Michelle walked downstairs and opened the refrigerator door. She pulled out a can of Diet Pepsi and shut the door. She sighed and looked around the room. The house was unusually quiet and she walked down the hall and knocked on Denise’s door. When she didn’t answer, Michelle opened the door and found an empty room and a bed that wasn’t slept in.
“Must be out getting some,” Michelle chuckled. She shut the door and walked back to the kitchen. She grabbed her pop and headed back to her room. The phone rang and she picked up the cordless from the table as she walked by.
“Hello?”
“Shelle, let me talk to Dee.”
“Joey, she isn’t here,” she told him. “I thought she was with you?”
“With me? We had a fight at the club last night and she stormed out. I tried to follow her, but she disappeared.”
Michelle walked back down the stairs and strolled into the living room. In the semi-darkness of the room, she could see the red blinking light of the answering machine.
“Hold on Joey, there’s a message on the machine, it might be her.” Michelle said and pressed the ‘play’ button.
“You want the nasty ho back? I want my baby back. Fair trade Huh? Well, I think so. If Joey isn’t back in my arms by tomorrow, you’ll never see Denise again.” The tape automatically rewound and Michelle dropped the phone.
“Michelle!” Joey yelled. She heard his faint protests and picked up the phone. “Michelle!”
“Ow, Joe, my ear!”
“Sorry… what the hell happened?”
“I know where Dee is.”
“What? Where?”
“I think you’d better just come over here.”
Before she could say anything else, the line went dead. She sat down on the floor and felt tears start to form in her eyes. They slowly started to slide down her cheeks and she stared at the wall.
“This isn’t happening. Dee is over at Amber’s… or Laurie’s… or Terri’s… she’s just playing a joke on us.” She told herself in disbelief.
She was still sitting on the floor when several loud bangs on the door startled her. She stood up and walked to the front door and when she opened it, she found a very distraught Joey standing on the other side. He leaned his head against the frame of the door and looked at her.
“Shelle, where is she?”
He walked in and shut the door behind him and then placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Michelle?”
She just shook her head, unable to speak between her sobs and led Joey into the living room. Michelle pressed the ‘play’ button again and the room filled with the hateful message. Joey scrunched up his nose and curled his hands into fists.
“Bitch! I should have realized only she would be stupid enough to do something like this. I can’t believe…”
“Joey, we can’t waste time name-calling. We need to get the others over here and let them know what’s going on. I’ll call Chris and JC and you can call Lance and Justin.” She took a deep breath to calm herself before the tears started again. Joey tugged her into his arms and embraced her.
“We’ll find her Shelle, I promise.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Half an hour later, Chris ran in the door with JC and Laurie directly behind him. Michelle was sitting on the couch with Joey and looked up when she heard the door open. She stood up and flew into his arms and began to sob into his chest. He looked at his friends helplessly.
“How could this happen?” JC asked. “One of the bodyguards should have been with you guys.” Joey immediately looked guilty, making JC close his eyes and sigh. “You went out alone, didn’t you?”
“C…” Joey started.
“Dammit… when Johnny finds out, he’s going to freak out.”
“Unless we find her first.” Laurie piped up. JC looked at her like she was nuts.
“What?”
“Think about it… if we find Denise before Johnny or the press finds out she’s been kidnapped, we won’t have to worry about it.”
“But I want to press charges against…” Joey started and Laurie interrupted him.
“You can still do that. I don’t think they would be stupid enough to keep her at their house.”
“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Joey muttered.
“Joey, Laurie’s right.” Michelle said. “We just have to figure out where they would take her.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Dammit Sarah are you sure you are helping?" Shannon groaned. They had Denise's hands tied behind her back and gagged her. Denise grunted as she was dropped on her head.
"ME? What about you?" Sarah screamed and placed her hands on her hips. Denise sat up and looked at them, she rolled her eyes and stood up.
"What do you think I was doing?" Shannon said.
"She must just weigh a ton," Sarah said. A smile spread across Shannon's face while Denise managed to huff.
"Shut up. When we want your input we'll give it to you," Shannon said. She grabbed a hold of her collar and pulled her down the hallway. They opened a door to a hotel room. Sarah walked in first and flipped on the light. Shannon shoved Denise in and shut the door behind her.
"Where are we gonna hide her?" Sarah asked looking from Denise to Shannon. Shannon shrugged her shoulders and looked around the room. "How about the clothes hamper?" She suggested. She pulled Denise over to it and they lifted her up and tried to put her in it. Denise stood straight up in it and rolled her eyes at them.
"Don't think that's gonna work genius," Sarah said rolling her eyes.
Shannon pushed the hamper over sending Denise flying. Shannon walked over to the refriderator on the minibar. "What about this?"
"She might be short but not that short dumbass,' Sarah said. Sarah walked over to Denise and pulled her to her feet.
"I don’t see you with an bright ideas," Shannon said.
"The clothes hamper? No wonder Joey doesn’t want you," Sarah said.
Rage flashed through Shannon's eyes. "And like you ever got anywhere with Justin," Shannon shot back. "He saw your STD's and ran."
"Psoriasis. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Sarah growled.
"Until you start to believe it," Shannon shot back. Sarah unconsciously began to scratch her arms, then working down to her legs. She fell over into a ball on the floor and began to itch her whole body. Denise chuckled and Shannon kicked her.
"Sarah, stop that I don't wanna catch that," Shannon said.
"Urgh," Sarah growled as she continued to scratch at her legs and arms.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chris leaned back on the couch and scratched above his eyebrow, deep in thought. He looked at Michelle and then back to Joey, JC and Laurie. As he opened his mouth to speak, the door opened and Lance, Justin, Amber and Terri walked in.
“Does someone want to fill us in on what the hell is going on?” Justin demanded. “Terri and I have plans for dinner. Why did we have to come over here?”
“Denise has been kidnapped.” Michelle replied miserably. “We know who has her, we just don’t know where they’ve taken her.”
“Or where to start looking.” Joey added.
“Oh my God.” Amber groaned. “Who has her?”
“Shannon and Sarah. But there’s a stipulation. Shannon wants me back before they’ll return Dee.” Joey frowned.
"I can’t believe the nerve of them.” Terri admonished. “You’re not going to do it, are you?”
Joey looked at her and shrugged.
“Joey!” Laurie exclaimed. “You can’t be serious!”
“It’s the only way to get Denise back.” Michelle said quietly. Chris looked at her.
“Ok, I know you too well for that… what’s going on in there?” He asked, tapping her forehead lightly.
“Joey and I were discussing it before ya’ll got here. He can pretend to go back to her until we have Denise back safely.”
“I don’t know Shelle,” JC interjected. “Laurie’s idea seems to make more sense to me. We need to find Denise.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Gosh I'm hungry," Shannon said lightly banging her head against the minibar.
Denise was sitting in front of her while Sarah had spread out on the couch. Sarah groaned and sat up so that she was looking over the couch.
"You're always hungry," Sarah said. Shannon glared at her. Sarah looked from Denise to Shannon. "I don’t think he's coming."
"He will he won’t let anything happen to her," Shannon said glaring at Denise. Denise chuckled and was responded with a smack upside her head by Sarah. Sarah looked at Shannon and shook her head.
"I seriously don’t think he is," Sarah said. Denise mumbled something under her gag. Shannon sighed as she reached over and pulled the tape from Denise's mouth.
"OWWWWWW!" Denise yelled placing her hand at her mouth.
"Now what the hell were you saying?" Sarah growled.
"He's not coming," Denise said smiling.
"Yes he will. I know him," Shannon huffed. Denise chuckled and shook her head. "WHAT?"
"Did you tell him where we were?" Denise asked. Shannon looked at Sarah and shrugged her shoulders. Sarah leaned up and smacked Shannon on the head. "What the hell does she know? Nothing!" Shannon cried in defense.
Shannon stood up and yanked Denise up with her. She pulled her over to the couch and threw her on it to where she was sitting next to Sarah. Sarah turned to face Denise and grinned.
"More than you," Denise yelled.
"Right," Shannon growled. Shannon shoved Denise into a closet and walked back over to the table, Sarah glared at her.
"You know maybe she's right," Sarah said.
"Oh not you too," Shannon growled. She threw her food aside.
"All I'm saying is maybe we should at least hear her out," Sarah said. Shannon growled, She stood up and walked over to the closet. She opened it up and dragged Denise out of it.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Shannon growled in her face.
"Hello have you never seen Ransom?" Denise said sarcastically.
"Yeah that was an awesome movie," Sarah said bouncing up and down on the couch.
"What about it?" Shannon growled.
"Hello he really won’t come unless he knows I'm fine," Denise said.
Shannon looked at Sarah and shrugged her shoulders. Sarah picked up the phone and dialed Joey's number. Sarah impatiently shook her head. She hung up the phone after the seventh ring.
"He's not there," Denise said sighing.
"Where is he then?" Shannon said.
"My apartment. Hello he's where you left the damn message," Denise said.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Stop it.” Chris said and grabbed Michelle’s hand. She had been drumming her fingernails on the table beside the couch and he couldn’t take the noise anymore.
“Fine.” She replied, but didn’t remove her hand from his. Exhausted, she cradled her head against his shoulder and sighed. “I just want Dee to be back at home.”
“I know you do,” he said and lightly kissed her cheek. Everyone except Joey had left; they either had dinner plans or a previous engagement that they couldn’t miss out on. “But you have to stop fidgeting.”
“Oh look who’s talking,” Joey said sarcastically.
“Joey, don’t… we don’t need anymore tension around here.” Michelle told him, feeling herself get close to tears again.
Joey sighed and leaned back in his chair, rolling his eyes. The three of them sat there in silence and jumped when the phone rang. Michelle froze and looked over at Joey, who nodded. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before reaching for the phone.
“Hello?”
“Well! Isn’t this a surprise… when did you start answering the phone yourself?”
“You fucking bitch!” Michelle yelled. “Where is she?”
Chris whipped his head in Michelle’s direction and wrapped his arms around her tense body to try and calm her down.
“Baby,” he whispered. “We aren’t going to find out where she is if you lose your temper. Give Joey the phone.”
Michelle wordlessly passed Joey the phone, knowing he would keep his cool longer than she could. She turned around in Chris’ arms and began to cry into his shoulder.
“Where is she?” Joey asked harshly.
“She’s here,” Shannon laughed. “Here, I’ll hold the phone to her ear so you know we haven’t done anything to her… yet.”
“Joey!” Denise gasped. “I love you… I’m ok… they’ve got me at…”
“I don’t think so, bitch!” Shannon yelled and grabbed the phone from Denise. “Your precious one is fine. Do we make arrangements to get together or do Sarah and I take her even farther away?”
“Hang on a second Shannon, I’ve got another call.” Joey said and flipped over before she could say anything. “Hello?”
“Joey? It’s Lance. Amber and I just saw Sarah going into the hotel she works at. You don’t think they’d keep her there in one of the rooms, do you?”
“I…” Joey paused and looked at Chris and Michelle. “Do you guys think they would keep Dee at the hotel they work at? Lance just saw Sarah walking in.”
Chris and Michelle exchanged glances and broad smiles spread across their faces.
“Lance?” Joey said. “I’ll call you back.” Joey flipped back over to Shannon. “Shannon? When can we meet?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sarah walked into the hotel doors and made her way to the elevator. She stood impatiently as she waited for the elevator to reach the lobby. Sarah juggled the boxes of food and pushed past people leaving the elevator. She hit the button to the top floor and leaned against the wall. Once the elevator reached the top the doors swung open and Sarah walked out and down the hall to her room. She loudly banged on the door and waited for an answer.
"Dammit,'' Shannon yelled.
She heard some commotion on the other side of the door followed by profanity. The door opened and Shannon stood rubbing her arm.
"You really should ask who it is before you open the door," Sarah said.
Sarah pushed her way in and Shannon slammed the door shut. Sarah looked around the room then back at Shannon.
"What the hell happened here?"
"Dumb fuck tripped me," Shannon said pointing at Denise.
Denise looked up at both of them and smiled innocently.
"Gosh Shannon this looks bad," Sarah said. She sat the boxes on the table and began rummaging through them. Sarah popped a french fry in her mouth and looked at Shannon. "Did you call him?"
"Yeah," Shannon said proudly.
"And?" Sarah said impatiently.
"He wants to meet at the park," Shannon said.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Joey, man, are you sure you want to do this?” Justin asked.
“Do you have a better idea?” Joey growled. Justin just looked at him.
“Don’t start.” JC said. “Does everyone understand what they need to do?”
“Yeah… hide in the bushes and when they let Denise go and Joey starts walking towards her, we grab them.” Lance said.
“Good… let’s go.”
(At the park)
“There they are,” Laurie whispered.
“I don’t think Sarah is going to let Denise go until Joey is in Shannon’s arms.” Terri said.
“Probably not. But we have to wait for Joey’s signal.” Chris said and looked over at Michelle who had a murderous gleam in her eyes. “Shelle?”
“What?” She snapped in a hushed tone.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
“Dee is one of my best friends, you expect me to stay home and twiddle my thumbs?”
“Baby, you’re too close to the situation. I don’t want you to do anything that could get you hurt.”
“It’s a little late for that Chris.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Joey took a deep breath, and with a casual glance toward the bushes, he approached Shannon with a false smile on his face. She grinned when she saw him; her deep green eyes sparkled in the sunlight. Joey gently embraced her and nodded his head slightly.
“That’s the sign. Let’s go!” Lance said and the group of them emerged from the bushes.
“W-What the hell?” Sarah stuttered and inadvertently let Denise out of her grip.
Michelle ran towards Denise and hugged her tightly before leading her away from her captors. Chris followed them to a nearby bench to make sure everything was all right. Justin and Lance grabbed Sarah while Joey kept a firm hold on Shannon until JC reached them. Laurie made a call from her cell phone and the police arrived shortly after.
“You’re both under arrest for kidnapping.” One of the officers snarled and they were handcuffed.
"How could you be so stupid?" Shannon growled at Sarah. She threw her weight towards her but was yanked back by the officer.
"Me? This whole thing was your idea. You still have warped delusions about getting him back," Sarah huffed.
The officers roughly put them in the back of the squad cars. Shannon turned to look at Sarah.
"Delusions? He would have been mine if you wouldn't have let her go," Shannon growled.
"No he wouldn't have. Why can't you see that?" Sarah said rolling her eyes.
“Sarah, just shut the fuck up.” Shannon snapped.
“Hey!” The first officer scowled. “Watch the language back there.”
The group watched as the police drove away, and sighed with relief.
“You know, we’re going to have to tell Johnny.” JC sighed.
“Yeah,” Joey agreed. “But at least they got what was coming to them.” He turned to Denise. “Are you ok?”
“I-I’m fine.” She replied shakily and suddenly buried her face into his chest. “Joey, I was so scared… I didn’t know what they were going to do to me. I just… I can’t believe I’m back in your arms. I’m sorry for storming out on you last night at the club.”
“Shh, it’s ok baby.” Joey comforted and rocked her gently.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Two weeks later)
“You’re not going without me.” Chris scowled and walked over to Michelle, pulling her into his arms. “Not after what happened with Denise.”
“Oh come on, Chris, who’s going to want to kidnap me?” She rolled her eyes.
“I don’t know… some kind of crazed psycho teenybopper who thinks she can have me.”
“Chris,” Michelle laughed. “It’s not going to happen.”
“Don’t forget what Johnny said.” JC interjected and Michelle turned around to glare at him. He had a protective arm around Laurie’s shoulders and a firm grasp on one of her hands.
“Personally, I don’t mind being stuck around Lance all the time,” Amber smiled up at him.
“Doesn’t bother me either,” Laurie winked at JC.
“Me either.” Terri laughed. “Fine! I’ll stay,” Michelle huffed. “I can’t do anything anymore, just because Johnny is ‘worried’.”
“Listen,” Chris said and sat down next to his girlfriend. “If you think I’m being over protective, it’s because I love you and I get worried about you. And I’m sure that goes for the rest of the guys.”
“I know,” she sighed. “I just hate not having any freedom.”
“Shelle,” JC laughed. “Welcome to our world.”
"Hey where's Denise and Joey?" Justin asked looking around the room.
Terri shrugged her shoulders and looked at the others. There were numerous 'I don't knows' followed by shrugged shoulders.
"They couldn't have gone far," Amber said.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Joey raised his hand to Denise's face and looked deep into her hazel eyes. He smiled and leaned closer to her face. He placed his nose on hers and sighed. "Dee I love you so much."
"I love you too Joey," Denise said. Joey kissed her nose and reached for her hand, which she gladly extended to him.
He led her down the hall and opened the door to her room and let her in first. He walked in behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He lowered his head to her neck and ran his tongue along her jawline and his right hand found her waistline and slid in.
She leaned her head back against his chest and began to grind against his hand. Joey nibbled at her neck while his left hand worked its way up north.
"God, Dee, you're so wet," Joey groaned into her ear. Denise smiled and turned to face him. Joey slid his hand out of her pants. Denise stared at him, locking his gaze with hers. Denise ran he hands down his chest to the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Joey pulled her close his hard on pressed against her.
Joey pulled her shirt over her head and found that she wasn't wearing a bra. Denise quickly fumbled with the buttons on his pants. She undid them and pulled them off of him. Joey unbuttoned her pants and started to pull them off.
"Oh my God! Shut the door next time!" Chris yelled.