Chapter 3

"You know, this has got to be the strangest thing. I mean, how the hell did someone get up here and get his stuff and get out like that. It's like, so weird." JC said, as he opened the door.

"I know. It's really kinda freaky. I just can't believe that someone could so easily get past security that easily." Chris replied.

"Shhh….guys, be quiet." Joey admonished the pair, pointing to the sleeping man on the sofa. Lance stirred slightly, grimacing in pain and grunting a little as he moved to a more comfortable position.

"That's what we need to talk about. Come on." JC whispered, motioning for Joey to follow him into Justin's room. Joey stood and followed, curious about what his friends had to tell him.

"Uh oh. This sounds serious." Justin said, moving his chair so that he was facing the other three. Chris sat next to JC on the bed, and Joey sat on the floor facing the bed.

"It is. Lance's suitcase wasn't on the bus. It's not anywhere in this hotel. Believe me, we checked." Chris said, rolling his eyes.

"That's the thing. It's been stolen. We asked around. The only people besides us and security that's been in our suit was housekeeping. Security told us that. So we asked the front desk who cleaned our room yesterday after we left. They were given orders from management not to have anyone clean our rooms since we only got to put our stuff in it and all that. So there was no need for housekeeping. No one cleaned our room." JC explained.

"I know housekeeping hadn't been here, cause my bed was rumpled where I flopped on it when we got here, after I talked to Lance about the schedule and watched him go through his suitcase for the agenda. He had all his paper work in there. He stuffed it all in there before we got off the bus, so he wouldn't have to bring his briefcase." Justin explained.

"Oh shit. That's bad, cause security says a maid cleaned our room after we left. We know no one cleaned, and the hotel told them not to clean. So whoever came in here was posing as housekeeping, and stole Lance's stuff. All his contracts, personal info he carries with him, and our agenda and any group paperwork we had." Joey said, flopping back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.

"Ok this is really creeping me out. I mean, that shit yesterday with the harness. There is no way that all three of his cables could have just snapped. It's just not possible. And now his stuff, his personal as well as group info and personal items have been stolen. Something is really not right with this picture." Chris said, biting at his thumb, an action not missed by the other three. He only did that when he was worried, really worried. "He could have been killed yesterday."

"We have to tighten security. No one gets up here besides security and us. Not crew, hotels staff unless thoroughly checked by security, not housekeeping. Nothing. No one goes anywhere without security. That goes double for scoop. Two security guards. He goes NO WHERE alone." JC said sternly.

"Yeah, when he can move. He nearly killed himself today trying to get to the living room by himself." Justin said, shaking his head.

"It's really bad huh?" JC asked, wincing in sympathy. As if on cue, there was a loud crash and then a yell of pain from the living room.

"Lance!!" The other four yelled in unison, running out of the bedroom and in the living room only to see Lance lying on his back breathing deeply.

"Yeah. I had a nightmare and fell off the damn couch." Lance hissed through clenched teeth. His eyes scrunched shut, face read and tears seeping from the corners of his eyes.

"No! Just leave me here for a minute. Wait til the pain goes away." Lance pleaded, throwing a hand over his eyes to block his tears from the others' eyes.

"Ok Lance. We'll wait." JC said soothingly. He stayed kneeling beside Lance, but looked up at the others. "I don't think he'll be able to perform in a week."

"I will. It'll only take a couple of days for the bruising to go down. I hope." Lance said taking a deep breath. "Ok. The floors hard. I want up." Lance said, holding out his arms for help.

Joey couldn't help but think that Lance looked more like a little boy than a singer/manager/producer/actor. He looked like a scared and hurt little boy, who needed his friends, his blanky and his mom. 'Lance's mom!' Joey thought to himself and would have smacked his own head had he not been holding Lance up on one side while JC had the other. No one had called Lance's mom and told her what happened. If she heard it from a newspaper to television report, she would freak! He'd have to remember to call her later.

"Stomach." Justin answered for him. When Lance looked at him confused, Justin motioned to his back. "I want to see how bad the bruising is." Justin explained to him.

Chris and Justin walked over and peered over the back of the couch in order to see. Joey steeled himself, knowing the sight he was about to see would probably be really bad. JC took a deep breath, praying he wouldn't hurt Lance, and then carefully began to lift up Lance's T-shirt. They all gasped at what they say. Lance's back was nothing but one huge bruise. Varying from shades of black purple and blue, there were few spots on Lance's back that didn't have some bruise of varying severity.

Joey was a bit more somber. "No, but they did tell you that you would more than likely have future back problems due to this. I hate to tell you Lance, but you are nothing but one big bruise. I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better." Joey said, sincere. He'd take that pain from Lance and bare it himself if it meant Lance didn't have to.

"You did plenty to make me feel better, Joey-Joe. You kept it from being worse." Lance said, then winced in pain as he tried to move his leg into a better position.

JC pulled his shirt back down, then knelt down beside the couch. "Want to flip over and take some medicine?" he asked, his brow furrowed in sympathy and concern. Lance nodded slowly. With his friends help, Lance accomplished both tasks: flipping over to his back and taking more pills.

"Did you guys get my suitcase?" Lance asked, lying back and getting comfortable on the pillows Joey had piled up behind him. "You know. I could get used to being pampered like this, but not if I have to hurt so much to do it." Lance said, getting a laugh from the guys, although a forced, nervous laugh.

Chris cleared his throat, looking down and then back up at Lance. "About your suitcase," Chris started, then explained what they had learned and relayed to Joey and Justin earlier.

"What?!?! Someone waltzed in here and stole my damn suitcase?!?" Lance yelled "This is not good. This can't be happening. Oh my God. Do you have any idea what was in there? Everything was in there. My clothes, my wallet, demos for artists, our schedule and some papers for stuff that we're supposed to do and some stuff we're supposed to fill out. I had my meeting schedule in there. All of my contracts were in there. Everything." Lance ranted. He was hyperventilating by this time. "What am I supposed to do? I didn't worry before. I just thought it was on the bus. My entire LIFE was in that suitcase. Oh my God."

"Lance calm down before you pass out. It's ok. We'll call your mom and sister and get copies of the contracts. We'll get copies of your schedule too. We'll get another copy of our schedule from management and copies of those papers we were supposed to fill out. It's not that big of a deal about that stuff." Joey tried to reassure him.

"Yeah. You're right Joey. That stuffs not a big deal. The big deal is that someone waltzed right in here by security and got access to our stuff. Did you guys check to make sure you've got all your stuff. Justin, they probably took you JRT necklace. You put it on the coffee table yesterday before we left for sound check." Lance said, looking at Justin worriedly. He knew how much Justin loved that necklace.

"We all checked out stuff this morning while you were in the shower to make sure all of our stuff was here. Everything is right where it should be. It looks like the only stuff missing is your stuff. We told security what we found out and they called the cops, but there's no telling how long it will be til they get here." Chris said rolling his eyes yet again.

"This is so weird. Why my stuff?" Lance said, leaning back into his pillows, closing his eyes. He opened them again when there was a knock at the door.

"I got it." Justin said, jumping up and running to the door. It was another minute before he came back, and the others could here him talking with one of the security guards. He came back into the main room of the suite carrying a manila envelope and a frown on his face.

"The hotel look at their security tapes from yesterday. A guy came in here under the disguise of housekeeping with a laundry basket, passed security cause he had a hotel pass, came in the room, 'cleaned house' and left. Your stuff must have been in the laundry basket, Scoop." Justin said, then remembered the envelope in his hands. "Oh, and this just came for you too." Justin said, handing the heavy envelope over to his friend then took his seat.

"No, the video was too grainy to make out any features, but they could tell us he did not work for the hotel. They don't have any male housekeepers." Justin told them. "Lonnie said the cops should be up in a little while to talk to us."

"Ok, I guess." Lance said, then looked at the envelope. There wasn't a return address or anything, just his name, and the address of the hotel. "Hmm...wonder what this is?" Lance asked no one in particular as he tore open the envelope. His eyes widened at it's contents. "Oh my God." Lance said, dumping it's contents out on his lap. His wallet, car keys, photos, and his management contracts fell onto his lap and the couch. "My stuff!"

"What the hell?" Joey asked moving closer. He picked up the car keys, and noticed something. "Justin, tell Lonnie to send some security from Jive to Lance's house. His house keys are missing." Joey told him, and Justin quickly left.

"He definitely took some pictures alright. But he definitely didn't steal any, he gave me some." Lance said flipping through the pictures. There were pictures of him on stage the day before, then up in the air, then some of him hanging in mid air, only held up by Joey and sheer willpower. There were pictures of him at the hospital, the guys walking him down the hall to their suit. When Lance got to the last in the pile, his breath caught in his throat.

"Dear God. He was in here last night!" Chris exclaimed, ripping the picture from Lance's grasp and showing it to Joey and JC who had moved beside him as well as Lonnie and Justin who had entered the room. In Chris's hands was a picture of Lance sleeping in his hotel room the night before.


	Inner Reflection \| home back to Help is on the Way Chapter 3 "You know, this has got to be the strangest thing. I mean, how the hell did someone get up here and get his stuff and get out like that. It's like, so weird." JC said, as he opened the door. "I know. It's really kinda freaky. I just can't believe that someone could so easily get past security that easily." Chris replied. "Shhh….guys, be quiet." Joey admonished the pair, pointing to the sleeping man on the sofa. Lance stirred slightly, grimacing in pain and grunting a little as he moved to a more comfortable position. "Sorry," Chris whispered. "Where's Curly?" "In his room. I think he's writing." Joey said, looking between the pair. "Where's Lance's suitcase?" He questioned. "That's what we need to talk about. Come on." JC whispered, motioning for Joey to follow him into Justin's room. Joey stood and followed, curious about what his friends had to tell him. "Oh, hey guys." Justin said, putting his pen down on the desk next to his spiral notebook. "We need to talk." JC said, sitting on Justin's bed. "Uh oh. This sounds serious." Justin said, moving his chair so that he was facing the other three. Chris sat next to JC on the bed, and Joey sat on the floor facing the bed. "It is. Lance's suitcase wasn't on the bus. It's not anywhere in this hotel. Believe me, we checked." Chris said, rolling his eyes. "So what happened to it?" Justin asked, thinking over everything they had told him. "That's the thing. It's been stolen. We asked around. The only people besides us and security that's been in our suit was housekeeping. Security told us that. So we asked the front desk who cleaned our room yesterday after we left. They were given orders from management not to have anyone clean our rooms since we only got to put our stuff in it and all that. So there was no need for housekeeping. No one cleaned our room." JC explained. "I know housekeeping hadn't been here, cause my bed was rumpled where I flopped on it when we got here, after I talked to Lance about the schedule and watched him go through his suitcase for the agenda. He had all his paper work in there. He stuffed it all in there before we got off the bus, so he wouldn't have to bring his briefcase." Justin explained. "Oh shit. That's bad, cause security says a maid cleaned our room after we left. We know no one cleaned, and the hotel told them not to clean. So whoever came in here was posing as housekeeping, and stole Lance's stuff. All his contracts, personal info he carries with him, and our agenda and any group paperwork we had." Joey said, flopping back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. "But why?" JC asked, voicing the question everyone had. "Ok this is really creeping me out. I mean, that shit yesterday with the harness. There is no way that all three of his cables could have just snapped. It's just not possible. And now his stuff, his personal as well as group info and personal items have been stolen. Something is really not right with this picture." Chris said, biting at his thumb, an action not missed by the other three. He only did that when he was worried, really worried. "He could have been killed yesterday." "We have to tighten security. No one gets up here besides security and us. Not crew, hotels staff unless thoroughly checked by security, not housekeeping. Nothing. No one goes anywhere without security. That goes double for scoop. Two security guards. He goes NO WHERE alone." JC said sternly. "Yeah, when he can move. He nearly killed himself today trying to get to the living room by himself." Justin said, shaking his head. "It's really bad huh?" JC asked, wincing in sympathy. As if on cue, there was a loud crash and then a yell of pain from the living room. "Ahhhh SHIT!!!" Lance exclaimed in his deep southern bass. "Lance!!" The other four yelled in unison, running out of the bedroom and in the living room only to see Lance lying on his back breathing deeply. "Yep. Really bad." Justin whispered. "Scoop, man. You ok?" JC said, he and Joey running to Lance's side. "Yeah. I had a nightmare and fell off the damn couch." Lance hissed through clenched teeth. His eyes scrunched shut, face read and tears seeping from the corners of his eyes. "Come on. We'll get you up." Joey offered. "No! Just leave me here for a minute. Wait til the pain goes away." Lance pleaded, throwing a hand over his eyes to block his tears from the others' eyes. "Ok Lance. We'll wait." JC said soothingly. He stayed kneeling beside Lance, but looked up at the others. "I don't think he'll be able to perform in a week." "I will. It'll only take a couple of days for the bruising to go down. I hope." Lance said taking a deep breath. "Ok. The floors hard. I want up." Lance said, holding out his arms for help. Joey couldn't help but think that Lance looked more like a little boy than a singer/manager/producer/actor. He looked like a scared and hurt little boy, who needed his friends, his blanky and his mom. 'Lance's mom!' Joey thought to himself and would have smacked his own head had he not been holding Lance up on one side while JC had the other. No one had called Lance's mom and told her what happened. If she heard it from a newspaper to television report, she would freak! He'd have to remember to call her later. "Here we go Scoop. Back or stomache?" JC asked standing Lance next to the couch again. "Stomach." Justin answered for him. When Lance looked at him confused, Justin motioned to his back. "I want to see how bad the bruising is." Justin explained to him. "Oh." Lance said, lying down on his stomach with the help of Joey and JC. Chris and Justin walked over and peered over the back of the couch in order to see. Joey steeled himself, knowing the sight he was about to see would probably be really bad. JC took a deep breath, praying he wouldn't hurt Lance, and then carefully began to lift up Lance's T-shirt. They all gasped at what they say. Lance's back was nothing but one huge bruise. Varying from shades of black purple and blue, there were few spots on Lance's back that didn't have some bruise of varying severity. "They told me I'd be sore. They didn't tell me I'd hurt like bitch for the rest of my life." Lance joked. Joey was a bit more somber. "No, but they did tell you that you would more than likely have future back problems due to this. I hate to tell you Lance, but you are nothing but one big bruise. I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better." Joey said, sincere. He'd take that pain from Lance and bare it himself if it meant Lance didn't have to. "You did plenty to make me feel better, Joey-Joe. You kept it from being worse." Lance said, then winced in pain as he tried to move his leg into a better position. JC pulled his shirt back down, then knelt down beside the couch. "Want to flip over and take some medicine?" he asked, his brow furrowed in sympathy and concern. Lance nodded slowly. With his friends help, Lance accomplished both tasks: flipping over to his back and taking more pills. "Did you guys get my suitcase?" Lance asked, lying back and getting comfortable on the pillows Joey had piled up behind him. "You know. I could get used to being pampered like this, but not if I have to hurt so much to do it." Lance said, getting a laugh from the guys, although a forced, nervous laugh. Chris cleared his throat, looking down and then back up at Lance. "About your suitcase," Chris started, then explained what they had learned and relayed to Joey and Justin earlier. "What?!?! Someone waltzed in here and stole my damn suitcase?!?" Lance yelled "This is not good. This can't be happening. Oh my God. Do you have any idea what was in there? Everything was in there. My clothes, my wallet, demos for artists, our schedule and some papers for stuff that we're supposed to do and some stuff we're supposed to fill out. I had my meeting schedule in there. All of my contracts were in there. Everything." Lance ranted. He was hyperventilating by this time. "What am I supposed to do? I didn't worry before. I just thought it was on the bus. My entire LIFE was in that suitcase. Oh my God." "Lance calm down before you pass out. It's ok. We'll call your mom and sister and get copies of the contracts. We'll get copies of your schedule too. We'll get another copy of our schedule from management and copies of those papers we were supposed to fill out. It's not that big of a deal about that stuff." Joey tried to reassure him. "Yeah. You're right Joey. That stuffs not a big deal. The big deal is that someone waltzed right in here by security and got access to our stuff. Did you guys check to make sure you've got all your stuff. Justin, they probably took you JRT necklace. You put it on the coffee table yesterday before we left for sound check." Lance said, looking at Justin worriedly. He knew how much Justin loved that necklace. "No it was still there. I picked it up this morning when I got up." Justin told him. "We all checked out stuff this morning while you were in the shower to make sure all of our stuff was here. Everything is right where it should be. It looks like the only stuff missing is your stuff. We told security what we found out and they called the cops, but there's no telling how long it will be til they get here." Chris said rolling his eyes yet again. "This is so weird. Why my stuff?" Lance said, leaning back into his pillows, closing his eyes. He opened them again when there was a knock at the door. "I got it." Justin said, jumping up and running to the door. It was another minute before he came back, and the others could here him talking with one of the security guards. He came back into the main room of the suite carrying a manila envelope and a frown on his face. "What's up Curly?" JC asked, frowning at his friend. "The hotel look at their security tapes from yesterday. A guy came in here under the disguise of housekeeping with a laundry basket, passed security cause he had a hotel pass, came in the room, 'cleaned house' and left. Your stuff must have been in the laundry basket, Scoop." Justin said, then remembered the envelope in his hands. "Oh, and this just came for you too." Justin said, handing the heavy envelope over to his friend then took his seat. "Could they tell who the guy was?" Joey asked. "No, the video was too grainy to make out any features, but they could tell us he did not work for the hotel. They don't have any male housekeepers." Justin told them. "Lonnie said the cops should be up in a little while to talk to us." "Ok, I guess." Lance said, then looked at the envelope. There wasn't a return address or anything, just his name, and the address of the hotel. "Hmm...wonder what this is?" Lance asked no one in particular as he tore open the envelope. His eyes widened at it's contents. "Oh my God." Lance said, dumping it's contents out on his lap. His wallet, car keys, photos, and his management contracts fell onto his lap and the couch. "My stuff!" "What the hell?" Joey asked moving closer. He picked up the car keys, and noticed something. "Justin, tell Lonnie to send some security from Jive to Lance's house. His house keys are missing." Joey told him, and Justin quickly left. "Oh God. I don't believe this!" Lance exclaimed, looking through the pictures. "What Lance? He take some of your pictures, too?" Chris asked moving closer to look over Lance's shoulder. "He definitely took some pictures alright. But he definitely didn't steal any, he gave me some." Lance said flipping through the pictures. There were pictures of him on stage the day before, then up in the air, then some of him hanging in mid air, only held up by Joey and sheer willpower. There were pictures of him at the hospital, the guys walking him down the hall to their suit. When Lance got to the last in the pile, his breath caught in his throat. "Dear God. He was in here last night!" Chris exclaimed, ripping the picture from Lance's grasp and showing it to Joey and JC who had moved beside him as well as Lonnie and Justin who had entered the room. In Chris's hands was a picture of Lance sleeping in his hotel room the night before. ~*~