Time Bomb

Alex shrugged and hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder, as it began to slip. “I saw her this morning, early, does she run?” Alex played dumb.

Okay, it wasn’t exactly dumb, he really didn’t know if Riley ran, but if she did or if there was the slightest chance she would be out for a walk it would give Alex enough time to text Jack and get Riley in the clear.

“No, why?” Josh asked, really annoyed with Alex and Riley right now.

“I thought I saw her in the lobby, earlier, in jogging gear. Maybe it was someone who looked like her?” Alex stated before hurrying off to the lobby himself, so Flyzik wouldn’t kill him.

Josh had been in the lobby at least three times this morning and he hadn’t seen anybody who even resembled Riley. If Alex had seen her, why didn’t he just say that in the beginning?

Making his way into the lobby, Josh kept his eyes out for Riley. Instead he found Matt and Ian at the front desk checking out. Walking over to his band mates, Josh stood waiting to interrogate them on whether or not they had seen his cousin. Matt was more likely to cover for her than Ian, still it was worth a shot.

“Have you saw Riley?” Josh asked Matt.

“No.” Matt shook his head and went back to checking out. “Why?”

“She isn’t answering her door and Alex said he thought he saw her jogging.” Josh replied with a grunt.

“Ask Jack, he seems to be pretty close with her.” Ian commented, joining the conversation.

Jack? Why would Jack know where Riley was? Josh groaned, looking between Matt and Ian. Ian wore a straight face, but the look on Matt’s told Josh that his best friend knew something that he didn’t. Eyeing Matt for a second, Josh shook his head in disbelief. Caving under the pressure, Matt snapped like a twig. Riley would murder him in his sleep when she found out what he’d done.

Josh was intimidating when he got this way, Matt tried to hold it together but before he knew it, he had told Josh about Riley sneaking out and hanging out with Jack. If it were possible, Ian stood watching Josh’s face turn redder by the minute; this was not going to end well for someone. Wincing as Josh began to throw his typical Josh like fit, Matt took a step back letting the other man go about his business.

“That bastard!” Josh shouted marching back toward the elevators.

Stopping outside of room 362, Josh acted on impulse. Raising his hand he began to bang loudly on Jack’s door. If Riley was here they were both dead, if Riley wasn’t here, then Josh owed Jack Barakat one hell of an apology. Until he was certain his cousin wasn’t here, Josh was going for full on asshole mode.

“Riley!” Josh shouted banging on the solid door. “Riley!”

“Hey, what’s up?” Jack asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and squinting against the light at Josh.

“Is Riley in there?” Josh asked.

“Sh...”Jack began, only to get cut off.

“I’m right here, fucking calm down.” Riley groaned at Josh, appearing behind Jack.

“Why the fuck were you here? You know you’re not supposed to...”

“Shut up, Josh.” Riley snapped back at him. “Jack and I were watching movies. I fell asleep so Jack just left me here.”

Holding her things in her hand, Riley just wanted to crawl back under the covers and hide. She wanted Josh to go away; she wanted the last few weeks of her life to just go away. Josh was doing what he thought was best, in the mean time he was acting like a complete dick. This isn’t the Josh that Riley had been so close to, it wasn’t just her changing. The Josh she knew would never throw a fit like a five year old.

“I didn’t know. I asked her to come over, I’m sorry.” Jack apologized, still half asleep.

“Well she’s not allowed anywhere, without me.” Josh added.

“It’s my fault, but dude she’s a big girl.” Jack replied feeling a little bit defensive. “It’s not like she did anything wrong, we laid on the bed and watched movies.”

“Bus!” Josh directed Riley, pointing in the direction of the elevators. “Now.”

Riley went, but not without an eye roll. Waving to Jack, she trudged down the hall toward the elevators. Who did Josh think he was yelling and causing such a scene? So she had hung out with Jack, it wasn’t like they had done anything illegal or out of the ordinary. Jack was a bit of a partier, sure, but Riley was positive he’d never done and never would do anything illegal. Josh should be thankful she was hanging out with someone like Jack.

“Look, I don’t know what she’s told you or what you think is going on but it’s best if you stay away.” Josh informed Jack with a sigh. “Trust me, you don’t need her.”

“Dude, I think you need to calm down.” Jack chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.

This was awkward, he was standing in the door of his hotel room, half dressed while Josh Ramsay burned hole through him with an icy stare.

“I need to talk and you need to listen, okay?” Josh asked.

Jack nodded. It would be nice to know a bit more about Riley. She really hadn’t told him much.

“She’s seriously fucked up. She’s got a drug problem, an alcohol problem and probably a few mental health issues, not to mention a police sheet a mile long. If you want to keep yourself clear and out of trouble with the law and worse, Flyzik, you’ll stay away from her.” Josh warned.

“Wow.” Jack muttered, shaking his head.

He knew Riley had a few issues, but this was a bit more than a few and a lot more than issues. Leaning against the door frame he let Josh continue.

“Her mother is my dad’s sister, she was married for a while and then he decided to go out one day and he never came back. Riles was six.” Josh explained with a shrug, flicking his gaze to his shoes. “Riley’s been shy of anybody ever since. She thinks we’re all going to walk out. I was nine when it happened and I told her I’d never leave her.”

“Even I left her, but after I got my life sorted out I kept good to the promise. She got into high school and she got in with the wrong crowd I guess. Ever since she hit seventeen it’s been downhill from there.” Josh continued. “I’ve been where she is and it’s a dark fucking place, I don’t want her to go through that hell.”

“Which is why you’re doing this?” Jack spoke up.

“It’s exactly why. Her mother asked if I could straighten her out, so here she is. My point is, I’m telling you this in case you can get through to her and so you know what lines to cross and which ones to stay away from. If you hurt her, I’ll fucking kill you Barakat.”