Chapter 3 is up...*Dun, dun, dun*...

Disclaimer: Here's the thing - I'm an 18 year old, and a girl, neither of which Scott Fellows is. He owns Big Time Rush. I own their songs and their DVDs, but nothing else that is associated with them.

I was hoping to get this up yesterday, but things got a little busy yesterday afternoon, and I kind of got blocked on this chapter, so it might be a little choppy or off or something, but I'm hoping it's okay.

Jatie 4 ever: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you decided to give the story a try, even though this isn't really what you're into. Awww, I'm blushing now! You're always so sweet! Thank you, and...my stories are probably a healthier addiction than, well, pretty much everything else, so thanks again, and thank you for reviewing! :)

ktsuzanne: Thank you so much, I'm happy you like it so far! And thank you for reviewing :)

THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed and/or alerted or favorited this story! I got so many alerts and favorites the last couple of days it's insane, so thank you! They made me want to get this chapter up even faster :)

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 3 – Double Warning

(Thursday, May 1st)

Katie's POV

Mom woke me up after at about six in the morning, eyes wide and cautious. "I've made coffee and there's a pile of toast on the table."

"Thanks," I mumbled as I pushed the covers back and slipped out of bed. I managed to get into the bathroom to brush my teeth, comb out my hair, and wash my face, before stumbling out to the kitchen. Mom had the TV in the living room turned on to the early morning news, and the coffee maker was hissing and spitting.

I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but it had taken me ages to fall asleep, so I was running on about two-and-a-half hours of sleep; I needed the caffeine.

I poured myself a cup, stirred in some milk and sugar, and took a cautious sip, nearly burning the skin off of my tongue in the process.

"Do you want to get into the shower first, or should I?" Mom asked as she drank from her coffee mug.

"You can," I replied, still half-asleep. "I'm still trying to accept that I'm awake."

Mom chuckled, but the smile dropped off her face as the news anchorman announced, "…Early this morning, pop superstar and action movie star James Diamond just narrowly escaped death when his Mustang exploded on mega-producer Gustavo Rocque's property. Diamond was reportedly at Rocque's for his album release party, although reports say that he left for his home earlier that evening. The reasons for his return are yet unclear, although there are rumors that a blackmailer placed a bomb in the trunk of Diamond's car. Diamond is uninjured, although shaken, and has yet to make an official statement, although he did tweet this morning that he was grateful for everyone's support and he was fine, just shocked…Diamond has been making headline news with his latest single skyrocketing on the charts…"

Mom muted the TV and turned to look at me. "Katie? Sweetie? Are you okay?"

I felt my legs give out from under me and I collapsed in a chair. What would be the easiest way to answer? Um, no.

"Someone tried to kill him," I mumbled out. "Someone blew up his car. There was a blackmailer. Oh my God…"

Mom bit her lip. "They don't know that for certain, only James and probably Gustavo and Kelly do."

The screen changed from a close up of the news anchorman to a shot of the front of Gustavo's mansion. The camera zoomed in on the blackened skeleton of James's car, and then cut to a shot of two girls holding on to…James.

My stomach dropped down to the floor as I realized just who I was looking at.

James Diamond slowly walked around the burnt rubble that used to be his car with a look of pure, unadulterated shock on his face, as Jo Taylor and Camille Roberts clutched him, apparently supporting him. Stephanie King followed behind with Mercedes Griffin, while Gustavo Rocque, Kelly Wainwright, and Arthur Griffin trailed behind the other two girls.

Mom un-muted the TV as the camera flashed LIVE, letting us know that this was actually happening while we watched. The sun had yet to rise in LA, and it was dark, but with the spotlights from the police cruisers that were parked everywhere, it was easy to make out the faces and the actions.

"I just – I can't – this makes no sense – " James was stuttering out, running a hand over his unshaven face. His hair was a mess, and his face was pale under his tan. I felt my heart stop as I heard his voice. I had forgotten how smooth and velvety it was, even when he could barely get the words out. Oh God…the memories…

Jo and Camille gripped James even firmer as he stumbled a bit. "He's in shock, we all are," Jo assured the cameras, brown eyes huge and scared.

Mom sighed and shut the TV off. "I think that's all we really need to see."

I nodded silently, not completely sure what to say or do.

"Eat," Mom ordered me, pointing at the plate of toast in the middle of the table. "You need your strength and energy, we have a long two weeks ahead of us."

Ain't that the truth?

Mom headed for the only bathroom in the house, so that she could shower, and I grabbed a piece of the sourdough toast, loading it with strawberry jam and biting into it.

I couldn't believe what I had just seen. James's car had blown up. He had nearly been killed. He was an absolute wreck. His hair was a mess. I had heard his speaking voice for the first time in three years. Jo and Stephanie were back in LA. Why were they even back on the west coast? I had thought Jo was still in England, and Stephanie in New York city.

I managed to choke the rest of my toast down, and made my way to my room, considering maybe getting started on packing for the next two weeks. I knew this cruise was a trap, what else could it be? But Mom was determined that the only way to keep me and the guys safe was to be go on the cruise. Yeah, that had worked well for James, hadn't it?

My phone sat innocently on my nightstand, but I wondered if The Replacement knew I had seen the news.

I activated my phone and my stomach flipped over: New messages.

Katie– I know you're still not completely convinced that the cruise would be the best thing. But believe me, if you have any plans for escape, think again. Diamond's car exploding just seconds after he escaped was a warning to Gustavo, who thought defying me would be a smart move. I got to Diamond, and I can get to you and your mom just as easily, remember? You wouldn't want your mom to be hurt, now would you? –The Replacement. P.S –Must've been nice seeing him again, hmmm? And you'll be seeing him tomorrow! I bet you're excited ;)

Yep, The Replacement knew I had seen the thing about James's car.

But…this made no sense. The Replacement had slid a newspaper article into my car mere hours before planting the bomb in James's car, and then was back here in Minnesota again, and spying on me. How…how was that even possible? The answer was simple: It wasn't. Unless…there was more than one person involved in this scheme…But was that even important at this point?

No, I decided. No, it's not. I just need to focus on keeping Mom and me alive for the next two weeks. And that's when it hit me – James and Gustavo were going to be on the cruise as well. Oh no…But did that mean that my brother and Logan and Carlos would be on the cruise as well? And Kelly? Maybe Griffin? And Jo, Camille, and Stephanie, all together, helping James. Oh my God. This was a freaking reunion. It would also be a bloodbath once everyone saw each other again. There had been waaay too much hurt and betrayal for anyone to let anything slide. Shit. We were all screwed.

Mom and I left for the airport at 9:50, neither of us talking much. We got to the airport at around noon, and managed to get through airport security. We had lunch at McDonald's, before plopping down in the seats at the terminal, waiting for boarding.

The flight was fine, if uneventful, which, considering it's an airplane, is a good thing. After all, when the planes were hijacked on September 11th, it was probably the most eventful flight in every passenger's life. It was also their last one. RIP, 9/11 victims.

Sure enough, there was a rental car waiting for us at LAX, and we headed off for the Motel 6 that we were supposed to be staying at.

I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Twenty-four hours ago I was doing my homework in my bedroom in Chasm Lake, Minnesota, and had just gotten one of the first texts from The Replacement. Now here I was, sitting in a rental car, speeding through LA, blinking in the sunlight, while there was at least one maniac out there who was bringing us all together for some reason, probably a completely sick one, because why else would we all be getting threatened? Why else would James's car have blown up?

The Motel 6 room was just like pretty much every other Motel 6 room. A TV, two full-sized beds, the usual.

"It's so nice to be back out in LA, in the bright sunshine," Mom said, sounding almost cheerful, as she dropped her bags on the floor of the room.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied. "Although considering the reason we're out here…You know, the whole we're-

probably-going-to-end-up-on-a-reenactment-of-the-Titanic-cruise thing…"

"That doesn't mean we can't at enjoy ourselves," Mom reprimanded me sternly.

"I guess…"

The rest of the day mainly consisted of us recharging from the events of the past twenty-four hours. We just laid on our beds, watching TV, not talking too much because, honestly, what was there to talk about? I had no idea who The Replacement could be, and Mom didn't seem to know either. And no matter how much I insisted that the cruise was sure to be a trap for us, that there was no way we were going to get off of the ship, if we even made it to the DLS-S (what did the second S even stand for anyway?), she wouldn't budge. I guess I could see why. After seeing the ruined car on TV, it was pretty obvious that The Replacement was beyond dangerous, but that didn't mean we should just lay down belly-up and let them do whatever they wanted to us. They were just a deranged bully with access to explosives, nothing more. If we took away their blocked number and their bombs, we'd probably end up with some skinny kid with a bad case of acne who was using fear and mind games to control us.

But talking Mom into that wasn't so easy.

At about six, we finally got up, changed out of our jeans and sweatshirts and into shorts and t-shirts (completely different climate), and headed out to dinner, before shopping for whatever extra stuff we needed that we hadn't had time to grab.

We returned back to the motel around nine, watched TV for a couple more hours, and then climbed into bed. I smiled into the darkness. I hadn't gotten any more texts from The Replacement, no freaky messages, no nothing. But then again…tomorrow was the day we would be in their domain, on their turf, at their mercy. Who knew what would happen? Who knew if we would even survive the day?

Needless to say, those happy thoughts did pretty much nothing for a peaceful night's sleep. I tossed and turned for hours once again before exhaustion finally took a hold of me and I drifted off.

I was shaken awake at eight-o-clock the next morning by my mom, who looked just as tense and scared as she had the night before.

"Katie, this was left outside the door," she hissed at me, eyes huge.

She was holding a printed copy of what looked like an online blog. The title? James Diamond's Car On Fire – Literally.

I snorted. "Clever."

"Katie…this was left outside our door! It's a reminder! It's a warning!"

"Mom, chill. We're already going through with this stupid thing. I guess The Replacement is a little insecure and isn't as all-knowing as they'd like us to think they are."

"Well, check your phone anyway."

I struggled out of bed and went to my purse, where my phone was. I pulled it out and felt my stomach somersault as I saw that I had a new message. It had been sent just moments before, like the person knew Mom had just gotten the article…Oh God, that was creepy.

"It's probably nothing," I said quickly.

"Probably," Mom agreed.

I opened the text and my jaw dropped: So Katie, so far you and your mom have cooperated. Nice job, and smart move! But your brother isn't cooperating at all. Or…he was, but now that he's out here in LA, he's starting to get...shall we say…stage fright. So stay tuned to the news for the next few hours, because there should be something about Jo Taylor. Oh, but first you have to find a TV, because yours isn't going to work after your hotel room blows up in five minutes. Hope you get this text in time! –The Replacement. P.S –don't call 911, they won't be able to help, plus, I'm jamming your phones' signals.

"Mom, we have to get out of here, now!"

"What – why?"

"Our hotel room is going to blow up in five minutes!"

I was already yanking jeans and a t-shirt on, and Mom followed suit. We grabbed our bags, and scurried out of there as fast as we could.

Mom immediately pulled her phone out, but cussed vilely. "The signal's blocked!"

I checked mine and wasn't surprised to see that mine was jammed too. "So's mine. The Replacement said that they were jamming our signals, but…"

"We have to do something!" Mom cried. "There – there might be people in the rooms on either side of ours!"

"I – "

And that's when the room that just ten minutes before I had been sleeping in, blew up.

Mom and I looked at each other.

"I think it's too late," I whispered.

"I think you're right. Come on, we have to get out of here. And let's see if we can find a TV."

(*)(*)(*)(*)

James's POV

(Friday, May 2nd)

"So, everything's packed, it just needs to be loaded in Gustavo's car," Jo reported as she double-checked one of her suitcases.

I nodded, watching her make sure she hadn't forgotten anything for the cruise.

"Jo," Stephanie said with an eye roll, "I'm sure you aren't going to be needing a winter parka for the cruise."

"Well, you never know," Jo retorted defensively. "We don't know what route the DLS-S is going to be taking. What if it goes up north? Then it would be good to have warm clothes."

Camille frowned, biting at her lip. "That makes sense. Damn. I've gotta go buy a heavy coat."

I snorted. "And where are you going to find one of those in Los Angeles, the sunshine capital?"

Camille gave me a sly smile as she pulled her Blackberry out. "I have my sources."

"By the way, how are you just going to disappear off the face of the earth for the next two weeks?" Stephanie wanted to know, looking from Camille to me. "I mean, you're on a hit TV show and your third album is about to drop. You're both two very popular celebrities. So how is this going to go down?"

Camille shrugged. "The show's on hiatus right now."

"And Gustavo's sent out an announcement that I need some time off, so I'll be out of the public eye for a couple of weeks," I added. "Gustavo is apparently also taken a break, and Griffin is retreating to one of his many estates to work through some business problems."

Stephanie nodded, impressed. "Sounds like you guys have this all figured out."

"Ah, we're probably missing something, we just haven't caught it yet," I replied modestly.

"I knew it!" Camille shrieked, not paying any attention to Stephanie's and my conversation. "James, how could you forget about sporting goods stores? Snowboarding? Skiing?"

I clapped my hand to my head. "Crap, I completely blanked on that. Wow, that's pretty bad. Sorry Cami, I'm just…my mind's just kind of jumbled."

"All of our minds are jumbled," Jo assured me.

Camille smiled at us, before grabbing her purse. "I'm heading off to that store now. I'll be back soon."

"Be careful!" I called after her. "Check your car for bombs before you get in!"

"Will do." Camille left the room, a couple of minutes later, I heard her car start up and pulled out of Gustavo's driveway. We were all staying at Gustavo's mansion because it was the one place that The Replacement hadn't completely penetrated – all three girls had discovered pictures of Kendall, Logan, and Carlos (depending on the girl, of course) with a threatening note, although so far there hadn't been any more exploding cars. That much was a relief, but after my car had blown up last night, it felt like there was just something hanging over our heads.

Jo shifted a little uncomfortably as she tugged at her blonde hair. "So…um…I heard about Big Time Rush's breakup," she said softly. "It was pretty well publicized. It sounded really...um…"

"The word you're looking for is disastrous."

"Yeah, I guess I am. I'm sorry. Have you – you guys aren't friends any longer, are you?"

I shook my head. "I haven't seen any of them since a couple of days after the last fight."

Stephanie bit her lip. "What was the fight about?"

I looked over at her. "We just all wanted different things. One thing led to another and everything just kind of…BOOM! Right in our faces."

"But from everything I've heard, you're all successful now," Stephanie insisted. "Especially you."

I gave her a long look. "That doesn't mean I'm happy."

"No, I guess not."

There was the sound of a phone vibrating and Jo pulled hers out. She glanced at it, frowning. "That's weird. It's a text from The Replacement. It says 'Duck'. What the hell does that mean?"

My mind went into overdrive the way Logan's used to, and in that second, I could have told you exactly what was going to happen. "It means to duck!" and I grabbed both girls and yanked them down to the floor, just as there was a CRACK and the bedroom window glass shattered, pierced by a bullet.

There was another CRACK and the sound of more gunshots discharging, aimed at the bedroom window. It was surreal to see the bullets hitting the wall, bouncing off, scraping paint and taking chunks of plaster with them.

The door burst open, amidst the gunfire, and Gustavo and Griffin both came running in.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Gustavo roared, and Jo, Stephanie, and I all looked up at him from where we were lying flat on the floor, out of the range of ricocheting bullets.

"GET DOWN!" I yelled at him. "SOMEONE'S SHOOTING AT THE WINDOW!"

Neither man needed to be told twice. They both threw themselves down onto the ground with yelps of terror as more bullets crashed into the room.

There was a pause, and then there was the biggest crash yet, and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. There was silence. Dead silence.

I pushed myself up onto my knees and crawled forward. There was a rock a few feet away from the window, sitting in the midst of an explosion of glass. And taped to the rock…

Carefully, very carefully, I detached the rock from the sharp edges of glass and gently tore the paper off,

handing it to Jo.

"I think this is for you."

Jo stared at me. "How do you know?"

"Because you're the one who got the text that said to 'duck'."

Jo didn't reply; instead, she just unfolded the paper and read through it, face going white and eyes becoming teary. "Damn it," she whispered. "Just…damn it."

"What? What is it?" Stephanie asked, sounding scared. She crept over to Jo and put her arm around the blonde. "Jo, what did the note say?"

Jo cleared her throat and read aloud in a mocking tone, "'I really hope you got my text in time, because otherwise, well, there's really no point to this message. I bet you're wondering for the reason for the shooting. Well, you can pinpoint that to your ex-boyfriend, one Mr. Kendall Knight. He's here in LA, but he began to get second thoughts, and he needed some convincing. Oh, and there should be something on the news soon enough about Katie and Jennifer Knight, just to let you know – I thought he would need even more convincing than Gustavo did. –The Replacement.'"

I felt my fists clench and my eyes narrow in anger. "That bastard. That sick bastard."

Griffin sighed. "I suppose we need to do our part and report this and let the news vans come by and everything."

For once, he didn't want the publicity. I couldn't say I blamed him. Who wanted publicity for something like this?

"We should also go see what The Replacement did to Katie and Jen," Gustavo added. He paused, then glanced around. "Where's Camille?"

"She went out to get a heavy coat," Jo said, wiping her eyes. "God, I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she's fine," I assured Jo. "Why don't you call her?"

"Yeah…I think I will."

We all headed downstairs to where the plasma TV was, while Jo dialed Camille's number. Camille answered, and a look of relief flooded across Jo's face at the sound of her friend's face. She explained quickly what had happened, but I tuned her out within seconds, because of what had just come up on the news.

"…Breaking news…Early this morning, there was an explosion in a Motel 6 on Dalton Drive…the room was reportedly rented out to Jennifer Knight and her daughter. There is no sign of either woman, and authorities suspect that they may be the ones responsible for the demolishment of the room. Several fellow guests were injured…"

Gustavo flicked the TV off. "Well, at least we know that they're out here in LA."

"And they made it out safely," Jo said softly, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I hadn't even realized that I was hunched up and shaking until she and Stephanie both pulled me into a hug. "James, they're okay. It was just a warning to Kendall, that's all. They're fine."

I hugged them back. "I know. I know. They are. They have to be."

Katie. Oh man, please let her be okay…PLEASE…!

My phone vibrated in my pocket and both girls pulled back at the feeling. I raised my hands. "I swear, that wasn't my body, that was my phone."

Stephanie laughed shrilly, the shock of being shot at apparently beginning to hit her. "I hope not, because otherwise I would have to kick you in your pretty-boy ass."

"You better check your phone, make sure it's not another text telling us that we…I don't know…need to evacuate the house because The Replacement managed to cause a gas leak," Jo told me.

I nodded and pulled my phone from my pocket, opening the texts: Oh James, are you worried about Katie? What would Kendall say if he knew? I bet you're blushing like crazy right now…oh, that's right, I forgot – you have rosacea. Of course. Anyway, don't feel too embarrassed, she nearly had a heart attack when she saw the segment about you and your car on the news. She nearly fainted, so she obviously still cares about you. Isn't that just so sweet? And yes, she and Jen Knight are alive. They escaped, though narrowly. Feeling relieved? You should be. –The Replacement.

Something was wrong with the texts, something just didn't quite mesh, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it…

The front door swung open and Camille rushed in, carrying a large shopping bag bulging with her new coat.

"Cami!" Jo cried, leaping to her feet and running to Camille. She threw her arms around her, and Camille held her as Jo burst into tears, her body shaking ferociously with sobs. The horror of what had happened had just hit her.

Stephanie stood up and walked over to Jo and Camille and wrapped her arms around them, crying quietly as well, and I followed suit, pulling all three girls into my embrace while they shook with tears.

Gustavo and Griffin just sat there on the couch in stunned silence, as if they had never seen crying girls before.

"Katie's alive," I called the two shocked men. "The Replacement let me know in the text – " And that's when it hit me. The Replacement knew we had just seen the news. The Replacement knew I was freaking out about Katie. Oh my God.

"We have to get the hell out of here now!" I shouted, startling the girls enough for them to stop crying. "The Replacement…they're listening in, they're probably somewhere in here right now. We have to go now!"

Within minutes, we had rounded up Kelly and Mercedes, said goodbye to the latter, and were throwing our luggage into Griffin's stretch limo and climbing in, on our way to the Santa Monica pier.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

Katie's POV

I sat in a small burger joint in Santa Monica, not far from the pier, chowing down on a cheeseburger, and staring at the small TV screen above the counter. A baseball game was playing, but there was no hint of anything concerning Jo. Maybe things hadn't gone the way The Replacement had thought they would.

Just as I was thinking that though, Mom gasped. I had looked down for a split second, and when I glanced back up, I saw a close-up of a familiar mansion, partway hidden under the words: Breaking News.

"Can you turn it up?" Mom called to the cashier.

The cashier didn't say anything, but turned the volume up so that we could hear what the news caster was saying.

"…Just an hour ago, someone shot a rifle gun at a guest room window at mega-producer Gustavo Rocque's mansion…No suspects at this point…No wounded…Early this morning, James Diamond's car was blown up on Rocque's property..."

I dropped my head into my hands. "There it is. Jo must've been in the mansion and someone shot at her."

Mom nodded in agreement.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

Kendall's POV

I looked from the screen of the TV down to the screen of my phone. No way…no…no…The Replacement had nearly killed both Katie and Jo? How? How could they do something like that to me? To my baby sister and my ex-girlfriend?

She's not my baby sister anymore, I told myself. She chose Mom.

But that didn't mean that I didn't love her anymore. I would always love her. I reread the text. It was pretty simple: So Kendork, congratulations! You nearly got Katie and Jo killed. Tell me: How does that make you feel? –The Replacement.

Sick. That's how it made me feel. Fucking sick. Just like this game The Replacement was playing. Imagine, using people against other people just to get them to do what you want. What kind of person did that? I'll answer that: A really sick one.

But I knew I had no choice. According to the news, Katie had almost been blown up in her motel room, and Jo had almost gotten her head shot off. And then there was James…I'll be honest, I missed my friends, but after everything we said and did…it was hard to forgive and forget. But James had almost been killed too, his car had been blown up. I didn't know why, but I figured that if The Replacement had almost killed Katie and Jo because I was refusing to get on the DLS-S ship, then someone else has refused and that car bomb was to scare that person.

I had no choice. I had to get on that ship. And I knew I would have to face Katie and Mom and James, because, well, they were obviously involved in this too. And Jo…I would be seeing her again. And Logan and Carlos? What about them? Had they been blackmailed as well?

Why was The Replacement bringing us back together for a reunion on a freaking cruise? That seemed pretty expensive. Why not just rent out a steakhouse and hope that we all showed up? Wouldn't that be so much easier?

So much easier, yes. Sadistically fun? No.

I glanced at the time on my phone and saw that it was nearly noon already. I had to get down to the Santa Monica pier, because boarding started at twelve. I had to show up, I had no choice. If I didn't, who knew what would happen to Katie and Jo? I grabbed my luggage and burst out of my Holiday Inn room, ready to head down to the lobby to checkout.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

Katie's POV

I stepped out of the rental car, and sniffed the air. It smelled salty and damp, like the Pacific Ocean. Gee, really? How about that?

Mom got out of the car too, shielding her eyes with a hand to keep the bright sun at bay, as she peered around, trying to see the ship that we were supposed to boarding. It didn't take long to spot it. Most of the ships were either ferries or cargo ships, but there was only one cruise ship docked at the moment. And painted on the side of the pure white cruise ship in gold lettering? The DLS-S. Bingo.

Mom popped the trunk open and we got our luggage out. We each had one suitcase, the kind with wheels at the bottom that you can roll, and a duffel bag, plus our purses, because you just never know what's going to happen or what you're going to need.

Mom locked up the car, biting her lip nervously, and tucked the keys into her jeans pocket. "Got everything?" she asked, slightly pointlessly since the car had already been locked. It was sign of how anxious and scared she was that she was asking me this three seconds late.

I nodded. "I'm good. Come on, let's just go get on board."

As we walked in the general direction of the DLS-S, I could feel my heart begin to race and the clenching in my stomach that I had been trying to ignore for the past few days begin to tighten and increase, as if something was trying to pull my stomach straight into my spine. It occurred to me that this might be the last time that we would ever walk on dry land, and I tried to memorize the feeling of the pavement against the soles of my sneakers, tried to enjoy the feeling of the hot sun beating down, reflecting against my hair.

We were halfway between the car and the DLS-S when I realized suddenly with another jolt to the stomach, that in the invitation, The Replacement had never used anyone against me. So what was keeping me from running? Mom. That much was obvious. But she had never really been mentioned in the texts. But someone else had…James. It was an unspoken threat, but The Replacement had managed to let me know that they knew all about the…circumstances…between James and me, and they knew that James would be my third weak point, the first being my mother, and the second being Kendall, even if I was completely pissed with him and wanted to push him out of a window half the time.

And Kendall…Kendall must care about me if I had been used as a threat to him. But what about James? As far as I knew, no one had been threatened because of James. But then again, who would be used as a threat to him? I had no idea if he was even close to anyone anymore. I knew for a fact that he didn't have a girlfriend, because that would have been all over the internet, and as far as I knew, the only people who he was ever photographed with were fans, Gustavo, Kelly, Griffin, Mercedes, and once in a rare while, Camille. Somehow I didn't see any of them being used against James. I just couldn't picture it. He cared about them, but it seemed like The Replacement was only going after people's loved ones…and did James even have any loved ones?

We had reached the dock now, and halted right in front of the DLS-S, our home away from home. Awesome. Considering we had been blackmailed into probably reenacting The Titanic, this ship had better be damn nice.

The wind was blowing, as always, and I quickly slid off the hair tie that I kept on my wrist, trapping it between my teeth. I gathered my hair back and did my best to pull my hair into a neat ponytail, but I had the feeling that I looked like I had just flown in on the roof of a jet plane. Epic fail duly noted.

I huffed and pulled the hair tie out of my hair again, and was about to retry when Mom nudged me in the ribs. "Sweetie…I think I see one of our fellow passengers."

I turned in the direction she was looking at and lost all sense of composure as my hair escaped from my hands and the hair tie fell from my mouth to the ground. Well, I wouldn't be using that one again until it was thoroughly sterilized.

But I couldn't focus on that. I couldn't focus on anything.

Because coming towards me, hands in the pockets of his dark rinse skinny jeans, black t-shirt showing off to-die-for muscles, his brown hair blowing slightly but still as perfect as it always had been, a smile on his face and his large hazel eyes glittering, was none other than…

…James Diamond.

Okay. Tell me the truth. I can take it. No, seriously, I can! What did you guys think? Did the last part seem rushed? Was the first part too slow? Was it all just...aaagh? Like I said, I had some trouble with this chapter, but I'm hoping any inadequacies are all in my head...

Okay, enough of me pretty much convincing myself to go see a therapist...Seriously, how was the chapter? I know a lot of people got really indignant over James almost being killed in the last chapter (thank you very much on his behalf to those of you who were!), and this time there was a bomb AND a gun.

Sorry about there being really no Jatie in this chapter. I know, I know, it's the 3rd chapter and they only just saw each other, but...at least they're seen each other! And if you're a Kendall-lover, I'm sorry that there's almost none of him in this chapter as well, just a brief smidgen, to show his thoughts and feelings when he heard about Katie and Jo.

Okay, so...Review? The review button is lonely, and it would be thrilled if you guys would show it some love. Seriously, it's very cuddly, in a virtual sort of way. :)