oh, she’s hot all right!"

Smiling with obvious satisfaction Howie said, "John keeps raving about her and the fact that business has really improved. I’m going to have to meet her." He then turned to John. "What’s her name again?"

"Kris," John muttered.

"She’s off on Sundays, right?"

"Yeah, but I have her coming in tonight to perform for you" John said as he fiddled with the ring on his finger.

"Hey ‘D’, I need you to listen to what I’m about to tell you carefully."

Howie faced Kevin and waited patiently as he continued.

"When I got here last night she was already on stage. Something about her seemed oddly familiar to me so I moved closer for a better look. I knew who she was the minute I saw her eyes."

"You know her?" he asked intrigued.

"Yeah, but truth is that you know her better than I do."

"Well, who is she? Her name doesn’t ring a bell."

Both Kevin and Howie looked at John who failed to meet their eyes.

"What? Who is she and why do you two keep looking at each other like that?" Howie asked.

Kevin put his hand on Howie’s arm, hoping to soften the blow as he said, "It’s Kristina!"

"My Kristina?" he asked as he stood up, his chair sliding across the floor and landing on its side with a thud.

"Look, ‘D’, I made sure it was her before I called you. She’s changed her hair color and something else about her is different but I can’t quite put my finger on it."

"It’s not her. I know that it is not her!" he said backing away from the table. The horrified look on his face was worse than they had expected.

Kevin stood and walked towards him. "It is her, bro. When I had John ask her about our group, she freaked out. Her face lost all of its color and she ran out of the club."

Howie’s eyes were brimming with tears. "It’s not her, Kev. I know that it is not!" he said so softly that they almost didn’t hear him.

"How do you know that for sure?" John asked.

"Because the Kristina I loved is dead."

John and Kevin exchanged glances. They couldn’t believe what he was saying. They knew that he was upset over her leaving, but never expected to hear such harsh words come out of his mouth. Not him, of all people.

"I know she broke your heart, ‘D’ but that’s no reason to say she is dead."

Howie picked up his chair from off of the floor and re-positioned it before sitting. He wiped his eyes and sighed heavily. "I know that. What you two don’t know is that about two months ago my private detective located her family. After much hesitation, they agreed to talk with me. Once I got there, her mother broke down and told me that her ex-boyfriend had coerced her into returning to him."

"That’s why she left you?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, he sent word to her best friend Sarah that he would kill her family if she didn’t come back to him. She was scared and so she went back. He had promised that he wouldn’t harm her, but he did."

John looked at Kevin, a terrified look in his eyes. "Are you saying…that he…"

"Yes. He lured her back home and when she returned, he beat her so severely that she died three days later in the intensive care unit of the hospital" he said as the silent tears cascaded down his face.

Kevin put his hand on Howie’s arm. "Oh god, ‘D’. Why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t you let us help you through this?"

"I couldn’t…. I can’t. It’s something I have to deal with on my own. I just keep thinking that if I would have pushed harder for more information from her, that she…"

"That she would be alive today?" John asked.

"Yesss…" he whispered.

"That’s not true, ‘D’. As much as you want to believe that you might have been able to prevent it all, she chose not to ask you for help. Didn’t her note say something about protecting you?" Kevin said, remembering clearly the day he read the note.

"But I didn’t need protecting, she did."

"I’ll call Kris and tell her that we don’t need her tonight!" John said as he stood and began walking towards the bar.

"No, wait. I need to introduce myself to her anyway. Just let her come on in. I’ll be okay."

"Are you sure, bro? She reminds me so much of Kristina that it scares the crap out of me and that’s the last thing you need right now."

Howie laughed a little. "You scared? That’s something unusual."

"Hey, just because I did Fear Factor doesn’t mean that I wasn’t scared. You saw those big ol’ cock roaches!"

John laughed, as did Howie.

"What? Those things were freaking huge and they hissed so loud I couldn’t hear myself think!" Kevin said in his own defense.

John was still laughing as he looked at Howie and then put the phone back in its cradle.

Kevin laughed too, although inside he couldn’t help believing that in some way this girl truly was Kristina. It was a feeling that he couldn’t shake and he had every intention of being there when ‘D’ first laid eyes on her. He had to know if he saw the resemblance too.

Chapter 8        Index