Chapter 13.

            “They can’t arrest you Jayce,” Lance told him, trying to calm him down. He shook his head and took in a deep breath before looking at his friend.

            “Yeah they can Lance,” he nodded and placed his head in his hands. “I was there the night it happened, and I was seen leaving the scene.”

            “But Jayce…” Lance continued but he cut him off.

            “No Lance. No buts, I’m one of their key suspects, and now that J is dead they’re coming back later on to arrest me,” he said and there was a short silence in the room as the four men stared at one another.

            “What can we do to stop it?” Chris asked after a while and he shrugged.

            “Nothing,” he said, “We can’t do anything. Unless we by some miracle come up with solid proof that I wasn’t there, which is highly unlikely.”

            “But what exactly did you tell the cops? I mean if you explain to them…” Joey tried; he shook his head and stood up, before pacing the room.

            “No, I haven’t told them anything and I’d like to keep it that way,” he stated and looked at his friends, “I’m serious.”

            “Why not?” Lance questioned with a furrowed brow, “What does the doc think of all this?”

            “She thinks it’d be best to keep what I remember under wraps,” he answered, “I don’t need them having any more ammunition to throw my way.”

            “I guess you’re right,” Chris nodded and looked at him, “But I mean there must be something…”

            “No there isn’t,” he replied, “I’ve already told you guys that.”

            “There’s always something,” Joey tried and stood up to face him, “We can say that yes you were there, but you ran off to find help.”

            “But help was already coming,” Lance pointed out, “That would look even more suspicious.”

            “Lance is right Joe,” Chris sighed and rubbed his temples to think. “Okay, here’s what we’ll tell them…”

            “No,” he snapped and looked around the room, “Just no guys. I don’t need to tell them any more lies alright? I’ve told them enough, one more will not help me.”

            “Yes it could,” Joey protested and he sighed and sat back down, “It could help you Jayce.”

            “How Joe? How could it help me?” he asked looking at Joey sternly, “By telling them that I’m denying I was there?” The room fell silent and he shook his head with a sigh. “I was there guys alright? And there’s no lie in the world that can deny that truth.”

            “Come on man let’s go.” He felt someone tug at his sleeve and he looked behind him to see a face that seemed somewhat familiar. He frowned and shook his head, signalling he wasn’t ready to go.

            “Not yet,” he grumbled and turned his attention back to the woman in front of him. She smiled and let her long legs drape over the side of his legs before reaching behind her and revealing a small casket of white powder.

            “Man, come on now,” the stranger instructed and tugged at his sleeve once more causing the woman to glare angrily behind him.

            “He’s not ready to go yet,” she told the man and turned her attention back to him. She leant forward so that her lips were touching his ear and her breasts draped smoothly towards his chest. “You want to stay here with me don’t you?”

            “Huh uh,” he nodded and allowed himself to take in her scent of fresh berries. He smiled as her lips traced down his jaw line and he played with a strand of her honey blonde hair.

            “No,” the stranger reaffirmed and this time had come up so he was standing behind the woman and pushed her off him. “We have to go now, the cops are coming.”

            He groaned inwardly and reached forward to pull the woman back to him, but the stranger held her back.

            “Just a few more…” he began but the stranger shook his head and with his free hand pulled him up.

            “No Jayce,” he stated, “We gotta get out of here, now.”

            He woke up and rubbed his forehead roughly, trying to place the dream. When had it happened and where? And why was he all of a sudden getting these dreams that had nothing to do with Justin? He sighed and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Jake. That was the only answer or explanation. Jake was making him curious as to what their connection with each other was; he had to talk to him.

            He stood up and hurried over to the door where he flung it open and looked around. Davie was yet again no where to be found, and placing a smile on his face and giving himself a slight nod he stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him before heading to the reception to ask which room Jake was in.

            He walked quickly and quietly, not missing the opportunity to glance into the open doors of rooms that he passed in case Jake may be lurking inside them. Before he knew it he had reached the reception and was standing in front of an older woman with greying hair.

            “Yes?” she asked looking up and snapping him out of what ever thoughts had decided to consume him. “Can I help you?”

            “Uh, hey,” he nodded and put on his usual charm, as he placed his elbows on the desk and leaned forward, “Uh, can you tell me where Jake is staying?”

            “Jake?” the lady asked and raised an eyebrow, “As in Jake Mulley?” He nodded and smiled at her before speaking.

            “Yup, the one and only,” he grinned and batted his eyes for good measure. The woman sighed and took her glasses off, placing them in front of her and shaking her head at him.

            “You should be in your room Mr…” she searched for his name before continuing.

            “Chasez,” he supplied and stood back up, “And yes I should be, but…”

            “It’s past eleven and you know the rules,” she cut him off with a small apologetic smile, “But if you come back tomorrow during regular hours, I can suffice you with the information you need. Right now however, I do not wish to help you engage in another argument with Mr Mulley.”

            “You heard about that?” he questioned raising an eyebrow and she nodded, “Shit.”

            “Yes, your encounters are becoming quite the gossip around here,” she smiled and reached for the computer mouse.

            “Well sorry about that,” he replied not knowing what to say and wondering how he would get her to give him what he wanted. “I won’t let it happen again, but couldn’t you just give me the room number? I promise not to use it until tomorrow.” He grinned one more time at her, allowing his teeth to show this time. She sighed and turned off her computer before turning to face him.

            “Oh all right,” she sighed and reached for the log book and opening it up to search for the number. There was a minute or two of silence before she looked back up at him. “Room number 145.”

            “Thank you Miss…” he looked at her name tag before continuing, “Miss Susan Myers, isn’t that a TV character?”

            “Actually it’s Susanna Meyers,” she said and closed the book before reaching for her bag, “They mis-spelt it on the name tag and I didn’t want to bother security with it.”

            “Well you should,” he smiled and began to walk away, “Because it could one day cause you some fair bit of trouble, and trouble is something you don’t want in your life. Trust me.”

            He walked quietly and unheard down the corridor until he reached room 145 and knocked hard on the door.

            “What?” the voice from inside growled and he smiled, at least they had one thing in common. He shrugged and pushed the door open, but not before he was met with protest. “I didn’t say you could come in.”

            “No but you’re here right?” he challenged and took a step into the room not bothering to look around, he kept his eyes trained on Jake, “Who is the honey blonde woman?”

            “Oh, had another memory burst did we?” Jake asked as he sat up on his bed, looking at him with curiosity. He snarled and nodded.

            “Who is she?” he asked again and took another step forward, “And why were we in a bar with you?”

            “I’m glad you FINALLY remembered,” Jake grinned and swung his bony legs over the side of the bed before standing up. “Well since you asked so politely, her name is Destiny, and she was my wife.”

            “What?” he asked, feeling his mouth go numb at this new information.

            “She was my wife,” Jake repeated and looked at him as if he were dumb.

            “Shit,” he grumbled under his breath and Jake looked at him, catching it.

            “Yeah shit. You remember what happened that night don’t you?” Jake questioned and he shook his head viscously.

            “No I don’t,” he said and wiped the sweat off his hands by rubbing his pants, “I just asked you if you knew a woman that I dreamt about, I had a feeling you might know.”

            “And I do,” Jake nodded and took a step closer to him, “Like I said, she was my wife.”

            “Yeah but like I said, I had a feeling I’m not even sure it was you in the bar with me that night,” he back-tracked and Jake looked at him with steely eyes.

            “Then why did you come here if you were so uncertain?” he questioned and he shrugged.

            “I don’t know,” he replied and tried to walk away but Jake grabbed his arm.

            “Yes you do,” Jake said and glared at him, “Because you remember. You remember leaving that bar with my wife and not even thanking me.”

            “What?” he questioned , now he was really confused and scared at the same time. “All I remember is that I was in a bar with a woman and with someone who resembled you a lot. That’s it, I don’t remember going home with your so called wife.”

            “Oh really?” Jake asked, his voice had a snaky tone to it, “Because that’s not how I remember it.”

            “Well then I think we’re thinking of two very different situations,” he repeated evenly and shook Jake off him, “I need to get back to my room before Davie catches on.”

            “You know after I asked you to leave?” Jake called after him as he began to walk down the hall. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face Jake.

            “Yeah…” he began slowly, unsure of how Jake knew this unless it was really him that night.

            “Well you did,” Jake responded, now he looked angry, “You left with her, after I asked you not to.”

            “If I did then why didn’t you stop me?” he asked with an even tone and Jake shook his head.

            “I tried, actually we fought about it,” Jake nodded and looked back at him.

            “And?” he wanted to know. Jake sighed and took a step forward.

            “And then I gave in and let you take her home,” Jake answered, “With the promise that you’d pay me back. But you never did.”

            “Well I don’t remember it,” he snorted, this was getting insane. “And if I don’t remember it, then it didn’t happen.”

            “Well believe me it did,” Jake said and took a few more steps forward. “And you owed me a favour.”

            “Owed?” he asked and looked at Jake. “Look, if  what you’re telling me is right, then shouldn’t I still owe you that favour?”
            “Yes,” Jake nodded and he smirked, “But let’s just say the favour has been repaid.”

            “You talk in circles you know that?” he snapped and Jake laughed, but it was an unusually evil laugh that he’d never heard before. “What do you mean>”

            Jake stopped laughing and looked at him with an evil glint in his eye, “Oh you’ll figure it out. Soon enough.”

            He gave a huge groan and trudged back to his room, the weight of what Jake had just said weighing on his mind, allowing him for a few moments to forget about the Justin incident, but could he? The twinkle in Jake’s eye had made him think that something Jake had said was connected to Justin, however he couldn’t explain it.

            “And where have you been?” he stopped in his tracks and looked up to face Davie, leaning against the door frame of the room and arms across his chest.

            “Doc,” he lied and yawned heavily as the lack of sleep from recent nights was catching up to him. “I went to find you but..”

            “Ok, at least you were still in the building,” Davie accepted but gave  him a stern look, “A few more minutes and I would have called you out.”

            “Well now I’m here,” he stated and spread his arms out beside him.

            “Yeah you are,” Davie nodded and pushed himself off the wall, “So did you find the doc?”

            “No she was out,” he grumbled and tried to push past Davie to get to his room.

            “You telling the truth?” Davie asked and he nodded.

            “Yeah I am,” he replied snippily and looked at Davie, “Can I go to bed now?”

            “Uh, sure,” Davie nodded and let go of his arm so he could continue into the room, “I’ll wake you at seven for group ok?”

            “Ok,” he yawned and walked further into the room before reaching the bed, “Seven.”

            It was way before seven when someone felt like waking him up the next morning from his deep, deep slumber.

            “Go away,” he grumbled, turning over and hoping the person would go away. He reached over his head to pull the covers over him, but an arm reached out and roughly stopped him, pulling his arm behind him and pulling him up. “What the hell?”

            “Mr Chasez?” a voice asked, as the hand let go of him and allowed him to stand up. He looked groggily around the room and saw a hazy figure standing before him, he was still half asleep.

            “Yeah?” he asked and tried to stop himself from falling over as he stood up sleepily.

            “I’m Officer Tawny,” the voice, who had now taken the shape of a man, said.

            “Yeah so?” he asked yawning and rubbing his eyes so he could see through the sleep and see the man properly. “It’s not even seven yet.”

            “Mr Chasez,” Officer Tawny began again and took a step forward, “I’m placing you under the arrest of Justin Timberlake.”

            “What? Now?” he asked but the officer ignored his question and motioned for another officer came in and grabbed both his arms, forcing them behind his back.

            “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can be used against you in the court of law,” the officer read off his rights as he was being cuffed. “You also have the right to an attorney, if you can not afford one then one will be provided to you by the court. Mr Chasez, do you understand these charges?”

            He looked at the officer and nodded, knowing it was best to let them do what they had to, no questions asked.