GaryK

I'm craving caffeine because my body senses it didn't sleep at all last night.

If he won't do it I will.

Does it seem weird to tell you I enjoyed it? I did! Thanks. Mozart, absolutely. The Beatles, maybe. Brittney, no way!

Wanna bet?

Darn that BK. It was already tomorrow there while it was still today here. So now all of us here will have to wish you a happy birthday again tomorrow when it will be yesterday where BK lives. I think. I dunno. CJ has me all confused.

This saga is almost as good as LTMP!

I think my head is going to explode with all this back and forth about Helen, skimming money, and people getting killed. Is Instinct really making so much money that J/S could be skimming enough funds to finance his operations? We're talking millions of US dollars! IIRC in the most recent chapter J/S was thinking about how he only had US$5 million left. That's near the end of his operation. I somehow doubt he could be skimming that much money from the band without anyone noticing it unless he had an accomplice on the inside. So let's assume that's the case and wonder who it could be. Certainly none of the band members would have access to that kind of money. Even if they did what would the motivation be? Gunter isn't in a position to get access to that kind of money. That leaves Helen. She's the most logical one to have access to the money being taken in via the tour. If J/S is somehow skimming money and Helen is his accomplice why would she pretend give him a check for his charity when nobody was around to see it? And then why would J/S think about the sweet irony of Helen helping to pay for her own murder? Therefore I have to assume the money came from his previous occupation combined with the contributions he conned people into giving for his charity. Which in turn brings me back to wondering why anyone connected to Instinct needs to be killed. The only people I can see who need to be killed are Dimitri and Vlad. In conclusion I'm convinced that CJ has simply lost his mind and is leading us all toward an ending that involves some sort of time travel or the whole thing is someone's illogical nightmare. Sort of like that season of Dallas that turned out to be a dream.

It's great that you enjoy your work. In my line of work it's wonderful when the compiler doesn't freak out and the resultant program runs exactly as expected. It hardly even seems like work at times. That's a reflection on my compunction for neatness. Neatly written and well-documented code that any programmer can look at and understand precisely what's going on. I'm sure we have a lot in common in that regard.

Hmm. Maybe I have been taking "Rich Boy" a bit too seriously! OK, here's the deal. Yes, she's bossy. And yes she's absolutely a bitch. But in a good way cause she does seem to care about the boys! Oy, my head hurts.

Happy Birthday Rose!

You make a darned good point about Helen. Perhaps I need to reconsider my feelings about her. Then again, I could blame it on CJ by accusing him of casting eeevil magic goat spells to make me hate her, thus distracting me from what I should really be concerned about. What is it he doesn't want me to see?

We were posting at the same time. See my previous post.

I don't recall the father ever being the manager. Helen was always the manager. The boy's father signed a quitclaim deed assigning control of Instinct to the boys, not to Helen. According to Chapter 8 J/S stated: "I

I could have sworn it was the boy's father who hired J/S and was involved in a few other business relationships with him. That's based on what J/S stated in Chapter 8 when he first met the boys after J/S helped expose Gabe's embezzling. Isn't that enough?

Respectfully, what role does Helen have when it comes to moving the bombs? None. She manages the band, not their equipment! The equipment used to be the responsibility of someone who is now dead! Due to Helen's wonderful abilities to protect the band from paparazzi they now have photos of them sneaking around J/S's trailer wherein lies a dead body and some speakers-cum-bomb cases. And while technically not paparazzi there's that photo of Brandon and Chase holding hands on the beach.

Respectfully, what role does Helen have when it comes to moving the bombs? None. She manages the band, not their equipment! The equipment used to be the responsibility of someone who is now dead!

Coward!

IMO none! She's just a bitch woman who got lucky and snagged a lucrative contract with a fairly successful band. May I be a member please?

CJ never mentioned how much money Gabe was skimming. The money seems to have been that which was intended to house and feed the roadies. That might be a significant amount of money to Gabe, but I'm sure it amounts to nothing in terms of the kind of money J/S needs. There is no investment fund. Helen told Brandon that each of the guys puts most of their money into investment funds and expected Brandon to do the same. Shadowgod is right up to a point. The only real money a band like Instinct makes is what they earn from being on the road.

I'll concede one point about Helen even though I continue to think she's a bitch. Does anyone remember this from Chapter 5 when she was talking to Brandon about money and his debit card?

Lump's firing wasn't something Jerry anticipated. Perhaps Lump was destined to play some role in whatever J/S has in mind. However The Goat hasn't given us any clue about that possibility. Lump's firing is the only reason I can think of for J/S wanting to kill Instinct. They don't actually pose any sort of risk to him at this point in the story. And yet J/S doesn't seem like the kind of person who kills just for revenge. Benji. I think it's more likely The Goat will kill off some loose ends rather than merely tying them up!

Truer words were never spoken. Welcome Brad. Actually welcome again since we already have conversed in other threads. One of our hosted authors, Jack Scribe, follows the same routine you do when it comes to writing stories. He writes the entire thing first so he has the liberty of changing things as needed. Once the story is complete, beta-read and edited he's then able to publish chapters on a regular basis. I look forward to reading what you write.

Perhaps there were no new cliffies. There were certainly plenty of reinforcements about existing cliffies! Especially with regard to what J/S has planned for any number of groups and individuals.

I guess it's because I don't see how that gift could be evil or shocking.

Why would that make Helen evil?