Meanwhile, the search for Max the driver had proved fruitless. Greg and Reuben had followed every lead they had, every avenue, but their quest to locate him had only served to frustrate and anger them further - Reuben especially. Every time he thought about the photograph he had tucked away in his jacket pocket, his simmering fury would start to boil and threaten to bubble over and he was having a difficult time keeping control over it. It was not just a question of finding the culprit responsible for the photos and wresting them and the negatives from him - by force if necessary - before they could find their way to the press. That was, of course, imperative. It was also what those pictures portrayed - what else had befallen the young singer at Joni's hands. Rueben didn't know how he was going to tell Shirley about this - or even if he was going to tell her. How could he? And yet - how could he not? This involved her son, after all. And how was he ever going to be able to look Keith in the face again, as keeper of this particular secret, and what would be Keith's reaction if he ever found out that Reuben knew? It wasn't even as if it was the young man's fault, Reuben reflected, bitterly. The photograph had shown him looking completely stoned in the aftermath of sex. He so obviously hadn't been cognizent of what had happened to him. Under the influence of heroin, it was very likely that all he had experienced had been feelings of utter euphoria and the pleasurable sensations which came with sex without any of the normal, human reactions. He certainly couldn't have partaken willingly - and that was part of what was causing Reuben's smouldering rage. This was statutory rape. Keith hadn't been aware of what was happening and had not participated kowingly - indeed, had been unable to prevent what had happened because of the influence of the drug. Reuben had known the family for several years now. Knew how they had been brought up. They were all decent, wholesome children. And despite the reputation enjoyed by their lead singer as both a normal red-blooded teenager and his status as a teen idol, Reuben knew that Keith had never actually had sex. For one thing, there was his age to consider, which was a big factor. For another, despite his raging hormones, he was a very sensible kid who had been brought up to respect women - that had been drummed into him by his mother and his younger sister. He would never dream of going any further with a girl than maybe second base - and for him, that had been okay. Besides, the girls he dated were what Reuben would class as 'nice' girls - and one didn't pressurise 'nice' girls - even had Keith been the type to pressurise them, which he wasn't. Reuben was pretty sure that Keith had been willing to wait till he found the special one - at some unspecified time in the future. He wasn't dumb enough to believe the young singer would wait till he was married - that would be asking too much of him, but above all, Keith was a born romantic, constantly falling in and out of love. And to him, sex would have been a precious gift to share with the girl of his dreams. Something of which Joni fell far short.
Reuben sighed, heavily, as he and Greg made their way back to the bus. He felt like such a failure. First of all his client had been given spiked drinks, then drugged, then the girl had practically raped him, and all the while someone had been taking photographs to sell to the press. If those actually got out into the media, it would not only ruin Keith's wholesome image, but would destroy the Partridge Family's successful career. Most of their bookings came from family owned or family orientated places who would balk at hiring a group with a singer who had acquired a reputation for drug taking and sex. Especially at such a young age. And as their manager he should have been able to prevent all of this from happening. He felt entirely responsible for what had happened to Keith. Watching him suffer through the first agonies of withdrawal from heroin - regardless of how little he had been given - had been horrendous. The kid should never have had to go through that. And watching Shirley's agony as she held her son through his pain had been just as excruciating. If he had been taking care of things like he should have been then neither of them would have had to go through any of it. And now here was one more thing to endure. The possibility that pictures of Keith caught in the act might be plastered all over the newspapers. God, it made him so angry!
"You okay, Reuben?"
He had been so lost in his own misery and wrath at the situation that he had practically ignored his companion. Now, Greg's words finally reminded him that he was not alone. He glanced toward the film maker. Novak looked just as miserable as he felt, and he reflected rather ruefully that although both he and Shirley had laid the blame firmly at his door, they couldn't entirely blame Greg. After all, Joni had obviously pulled the wool over his eyes - just as she had done with the entire family. Even Laurie had been fooled - and she felt culpable for not realising the truth earlier It occurred to him at this point that there was an awful lot of guilt floating around about all this - and it was obvious that Novak was feeling a hefty portion of it himself.
"Yeah," he finally replied. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just wondering what we're going to do if we don't find your friend the bus driver and his pictures."
"I swear to god, Reuben, I didn't know he was the kind of guy who did this kinda thing,." Greg said, earnestly. "I mean - it defies all decency. He was watching Joni do all that she did to the kid and instead of putting a stop to it, helping Keith out, he takes pictures?!! I've been in this business a long time and I thought I recognised every kind of rat - but he takes the cake."
"Well, we've got to find him," stated Reuben grimly. "We've got to get to him before he has a chance to sell those pictures and ruin my clients. And it's not even just about ruining them professionally. Keith will suffer personally if this gets out. He won't be able to hold his head up again. He's a sensitive kid - and having those pictures in the press will just about kill him."
"You really care for that family, don't you?"
Reuben stared at him for a moment, then, "Care? Yes, of course I care! They're like my own family. And I'd do anything to protect them. Anything!"
"I can see that. And I'd …" Greg broke off as they reached the corner of the road where the bus was parked, his eyes drawn to the door of the vehicle, where he could see a figure kneeling underneath the driver's column, obviously searching for something. "Reuben!" he hissed. "Look! It's Max!"
Reuben saw red. That was the only way he could describe it later. The saying had never meant much to him before, but it did now, as his rage suddenly ignited, flaring up into a flame of such vivid intensity that his entire vista was tinted by the colour scarlet. His blood surged in his ears and his heart started beating hard. He felt like a bull about to rage into an arena and before he was even conscious of it, he had started moving forward with such speed that everything around him became a blur. He had only ever moved this fast once before in his life - when his unit had been bombed in Korea and they had had to run for their lives. And now he was running for someone else's.
*****
Laurie and Danny had wandered aimlessly after leaving Reuben's suite. They had not exchanged two words since being shocked into silence by Keith's outburst. It had been truly awful to see their elder brother reduced to such a state - totally distraught; his emotions laid bare by the influence of the heroin and alcohol with which he had been plied. Both were feeling pretty distraught themselves - and helpless. It seemed that, despite their desire to help, Keith and their mom were pretty much going to have to go through everything alone. It hurt so much to see him like this - hurt even more than watching him endure hour after hour of unremitting pain, and that had been bad enough. Danny's hatred of Joni had not abated either. In fact, witnessing his brother break down in that way had only served to bolster it. And Laurie, despite her best intentions, was feeling much the same way toward the makeup assistant.
Wordlessly, they made their way into the elevator, both instinctively seeking an escape from the whole ordeal and both feeling guilty about their ability to escape when Keith couldn't. A few moments later they found themselves in the foyer of the hotel. The mid-morning sun streamed through the large picture windows, its bright rays sending little tendrils of light to warm the darkest corners. Unfortunately, it did nothing to warm their heavy hearts.
Laurie sighed heavily and shivered, despite the heat. Wrapping her arms around herself, she glanced toward the revolving doors through which guests and visitors were both entering and departing, going on with their lives totally oblivious of the trauma which had blighted the Partridge Family.
"Are you okay, Laurie?"
She glanced down at her brother's anxious question. He was regarding her with a worried expression on his freckled face, his hand half-extended as though to reach out to her. As their eyes met, he pulled back slightly and shrugged, a half-smile wiping away the frown. "You looked - kind of far away, " he explained.
"I'm fine," she assured him, heavily. It's just - well - it's - you know …"
"Yeah," he said, equally dispiritedly.
"Oh, Danny, I can't stand to see Keith in such pain - and I've never seen him so upset before. I just want to do something to help him, but I can't. I don't know how to get him through this or even if he wants me - us there!"
Danny patted his sister's arm comfortingly. "I know, Laurie, I feel the same. He's probably pretty embarrassed about breaking down in front of us like that - and I'm gonna make a point of never reminding him about it."
That was quite an admission coming from the brother whose whole life seemed to be geared to teasing his elder brother and sister - when he wasn't teaming up with one of them to get the other! It brought a sad smile to Laurie's face and she glanced away for an instant to compose herself, her eyes alighting on one of the large windows and the world beyond. There, a familiar figure had just broken into a run which would put a world champion to shame. "Danny? Isn't that …?"
"Mr Kincaid!" he exclaimed, noticing their manager at the same time. His eyes grew wide with astonishment as their manager disappeared from sight and as one, they hurried to the doors, in an effort to find out just what was going on and why Reuben Kincaid should be in such a hurry.
The sight which met their eyes on their arrival in the street stunned them into complete silence for a moment. Reuben Kincaid - their mild-mannered, easygoing manager was half in-half out of Greg Novak's bus, trying to choke the life out of some guy. The man he was attacking was struggling in vain to wrest Reuben's hands from his throat and was already turning a strange colour. Greg was desperately trying to pull Reuben off the other man, and having no success, and there was a lot of yelling - mostly coming from Reuben himself, none of which they understood as he screamed obscenities and threats at his victim. A crowd of people - drawn by the noise and the sudden, inexplicable violence was gathering around them but Reuben was oblivious to their presence as his hands slackened on the man's throat and instead, he slugged him in the face, not once, not twice but half a dozen times - rocking his head back and forth like a puppet's. There was blood everywhere now, coming from the man's nose and mouth and trickling down his chin, staining his white shirt and Reuben's hands. But the Partridge Family manager seemed totally unaware of the consequences of his actions as he continued pummelling his prey, bringing up his knee for a short, sharp jab in the man's groin. The guy's face went pale beneath the blood and he started to choke. But still Reuben wasn't letting go and he wasn't stopping.
Laurie and Danny could only watch in stupefied horror as the uncharacteristic behaviour continued, getting more and more out of hand. Greg was still trying to prise Reuben away from the guy, despite receiving a few stray jabs himself, and eventually his persistence paid off as he got a good grip on the shoulders beneath him and jerked backwards, his momentum bringing Reuben along with him. The manager was not to be daunted however, and with a snarl of fury he launched himself at the supine figure once more. This time, however, someone from the crowd - very tall, very muscular - prevented him from reaching his intended victim and Greg flung his arms around Reuben, stopping the situation from escalating out of control.
"Kincaid! Stop it!" he yelled, shaking the man in an effort to calm him down. He appraised the crowd quickly, then met the eyes of the man who had interfered sufficiently to stop the beating. "Thanks," he panted.
"No problem," drawled the other man. "You wanna call an ambulance and the police?"
"No!" Greg replied quickly - maybe too quickly as the other man's eyes narrowed. "No, it's a - private argument. That guy works for me and he's … been stealing. He stole something very - erm - precious from my friend here and - well, he just kinda lost it for a minute there, is all."
The other man narrowed his eyes suspiciously, glancing back down at the bleeding, panting body on the ground. "I don't know," he said, slowly. "This guy looks like he's just about had it. That was a pretty bad beating he took and he might wanna press charges - or maybe he'd want someone to do it for him."
"No, no," Greg almost smiled. "He won't be pressing charges. Believe me - if anyone should be reporting the incident to the cops it should be me - and my friend here. Look, the guy just lost it - it's something to do with his family and - well, you know how protective guys can get about their family."
"This guy hurt one of 'em?"
Novak nodded slightly. "Yeah - in a manner of speaking."
Max's rescuer nodded back. "Right. Well, in that case, I understand. Man's first priority is his family. Someone hurts one of 'em - well, he's gotta expect to be punished."
Greg breathed a sigh of relief, satisfied that his half-truths had been believed and had served to avoid a confrontation with the cops - something none of them wanted, especially now. "Right," he said.
"Well, I'll leave you people to it," said the man, straightening up from his cursory examination of Max. He turned to the already dispersing crowd. "Okay, folks. Show's over. Nothing else to see."
As the crowd slowly scattered, Greg exhaled heavily and he sagged a little. Reuben had ceased his struggle to free himself and was now standing, quiescent, within the film maker's grip. "If I let you go, will you leave Max alone?" Greg hissed in his ear.
Reuben nodded. Greg let him go and stood back whilst Reuben regained his composure, smoothing down his jacket and rubbing at his bruised knuckles.
"I don't suppose before you half-killed him, you managed to ask Max where the rest of the pictures and the negatives were, did you?" enquired Greg pointedly.
Reuben looked at him. He was breathing hard, looking a little the worse for wear himself and also looking a little shamefaced at his own actions. "I … " he began. "I … "
"Mr Kincaid?"
His mortification was now complete. With a moan, Reuben hid his head in his hands as Danny appeared beside him, accompanied by Laurie. Both were regarding him with expressions of open-eyed wonderment and it was patently obvious that they had witnessed his vicious attack on Max, who was still lying on the ground, groaning and recovering from the assault. "Danny," he managed, peering through his fingers at the two of them, "go away."
"But, Mr Kincaid …!"
"Danny - I said GO AWAY!"
"Are you all right, Reuben?" Laurie's concerned voice cut through the remaining vestiges of his anger and he focused on her for a moment. She was standing behind Danny, her hands on his shoulders and kept casting glances down at the injured man on the ground, then glancing back at him. Her lovely face was puckered in an anxious frown and there was open curiosity in those bright green eyes.
He could tell that she was dying to ask what had happened and why he should launch such a malicious assault on someone but there was no way he could tell her. Bad enough that he had seen the picture. He still had to decide whether to tell their mother about it - and he certainly wasn't imparting any information about the rest of Keith's ordeal to his brothers and sisters. There were some things that even the closest of family members should never know about a person and this ranked up there as one of the highest.
"I'm fine, Laurie," he replied, at length, glaring at Danny as if that alone could shut him up, prevent him from prying any further. He should have known better.
"So why were you hitting that guy?" demanded the redhead. He was nothing if not tenacious, that was for sure. He'd met pitbulls with less gumption!
"That's between me and him," he told the middle Partridge.
"But you nearly killed him!"
Reuben was beginning to think there was going to be another attempted murder when, seeing his expression darken, Laurie wisely decided it was time for them - or at least Danny - to back off. Whatever had been going on it was obviously something in which they had no part or in which Reuben didn't want them involved. And although they sometimes made fun of their manager, plagued him by teasing him and playing pranks, he was a man you could respect if for nothing more than the fact that he had always striven to protect their best interests. They all knew they were more than just an 'act' to him. He was practically part of the family. And hadn't he been there with their mom throughout Keith's ordeal in his own suite? Yet another example of his protective instincts shining through. So it didn't matter why he had done what he had done just now - although she had a funny feeling that it had been because of them. He deserved to be left alone - not interrogated by special agent Danny Partridge!
"Danny, come on," she said, pulling him backwards, away from Reuben and Greg. He tried to stand his ground, persistence being one of his more annoying traits, but Laurie's hands were digging into his shoulders and her nails were beginning to dig right through his shirt and into his skin.
"Ow!"
"Well, come on then!" she demanded. "Leave Reuben alone for a while. He has better things to do than answer your dumb questions!"
He spun to face her, staring up at her in shock. "Dumb questions?" he sputtered. "Dumb questions? Laurie - you saw him! He was punching that guy's lights out! I didn't even know he could swing a punch like that! Hey, I didn't even know he knew how to fight! I want to know what he was doing - what that guy had done to tick him off …"
"Maybe he asked too many questions!" she replied, pointedly. "Danny, leave Reuben alone. It's none of our business. And if it is then he'll tell us when he's ready."
"Aw, you're no fun!" he muttered, and walked back to the hotel, leaving her standing in the street with a bemused expression on her face. She exchanged glances with Reuben and then, with a shrug, hurried after her younger brother.
"So, you wanna burn the pictures and negatives now, or do you want to wait till later?"
Reuben turned as Greg's voice interrupted the reverie he had fallen into with the kids' departure. Then his mouth fell open as he surveyed what Greg held in his hand. "You ..! You got the pictures?" he exclaimed in astonishment.
"I got the pictures," came the smug confirmation. "And the negatives."
"How …?"
"Well, while you were busy trying not to explain everything to the kids, I was busy 'persuading' Max that it might be better if he came clean and gave us everything he had - before I let you loose on him again, this time in the privacy of a dark alley, to which I would not be averse to driving us all in the bus if need be. He had them in his bag. He'd come back to look for the missing picture before he turned them all over to a tabloid he'd promised 'exclusives' to."
"Well, I'll be damned," breathed Reuben, shaking his head. "Novak, I didn't know you could be such a devious bastard."
"Learned that lesson a long time ago," came the cryptic response. "And the negatives are all here as well."
Reuben frowned suddenly. "How do we know he gave us all of them?"
"Well, it's easy enough to find out. The negatives are all numbered. We go through to make sure none are missing, match them up with the pictures and - hey presto!"
"You're a genius!"
Greg shrugged. "I try," he said, immodestly. "We better get on that right away - and tie our friend up whilst we do it. Don't want him slipping away until we've know what we have."
Reuben glanced down at the injured man and a pang of true remorse swept over him. "I - didn't mean to hurt him," he said, slowly. "I don't know what came over me - I … I never did anything quite that crazy before. I guess I just … lost control."
"Happens to the best of us," said Greg philosophically. "Reuben, you said yourself that the Partridges were like family to you. You've just watched one of them go through hell for several hours, then you find out something else that happened to him and that someone who could have helped not only didn't, but threatened to make the situation worse. It's no wonder you 'lost control', as you put it. You were just protecting your family … like I told the guy who rescued our 'friend' here."
"Yeah … " Reuben nodded, but he couldn't control the tremors which had started to run through him in reaction to what he had done. As they helped Max off the floor and into the bus, Reuben winced at the damage he had inflicted on his victim. And then he shuddered at the thought of what they were now going to have to do - look at all the negatives and all the pictures just to match them up. He wasn't sure he was ready to deal with this, but it was the only way he could protect the family - especially young Keith. And if it was the only way then he could and would deal with it. And then he would go and throw up.
Reuben sighed, heavily, as he and Greg made their way back to the bus. He felt like such a failure. First of all his client had been given spiked drinks, then drugged, then the girl had practically raped him, and all the while someone had been taking photographs to sell to the press. If those actually got out into the media, it would not only ruin Keith's wholesome image, but would destroy the Partridge Family's successful career. Most of their bookings came from family owned or family orientated places who would balk at hiring a group with a singer who had acquired a reputation for drug taking and sex. Especially at such a young age. And as their manager he should have been able to prevent all of this from happening. He felt entirely responsible for what had happened to Keith. Watching him suffer through the first agonies of withdrawal from heroin - regardless of how little he had been given - had been horrendous. The kid should never have had to go through that. And watching Shirley's agony as she held her son through his pain had been just as excruciating. If he had been taking care of things like he should have been then neither of them would have had to go through any of it. And now here was one more thing to endure. The possibility that pictures of Keith caught in the act might be plastered all over the newspapers. God, it made him so angry!
"You okay, Reuben?"
He had been so lost in his own misery and wrath at the situation that he had practically ignored his companion. Now, Greg's words finally reminded him that he was not alone. He glanced toward the film maker. Novak looked just as miserable as he felt, and he reflected rather ruefully that although both he and Shirley had laid the blame firmly at his door, they couldn't entirely blame Greg. After all, Joni had obviously pulled the wool over his eyes - just as she had done with the entire family. Even Laurie had been fooled - and she felt culpable for not realising the truth earlier It occurred to him at this point that there was an awful lot of guilt floating around about all this - and it was obvious that Novak was feeling a hefty portion of it himself.
"Yeah," he finally replied. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just wondering what we're going to do if we don't find your friend the bus driver and his pictures."
"I swear to god, Reuben, I didn't know he was the kind of guy who did this kinda thing,." Greg said, earnestly. "I mean - it defies all decency. He was watching Joni do all that she did to the kid and instead of putting a stop to it, helping Keith out, he takes pictures?!! I've been in this business a long time and I thought I recognised every kind of rat - but he takes the cake."
"Well, we've got to find him," stated Reuben grimly. "We've got to get to him before he has a chance to sell those pictures and ruin my clients. And it's not even just about ruining them professionally. Keith will suffer personally if this gets out. He won't be able to hold his head up again. He's a sensitive kid - and having those pictures in the press will just about kill him."
"You really care for that family, don't you?"
Reuben stared at him for a moment, then, "Care? Yes, of course I care! They're like my own family. And I'd do anything to protect them. Anything!"
"I can see that. And I'd …" Greg broke off as they reached the corner of the road where the bus was parked, his eyes drawn to the door of the vehicle, where he could see a figure kneeling underneath the driver's column, obviously searching for something. "Reuben!" he hissed. "Look! It's Max!"
Reuben saw red. That was the only way he could describe it later. The saying had never meant much to him before, but it did now, as his rage suddenly ignited, flaring up into a flame of such vivid intensity that his entire vista was tinted by the colour scarlet. His blood surged in his ears and his heart started beating hard. He felt like a bull about to rage into an arena and before he was even conscious of it, he had started moving forward with such speed that everything around him became a blur. He had only ever moved this fast once before in his life - when his unit had been bombed in Korea and they had had to run for their lives. And now he was running for someone else's.
*****
Laurie and Danny had wandered aimlessly after leaving Reuben's suite. They had not exchanged two words since being shocked into silence by Keith's outburst. It had been truly awful to see their elder brother reduced to such a state - totally distraught; his emotions laid bare by the influence of the heroin and alcohol with which he had been plied. Both were feeling pretty distraught themselves - and helpless. It seemed that, despite their desire to help, Keith and their mom were pretty much going to have to go through everything alone. It hurt so much to see him like this - hurt even more than watching him endure hour after hour of unremitting pain, and that had been bad enough. Danny's hatred of Joni had not abated either. In fact, witnessing his brother break down in that way had only served to bolster it. And Laurie, despite her best intentions, was feeling much the same way toward the makeup assistant.
Wordlessly, they made their way into the elevator, both instinctively seeking an escape from the whole ordeal and both feeling guilty about their ability to escape when Keith couldn't. A few moments later they found themselves in the foyer of the hotel. The mid-morning sun streamed through the large picture windows, its bright rays sending little tendrils of light to warm the darkest corners. Unfortunately, it did nothing to warm their heavy hearts.
Laurie sighed heavily and shivered, despite the heat. Wrapping her arms around herself, she glanced toward the revolving doors through which guests and visitors were both entering and departing, going on with their lives totally oblivious of the trauma which had blighted the Partridge Family.
"Are you okay, Laurie?"
She glanced down at her brother's anxious question. He was regarding her with a worried expression on his freckled face, his hand half-extended as though to reach out to her. As their eyes met, he pulled back slightly and shrugged, a half-smile wiping away the frown. "You looked - kind of far away, " he explained.
"I'm fine," she assured him, heavily. It's just - well - it's - you know …"
"Yeah," he said, equally dispiritedly.
"Oh, Danny, I can't stand to see Keith in such pain - and I've never seen him so upset before. I just want to do something to help him, but I can't. I don't know how to get him through this or even if he wants me - us there!"
Danny patted his sister's arm comfortingly. "I know, Laurie, I feel the same. He's probably pretty embarrassed about breaking down in front of us like that - and I'm gonna make a point of never reminding him about it."
That was quite an admission coming from the brother whose whole life seemed to be geared to teasing his elder brother and sister - when he wasn't teaming up with one of them to get the other! It brought a sad smile to Laurie's face and she glanced away for an instant to compose herself, her eyes alighting on one of the large windows and the world beyond. There, a familiar figure had just broken into a run which would put a world champion to shame. "Danny? Isn't that …?"
"Mr Kincaid!" he exclaimed, noticing their manager at the same time. His eyes grew wide with astonishment as their manager disappeared from sight and as one, they hurried to the doors, in an effort to find out just what was going on and why Reuben Kincaid should be in such a hurry.
The sight which met their eyes on their arrival in the street stunned them into complete silence for a moment. Reuben Kincaid - their mild-mannered, easygoing manager was half in-half out of Greg Novak's bus, trying to choke the life out of some guy. The man he was attacking was struggling in vain to wrest Reuben's hands from his throat and was already turning a strange colour. Greg was desperately trying to pull Reuben off the other man, and having no success, and there was a lot of yelling - mostly coming from Reuben himself, none of which they understood as he screamed obscenities and threats at his victim. A crowd of people - drawn by the noise and the sudden, inexplicable violence was gathering around them but Reuben was oblivious to their presence as his hands slackened on the man's throat and instead, he slugged him in the face, not once, not twice but half a dozen times - rocking his head back and forth like a puppet's. There was blood everywhere now, coming from the man's nose and mouth and trickling down his chin, staining his white shirt and Reuben's hands. But the Partridge Family manager seemed totally unaware of the consequences of his actions as he continued pummelling his prey, bringing up his knee for a short, sharp jab in the man's groin. The guy's face went pale beneath the blood and he started to choke. But still Reuben wasn't letting go and he wasn't stopping.
Laurie and Danny could only watch in stupefied horror as the uncharacteristic behaviour continued, getting more and more out of hand. Greg was still trying to prise Reuben away from the guy, despite receiving a few stray jabs himself, and eventually his persistence paid off as he got a good grip on the shoulders beneath him and jerked backwards, his momentum bringing Reuben along with him. The manager was not to be daunted however, and with a snarl of fury he launched himself at the supine figure once more. This time, however, someone from the crowd - very tall, very muscular - prevented him from reaching his intended victim and Greg flung his arms around Reuben, stopping the situation from escalating out of control.
"Kincaid! Stop it!" he yelled, shaking the man in an effort to calm him down. He appraised the crowd quickly, then met the eyes of the man who had interfered sufficiently to stop the beating. "Thanks," he panted.
"No problem," drawled the other man. "You wanna call an ambulance and the police?"
"No!" Greg replied quickly - maybe too quickly as the other man's eyes narrowed. "No, it's a - private argument. That guy works for me and he's … been stealing. He stole something very - erm - precious from my friend here and - well, he just kinda lost it for a minute there, is all."
The other man narrowed his eyes suspiciously, glancing back down at the bleeding, panting body on the ground. "I don't know," he said, slowly. "This guy looks like he's just about had it. That was a pretty bad beating he took and he might wanna press charges - or maybe he'd want someone to do it for him."
"No, no," Greg almost smiled. "He won't be pressing charges. Believe me - if anyone should be reporting the incident to the cops it should be me - and my friend here. Look, the guy just lost it - it's something to do with his family and - well, you know how protective guys can get about their family."
"This guy hurt one of 'em?"
Novak nodded slightly. "Yeah - in a manner of speaking."
Max's rescuer nodded back. "Right. Well, in that case, I understand. Man's first priority is his family. Someone hurts one of 'em - well, he's gotta expect to be punished."
Greg breathed a sigh of relief, satisfied that his half-truths had been believed and had served to avoid a confrontation with the cops - something none of them wanted, especially now. "Right," he said.
"Well, I'll leave you people to it," said the man, straightening up from his cursory examination of Max. He turned to the already dispersing crowd. "Okay, folks. Show's over. Nothing else to see."
As the crowd slowly scattered, Greg exhaled heavily and he sagged a little. Reuben had ceased his struggle to free himself and was now standing, quiescent, within the film maker's grip. "If I let you go, will you leave Max alone?" Greg hissed in his ear.
Reuben nodded. Greg let him go and stood back whilst Reuben regained his composure, smoothing down his jacket and rubbing at his bruised knuckles.
"I don't suppose before you half-killed him, you managed to ask Max where the rest of the pictures and the negatives were, did you?" enquired Greg pointedly.
Reuben looked at him. He was breathing hard, looking a little the worse for wear himself and also looking a little shamefaced at his own actions. "I … " he began. "I … "
"Mr Kincaid?"
His mortification was now complete. With a moan, Reuben hid his head in his hands as Danny appeared beside him, accompanied by Laurie. Both were regarding him with expressions of open-eyed wonderment and it was patently obvious that they had witnessed his vicious attack on Max, who was still lying on the ground, groaning and recovering from the assault. "Danny," he managed, peering through his fingers at the two of them, "go away."
"But, Mr Kincaid …!"
"Danny - I said GO AWAY!"
"Are you all right, Reuben?" Laurie's concerned voice cut through the remaining vestiges of his anger and he focused on her for a moment. She was standing behind Danny, her hands on his shoulders and kept casting glances down at the injured man on the ground, then glancing back at him. Her lovely face was puckered in an anxious frown and there was open curiosity in those bright green eyes.
He could tell that she was dying to ask what had happened and why he should launch such a malicious assault on someone but there was no way he could tell her. Bad enough that he had seen the picture. He still had to decide whether to tell their mother about it - and he certainly wasn't imparting any information about the rest of Keith's ordeal to his brothers and sisters. There were some things that even the closest of family members should never know about a person and this ranked up there as one of the highest.
"I'm fine, Laurie," he replied, at length, glaring at Danny as if that alone could shut him up, prevent him from prying any further. He should have known better.
"So why were you hitting that guy?" demanded the redhead. He was nothing if not tenacious, that was for sure. He'd met pitbulls with less gumption!
"That's between me and him," he told the middle Partridge.
"But you nearly killed him!"
Reuben was beginning to think there was going to be another attempted murder when, seeing his expression darken, Laurie wisely decided it was time for them - or at least Danny - to back off. Whatever had been going on it was obviously something in which they had no part or in which Reuben didn't want them involved. And although they sometimes made fun of their manager, plagued him by teasing him and playing pranks, he was a man you could respect if for nothing more than the fact that he had always striven to protect their best interests. They all knew they were more than just an 'act' to him. He was practically part of the family. And hadn't he been there with their mom throughout Keith's ordeal in his own suite? Yet another example of his protective instincts shining through. So it didn't matter why he had done what he had done just now - although she had a funny feeling that it had been because of them. He deserved to be left alone - not interrogated by special agent Danny Partridge!
"Danny, come on," she said, pulling him backwards, away from Reuben and Greg. He tried to stand his ground, persistence being one of his more annoying traits, but Laurie's hands were digging into his shoulders and her nails were beginning to dig right through his shirt and into his skin.
"Ow!"
"Well, come on then!" she demanded. "Leave Reuben alone for a while. He has better things to do than answer your dumb questions!"
He spun to face her, staring up at her in shock. "Dumb questions?" he sputtered. "Dumb questions? Laurie - you saw him! He was punching that guy's lights out! I didn't even know he could swing a punch like that! Hey, I didn't even know he knew how to fight! I want to know what he was doing - what that guy had done to tick him off …"
"Maybe he asked too many questions!" she replied, pointedly. "Danny, leave Reuben alone. It's none of our business. And if it is then he'll tell us when he's ready."
"Aw, you're no fun!" he muttered, and walked back to the hotel, leaving her standing in the street with a bemused expression on her face. She exchanged glances with Reuben and then, with a shrug, hurried after her younger brother.
"So, you wanna burn the pictures and negatives now, or do you want to wait till later?"
Reuben turned as Greg's voice interrupted the reverie he had fallen into with the kids' departure. Then his mouth fell open as he surveyed what Greg held in his hand. "You ..! You got the pictures?" he exclaimed in astonishment.
"I got the pictures," came the smug confirmation. "And the negatives."
"How …?"
"Well, while you were busy trying not to explain everything to the kids, I was busy 'persuading' Max that it might be better if he came clean and gave us everything he had - before I let you loose on him again, this time in the privacy of a dark alley, to which I would not be averse to driving us all in the bus if need be. He had them in his bag. He'd come back to look for the missing picture before he turned them all over to a tabloid he'd promised 'exclusives' to."
"Well, I'll be damned," breathed Reuben, shaking his head. "Novak, I didn't know you could be such a devious bastard."
"Learned that lesson a long time ago," came the cryptic response. "And the negatives are all here as well."
Reuben frowned suddenly. "How do we know he gave us all of them?"
"Well, it's easy enough to find out. The negatives are all numbered. We go through to make sure none are missing, match them up with the pictures and - hey presto!"
"You're a genius!"
Greg shrugged. "I try," he said, immodestly. "We better get on that right away - and tie our friend up whilst we do it. Don't want him slipping away until we've know what we have."
Reuben glanced down at the injured man and a pang of true remorse swept over him. "I - didn't mean to hurt him," he said, slowly. "I don't know what came over me - I … I never did anything quite that crazy before. I guess I just … lost control."
"Happens to the best of us," said Greg philosophically. "Reuben, you said yourself that the Partridges were like family to you. You've just watched one of them go through hell for several hours, then you find out something else that happened to him and that someone who could have helped not only didn't, but threatened to make the situation worse. It's no wonder you 'lost control', as you put it. You were just protecting your family … like I told the guy who rescued our 'friend' here."
"Yeah … " Reuben nodded, but he couldn't control the tremors which had started to run through him in reaction to what he had done. As they helped Max off the floor and into the bus, Reuben winced at the damage he had inflicted on his victim. And then he shuddered at the thought of what they were now going to have to do - look at all the negatives and all the pictures just to match them up. He wasn't sure he was ready to deal with this, but it was the only way he could protect the family - especially young Keith. And if it was the only way then he could and would deal with it. And then he would go and throw up.