Zac called Isaac on his mobile.
"She's almost there," he advised.
"Good," he said. "But Zac, I'm still not sure about all this -"
"Trust me Ikers, it'll be great."
They hung up. A few days earlier, Zac had filled in Taylor and Isaac at their band practice on his latest plans for feeding Tad misinformation. Basically it involved Nikki showing up at their doorstep in a dramatic fashion (Zac wouldn't release just how it would be dramatic, only saying that it would be more dramatic if they didn't except it), and as soon as they were convinced that Tad had noticed, and Nikki has passed on the 'key information' they were just to give him a call, and he'd show up with the others and pick her up. Go with the flow, he advised, don't let Tad too close, and above all don't spill any blood.
Whatever that meant.
In any case, a few minutes later, Isaac heard the doorbell rang. He passed Tad on the way, and figured that he'd make sure that he found out who had arrived.
He opened the door... to reveal Nikki half collapsed on the ground, wearing ragged clothes and splattered with blood. (It took Isaac a moment to realise that it must be theatre blood).
"Help... please..." she begged softly.
"Nikki?" he gasped.
He bent down to pick her up carefully, and to carry her over to the nearest lounge. Nikki winced and gasped as if in pain. Isaac hoped that it wouldn't come across to Tad as being overlydramatic.
Taylor
Taylor heard them come in and made his way into the livingroom.
"Nikki?" his eyes widened, rushing over to her.
He knelt beside the couch, taking a quick look over his shoulder as if to suss out where Tad was.
"What happened?"
Isaac
"Ch-chad... my boyfriend? He's... he's... the rat."
"Oh man," Isaac said. "No way."
Nikki, who was clutching at her side were it was particularity thick with "blood" nodded.
"Found out... shot me... oh... I feel so cold..."
Again Isaac thought of the "hope its not so dramatic that Tad gets suspicious and doesn't fall for it factor".
"Don't worry, Nikki," he said softly. "We'll get you help."
Taylor
"How are we going to get her help?" Taylor looked worried.
"If we take her to a hospital they'll ask questions."
Isaac, Zac and Tad
"I'll call Zac," Isaac said. "Just a sec..."
He moved away and dialed Zac's number. Tad watched sliently, out of sight.
"Hey Ike."
"Zac, look we have Nikki here... she's been shot."
"Marvellous actress isn't she?" Zac replied, grinning.
"Yeah... I'd say so," Isaac replied.
Great, a comedian.
"Look, Zac, we need to get her medical attention like, now."
"Actually the fake blood washes right off."
"Chad did it - you know, her boyfriend? He's the rat. Nikki found out and he shot her."
"Egads!" Zac mock gasped, knowing that Tad wouldn't ever hear his side of the call. "Never fear! Me and the crew will soon be there! Tell Nikkers, and Tay, that we'll take her to our good friend the doctor... if you know what I mean. Pick her up soon."
"Okay," Isaac said.
"And don't spill the blood anywhere! If Tad managed to get a sample - and is able to have it analysed he'll know he's been setup."
"Okay. See you soon."
"See ya."
They hung up.
"Zac's going to pcik her up," Isaac said. "Take her to the doctor if you know what I mean. You hear that Nikki? We're going to get you to the doctor."
Taylor
"Oh of course," Taylor pretended to mentally berate himself.
"I forgot about him. Nikki? Nikki are you ok? Don't pass out on us."
Isaac
"So... cold..." Nikki whispered.
"She must be loosing too much blood," Isaac said, thinking of a few movie's he had watched. "Don't worry Nikki, I'm sure they'll be here soon."
Taylor
"They'd better be," Taylor insisted.
"Because we need to decide what to do about Chad. I guess he never figured she'd make it to tell anyone..."
Isaac and Zac
"Probably not," Isaac agreed. "But he may he an eye on the news paper for reports of..."
Isaac trailed off, unwilling to say "her body". Fortunately, it was at that moment that the doorbell rang, and Zac et himself in.
"The door was open," he said.
Paul moved over to pick up Nikki.
"Looks bad," he said softly. "We'd better hurry."
Nikki rolled her head back as if she were having trouble lifting it up.
"Yeah," Zac nodded. "We'll let you know how it goes."
"Okay," Isaac said.
Taylor
"Call us as soon as you can," Taylor insisted.
"We'll... try and think of a way to deal with Chad."
Isaac and Zac
"You do that," Zac nodded.
And he and Paul swept out of the door, Nikki in their custody.
Isaac looked at Taylor.
"So, what are we going to do with Chad? Hunt him down and kill him? But that's not really our style... But he did try to killl Nikki..."
Taylor
"I wouldn't have a problem with it," Taylor held back a scowl as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"I mean if Chad knows everything who's to say he's not after the rest of us right now?"
Isaac
"Good question," Isaac nodded. "I think it's more that we haven't stooped to murder before. But... there may be nothing else we can do. It's not like we can just wipe his memory or something. And even if we threatened him... he'd still be a liability."
Taylor
"It looks like the only choice we have," Taylor shrugged, his voice quiet.
"But first we need to find the guy. And we should probably warn the others. With Tad here I don't think it should be either of us to do it anyway."
Isaac
Isaac nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "We don't know too much about him either. Guess Nikki will be the best source for that information. I hope she's okay."
Taylor
"Yeah..." Taylor trailed off.
He glanced at Isaac.
"Well, I'll start making phone calls."
And he made to leave the room.
Isaac and Tad
"Sounds like a plan," Isaac nodded.
He too, left the room, leaving Tad feeling rather incredulous about what he had just overheard.