Chapter 2

The music was playing through the sound system, it sounded amazing but JC had his eyes fixed on Justin, who was beside him bobbing his head to the beat and lip syncing the lyrics.  Justin’s eyes were close so he didn’t see JC studying him.  It had been over a month since JC had talked to Chris about the private investigator but for some reason telling Justin was so much harder.

Every lyric Justin had written about Katy was telling JC that he was conflicted, angry that she left but missing her at the same time.  What side was going to come out when he told him that he was search for her best friend?  Grant it the search itself was taking longer that JC had hoped but in ordered to find out where Kim was he had to find out where she had been.  Her past was something that he knew very little about.  They had talked about some things but for the most part she just listened to him. 

Now he wished he had asked her more questions and tried to figure out more about where she was from.  It had been clear that she wasn’t a big city girl or one that care too much for the outdoors.    She was just somewhere in the middle of it all.

JC had to confess to the PI that the girl he was looking for had been involved in the incident 5 and a half months ago and that he barely knew the girl but wanted to see her again at all costs.  He even took him to the cabin to sift through the stuff left behind to look for clues to her past.  The picture in his wallet was his motivation to keep moving forward.  It was the one Katy had taken and clearly left behind for him to find.  She had left several photographs there, nothing that showed the true nature of their crime but still a risky move if the guys had pressed charges. 

JC had taken them all with him, in case the other guys changed their minds he wanted to protect Kim as much as he could.  But in doing so JC also had the time to sort through all the images in the comfort of his own home and there wasn’t a single shot of Katy and Justin together.  It was possible that there just hadn’t been any good shots, since Katy was always the one behind the camera.  But JC knew for a fact that Katy had at least once videotaped her and Justin together and there had been video stills mixed in among the photos. It worried JC a little that Katy may have planned it that way. 

But the trip to the cabin hadn’t been a total waste; parts of Kim’s past were starting to come to light.  She was a small town girl from a low income family.  Kim lived a very simple life at least until she let her friend talk her into kidnapping s boy band.  JC wasn’t sure why she had let them talk her into it but in the end he was glad they had or he would have never met her.  Now JC wanted to rescue her from whatever trouble she was in and give her all the things that he thought she deserved.  But this new information brought up another question.  Where had the girls gotten all the money from to buy a house in the middle of nowhere and get all their equipment? 

“So what do you think?” Justin asked, snapping JC back to reality. 

“It’s great man, maybe some of you best stuff yet.” JC responded, trying to hide the fact that he hadn’t been paying that much attention.  But that much was true, the new songs were great.  JC just wondered what Justin was hoping to do with them.  Did he really think releasing the record might bring Katy back to him or was this just an outlet for his feelings? 

Justin sat there looking over at JC like someone waiting for the approval of an older brother.  JC and Justin had been through a lot together that was for sure but for some reason it was so important to Justin this time that JC like his work.  But it hadn’t been lost on Justin that JC seemed a little distracted the last few times they had gotten together.

“Are you okay man?” Justin asked.  “I talked to Chris a few days ago and he asked me if I had talked to you.  I told him that I had seen you a few times but it was like there was something I was missing.  Are you and Chris hiding something?”

“No, Chris and I aren’t hiding anything.  I talked to him awhile back about something and I have been meaning to talk to you about it, but I just didn’t know where to start.”JC paused and thought about his next few words.  “You’re songs they are great, but I can’t help but think that they are about someone.”

“Is that it?  You and Chris are concerned that I am writing about Katy?” Justin questioned.  That seemed silly even to him, surely they could have talked to him about that.

“Not exactly, and I don’t want you to be mad at Chris.  I told him that I would tell you.  It’s a minor thing and I don’t want to get your hopes up.  But I hired a private investigator to track down Kim.” JC explained then braced for whatever reaction Justin was about to have.

“You hired a what?” Justin asked softly as if the information had been processed correctly.

“I hired a PI.” JC repeated.

Justin sat quietly for a second looking down at his hands.  He wasn’t mad at JC; it was just that he had hoped that it wouldn’t come to this.  The girls should have returned when their cover story was released, but they didn’t.  They he thought they would surface when the released the song and video, but they didn’t.  And yeah maybe his new album was a secret message to Katy, but by now he was starting to wonder if they would ever come back.

“Why haven’t they come back yet?” Justin asked softly.  “Did we do something wrong?”

“No, I don’t think so.  Maybe something happened that made it so they couldn’t come back regardless of what we did.” JC explained, though he wasn’t sure.  “I know it’s stupid but I have to see her again, I have to know that I tired.”

“Oh, I don’t blame you for wanting to find Kim.  I am just saying you are braver than me.  I am afraid of the reasons for why they haven’t returned, like you said what if something happened.  There are too many things that could have happened.” Justin sighed.  He wanted Katy back more than he was will to admit but there had to be a reason for her to stay away him.

Justin had known all along that Katy was hiding something and somehow he knew that she wasn’t going to stay, but he also knew that she loved him.  She wasn’t the type to hide her feeling and she was honest with him from the start about her feelings for him, climbing on his lap and just wanting to spend time with him.

“Not to change the subject, but did Lance call you?” Justin asked.  “We can deal with the other thing once you actually find Kim.  I would like to at least know if Katy is alright, beyond that we’ll have to wait and see.”

“No, why?” JC questioned.

“They want us to perform that song on the award show next month.  I guess we are up for a couple awards for the video.”  Justin explained.  That was the real reason why he had talked to Chris; Lance was having a hard time talking Chris into doing the show.  They finally got him to agree to do it if JC and Joey were both on board.  It had to be all or nothing.

“I think that is fine, but if we do it we have to do it right.  We have to make the girls proud and of course if we win we should thank them.  We wouldn’t be ‘together’ again if it weren’t for them.” JC explained.

“Of course.  I have some ideas for the performance and I talked to Chris about them.  He seemed to like them and I think the girls would love it.” Justin added.   There was a little twinkle in his eyes as he spoke, something that had been missing for so long. 

“Justin, you are really excited about this aren’t you?” JC questioned.  He leaned closer to get a better look.  Justin Timberlake was really happy about something for once.  Justin just nodded; he loved the idea of doing something great that the girls might be able to see.  If they couldn’t find them and tell them how they felt maybe they could show them.