Chris sliced through the water, savoring its sweet coolness, basking in the sheer power of his arms and legs as they propelled him. Sometimes he felt he would spend all his time in water if he could. In the water, it was like nothing else in the world mattered; for a while, he could forget everyone and everything. He also loved the pool on the top of the penthouse—just the right length, width, and depth, as clean as it was possible for a pool to be, and at that time, he had it all to himself.

When he had done a considerable number of laps (he didn’t bother to keep count), he hoisted himself onto the warm concrete lip to rest and get his breath. He raised his goggles to the top of his head and gently wiped his eyes and nose. While he sat there with his legs still soaking, he noticed Joey approaching him.

Since Joey was still fully dressed, Chris knew he hadn’t come for a swim. But Joey did have Chris’s cell phone with him, and his face appeared uncharacteristically serious. When Joey joined his companion, he said in a tone as grim as his expression, “Hey, Chris.”

“Hey, Joe. What are you doing with my phone?”

Crouching beside Chris, Joey informed him, “Well, I thought I’d do you a favor and help you clear some of your messages. With how much this thing’s been ringing lately and all.”

Since the guys all had easy access to one another’s phones, Chris’s only response was, “And?”

“And I thought you should hear this. Be forewarned that it’s her, and I know she’s left you a truckload of messages already. Still, I feel this one warrants your ear.”

Much as Chris dreaded hearing it, he knew it must be important if it had someone like Joey so concerned. So he said, “If you insist. Go ahead.”

Joey punched in the code for the voicemail and pressed the button for the loudspeaker so that Chris could listen, too. Sure enough, Allie’s voice floated out. This time, she sounded almost hysterical, like she tottered on the edge of a serious breakdown.

But it was what she said that hooked Chris’s attention:

“Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick, you better pick up this damn phone and talk to me! I don’t know what it’s gonna take to get through to you! If this is how it’s gonna be, if you don’t take me back, I’ll—I’ll kill myself! Do you hear me? I’ll kill myself, and if you don’t care, everyone’s gonna know about it and they’ll blame you! You understand? My death will be your fault! All—your—damn—fault!”

At the end, Joey asked softly, “What do you think of that?”

“She’s probably just bluffing,” said Chris, despite the nasty chill in his stomach. “She knows she’s losing this game with me, so she’s playing dirty. Emotional blackmail.”

Joey shook his head. “I don’t know, buddy. What if she isn’t bluffing?”

“I never knew her to be the suicidal type. Sure, she had her moody moments. She got whiny and even threw a fit now and then when things didn’t go her way. But I can’t picture her actually doing herself in.” Even so, Chris was truly taken aback.

Angry as he was with Allie, much as the thought of her disgusted him, he most certainly didn’t want her dead.

Could she mean what she had said? Could the girl make good on such a threat?

But what if it was a trap? A devilishly clever ruse to convince him to come back to her? Chris wanted nothing more to do with Allie, and yet he wanted no real harm to come to her.

He knew he wouldn’t be responsible if she did go through with it—but how understanding would the public be if they found out? This would set every tabloid in all fifty states (and beyond) on fire; that much was a given. Not only Chris’s reputation, but also the entire image of *NSYNC would be shattered.

Emotional blackmail…that puts a new twist on things! Whether she means to do it or not, that girl’s got more gall than I would have ever believed possible.

“I’m really sorry to bring this up, man,” said Joey, looking and sounding truly apologetic. “But I thought you had the right to know. I also thought you should know as soon as possible.”

Chris wished Joey hadn’t told him, and at the same time, he knew that only a true-blue friend would look out for him like this. So he meant it when he said, “It’s all right, Joey. I appreciate the ample warning.” He put out his wet hand to clasp Joey’s shoulder. “Let’s hope this turns out to be nothing more than a cruel, sick joke.”

“If it is,” said Joey, “it’s the cruelest, sickest joke I ever heard in my life, and it ain’t funny in the least bit. Either way, this puts Allie in a whole new light for me.”

“Me too.”

“So what should we do?”

Lifting his other hand to rub the nape of his neck, Chris admitted, “I suppose we should hang onto this message for a little while. We should most definitely present this to the other guys and see what they think, if they have any ideas on what to do. JC might know; he’s so good with this kind of stuff, and he usually has a solution for everything. And then…I don’t know. Guess we’ll just lie low and see what happens.”

After a minute of silence, Joey said, “And then you’ve got another message that you may want to hear as well.”

“Is it good or bad?”

“I don’t know. In a different state of affairs, it might be considered great. But you tell me.”

“Go on, play it.”

“Hi, Chris, it’s Jamie Miller. We ran into each other at the movies a couple of weeks back, and you were nice enough to leave me with your number. So today, I decided to take you up on your offer, if it’s still open. Hope I’m not being a pest. Please call me back as soon as it’s convenient for you. Thank you, Chris. Goodbye.”

“Jamie Miller?” Chris felt a mix of things at hearing her voice, mostly incredulity. “I’d almost forgotten about her!”

“Sounds like she hasn’t forgotten you,” Joey said with a half-smile. “What do you say to this one? Keep it or chuck it?”

Chris hesitated, then found himself saying, “Keep it for now.”

“You gonna return her call?”

“I don’t know.” Chris averted his gaze. “I—I’ll have to think about it.”

Joey patted his bare shoulder. “Doesn’t have to be anything serious, old buddy. It can be a just-friends call if you’d like.”

A just-friends call. Easy enough. Aloud, Chris said, “Again, I’ll consider it. For now, just put my phone back where you found it, and leave all the other messages as they are. I’m going back in the water.”

Joey nodded and stood up. “Okay. Later, brother.”

“Later.” Chris watched his companion walk away. Then he sighed, pulled down his goggles, and took the plunge once more.