Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2001 03:48:57 -0800 (PST)
From: Red <redfirewitch@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hide In Plain Sight: Chapter 16 - Sleeping With The Enemy

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Title: Hide In Plain Sight 16/?

Author: Red (redfirewitch@yahoo.com)

Disclaimer: When all that surrounds you, are secrets
and lies and fanfiction.

Dedication: To 'My Bestest Internet Friend' (patent
pending)!!! :D

Note: I know I've been telling some of you that I
wanted to finish up HIPS by 2000. Once again, the
Princess of Procrastination has prevailed and lived up
to her title. ;p There's a new dateline. I'm going to
try and finish this monster up by Jan 8. Wish me luck!

**

Justin sat down on the steps that led from the
upstairs rooms to the kitchen. JC had came through
this very place just an hour ago, sneaking past them
and running away from him...them again. Always had to
do things his way. His screwed up way! For six years
he did things his way. Kept secrets. What had he said
earlier? No more secrets! The fucked up liar!

From the moment they had found out that JC had ran
away, Fields and the rest of the security team had
been trying to find him. They had sat down and poured
through the letters hoping to find out where Phillip
was and where JC went in search of him. However,
whatever clue was in the letters, was not obvious to
them.

The letters had all been delivered among the personal
mails that had been sent to the house the day before.
No one had suspected that JC had received more
threats. What they didn't understand was why he had
kept them to himself. The threats in the other letters
were more personal playing on JC's guilt. The
description of Liam's death were vivid portraying it
as a lonely and painful death. The words were meant to
hurt JC as much as possible. Justin could only imagine
what it must have done to JC to read those words.

There were some references that they couldn't
understand however.

//Liam would still be alive if he was still snorting
up coke at Marty's but too bad he had to meet you and
get royally screwed, eh Joshy boy?//

Elli surmised that JC could perhaps have caught
something in the letters that they couldn't. Elli was
especially intrigued by the mention of names of
places. Marty's was one of them but to pinpoint
exactly where this was, was going to take some
research and thinking. At the moment, Elli and his
team were checking out many leads to see which one led
them to JC.

"Justin?"

Lance came into the kitchen and stood in front of
Justin.
"Are you ok?"

Justin just snorted in reply.

"Ok, stupid question. Look, we have people looking for
him. Mr. Fields has contacted some of his cop friends
to look out for JC's jeep. They'll find him."

"And then what?"

"And then we..."

"Get him into therapy. Or better yet. Just commit him
to a bloody asylum! The bastard belongs there!"

"Justin!"

"I am so sick and tired of him, Lance. I don't care
anymore!"

"You don't mean that!"

"I do! If he shows his face here again, I'm kicking
him out! I don't need him! He just screws up all our
lives!"

"If you really don't care, why are you crying?"

"Tears of joy!" Justin spat and turned away.

Lance sighed and leaned against the counter.
"I know this is hard for you. I understand that not
being able to reciprocate the feeling that JC has for
you is hard."

"No you don't understand, Lance. How the hell can you
when I myself am so confused?"

"Then tell me. Make me understand because right now
I'm also confused as shit trying to comprehend how all
this happened. Joey was so pissed off that he left to
cool down. Chris is too quiet. It's like I don't know
you guys at all anymore!"

Justin remained silent.

"The group is falling apart, Justin. If you don't talk
it out, you're going to fall apart too. Just like JC."

"And it would be my fault." Justin whispered.

"No it won't. You can't love to order. You told the
truth and that is what matters."

"No, I didn't."

Lance frowned.
"What?"

"I should have told him but I didn't know. I didn't
know before. But now, knowing he's out there. That he
has gone to look for Phillip. That I may never see him
alive. God! I hate him for doing this to me! I could
have told him if only he wasn't so fucking impatient.
I hate him for not giving me the time. Why couldn't he
just give me some time? I hate him but I just want him
back safe." Justin stared at the wall as he spoke as
if in a daze.

Lance was confused by Justin's words when suddenly it
hit him.
"Justin, do you love JC?"

Justin closed his eyes and shook his head. His answer
came in a hiss.
"Yes. I love that bastard!"

**

It's funny how the mind works when it's desperate.
What you never see the first dozen of times you look
at it, becomes startling clear when you are grasping
at ends. It was right there in the letters. The
answer. The letters were all postmarked in Orlando and
just one day before they were delivered. Which meant
that they were sent from nearby. Marty's.

JC thought back to when he had first heard that name.
>From Liam. He had been teasing Liam about watching MMC
and was even more surprised by another confession.

~~~~
1994
~~~~

It was a warm Sunday afternoon. They sat cuddled up on
the couch, too lazy to move and not even wanting to.
The radio played some orphic alternative music adding
to the lethargy of the lovers. JC was laughing softly
against Liam's chest.

"Stop it!" Liam said, trying to fight back his own
laughter.

"I can't! This is priceless!" JC laughed.

"It's not that big a deal, ok?"

"Of course it is! You're like one of those groupies!
But you were a MMC groupie!" JC laughed louder.

"Stop it!" Liam said again, covering up JC's mouth to
stop his laughter. "I should never have told you."

JC stopped laughing, smiling widely.
"Aww. Come on. It's cute and romantic. That you came
all the way to Orlando just to see a live taping of
MMC. Scary but cute."

"For your information, I didn't come there JUST to see
a taping of MMC. I was at Marty's and...." Liam trailed
off losing his smile.

JC looked up in question.
"Go on? Marty? That your friend?"

"Er...no. Just this bar near the docks. I was there
to...er...pass some things to someone."

"How long were you there?"

"Just a day."

"Wow. You went all the way there just to pass
something? What did..."

"I wasn't there just to pass something. I saw a MMC
taping!" Liam interrupted cheerily.

JC started laughing again.
"Right. An MMC taping! So which show was it? You
remember?"

"You were singing Now and Forever. You looked so cute.
I was seriously considering asking you for an
autograph."

JC smiled.
"Why didn't you?"

"What. And make you think I'm some crazy loon?" Liam
asked with a grin.

"Well as long as it is me that you're crazy about, I
wouldn't mind." JC said and kissed his boyfriend.

~~~~~
Present
~~~~~

'Well look who's crazy now, Liam.'  JC said to himself
as he approached the docks. It was a long shot but
something told him that this was where his nightmare
would end.

The place was rather quiet and deserted. The area had
obviously seen better times. The sun was just
beginning to set. JC touched the gun hidden beneath
his jacket once more and walked on.

Marty's was situated near the far end of the dock. It
looked like any other run down establishment. A few
shady looking men stood outside, talking among
themselves.  As JC approached the bar, they stopped
and stared at him. His clean, groomed appearance was
an obvious contrast to how everyone there looked. But
the desperation in his eyes were familiar to them and
they left him alone.

JC entered the bar and looked around, searching for
the familiar face of his nightmares. He then
approached the bat-tender, a fat guy puffing away on a
cigarette as he talked to another man.

"Is Phillip here?" JC asked deciding to take the
direct approach.

The man looked at him with a frown.
"Don't know no Phillip. Beat it."

JC reached into his pocket, past the gun, and pulled
out a twenty.
"Is Phillip here?"

The man saw the money.
"How he look like?"

"Dark hair, brown eyes, has a scar on his nose.
Dresses well."

"No one dresses well here, boy. Except for you," he
said with a sneer.

"And that other guy who came here a week ago. Dressed
like a fucking GQ model and had that air about him.
Remember him, Duke?" the other man added.

Duke laughed.
"Oh yeah. Charlie wanted to beat him up because he
looked like a fag!"

Both men laughed. JC stared at Duke with no trace of
emotion. Duke stopped laughing and grabbed the money.

"But yeah, might have seen a guy with a scar on his
nose around here. Comes here once in a while to buy
some coke."

JC knew that he wasn't referring to the soda. He just
nodded and walked out of the bar. Duke called out
before he left.
"Hey, be careful there, boy. Don't let Charlie catch
you either!"

JC heard the roaring laughter as he walked towards the
pier. He knew what he had to do. He just had to wait
around for a while. Phillip would come here again if
this was where he got his drugs. Then he could do what
he came there to do. With some luck, maybe everything
could end tonight. JC leaned against one of the posts
and watched the bar and waited, with his hand resting
on the gun.

**

Justin was withdrawn after confessing both to himself
and Lance that he loved JC. Having finally faced the
truth he became increasingly agitated and worried. And
having Matt call him didn't help either.

Lynn had answered all the calls that had come to house
from concerned friends. She had spent hours on the
phone with JC's parents, trying to explain to them why
was it that their son had never told them anything.
Karen couldn't stop crying. Both JC's parents and
siblings were on the earliest possible flight to
Orlando.

One of the many other phone-calls had been from Matt.
It had taken Lynn a while to realize who Matt was and
she anxiously asked Justin if he wanted to talk.
Justin knew that he had to end it with Matt but felt
that this wasn't the right time. He took the call.

"Hi Matt."

"Justin? Baby, how are you? You never called me. Are
you still angry with me?"

"No. Things have just been very crazy around here."

"With JC's mess."

Justin reigned in his temper.
"JC didn't ask for this, Matt."

"Right. Fine. I don't want to fight again, Justin. I
just...I want to see you."

"I can't go anywhere now, Matt."

"Then I'll come there."

"That's not a good idea."

There was a minute of silence.

"Are we over, Justin?"

Justin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I can't do this now, Matt. JC's missing and he's in
trouble."

"Of course. It's always JC." Pause. "Why is he
missing?"

"He went in search of Phillip."

"What? You mean he knows where this Phillip guy is?"

"We think he does."

"And he going after him on his own?"

"Yes. That's why we are trying hard to find him."
Justin explained. "Look, Matt, I know this isn't fair
to you but..."

Matt sighed.
"It's ok, Justin. I know he's your best friend
and...look, just take care ok. I'll call you again. Or
maybe you can call me?"

Justin was surprised by Matt's concern.
"Thanks Matt. I promise I'll call you once this is all
over."

"Ok, bye. I love you."

"Bye." Justin said and hung up the phone. He exhaled
and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Matt."

**

It was him. JC felt his heart rate accelerate when he
saw Phillip Rondall enter Marty's. The three hour wait
had paid off. He looked the same as he did six years
ago, with his tailored clothes and beady eyed gaze. He
stood outside the bar for a few minutes, talking to
some men. Then he handed over some cash and covertly
pocketed a packet. Then with a salute, Phillip turned
and headed back the way he came from.

JC began to follow him. In his mind, he kept telling
himself that he wasn't crazy. Phillip was real. That
mantra ran through his mind right until he saw Phillip
enter another decrepit building just a few blocks away
from the docks. JC smiled and removed the gun from
inside his pocket.

**

They were all gathered in the living room again. It
was late at night and still there was no news of JC.
The police found his jeep abandoned near a bus-station
so they figured that he had taken a bus somewhere.
Elli was working on other leads. It amazed everyone to
know the range and reach of Elli's contacts. Despite
his brash demeanor, there was no question in anyone's
minds that he was the best man for the job.

Elli entered the room where the four remaining members
of Nsync, Lynn, Paul who had came back home from his
business trip, and a few of their bodyguards were
waiting. He sat down and asked that everyone do so
too. They did as he asked and waited in anticipation
of information.

"Alright. First the phone-call. We traced the
phone-call to a public phone nearby. So that is a dead
end." Elli said.

Everyone slumped visibly. They had been hoping that
the phone call could have provided some lead.

"How about the letter?" Chris asked.

"We managed to lift some fingerprints from the first
letter. The others only had JC's prints and other
negligible prints, like the postman's and other postal
workers' prints, on them. Whoever sent the letter was
very careful not to leave prints. Unfortunately the
fingerprints of the second person on the first letter,
could not be matched to anyone in the police files."

"What does that mean?" Lance asked.

"That means that the person doesn't have a police
record."

"Woah. Which means it isn't Phillip Rondall right?"
Joey said.

"Which means that it wasn't Phillip who delivered the
letter. It isn't his print."

"That means it's another dead end. It could have been
any man on the street who had delivered the letter."
Paul stated.

"No. We had a bit of luck. On a hunch, I contacted the
house detective, John Carlson, of the hotel you were
staying at that night when JC received the letter.
Let's just say that your management did good work with
their choice of hotels because security in that
particular hotel is very tight too."

"What do you mean?" Lance asked.

"All employees of the hotel have to permit to have
their fingerprints taken for their files before the
can be employed by the hotel. This is so that any
thefts in the hotel can be traced easily if one of the
employees stole anything. Actually it is more so that
they can prove that none of their employees would
steal. So I asked Carlson to run the prints found of
the letter through his files. There was a match."

Everyone sat up in hope.

"Who?" Lynn asked.

"A bellboy named Jacob Hottenburg."

"That the guy who's been terrorizing JC?" Joey asked.

"Not exactly. He said that he was paid to deliver the
letter. We conducted a polygraph test and he checks
out."

"So can he describe who paid him?" Paul asked.

"No. The money was wired to him. He never met the
person who sent him the money. The letter was sent to
him by post."

"So can we trace the letter?" Chris asked.

"No. But we can trace the money trail given we have
the right contacts. I should be getting the call any
time."

"Good. So we can catch the bastard." Joey said, with a
hopeful smile.

"It looks good. I just hope that JC was wrong,
wherever he thought he could find Phillip."

"Who would go through so much trouble?" Lynn asked,
shaking her head.

"Someone who really hated JC." Lance said, patting her
hand.

"Then it must be Phillip. He must hate JC for shooting
him." Joey said.

"Maybe." Elli said.

"Do you think it could be anyone else?" Chris asked.

"I've read the files on Rondall. He's a crook and a
lowlife but being as vindictive as this isn't like
him. He isn't blackmailing JC. He hasn't made any
demands for money. Maybe because it wouldn't hold. So
far, all this has done, is to cause emotional
distress. So his motive is still a little hazy." Elli
said.

"Maybe he just gets off on making JC suffer
emotionally or something." Lance said.

"Maybe. Those letters. I'm sorry but they seemed
almost too well written and poetic even. Especially
when they decribe Liam's death. It's not something a
low-life like Phillip could write. We'll just have to
see."

Just then, Elli's cellphone rang. Justin who had been
quiet the whole time, jumped up from where he was
seated. He looked at Elli in expectation.

"Hello?" Elli answered his phone.

**

JC entered through the main door of the run down
apartment building, carefully and quietly. He heard
Phillip whistling happily as he climbed up the stairs
to his apartment.  He slowly followed. Phillip reached
his apartment and opened the door. Eager to get to his
drugs, he didn't even bother to lock the door behind
him. JC stealthily pushed through the door. He aimed
the gun at Phillip's back.  It was time to wake up
from the nightmare.

"So you are alive." JC said aloud.

Phillip Rondall whirled around in shock, dropping his
drugs on the floor. His eyes registered the gun and
shone with fear.
"You...how did you..."

"You're going to die, you bastard. This gets finished
now!" JC hissed.

Then before he could pull the trigger, there was a
sound behind him. He turned around in time to see a
wrench heading straight for his head.  Before he lost
conscious, he saw the man who had hit him.

"You...Justin..."

JC lost consciousness.

**

Elli Fields hung up the phone and turned to look at
everyone standing in the room. His eyes were
glittering with anger.

"We traced the account. We know who sent the money to
the bellboy."

"Who did it?" Lynn asked worriedly.

Elli turned and looked at Justin.
"Matt Vance."

Everyone turned to look at Justin. Justin just stood
there frozen.

**

There...so all is revealed! Those who hated Matt right
from the start, congratulations!