Chapter Three

When Shawn arrived at Brady's apartment on Saturday night, Belle had already been there for a couple hours, having come over to early to eat dinner with older brother. It was the first time since Brady moved out that the two had quality time together. They spent the two hours talking about everything that was going on in their lives, but both avoided the subject of Marlena.

Shawn was immediately given the official tour of Brady's apartment. The apartment was pretty large for one person—three people could comfortably walk around the kitchen and not be in each other's way, the bedroom had a walk-in closet, and the living room was big enough for the black couch, the oak end table, a coffee table, a bookshelf, and the entertainment center that held the flat-screen tv, the x-box, the DVD player and the VCR. If Shawn didn't already know that Brady was paying his own way, he would have thought John was paying for the apartment.

Maybe I should work for John, he thought.

"So which movies are on the agenda?" he asked as Brady went into the kitched, adjacent to the living room, to grab sodas for the three of them.

"Star Wars," Brady called back, his head stuck in the refrigerator. "I hope that's okay with you, we kinda forgot to check with you."

"The original?"

"Of course. Best trilogy ever made."

"No doubt. The newer movies aren't nearly as good," Shawn agreed.

"Do you have anything to eat while we watch the movies?" Belle cut in.

"Belle, we just ate," Brady replied a bit incredulously as he handed a Dr. Pepper to Shawn.

"Oh come on, like you aren't hungry," she countered, knowing that her big brother was always hungry.

"That's different. I'm a man. Males are hungry by nature."

"It's true, Belle," Shawn backed up his cousin. "My grandpa always finishes my grandma's meals, and Sami's and he used to finish Carrie's all the time, too."

Belle put up her hands in mock resignation. "I don't deny your rights to be hungry, being the male you are, but being female, I reserve the right to become hungry whenever I feel like it." She gave the two a Cheshire grin and took her soda from her brother.

"If you say so," Brady chuckled. "I'll make some popcorn. Put in the first movie and fast forward the previews, would you?"

"Yes, sir." Belle pulled out Episode IV: A New Hope, and put it in the VCR. "You know I never saw Star Wars until they re-released it with the new special effects."

"Are you serious?" Shawn asked, shocked. "Man I grew up watching Star Wars. I don't know how you lived."

"She was never remotely interested until Dad and I dragged her to the movie theater. We'd been trying to get her to watch for years. She came out of Episode IV dying to see The Empire Strikes Back," Brady explained as he put a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

Belle hit pause on the remote because the previews were over. "Hurry up with the popcorn already."

"Patience is a virtue, Belle," Brady lectured with a teasing glint in his eye. "You can't hurry time."

Belle glared at him lightheartedly and turned to Shawn. "Can you stay long enough to watch all three movies?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. My parents will be in bed by eleven so they won't even notice when I get home."

"Awesome," Belle replied with a grin. The microwave beeped to signal that it was done and Brady pulled it out and dumped the popcorn in a bowl. Belle pushed play on the VCR-remote control, scooting over a bit closer to Shawn to make room for Brady on the couch. To her bemusement, her brother came over in started to sit down on her, forcing her to scoot over so that she could be in the middle, right between her and Shawn.

He glanced over at her and grinned, clearly amused with himself. She just shook her head as the Star Wars music began.

When "The Return of the Jedi" was over, the popcorn was long gone, five empty cans of soda sat on the coffee table, and Brady was asleep on the floor. Belle still sat on her end of the couch, feeling to uncomfortable to move closer to Shawn, who had been watching the movies intently. As the end credits rolled, she reached over to the remote and stopped the tape and then turned the TV off.

"Should we leave him there?" she asked, staring down at her brother with a smirk on her face.

Shawn grinned. "We should. He might punch me if I wake him up."

"I should really be getting home. If I stay overnight my mom will freak," Belle said with no hint of amusement in her voice.

"Yeah my parents wouldn't be too happy with me if I didn't come home either," Shawn agreed. "Should we lock up and go? I'll walk you home."

"Sure, that'd be great."

The two picked up the empty bowl and the soda cans and then made sure the windows were all locked. Belle locked the apartment door on her way out, stealing one last amused look at her brother.

Because it was a spring night, the air was slightly chilly but not terrible. The two walked in comfortable but tired silence towards the Penthouse building. There were no clouds in the sky and the moon was full. Shawn admired the constellations as they walked. Few cars traveled by on the street next to them.

"Thanks for inviting me," Shawn said randomly as they headed down a well-lit alley near Salem Place. "I had a lot of fun."

"We should do it again sometime. Philip has a home-theater at his place, maybe we could all have a movie night and just stay over when summer comes."

"That'd be cool," he agreed. "He suggested doing something like that, since he also has a pool in his backyard. He's so lucky to be born into such a rich family."

"You were born into the same family," Belle reminded him. He looked at her. "I mean, I know your dad was adopted by your grandpa, but Victor is your grandpa too. He gets just as protective over you as he does with Philip. You could definitely take advantage if you wanted to."

"I guess so," Shawn murmured. "That would be so weird. It's a touchy subject with my grandpa, I think he would feel betrayed or something if I started thinking of the Kiriakis' as my family. I mean that would be weird in itself, Philip is my best friend, and he's my uncle. How weird that I'm four months older than him. Nah, I'm a Brady, Belle, not a Kiriakis."

The two fell silent again, not even noticing as they went further down the alley that the lighting was getting sparser. They were both shaken out of their thoughts, however, when a loud crash made them both jump.

"What was that?" Belle whispered, her heart in her throat, as she clutched Shawn's sleeve tightly.

"I don't know," he whispered back. "Probably just a cat or something. Is it just me or is it darker here?"

"Not just you," she replied, fear in her tone. "Why did we think it would be safe to walk home so late?"

"It's not much farther to your place, come on."

A deep, calm voice in low tones filled the air, halting the teenagers in their step. They turned their heads towards the sound of the voice, and at the far end of the alley they could see two men talking to each other, their voices barely reaching the ears of the two who had accidentally come upon them. Shawn pulled Belle quietly behind two empty trash cans.

"You won't have time to go to the police," the first man said, his voice chilling.

"You can't kill me," the second man protested in a voice significantly higher than the other mans. "You need me." There was fear behind his tone.

"You have become too great a danger for me. You have shown that you cannot be trusted."

"But—"

"As of now, no one can connect me to you, and I do not trust that that will not change."

An object in the first man's hands flashed in the dark and Shawn caught his breath at the sight of it. "He has a gun," he whispered to Belle as quietly as he could. He appeared to her to be a bit too calm about this but in fact his heart was beating so fast he thought it might pound right out of his chest and kill him.

"Please, I beg you not to do this…"

"You made this decision for me when you betrayed me. You knew what the consequences would be." Before a single more word was uttered, the gun went off.

Shawn and Belle both jumped at the sound; Belle turned her head into Shawn's shoulder as the second man slumped lifelessly to the floor. Shawn cringed, bending over slightly as he remembered when he got shot. He stared wide-eyed at the single form many yards away from him, standing over his victim without remorse. He turned, his eyes sweeping through the alley as if looking for witnesses. His eyes halted near the trash cans; Shawn quit breathing, hoping the killer hadn't just spotted him and Belle, who moved an inch since burying her head into Shawn's shoulder. After a long, terrifying moment, the man turned away and walked out of the alley and disappeared into the main streets.

The two sat behind the trash cans for a few minutes longer before moving. Shawn stood up first, gently pulling Belle to her feet. His hands were trembling as she rose to her feet. Both shaken, they looked at each other through the darkness.

"We need to call the police," he told her. She nodded, her shaking hands going immediately to her purse to pull out her cell phone. The two walked back to a street light in the alley to see the light. As Belle dialed, she sniffed and Shawn could see that her eyes were red. At this moment he honestly felt like he could cry as well.

Another gunshot rang out, at the end of the alley where the killer had gone. Again both teenagers jumped and Belle screamed, dropping her cell phone. The man stood at the end of the alley, staring at them both. Belle bent down to get her cell phone and she had just barely grabbed it when Shawn pulled on her arm, breaking into a run back down the alley where they had come from.

TBC

Please review! Thanks.