07

Kendall never liked authority. He never liked having to listen to someone he didn't respect. He was automatically told to respect his teachers and his elders and more often than not, he couldn't do it. He respected his hockey coach and that seemed to it. He defied everyone else and he had a tendency to act stronger than he actually was. More often than not, that got him into a lot of trouble, but this time, it may have worked in his favor.

The room was silent. The calm before the storm, Kendall thought to himself as he watched the officer in front of him, look through a stack of papers. His mind was all over the place, he wanted to get to James, but he knew that he wasn't going to get out anytime soon. He wanted to get his mother, so he could comfort her while they waited for James to be released or for his parents to get to California. He wanted to get to his sister, so he was sure that she was ok. James and Gustavo had already been hurt, one was dead, and he was sure that it was going to be one more of those that were close to him that was going to be next.

He tried to think hard about who could have been behind the attacks, but he couldn't think about it without starting to cry again. That was how he knew that things were really bad, he hardly ever cried. He didn't even cry when his father left him and his family, he just stepped up and started to act like the man of the house, like he did when his father was gone on business trips. But his father could come back whenever he wanted, Gustavo couldn't. If they hadn't reacted quick enough, maybe James wouldn't have either.

Kendall thought back to when they were in the ambulance.

"We need to get him to the hospital, quickly. He's losing a lot of blood." An EMT barked as he and his partner wheeled James over to a waiting ambulance on a stretcher.

Logan, Carlos, and Kendall hurried out of the arena after them. People were milling around, talking quietly, trying to figure out what was going on. Some fans were crying, others were screaming, cameras were flashing all over the place. They knew that the news had to have broken out over ScuttleButter, Tumblr, and all over the internet at the point, as they made social networking sites big when it came to their concerts. It wouldn't take long for it to be on the news either; he could already hear the sirens getting closer. Soon the arena was going to be blocked off and people were going to be questioned. There was no way that they were going to keep them quiet.

"Is James going to be ok?" Kendall asked as the driver opened the back doors to the ambulance so James could be loaded inside. His hazel eyes were staring up at the sky and Kendall could see a glint in the corner of his eye, a tear.

"We won't know until we get him to the hospital." The driver replied. He looked back at the three boys. "Which one of you is going to come with us?"

Kendall hesitated and turned back to Logan and Carlos. Logan looked stressed to the point that he was pale and looked like he was going to puke at any second. Carlos was shaking, blood was on his hands and on the front of his shirt and he looked like he was seconds away from breaking down completely. Kendall wasn't that far from breaking down either. His heart was thudding so fast he wondered if he was having a heart attack and his hands were covered in sweat. No matter how many times he would wipe them off on the sides of his pants, they would just flood all over again.

"Carlos, you go." He finally managed to say. His swallowed thickly, his throat dry.

"No," Carlos wrung his hands together, the blood smearing onto his skin. "You go."

"James is going to need you," Logan added firmly. "You're our leader for a reason, dude. He's going to need your strength."

"But-"

"Whichever one of you decides to go, we need to go now!" The driver said, holding one of the doors open. Inside, the two EMTs were working fast, putting James's face in an oxygen mask and hooking him up to other machines.

"Go!" Logan pushed Kendall.

Kendall nodded and climbed into the back of the ambulance, giving a quick wave to Logan and Carlos, who turned around, disappearing into the crowd to try and find Kelly so they could get to the hospital. As the door closed, Kendall turned to James and leaned forward so he was sure that his friend could see him.

"Don't worry, James, I'm here." Kendall said, placing a hand on his friend's chest, hoping that he could feel the warmth of his hand. He used his other hand to grab onto James's hand that lay limply at his side. James moved his eyes over to Kendall and Kendall could see that he was scared, more scared than he had ever seen him before. But he could see a sense of relief, knowing that Kendall was there, James knew that things were going to be ok. Kendall moved his hand off of James's chest and placed it on the other side of James's hand that was clasped into his, holding onto it tightly.

"I'm here, James. And I'm not going to let go."

Kendall leaned forward and rested his face in his hands, gritting his teeth as he tried to hold back the scream that was threatening to erupt form his body. If he ever got his hands on who did this to his best friend…

Officer Scott was standing behind the door to the empty examination room, watching Kendall. One of the things that he learned quickly when it came to interrogations was that it was easier for him to get what he wanted if he gave them time to sit and stew in their own thoughts. After what he thought was a considerable amount of time, he watched as Kendall finally seemed to calm down. The blond leaned back in his seat and rested his hands in his lap. Officer Scott composed himself and walked into the room. He pulled out a chair from the doctor's desk and sat across from Kendall.

"Why hello there officer," Kendall said, not looking up. He spoke in an indifferent tone, as if this was the norm for him. "Are you ready to ask me even more questions that I already told you the answer to when you first got here? Oh, that's right," he turned his green eyes, which were now steely with self-contained rage, over to the officer. "You think that my friends and I killed Gustavo. Could you care to explain how we would have tried to cover it up by stabbing James as well? I'm sure you have an idea."

"How's you do it, Kendall?" Officer Scott asked. He was taking the straightforward approach.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, officer," Kendall said casually.

"I believe you do, Kendall, and the evidence clearly shows you do." Officer Scott crossed his arms over his chest. "There was evidence all over the place and everyone knows that you were the one that had the most problems with authority, with Gustavo. So, what was your motive? Why and how did you do it?"

"Exactly what evidence do you have?" Kendall asked in agitation. He had all of a sudden turned defensive. Maybe not defensive, maybe offensive. He was tired, that much was obvious and understandable, and he probably hadn't slept since the concert. Officer Scott was just trying to get to the bottom of what happened and whether or not he believed the teenager's story, he was hoping to get some insight into another angle of what could have happened.

Officer Scott pushed forward a file folder of crime scene photos he had carried with him into the room and flipped it open.

"These are photos of Gustavo's building, Rocque Records. More specifically, his office and the hallway to the office. See these bloodstains on the floor?" Officer Scott pointed a finger at the photograph. "These stains are Gustavo's blood." Kendall closed his eyes and turned away. "Almost all of it. And see here?" Officer Scott pointed again, waiting for Kendall to open his eyes and looked again. This time he was pointing to another photograph. "These here are Gustavo's hairs. We found them on articles of your clothing, along with bloodstains on those same clothes. All the evidence points to you, Kendall."

"My clothes?" Kendall repeated, blinking slowly. "How could they be on my clothes?"

"We know you did it, Kendall, there's no secret. How did you kill him?"

"I have an alibi," Kendall said suddenly. "If I wasn't with my friends, I was in the bathroom or working on my dance moves." He shrugged. "I'm not the best dancer." He explained. "I was with Carlos and Logan before the show started. I was with James in the ambulance when we were going to the hospital. I was waiting with my mom, Logan, and Carlos when James was put inside. I answered some questions with the police officers. Now I'm here, I couldn't have done it."

"James's 'lucky comb', Logan's calculator, and one of Carlos's helmets were left at the scene." Officer Scott said slowly. "And blood stains were found on your clothes, how do you explain that?"

"Our stuff had gone missing days before." Kendall said quietly, as if he was thinking. "From our apartment. 2J in the PalmWoods."

Officer Scott wrote down some notes. "Does anyone have access to your apartment?" He noticed Kendall's silence and pressed on. "Well?"

"The PalmWoods is always so safe…" Kendall shook his head, looking at his lap, his blonde hair hanging over his face. "We never lock the door unless we're going to sleep. Even when no one is home. So I guess…someone could have gone in and…"

"Do you know anyone that could have potentially framed you for this crime?"

"No," Kendall shook his head.

"Anyone that you may have wronged in the past?" Officer Scott continued. "Anyone that could have wanted to see you suffer? Anyone that-"

"No," Kendall burst out. "No! I don't know who would want to do something like this! All I know is," He squeezed his eyes shut. "Whoever did this, is no friend of mine."

Officer Scott continued to study Kendall. He wasn't sure whether or not he believed him. There was a chance that he was telling the truth and there was a chance that he was lying. He had been on many cases where the guilty were proven innocent because they could lie well. He had seen many innocent charged with things that they didn't do for the exact same reason. But now…the evidence was staggering, and no one could say that they saw each other all night long. The hospital could be a pretty boring place, and if you were bored enough, you could stray away for hours at a time.

So what was going on here?

"Come in," Officer Scott called as there was a knock on the door. He looked up as an older man opened the door and stood in the doorway, his hands behind his back. "Yes, Sergeant Johnson? What is it?" He asked respectively as he sat up straight. Kendall looked over at him.

"Some more footage has come up from the concert," Sergeant Johnson replied. "Two more angles, one hand-held camera from a fan, and another from a mounted camera." He explained. "Plus, there's something else that you need to see."

Officer Scott's eyebrows raised and he turned to Kendall, who looked back at him, defiantly. Officer Scott stood up and placed his hands loosely on his hips. As he continued to look at Kendall, he held out a hand and pointed it towards the door.

"You're done for now."

A/N: So, I decided this story will be 10 chapters long. It was originally gonna be 12, but then I realized that I can push everything into the last two chapters. All that's left is Carlos's interrogation and then you're one step closer to finding out who did it.

Cheers,

-Riles