"I'll get it," he said, "You just sit down and relax."
I nodded in agreement as I sat back down on the couch.
I heard Brian answer the door, and let in the police officers with the recording equipment.
"You guys can set up in here if you want," Brian said, leading them to one of the sitting rooms. "My wife and I will be in the other room if you need us, and some friends of ours should be here any time now."
As if on cue, the doorbell rang, and the front door opened. In walked Kevin, AJ, Nick, and Howie.
They spotted Brian, and walked over to him.
"How are you holding up?" Kevin asked him.
"Not good. But I'm really worried about Kristyn. She's barely said two words. She just sits there and stares off into space. Can you guys please handle things with the policemen? I'd like to go sit with her for awhile."
"No problem, man," AJ said, and patted Brian on the back. "We'll be with the police dudes if you need us."
"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it," Brian said, walking over to the couch where I was sitting.
He sat down beside me and took my hand.
"Kristyn?"
I didn't answer.
"Kristyn, please look at me," Brian said in a pleading voice.
I looked at his wavy face, which was caused by my tear-filled eyes.
"Kristyn, Sweetie, it's gonna be okay. We're going to get her back."
"I know. I'm just so scared. I mean, what happens if we don't? Huh? What then?"
"We will, I promise," Brian said in a quiet, soothing voice.
All the force of what had transpired hit me just then, and I broke down crying like a baby. Brian wrapped his arms around me, and we sat there for what felt like an eternity, crying together. Our silent reverie was broken by the sound of the phone ringing. Everyone in the house stopped what they were doing, and turned to look at it. Brian looked at me, and I silently asked him to answer it. He nodded, and got up to pick up the phone.
"Now, try to keep the person on the phone for at least 45 seconds. We can get a pretty good trace on them with that, if there in the local area. A one minute trace would be needed for a long-distance number, if it hasn't been re-rooted through other channels. Got that?" One of the police officers explained.
Brian nodded, and picked up the phone. "Hello?" he asked.
"I just have to say, Kara is a very beautiful girl."
"What do you want?" Brian said, after taking a deep breath.
"Money. All I want is the money. Then, you can have this pretty face back in your life. Otherwise...I guess you'll be losing your title as Pappy. That is what she calls you, isn't it?"
"You sonofabitch!"
"Yup, that's me. Always the bad one."
"I want to talk to her. I need to know that she's okay."
"Fine." There was a slight pause a then a tiny voice came on the phone.
"Pappy?"
"Kara, baby, it's gonna be all right."
"Pappy, I'm scared. This big perso-" Her voice was cut off.
"There you go. Now, I want the money. Meet me at Winter Park, next to the statue in the middle, and have the money in a bag from FAO Schwartz. I'll have the girl with me. No cops, no bugs, no wires, no guns. 36 hours from now. Be there." With that the kidnapper hung up.
Brian slowly placed the phone back into its cradle. And looked up at the guys and I. The was so much fear, pain, and sorrow written on his face, I couldn't stand it.
"Brian, baby, come here," I said, trying to control the waver in my voice. He walked over to me, and I wrapped my arms tightly around him. We both began crying again.
Mike came in the door to the house, and saw the scene that was laid out before him. He didn't want to disturb Brian, so he walked over to Kevin.
"Are you a friend of the Littrell's?" Mike asked quietly.
Kevin looked over at Mike and answered, "Yeah, I'm Brian's cousin, and I'm also in the Backstreet Boys with him. My name's Kevin."
"I'm Mike. I helped the Littrell's at the police station. What happened here?"
"Bri just got a call from the kidnapper. It hit him pretty hard. He talked to Kara. She said she was scared, and I could tell that just broke his heart," Kevin said in whisper, not wanting to disturb the silence that had settled over the room.
Brian pulled away from me. He walked towards the lead investigator, and asked, "What do we do? I don't have that kind of money. I can't pay him."
"Well, we're gonna surround the park, and have plain-clothed officers all around. I have people currently making a fake package to deliver, it'll have real twenties on the outside of the stack of bills, and counterfeit bills on the inside. The kidnapper won't know it until he tries to spend them. Before you hand over the money, though, you need to make sure Kara is okay. You need proof. Once you hand over the money, and get Kara back safely, walk away as quickly as you can. Once you're clear of the kidnapper, we'll have the plain-clothes officers come in and take over. Okay?"
"Yeah," Brian said quietly. He walked over to the kitchen table and sat down, placing his head in his hands. I walked over next to him, and sat down, stroking his hair. He looked up when he felt my hand on his head.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked. "I can do it if you want."
"No," Brian answered quickly, "I'll do it. I don't want you to have to do this."
"Bri, I don't want you to do this just because you don't think I can. I can do it. Just say the words, I'll do it."
"No, baby, this is something I need to do. I'm gonna do it. End of discussion."
"Fine. It's nine o'clock right now. We have until tomorrow night to get things sorted out."
"Kris, I really don't want to think about anything right now. I think I'm gonna go to sleep right now," Brian said, walking up the stairs.
"Kevin," I asked, "Do you think you can call Denise and tell her what happened? I also need you to call to venues and cancel the next couple of shows. You guys can make them up at the end of the tour if you have to, but Brian is in no condition to perform."
"Sure, no prob. Why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep. You've been up forever, and, truthfully, you look like shit," Kevin replied understandingly.
"Kay. Come wake me in a couple of hours, please," I answered, heading upstairs. "Oh, and Kevin?"
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Thanks."
Chapter Five
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