If You Knew What I Knew:
Chapter 18

Brian

     We were all there, all except for Howie.  I looked at my watch again.  He was twelve minutes late.
    None of us had said anything.  We were all trying to get ready for what we were about to say to Howie.
    The ringing of a cell phone made us all jump.
    “It’s mine.” AJ said.  He looked at the caller ID.  “It says the name is unavailable and I don’t recognize the number.”
    “Don’t get it.” Kevin said.  We had had problems with fans calling our cell phones before.
    As soon as AJ’s phone stopped ringing, Kevin’s rang.
    “Weird.  It says the same thing that yours did, Bone.” He didn’t answer it.
    I grabbed my cell phone before it had even rang.  “Same.” I let it ring.
    “Hey guys.” Howie burst into the room.  “I’m sorry I’m late.”
    “Real professional, D.” I crossed my arms and glared at him.  His face crumpled and he sank into a chair.
    “You know what we asked you to come here for, Howie.” Kevin kept his voice calm and easy.  “So, then.  Talk.”
    “I’m sure that AJ’s already told you guys that I had overheard Nick and Brian talking about what happened to Polly Anna.” His voice wobbled when he said her name.
    He looked at us for some sort of acknowledgment.  We gave him none.  He took a deep breath and continued.  “Well I had asked AJ to help me, well, to be honest, to kill Nick.  But I never did it!  Honest!”
    I guess the looks on our faces told him that we didn’t believe him.      
    He sighed.  “Well, can I just explain to you guys why I’m late then?”  Nobody said anything, we all just sat there looking at him with hate filled eyes.  “Well, I’m late because someone called my hotel room.”
    “Ooh!  Big whoop.” My voice was sarcastic.  “We all get phone calls Howie.”
    “No!  This one was different.  It was a lot weirder than anything I’ve ever heard of!” Just then, a cell phone rang.  No one moved to answer it.  We were all set on talking this out with Howie.  He waited until it stopped ringing to continue.  “Well, at first I thought it was you guys.”
    He related his story back to us.  I have to admit, even though I was so mad at him right then, his phone call was interesting.  I had never heard of any fan going to such extremes to meet us before.
    “No fan would do that.” Kevin said, echoing my thoughts.
    Howie didn’t say anything in reply.  He couldn’t because right then, Kevin’s hotel room phone rang.  Kevin got up to answer it.
    “Hello?” He paused listening.  His eyebrows curved down.  He hit speakerphone so we could all hear what he was hearing.
    “...like I told you to.  Don’t be late.  Seven.”
    Howie knew it was the same caller because on his face was a look of total shock.
    “How did you know I was here?” He asked.
    “I’m watching you closely.” I didn’t recognize the voice.
    “What?”
    “Well, honey, I’ve been watching you closely ever since that incident with Nick.”  Howie’s face paled.
    “Oh, honey, I know you didn’t do it.” The voice sounded sympathetic.
    “How do you know that?” I asked.
    “Well, Brian, there’s a good reason for that.”
    “And..” I prompted.
    “Because I did.”  The caller laughed, an evil laugh.  “Oh, if you all knew what I knew!  If you knew what I knew!” The caller paused.  “Well, I guess if you guys knew what I knew, you would definitely cancel your flight to Houston, Texas and also cancel the concert.  But then again, you don’t know what I know.  I guess you’ll only know when you meet me.  Seven.  Sharp.” There was a click as the caller hung up.
    We all exchanged glances.  Then all eyes were focused on Howie. 
    “You really didn’t do it?” I asked, not knowing what to believe.
    “I told you that.”
    We all looked at him.  We nodded at him, acknowledging that he was innocent.  Howie’s face collapsed with relief.
    “Did anyone recognize the voice?” I asked.
    “You can’t because it was muffled, like they were holding something over the phone.” Kevin said.
    We were all silent, lost in our own thoughts.
    “But wait,” AJ said, suddenly.  “If Howie didn’t do it, then who did?”
    “That’s what we’re about to figure out.” Kevin pointed to the clock.  It read 6:45.  “We’ll meet that caller in the park, by the lake where Polly Anna drowned.  And then we’ll know who the killer is.”

Chapter 19
Back to Story Index
Return to Hosted Stories Index
E-mail the author
More stories by Daisy