Chapter 52
It had been ten hours since Jesse had disappeared but Richie felt like it had been forever. He hadn’t slept much…his dreams, no, his nightmares were of all the horrible possibilities that could have befallen Jesse. He hadn’t wanted to believe Jesse had simply used him and Tony and Billy had given him enough proof that she hadn’t.
Looking at his watch, he decided to kill some time by doing some shopping. Jesse would need a new cell phone and he had to find a way to keep track with what was out there about his personal life….maybe a laptop for her too. He decided to get the earrings now rather than waiting for the wedding.
Grabbing his phone and wallet, Richie left his room and headed out meeting Jon at the elevator.
“Hey, Rich? Any word from Jess?”
“Billy called earlier this morning. He found her phone smashed so the police are investigating. And Tony got a call from some female…thought she was talking to Jesse’s dad.”
“Isn’t he dead?”
“Yeah, he is. She said she had his precious daughter and demanded money.”
“So she didn’t leave you?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Where are you headed now?”
“Killing time. I’m going to go crazy if I stay in the room waiting to hear something. I couldn’t even focus on music.”
“Want some company?”
“I’d love some company.”
The two men stepped onto the elevator with one of their security. Jon watched his best friend and felt bad for him. Having a loved one kidnapped was a very real fear for them – an obsessed fan trying to get closer or just trying to get noticed.
“Do they have an idea who kidnapped her?”
“Her mother….it wasn’t related to me from what they can tell.”
“That’s a good thing, Rich.”
“Yeah, I know.” As the door opened, Richie said, “Jess wants to invite fans to the wedding in lieu of family….at least her family.”
“That’s going to pose security issues.”
“That’s what I told her too but she really wants to do it. She thought we could post it to the fan club and the first hundred who registered would be invited and from them, pick one to be one of her brides maids.”
Jon thought about what Richie had said. “She really wants to do this?”
“Yeah, she does. Jon, she’s one of the fans…and she wants to share this with them. I can understand that.”
“You know there are a lot of problems this poses….mainly pictures of your wedding being out there. We’ve always kept our private lives out of the tabloids.”
“You and I know both know that they’re going to print what they want…look at my divorce. I had thought about the pictures too and we’ll just stipulate when they register and again on the invitation that no cameras are allowed….and no cell phones.”
“How do you feel about all this?”
“I want to make her happy, Jon.”
“When are you going to send out the invitations?”
“We haven’t talked about it yet but it’s only a couple of months away. We’ll have to do it soon…especially for people to get flights and hotel rooms.”
“As soon as Jesse is back, we’ll get Obie to post it, but let’s make it a lottery. Give them a week to register and then draw two hundred names. Then from those names pick two brides maids.”
“Thanks, Jon.”
“Hey, I like the ‘Outlaw’ too,” smirked Jon.
That got a hearty laugh from Richie and they continued on with their morning out.
