Instant Star- Rise Of The Next Generation
Chapter 20- 24 Hours, Part 2
(Author's Note: Okay! Y'all ready for this? You sure? Cause it's the moment you've all been waiting for... Finally, the truth is revealed... Special, special thanks go out to Petra for pumping me up when I really needed it... not to mention reviewing her heart out! Loved it!)
Justin's decision proved easier to make than to enact. Not uncharacteristically, Chaz stayed out all night. Justin could only stare impatiently through his large bedroom windows, surveying the hills below as he restlessly awaited his father's return.
It was not until mid-morning that Chaz's key turned in the doorway. Upon hearing that noise. Justin rushed downstairs to meet his father.
"Justin? What is it?" Chaz asked, noting the unfamiliar wary look on his son's face.
"Dad..." the seventeen year old began nervously.
"We need to talk..."
Across town, the telephone rang at the Quincy residence, as everyone's nerves jangled with anticipation.
"1:13 again" Jude noted eerily.
Tommy lifted the receiver.
"Quincy here" he said.
"You got my money?" the voice roughly demanded.
"Just as you asked." Tommy replied, carefully adopting a deferential, cooperative attitude as the police instructed him. The act repulsed him, but he was still performer enough to conceal his aversion.
"Good. You finally did something smart, boy! Now, you're gonna wire it to this bank account..." the harsh voice continued, providing the routing number. Tommy carefully wrote it down.
"Remember... you have one hour..." he threatened him.
"Ok... Anything... Then when do we get our daughter back?"
"Soon..." the man answered noncommitally.
"What does that mean?" Tommy asked, now struggling to keep the anger out of his voice, as Jude pressed closer to him.
"Exactly what it sounds like..." the man lied easily. He had no intention of sending the girls home.
"One hour... No longer... I"m waiting..." he added, then abruptly hung up. He then made a similar call to a terrified Amanda Sloan.
The police officers stationed at both girls' homes immediately sprang into action, and began trying to trace the calls and also prepared to monitor the electronic transfer of the money,
Just as Tommy was about to call his bank to authorize the release of the ransom, their doorbell rang.
"Who could that be? Now?" an irate Jude demanded.
"If it's reporters again, I'll..." Patrick threatened, clenching his fists.
"I'll get it..." he offered.
Patrick opened the door and stared in shock when he saw who stood there.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he hostilely asked Justin Blackburn.
"May we... come in?" the teen idol requested shyly.
"We need to speak to your parents." Chaz quickly clarified.
"They are kind of busy right now!" Patrick snapped. "With the police..."
"Yes. That's why we need to see them and now." Tommy's former bandmate said carefully.
"Yes" Justin confirmed, guiltily.
Patrick lifted one eyebrow in surprise.
"Ok" he relented and led the Blackburns into the living room.
"Chaz?" Jude asked, completely surprised.
"What are you..." Tommy began, then stopped when he caught the look in Chaz's eyes.
"It's about Ruby... Justin has something to tell you. And the police..."
"Go on" he encouraged his son.
"I... I know who took her..." Justin sputttered.
"He paid me... I hid the microphones in your office... I helped him make the phony CD of you and that other woman... I knew he was taking money from you..."
"I know he hates both of you... But I never thought he'd go this far- that he'd kidnap them... And he's completely crazy! He'll gladly kill them both!"
"Who is he?" Tommy demanded.
Justin whispered his name.
"I'm so sorry..." he added.
Justin hung his head, embarrassed, as everyone else focused questioningly on Detective Peterson.
"Now what?" Tommy finally asked.
The detective was already reaching for his phone.
"We'll need a warrant... search his house. See if we can find that CD machine there, and any other evidence. But we're going to take him in. Question him, and hold him until he talks! We've got cause for suspicion. Let's see what the man has to say." the detective spoke, confident that they had their man.
"What about Justin? What's going to happen to him?" Chaz asked, concerned.
"Well, we're going to have to take him in, too." Detective Peterson answered. "But if he cooperates, things will be much easier for him."
Chaz locked eyes with his son. Justin then turned to the detective.
"Yes. Anything..." he mumbled, defeated.
"Good. Let's go now." Detective Peterson said firmly, as two officers led Justin away.
"I'm so sorry..." he repeated again, as they left the room.
"So am I." Chaz echoed, as he turned to follow his son.
Jude and Tommy just stared at each other and at Patrick, trying to understand it all.
"I don't... know what to think..." Jude finally said, breaking the awkward silence that filled the room.
"It's just... unbelievable. " she continued. "Why would he need to hurt us that way? After all these years..."
"I can see him being mad at me. After I left the "Boyz" the group fell apart. Things started going downhill for him after that... That was his most successful and lucrative project- he got really rich from us! But he did work with other artists..."
"Me." Jude whispered. "He never seemed mad at you when he worked with me..."
"Except you got fed up with him too. For the same reasons I did... He was too controlling, not open to new ideas..." Tommy continued.
"And then I did the same thing you did. Left him. And you supported me with that... He knew... " Jude remembered, exhaling deeply.
"Cost him money, too... you were doing well then..."
"Except you know it was about more than that. An ego thing too..." Jude finished.
"His management career pretty much ended soon after that..."
"I'm gonna tear him apart!" Tommy raged.
"You can't." his wife replied rationally. "You know you have to let the police handle it now..."
"I know." he sighed. "It's just... I'm not..."
"Used to that." Jude finished, always aware of Tommy's independence and pride.
"Yeah"
Up on the hill, that man unknowingly rejoiced, thinking his dream finally came true.
"Any minute now... I'll have my money... The money they owe me! And Sloan's- nice bonus!...My men can finish off the girls... Then, well... Bali's nice this time of year..."
The sound of police sirens interrupted his private musings, as they got louder and louder, approaching and finally stopping outside his house."
"What the hell..." he thought. His doorbell sounded, and he calmly went to answer it.
"Yes. Can I help you?" he said to the officers, his face perfectly pleasant.
"Darius Mills?" Detective Peterson asked, as a matter of routine. He naturally recognized the one time hip-hop king and music mogul.
"Yes" Darius smoothly repeated.
"We need you to come down to the police station with us."
"Why? Is there a problem, officer?" Darius asked innocently.
"Yes. We have good reason to believe that you arranged for the kidnaping of Ruby Quincy and Stacie Sloan."
"What the... I have no idea what you're talking about!" the former rap star replied, with what he thought was the proper blend of naivety and righteous indignation.
"This will go much easier for you if you just cooperate." Detective Peterson said calmly.
"It's a mistake..."
"Then you have nothing to worry about, do you?"
Two young, husky police officers grabbed Darius and immobilized him, as handcuffs were slipped around his wrists. Several others began systematically searching the house.
"Hey! You can't just come in here and do that... "
"Actually, we can. We have probable cause. And a search warrant."
"I got rights... You'll be hearing from my lawyer!" Darius yelled.
"Yes. You have the right to call him. And you probably should. Now, before we head down to the station, I'm going to read you the rest of your rights..."
Detective Peterson quickly finished that and headed outside. The two brawny officers flanked Darius, one on each side and led him in the same direction.
Inside, the remaining four police officers completely raided the large mansion, searching it quickly and efficiently. It wasn't long before one opened the door to Darius's home studio.
"Mel..." he called out to one of the other men, the forensics specialist.
"Over here..." he beckoned.
Mel stared at the expensive, highly specialized equipment in front of him. His eyes widened as he expertly located the serial number of the machine and it's source code.
"Got it! Match!"
"And what about these?" the other officer asked, pointing to several CD's lying nearby and one still lying inside the machine.
"Playback" Mel ordered.
"Two creeps nabbed us... I'm guessing they brought us here..."
"I'm so scared Ruby... We could die..."
"Yes! We've got him!" both officers exclaimed.
Mel quickly reached for his phone, to report this critical information to Detective Peterson.
"Bag those CD's" he demanded unnecessarily. The other officer was already carefully doing just that.
At the police station, Detective Peterson put Darius in a small, windowless room. The media mogul continued to play innocent and now refused to speak to the police without his lawyer present. He knew just how to work the system, and behaved like the seasoned criminal he once had been. The detective was well aware of Darius's past, his juvenile arrests for assault, drug dealing and petty theft. But that had all been a long time ago. After his music became successful, Darius appeared to have cleaned up, becoming a law abiding citizen. No one would have expected him to commit such serious crimes, not after all these years. However, it appeared he had done just that.
The detective shook his head. He knew Darius would be a tough, uncooperative prisoner.
His mood lifted after receiving Mel's phone call.
"Got you, creep!" he thought confidently.
Now satisfied, he re-entered the room where Darius sat with his lawyer.
In the dilapidated house just outside of town, Darius's hired thugs watched TV. Since the story of the kidnaping broke, the two men kept it on constantly, ghoulishly enjoying the media reports of their success. However, this broadcast affected them differently.
"We interrupt our regular programming to give you this special report. Police today raided the home of hip-hop and media icon, Darius Mills. It is believed that the one-time superstar is involved with the recent disappearance of pop diva Stacie Sloan and rising star, Ruby Quincy. Young Ms. Quincy is, of course, the daughter of Tommy and Jude Quincy, current owners of Q-Records and former clients of Mr. Mills. We have also been told that Q-Records artist, superstar Justin Blackburn has also been taken into police custody just a few hours ago. That's all we have now, but we'll keep you informed as this breaking story develops... For channel 8 news..."
"Holy crap!" one of the men exploded.
"That's why D didn't call us yet..." the other said.
"Now what the hell do we do... We ain't safe here..."
"No kidding..."
"D will give us up... Or they'll find us... We gotta go... We've enough money to get away..."
"Far away..." the other man agreed.
The men hurried to the windowless van and sped away as quickly as possible, leaving the girls alone downstairs.
Back at the Quincy residence, their phone rang yet again.
"Yes?" Tommy barked eagerly, as his wife and son watched, eyes alight with expectation.
He remained silent for a few minutes, before relief etched itself on his face.
"Really? You do? Great! Thanks!" he burst out, as the tears flowed freely and shamelessly. He returned the phone to its cradle.
"What" Jude screamed, unable to bear it.
"They raided Darius's house... They found the machine that made the CD's we got, as well as other CD's with the girls' voices on it... At first, he didn't admit to anything..."
"No, he wouldn't!" Jude commented.
"But when confronted with all that evidence, he confessed." Tommy continued. "He really had no choice."
"So, Ruby... where is she?" his wife asked.
"Some house just outside of Toronto... The police are on their way there to get her right now..."
"OMG! Yes!" Jude cried, sobbing heavily.
"Thank you!" Patrick screamed, adding his tears and relief to his parents'
"They want us to come meet her at the police station." Tommy informed them.
"What are we waiting for! Let's go!" Jude ordered.
The threesome made their way to the car. Driving as fast as the speed limit permitted, they reached their destination in just fifteen minutes.
Detective Peterson greeted them at the front door.
"Mr and Mrs. Quincy?"
"Where is she?" Jude shrieked.
"They won't be back for a while yet... It takes at least an hour to drive there, and the same amount of time to drive back... My men just left about thirty minutes ago..."
"But... they are okay?" Patrick asked worriedly.
"So Darius says..." the detective answered sardonically.
"And we'll also get the guys who took em'" he added.
"Good" Tommy responded, satisfied.
"But why did he do it? After all these years..."
"He's not answering that question." the detective smirked.
"He just... hated us that much. Still..." Jude said flatly.
"Yes. He does. He's a very disturbed man. But we've got him now. It's over." the detective assured them.
"The misssing money..." Tommy suddenly remembered and blurted out as an afterthought.
"Well, now that we know where to look... I'd say we'll find that too..." the police officer added.
"Not that that's what matters now... I just want my girl home..."
"My baby..." Jude mused.
"Yeah!" Patrick added enthusiastically.
"I need someone to beat up on..." he added, hoping to lighten the mood.
"Patrick" Jude scolded, but laughed. Her husband did too.
"Go ahead! Laugh now!" a man's enraged voice screamed from some distance away.
"Darius?"
"Damm both of you. You ruined me! You walked out on me! No one plays me that way..."
"Darius" Jude repeated his name, not knowing what else to say. Her former manager now was clearly completely insane.
"Did you really think I'd let you guys get away with that? It was too easy! You were so predictable. All of you! I waited... let you all feel so safe! And have more to lose... Picked my moment. When Chaz yanked his kid from that stupid Boyz Attack knockoff group, I knew it was the perfect chance. Of course he'd bring his boy to you! Propose that stupid remake! It was so easy to recruit Justin... kid was so desperate for money to escape Chaz... And with him doing the song. ..I'd be able get plenty of cash from you. So easy! I could just take as much as I wanted..."
"My company's money! My money!" Tommy exploded.
"My money" Darius replied seamlessly.
"Money I would have made if you two had done right by me! Money you wouldn't have without me! If it wasn't for me putting your slightly talented butt in my group, you'd never have gotten anywhere or been anyone! You wouldn't have anything like what you do! Including her!" he screamed manically, indicating Jude.
"So, I had to break that up, too... You two had no business being so happy or together. Not after how you screwed me over!" Darius yelled, in a full-blown psychotic rage.
"But Ruby..." Jude's horrified voice asked.
"Hey, if she hadn't decided to play Nancy Drew, she might have been fine... But she did... Although that was really okay by me... Fit in nicely with my plans..."
"You bastard!" Tommy screamed, lunging across the room. "I am going to rip you apart!"
"Dad!" Patrick yelled, grabbing his father from behind to restrain him.
"Tommy... please. You know you can't! It won't help now!" Jude pleaded. She struggled to stay rational. A big part of her wanted to see her husband pound Darius's face in.
As always, the sound of Jude's voice calmed Tommy. His powerful fury slowly softened as he turned to look at her, Patrick still holding onto his arms.
Two sets of blue eyes met and locked in silent communication.
"Yes" Tommy relented, unable to refuse her.
Jude reached for his hand, as the police led Darius away.
"Thank you" Patrick said, releasing his grip on his father, and rubbing his own arms.
"That hurt!" he moaned.
"Nice job." Tommy smiled proudly. "Didn't realize you'd gotten that strong!"
"I guess Aunt Sadie's karate lessons paid off. Wanna wrestle?" his son kidded him.
"No way! You'd win!"
Jude laughed again, filled with love for the two most important men in her life.
"Let's just sit down and relax... We've still got about an hour to wait..." she said.
Time passed slowly. A little while later, a familiar figure walked in, causing several of the male police officers to interrupt their work and openly stare. The woman approached them.
"Amanda..." Jude carefully greeted Stacie's mother, as Tommy just nodded his head.
"They aren't back yet?" she asked anxiously, stating the obvious.
"No" Jude answered
Total silence followed.
"I'm so sorry..." Jude blurted out, knowing that if it wasn't for Stacie's friendship with Ruby, Stacie would not have been kidnaped.
"It's not your fault..." Amanda's voice trailed off as she searched for the words to reassure her.
"I can't blame either of you... Crazies... are part of our business... our world..."
"Yes... But..." Jude stammered.
"It's over. They are on their way home. That's what matters most, now."
"Yes" Jude agreed.
A short while later, several cars pulled up outside. Several sets of footsteps became louder as they closed in on the room where the Quincys waited anxiously with Amanda Sloan.
"Mommy... Daddy..." Ruby's exhausted voice called out, before they could even see her.
"Ruby!" three voices screamed, as Jude, Tommy and Patrick jumped to their feet and swivelled their bodies to look towards the door. Amanda Sloan did the same.
In minutes, the lost girls stood before them. Both Ruby and Stacie were completely ravaged, their clothes torn and dirty, their skin dank and colorless, their bodies shaky. But they smiled at the sight of their families, just grateful to be home again.
"Ruby... honey..." Jude cried out, seizing her daughter and hugging her as tightly as she could. Tommy eagerly opened up his arms and embraced both of them, lovingly and protectively.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I will be... now..." Ruby said, strengthened by her family's support.
She lifted her face from her father's shoulder and saw her brother.
"Hey, carrot-head!" Patrick said teasingly, but with indisputable warmth and relief written all over his face.
Ruby's smile widened and she laughed for the first time in days.
"Don't call me that!" she shot back, reaching out to smack him playfully.
Patrick grabbed her flailing arm and hugged her instead.
"I'm really glad you're okay!" he said affectionately.
"Me, too..."
A few feet away, Amanda and Stacie Sloan enjoyed a similar joyful reunion. The Quincy's eyes wandered over to them briefly before automatically refocusing on each other.
"Let's just get you home." Jude told Ruby maternally. "You need rest..."
"A shower..." Ruby added, wanting to cleanse herself not only of the dirt, but of the horrible experience as quickly as possible.
"We're outta here!" Tommy said, puttting an arm around his daughter's shoulder and leading her and the rest of the family towards their car.
(Author's Note: Well... what did you all think. I know some of you were guessing it! Please review and let me know. Thanks!)