A couple of hours later…

Darius just had to leave us alone, didn't he? I mean did he even realize the trouble the six of us were capable of getting into on our own. Obviously not.

"Check again, Jamie. It has to be in there!" I said in a panic as the cab driver that had driven us to the hotel looked at us expectedly. Jamie looked up with flushed cheeks.

"I swear to God, Jude, this was the bag that Darius handed me, and it isn't there!" Jamie shrieked in that high 'I could be a tenor if I tried' voice he gets whenever he's panicked.

"Okay." I said slowly taking a deep breath as I gazed thoughtfully around the group. "Let's just calm down and look in all of our bags." I said as calmly as I could before digging desperately through my purse and suitcase. Everyone else did the same. Oh shit! Nothing there. Obviously everyone else was having the same luck because SME lifted their hands in a mock gesture of surrender as Patsy shrugged and Jamie moaned. This was not happening. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!

"And you're absolutely sure this is the bag Darius gave you, Jamie. Really really sure. I mean, think for God's sake!" I said on a compulsive note as Jamie shoved the leather case at me angrily.

"Do you see his initials on it, Jude? Right there. See. Or do I need to let you borrow my contacts?" He asked disgustedly as I felt my shoulders slump dejectedly against the seat. The driver in front said something in broken English that I failed to comprehend as Spied sighed and threw one of his bags out the window.

"This is ridiculous. This is such a load of cosmic bullshit!" He said on a raised note as I realized for the first time that we were in trouble. Darius had kept everyone's passports and traveler's checks in one bag so that it would minimize the risk of having it stolen or lost. Obviously it hadn't worked.

"Okay." I said reasonably. "We have cell phones right? Let's use them." I stated logically as I leaned over and grabbed my phone from my purse. Cursing loudly, I almost threw it out the window with Spied's bag when I noticed the 'battery dead' signal on the display screen. Damn it! I know I had charged it last night. Turning it around so that the rest of the group could see, I watched their faces fall in dread as they spinned their phones around to reveal the same. There was no way this was a freakin' coincidence.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Jamie asked in a whisper as he threw a glance over his shoulder at the driver. I rolled my eyes in defeat.

"Give it up, Andrews. If the guy hasn't figured out we have no money by now, then he's going to very very soon." I said huffily as I looked at the driver too with an apologetic shrug. I could tell when it clicked in his head that we were just a tid bit broke because he started saying something really loud and really fast that I figured, quite miserably, was something we really didn't want to hear. Slamming his door opened, he started pulling our bags out nastily and throwing them out into the street one by one, letting them bounce where they may before shoving us out of the vehicle in an inelegant pile on the cement. Rubbing my butt experimentally, I could already feel a huge bruise forming along the plane of my thigh as Spied groaned beside me.

"Ever since I met you, Jude, I swear I have received enough injuries to be eligible for worker's compensation." Spied said on a moan as he lifted himself sloppily off the ground. Jamie just stayed down there as the rest of us rallied together against the side of the hotel.

"Come on, Jamie." I said persuasively as I headed toward the entrance. "These people have to have a record of our stay here. Even if Darius isn't here, he would have had to reserve the room with his credit card, which means if he doesn't show up, they'll charge the stay to his account anyway." I said reassuringly as Jamie's eyes lit up with the realization.

"Then what are we waiting for?" He asked quickly before standing up and literally dragging us all through the door. I smiled at him in amusement before running to keep up.


Ten minutes later…

"But you have to have a record of us somewhere." I argued impossibly with the buxom blonde sitting behind the hotel room desk. She shrugged with bored indifference as she popped a bubble with a piece of bubble gum while filing her nails literally to the quick. Tapping on the desk, I groaned miserably as I leaned against it in defeat.

"Just check again, will you." I said in a harried tone as the girl glanced up at me with narrowed eyes.

"Miss, I've checked three separate times under every name imaginable. Now, if you don't leave the premises soon, I will have hotel security called to remove you." She stated bitterly as I cursed at her under my breath before turning towards the others. I shook my head slowly, watching with trepidation as the hopeful looks on their faces completely disappeared.

"Oh okay, that's good." Jamie said sarcastically. "So we have no money and no where to stay. What is this? Some cheap rendition of a horror flick. Oh, not to mention we have no passports or anything to identify who we are." He said dejectedly as we all stood up suddenly when we saw hotel security round the corner.

"Okay. Now would not be a good time to try and figure this out." Spied said in rush as we all grabbed our bags and ran out the door. We were really running out of options. Moving out into the street, we did the only thing we knew to do, we walked.

"I don't guess any of you have ever been to Europe, huh?" I asked with a shrug as we meandered along. Watching them all shake their heads, I sighed heavily. Okay, penniless and lost. And to make matters worse, it was getting dark. I looked around at SME, Jamie, and Patsy with a hollow expression.

"That's it then. We're screwed." I stated blankly as Patsy pointed to a bar in front of us.

"We can stay there a good portion of the night. If we stay away from the bar and blend in with the crowd, the owners normally don't say anything about not buying." Patsy said as she inclined her head knowingly. I just stared at her.

"Something tells me you've done this before." I said cattily as she grinned. I truly truly didn't want to know. And, at this point, we didn't have any other options. Walking into the dark interior of the joint, we all blended into the smoky atmosphere trying to look like we knew where we were and what we were doing, which let me tell you was incredibly hard when we had a hand full of luggage. The hours passed too quickly as we blended into the mix. It was probably about four hours later that I realized somewhat belatedly that we had been discovered. A man approached me quietly and grabbed me firmly by my upper arm. I tried to pull it away, but it only made him tighten his grip.

"Something tells me you aren't supposed to be here." He said nastily as he dragged me out into an alley behind the building. I looked around me desperately for the rest of the gang as he shoved me hard against the brick exterior.

"I have just as much right as anyone else to be here." I said in a panic as his alcohol-laden breath invaded my space. He grinned crookedly.

"Not if you can't pay." He said with a snarl before running a finger down the front of my shirt lazily as if he had all the time in the world. I cringed at his touch.

"Please." I said in a whisper as he laughed mockingly.

"A guy could take that to mean several different things sweetheart. How about I be a nice guy and help you out. I'll give you some money for services rendered." He said with a chuckle as I felt nausea sweep through my frame before I looked at him courageously and spit into his face. No way was I going down without a fight. He roared in fury before shoving me up against the stone wall again causing my breath to be knocked literally into another century. Battling against the grip he had around my neck, I tried not to scream as another figure materialized out of the shadows behind my attacker. Lightly lifting his hand, the stranger tapped the drunken man on the shoulder calmly as I watched while my attacker whirled around in fury. I recognized the attire of my 'stalker' as he stepped more fully into the dim light, and I bit my lip to keep from crying as he removed his hat and glasses.

"Hi." He said sweetly to the drunken man before driving his fist directly into his sour face. Stunned, I watched speechless as my assailant fell into a crumpled heap on the sodden ground before looking up into the face of my savior, my stalker.

"Tommy." I whispered urgently.