Chapter 12 – Road Trip (Part One)

Five days later – April 21, 2014 – Jackson, Mississippi

“You two. A road trip.”

Addy stared back at her husband unmoved.

“Just tell me honestly,” he said. “How much bail money do I need to plan for?”

“We'll be good,” Stephanie said, giving him a smile. “I promise.”

“Hmm,” he mumbled. “Yeah, see, that just worries me more. When you're making promises it's because you know you're doing something bad.”

“Us?” Stephanie said, linking her arm through Addy's and pulling her close. She smiled brighter. “Doing anything bad? We wouldn't.”

“Did y'all feel that?” Justin said, stopping next to Lance as he walked by them, holding his hands out and his eyes upward slightly. “That shake. Hell just froze over.”

“Don't you have an eight AM meeting with Courtney?” Stephanie said, crossing her arms over her chest. “After all, you haven't stuck your tongue down her throat yet this morning. Really don't want to miss that.”

Lance chuckled as Justin pursed his lips, throwing up his middle finger to Stephanie as he walked away.

“Where are you going that's so important?” Lance asked.

“Little Rock,” Addy said.

“And it can't wait four more days until we're doing a show in Little Rock?” he asked.

“Not that it's any of your business,” Stephanie said, “but no, it can't.”

“Addy,” Lance said, eyeing Stephanie suspiciously. “What's in Little Rock?”

“I assume a little rock or two,” Addy said, lightly shrugging. “Unless the name is totally inappropriate.”

Lance scoffed, eyeing both of them.

“I should know by now that getting the two of you together only means trouble...and sarcasm,” he said, glancing from Stephanie over to his wife. “This better not have anything to do with Abrams, Ad. We talked about this.”

Addy stayed silent. The morning of the phone call from Detective Abrams, there hadn't been a “talk” – there had been a full-fledged fight. Granted that it hadn't been any worse than some of their others they'd had over the years, but to hear the other guys talk about it, it was as if it was the ultimate showdown...especially after JC said he could hear Addy yelling from his hotel room all the way at the end of the hall.

The fight had pretty much died down by the time they got to Jackson the next day, where they met up with Lance's mom to spend a few days relaxing before Diane took off with them for the next few cities to spend time with them and help with Liam. But Lance had reminded her, in no uncertain terms, that she was not to go out and “play detective”.

What he didn't know was that she didn't intend to play.

“It doesn't,” she said with a smile. “Just going for a little girl's weekend with my best friend. I've hung around you boys for so long that Justin is starting to be a bad influence on me. You wouldn't want that, would you?”

“Let's see,” Lance said. “Bad influence from Justin, or bad influence from Stephanie? Which is worse...yep, they're pretty much equal.”

“Now, that's just insulting,” Stephanie said with a pointed finger. “I am in no way equal to Justin – I'm way better than that. Check yourself, Lance.”

“I just want to get away for a while,” Addy said. “This tour, the baby, and no offense, you boys...Lance, it's starting to get to me.”

He paused to look at her.

“I need a break,” she said. “Your mom has Liam, I'm only missing one show, and Stephanie will be gone in a week. Give me a little time to remember what a normal life is supposed to look like.”

Both girls were silent as Lance look them over. Then he sighed.

“I swear that if I get one 'do you know what your wife did' call...I'll kill you,” he said, pointing at Stephanie, “and I'll lock you up in our bedroom.”

Addy smiled at her husband as he pointed at her, knowing he was joking.

“Don't get arrested,” he continued. “And if you do get arrested...make sure there's no cameras around. They can't prove in a court of law what they can't go back in the tabloids and find.”

“There goes my Tuesday night,” Stephanie said.

“She's kidding!” Addy said with a laugh as she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her. “She's only kidding.”

“Come on, Ad, we've gotta get going,” Stephanie said. “Traffic on North 65 can be a bitch over lunchtime and I'd like to get to Little Rock before five.”

“Four days,” Addy said to Lance, as Stephanie started grasping at her arm and pulling her away. “Only four days.”

“Ninety-six hours,” Lance replied. “You girls only need ninety seconds to wreak complete havoc.”

Adeline giggled, pulling away from Stephanie's grasp, and pushing into her husband's arms as JC walked up to them.

“I love you,” she said.

“Love you too,” he said softly. “Drive safe.”

She smiled as she pulled away, and Lance watched the two of them link arms and run out of the building to their awaiting rental car.

“How many hours does it take to get from Jackson to Little Rock?” Lance asked.

“Three or four, I think,” JC said. “Why?”

“I'm coming up with a mental estimate in my head of exactly how long it's going to be until they get in trouble,” Lance said. “I give it maybe twelve hours – sixteen if the first cop lets them off with a warning.”

“Nah, Stephanie's going,” JC said. “I give it eight, ten max.”

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“Mel, order up.”

Melissa sighed, using the collar of her shirt to wipe the sweat that had dripped down her neck.

“Gina!”

As she reached the counter and grabbed for the plates that George had just dished for her table, both of them stopped short of what they were doing to look up as Victoria's voice loudly carried through the diner, followed by her body.

Startled, Gina turned from the table of customers she was serving.

“Vic?” she asked.

“Do ya see that television?” Victoria asked.

Melissa grasped the edges of the plates and pulled them off the metallic counter, glancing at George for only a moment as he angled his eyes downward before going back to what he was doing. Victoria had been on the warpath for several weeks; in fact, Mel could recall it starting around the same time she had been pulled back into her office and forced to show her the bruise. Gina got the brunt of most of Victoria's outbursts, mainly because Mel tried to keep her nose to the ground – and because Gina never could seem to keep herself out of trouble.

“Ya,” Gina said, stuffing her hands in her apron pocket. “Whatta 'bout it?”

“What's it playing?” Victoria asked.

“That lady Ellen's show,” Gina said.

“And why is it playing that?” Victoria asked.

“...'Cause I like that show?” Gina said, lifting her shoulders questioningly.

“So ya come to work to watch TV?” Victoria asked. “Is that what I pay you to do?”

“No, Vic, but...”

“There's a TV in this diner for the customers, Gina,” Victoria said. “The customers, not the employees. And most of our customers come to the diner to watch the game. So I want to see the game playin' on that TV in five seconds.”

“But Vic,” Gina said, even as Victoria began to walk away, “it's 11:30 on a Monday morning. There ain't no game playin' on TV.”

“Find one,” Victoria said gruffly.

Mel stepped aside as Victoria walked past her, looking behind her briefly before she turned back to look at Gina as she passed her.

“You know,” Gina said, holding a finger up to Melissa, “I think an armadilla musta crawled up'er butt.”

Melissa stifled a chuckle. “I think ya should find that clicker and turn that TV to any game ya can find 'fore Vic shoves an armadilla up your butt...and 'fore she hands ya your last paycheck.”

Gina huffed and Mel shook her head as she started walking again, heading toward her table.

“Here ya go,” she said to the couple awaiting their food, setting each plate in front of them. “One double with onion rings and one fried chicken special. Anything else I can get for ya folks today?”

The woman opened her mouth to speak up, but just as Mel had taken her order pad out of her apron pocket, a familiar voice caught her attention.

“The song's about true love, and finding it in all the places you never expected.”

She turned her head away, seeing Gina with the television remote in one hand out of the corner of her eye, to look up at the TV – surprised to see the dirty-blonde haired friend.

“Gina,” she said, slamming her order pad on the table and rushing over. “Hold on a sec.”

She ran to Gina's side, slowly lowering the remote from her hand as she fixated her eyes on the face on the screen.

“The song's about being a little damaged,” Lance said. “We're all a little damaged, in a way. But there's still someone out there who will love you, no matter how damaged you are.”

“Mmm, mmm,” Gina said, shaking her head slightly. “That boy is one southern fried dumplin' I could eat right up.”

Melissa stared at the screen affixed to the corner of the wall, ignoring Gina entirely.

“Lance, we appreciate you taking the time out of the tour to video chat with us and let us premiere your new video,” Ellen DeGeneres said.

“Our pleasure, Ellen,” Lance said. “Thank you.”

Before Melissa could adjust to seeing him on the television, the camera panned out on Ellen, and the huge screen behind her that she had just been using to video chat with him faded to black.

“Now, premiering for the first time on this show,” Ellen said into the camera, “the new single by NSYNC, 'Not A Bad Thing'!”

Mel felt her stomach drop.

“Oh my God, I love this song,” Gina said, grabbing for the remote again. “Ta hell with Vic, let's turn it up.”

“I can't,” Mel said, hearing the opening notes of the song coming up. “I gotta get back to work.”

She grasped the edge of her apron in her hand and walked back over to the table, snatching her order pad from it quickly. Closing her eyes to fight tears, she tried to walk as quickly towards the swinging kitchen doors as she could, when she was stopped by Gina's voice.

“Mel,” she said. “Ain't that you?”

Melissa stopped, quickly turning to look first at Gina, who held the remote in her hand with a shocked look on her face – then looking up at the television.

There, staring back at her, was a home video of her, Chris, Lance, and Addy – playing right in the middle of the first verse of the song. Smiling, laughing, making silly faces, generally goofing off together...reminding her, once again, of what she had left behind unwillingly.

“Oh God, no,” she whispered to herself, feeling a tear roll down her cheek.

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“It's goin' down, I'm yellin' timber!”

Addy smiled and shook her head as Stephanie used her elbow to nudge her, dancing animatedly in the driver's seat.

“Let's make a night, you won't remember, I'll be the one you won't forget!”

“Last time I had a night I didn't remember, I ended up sleeping with a pop star,” Addy said, aware that her friend was singing too loudly to pay any attention.

“Whooooooooooa, whooooa, whooooooooa...Addy needs to lighten up, Addy better move, Addy better dance,” Stephanie sang along with the music.

“Did you call your dad?” Addy spoke loudly over the music.

“What?” Stephanie yelled.

Addy sighed to herself, reaching over to grasp the volume button as Stephanie continued singing.

“Whoooooooooa...hey!” Stephanie yelled as soon as the volume turned down to almost a whisper. “What'd you do that for? I was kicking that song's ass!”

“Did you call your dad?” Addy asked again.

Stephanie huffed. “Can't you let loose, for even one teeny, tiny second? I'm not asking for much.”

“This is not a vacation,” Addy answered. “We have one mission, and that's not having fun or letting loose.”

“You know, you could try having fun once,” Stephanie said. “I'm pretty sure it won't make you break out in hives.”

“You could try being serious about something for once,” Addy responded. “It might hurt your brain, but I'm sure you can handle it.”

“I called my dad,” Stephanie said. “He's taking care of it, Ad. He found Paul and Catherine Weston. They live just outside Little Rock in a homey little suburb called Sherwood, Arkansas. They're living out their middle age in a three-bedroom ecru-colored house with a huge backyard and a white-picket fence and two little schnauzers named Rocko and Lucy. Happy?”

“For now,” Addy said. “Your dad seriously investigated the color of their house and their dogs' names?”

“No, I'm just pulling shit out of thin air to prove to you how ridiculously obsessed you are,” Stephanie said.

Addy sighed.

“We'll find her,” Stephanie said. “My dad promised he would work with us to do what he can, pull some strings, break a few minor laws, and help us find her. But for the next few hours, can we at least have a little fun and enjoy ourselves? Talk about something else?”

“Fine,” Addy said. “I have an idea. Let's talk about you and JC.”

“Oh God,” Stephanie said, tensing her hands against the steering wheel.

“What's going on?” Addy asked with a smile. “I may have been slightly hungover and still a little high back there in Greensboro, but I saw you and JC try to sneak away when you thought nobody was looking.”

“We were trying to save each other from the World War 3 you and Lance were declaring against each other,” Stephanie said, grinding her right hand against the wheel. “I'm still trying to figure out who was Germany.”

“You're full of crap. Lance and I may have been at each other's throats, but we never let it leave our hotel room. Aside from disturbing the entire floor with our yelling, nobody would have ever known we were fighting.”

“I never knew you could yell that loudly,” Stephanie said. “It was a proud moment, actually.”

“Talk,” Addy said, leaning in slightly towards Stephanie, as much as her seatbelt would allow. “JC. You. Now.”

Stephanie paused a moment to grind the wheel with her hand again, taking a breath.

“JC and I are...” she said. “Well...we're sort of...together.”

“Together as in, hanging out together,” Addy said, “or together as in, Stephanie spends more time in JC's bed than she does in her own?”

“The latter,” Stephanie responded. “Definitely more the latter.”

“Why didn't I know about this?”

“Well, I was going to send you an announcement, but they haven't come back from the engraver's yet,” Stephanie said.

“Hey, smartass,” Addy said. “We're supposed to be best friends. How long has this been going on?”

“I think, one or two...years...”

Addy's jaw dropped, and Stephanie quickly looked over.

“Or so,” she said, shrugging.

“Or so?”

“Since the engagement party,” Stephanie said. “I'd have told you, but you know...JC and I didn't even really know how to approach our relationship.”

“You didn't know how to approach your relationship, so you just decided to sleep together?”

“Oh yeah, you're one to talk,” Stephanie said. “I seem to remember someone who dressed up as a slutty nurse one Halloween, got drunk, and slept with her boss that she once hated.”

“Drunk is the key,” Adeline said. “Therefore it wasn't my fault, blame the alcohol.”

“Were you drunk when he knocked you up?” Stephanie said.

“You know, actually...”

Addy laughed when Stephanie rolled her eyes.

“We're not talking about me,” Addy said. “It's really your fault I ended up with Lance, anyway.”

“I liked it better when we were blaming the alcohol,” Stephanie responded.

“Is alcohol to blame for you and JC, too?”

“No,” Stephanie said, seeing the smile on her friend's face.

“You didn't have sex on our bed,” Addy said, “did you?”

“God, no,” Stephanie responded. “How classless do you think I am?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Addy said with a chuckle. “It could get pretty nasty.”

“I've suddenly decided that talking on road trips is way overrated,” Stephanie said, reaching toward the console and grabbing a CD case. “A little Jason Derulo is sure to shut you up.”

“You think you can just shut me up with my favorite singer?” Addy asked with a smile.

“I know I can,” Stephanie said, returning the smile as she popped the disc into the player.