Hayley sat there in the courtroom with her best friends, Brian, Kevin, Howie, and AJ. Her bestest friend, Nick, was on trial for the murder of his ex-wife. Hayley and the guys knew he was innocent. They gave alibis for him but the prosecutors went for the evidence they have against him and ignored the alibis. She glanced over at Mandy's parents and saw her mother smiling and holding her husband's hand. She had a feeling Mandy's mother had something to do with this and set Nick up because they hated Nick. She had to prove that Nick was innocent. The jury returned to the courtroom after they discussed whether Nick was guilty or not. Hayley and the guys each had taken the stand on Nick's behalf. They gave the jury reasons to believe Nick was innocent. A few of the fans took the stand on Nick's behalf, too. Hayley sat there staring at her hands. Brian, who was sitting next to her, took her hand into his and squeezed it.

"Everything will be okay," Brian said. Hayley looked at him.

"I hope so," Hayley said.

"Does the jury have a verdict?" the judge asked the jury.

"Yes, we do," the foreman said handing the slip to the guard. The guard handed it to the judge. The judge read the verdict.

“Nickolas Gene Carter, please stand,” the judge said. Nick stood up with his lawyer.

“The jury has found you guilty of murder in the first degree, you will be taken back to the jail until your sentencing trial,” the judge said. He banged his gavel and got up and went into his chambers. The guards took Nick back to his jail cell. Hayley had seen Mandy’s parents. They were happy and cheering with their friends. She went over to them.

“I hope you two are happy, you just sent an innocent man to jail! I will not rest until I know the truth and by god, I will find out the truth!” Hayley said walking away from them. She called someone.

“Go now before they get home, if I know them, they will be out celebrating, yeah, he was found guilty but we both know he’s innocent, yeah, bye,” Hayley said. She walked out of the courthouse and headed for her car. She was grabbed from behind and pulled to her car. She felt something against her side. She looked and saw Nick and he had a gun. They got into her car and he drove off and headed out of town.

Chapter 2

Nick drove down the road out of town. He looked over at Hayley. She sat there with her arms crossed.

"Go back, Nick, me and the guys are working on getting you out, now you made things worse!" Hayley said.

"I can't, Hayley, I can't spend one more night in jail!" Nick said.

"Nick, please, do the right thing, show them that you are the person everyone knows you are, I told you before, I will not rest until you are free," Hayley said.

"I'm sorry, Hayley, but I need to find out for myself who killed Mandy and why they want me to pay for their crime, I need to prove them that I'm innocent, I need to do it myself, if you don't like it, too bad, I need you with me, Hayley, I need you to help me prove I'm innocent," Nick said.

"Nick, I was working on it, I have a friend who is going to get the proof that Mandy's parents set up everything for you to take the fall for it," Hayley said.

"I just don't want to be in that jail cell, it was hell for me, all those bad guys in there, it was no place for me, I need to be free," Nick said.

"Nicky, I'm working on it, and so are the guys, they know and I know that you are innocent, you are not a murderer," Hayley said.

"I need to prove that myself, to show them that I'm innocent," Nick said. He turned on the radio.

"The search has been called off for Nickolas Carter, who escaped after being found guilty of murdering his ex-wife, Mandy, although he wasn't present, he has been released into the custody of his best friend, Hayley Hardin, this came after Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, and AJ McLean talked with the judge, more after this," the DJ said. Nick turned it off and looked at Hayley.

"Might be a trick to get me to come back," Nick said.

"Yeah," Hayley said. Her cell phone rang. She looked and saw Brian's number. She looked at Nick. She looked and saw they were in the middle of nowhere and if the call was traced, they wouldn't be able to find them because there were many ways they could have gone.

"Brian," Hayley said.

"Hayley, did you heard the news on the radio, Nick has been released into your custody," Brian said.

"Is it a trick to get him to come back?" Hayley asked.

"No, I swear, the guys and I talked with the judge," Brian said.

"Brian, you better not be lying to me," Hayley said.

"Hayley, I have never once lied to you, they wouldn't have said it on the radio if it wasn't true," Brian said.

"Hayley, this is Sam, what Brian and the radio said is true, he is in your custody, you two need to be back in three weeks for the sentencing hearing, if you aren't, there will be warrants out for your arrests," Sam said. Sam is Nick's lawyer.

"Don't worry, we might be back sooner than that, Nick and I are going to find proof that he is innocent," Hayley said. She hung up and looked at him.

"Sam said it was the truth," Hayley said.

"Do I have to go back?" Nick asked.

"If we aren't back in three weeks, there will be warrants for our arrests," Hayley said.

"Not if I pretend you are my hostage," Nick said. They drove to a small town and checked into a hotel. Hayley went to take a shower. She was soaping up when she felt someone behind her and she turned and saw Nick standing there naked. He kissed her hungrily. She pulled back and looked at him.

"Nick, what are you doing," Hayley said.

"Kissing you, showering with you," Nick said kissing her neck.

"Nick, don't, it's not right," Hayley said.

"Why not," Nick said as he kissed her neck.

"Because it's wrong, they could use this and think that you killed her to be with me," Hayley said. Nick rested his head against her shoulder.

"Not if no one knows about us," Nick said kissing her shoulder. He pushed her against the wall of the shower and kissed her deeply. His hands went over her body. She weakened against him. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist and he made love to her in the shower. They got out afterwards and dried off and laid on the bed and made love again. Nick collapsed on top of her afterwards. They laid there holding each other.

Chapter 3

Hayley woke up and saw that she was in her car. She looked over at Nick driving.

"Nick," Hayley said.

"Hi," Nick said.

"Where are we going?" Hayley asked.

"It was all a trick, Hayley, they made Brian and Sam lie, a cop showed up at the hotel looking for me, I got you dressed and got our stuff and carried you out and put you in the car and got everything and drove off," Nick said.

"How do you know it was a trick?" Hayley said.

"Brian left a message on your cell phone," Nick said.

"Oh god," Hayley said.

"I thought I was safe, so much for that," Nick said.

"Nick, it's not too late, go back and we will get you out of this," Hayley said.

"Your friend didn't find anything," Nick said.

"Oh great," Hayley said.

"He got caught by Mandy's parents, they didn't go celebrating," Nick said.

"Dammit!" Hayley said.

"He said he didn't tell them he was working for you, he told them he was an old friend of Mandy's," Nick said.

"Is he okay," Hayley said.

"Yeah, Brad's fine, they invited him to stay over," Nick said.

"Did he?" Hayley asked.

"Yeah, he did, he is going to see about getting a confession out of them, he's got his tape recorder," Nick said.

"He left a message?" Hayley asked.

"No, he called on the road, you were asleep for two hours after we left the hotel," Nick said.

"Nick, why didn't you wake me up, who knows who could have been on the other end!" Hayley said.

"You have caller id and I recognized the number for your caller id at your house," Nick said.

"Who else called," Hayley said.

"My mom, she wants me to return and turn myself in and she said she wouldn't give up until I was free," Nick said.

"Nick, please, running is not going to help anything," Hayley said.

"I can't go back to jail, Hayley, how many times do I have to tell you!" Nick said.

"You are making things worse for yourself, if we clear you, you still have to serve time for escaping and kidnapping, they saw you take me from the courthouse steps, they won't believe anything else, they won't listen, they believe I was kidnapped," Hayley said.

"I can't go back, I can't!" Nick said.

"Nick, please, do it for me," Hayley said.

"Hayley, don't do this, please, if you care about me, you will let it go, and understand that I don't want to go back to jail!" Nick said.

"Do you want to be free," Hayley said.

"Yes, I do, but I can't prove that I'm innocent if I'm in jail!" Nick said.

"Nick, me and the guys were going to prove it!" Hayley said.

"What if you can't, huh, what if you can't prove it!" Nick said.

"Did you kill Mandy?" Hayley asked. She had her cell phone on and she had secretly dialed the judge who presided over Nick's case. The judge was listening to the converstation.

"You know I didn't, you knew where I was when Mandy died, how can I be onstage performing with the guys and killing Mandy at the same time, I can't be in two places at once, I would never kill anybody, only if it was self-defense, and I didn't do that either, Mandy didn't do anything to me to make me want to kill her, someone set me up, I have to prove it, I have to prove my innocence, I am not a killer, I couldn't do that to anybody, I can't go back to jail, I can't!" Nick said.

"You don't know what your sentence will be, there is still that hearing," Hayley said.

"I can't go back to jail, Hayley, it was horrible, they wanted to do nasty things to me, I mean very nasty things," Nick said.

"Nick, please, if you care about me, you will go back, we can ask if you can be put somewhere away from those people who wanted to do nasty things to you," Hayley said.

"I'm sorry, Hayley," Nick said. Hayley turned off her phone. He turned around and drove back to Florida.

Chapter 4

Nick sat there in the jail cell while Hayley was glaring at Brian and the guys.

“How could you lie to us!” Hayley said.

“We had no choice, Hayley,” Brian said.

“You guys think he’s guilty!” Hayley said.

“No, we don’t!” Kevin said.

“We knew where he was at the time Mandy was killed, he was onstage with us!” AJ said.

“Hayley, you know I wouldn’t have lied to you if I had a choice, but we didn’t have a choice, he took you at gunpoint,” Brian said.

“He was scared, there was nasty stuff done in jail, a lot of those prisoners wanted to fuck him in the ass!” Hayley said.

“What!” Howie said.

“Yeah, they wanted to strip him and fuck him, he was scared, that’s why he didn’t want to go back there!” Hayley said. Sam came in.

“Nick was just raped in his jail cell by his cellmate,” Sam said. Hayley sat down and buried her face in her hands.

“You see why he escaped!” Hayley cried. The guys looked at each other. They went down to the jail cell where Nick was. Two officers were moving Nick’s cellmate to another cell. Nick sat there staring at the wall.

“Nick,” Howie said.

“What do you guys want, to lie again,” Nick said. AJ flicked him in the back of the head.

“Nick, we didn’t want to lie, but we had no choice, they were going to press charges against us for aiding and abetting a fugitive,” Brian said.

“You guys had to save yourselves,” Nick said.

“Nickolas!” Jane said.

“Mom,” Nick said.

“You listen to the guys, they didn’t want to go to jail because they want to prove you are innocent, and I think I have, I just have to get the proof,” Jane said.

“Proof?” Nick asked.

“Yes, and I need the guys to help me,” Jane said. They left. Hayley came over to Nick and he looked at her. He brushed a strand of hair back from her face.

“You okay?” Hayley said.

“I’ll live, just something else to get over, I hope there is proof that I’m innocent, I want to get out of here,” Nick said.

Two weeks later, they were at his sentencing hearing. Once again, Hayley, Brian, Howie, AJ, and Kevin were put on the stand.

“I had a interesting phone call while the defendant was on the road after escaping, courtesy of his best friend, Ms. Hardin, I have this phone call on tape,” the judge said. Nick looked at Hayley. The judge played the tape.

"Did you kill Mandy?" Hayley asked.

"You don't know what your sentence will be, there is still that hearing," Hayley said.

"I can't go back to jail, Hayley, it was horrible, they wanted to do nasty things to me, I mean very nasty things," Nick said.

"Nick, please, if you care about me, you will go back, we can ask if you can be put somewhere away from those people who wanted to do nasty things to you," Hayley said.

"I'm sorry, Hayley," Nick said. The judge turned off the recorder and looked at the jury.

“I have it on record that Mr. Carter never lies to his best friends, according to Ms. Hardin, he didn’t know that she had called me,” the judge said.

“Your honor, that could have been an act,” the district attorney said. The judge looked at Hayley.

“Ms. Hardin, you still are under oath, did Mr. Carter know you called me?” the judge asked.

“No, he didn’t, he didn’t know I called you, I secretly dialed the number and pretended that I was checking my voice mail, he didn’t know I was making a call, your honor,” Hayley said. Sam stood up with some papers.

“I have evidence here to prove that my client is innocent, may I approach the bench to give the evidence to you,” Sam said.

“Yes you may,” the judge said. Sam walked up and gave the papers to the judge. The judge looked over the papers. He motioned the district attorney to approach the bench. The district attorney looked at the papers and looked at the judge. Hayley looked at Brian. He looked at her and smiled.

“What are those papers?” Hayley asked. There was commotion in the back. They all looked and saw Jane coming down the aisle pulling Mandy behind her. Hayley’s eyes widened.

“Your honor, here is the victim, she was alive all along,” Jane said.

“Let go of me!” Mandy said. Hayley started to get up but Brian made her sit down.

“I think she should testify,” Jane said.

“Mrs. Carter, will you please take the stand,” the judge said.

Chapter 5

Mandy glared at Jane and walked to the witness stand and was sworn in and she sat down.

“Mrs. Carter, will you tell the court your story about why you are here and not dead?” Sam said.

“My mother came up with an idea to make Nick pay for how he treated me, so they faked my death and made it so everyone thought he killed me for my money, I’ve been living at my parents’ house in Miami,” Mandy said.

“So you say that Nick treated you badly, he testified that he treated you like a princess, he said the reason the marriage fell apart was because of your mother’s meddling, is that correct?” Sam asked.

“Yes, the marriage fell apart because of my mother’s meddling, and Nick treated me like a princess, my mother thought I was getting mistreated by him,” Mandy said.

“Why did you let Nick go to jail, why not come forward,” Sam said.

“My mother said that if I didn’t go along with it, I would be disowned and left on the street with nothing, and she would make sure that I would be a nobody,” Mandy said.

“No further questions,” Sam said sitting down.

“Prosecution rests,” the district attorney said.

“Well, case is dismissed,” the judge said. Mandy’s mother went for her daughter but was held back by the security guard and taken outside. Hayley stood there staring at Mandy.

“What do you want, Hayley,” Mandy said.

“Do you have any idea what happened to Nick while he was jail?” Hayley asked.

“No, I don’t,” Mandy said.

“He was raped, Mandy, by his male cellmate, all those inmates in the jail wanted to do nasty things to him, well, one of them did, it was pure hell, you could have saved him from that, if you didn’t go through with it and explained to Nick what your mother wanted you to do, he would have listened, you know you two remained friends!” Hayley said. Mandy looked at Nick who was standing there looking at her.

“I thought he hated me,” Mandy said.

“Well, he has a reason now but he didn’t hate you before then!” Hayley said.

“I’m sorry about all this, you don’t know my mother as well as I do,” Mandy said.

“Nick would have been there for you, so what if your mother disowned you, Nick would have been there to help you,” Hayley said.

“I know that now,” Mandy said. Nick came over.

“Let’s go, Hayley,” Nick said. He took her hand and led her out of the courthouse and he smiled knowing that he was free. He hugged Hayley close to him and they headed to a new life together.