A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

Chapter 1

A Ride on Midnight

The year 1863...or thereabouts....

When Justin awoke that morning figured it was going to be a day just like every other. How could he know? Life in Grizzly Hills, a small mining town in the wilderness of British Columbia, Canada, was quiet, repetitive and a little boring.

It was beautiful though; the village/town was in the middle of a BC pine forest sure as shootin'. As well as pine, spruce and other evergreen trees there were lots of maple, oak and other deciduous trees making up the forest. In the forest, were all kinds of animals, including the bears that gave the town its name so the townspeople were careful.

Inside the town, it was small enough so that everybody knew everybody else. They knew who was living there and who was passing through. They knew who was there to seek their fortune by taking part in the gold rush and they knew who actually was there to stay.

Justin was one of the latter. He was the village's schoolteacher. Granted, this was usually very much a woman's territory but teaching was what Justin did best besides drawing. And Grizzly Hills couldn't afford to be choosers when they were beggars out in the middle of nowhere. And so, Justin got the job. He had to watch what he said and did like any other schoolteacher and he had promised to dress conservatively.

Justin awoke early as usual, washed and shaved as usual and dressed in a grey suit and black tie as usual. After a hurried breakfast of toast and eggs he was out the door to the one room schoolhouse as usual. He had to get there before any of the children and start the fire in the heating stove.

"Morning, Justin!" yelled Ethan, the hunky yet married owner of the mercantile.

"Morning,"

"Morning, Justin!" said Kip, the thin yet ropy muscled barkeep, who was sweeping out his front door as usual.

"Morning."

"Morning Justin," said Stockwell, the mayor who was just heading into city hall as usual.

"Good morning mayor," Justin said politely. Yes, everything seemed so ordinary about this warm, sunny, spring day.

"Oh...Justin! Could you do me a favor later today?" The mayor waved him over for privacy.

Justin frowned. This was definitely out of the ordinary. He trotted over. "Yes, Mayor Stockwell? What can I do for you?"

"I'm expecting someone to come to town later today on the 3:00 train." Stockwell pointed to the small train station where the train tracks passed by before vanishing into the forest thickets again. "A police officer. I was wondering if you could let the kids go a little early, meet him for me, maybe give him the nickel tour and show him to here to city hall. He'll know how to find me after that."

"A police officer! Is everything all right?" Justin asked in concern. He decided to leave out that the kids got out at 3 pm anyway.

"Oh yes! Oh yes! Everything's fine! I just called the RCMP because the town's been getting so rowdy at night and there was an incident of claim jumping last week. And Karen and Oscar already have their hands full. I asked them to send someone before anything got worse."

"Oh, my!"

"Yes...Well...I can trust you to keep all this under your hat, Justin? It's police business and not to be spread around."

"Oh yes Sir! Of course sir!" There was a pause. Justin guessed he was dismissed. "Uhhh, Sir? How will I know this person?"

"You'll know him when you see him. Just keep your eyes out for red."

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

3 PM...

Usually, at around knock off time, the kids started knocking off, packing up, getting a little rowdy and for the most part Justin was cool about it. However, he had an image to maintain and he wasn't above handing out detentions if things got too loud and under NO circumstances did he condone any fighting or violence.

And so, at first, he kept grading papers and ignored the ohhhh's and ahhhhh's from the boys and the giggling squeals from the girls but then he looked up and saw that the squealers and the ohhh'ers and just about everyone was over at the windows.

"Anne! Kimberly! JT! Rocky! David! Everyone! You know, I'm OK with a bit of after school chatter but you must remain seated! Everyone back to their desks please!"

"Oh, but Mr. Taylor! The train just got in and you should see who came out! He's soooo gorgeous!" said one of the Harrison twins, Mandy.

"He sure is cool," said her twin brother Randy.

Justin remembered Stockwell's favor and went over to the window to check. He gasped. He gripped the windowsill very, very hard to prevent falling over.

Standing at the front of the station, looking to the left, right, then left again, looking adorably lost, was the most mouthwatering vision Justin had ever seen. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police office with a large and heavy backpack on his back was standing there. As everyone watched, a train worker led a large, black as sin, horse around from the back.

The RCMP "Mountie" was in his full uniform, that is, a brown, felt Stetson hat with a black band, scarlet tunic with a white lanyard, black strap crossing diagonally over his broad chest, badges on his collar, on his shoulder, and on his wrists. He wore a brown leather belt that held a handcuff pouch, a pistol holder, and a double magazine holder. He wore midnight blue breeches with a yellow strip running down from waist to ankle and brown leather boots with spurs. Brown, smooth as sin leather gauntlets reaching up to his elbows finished his uniform.

Something inside Justin stirred, something he thought, nay, hoped...was sure had been long dead. But no, here it was again, rearing its ugly head as he looked as that red tunic and brown leather and was unable to look away. The reason he came to Grizzly Hills. And...oh dear God...he was going to have to go up to that man with the face of God and speak to him. If his father could see what was happening now he'd...

"Mr. Taylor? Mr. Taylor? Are you OK?" Ann's voice came from a long way off.

Justin gave himself a little shake and snapped back to the present. "Yeah...yeah, I'm just fine." He swallowed. "Class dismissed," he said hoarsely.

But no one really noticed. The kids were too busy cheering and grabbing their books and running out the door before teacher could change his mind.

BJBJBJBJBJ

Well, of course, all the kids ran right over to the train station and surrounded the officer. The all screamed and laughed and asked questions and shoved each other and in the end not one of them was understood in the least.

The RCMP officer threw his head back and laughed and loved every minute of it. He shucked off his backpack and bent down and mussed their hair and hugged them and asked them their names and how old they were and if they were good boys and girls. They told him all and insisted that each of them was the best of the rest of them.

The Mountie stood in the middle of them, put his brown gloved hands on his hips and threw his head back and laughed long and loud and jolly again. Again, he loved it. They were all so cute. He introduced them all to his horse, Midnight. He made them line up in a row according to height and gave them each a sugar cube from out of his red jacket pocket to give to his horse one at a time. They all jockeyed for position. There was of course some pushing and shoving.

Justin was approaching at a more sedate pace but hurried a little to get to the rescue. "Hey! No pushing! Behave yourselves and be the good kids I know you are for our new police officer!"

The kids settled down reluctantly and chorused: "Yes...Mr Tayyyyy---lor!" as they'd been dutifully trained. They quietly accepted their sugar after that and one by one got to feed it to the horse and give it a pat. Midnight was more than agreeable to this arrangement. He whinnied and huffed and shook his head in delight. The caused delight in the kids who jumped and cheered adorably.

But the RCMP officer was only peripherally aware of this. His focus and vision had been captured by a man. He wore a grey suit with a matching grey bowler on top of the most mouthwatering, buttery blond hair you could know. He was of medium height and weight but the officer could tell there was some ropy, concealed muscle under that suit. Maybe abs. The Mountie itched to rip that starchy suit away and confirm his theory.

Under the hat and the hair were eyes staring at him, wide and wonderingly. They were as blue as some of the lakes he had passed as he rode on the train and just as beautiful. They were wide and wondering and submissive and they blinked demurely.

Below that, was a button nose and gorgeous but masculine cupid-bow lips. The entire face had to be 20 years old. (Younger? Surely not. Hopefully not) The Mountie felt his mouth go dry and he wished more than anything to slake a terrible thirst by drinking of those lips for several hours.

"Hello," said the sugary lips.

The RCMP officer gave himself an internal shake and said: "I'm sorry?" Had he zoned out and missed anything?

Justin gave himself a shake and started over. "Oh of course...Hello, office...corpor...uhhh...hello Sir," the bowler came off and was twisted nervously in two fair white hands that seemed very small indeed.

"It's just Constable." The officer straightened unconsciously, painfully tight, saluted sharply, his arm bent, making a perfect triangle and his forefinger and middle finger touching his hat near the middle of the forehead. "Constable Brian Adrian Kinney, at your service!"

"You...you're at my service?" asked a rather startled voice. Taylor seemed rather taken aback at that possibility.

"Yes, Sir!" came the clipped reply.

"Oh my!" the buttery blond said demurely, "Well...that is an interesting proposal. I'll have to... keep that in mind."

There was a pause while that comment went straight to Brian's dick.

"I hope I'm not out of line, Sir! Are all these kids yours? They seem to know you!" the Constable still stood to attention.

"Of a sort, I suppose. They're mine from 9 to 3. I'm their schoolteacher. My name's Justin Taylor." Justin turned and clapped his hands sharply. "All right, children! You've all met the constable and pet the horse and I'm sure you'll see them both later in days to come so off with you now! You're all dismissed home until tomorrow. Mandy...Randy....I want to see BOTH your homework....in your own handwriting! No doing one copy and then copying it!"

"AWWWWWW!!!!" the twins groaned, for of course that's what they were planning on doing.

The rest of the kids made disappointed sounding noises and started shuffling off in different directions.

"Well that's that!" Justin dusted his hands in satisfaction. "I love them all dearly but I must say it's a relief when 3 o'clock rolls around sometimes. Now...I was sent by the..." he turned, "Oh good grief!" He jumped a foot in the air in comic surprise.

The constable still stood there at attention and salute. He looked statuesque, gorgeous and more mouthwatering than ever.

Constable Brian Kinney was 6'1" with long, thick arms, a broad, deep chest and a bubble butt. He had brown hair and hazel eyes and stared stiffly forward and thick lips that stretched over a wide mouth and white teeth. Justin could see that he was a bit older than him, around 30 or so.

"Oh good heavens! At ease! At ease!" Brian relaxed visibly and started breathing normally. He lowered his arm out of its stiff stance. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Justin continued, "Do you need to sit? Water? Were you like that the whole time?"

"Of course," Brian said, "And I'm all right. I've been at attention for much longer than that before. But...thanks for caring." He smiled at the teacher who felt something warm in his tummy that he hadn't felt since he came to Grizzly Falls. But that was kind of the point, wasn't...

Justin shook that off. The constable's smile was wide, inviting, and gorgeous. He was going to enjoy it.

"Well, you don't need to go to attention for me. I'm just the schoolteacher. But I was sent to show you around a bit and then take you to city hall. I was told you'd know what to do after that."

"Yes, that's true. OK, let's go." Constable Brian heaved on his backpack again, helped Justin onto his horse and then climbed into the saddle behind Justin.

"Oh my!" Justin exclaimed at the close quarters. He shifted and squirmed slightly but that only made him slide backwards a little and..."shhhhtock!!" he found himself plastered right against Brian's manly chest and his ass right in Brian's lap. One of Brian's arms went automatically around his waist and tummy in support and the other held the reins. "Uhhh...I'm sorry! I didn't know it would be like this! Are you OK with the close proximity?" asked Justin.

"Oh...I think I'll manage," Brian said with his tongue stuck firmly in cheek. He started Midnight down the street. "This way OK?"

"Uhhh...yes. OK, well down that way is the launderer's....blacksmith and stable are over there. We have our own library...sawmill...mines are over that way...there's a Diner over there run by a very effusive woman. Her name's Debbie and she's very friendly. And she knows a lot of the women in town. I'm sure she can introduce you to a few." Justin dropped his eyes a little. What was this tightness in his chest for?

"That's all right," Brian clipped out, a little too quickly.

"Of course. Sorry. Anyway, then there's..." Justin continued a bit giving him the rundown of the town and ending with "We're surrounded by the forest, of course so there's excellent hunting and hiking and camping. But be sure not to do any of those things alone or without a compass. If anything should happen to you..."

"Yes Justin? If anything should happen to me...?" the constable's voice was a sexy purr against his ear. Justin shivered in pleasure.

"Ohhh...well, I just mean if you fell or anything and no-one knew...there would be no help and you could be missing for days or...or worse." Justin didn't want to say it. " Also the woods are filled with wildlife, deer, rabbit, but also mountain lions and bears, which are quite dangerous. There's even a few moose. And squirrels."

"I see....So...will you do those things with me, Justin? Would you come and ...keep me safe?" Again the sexy purr made him shiver with a desire he figured he'd never feel again.

"Uhhhh...well, I guess. I mean I don't hunt. I much rather to enjoy nature than to kill it. But we could camp or go hiiii---iiking." The last was in response to Brian's boner poking him in the butt.

"Mr...uhhh...Constable Kinney! What's going on here!?" Justin's voice was a furious stage whisper.

"Just relax...smile and wave...try not do get visibly upset...You'll get us lynched," Brian whispered back, "As to you're question...it's called a boner. I'm sure you've experienced one."

"Well, I...never!!" Justin was outraged.

"I highly doubt that. What are you, 20? I'm sure you wake up with some impressive wood yourself."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it! And I'm 21 by the way. Besides, they'd only lynch you! You're the one with the boner!" Justin was triumphant.

"You're the one who's been riding around enjoying it for the last hour." Brian was smug.

Shit. He was right. Justin quieted down. Brian rubbed soothing circled on his stomach, adjusted him so that his fat cock was now standing to attention against his back. Justin gulped.

"Good Grief! Little Brian is about as stiff as you were earlier," he tried to joke, "So...you're one of...them...aren't you?"

"There's nothing little about it," Brian throbbed against his bum, "As you can see."

"Yes Constable. Sorry, Sir!"

"My! My! You're an obedient little morsel, aren't you?"

"My upbringing was painfully strict, Sir. I was taught to respect all forms of authority...sometimes too well, I think."

"Well, well! I'll have to...keep that in mind." Justin gulped as the sexy growl mirrored his own words.

Brian led the horse slowly back to the centre of town toward the city hall. "So Justin...what did you mean by...one of them?"

"Well....you know...oh don't make me say it...you know..."

"Yes..." Brian growled.

"You know....a sodomite...a faggot...a homosexual...I know you must be because your dick wouldn't have poked me like that if you weren't. Why...why did you poke...well get aroused anyway?" Justin chanced a look back and was startled. Brian's face was red, pinched and angry. "Brian what's wrong?" he asked in alarm. In further alarm, he felt Brian going soft. Shit! He really was beyond pissed.

"I pictured us camping...in a tent," he said tightly. Goodness, he was angry! "And Justin, I'll accept the third word but wherever did you hear those other two?"

"My father. He used them a lot. You see...he would call me them...when he found out." He covered Brian's leathered hand holding his stomach with his own briefly and leaned back into Brian's chest. "Oh God, It's so nice not to be alone in it anymore!"

"Whoa! Hold up! Just because we're the only two...homos in town doesn't mean we're going to hook up! Besides, I have a policy. If we...do it, that's it! I don't do repeats. In and out with a maximum of pleasure and a minimum of bullshit."

"Oh. Well, I didn't mean that either...necessarily. But we can talk about it...like we are right now. Oh, and Debbie knows and she's cool. And I think Ethan swings both ways. He's married but...he looks at me funny sometimes and he'll give me a jerky or a candy cane for free sometimes...and he shakes my hand kinda long sometimes...like he doesn't want to let go...you know?"

"I'm getting a picture," Brian growled.

"So anyway...this isn't...where did you come from?"

"Vancouver." Justin decided to pretend he was on the horse with a growly, grizzly bear.

"Right. Well this isn't a big city and there's only me and maybe Ethan so you might want to re-think your policy. And I see that I've upset you, so if we don't ever end up...camping...at least we can talk about it and be friends. Being in the closet is very stressful."

They had arrived at city hall at last. Brian helped Justin down and said, "We can be friends. We may even go camping one day, Justin but you have to do something for me."

"Yes...uhh, I mean, yes, Constable Brian?"

"Never use those two words again. Not to me...Not to anybody. Not even to yourself."

Justin gulped. And chanced a look into hazel eyes that didn't know they were soulful. It was a bad idea. He drowned in their depths.

"No, Constable. No, never again, I promise."

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Brian entered city hall and was directed to the Mayor's office. He knocked.

"Come in!" came the curt reply.

Brian entered and submitted to a perfunctory handshake and sat where directed, in front of Stockwell's large, mahogany desk.

Being a big fish in a small pond agreed with Mayor Stockwell. He wore a black suit and a black top hat and was shaved except for a long, luxurious black moustache that curled up at the ends. Brian hated him on sight. His hair was oily, his moustache was oily, his smile was oily and his overall demeanor was oily and constantly smug and/or condescending.

"Get in all right?" the mayor asked carelessly.

Brian checked to see if he was in the room. He was. "So it would seem," he said, "Thanks to a certain schoolteacher and his brood."

"Oh, sorry about that. It wasn't part of the deal for you to have to deal with the brats."

"Actually..."Brian said tightly, "They were no trouble. I love children. And Taylor was very hospitable." God, he really didn't like this man!

"Oh well that's good, at least. Well, let's get down to business."

"All right." "God knows, there was no pleasure," thought Brian.

Stockwell began talking about how the police staff was made up of two people and that crime rate was on the rise and leadership was slack and they needed someone to answer calls to complaints of alleged claim jumping. He named an acceptable figure that would be his salary.

All this seemed to take an indeterminate amount of time. Brian nodded in all the right places and kept one ear open and his mind's eye open to two too blue eyes that blinked soulfully at him in his imagination. With his other ear he listened to a more pleasurable sound, a dulcet, demure voice saying: ‘No, Constable. No, never again. I promise.'

"By the way, Constable, I appreciate the dress uniform but I wanted to let you know, you're not obligated to wear it all the time even up here in these sticks. I can get Oscar to get you a few street uniforms in your size."

"Thank you, Mayor. I'll look into it," (Brian had no intention of doing anything of the sort.) "But actually, I don't mind. I brought several of these with me and I prefer wearing the red uniform. I like the attention I attract and I find it commands respect and exudes authority a bit more. And, as you said, if you need a leader, I might stand out a bit more and be accepted as the new leader of your task force if I look different and stand out."

"Hmmmm, interesting theory," Stockwell said, sounding monumentally bored. "Well, whatever. Check in with Oscar if you ever get bored with that."

After that there was very little left to say, so Stockwell released him to get settled.

Brian left and rode Midnight to the stables and left him there and then checked in at the local rooming house. Then he went down to the Diner that Justin pointed out and met Debbie, who was indeed as effusive and boisterous as Justin had claimed and furthermore sported a bushy curly, red-haired wig. She took an immediate liking to the new Mountie and Brian to her but she narrowed her eyes when he asked where Justin lived.

"Why do you wanna know that? I can't imagine that sweet boy doing anything wrong. He isn't in any trouble is he?"

"No. No trouble. I was thinking I'd jog over and invite him down here to eat with me. And then...well, I'm not sure what then."

"You know officer, he might take that a little differently than you might..." She paused, "Unless...you already know that. Unless...you're..."

"Justin and I have already had a long talk about it," confirmed Brian, "I was hoping to...talk a little more about it...So if you wouldn't mind telling me where I could find him...I'm sure you'd see us both sooner than later."
Debbie told him. Then she made sure the coast was clear and added: "We both better be just talking dinner here buster! If I hear about you breaking his heart, I'll bust your balls! I can get pretty creative with a baton myself, you know!"

Brian just laughed and went in search of his Blue-Eyed Boy.

BJBJBJBJBJBJBJ

Justin was puttering around, pulling out a frying pan, thinking about what was easiest to cook when the knock at the door came.

He answered it and gasped.

Standing there at his door was Brian, still in full, red-coated, leathered up, muscled, mouthwatering Mountie uniform. Brian had taken off his spurs but that's about it. Justin closed his eyes and discreetly pinched himself. Things like this just didn't happen, especially to him. Cautiously, he opened his eyes again.

Nope. The vision was still there. Somehow, incredibly this vision was real.

Justin took a breath. "Is there a problem, Constable?" he asked in perfect inflection of confusion and a little fear.

"Oh yes. A great deal of them," answered Brian seriously, "I've received a number of complaints concerning you, Taylor. May I come in?"

"Well, I don't know. Do you have a warrant?"

"Yes. I keep it down the front of my pants. If you want, I could unzip and...whip it out for you to...check out!" And darn it, if he didn't actually start to unzip his pants.

"Stop it! Oh, for heavens sake! Get in! Get in here!" Justin tugged on a huge arm and yanked him inside and frantically checked left, right. Thankfully the street was dark and empty. He slammed the door.

Brian was regarding him and this whole thing with intense amusement.

"Dammit, Brian, you can't just do that on the street! Someone could have seen us!"

"I'll keep that in mind," said Brian unconcernedly, "So...are you ready to answer to the charges against you?" he soldiered on, determined to play his game.

Justin sighed. "And what charges might those be?"

Brian sat on the sofa and then patted the seat next to him.

Well, I ask you. If a big, devastatingly handsome, muscular Mountie had sat down on your sofa and patted the seat, what would you have done? Justin sat.

"I've heard serious complaints from Debbie that you haven't been to see her in quite some time."

"I don't get paid that much. I eat at home a lot. Besides, I doubt she's going out of business without me."

"That's not the point! She misses you a lot and is concerned you're not eating your vegetables."

"She tends to worry about things that aren't her concern," said Justin.

"Next...I hear you haven't eaten dinner yet."

"Now...how could you know that!!?" asked Justin in real surprise.

"I'm a policeman. It's my job to know these things."

"Is that a fact?"

"It is a fact. I've also heard a complaint that you're the only single homosexual man in town."

"Is that a crime?"

"Yes, it is!"*

"Oh. Really?? Oh my! Well, I suppose...I'm guilty as charged then." Justin hung his head in "shame".

"There's also a complaint that you've been alone and lonely for a long time."

"Also guilty as charged." Justin didn't have to fake the sadness that weighted his shoulders as he shrugged them.

"Well, don't worry Taylor, I happen to know the people who made the last two charges and I'm pretty sure I can get them to drop them."

"Really Constable! Do ya mean it? For real?" Justin clutched his hands together and looked up at Brian in perfect dewy-eyed hopefulness.

"Oh yes. And I think I can get the other ones to...go away. But I'll need you to do something on your part as a dutiful citizen."

"Yes Constable? Oh, yes, tell me what I must do!"

"You must give me a kiss. A nice kiss, and then come with me to the Diner for dinner!"

"Gasp! (Said as a word) You know...I'm beginning to suspect you're not even on duty!"

"How very clever of you to deduce!" And with that, Brian pulled off his hat, grabbed Justin around the waist, pulled him in and kissed him, softly at first, and then after flicking him with his tongue, was delighted when the blond opened for him. The conniving constable groaned in pleasure as he probed deeper and deeper into the blond's warm wet mouth and wondered what that mouth would feel like wrapped around his dick.

Justin was swept up in a torrid wave of emotions and sensations. There was an instant of outrage. A moment of surprise. The male in him loved Brian's forcefulness though. And then those wide masculine lips were on his own and Justin was very impressed that Brian didn't just shove right in but waited for permission. And dammit all, damn his father, damn the mayor, damn the straights, damn being conservative ALL THE TIME. Justin was tired of it, tired of it all. And so he gave permission, this once and opened for him and Brian was filling his mouth with a warm wet tongue and Justin sucked on it greedily. Dimly, he wondered what it would feel like wrapped around his dick.

And then all he felt was pleasure. At long last, pleasure. At the same time, he stroked Brian's gloved hands and gauntlets. Brian got the hint and started stroking one of Justin's palms with his leathered thumbs and his knuckles. The other arm and hand was around him pulling their bodies ever closer, tighter together. That hand pulled Justin's shirt up a little and started gently stroking the flesh there near his waist.

Justin groaned at the electric sensations and Brian groaned in pleasure to hear Justin groan.

They made out like horny teenagers for about 15 minutes.

At last, as if it killed him to do it, and truth be told it did a little, Brian broke them away and put Justin apart from him a little. He was breathing raggedly.

"I...I have to...If I don't stop right now, I won't be able to. And I really want to be able to follow through with the second part of this. Let's go see Debbie."

"Brian wait...What's going on here?" It's been so long but...is this what...is this what dating's like?"

"I dunno. I've never been on a date. I used to go to a club a lot in Vancouver but that just ended up in a backroom fucking a trick."

"Oh. Well, if I come with you...it's with the understanding...I'm not a trick."

"No. You're not."

"Brian? Are you...a trick?" Justin looked into his eyes begging him to get his deeper meaning.

Brian drowned in the blue depths and he understood.

"No Justin. I'm not a trick."

"Then I'll come with you. For dinner. Just dinner."

"Agreed." Brian smiled to himself and knew it would be much more than that but he'd cross that bridge when Justin came to it.

And so, after Justin had gotten his hat and his coat, they locked up Justin's little cottage and went to the Diner for dinner.

TBC

*Back in 1800's and probably quite far into the 1900's it still was against the law to be homosexual.

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

Chapter 2

Dinner and Dating

When they arrived at Debbie's it was pretty quiet with only a few other booths occupied. Brian and Justin chose a booth as near to the back as possible.

"Hey Guys! So you're back I see! Well, what can I getcha?"

"Hey Deb! Well, I'm starved! I think I'll have the steak dinner...mashed potatoes....coffee...I'll decide on dessert later. Justin, what'll you have?"

"Fish and chips...with a salad...coffee...Hope those are enough vegetables."

"Uhhh....OK," said Debbie.

"Uhh...because Deb...remember earlier you told me you were concerned about Justin....getting enough vegetables..." Ok, now, in public, it even sounded stupid to Brian.

"Huh...what the fuck are you talking about Brian? Uhh...I mean, Constable Brian," she screeched, further blowing everything.

Brian just held his forehead in one hand in embarrassment. "Never mind Deb. Never mind."

"Oh...OK. Well, I'll be back with your coffee in a minute." She bustled off.

Brian took a deep breath and straightened up, a fake smile plastered on his face. Justin sat across from him, his arms crossed and a pinched, pissed off look on his face. Ohhh, crap!

"So...she never really said any of that stuff!" An accusation.

"No. Well, I'm sure if we'd been talking a little longer, she would have...Oh, look Justin! I was caught up in the role play and I came up with a few things on the fly. I guess I just got...carried away. But I did want to eat with you and the whole time I was being briefed by Stockwell, all I could think of was you. I knew I had to see you again. And that's the truth!"

Justin softened. "All right, Brian. It's OK. And that's really nice to hear. But how about we ditch the role playing for now and just be ourselves. If I get to know you...I want to know the real you."

"The real...me?" Brian asked in confusion.

"Sure...who's the man behind the red suit...what's your favourite color? Do you like music? Any hobbies? What's your favourite food? You seem to like to eat."

"I didn't always. Before I enlisted, I was a real nut about carbs and fat and had to watch my diet constantly. Then I joined the police academy and...this happened..." He flexed his biceps impressively. "Now, I don't worry so much. Besides, chasing criminals burns a lot of calories."

"I'll bet. And this is what I was talking about. This is a bit of the real you. The man behind the officer."

"Well, I'll try. But the man and the officer are so closely mixed up by this time, I hardly know which is which sometimes."

"Oh. So is this why you're still wearing your uniform even though you're off duty?"

"Partly. But also because I like the attention I get in it. I like the power. I like the respect I get in it. People will automatically think I'm on duty and call me..."

"Good night, Constable!" called Emmy Lou Gold, Ethan Gold's sweet and pretty, curly blond wife as she left her table and exited the Diner.

Brian smirked and quirked an eyebrow, his tongue in his cheek.

"See? And besides...on a more private note..." Brian did a quick scan. It was all clear. "I get off on it. It's a hot uniform. And...I think you do too...don't you Justin?"

"I...I...Yeah, I guess I do. How did you know though?"

"Your eyes have been significantly dilated for quite some time, indicating arousal, and I see you struggling to maintain steady breathing from time to time."

"Really!!? Shit! I didn't know it was that noticeable!" Justin tried desperately to control his breathing but then all he could think about was those sexy as sin leather gloves stroking his smooth white flesh again and then....

"Shit!" He shook himself desperately back into real life.

"Brian gave a deep, sexy chuckle. "God, you're adorable! You were slipping into a fantasy, weren't you?"

"It's those damn gloves," Justin admitted, "They're driving me to distraction! I must be developing a sort of fixation!"

Brian chuckled again. "It's called a fetish. And it's perfectly OK Justin. Especially for leather. It's very common."

"Oh...that's right...I guess you knew a lot of guys...who were...into that," Justin wilted visibly again. Brian cursed himself and whatever force had made this sweet man so reticent.

Of course, that was the moment that their food chose to come. Conversation was halted while Debbie put everything down and made sure everything was OK. Then they were alone and happily they saw they were the only two in the joint. Debbie promised to give a holler at whoever came in to warn them but otherwise told them to enjoy themselves. <wink! wink!>

At last they were alone again, and Brian was able to say, "I know of a lot of guys who were into that. There was a club in Vancouver called The Pumpjack...but I rarely went there. I was more into the dance scene. Anyway Sunshine, my point is...just because you know about the leather sling doesn't mean you have to lie in it!"

"Leather sling?"

"Well...why don't I tell you about that another day? And let's leave the subject of other guys in the dust... Tonight...I see only you." And because it was just them there, Brian felt it was safe to cover Justin's hand with his big, brown leather one and stroke his sensitive pulse point with a leather thumb. He put the saltshaker in the middle of the table between them.

"If anyone comes in, reach for the salt," he whispered.

And because it was just them there, Justin felt it was safe to let his dick get painfully hard, his eyes roll up into his head and generally feel his entire being turn to jelly.

"Gaaaaaahhhhhhhhh......" he enunciated incoherently.

Brian smiled widely. He loved it. He kept stroking...stroking...

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A few hours later...

Somehow they managed to eat their food. In between, they talked about where they came from, where they were going and camping and books and everything else in between. And sometimes they said nothing at all, and just touched each other, held hands, looked into each other's eyes.

Eventually they saw that they were holding Debbie up in a significant way and apologized and said their good nights. Of course, Brian insisted on walking Justin home. It was after dark after all and the streets were dangerous.

Justin looked around in amusement. The streets of Grizzly Hills were dark and deserted and the town had pulled up its sidewalks ages ago. There was nothing to worry about.

"Well, I'm a big city boy and I see things differently. Until I get settled, I don't know a place and as far as I'm concerned they're dangerous. No, It's my duty as an officer and a gentleman...I must see you home Justin."

"Very well, Constable. Thank you." said Justin.

And so Brian walked Justin home. They swung their arms a bit too freely and their hands touched quite frequently.

They reached Justin's cottage. "Oh my God, Justin! What happened to your door?"

Justin was startled. "What are you talking about?"

Brian's voice seemed to carry a little. "The lock's broken. The door's ajar! I'd better...nay, I must come inside and take a look around!"

"Oh you must, must you?" Justin was extremely amused at his antics.

The door was fast shut and locked.

Oh yes! And if you want to make a statement, you can come down to the station tomorrow!"

"I see. Well...I'll keep that in mind. Thank you Constable." Justin unlocked the door and they went in.

Brian went in, kicked the door closed with one heavy boot. Before Justin could say anything, do anything, think anything, he'd been grabbed by the forearm and pulled into the embrace of two very large arms. He was being supported yet bent back in a deep dip. And then that large and soft tongue was filling his mouth again, slowly stroking his palate and it tasted like barbeque. A gauntleted hand pulled open his blazer, pulled up his shirt, stroked his tummy, his chest, his nipples. Oh DEAR GOD!!! Any and all thought that this wasn't a good idea and he should stop this and/or take things slower, derailed, and came to an abrupt stop. Reason and sanity itself stopped and all there was was Brian kissing him and he needed him to continue. Justin kissed back, hungrily, greedily. In truth, he was starved. He had been since he re-located to this one-horse town and he wasn't giving up when he was finally being fed.

"Oh God! The minute I saw you, I wondered what was under this starched, white shirt! I've been waiting....so long!"

"Wonder no more!" Justin hastily tore at the buttons and threw open his shirt to reveal a nice set of pecs and the beginnings of a six pack. "Now there's just one thing I want you to do!"

"Name it!" growled Brian raggedly.

"Stop using your tongue...for talking," Justin smiled a sensual smile that went straight to Brian's dick. He cupped one hand around the back of Brian's head, running his fingers through his chestnut hair and pulled him back to his coral lips once again.

Brian smiled a wide, sensual smile of his own. He groaned and obeyed, continuing to french the younger man without mercy for several minutes. At the same time he ran his gloved hands up and down Justin's torso, flicking and then pinching Justin's nipples. His own sensations were dulled by the gloves but it was made up for by/ Justin's moans of pleasure as the smooth and yet rough leather scraped nerve endings that Justin didn't even know he had yet.

After a while they came up for air, breathing heavy. They looked into each other's eyes mashed their lips together again, then again, then once more quick. Then they rested, Brian against the door and Justin against Brian's burly bicep. They just stared into each other's eyes and enjoyed the view and wondered what the other was thinking.

"OK, Brian...Cards on the table here. Obviously, I'm enjoying what's happening here. A lot. I've been in this town since I was 19 and old enough to teach. In the three years I've been here, an opportunity like this has never presented itself and now it has and dammit I want to take it so bad I can taste it. But...if you are still intent on keeping to this policy of one night only....then I don't want to. I don't know what would become of us in the future, maybe we'd last a week or a month or maybe the rest of our lives. I don't know. I'm not asking for a proposal here. But I do know that one night won't be enough for me. You'll be an addiction. I won't be able to kick you in one night. I might be able to taper off but maybe I won't. So if you don't feel like that, maybe you better just...."

"God, you talk a lot!" was all Brian said before mashing their mouths together again for many minutes. He reached behind them and locked the front door. Then, still kissing Justin witless, he picked him up at the knees and around the back and in this cradling position, carried him into the bedroom and tossed him down on the double bed. He closed the curtains on all the windows and then returned to Justin. He proceeded to ravish his mouth like a madman. He moved down, sucked at his neck like it contained the meaning of life and then moved lower to Justin's chest. Justin's breath hitched in his throat in anticipation.

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A/N: SMUT ALERT!! SMUT ALERT!! Those of a delicate nature may want to skip this scene and pass on over to "the morning after." Yeah...like that's gonna happen!!! <snicker> YOU WERE WARNED!!

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Brian's tongue swirled over one nipple, delicately stimulating it. Justin moaned softly. His chest was his weakness and Brian had figured that out. Of course, he planned to exploit it mercilessly.

He bit it experimentally. The experiment was a great success and Justin went limp and groaned louder. He bit harder and pinched the other one with a still gauntleted hand. Justin arched and thrashed mindlessly. Oh my! This was going to be fun!

Pulling on both nips, Brian pulled until Justin sat up a little. Brian was straddling his knees. He peeled off Justin's blazer and then his crisp white shirt, unwrapping the young man like a Christmas present. Then he pulled them chest-to-chest and kissed him desperately, witlessly, and mindlessly again, all the while chestplaying the younger man, driving him deeper and deeper into depraved groanings and growlings of animalistic ecstasy. Justin grabbed onto Brian's shoulders, his biceps, anywhere he could onto that scarlet tunic and hung on for the foreplaying ride of his life. In response, Brian purposely flexed his muscles in a masculine, macho display that only served to drive the civilian wilder. Anyone who had seen the prim, proper, and conservative schoolteacher that morning would not have recognized the sweaty, wanton and wild horny beast set before Brian now.

Brian moved a hand lower to Justin's belt and Justin...oh, heaven help him, Justin wanted him to but he covered his leather hand with his own and stopped him.

"Brian! Are you sure! This is your last chance to stop!"

"Yes. You're right, Justin. This isn't Vancouver and I'll have to...adjust my policy. We should stick together and truth be told...I'm so glad it was you, Justin! You are such a sweet and adorable young man! You won't be alone any longer!"

"Oh God! Oh God, Brian!" Justin scream was of pure pleasure and he creamed his pants a little. He mashed their lips together to seal the deal and then helped Brian with his belt himself. After that, they made short work of his pants and underpants and then Justin knelt there in all his naked glory.

Greedily, Brian reached down and started to stroke Justin's hard and generously large cock. For a minute, Justin let him, glorying in the leathered sensations, his head thrown back, eyes closed with rapture.

Then he took a deep breath and stilled himself and Brian's greedy hand. Brian looked up with confused, clouded eyes of lust.

"It's your turn," Justin said sexily. He took off his hat and threw it who cares where. He unbuttoned the red jacket slowly, "You're definitely off duty Constable. I've seen the Mountie!" He undid the belt. "Now I want to see the man!" He ripped open the now unbuttoned tunic and unbuttoned the shirt underneath. He gasped as if he had received a priceless gift on his birthday.

Underneath the tunic and shirt was the most gorgeous hunk of beefcake Justin had ever seen. A set of deep and defined pecs, a flat, tight tummy with an 8 pack, broad shoulders leading down to biceps that could bulge like large apples. The chest was dusted with a light coating of hair leading perfectly down his tummy into a sexy treasure trail. In short, a perfect specimen.

With a feral growl, Justin maniacally ripped off the rest of Brian's clothes. Matching Justin's haste, Brian toed off his boots and ripped off his gauntlets. Justin took them and gently put them close at hand.

"Let's just put these aside for later, shall we?" he said with a sexy wink.

"Ahhh but until then...at last, I get to feel you! Really feel you!" And Brian wasted no more words but did just that, stroking and rubbing and chestplaying all those areas he had only been able to partially feel before now.

Justin equally, jumped Brian's bones. There were really no other words for it. Their tongues duelled and they rolled on the bed and playfought and struggled for dominance. As they did it was Justin's turn to nip and lick and stroke his newfound musclebound Mountie toy. He felt like the luckiest blond boy in the world...no, known universe.

At last, they settled down and started in on the main event. Both their cocks had been hard and leaking for ages and they ended up in the erotic 69 position, with Brian on the top with more upper body strength and Justin on his back getting fed by Brian's cock.

Brian moved easily up and down Justin's cock all the way to the hilt each and every time. Justin groaned and tried to do the same but wasn't quite able to do such a feat. But he did his best and it felt amazing. As well, instead of getting tired, Brian just kept moving faster and faster by push up power alone. Finally, Justin couldn't concentrate hard enough on what he was doing and fell back, stroking Brian as he felt the incredible sensations and watched this incredible man do these thing to him until he finally couldn't stand it and with a cry of pure pleasure, blew a huge load down Brian's waiting throat. Brian swallowed every drop.

"Oh my God, Brian! That was amazing! It felt....so good and I've never seen anyone do that before!"

"I told you....chasing crooks has done me wonders, "Brian bragged as he rolled over on his back. His cock was still ragingly hard and throbbed twice in invitation.

Justin needed no more than that, and climbed aboard and kissed him witless. Then he moved down and licked his way...all...the...way...down and then...SLURRP!!!...engulfed his cock once again.

Brian languidly reached over and grabbed his gauntlets again. He slowly eased his hands inside them as he sat back and luxuriated in Justin's amazing blow job. All the while Justin was keeping one eye on what he was doing, tensing in anticipation.

And then those leather fingers were everywhere, sliding up and down his body, stroking his rational thought away and stoking his fire until all he wanted to do was suck Brian forever. And then they were on his chest and his nips again. Oh damn! He was getting hard again. And then, all there was in his universe was feeling up Brian's body and sucking his cock. And so, for a long, long time, that's all that he did.

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The next morning....

Justin awoke about an hour after dawn as he had trained himself to do. But as he blearily opened his eyes and felt himself slowly come to full awareness, he remembered that this was not an ordinary day.

He still felt the effects of last night. His body was heavy and boneless and he just felt...fantastic. As he came more and more aware, he realized he was spooned up against a huge chest with huge arms wrapped possessively around him. He remembered them both falling asleep on their own sides of the bed so this must have happened in their sleep.

Last night...Oh dear God! What had he done? What had he become? He had completely shed his conservative shackles and become a wanton, wild beast. If his father could have seen....

Justin shoved that thought far away and tried to move. It was hard. Brian's grip was like iron. But he struggled gently and squirmed until he had turned to face his burly lover. Brian allowed this enough so that he could be pressed chest to chest but refused to release his hold on the smaller man. Instead, one of his hands simply slid down his back and grabbed and held his ass. He began to knead a perfect buttcheek as he slowly woke up.

Brian opened his eyes and instead of an empty bed that was his usual fare, the first thing he spied was a pair of crystal blue eyes and an adorable blond bedhead. The bedhead smiled at him cautiously.

"Good morning," he said hesitantly.

"Morning. How are you?"

"I'm good. Definitely well rested. And your hand on my ass feels amazing."

"Oh yeah?" The hand became busier.

"Mmmmmmm, yeah! Which is why it's so hard for me to say this...Brian...you really have to let me go now."

"What?! Justin, you aren't regretting what we did last night, are you?"

"What? Fuck, NO! But I need to get up to put the percolator on. If you want coffee, that is. And....and I need to use the outhouse."

"Ohhhhhh....OK!" Brian relaxed back in relief and reluctantly released the blond dynamo. Before he went, he looked worriedly into Brian's eyes. "Brian...you don't regret anything, do you?"

"Brian pressed a soft kiss to the insanely kissable lips and assured him, "Not a one, Sunshine. Now go on! I'll put the coffee on!"

A sunshine smile was his reward and Justin hopped up, slipped on a robe and slippers and hurried out the back door.

Brian yawned and shuffled buck naked out into Justin's living room/kitchen area. He was careful to keep away from any windows until they too had been curtained. He checked Justin's water barrel, It was being fed from a pipe that ran through the wall ran outside culminating into a very wide metal funnel rain catcher.

"Enterprising little shit," he murmured, impressed. But he made a note to fill it fully from the pump in the yard before they left for work. Then he went to the stove, lit a fire in the belly and filled the percolator with water, remembering to top it off with a little extra that would escape as steam. He made the coffee. As he did the mundane stuff, he thought back on the night's events.

They had carried on for hours. Justin had finished his languorous and then torturously slowly increasing blow job which culminated with a climax so hard, it curled his toes, arched his back and cried out Justin's name as if he were crying out to a deity. After they had cleaned that up, Brian had grabbed Justin, handcuffed him to the headboard, and started in on him again, at first with the gloves until Brian couldn't stand it anymore, needing flesh to flesh contact. He touched and stroked him everywhere, sucking and assplaying him in this torturous way that seemed to go on forever. Eventually of course, Justin blew with Mt. Vesuvius intensity and they at last hollered ‘nuff. By mutual consent, they decided to keep it oral for now but were not ruling out anal play for the future. They fell asleep side by side but holding onto each other with legs entwined.

Now, Justin came back in, kept an eye on the coffeepot and Brian took his turn on the outhouse, putting on his red tunic for modesty. He moved quickly and quietly, grateful for the tree cover in the back yard. The jacket stood him out like a cardinal on the snow, so he hurried and luckily nobody saw him.

When he came back in, Justin had started some eggs and Brian gathered what they'd need to get dressed for work. They worked in silence, neither one knowing really what to say. They ate in silence. Each had their own thoughts and it was quiet but not strained. They smiled and giggled from time to time as they remembered certain things they had done during the night.

Eventually they were both washed and dressed and it was time to part. Brian was back in his uniform, which was slightly rumpled but still acceptable. Justin was in a suit. They kissed deeply at the door and Brian promised he'd come by later and they'd do something after school. Justin just smiled and nodded....and hoped.

Then they checked if the coast was clear and Brian left. He hurried to the sidewalk, keeping an eye out to make sure no-one was watching and then just began striding away with purpose, as if he'd been walking down the street from wherever, from anywhere.

Justin watched him go, waited 5 minutes, and then left himself. He tried to pretend it was another quiet, ordinary day in Grizzly Hills.

But he was fooling himself. He knew life would never be ordinary again.

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That first day was the most mundane, colorless, and pointless day Justin had ever had as a schoolteacher. He taught the lessons by rote, set the kids tasks that would keep him out of his hair and sort of...dozed. He did need the sleep but that's not what was making him sleep. Suddenly...suddenly, he was so bored!

Finally 3 PM rolled around and Justin let everyone off and they were glad to go. The kids had been bored stupid too. Justin even declared amnesty to any detentionaires after obtaining solemn promises that they would be good in future. They all gave them, and dashed out before Justin could change his mind.

As he was gathering his things, he realized he could still hear the kids and that they were screaming with laughter and excitement...well, more than usual.

He went outside, the perfect picture of a prim and proper schoolmaster. And then that picture faded and blurred like his vision and it very nearly came apart at the seams. His books dropped out of his hands.

For there, waiting for school to get out was Brian, looking scarlet and perfect and gorgeous. His jacket and pants looked less rumpled, his boots had been polished and he generally had this air about him that he'd been starched and ironed. He looked amazing.

He was hunched down to the kids' level and was giving them scotch mints. He had one for everyone. He shook their hands and mussed their hair and hugged them just like before. Just like before they loved it and he loved them.

"Look Mr. Taylor! Constable Brian's here again!" screamed Mandy, "He brought us candy and says he says he's gonna buy you ice cream!"

Justin was trying to pick up his books with shaking hands and dropped them all over again.

And then Brian was there, lifting him up, supporting him, and picking up his books. Justin "leaned" into Brian but didn't have to fake the woozy feeling he got when impacted by the hunky officer.

"That's very interesting, Mandy, but you don't need to shout. All right, everybody off for home now."

"Awwww, but Mr.Taylor...We wanna visit with Cons-"

"Now mind me! Anyone who's in the area to hear me say 5 cleans the blackboards tomorrow. One....two..."

"RUN!!!!" screamed Randy and they all screamed in mock fear and ran.

"Three....four...." Justin stopped and smiled. "Works every time."

"Have you ever needed to say five before?" asked Brian.

"Not even once. So, I believe I heard something about ice cream?"

"Yes indeed. Would you come to Deb's with me for a sundae?"

"Well, that'd be lovely," said Justin. Under his breath, he said, "Just play it cool," Out loud he said, "Thanks for taking care of my books officer. Sometimes I get shaky."

"Why no problem at all Mr. Taylor," Brian said with a dazzling smile.

"Ok, I'm ready. Let's go. Afternoon, Kip!" he called as they passed.

Kip waved but his smile was uncertain as they passed.

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They went for ice cream, and Brian told him about his day which was equally boring and spent interviewing gold miners all day who claimed they were being threatened. Then they went home, or rather, Justin went home and Brian escorted him because the streets looked exceptionally dangerous that night. They made dinner and after it was over Brian grabbed Justin over his shoulder and carried him to bed where he made savage love to him for several hours.

This continued along the same theme for bout 2 weeks. They went for ice cream. They went for dinner. They went horseback riding. They went fishing and hiking on their off days. They explored a lot of the forest this way and one day, they even found a log cabin with a tall thin man living there as a virtual hermit. He only came into town for supplies and was supremely unhappy when he had to because of the way he had to conform.

The tall, thin man's name was Emmett. He was charming and sweet and had a gap in his teeth. And he was overtly effeminate. Like "fabulous!!!" And so he preferred to stay in his forest cabin where he could let his flame burn bright as he put it. He lived with a large, friendly Alsatian dog who he swore could smell a stick of bacon off a plate 50 miles away. He was glad to hear he was not alone anymore and told them to visit anytime.

They did whatever they could to spend time to each other and people started to look at them a little funny. But they didn't care. They should have, they supposed and they were careful not to be sexually overt but otherwise...they were just too happy to care.

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"This meeting will come to order!"

There was a general murmur as things died down.

"This meeting of Every Villain Intent on Lawbreaking will now commence. Our leader who will remain nameless, now has the floor."

"Welcome gentlemen!" said the man in the black top hat, black cloak, black gloves and a creepy, full, black face mask with only eyeholes cut out. "Welcome to E.V.I.L! You will know me only as Mr. X! I have gathered you all here, business owners, thugs, petty criminals and general bad guys who have managed to put on a good face in public, for one express purpose. To stop and destroy RCMP Constable Brian Kinney, by any means necessary!!"

There was general hand rubbing and evil laughter and agreement all round.

Deep within the forest was a log cabin long forgotten. It was dingy and cobwebbed but otherwise it served EVIL's purpose nicely. There was a large table around which evil men, some masked, some not, a large majority of them musclebound and thuggish were gathered.

"What I don't understand, is why he's here in the first place!" complained someone. The plan was going along so well until he showed up!"

"Well, as I heard it, the mayor had to call someone in or else the townspeople would have started to notice. They would have started to protest. Reporters would have come snooping. And then the....well something had to be done. But he's getting to close. So it's up to us to stop him!" said Mr. X.

The floor was opened to suggestions. There were many stupid suggestions as blatant murder or breaking his legs that would do nothing but draw more cops and/or make him more determined. Then, finally something...

"What about a hostage? Does he have a girlfriend?"

"No girlfriend. But he has been seen with the schoolteacher quite a little bit. Kinda weird actually, especially when they ride the same horse."

"Whatever!!" screamed Mr. X, who started to sound like he had high blood pressure, "We can look into that later. The schoolteacher huh? Hmmmmm...OK, boys! Here's what I want you to do!"

Mr. X lined out his evil intent and as he did someone giggled insanely. Then another joined in and soon the cabin was filled with insane laughter. BWA!!! HA!! HA!!! HA!!! HA!!! HAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

It was all so perfect.

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Justin walked his way to school like normal. The only thing out of the ordinary was that Ethan wasn't there to say hi and Kip wasn't sweeping the outside of the bar. The rest of the town was quiet as it was still too early for the shops to be open yet.

Justin unlocked the schoolhouse and went in. He went over to the stove like always to light the fire and chase away the close and musty air that was left over from being empty all night.

He was just bending over, shoving in a log, when the hairs on the back of his neck started to prickle. He stopped. He turned quickly and gasped in surprise and terror.

Two men, dressed all in black, masked and muscular had been standing behind the door as he came in. Now, they were shutting it, revealing themselves.

"Who the hell are you? What do you want here!?" yelled Justin bravely.

"You. Just you," said one of the thugs.

"That's one thing you shall never have." Justin bolted. But it was too late.

They just laughed, blocked all the exits and chased him down. They grabbed him but there was a scuffle as they fought and Justin kicked over a few desks in the struggle.

"HEEELLLLP! HELLL-MMMMMPHHHH!!!!" yelled Justin until he was handgagged by a burly thug.

And then there was a rag, and a sickly sweetness and it was over. There was nothing he could do. All the strength went out of his body and he slumped over limply and then everything went black.

TBC

  Disclaimers: QAF characters don't belong to me. This is fanfic and just for fun. Most, if all are OOC. Set in Canada because guess what!!? I'm Canadian!

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

Chapter 3

Heroes and Villains

The first thing he became aware of was a splitting headache. Chloroform is a cruel mistress. He groaned.

"D'uhh!! He's awake, boh-ooss," said a thuggish, stupid sounding voice

The next thing he realized was that he couldn't move. He smelled pine.

He cracked his eyelids, closed again the light then tried again. Finally, he opened them and looked around and promptly wished he hadn't.

He was in the forest. He was tied to a tree. He was terribly thirsty. Before him, in a makeshift camp that consisted only of a small campfire and a few stools were three men, the two who had took him and one more in a cape. All three were masked with these creepy, black masks that extended over their whole head like hats that had been pulled down too far. Only eye, nose and mouth holes had been cut out.

Justin groaned again and moaned out: "Water! Please....water!"

The man in the cape nodded and gestured simply. The huge one jumped up and brought a canteen over to Justin and poured some of its contents down his throat. But he poured too fast and some of it ran down his front.

"Ooops, sorry!" the moose-like man said, not sounding sorry at all. He was huge, bigger than Brian and yet it was ugly. The muscles were overgrown and disproportionate. His forearms were huge. He was barrel chested and he had no neck. The nose sticking out of the mask was squashed flat and ugly. When he talked, he talked like a moron.

"Check his ropes!" Caped Man said.

Moose checked. "D'uhhh! Yup! He's still tied up, boh-oss!"

Caped Man sighed long sufferingly. "Check to see if he's tied up...tightly!" he elaborated, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Ohhhh! Oh, OK, Boh-oss!" Moose checked him over.

He had been tied with rough, hemp rope at least as thick as his thumb. At least 6 coils wrapped around his chest and arms, attaching him to the tree. His hands had been tied together in front of him and then coiled several times around the tree, attaching them in place. Coils of rope were also attaching him to the tree just above the knees and at the ankles.

Everything looked secure. However, Justin found he could move his hands a little away from his body, forward and back. When Moose checked the front, he held them fixed and against his front and when he checked the back he pulled them forward so the coils against the back would seem tight and secure. He closed his eyes and hoped it was enough to fool the moose with the squirrel sized brain.

It was. "He's still tied up tight boh-oss!" said Moose. Justin sighed in relief and as soon as the buffoon's back was turned, he began to pull his hands forward and back, moving a section of rope against the sharp contours of the bark. He worked slowly and carefully.

"So what do you want with me?" he asked. "I can give you no ransom. I'm just the schoolmaster."

"Shut up!" said Caped Man.

"Who are you? You seem to be the brains of this outfit. You should know I'm the...I'm a very personal friend of a cop. He'll have your guts for garters for what you've done and if you hurt me."

Caped Man sighed hugely, as if speaking to this lowly creature was taking up a huge amount of his time.

"We know all about your...relationship with Constable Brian Kinney..."

Justin gasped involuntarily. Had they guessed? What exactly did they know?

"He doesn't have a girlfriend and chooses to spend every waking moment with you instead. Therefore we've taken you instead of some insipid female. He will be under the impression that you will be released if he leaves town. Of course, we're going to kill you anyway. And he'll be right on hand when we do!" He chuckled evilly

"What do you mean?'

Cloaked Man sloooooowly got up, slooooowly approached his tree, took off a glove, and....SMACK!!!...slapped him across the face with it. It was a stinging blow and Justin saw stars.

"That's for making me get up. If you make me get up again, I'll have him take off a sock..." Him was Moose. "Then I'll stuff that sock into your mouth as your gag! Now SHUT UP!"

He shuffled back over to the fire. Justin shut up. But he kept an eye out. Rub...rub...rub....

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Brian's first clue that something was amiss was when he came back into town on Midnight at about 10 AM and saw a group huddled around the outside of the schoolhouse. His eyebrows knit together in sexy perplexion.

He galloped over. It was all the children, sitting around the front of the schoolhouse.

"Children! What are you doing here? Why aren't you in school?"

"We ain't playin' hooky! We promithe, offither!" said little Timmy, who had to be fresh in the first grade. He smiled a huge smile and there was a glaring hole where his two front teeth had fallen out.

"Please sir! What he means is...Mr Taylor hasn't let us in yet! I don't think he has come yet!" said Anne who was a bit older.

"What!!? Not come! That's very strange! Where is he?"

Anne shrugged. "We don't know. We've just been waiting here."

"Maybe he's playin' hooky!" yelled Timmy joyfully.

Brian smiled in spite of his worry and got down off the horse. "Well, everybody just stay here and I'm going to check things out. I happen to know this is not supposed to be a holiday."

He went up to the door and was prepared to force it but was surprised when it opened easily. Someone HAD been here. He stepped inside.

Brian's sense of worry escalated several notches and was added with an icy ball of fear in the pit of his stomach and a blush of red anger to his cheeks. It was not a good recipe.

His trained eye at once picked out disturbances in the dirt on the floor that indicated a struggle had taken place. Two desks and their chairs were knocked over. The fire had not been lit. And on the floor was Justin's grey bowler.

"So, Sunshine...you came in...you were probably lighting a fire.... but before you could you were attacked... probably from behind...Bingo!" The last was when Brian turned to see the inside of the door.

A piece of paper was attached to the inside of the door with a Bowie knife. Brian took the knife and put it in his belt. If anyone had hurt his Sunshine... Dark and cloudy thoughts followed. He pushed them away and read the paper.

If Constable Brian Kinney is not on the 1:00 train out of town the schoolmaster will be killed.

Cordially yours,

Mr. X

Hmmmm. Concise and to the point. Brian could respect that. But Mr. X?? Really??? What a whacko!!

Brian took Justin's bowler and rolled up the note and left the scene.

"OK, kids! There's nothing to worry about, but Just....uh...Mr. Taylor's not coming. School has been cancelled for today. I want you all to go straight home. He'll be back tomorrow!" he promised them and himself grimly.

All the kids cheered and wandered off.

Brian just stood there for a few minutes, wondering what to do. He was stymied. He had no real clues. He had no idea where they had taken Justin and they had a whole forest to take and keep him in. The only other choice was to comply but Brian knew better. Kidnappers never let the hostages go. Even if he decided to get on that train, Justin was a dead man. The only hope was to rescue him first. But how??

"Maybe he's playin' hooky!!" Timmy screamed into his memory in gap-toothed joy.

Brian looked down at the bowler in his hands and slowly a plan started to form. "That's it! That's the answer!" he whispered in excited revelation. He jumped onto Midnight and galloped out of town and away.

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Several hours passed in un-companionable silence.

Justin rubbed, Caped Man smoked these thin white cigarettes that smelled like the backside of a bear, and the other two Mooseheads played gin rummy for matchsticks.

Now the both of them were pretty stupid but the second thug seemed to have slightly smarter smarts and used them to count the cards and win all the matchsticks. Justin just rubbed and waited for the inevitable outcome of stupid and failure.

"D'uuuhhhh! You was cheatin'!!" accused Moron Moose.

"I was not!" answered Slightly Smarter Moose. (Who totally was.)

"Check up his sleeve," suggested Justin from his tree, adding fat to the fire. Rub...rub...rub....

"D'uuuhhhh! Yeah!" elucidated Moron Moose. He grabbed his partner's arm and yanked. Two aces fell out.

Rub...rub...rub....

"D'uhhhh!!! You...you... you big cheater!" yelled Moron. The two began pummelling and wrestling each other in earnest. In their heated struggle, both of them trod in the fire and knocked over all the stools, one of which contained cards and matches. It upended and landed everything in the fire. Also both Moose were on fire.

Justin just rubbed, bit his cheek to keep from laughing and wished he could have sold tickets.

"YOU MORONS!!!" yelled the Caped One. "Well, now you've done it! Those were our only matches and cards. You're stuck with nothing to do now and serves you both right! Honestly!!!" he continued, using his cape to put out their legs, "It's a good thing I didn't let you play with actual money!"

"Sorry boh-oss!!" they both said, eyes downcast.

Rub...rub...rub....

"And you!! Thought you'd get your two cents in! Thought you'd create a stir! Is that it!!?" yelled Mr. Cape as he swirled over.

"I'm your hostage, not your guest. What did you expect me to do? Give tips on home and gardening!?"

"How about, sit there and be quiet!! Oh...and die when you're told!!" Mr. Cape said malevolently.

"Hmmmmm....oh, sorry, we're fresh out of that!" said Justin just as nastily, "How about....we find out who you really are!!"

He pulled on his hand ropes as hard as he could and the bits that had been frayed twisted and unravelled and snapped free. He grabbed Mr. Cape and grabbed that strange hat mask and pulled as hard as he could.

"No! No!" yelled Mr. Cape, struggling. But Justin had too firm a grip and in the end he succeeded in pulling it off.

Justin's eyes bugged out. "Oh...My...God!!! It's YOU!!!!"

Mr. Cape positioned himself so that the thugs couldn't see his face. He grabbed the mask out of Justin's still tied up and now numb with horror hands. He put it back on and growled: "Oh, you really shouldn't have done that! Now I really have to kill you!!"

"But I don't understand! Why are you doing this!? And how do they not know!!? I mean, you're...MMMMMPPPHHHH!!!!!" Was all that got out before Mr. Cape's black leather gloved hand smacked down over his mouth.

"Ah...ah...ahh!!!!" admonished Mr. Cape, waggling a finger. "None of that! Oy!! You!!" he yelled, pointing. "Take off your socks!!"

Justin's eyes widened in disgust and horror.

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Brian galloped through the forest as fast as the riding trails would take him and arrived at the forest cabin in record time.

BANG!! BANG!! BANG!! "This is the police! Open up!"

" Just a minnn-niiiiittte!" trilled a voice. "I'm just putting an apple crumble in the ovvvv-veeeen!"

"Dammit, Emmett!! Forget that and open the damn door!! I said this is the police!!"

"I know who you are, Brian! You wear that damn jacket every waking moment and won't let any of us forget it! I'll just be one sweet second more!!"

That sweet second stretched into quite a few more and soon Brian swore 30 sweet seconds had passed.

BANG!! BANG!! BANG!! "Emmett!! For the love of God, open up! I swear, if you are just screwing with me I'll..."

The door flung open dramatically. "You'll what!? Will I experience some....police brutality!?" Emmett drawled out dramatically...and hopefully.

"Dammit, Emmett, this is serious! I'm on police business here!"

"Oh really! What seems to be the problem, officer!?" he drew out the words seductively. He draped himself across the doorframe in a sexy pose. Or so he thought.

"Emmett, this is serious police business. I need your help! Move out of the damn way and let me in!" growled Brian putting his scary police face on.

"Oh for heaven's sake! You never let me have any fun!! You know you're the only sexy policeman I can play my games with," Emmett pouted as he moved aside and finally let Brian inside.

Dear...God. Those were the only words that would penetrate Brian's psyche each and every time he entered Emmett's home. The outside looked the stereotypical rustic log cabin but inside, Emmett's inner damsel ran amok...oh, I mean...free.

The walls were pink and white. There were lacy sham curtains on the window and doilies on the end tables. The sofa was a hot pink overstuffed nightmare as was the matching easy chair with a high back and impossibly thin, curved, and pointy legs.

The kitchen table was polished wood and had matching chairs with overstuffed cushions. In lieu of a percolator there were teapots and various fruited and berried teas. Every teapot had its own matching cozy. There were matching placemats and china and delicate bone china teacups with those impossible tiny spoons whose only meaning in life was to stir. The silverware was silver, never stainless steel. Emmett would shudder at the thought.

There was a grandfather clock. There were silver candy dishes always filled with teeny white mints and fruit bowls always filled with just the right amount of apples or oranges to make a perfect pyramid. There was a cherry wood bookshelf filled with books on birds and wildlife, plants, gardening, and indoor decor.

Through this feminine minefield, Emmett's large Alsatian dog would mince his way around (Brian was positive the queen had taught the dog how to mince) and somehow not knock over a thing. He had his own bed by the fireplace where he often lay like a pampered prince holding court. He was doing so right now, lying on his side, tongue hanging out, looking especially spoiled.

Emmett himself was wearing a pink, midriffless shirt, green pants with a native Indian style fringe, moccasins, and a frilly, immaculately white, apron tied around his waist. As always, Brian was visually assaulted and horrified at Emmett's fashion sense. As always, Emmett thought Brian was looking at him like he was the sexiest creature on the planet. (Well, next to Justin, that is.)

"And where....is my sweet ray of Sunshine!?" asked Emmett, looking past Brian out the door, expecting to see a familiar mop of yellow hair. He was startled when he didn't.

"Actually...." Brian ground out, "He's my sweet ray of....I mean, he's my Sunshine!" He always had to be careful not to get sucked into Emmett's fe-male zone that permeated the area like a perfumed fog. "And he's not here! That's why I'm here! I need your help!"

"My help? Whadd'ya mean, my help!? Where is he Brian? Stop kidding around!! Where's Justin!!!?"

Brian took a deep breath. "He's been kidnapped."

"WHAAAAT!!?"

Wordlessly, Brian handed over the rolled up note.

Emmett unrolled it. "What's this? Well, let's just have a look see....Brian Kinney...mmm-hmm...out of town, 1:00....mmm-hmm...schoolmaster...mmm-hmmm....will be killed. Well, that's clear enough. I mean if he's going to be....KILLED!!!! KILLED!!!  Oh my God! Oh my God! Justin's been kidnapped!! Kidnapped! What are we going to do!!? He'll be killed!! Brian! We've got to do something! The police! We've got to get the police! We've got to get help! Police! I'll run for them! I'll run right now!!!"

And darn it, if he didn't run right out the door, apron and all!

Brian just crossed his arms and waited. He counted softly: One....two...three...four...and....five!

Exactly on cue, the door bursts open again and Emmett ran back inside. "Oh my God! Brian! YOU'RE a policeman!!!"

"Nooooo..... shit, Sherlock!!"

You've got to do something!!! Save him!!"

"Nice of you to figure that out! And I am doing something! That's why I'm here! I need your help!"

"My help!!? But what can I do??"

"Well, if you're finally finished with your histrionics fit, I'll tell you!"

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Well, he wasn't sure how things could have gotten any worse...but they had.

Mr. X (that was Caped One's code name, one of the Moose had called him it.) had carried out his threat and stuffed his mouth with one of Moose's disgusting, sour tasting socks and secured it there with the other one by tying it tightly around his head. Justin was in a constant state of complete and utter disgust. But Mr. X checked it constantly so there was no chance of his getting out a single word.

Since there was now the constant threat of exposure plus the fact that there was absolutely nothing for them to do at this waiting area, Mr. X decided to move things along and transport Justin to his final destination.

And so it was, Justin found himself marching a grim death march through the forest, bound and disgustingly gagged.

He had been re-tied, his legs free except at his ankles, which had rope tied around them like manacles and attaching them to each other like leg cuffs. His torso was again tied with about 8 coils of that thick, strong rope. His biceps were also tied in this section, firmly attaching his arms to his body. His hands were tied handcuff style and behind him with a trail of rope extending out and the end being held by Mr. X. There was no hope for escape this time.

For what seemed like forever and what seemed like miles, now marched Justin, followed by Mr. X who would give him a vicious unnecessary jab to keep him going, followed by his moronic minions. If only he knew where he was. If only he could leave a clue. If only Brian....did Brian even know? Did he care? Even if he found out, would he be able to track him? Would he even want to? No! Justin wouldn't go there. That was a throwback to the dark times, back when he was in control of his life. But no more. He was gone and Justin would be damned if he'd let....

"We're here!" Mr. X's nasty voice cut through his thoughts like an axe through a tree trunk.

Justin shook his head, as he was jolted back to the present. He saw where they were. His eyes widened and he screamed through his gag. In sheer desperation, he yanked the rope out of Mr. X's hand and made a break for it. But he only got a few yards before the leg cuffs did their job and tripped him up.

Mr. X just laughed cruelly and advanced on him at his own pace. He knew Justin wasn't going anywhere. He grabbed back the rope and dragged Justin kicking and struggling to the destination of his doom.

BJBJBJBJBJBJBJ

"I need to borrow your dog!"

"My dog! Why do you need to borrow Candy Boy?"

Brian inwardly cringed every time Emmett used the dog's name and now doubly so since he realized he was going to have to use it today as well. He usually got away with avoiding the mutt or calling him "hey you" or Get lost, Mutt" but today he was actually going to need his help.

"Didn't you tell us once that Cand...that he has a really good sense of smell? Is he a good tracker?"

"Well, sure as shootin'! Why, I can tell the time and know it's noon because Candy Boy whines and smells Debbie's burger's all the way - I mean, yes, Brian," he said, catching a look at Brian's face.

"All right! Get him ready then, because he's going to help us find Justin!"

"All right Candy Boy! Did you hear that! Big strong Mountie Man needs our help! You wanna help Big Brian, Candy Boy!?" wheedled Emmett.

Candy Boy raised his head, looked over at Brian, with sleepy, lazy, and distrustful eyes. He gave a slow, wide, squeaky yawn and collapsed back into his doggy throne.

Brian just gave a disgusted look.

"Oh dear! Well, I can't force him Brian! I'm not sure what to do!" Emmett fretted.

"You might want to try not spoiling him rottener than week old garbage!" muttered Brian.

"What was that?"

"I said....Just try mentioning it's for Justin...that he's in trouble," said Brian. "I need to get something out of a saddlebag."

"You hear that Candy Boy! It's for Sunshine! Wouldn't you like to find Sunshine!? You know...Yellow Head? He might have some of those yummy beef jerky's that you love so much! How bout it? Find Sunshine?"

The words ‘Sunshine', ‘Yellow Head', and ‘beef jerky' had an electric effect on Candy Boy. He perked up immediately, rolled onto his legs, stood to attention. He barked twice and wriggled with energy. He jumped excitedly and barked again and rushed outside.

Brian met him on the porch. He was holding Justin's grey bowler. He let...ugh - Candy Boy...sniff it all around and he said, " Can you find him? Find Sunshine? Find Yellow Head?"

Candy Boy sniffed the hat all over and took a deep sniff in the hollow of the hat. Then he sniffed the air deeply. The world was full of wonderful smells, trees and grass and foxes and squirrels and rabbits and....

Faintly, far away upon the wind was the smell on the hat, the smell of a friendly yellow-headed man who petted him, gave him treats and spoke kindly to him. He smelled of chalk and children, of coffee and meat, and now...now he smelled a little like the Man in the Boots who didn't like him very much. But Candy Boy wouldn't hold that against him if he kept the jerky coming. Candy Boy would do anything for jerky. AAAAAnything....

Candy Boy gave his head a shake and smelled the hat again. Then he sniffed, looking with his nose again, trying to focus on that one smell. It was there, but so faint that he couldn't make out the direction. He moved off in one direction and immediately the smell grew even weaker. No...He tried another direction. Yes...that was better...still weak...but better.....

He moved off, sniffing the ground, sniffing the air, anything to get a fix on the faint scent that eluded him. Brian hopped on Midnight and followed him.

"Now...now you find him!! You find him Brian Kinney! I want to see the both of you back here at two o'clock!!! And if you're not, I'll have you know, I may be a pansy-boy but growing up in Hazelhurst, Mississippi taught me more than a few things! If you don't get back my ray of Sunshine, I will kick your ass and use your own boot to do it!!!"

Emmett's door slammed angrily.

BJBJBJBJBJBJBJ

"Hold him down!"

Since he was already tied up pretty effectively, this was an easy task. The two thugs held him down and Mr. X re-tied his ankles together and then securely to the- Justin still couldn't believe it.

His torso and wrists were still tied up securely so when his feet were secure again, Mr. X. was confident to tell the thugs to take off and meet him back at HQ that night. The thugs obeyed and soon it was just the two of them.

"Well, now that it's just the two of us...we don't really need this, do we?" Mr. X untied the gag and pulled out the disgusting thing and threw it away.

"But why? Why you, of all people? Why are you doing all this?"

"Why else, my boy!? For the gold, of course! So I need Constable Kinney gone! But he has to leave of his own accord!"

"So....so where does this come in? I mean really...are you seriously tying me....to the railroad tracks!!!!?"

"I am, indeed!" said Mr. X cheerfully, kneeing him in the nads. Justin groaned as all the strength went out of him and Mr. X quickly used that time to loop several coils under each armpit and around each shoulder and then thread that rope under the rail and pull everything tight. The extra rope that was trailing out from his hands was looped around his neck. He checked to make everything secure and was done at last.

He stood up and surveyed his handiwork. "Well, now! Don't you look cozy!"
"It's damn uncomfortable! And you might as well untie me now, you fiend! You'll never get away with this!"

"Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!! You fool! I already have gotten away with it! Soon, it'll be business as usual, Kinney will be gone, and you...well...oh my! You're liable to be quite the mess actually! I've brought you far enough out of town to have the train pick up a fast speed and run you over good and proper! I told you Kinney would be on hand when I killed you!"

Justin was shaking with rage. "You -are -a -monster! Brian will never get on that train! Brian is a great cop! I don't know how, but he'll find a way! Brian will save me! You'll see! And then you'll be finished!"

"Hmmm that's a possibility! But even if he does defy my orders and try and sleuth for you, there's nothing to do! He'll be spinning his wheels! There were no clues. You could be anywhere. And you're deep enough into the forest that no one will hear you yell for help!"

"Damn you!" ground out Justin.

"Well, I guess that's it! Don't struggle too much or you'll strangle yourself! Yell all you want. Gotta go! So little time, so much gold to steal! Bwa ha-ha-ha-haaaa!"

Continuing to laugh like a maniac, Mr. X strode away, following the tracks a bit and then turning aside into a trail into the forest.

Justin was alone. It got quiet. And so he filled it with his periodic screams for help.

"Help! HELLP! Is there anybody out there! HELLLLLLP MEEEEEE!!!!"

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Candy Boy led him all the way back to town. He ran straight over to the schoolhouse and gave a triumphant bark.

"Yes...that's right. Justin's the schoolteacher. But where to now?"

Candy Boy seemed to understand and he sniffed all the way around the porch and even a ways around the schoolhouse. He grew very confused. There were a lot of scents here...different young humans, chalk, wood, other men with strong B.O. Candy Boy meandered around and began to forget why he was here. He meandered over to the mercantile where he could smell beef jerky.

"Huh?? Is Justin over there?" asked Brian. He left Midnight tied to the hitching post at the schoolhouse and ran after the dog.

There was definitely jerky here. Candy Boy trotted into the mercantile. Brian followed.

"Oh, hello, Constable Brian!" said pretty Emmy Lou Gold, "How nice to see you," At the words ‘nice' and ‘you', her voice dipped and deepened strangely. "I should let you know, that we don't uuusually let dogs in here. But if it's for a good reason...and it's potty trained..."

"It damn well better be," Brian muttered to himself, "Out loud, he said, "The dog's been deputized temporarily...he's tracking for me. This shouldn't take long. I don't suppose you've seen Justin Taylor today, have you?"

"Why no! No, he hasn't been in all day! I'll keep a look out for him though."

"Thanks! I'd appreciate it! Now why on earth did that dog come in here for then?"

Candy Boy was nosing the shelves and grabbed a box and dropped it at Brian's feet. Wondering, Brian picked it up.

Beef jerky.

Brian took a deep breath and suppressed a great urge to scream and rant. It was just a dog. Just a dog...Just a dog...just a dog..." He chanted it in his head like a mantra and wondered what Justin would do.

"No Candy B...Candy...dog! We came to find Justin, remember! Yellow head! Remember?" Brian held out the hat.

Candy Boy minced away and knocked another box of jerky of the shelf and sat primly in front of it.

"No! Not jerky! Hat!"

Candy Boy knocked another box of the shelf and nosed both boxes toward him "YES, Jerky!" was the adamant, almost audible reply.

"Ummm, officer? The jerky's only ten (ahem..ahem)... only ten cents a box. Perhaps humouring the creat...um...doggy might be the best way to get him on his way," suggested Emmy Lou.

"Brian could not believe he was seriously negotiating with a dog. "Arrrrrgh! Fine! Here's 50 cents!" He slapped the money down. He grabbed 2 boxes of the jerky and the 3 that Candy Boy had knocked over and held them up like cards. "Here! Are you happy! I'll be feeding you these if you track Sunshine! Track Yellow Head, OK!!?"

Candy Boy wriggled and sniffed and jumped and barked. Jerkyjerkyjerkyjerkyjerky!!!!! JERKY!!!!!!

"Have a nice day, officer," said Emmy Lou.

"Uhh, yeah... you too. Sorry for the trouble. I hope you're feeling better soon."

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh...Well, your voice. I figured you may have had a...cold or something," Brian guessed.

Emmy Lou tittered and flapped her hand. "Oh my, you are a good detective, aren't you!? Oh, it's just a teensy sore throat. Giving me a bit of a frog in my throat. I usually just take one of my mints and I'm right as rain! You'll see!" She took a small silver box out from somewhere and opened it to reveal a stash of small white...mints (pills) flitted across Brian's mind....and then popped one and snapped the box closed.

"There we go! I'm sure I'll be all right any time now. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for Justin! Nothing's wrong is it?" she asked, not so subtly changing the subject.

"Uhh, no! But just keep an eye out and send him over to Debbie's if you see him, OK?" He was working off the assumption that Justin might be able to escape. He knew it was a good meeting spot and Debbie would be able to handle any kidnapers who would likely try again.

"Will do! Have a nice day Constable!" Emmy Lou's innocuous goodbye washed over him reminding him that to everybody else, this was just an ordinary day. Oh, how he wished it were for him as well! This day seemed to be taking forever and it was only half over and was only a couple of hours since he discovered Justin was missing. Would they ever get normal back?

"Bye!" he choked out and clumped out the door, leading the dog out by the jerky.

Once outside, Brian gave him a piece, which Candy Boy chomped enthusiastically. Then he held out the hat. Candy Boy sniffed deeply and remembered. Yellow Head....and he was close!

Barking loudly, the dog ran over to the schoolhouse again. The B.O. was very strong here but under it was Yellow Head smell too. He sniffed around and moved in wider and wider sweeps around the schoolhouse. The scent went into the forest. The chalk and kids and wood from the schoolhouse faded and Yellow Head and B.O. got stronger and then...and then....

"Ahhh-wooooo!!! ARF! ARF ARF!!!" Candy Boy barked joyfully, because he could tell this was it! Yellow head had been right here and his scent was moving further into the forest, like a gorgeous yellow line striping its way forward from his nose. It was this way!! For sure!" He wiggled and barked in pleasure, telling the Man in Boots anyway he could, Yellow Head was just a little further.

"Good Boy! Good Boy, Candy B...Candy Bo....oh God, I cannot do it! I cannot call you that stupid name! OK, Candy how about...just for today...I call you Candy Andy instead!"

Candy cocked his head in confusion.

"Come on, Candy Andy...there's a big piece of jerky in it for you!" Brian took it out and waved it back and forth hypnotically. Candy Andy's eyes watched it like he was hypnotized.

Then Brian threw it and Candy Andy jumped and caught it in the air and "Mmmmmmmmm...." He guessed the Man in Boots could call him whatever he wanted. Like he said, he'd do anything for jerky. AAAAAAnnything!!!"

They were just about to head into the forest heading out of town the opposite way they had come in when Brian heard a friendly "tooot - tooot!" He head whipped around.

It was 12:30. The train was just pulling into the station where it would unload and stay around for a half an hour before leaving at 1:00 PM on the dot. The train he was supposed to be on.

Fear squeezed his heart with icy tendrils. He was running out of time. He had a half hour to find Sunshine before Mr. X or whoever else figured out he had no intention of being on that train.

He mounted Midnight, and together, dog, horse and man, all plunged into the forest.

BJBJBJBJBJBJBJBJ

A half an hour later...

Justin lay back and lay still. The way his shoulders were tied to the rails was very effective and he had resigned himself to the fact he wasn't going anywhere. The noose around his neck was tight enough to take notice and his throat was raw from yelling.

Mr. X had done his job well. He couldn't get free and he must indeed be miles from anywhere because no one could hear his desperate cries for help.

Then, under his body he could feel a slight vibration, then slightly stronger. Justin listened and put his ear to the rail. It was definitely giving off a hum, the slightest of vibrations but to Justin it was the trumpet herald of the angel of doom.

The train was coming.

"HELP! HELP! For the love of everything holy, HELP MEEEEE!!!"

The vibrations grew stronger, and far in the distance there was a cheerful ‘Toot! Toot!"

"HEEELLLP!!!"

And then...he saw it. Off to the right, cheerful white, smoke, cowcatcher and all, wayyyy off, came the locomotive that would...Justin shuddered. He didn't even know what that thing would do to him. He panicked and wriggled a bit and his noose tightened a bit.

Surely there had to be a hunter or a camper or a hermit or...or a friendly, freaking mouse who could chew his rope! Something! There had...to... be...something!!

"HELP! HELP!!! SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, HELP ME!"

The train was picking up speed. It grew louder and louder and soon he wouldn't be able to hear himself much less have anyone else hear him. Justin sky-blue eyes were wide with terror and he slumped back as he lost all hope. He fixated on the cowcatcher, letting it hypnotize him a little as he drew in a deep breath for a final scream.

"HELLLP MEEEEEEE!!!!!!"

Relentlessly, the train grew closer...and closer...and closer.....

TBC

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

Chapter 4

Justin in a Bind

  For nearly a half hour, Candy Andy aka Candy Boy, aka Alsatian Wolf-Dog Extraordinaire...had been racing through the woods following Yellow Head's bright yellow scent line like it was a dream. It was always followed up by that putrid B.O. but Candy Andy decided to ignore that as much as possible and concentrate on Yellow Head who was bound to have more beef jerky. The Man in Boots was throwing him pieces every so often to keep him motivated but it wasn't nearly enough. Of course, Candy Andy admitted to himself somewhere in his doggy brain, he could never ever get enough jerky.

At last there came a time when the smell just grew stronger and clearer, stronger and clearer, and then Candy Andy was jumping into a clearing and rushing up to a tree and sniffing madly, putting his front paws on the trunk and generally jumping for doggy joy.

"ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF!" barked Candy Andy in great joy, for here, at long last, the B.O was not right here! Right here, was pure Yellow Head. He had been up against this tree right here, he had been right here and it was so fresh that meant Yellow Head was not far off and that meant one beautiful, joyful thing!! JERKY!!!!!

"ARF! ARF! ARF!" Candy Andy ran up to Brian and barked again for joy and then ran and put his paws up on the tree again. "ARF! ARF!"

Brian frowned as he got Candy Andy's meaning and looked around at the clearing. Sunshine had been here, probably held prisoner against that tree. He easily picked out the remains of a fire and a few low, battered stools. He dismounted and examined the fire and in the ashes he found a corner of a playing card. Ahh ha! Thugs playing cards. Classic.

Meanwhile Candy Andy was still barking and sniffing around the tree. Suddenly, he shut up, stood very still and listened, his ears straining. Brian listened too but he couldn't hear anything.

Candy Andy had heard the faintest of faint cries with his doggy ears. "Help me!!" it said. "Of course, that translated for Candy Andy as: Jeerrrrky!!!!"

"ARF! ARF!" barked Candy Andy, "Can't you hear that, you stupid human?"

"What is it boy? Can you tell where he went next?"

Candy Andy huffed in frustration. The Big Man in the yummy smelling boots might have jerky but he sure wasn't very smart! Candy Andy had been hankering after a taste and a chew of one of those boots ever since they had come into his life. Maybe now...since they had gotten so chummy...Candy Andy sauntered over and sniffed Brian's boot experimentally. Brian looked on in amusement.

Encouraged, Candy Andy gave it a lick. Yummmmm! Just as delish as he'd thought. Carefully he opened his mouth and bared his sharp fangs. Surely the Man wouldn't begrudge him just one taste....Just one...teeensssy. eeensy...

"DON'T....YOU....DARE!" was all that the Man said in a terrible voice so Andy sat and continued opening his mouth and turned it into a wide, squeaky yawn instead. Then he backed off in a hurry and pretended he was interested in a fern. Ahhh, well! He didn't fault him. Just because they were supposed to do it, didn't mean Candy Andy wanted every dog sniffing his butt.

"Help! Help me!!" Candy Andy heard, which, of course, meant: Jerky!! Jerkyjerky!!!"

"ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF!" Why couldn't that human hear that!? Candy Andy took off toward the faint sound and found the yellow stripe again easily at the same time.

Brian hurried to get on Midnight and spurred the horse on after the dog. He picked his way carefully but quickly and even found a trail while the dog just bounded joyfully through the underbrush, barking happily.

They continued along this way for about five minutes when Brian finally heard it, oh so faintly, "Help! Help me! For the love of God, hellllpp meeeee!!"

"Hee-yahhh!" He flicked the reigns and Midnight jumped to a full gallop immediately. Candy Andy barked joyfully because he could tell Brian heard Yellow Head as well and ran faster as well. Oh, he'd never had so much fun! He was finally getting to run...really run! Thin Master was great and all but learning how to mince around the house had been really hard.

"HEELLP!!" Justin's cries became louder and louder.

And then there was another sound, a happy sound and yet a terrible sound. A cheerful train whistle. TOOT! TOOT!

And with that, everything snapped into place. Be on the 1:00 train...the forest locale...Brian's mouth hardened into a thin line of pure fury. He spurred Midnight on to the fastest speed possible.

Midnight understood. He moved into full gallop, judging distances, jumping logs, taking care to watch out for pitfalls, weaving in and out of the trees like the expert horse he was.

"HEEEELLP MEEEEEE!!!!" came the last desperate scream, but there was a certain hopelessness about it as well, the kind that people get when they know they are well and truly fucked. It broke Brian's heart a little.

"I'm coming, Sunshine! I'm coming! Just hold on!"

And then the black horse burst out of the trees and bushes and they were right next to the railroad tracks. Brian pulled hard on the reins and Midnight screamed and reared and pawed the air. It was a magnificent sight.

The train was approaching from the left. And a little ways down to the right was Justin tied to the tracks, looking bug-eyed at him, as if he were seeing a ghost.

The train was coming closer...and closer...and closer....

Brian moved Midnight into a trot over to Justin. He looped a leg over...

Closer....and closer...

...and even as Midnight was still moving, Brian jumped off, landing right next to Justin.

Closer and closer....20 meters....15 meters...

Justin's forehead was shiny with sweat. "Shoulders...feet...Hurry! Hurry!"

Ten meters.

Brian yanked out the Bowie knife from his belt, quickly cut the ropes binding Justin to the tracks by the shoulders and then his feet and pulled him free. With seconds to spare, Brian covered Justin with his own body, yanked and rolled them both free of the tracks and the train. They rolled over and over on the grass as next second with the roar of a dragon the train rushed by them and over the spot where Justin had been.

For many minutes they didn't move, Justin still lying on his back, tied up and Brian lying on top of him, protecting him with his own huge body. Carefully, Brian cut the rope attaching his hands to his neck. Justin was able to breathe easier. Their breath was warm on each other's faces.

The train continued to rush by.

They were levelled exactly eye-to-eye. They lay there for a long time, looking deep into each other's eyes. The entire world dwindled down to the inch and a half between brown and blue.

Eventually, Brian saw that the passenger cars had passed and there was only an unending line of boxcars and other freight cars rushing by. It was then that he finally sat up and pulled Justin into his arms and cradled him. Brian then made short work of the rest of the ropes and Justin finally shrugged all the way free.

Free at last.

After the hated ropes had been thrown far away, Justin re-settled into Brian's lap and arms and against his chest, and they were looking into each other's eyes again.

"I knew you'd come," Justin said simply.

"I haven't cum yet," Brian said incorrigibly, "I've only just arrived."

Justin smacked him. You don't get to be like that right now. You just saved my life. "Brian - you're..."

"Sunshine, if the next words out of your mouth are: Brian, my hero, I swear to God, I will tie you back up and fuck you six inches into the ground. Right here. Right now."

Justin quirked an eyebrow, and then settled deeper into the crook of his arm, wrapped his arms about his neck and kissed him. It was soft at first and then with one accord they came together and smashed their lips together. Their tongues duelled and Justin waited until both of them had won at least one duel.

He pulled back and looked deep into Brian's eyes.

"Oh Brian!" he breathed out. He sighed soulfully. "My Hero!!!"

Brian gave a feral growl deep in his throat.

Justin pounced and kissed him and took the growl into himself, absorbed the ferocity, and stored it deep in his soul.

And then leathered hands were gripping his forearms and pulling him away and holding him tightly in restraint.

"I wasn't kidding around!" Brian growled, "You - you're under arrest!!"

"God, I love it when you growl," Justin said, throwing his head back as his dick got painfully hard. Brian reciprocated by kissing and sucking at his neck, especially right at the pulse point causing Justin to writhe in pleasure. However, Brian kept him in a tight restraint hold and Justin couldn't do much else.

Still kissing him, Brian slid his hands sloooooowwwly down his arms and held his hands. Justin let their fingers entwine. Brian was still kissing his neck making him crazy. He closed his eyes and felt his dick throb with pleasure.

There was a ‘click'. Brian had drawn his hands together and handcuffed them in front of him.

"You have the right to remain silent," said Brian.

"Really? Mr. X told me I could scream as loud as I wanted," Justin said impishly.

Brian growled again and grabbed a few pieces of the discarded rope and chose a few pieces. With speed and precision, he coiled a few loops around Justin's chest and tied him up effectively, restrained but unpainfully unlike before when the evil men hadn't given a damn. He re-tied his wrists in rope manacles and then attached them to his waist in such a way that Justin could only move them about a foot away from his body. He unlocked his handcuffs and put them away. He pointed his finger in Justin's face. "Don't you ever compare me to...him!" The word was uttered like mentioning a vermin.

In response, Justin took the finger into his mouth. He licked it and sucked it and sloooooowwwly pulled out. There was a noisy ‘pop' when he did so.

"Mmmmmmmmmm...!" he groaned, "As delicious as in my dreams. It's a pale substitute for a fat cock though."

"You...you have the right to an attorney. If you cannot..."

"Waived. I'm not into threesomes."

Brian pushed him onto his back onto the grass. "If you give up these rights, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand these rights as I have described them?"

"You know, I find this situation highly ironical," Justin declared as Brian moved his shirt apart to access is nips and pinch them both with the leather gloves causing Justin to cry out in pleasure

"How's that?" Brian asked. He pinched again and kept squeezing, "And answer the question."

"My rescuer has become my captor. And...ohhhhh God!....Yes! Yes, I understand!!"

Brian gave them a flick and slowly moved down to his pants and started undoing his belt.

"So...uh...we doin' this in front of the kids?" asked Justin playfully. He jerked his head.

Brian looked over. Candy Andy sat on his haunches, his front legs positioned perfectly dead center. He watched them with great interest. He tilted his head and he panted with his tongue hanging out. It definitely looked like he was smiling.

A little ways behind him, Midnight stood and solemnly watched them as well. He blinked his long-lashed eyes slowly as if wondering what was going to happen next.

"Be right back. Stay cozy," Brian said, checking his ropes. They were secure.

He got up and led Midnight as ways away from them to a nice grassy patch next to the rails and tied him to a tree where he'd have access to it and yet not enough leeway to go onto the tracks. He took two boxes of jerky out of a saddlebag and poured them out onto the grass a little ways away from that. Andy barked joyfully and ran over, lay down and began chewing in heaven.

It was at this point, the train reached the last car and the caboose rushed by. The conductor was watching the countryside fly by and saw them. He shoved the window open and stuck his head out, his eyes goggling. Brian smiled and waved as the caboose was drawn inexorable away and disappeared into the distance. They were alone.

Brian returned to his captive. He theatrically dusted his hands. "Well...I think that...takes care..." He lowered down between Justin's legs. "...of that!" He kissed Justin so hard it took both their breath away and dispatched his belt and pulled down his pants in record time.

However, he didn't move down right away. He kissed Justin for several minutes; all the while stroking Justin with his leather gloves slowly, oh so slowly. Justin mock struggled and writhed in pleasure wanting to touch his man back but was unable to. Then Brian moved down to his nips, sucking and biting and pinching all the while slowly stroking...stroking...Justin went a little mad with struggling and his forehead was shiny with sweat.

And just at the height of his madness, just when Justin was sure he was going to blow....Brian stopped. He stopped everything and rose up, straddling Justin's waist. He smiled at him smugly and Justin was distraught with desire.

"What...what's going on? Why'd you stop? For the love of God, why'd you stop!!? I was almost there!"

"I'm edging you. Naughty little perps like you don't get to cum....at least not right away! Now you see...I have you in my clutches! You're my prisoner and I'm going to hold your pleasure and even your very orgasm hostage! I'll edge you over and over until you think you've gone mad and when you do blow it will drive you over the edge. As long as we're together, you won't get away from me again and anyone after me...wherever you are in this life...whoever you do it with, you'll only see my face as they fuck you!"

Justin squirmed and struggled. "No! Anything but that! You fiend! You'll never get away with this!

Brian undid his own belt and tossed it aside. He undid his pants and pulled them down to his ankles. His glorious 10" dick sprang outward to freedom, the freedom that Justin was denied. He ached to take that length into his mouth and suck it and deep throat it but his movements were constricted to Brian's sexual whims. Then Brian began unbuttoning his tunic, button by torturous button. He was about to pull it off when Justin stopped him.

"Leave it on," he said with a sexy smile worthy of a siren.

Brian made a hang on gesture, took off the tunic, ripped off the shirt underneath and put the tunic back on. He also left the gloves on. He slooooooowwly began to stroke and kiss Justin mercilessly again. Justin itched...ached to touch that perfect physique but he couldn't. It was sheer torture.

And then...it was about this time that things got a little blue.

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A/N: SMUT ALERT!! SMUT ALERT!! Those of a delicate nature may want to skip this scene and pass on over to the next scene. Yeah... like that's gonna happen!!! YOU WERE WARNED!!

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Brian sucked at Justin's tongue as if it were a lifeline containing the elixir of life. Sometimes softly, sometimes harder than necessary, Brian took what he willed, did what he willed. Abruptly he switched, released Justin's tongue and inserted his own. Justin began to suck greedily himself but Brian stopped him by retreating and advancing, slowly at first. Then faster and faster. He gave Justin the tongue fucking of a lifetime and it reduced him to putty.

Brian may have talked a good talk but his ‘I don't give a shit' attitude was totally shattered when he cupped Justin's face in his hands and stroked is soft cheeks with his thumbs and moved down to his neck. He stroked his pulse points and then moved back up to his face again. Justin whimpered and arched his neck to give the leather thumbed lothario the best possible access.

After a while, Brian grew bored with the tongue banging and moved on, sucking at Justin's neck and then moving slowly down in one long lick to pay special attention to his nipples, his stomach, his belly button, and finally, at long last, and after seemingly much deliberation...the tip of Justin's cock.

"Arrrgh!" Justin groaned in frustration and bucked wildly at the torturous tongue. He was so hard he ached.

"Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh! What do we say, Sunshine?" Brian rolled his balls in his leather hand and smacked his face with Justin's cock a few times, giving it experimental licks here and there.

"Please! Please! For the love of God, get on with it!" shouted Justin. He writhed and struggled and bucked in his bondage.

"Oh...I'm afraid that will do you no good, intoned Brian smugly, "You are completely in my power!"

"Curse you, villain!"

"Oh...now that's not very nice! But since you did say please...and because it is soooooo...delectable..." Brian gave the 9" cock head another wet lick and then without warning engulfed it to the hilt.

"OHHHHH! Oh my God! Oh dear G- MMMPPPPHHHHH!" Justin shouted and then found himself glove over mouth (GOM) gagged. The heady smell of the leather of one hand, the other pinching a nipple and a expert, wet mouth gliding like liquid velvet over his cock caused pleasure within Justin's core that were transcendent. He struggled and bucked wildly trying to force his cock harder and deeper down Brian's throat. Every time he did, though, Brian would respond by retreating and sucking wetly at Justin's cock tip. When Justin would relax, he'd move deeper again. Justin soon realized bucking was useless anyway since Brian had no gag reflex and moved down to the hilt each and every time.

A pleasure Justin had never known, coiled and built within his very soul and loins. It built and built and built. He writhed and groaned against the delicious leather and just when he was sweating and tensing and ready to climax, Brian timed it just right, grabbed his balls and cock in a vice grip, pulled up one last time and released his cock with a resounding ‘POP' and stopped everything. He sat up and watched the captive blond while sitting on his thighs.

"NOOOOOO! Dear God, NO! Why? Why? I was just there! Oh please! Please let me cum!"

"You'll cum when I say so!" Brian said heartlessly, "And when I'm through with you, when I do tell you, you'll cum so hard, you're eyes will roll up, and you'll experience such pleasure that you'll kiss the sky and see the face of God."

"But I already see the face of God when I look at you," Justin said.

"Mmmmmmm....Poor fool!" Brian said, still caught up in the role play. He kissed him roughly. "Flattery will get you nowhere! Bwa-hahahahahaaaaaa!"

"HELLLLLLLPPPP!!! HEEELLLP!! Somebody help me!"

"Yell all you want, my pretty! There's no-one to hear! And now!! What to do with you now?"

"Ummmm....more of the same?" Justin suggested.

There was a ‘slap' as Brian GOM gagged him again. "That was a rhetorical question, boy!"

"MMMPPH - MMMMM," (Sorry!) Justin said.

"Hmmmmm...I think we'll move on to that exquisite ass. Have you ever been rimmed boy?"

Justin managed to shake his head.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that, won't we?"

And Brian did just that, pulling his pants off and lifting his legs into the air. Justin wondered what he was up to and quickly found out when Brian's busy tongue went to town on his tight hole. Indescribable sensations rocked Justin's world. His toes curled. He felt himself coming closer once again so Brian back off and edged him again.

"Damn you! Dammit!!!! I was...was almost..." Justin panted.

"Yeeeeeeeeesss???" asked Brian.

"Damn you!" was all that Justin said.

"Another time, I'm sure," Brian drawled and then smashed his face into Justin's sweet ass again. Justin cried out and then cried out again and again in sheer ecstasy.

Brian used his spit to copiously lube Justin's hole. He took off a glove and inserted a finger, preparing him. He lubed it some more and inserted another, preparing him, stretching him.

"Oh God! Oh God, what are you doing?" Justin felt a delicious itch that grew and grew the more Brian probed him.

"Getting you ready for the main event," answered Brian, "I told you I was going to fuck you six inches into the ground and I'm going to do it."

"Uh...Brian, are you sure? I mean...we haven't talked about it."

"Shut up," said Brian.

"But what if this changes things? Brian this isn't just a blow job to me. It's like...there's no going back from...I mean..."

"I said, shut up." Brian had lubed himself and was positioning himself to enter.

"Brian, no! I mean really....Brian...Red Rabbit!"

Brian stopped. Over the last few weeks they had developed a few things and this was one of them. Red Rabbit was a safe word. A signal to stop if they were ever caught up in their role play.

"What is it, Justin?"

"Brian..."It's my first time. Doing this, I mean."

"What!!??"

"Brian, I'm 21. Plus, I told you, my upbringing was painfully strict. How strict, I've never told you. I don't want to tell you now. I want you to fuck me. Ride me fast and hard. I want you to be the first. But I want you to know you are the first. To know that this will be special for me...And...and go gentle at first. I'm scared."

"Understood. I'll be gentle. In fact, maybe I should reconsider. Maybe I don't want to fuck you anymore."

"What!!??"

"Depends. Am I still your hero?"

"Oh yes!" Justin breathed. He reached out as far as he could and stroked Brian's cheek with his finger. "Oh, yes, completely! My Hero!"

Brian growled again and rimmed him some more, lubing him as best as he could. He used saliva on his dick as well and positioned over.

"This will hurt as I enter. But I'll go slow."

He entered. Justin gave a hitch of pain as he was breached and then sighed. Brian entered ¼...then a little more...then half...more....more.....He went slowly and carefully until he heard an ‘aaaaaahhhhhhhh' from Justin signifying the pain was past and the pleasure had begun.

The gauntlets went back on and Brian moved faster and deeper and at the same time, he stroked Justin off in tandem with his thrusts. Deeper....deeper...to the hilt. Justin gave a gasp as a special thrill shot through him from stem to stern.

"Looks like we found Sunshine's prostate!" said Brian gleefully, hitting it again. At the same time he was chestplaying him and stroking him and Justin was writhing in his ropes again and moaning in the most delicious way that only escalated every time he fucked him.

"Ohhhh...Ohhhhhh....Ohhhhh God! OHHHHHHHH! OHHH, DON'T STOP!! BRIAN REALLY!!!! I WANT...I NEED...I REALLY NEED...I REEALLY.....OHHH!!!! OHHHH!!!! OHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

And it was a good thing they were so far away from anything because Justin's climaxing scream was the loudest he could scream and went on and on as stream after stream of ropy cum gushed out. His eyes rolled back into his head. He saw only Brian's face and his eyes that he perceived as his god and then he collapsed back onto the ground as if dead.

There was a fierce cawing as a murder of crows took off from a nearby tree and flew away in response to the noise.

"Shit! Sunshine! Sunshine! You OK? I wasn't serious, you know. I didn't mean to make you pass out!" Brian slapped him gently on the cheek with the back of his hand. "Sunshine! Wake up. Talk to me!"

Justin's eyes fluttered and he awoke. Brian hurried to undo his hands from his waist. He put his hand around his neck and Brian lifted him into a sitting position out of the six inch recess he had been fucked into.

"Oh my! It seems all your promises have been fulfilled!" Justin struggled over into his lap and looked deep into his eyes. "And I mean, all of them."

"So...you mean...even the one about seeing my face when you fuck other guys?"

"Mmmm-hmm."

"Oh."

"However, unless we come to a mutual decision to part, I don't see that happening because until then, the only one I'll be fucking is you. I still hold you to no formal contract but for as long as you want me....I'm all yours."

Brian gave a growl. He made it extra gruff and mean as he possibly could, as his lips smashed down onto his gorgeous fuck buddy to make sure it completely hid the well of unadulterated joy welling up inside him.

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After that last mind-blowing kiss and their breathing returned to normal, Brian pulled Justin to a sitting position and untied him once again.

They dressed and sat together, resting in the afterglow.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Justin.

"First, we have to visit a certain queen before he gives himself a heart attack through histrionics. We also might want to think about staying there...or at least...you staying there. Right now we have a certain advantage," replied Brian. "As far as this Mr. X knows, I've left town and you're dead. Maybe we should let him think that until we find out just exactly who we're dealing with."

"Oh, but I know who we're dealing with! They tied me to a tree in the woods but I managed to get my hands free and I pulled off his mask! You won't believe who it is!"

"Well, who is it then? Tell me!"

Justin told him.

"NO! Oh no! NOT HIM!"

"Yup," Was all that Justin said.

"Hmmmmmm. Well, it seems we're going to have to tread carefully here. To have taken on this second identity means he must have acquired help, contacts, spies, maybe a lot of them. We definitely should keep you out of sight until I can confront him."

"Are you sure that's wise? Maybe we should just let him take over this town and pack a few bags and get out of here. If he both thinks we're dead and gone....then really....what's the difference? Oh, Brian! Let's just get away and be together!"

"Justin! I can't do that! That'd be going AWOL! Besides, I can't let such monstrous evil run amok! I'm a Mountie! And a Mountie...ALWAYS gets his man!" And he wrapped his arms around Justin, cupped the back of his head with a leather gauntlet, dipped him deep and kissed him soundly, tongue fucking him into a haze of ecstasy. He groped his dick teasingly and proprietarily. He was pleased to feel it grow hard under his hand so soon after his mind-blowing orgasm.

Justin groaned and submitted to all. It was clear that Brian was not just talking about Mr. X.

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Sometime later...at Emmett's cabin...

"And that's the whole story, Em."

"Oh my God! That's incredible! But Mr. X!! I mean...It can't be! I mean...it can't be HIM!!!"

I'm afraid so, Em! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"But what am I going to do! How can I show my face in town? What if he looks at me with those beady little rat eyes!? How will I restrain myself from pointing and yelling....I know who you are! You're Mr. X!!" Emmett gestured wildly and knocked over the butter dish.

Justin bit back a giggle. "Emmett...you barely go into town...or anywhere for that matter. Try not to worry. And if you do....well...just remember me...tied to the tracks."

Emmett shuddered. True, honey...too true!"

Brian sipped distastefully at whatever rosehip, camomile, passion berry, WTF?...he was drinking and then put it down. He wanted some decent, bitter, old fashioned java, not this girly shit. "Right! Well, the next step is to be quiet about it until I can get back to town and arrest him. Right now we have the element of surprise. Plus, if that ass finds out that Justin's alive he'll just try and kill him again for sure! Look, Emmett, can Justin stay with you until I come back for him this evening?"

"Why sure sweeties! We'll be snug as a bug in a rug!"

"What!? No way!!" yelled Justin. I'm not letting you cut me out of this! That...that jerk...tied me to the tracks, Brian! I want payback! And besides...he finished smugly, "You need me! My testimony is the only evidence you have."

"Which is why I want to keep you safe until trial time! If he finds out you're alive, he won't rest until he's hunted you down like a dog!"

Candy Boy looked up from his throne in interest.

"Sorry Candy, not you," said Brian, "Go back to sleep."

Candy Boy obediently yawned with a squeak and collapsed back into his throne like a furry king.

Justin seethed but he finally backed down.

"Justin, please try and be patient and let me handle this! After what we just went through, I don't think I can take seeing you captured and in his clutches again!"

"Really Brian!? Clutches? You may as well finish that tea because now who's the one queening out?"

"I am NOT...not queening out! I simply want you to stay safe while I do the police work and get him where he can't do anything more to you! To us! To anyone else! Please Justin! Just do this for me. Please! I won't be long."

Justin didn't like it but he could see Brian wasn't backing down. "Oh fine! For now! But I don't like this! Not one little bit!"

"Well, like this!" Brian swooped in and covered his mouth in a tight seal for a long, hard kiss. Of course, this turned Justin's mind to mush as it always did.

"Dear God! I have definitely been out in this cabin too long! Cuz' I definitely need some of that!" Emmett quipped. "As for you... get going and do whatever you need to do to Mr. X. You're fogging up my windows!"

Brian and Justin broke apart as unwillingly as if they needed to be surgically removed. Then Emmett practically shoved him out the door. "Go on! What happens in the woods, stays in the woods baby! I'm not having you two soiling my chaise longue!"

"That's a sofa, Emmett."

"Never you mind what it is, Mr. Man, just go on and hurry up so you can come back! I'll have him cleaned and pressed by then."

Justin slumped in his chair, grimy hands in his grimy face. "Great! Now I'm laundry!"

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A short time later...in town...

Brian snuck into town as unobtrusively as he could, avoiding the main road. He put on a large brown overcoat to cover his beautiful scarlet tunic for just such undercover emergencies. Then he made his way to the lion's den.

He went in, gun drawn. He paused at the door, took a fortifying breath and went in, banging the door open without knocking.

"Put your hands in the air! You're under arrest!" he yelled authoritatively.

There was a man sitting in a chair facing the window. "Constable Kinney?" he sounded mildly surprised.

"Surprised to see me? Your little plan failed. I'm still here."

"So it would seem. No...I was just mildly surprised at the intrusion and your behaviour."

"Cut the crap! Get those hands up! I won't ask you again!"

Slowly, mockingly, he raised his hands. "What's the charge, Constable?"

"Claim jumping. Grand theft. Kidnapping. Blackmail. And attempted murder!" Brian finished off the list with grim satisfaction.

"That's quite the list. How do you intend to prove all of that?"

"Oh, I have proof! Don't you worry about that! Now turn the fuck around. Slowly! I know who you really are...Mr. X!"

Slowly, the chair swivelled around. The man kept his arms up. The chair slowly came to face forward to reveal...

TBC

 Disclaimers: QAF characters don't belong to me. This is fanfic and just for fun. Most, if all are OOC. Set in Canada because guess what!!? I'm Canadian!

Last time....

"Oh, I have proof! (said Brian) Don't you worry about that! Now turn the fuck around. Slowly! I know who you really are...Mr. X!"

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN

Chapter 5

Mr. X

Slowly, the chair swivelled around. The man kept his arms up. The chair slowly came to face forward to reveal...

Stockwell.

The bastard just sat there with a smarmy smile on his face that Brian wanted kiss off with his knuckles. He theatrically waved his hands and opened his coat to show that he wasn't armed. He was wearing a black cloak and his moustache was especially curly.

"Happy? Do you mind? My arms are getting kind of tired," Stockwell said, lowering his arms to the handrests slowly. "Now...what the hell are you babbling about? What's Mr. X?"

"You know very well. You are Mr. X....You put on a cheesy mask and a cape and tied my boyf...uh...the schoolmaster to the railroad tracks in the woods. At the same time you left a note telling me to get out of town." Brian produced it.

"What?? That's terrible Brian! Is Justin all right?"

"Like you give a damn! You're the one who tied him there and left him to die! And if I'd obeyed that note, I might as well have been the one driving the train to run him over!"

"Brian...are you sure you haven't been overworking? I mean, I didn't tie anyone up....I don't know what you mean."

Brian kept his gun trained on Stockwell. "Cut the shit...Mr. X! Justin's alive! I saved him! And he told how he unmasked you in the woods! We know you're the sick bastard who had him kidnapped and tried to blackmail me! And that's why you're under arrest. God, I knew there was something off about you the moment I laid eyes on you! And now I know! You're going down!"

"Oh...I don't think so!" said Stockwell with an even more smug and evil smile.

"Huh!?" Brian said, caught off guard at the drop of the mask.

"Brian, I'm wealthy, I run the police department, and I'm a public figure. People love me! All you've got is a note written by an anonymous figure and a crazy story. And Justin may be still alive...for now...but all he has is a crazier story. Who do you think everyone will believe? You...or me?" His smug smile was even wider.

"You...unmitigated....asshole!" breathed Brian.

"Sticks and stones, my boy! Sticks and stones! Now, if there's nothing else...why don't you get the hell out of my office and oh...while you're at it, leave the whole claim jumping case alone from now on. I think you'll find that the "trail's gone cold." I believe that's how you put it?"

"Claim jumping!!? So...it's you...!!!"

"Again...prove it!" Stockwell snarled smugly.

Brian wilted a bit inside. Of course he couldn't. He'd been looking for clues and evidence for two weeks now without a single shred to go on. And now he knew why. The slimy perp had been right under his nose the whole time!

"But...but if this is what this is all about...why go after Justin? He has nothing to do with the case and knows none of the details. We don't discuss my work. Why are you trying to kill him? Is it because...?" he paused in consternation at his slip.

"Yeeeeeess???" Stockwell prompted.

"Is it because he's gay? Is this some sort...some sort of hate crime?"

"Gay?? What do I care if he's happy or not?"

"Not gay happy! Gay...as in homosexual."

"What? Justin's a homo?" He thought about it for a few seconds and then burst out laughing. "Oh, of course! All the signs were there! I knew there was something...but I never put it together..."

"And what signs might those be?" Brian's voice was so icy it was polar.

"Oh, you know...being so young...yet showing absolutely no interest in the opposite sex. The way his gaze lingered over certain lumberjacks...The extra attention he lapped up from the mercantile owner....Gold, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know," Brian said just as icily. But he did know and a bitter stab of jealousy rent his belly.

"Hmmmm. I wonder about him then too....I should keep an eye....Anyway...and then the way he attached himself to you like a bad rash and the way you two have been....inseparable..." Stockwell looked up, eyes wide. Brian just stood there, chest puffed out, arms crossed, each hand touching the other's bicep, a totally Dom pose and said nothing.

"YOU!!? You too?" Stockwell said.

"Prove it!" Brian snarled.

Stockwell was dismissive. "Oh, whatever! I hate to break it to you but I don't really need to prove it! Everybody in town knows something weird is going on with you! Your...friendship....relationship...whatever the hell you two are doing is the worst kept secret in town!"

"As for...that...well, it's disgusting of course...but that's not why I...I mean Mr. X kidnapped Justin. You guys can go fuck a duck for all I care!"

"Then why?"

"For bait. And I didn't realize it but it looks like I chose the juiciest piece of meat..."(Here Stockwell giggled nastily) "...that I possibly could. I didn't want to get rid of Justin...in particular anyway! I wanted to get rid of YOU! Something, I think I'll remedy...RIGHT NOW!!"

"Huh?" Was all Brian got out because several things happened at once.

A crowbar hit his wrist causing him to release his gun, sending it skittering across the floor. At the same time a second crowbar hit him in the back of the legs sending him to his knees.

"But...but why?" Brian managed over the crippling pain.

Stockwell shrugged. "You just know too much now. Sorry, Brian! Looks like you were just too good at your job!" He laughed nastily.

"UUUGGGHHH!!" The crowbar hit him in the back of the shoulder blades, then the neck. Brian slumped forward, unconscious.

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"OHHHHHH!!!" His whole head throbbed like a sonofabitch. He wanted to rub it but he couldn't move his arms. His eyes flew open in alarm. He took in his circumstances and he sucked in a huge breath of horror.

He was on his back. He was lying on a huge log. His overcoat had been done away with and he was lying there in full uniform, red tunic, pants, boots and leather gauntlets. He was tied up. Tied to the log. Securely lashed with at least ten coils around the chest. Around the neck, not enough to strangle but enough so he could barely lift his head. His hands had rope manacles and were attached to each other going underneath the log and then looped several times around the chest. This attached his arms to the sides of the log. This had been done to his leg as well, attaching his booted legs to the sides of the log and positioning him so that his....ahem...crotch was dead center and on top of the log.

Brian groaned again and looked around. Machinery...logs...lumber...saws...axes...a sawmill. He was in a sawmill.

"Ahhhh!!! You're awake! Good! Can't have my top cop miss his own death! Especially when I've designed it to be so dreadfully painful! BWA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!!!"

Brian looked down and struggled, pulling his arms, trying to reach for...

"Looking for this!?" Stockwell said mockingly, holding up his belt with its various utilities and Bowie knife. He tossed everything far out of reach. "Oooops! How clumsy of me!"

"You sick fuck!" Brian spat out and struggled again.

UGGHH! What was this!? Dammit! Somehow the old man or his thugs had attached his arm rope to the neck ropes. If he pulled his arms the neck collar tightened, strangling him. If he relaxed, the collar loosened again.

"Ahhh! I see you've discovered the futility of struggling! But you haven't noticed the icing on the cake that is your peril! Look ahead...to your doom!"

Brian obeyed and he sucked in a breath. What fresh hell was this! He couldn't have! This was monstrous. It was inhumane. It was unthinkable.

But...quite simply, it was. Brian was looking ahead at a giant round buzz saw. He wasn't facing it headfirst. He was facing feet first which means when it started to cut, the first thing it would cut into was his...

Brian shook his head in horror. He bucked and squirmed and struggled in sheer terror and horror until he turned purple and couldn't stand it anymore. He yelled for help in total futility until he was hoarse.

Stockwell looked on at all this in a supreme, sick kind of enjoyment that made Brian's bile rise. Oh dear God! What kind of psycho had this town elected as their mayor!?

"Oh, yes!" Stockwell came close, his cape swirling around him as he did so. His fetid breath chuffed onto Brian's face. "Mwa! Ha! Ha! Now you understand! I thought you'd appreciate this due to your....appetites! As the saw cuts into you, it'll take your manhood first! You'll probably stay awake for quite a bit as it continues until it kills you! Well...not in the way it would if it'd cut your head open!"

"You are the...sickest...."

"Yes, yes, I know! Sick, crazy, insane, I've heard it all before!"

"From who? I thought you were a paragon in this town?"

"From the voices in my head, of course!! AHHHH! HA! HA! HA! HA! HAAAAAA!!!" Bran couldn't tell if he was serious.

"It is a shame, really!" Stockwell moved in close, moving one black-gloved hand over Brian's magnificent physique. It really is a pity to destroy such a fine...figure...of a man!" At the word ‘figure' Stockwell grabbed him by the dick and began to massage.

"What the fuck!" Brian struggled to no avail. "Hands off! What are you ...you doing...Ohhhhh..."

Damn it! The lunatic was repugnant but whatever he was doing was working. Brian felt himself getting hard against his will.

"Ohhhh! Just thought I'd get the best possible effect when the saw actually reaches you! And here's some more food for thought in your last moments." He continued orally raping him and twirled his moustache evilly with his other leathered hand.

"Once you're gone, what's to stop me from killing your little boytoy too!? Nothing, that's what!! I think this time....I'll just make it easy and tie him up and send him to the bottom of the lake with a nice big rock attached to his shoes! Why drag things out and have him escape like last time?"

"You....sick shit! You leave....him alone! And fuck off! Hands off!! Let me go!"

But Stockwell just laughed and did what he pleased. He didn't stop till Brian was hard as a rock and then he abruptly dropped everything.

"Well, that ought to make a nice mess! Enjoy the pain! Sorry I can't stay to hear you scream!" Stockwell grabbed the lever and turned on the machine.

The buzz saw started. The conveyer belt started slowly. Ever sooooooo slowly the log moved forward. And then the log moved into the saw. Slowly but hungrily, the saw bit into the log.

Brian struggled. "Let me go! I'll make you pay! You sick fuck! You SADISTIC SHIT!!!"

Stockwell just laughed insanely and left the building.

The saw cut into the log. Closer and closer it came.

Brian hated to do it but there was little recourse. "HELP!!! HELLP!! HELLLP MEEEEE!!!"

The saw came closer.

Brian struggled and yelled again. Could anyone even hear him over the saw?

The saw bit into the log closer....and closer....

Damn it! The ropes...the knots were too tight! He couldn't get loose...of the ropes.

The saw came closer...and closer....

"HELLLP!! Somebody....HEELLLLP ME!!!!!!"

The saw continued to cut into the log. It came closer...and closer...and closer....it was almost there....

TBC

 Disclaimers: QAF characters don't belong to me. This is fanfic and just for fun. Most, if all are OOC. Set in Canada because guess what!!? I'm Canadian!

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

Chapter 6

The Lumberjack and the Snooty Suit

"HELLLP!! Somebody....HEELLLLP MEEEEEE!!!!!!" yelled Brian.

The saw continued to cut into the log. It came closer...and closer...and closer....it was almost there....

His eyes wide and wild, they were riveted on the psychotically spinning saw as it sliced its way so, so slowly toward his center, his very reason for being.

"HELP! ANYBODY!!! HELP ME!!!"

Closer....closer....closer....Two inches....an inch....it was practically there. Brian closed his eyes and braced himself.

SCEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....eeeeeee.... The saw powered down, quieted, stopped.

Brian cracked his eyes open. Then he chanced a real look. He breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The saw had stopped right in front of his crotch. He was quite literally seconds away from a gruesome and torturous death.

Brian swivelled his head as much as the rope collar would let him and saw a rather petite man dressed in lumberjack garb at the lever. He was facing away from the rope arrested lawman. He wore blue jeans and a red, black and white checked plaid shirt. A knitted cap covered his head to complete the outfit.

"I - I - thanks fella! You really saved my bacon! Where did you come from?"

"I was outside when Stockwell was tormenting you. I watched the whole thing. But I could do nothing until he actually left."

"Well thank God you did! You just saved the life of a Mounted police officer! If you get me out of this, I'll see to it that you get a medal!" Brian said majestically.

"I did not help you for riches or glory," said the lumberjack, "And you are not out of the woods yet. That saw is a little too close to your nads for comfort. Hang on!" The lumberjack pulled the lever into reverse and the conveyor belt moved away from the saw. When it was a decent distance away the lumberjack moved it into the stop position again and Brian breathed another sigh of relief and looked at his rescuer again. Man...he was awfully different...for a lumberjack. The shirt was tight around the chest but bunchy in the arms. Ditto the jeans. The clumpy hiking boots seemed too big as well.

"Thanks again. But....who are you?" Brian asked curiously.

"You know who I am," said the lumberjack calmly and mysteriously.

"I do? But how? I'm afraid I haven't met many of the jacks in town."

"I am not a jack."

"Well then, who? And are you going to untie me? Who are you?"

"Someone who loves you!" The lumberjack pulled off his hat and turned around to reveal buttery blond hair and a million watt smile.

Brian gasped. "JUSTIN!!!"

"Yes, my magnificent Mountie! It's me!" Justin cried as he rushed over and covered Brian's mouth in a tight seal.

"But...but how! Why are you here!? I thought you were staying at Emmett's until I got back!" Brian asked when they finally broke apart.

"Good thing I didn't! You almost weren't back...anywhere...ever!"

"I was handling it," Brian said stubbornly.

Justin looked him over at his securely tied up, hot body. He was lashed with at least ten coils of thick rope around the chest and arms, rope manacles around his gloved wrists and biceps, lashing them to the sides of the log and ditto with his ankles and legs. The rope collar completed his bondage to the thick log. Brian wasn't going anywhere. Justin's sceptical expression spoke volumes.

"Oh yes, I can see you were in total control of the situation!" he said sarcastically, "But since you are so adept at...handling it...perhaps I should turn the saw back on....let you....handle it..." His hands toyed with the lever.

"NO!!!" yelled Brian.

"That's what I thought," Justin said smugly with an evil tinge to his voice.

"Look! Are you going to get me out of this! And you never did answer my question! What are you doing here!?"

"I said I'd stay at Emmett's FOR NOW. I washed my face, raided his closet for some clean clothes, and figured 15 minutes was long enough past NOW. So I snuck out the back and ran back to town. I hid myself and was just in time to watch Moosehead and Squirrel Brain carry you off to the sawmill. I followed, hid myself and....well, you know the rest.

"Indeed," Brian said. There was a pause. He struggled a bit and said impatiently, "Well?"

Justin stepped up next to him and ran a hand over his chest, his abs, his biceps, and finally grabbed his cock and balls through his pants and squeezed gently, then squeezed again and then again.

"Indeed," he said softly, "Well...well...well!!!"

"Justin! What the fuck are you doing?" Let me go!"

"You know...You look so hot tied up like that! All on display in your Mountie glory!"

"Justin! Stop fucking around!"

Squeeze...squeeze...squeeze...The hard on that Stockwell had brought on had partially deflated. Under Justin's gentle and much more welcome ministrations, it popped right back up into a hard and painful woody.

"Ohhhhhhh......No! Justin, stop! You've got to...ohhhhhhhhhh......NO! Dammit! Who the hell tied these ropes!? Can't...get free...You will pay, twink!!" Brian struggled mightily and nearly choked himself.

"Oh my! That will never do! Hang on, my love!" Justin retrieved an axe and with a few well placed chops to the side of the log, cut away Brian's collar. "There you go! Purple really isn't your color!" he quipped as Brian's face returned to a normal hue.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here to look out for my fashion sense!" Brian snarled, "Now let me go!"

"But you look so yummy like this! And I might never get another chance like this..."

"A chance...to what?"

Justin climbed aboard Brian's crotch and laid himself out on Brian like a lazy cat might do. "A chance...to return the favor!" He said wickedly and kissed Brian until he was breathless. He rubbed his bottom against Brian's cock, stimulating him further.

The captive cop groaned as sensations so erotic flashed through him that he nearly shot right there and then. But of course, Justin wouldn't allow that. And he made sure the hemp coiled constable had many more adventures before that happened. For those who don't care about such things, you may want to skip over to the next scene.

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A/N: SMUT ALERT!! SMUT ALERT!! Those of a delicate nature may want to skip this scene and pass on over to the next scene. Yeah... like that's gonna happen!!! YOU WERE WARNED!!

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Justin kissed Brian voraciously and then again and then again. His pert little bottom was busy against Brian's cock, sending shock waves of erotica through Brian's entire being.

Finally, Justin gave them both a rest and he rested his head on Brian's chest. "Brian? Remember that time we made love in the woods?"

"Whaa?? Justin, of course! That was only a couple of hours ago!!"

"Hmmm...that is true! That was great! But you forgot to do one thing."

"I did? What was that? I mean, I sucked you...I fucked you...what was missing?"

"You never did feed me that huge, fat cock of yours!"

And so saying, Justin moved down and unfastened Brian's pants. Then he began to lick and gently bit the already hard as a rock cock through Brian's tighty-whitey underpants. Brian groaned and tried to dry hump Justin's mouth but all he could do was squirm a little.

Justin slooowwwly licked from balls to tip, balls to tip and then sucked on his tip and then back again to the scrote until Brian was moaning and then nearly sobbing with desire. He didn't stop until Brian's underwear was wet and his glorious, ten incher was prominently displayed against the wet, white fabric.

Then, finally he pulled Brian's pants down as far as he dared and pulled Brian's winsome woody out through the hole in the front of his underwear because he didn't want to pull them down and risk giving his top cop any splinters in his fanny. He stuck out his tongue and experimentally licked the very tip and then sucked that tip but only the tip.

Brian bucked and spasmed and cried out as his he had struck a live wire.

Finally, the frustrated flatfoot forced out, "Justin!! For the love of everything unholy!! Get on with it! Or let me go! Either way, my wrath will be terrible!"

"And this wrath...does it involve fucking me 6 inches into the ground again?" asked Justin, lifting his head and giving him a reprieve.

"Make it 10! No...15!" Brian growled.

"Mmmmmmmm.....Fifteen whole inches! I'll hold you to that, badgeman!" Justin bent and sucked on the tip like it was a straw containing one of those floats they'd have at the diner.

Brian cried out and his eyes rolled back into his head He squirmed in frustration as his body wanted to reflexively buck and hump Justin's mouth. But the knotted narc remained a roped up redcoat ranger reliably restrained to the round redwood rack that had become his rat-trap.

And just when he thought his torture had reached its pinnacle, Justin slid down and a whole new vista of pleasure torment opened up for the beleaguered lawman.

Justin was careful. He listened to the captive's moans as he swiped his mouth and tongue up and down the detective to be's donkey dong. He wasn't able to suck quite all of Brian's huge grower but he did his best and stroked what he couldn't suck. Brian moaned more and more feverishly and right at the peak, right where Justin was sure he was about to shoot a huge, creamy load, he stopped everything and squeezed Brian's dick and balls in a vice grip and wouldn't let go.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Brian yelled. He humped weakly against Justin's hand and heaved and sweated and struggled mightily, all to no avail. He yelled again in his loud and deep voice.

Justin was draped over his chest again. "Feel better?" he asked impishly, batting his baby blues.

Brian breathed deep and noisily, a fully frustrated fuzz still coming down off of his near climax.

"NO! My God, Justin, what are you doing to me? Dammit! I was nearly there! What's got into you!? You're a bigger sadist than Stockwell! HELP! HELP!"

"Now! Now! None of that!" Justin said, lightly handgagging the recalcitrant redcoat, "Now...who was it who said no comparing us to...HIM?"

"Mmmmph!!" Brian reluctantly agreed and nodded.

"As for what's got into me....nothing...yet! But I aim to remedy that situation very soon!"

Justin opened his pants and pulled them down enough to expose his sweet and hungry ass and his own thick and juicy cock.

"Besides...you edged me three times...don't be such a baby! Ready for round 2?"

"MMMPPPHHHH! MMMMMMM!!!!!"

"Well....let's just pretend that means yes!" Justin said evilly, still handgagging the captured cop. He bent down and engulfed Brian's huge shlong once again. He bobbed up and down quickly and what he couldn't reach he tongued over on the sides. He spit and slobbered and coated that cock with all the spit lube he could. Brian stopped struggling and returned to moaning. It just felt so damn good.

Justin moved forward a bit on Brian's body and looked deep into Brian's eyes. He licked his fingers and lubed his hole. Brian gasped. The whole thing was filthy and disgusting and erotic and sexual and Justin was somehow holding him prisoner with his eyes and he was forced to watch the whole thing. He felt a surge of pleasure that added to his impending climax.

Justin lubed his dick a bit more until it was completely slick. And then....and then....

He rose up and took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. And then....

He impaled himself onto Brian's magnificent dick.

He grimaced and sucked in a breath at the initial pain. He rocked gently, slight movements that drove Brian wild. At the same time Brian grabbed for Justin hand. The ropes arrested his movement and he couldn't make it there. Dammit!! Damn...these ropes! He thought. But at the same time, the bondage was turning him on and keeping him hard.

But Justin saw and made up the difference. He grabbed onto Brian's sexy slick glove. He was breathing deep.

"That s it!" Brian whispered, "It's painful at first...Next time we'll use something else...Maybe vegetable oil...Just ease into it. Relax....relax...that's the way...relax...."

Justin kept rocking, kept the lube coming and eased down more and more and suddenly....

Ohhhhhhhh yeah!!! There it was!

"Mmmmmmmmmnm....Fuck yeah!" Justin said as he lowered down, raised, lowered, raised, lowered down further and then all too soon...lowered to the hilt.

"Ohhhhhhh...myyyyy Goooooddd!!!" Brian gasped incoherently, his pleasure starting to rise and rise and rise and threaten to crest again.

Again, Justin was careful. He watched Brian's reaction and if Brian got too close, he'd stop. Then he'd move in gentle sudden movements designed to send electric shocks of eroticism through his body.

"Now....how do we get to my...that special thing...drove me wild...what did you call it...a poor state?"

"Your prostate hon...And...wish I could help you...but an annoying little twink is keeping me far too busy at the moment...I'm rather tied up at the moment..."

"Ahhh, my luscious lawman! Haven't you figured it out yet? I have ways of making you talk!" Justin adopted a cheesy, evil voice. And he began to rock. And wiggle. And undulate up and down. In short, do 101 things to drive Brian crazy. Which it did.

"Auuuughhh! Arrrrgh! Ohhhhh God....No, not there, Not like...like....a little to the left....YES!!! YES....just like that....ohhhhhh...."

Justin stuck and stirred and rattled and rocked and rolled and experimented and Brian struggled and tried to buck and sweated in frustration. His eyes rolled in the back of his head. And at last.....

Justin felt that surge of special pleasure and he knew he'd found the right angle at last.

"There it is! Ahhh yes! Bwa! Ha! ha!!! Oh fuck, that is so....is soo......"

Brian heaved and twisted and strained in frustration. His hips and only his hips reflexively moved up and down slightly, meeting Justin's movements to drive himself deeper and deeper onto Brian's man-meat for maximum penetration.

"Curse you, villain! How dare you take advantage of an officer down like this! I promise you! I'll make you paa-aayyyyyy!!" Brian cried out in passion and almost couldn't finish as Justin hit a particularly sweet spot.

Justin moaned in pleasure every time his prostate was hit and neglected to answer.

He moved up and down from hilt to tip. He lubed again and moved down again to the hilt. He moved faster...and faster...and faster...

Justin rode his MP like the MP rode Midnight at a gallop. He was finally ready to climax and Brian had been ready and blue balled since the blond had climbed aboard.

Justin rode the cock hungry cop fast and furious like he was running a race. Brian bucked and cried out in feverous pleasure over and over matched only by his mischievous partner in crime. They crossed the finish line with each other's name upon their lips.

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They cooled.

They rode down off that wave of orgasm slowly after a good hour and a half of fantastic sex. The only thing they both loved more than the role play was the secret pleasure that was the bondage of the ropes.

At last, Justin cleaned them both up and hopped down. He picked up the axe and chose a few strategic spots to chop away the ropes. Brian felt the restraints loosen and his arms and legs hung straight down but he still couldn't move. His body was completely numb from lack of circulation.

"Just rest and lie still, my love. The feeling will return in time!" Justin soothed. He removed the rope manacles and loosened the chest ropes as much as he could and moved one arm up and down like he was pumping water from the well.

"Stop that! This is humiliating enough without you working my body like a puppet," Brian groused.

Justin ignored him and kept waving and pumping. "The more I do it, the sooner I can stop," he argued gently.

Brian just groaned and lay there. It was just as well. He couldn't wait to get off this log.

And soon after that, pins and needles started to flash through his arm and then his neck and shoulders and then his other arm and then everywhere. He was able to lift an arm and weakly shrug free of the chest ropes. Groaning, he had Justin sit him up like he was broken in half. He was able to move his arms now. He reached over and lifted a leg over. He swung his legs and next minute he felt OK enough to jump down.

Together they limped toward the door. Brian was getting better but he still needed to lean on Justin a lot.

At the door, Justin peeked out. The coast seemed clearer than their plans for the future.

"Oh God! There's Midnight, still tied up in front of City Hall! I've got to get him!" declared the intrepid Mountie.

Justin held him back gently. "Not so fast, Studly! We can't let on you're alive just yet! I think if we keep to the alleys, we could make in to Deb's! You hide out there and I'll get Midnight and bring him to the diner. Then...then I guess we'll take him back to my house and figure out what to do. We won't have much time until Stockwell figures out that his plan has failed. Goodness only knows what he'll do then!"

"Let's worry about that later! Let's just get the hell out of here!" declared Brian.

And without further ado they put the first part of their plan into motion. They snuck between the buildings and side streets as much as they could and soon ducked quickly inside the Diner before anyone saw them.

Fortunately, the Diner was experiencing a lull. Brian and Justin locked the door, turned the closed sign out and pulled the shades.

"What the FUCK do you guys think you're doing!!?" screeched Debbie.

"Sorry Deb! It's just for a few minutes. We're on the run and we need to hide out for a little while," explained Justin.

"On the run! Hideout?? Did you guys knock over a bank or something?"

"Deb!! Of course not! In fact, it's quite the opposite!" cried Brian

"You explain it to her, Brian, I'll go get Midnight! Don't let anyone else in here until I get back!" Justin dashed out the door. Brian locked it behind him.

"So what's this all about, Bri?" Deb asked curiously.

"I hardly know where to start. But for the last little while, I've been up at the sawmill, nearly getting killed! It was..."

Brian told her.

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Debbie didn't believe him. Flat out DID NOT believe him.

Stockwell was great. Stockwell loved babies, orphans and widows. Stockwell was rich. Stockwell was moral. Why would he do such a thing? Why would he need to steal? Why would he need to kidnap? Why would she have voted for a criminal? It didn't make sense. None of it made sense. A criminal organization with thugs? Preposterous! On and on it went.

Even when Justin returned with Midnight in tow and safely tied up to the hitching post outside, she still didn't believe. Justin desperately corroborated Brian's story with his own story of heart stopping peril but even as he did, he could hear how over the top, how crazy his story sounded. Finally, they slumped at the counter dejectedly and gave up as she stared squinty eyed at them as if THEY were the liars and insane.

Brian and Justin had mixed feelings. Up till then, Debbie had been their staunchest supporter. However, she was also a Stockwell supporter and their stories were so wild that even they realized how ridiculous they sounded even as they dropped from their lips. If they had not known better, had only known the Stockwell from this morning before their world had been turned upside down, they had to admit they would be hard pressed to believe this too.

Brian and Justin looked at each other in horror. They, their friends, even all of Grizzly Hills were all in the greatest of peril. Together, they realized Stockwell's true, diabolical, evil genius.

It wasn't even the secret identity...this Mr. X persona, where Stockwell could live out his true evil desires and sick, insane nature. It was his other mask, Stockwell the mayor, benevolent, caring and rich, that was the real danger. He could use it to suck in the citizens and kill them with one fell swoop if he wanted to, and no one would be the wiser until the trap had been sprung.

Moreover, when he did do something evil, he didn't pussy foot around. He didn't do anything half assed. He went the whole hog and was so crazy and outrageous that no one in their right mind (or just didn't know them very well) would ever believe them. Brian and Justin realized they were well and truly fucked...and not in the good, life-affirming way they had just been an hour ago.

"Look fellas! I think you better leave! I still have the dinner rush to get through and I have to unlock the door now," said Debbie.

The boys sighed and nodded dejectedly. They left, promising to get proof somehow, and got on Midnight.

They rode like the wind and got the hell out of there. But they really didn't feel safe until they were back at Justin's place with the doors locked and the curtains drawn.

They were both pissed off, unsure what to do, disappointed and cooped up. It was a bad combination. It made them horny.

At last, after arguing a bit they smashed together in a desperate kiss. Brian scooped Justin up in a fireman's carry, carried him into the bedroom and fucked him 15 inches into the mattress.

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The next day...

Emmett was a little pissed off.

Of course that was like saying the sun was a little bright, the Rockies were a little high, and that portrait he had stashed away of Candy Boy was a little large. In short, he was steaming mad.

He had been responsible for him and what did that little blond twerp do? Sneak off, that's what, and what's more, he stole his best butch outfit while he was at it. Emmett loved playing dress up and playing lumberjack was his favorite persona since he couldn't be himself while being in town. But since his lumberjack outfit had been...well, it'd been purloined, that's what it had been!!....Emmett decided on dressing in his snooty suit and playing snooty, rich business McSnobbyMan.

Emmett's snooty suit was simply a nice grey pinstripe suit with black loafers, a white shirt, pink tie and a fedora. There was a matching pink handkerchief for his pocket and a pocket watch for his waistcoat. He had a pinky ring and a walking stick with a silver ball on the top of it. He wore a monocle that was just glass. It was perfect! Nobody would suspect for a minute he was a raging queer nelly bottom boy homo. He just had to keep up the act as well.

Before he went out, he practiced his shtick in front of the mirror. When he was satisfied, he let Candy Boy out into his fenced area with plenty of food and water and went walking to town.

His first stop was to the mercantile. He didn't like it here but he'd forgotten where Justin lived and he knew Ethan knew. Ethan knew everything about everybody. At least...that's what Emmett assumed. He seemed to know an awful lot about Justin at least. Emmy Lou also knew a lot, so there was nothing for it.

Emmett sucked in a huge breath, sucked in his dislike of Ethan and went into character. He stepped inside.

"Good morning Mr. HoneyHam," said Ethan.

Emmett walked snootily inside. He kept his back straight and his ass tight. He held tightly onto the ball on his cane and squeezed to prevent his arms from waving and gesturing wildly. He decided to pretend he was squeezing Ethan's scrote in a death grip. Little shit might enjoy that, actually, he thought.

He looked down his nose at Ethan. "It's Honey...Cutt," he said snootily, "Cutt. C-Yew-Tee and Tee. Cutt. WHY can you never remember this Mr. Gold?"

"Maybe because I can't get my mind off your sweet ass," Ethan said.

Ethan always flirted outrageously and secretly with him when his wife wasn't in the room. Emmett was never impressed.

He looked down on him like he was a bug. "Indeed," he said snootily, "Do you kiss your wife with that mouth?"

"Frequently. But she never knows," Ethan said filthily.

"Hummmph!" Emmett humphed theatrically. He squeezed his silver ball extra hard as he had an intense itchy desire to backhand Ethan across his smarmy face. "Well! I simply do NOT have time to mince words with you, you disgusting...ruffian. I simply came in here to get..." Emmett had no idea and grabbed something randomly off a shelf, "...this!" He put it down on the counter with a flourish.

"Eau de toilette? You came for ladies' perfume?"

Shit.

"Ohhhhh?? Is that what that was? I often wondered," Emmett said slowly...and snootily, as he frantically tried to think up something that wouldn't blow his cover, "I was buying that for...I mean I have in the past as well....well it's eau de toilette right? I thought it was freshener for the outhouse! Yes, that's it! Well, you know how these things are! It can get so....disagreeable in there sometimes!" Yes! That sounded plausible! That might actually work.

"So what I'm hearing is that your shits actually DO stink," said Ethan.

"Mr. Gold! I continue to wonder how you can have a complete lack of class and manners!" Emmett did not have to fake his disdain. "Simply wrap up my purchase and I shall be on...my...way!" He spoke like he was a dignitary that Ethan should have been glad to lick his loafers and then pay him for the privilege.

Unfortunately Ethan did not do this but thankfully, he bent to obey.

"Oh and by the way, I should like to ask if you have the address of Justin Taylor, the schoolmaster? I need to inquire with him about something."

"Oh yeah? What do you want with Justin?" Ethan asked jealously.

"A personal something. As in...none of your business," Emmett said in his snootiest voice.

Ethan reached over suddenly and grabbed his arms "Come on, Emmett! Mr. HoneyCUTT! Snap out of this! I know you're not like this! I'm not really an asshole! I know....you're...something else. I'm not sure what! I've seen snooty Emmett, lumberjack Emmett, friend of Indian Emmett, and hunter Emmett with that plaid shirt you wear! I know there's still another Emmett, the real Emmett, in there and I want to know him! Justin would want to know him. And when he knows you know me maybe he'll want to know me too. I mean I know where he lives but I've never been invited over. The most I've gotten is across the street watching through binoculars. Maybe together, we can get an invite and get freaky with each other!"

Holy shit! Emmett struggled to process everything that was being thrown at him. Most of it was out of his control but one thing he knew, he was going to have to pick an outfit and stick with it for awhile. Probably this one. Drat. This one wasn't his favorite.

Emmett struggled a bit and found he had to work at disentangling himself. "Mr. Gold, Control yourself, PLEASE! He knows, you know, I know?? Get freaky??? I have no idea what you're talking about! Release me this instant and just tell me the directions so I can get out of this horrible little shop! As for what you think you saw regarding me, I've no idea! And Justin already knows me! I simply forgot my address book and need directions. Directions you WILL give me right now or I might let slip something about....binoculars, was it?" He smiled ferally.

Ethan let him go with a jerk. "Fine! Let the charade continue!" He told him the address and took the money for the perfume. He slapped down the change harshly.

"Hmmmphh!!!" Emmett hmmmphed, and flounced...No...walked quickly but poised....yes that was better...out of the shop.

"I know there's something off about you Honeycutt! I know you're different! I know you're hiding something! You'll slip up! You'll slip up and when you do, I'll catch you at it! I'll find out!" yelled Ethan after him, shaking a fist.

Emmett ignored him and walked poised out of the shop. He walked as poised as you could be along the wooden sidewalk until he got to the Diner. Debbie was the only one who knew about him. He walked inside as poised as you could be. He walked up the aisle, straight back, perfectly controlled. Deb watched interestedly and cracked her gum.

Emmett sat down at the counter, took a deep breath, began to hyperventilate and had hysterics.

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

The night before...the sawmill...

Stockwell took a couple of the smarter yet still pretty stupid thugs with him to the old sawmill to dispose of the body. He was intensely disappointed when he found there was no body to dispose of and furthermore nothing there but an axe and a mess of chopped ropes.

"Curses! Foiled again!!!" Stockwell growled out, balling his fists in anger. "How did he escape my clutches!?"

"Hmmmm. Looks like this axe cut the rope Boss! Maybe he was rescued," said a thug.

If looks were a death trap the thug would have been done for.

"I KNOW that, you idiot! But who could have rescued him. It was the perfect scenario! And he came alone! Nobody knew where he was!"

"Duhhhh!! Maybe it was that little blond shrimp who follows him around, Mr. X, sir!" said the other thug.

"Taylor! Impossible! We took care of him this....oh no we didn't! That meddler rescued him. So he's a bit of a wild card! He could have rescued him, I guess! Drat! I have to get rid of him as well! But if I try, the other will just rescue him again! There must be a way... must be a way...must be a way..." Stockwell muttered this a dozen times or so thinking furiously.

"AH HA!!! I have it! The only way to get them is to kill them together! Then they can't rescue each other! But how!!!? How???"

"Boss! Why don't we just forget about those knuckleheads and rob the bank!? I wanna rob the bank and roll in the money!!"

"Shut up, you fool!! I'm trying to....AH HA! I've got it! The perfect plan!! We'll rob the bank! We'll take a few hostages, and set a trap that neither of them will be able to resist! Then we'll capture them both in one fell swoop! Bwa! Ha! Ha!

"But Boss! What about the mon-"

"What a perfect plan! I'm so glad I thought of it! Come on boys, let's get out of here! No-one can know we were here! And we have to plan for tomorrow...and the bank!

Stockwell swept out of the sawmill, his cape swirling and flapping like a rabid bat's wing.

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

The next day...

After breathing into a paper bag and a good cry, Emmett bounced back to his chipper self and got over his sad...and remembered his mad at one annoying twink...Justin Taylor.

"I wish you'd drop all this playacting and just be yourself," Deb encouraged for the millionth time.

"Siiiiiiiigh! (said as the word) You know I'd love to Debarooni! But the timing just isn't right! My flame just burns too bright! Folks'd be blinded and I'd end up lynched!"

"Honey, you're exaggerating!"

"Well...maybe a little! But not by much! The only thing brighter than my flame is Justin's smile! Speaking of which, I have to be off! I have a bone to pick with that annoying little twink!"

"OK! Well, just think about what I said."

"I think about it all the time Deb. And I'm just glad that I can be myself in here, with you and a few others. It's the only place in town where I really feel a sense of haven and safety. The peace of freedom, you know?"

"Yeah, I think I do...."Debbie said, getting a thoughtful look on her face. "Freedom....liberty....hmmmmm...."

"Deb!? You OK, hon?"

"Oh, I'm just fine! You go on now and come back anytime!"

"All right...see you!"

Emmett left the perfume with Deb and took off. Staying out of sight of the mercantile, he made his way quickly to Justin's house.

He knocked loudly...BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!...on the door with his cane, hoping he was interrupting something.

He probably did. Justin came to the door in pyjama bottoms and a million watt smile. "Hi Emmett!" he said happily.

Emmett's eyes narrowed Oh yeah! This twink had been freshly fucked all right!

"Don't you ‘Hi Emmett' me, young man! Running off! No note! Stealing my clothes! Hmmphhh! Do you realize how worried I was!?"

"Oh Emmett! I'm so sorry! In all the excitement, I kinda forgot about you! Come on in and have some coffee!"

Emmett allowed himself to be drawn inside but he sniffed and said, "No thank you! Coffee jangles my nerves!"

"Jangles your nerves! Ha! Don't make me laugh!" snorted a voice from the bedroom. Brian came out. "Your nerves are always jangled! You should be going off like an alarm clock 24/7! Come on, Honeycutt! Take a break from that wheatgrass camomile shit. It'll put hair on your chest!"

"It's not shit! God, you're so annoying! And besides, I don't need..." Emmett turned around. "Any hair on my cheeeeeeeess....." His mouth dropped open and started drooling and making incoherent noises. "Uuuuhhhhhhhhhh......"

Brian had walked out in bare feet, his Mountie pants with the yellow stripe down the legs, his Stetson and no shirt. Hs wide shoulders, deep chest, full, developed pecs, nickel sized nips and huge arms were all on mouthwatering display. His chest was lightly dusted with his own chest hair and it tapered down into a sexy treasure trail on a shredded 8 pack and hourglass waist. Police Academy had really done a good job on Brian.

Brian flopped down on the sofa and spread out his arms wide, enjoying being on display and really enjoying how it was reducing Emmett to mush.

"Come on, Honeycutt! A cup won't kill ya!" Brian cajoled, highly amused at Emmett coming apart at the seams. At least he looked like a man this morning.

"D'uuuuuuuuhhhhhhh!!!!" Was all that Emmett managed. Also amused, Justin put a cup in Emmett's hand and poured the bitter brew. Emmett sipped without tasting anything.

Finally Emmett put his eyes back in his head, shook said head, and remembered he was mad at these two.

"Hey! Where was I? Don't think you can distract me, Mr. Men! You two still have some explaining to do! Especially you, Sunshine!"

Justin sighed. "Oh, Em! I'm sorry! But you couldn't expect me to just stay there and pace, could you? And it was a good thing I didn't! Stockwell had knocked Brian out and..." Justin explained about the sawmill. Now Emmett's eyes were wide with horror.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it! I just...very nearly....cannot believe anybody could be so crazy!"

"You wouldn't be the only one! Debbie didn't believe us at all! And I suspect, no one else in town will either!" Brian said from the sofa.

"Oh dear! Not Debbie!" mourned Emmett.

"I'm afraid so," said Justin mildly, "She'll come around in time though. In the meantime, I really want to thank you, Em!"

"Now don't think...huh? Thank me for what?"

"You're lumberjack outfit really came in handy. It allowed me to hide out effectively and rescue Brian! I really want to thank you!"

"Glad to hear it. It's my favorite costume after all."

"Well...thanks a lot! I washed and ironed them and here they are..." Justin presented him with a square bundle tied in string. "And your boots are in this bag." He indicated a paper bag.

"Oh! Well!...Hmmmph! Well!! Hmmmph!" Emmett was confused. He was still mad at these two....wasn't he? But after the explanation and the return of his belongings...cleaned and pressed no less....and the freeshow of Brian's mouthwatering cop bod...everything seemed to be melting away and wrapping up into a neat little package.

"Well....don't sneak off like that again! You were a naughty boy! A note takes 5 seconds OK?" he finally compromised between mad and forgiveness.

"Will do, Emmett and thanks...I'll come by later for my suit and...Brian!" he giggled, "What are you doing?"

Brian had grabbed his butt and was blatantly kneading the perfect globes. He reached around and felt him up from his throat to his scrote. He pinched a nipple. Justin gasped.

"Well, I figured things were wrapping up nicely," said Brian. "So I'm making you horny. Is it working?"

"Yeeeeesssss..." Justin moaned in lust after being pulled possessively against that Greek sculpture of a chest.

"Honeycutt...a pleasure but get lost OK? Say hi to Candy B for me!"

"Will do. Although I'm headed back to town for a few more errands first. Gotta mail some letters...and do some banking."

"Yeah, you have fun with that," Brian was chewing on Justin's ear.

"OK then....well, I'll just go then...No....wait....I'm forgetting something...OH!!!" It came in a flash. "Ethan! Ethan Gold!"

"What about him?" Brian was laving Justin's neck.

"I had to ask him for directions here. After he grabbed me and threatened to expose me, he let slip that he's been watching you from across the street in a tree with binoculars. I'd keep your curtains closed in front of your picture window from now on."

"HE DID WHAT!!!?" came twin voices or outrage.

"Shit!" Justin strode over and jerked the curtains closed in front of the big window.

Brian had shifted into full on cop mode. "Did he hurt you? Do you want to press charges?"

"No, no! He just wanted to hold me in place. I think my jig is up though. He knows about my costumes and role playing. He wants to know...."the real me". And Justin, don't worry. He's looking after the store right now. And I heard from Debbie that Emmy Lou isn't feeling too well. So I think you're safe right now. Just be careful at night. I'm sure he has designs on you as well."

"Yeah....good idea," Justin jerked the curtains open again but even so it was by half.

"OK...well, I guess I'll be off. Thanks for the clothes."

"Sure Em... Briii-annnn...he's not gone yet! OK...see you Em...thanks for everything...."

Emmett picked up his bundles and left the house without looking back. He took a deep breath and leaned against the door for a minute.

God-dammit! He really needed a boyfriend!

Then he headed off to the bank.

END OF PILOT PROJECT

TBC

 Disclaimers: QAF characters don't belong to me. This is fanfic and just for fun. Most, if all are OOC. Set in Canada because guess what!!? I'm Canadian! <wink>

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

EPISODE 2: THE WOES OF EMMY LOU

Chapter 1

At the Bank => Part 1

Ted Schmidt, bank manager and secret opera lover and singer, squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

The reason for this was that he was bound hand, foot, at the chest, waist, and biceps to said chair. The hands were tied to the handrests. His feet were tied to the back of the chair holding them in place. He strained and struggled against the ropes, all to no avail. He knew he was in great peril so the weird thing was; he kind of enjoyed the restraint, the tight feel of the rough ropes. He enjoyed the struggling. It was giving him a hard on which he tried to conceal from his captors as much as he could.

"HELP! HELP!!" he yelled.

"Yell all you want, you pathetic worm! All the bank tellers and customers are being held at gunpoint out in the front of the bank and no one can hear you outside! You are totally at my mercy!"

"You evil fiend! Who are you? And what do you want with me?"

The man in the dark swirling cloak, black top hat and mask that reached over ¾ of the way down his face smiled cruelly. "You may call me Mr. X. And I've told you what I want. The combination to the vault and the keys to the safe where the deeds to the mines are kept! Now cough them up! Or you'll be coughing up blood!"

""But why do you want those? It makes no sense!"

"I've decided to move my operations along a little faster. Why jump claims one by one when I can just get them to sign them over to me...and they will sign...or they will die! Now, I'm not going to ask you again! Tell me the combination and give me the key! NOW!!!" He cocked his revolver with an ominous click and pointed it straight at Ted's heart.

"You! You're the claim jumper!?"

"Indeed!"

"If you shoot me, you'll never find out!" Ted said bravely, "I'm the only one who knows the combination! Let everyone go and I'll tell you. They're of no use to you!"

"Nice sentiment! Now, here's my counteroffer!" The gun moved down to Ted's leg. "I'll shoot you in the leg. The pain will be exquisite. Or excruciating. Depends on how you look at it. And for every 15 minutes you last without telling me, I'll tell one of my boys to kill a hostage out front. I may not be able to kill you but I'll blow them away without a second thought."

Ted gulped and stared at the gun trained on his thigh as if hypnotized. He squirmed in the ropes but to no avail.

"TELL ME!!" the madman screamed.

BJBJBJBJBJ

One hour earlier:

Ted hunched over the ledgers in his office, going over the receipts and cheques and cash he had just acquired from the tellers. He wrote number after number on one side the other of ledger pages making sure they balanced at the bottom.

Numbers came easy to Ted. Numbers were safe. Numbers were comforting. Numbers never changed, never judged, never promised anything, and never let you down. They simply were there, to add, subtract, divide and multiply. Ted manipulated them and juggled them as easy as a circus clown does a bunch of balls and to Ted....it was engaging and fun. He never wanted to do anything else.

Ted was a thin man, masculine, with dark hair and a sweet yet average face. He was 40 something years old, gay and ragingly horny all the time but of course nobody knew that. And...truth be told...no one would care. He was past his prime and he knew it. Even if he wasn't stuck in this backwater hellhole where nothing happened.

Ted shrugged off the morose thoughts and rubbed his eyes through his wire rimmed reading glasses and sighed. He stretched, took a short break and then went back to work.

Fifteen minutes later he was startled out of his work by noises outside his door. There were gunshots. Screams. Yelling. Ted heard faintly, "Get down on the floor!"

The red emergency light on his intercom began flashing. That was bad. That was activated by a teller in the case of extreme distress. At the same time the lock on his door engaged with a BANG! This was also activated by the teller's panic button.

Ted reached under his own desk and pressed his panic button that was connected to the underside of it. Then, in addition, he opened a drawer and took out a telegraph that was connected to the police Dept. and started to tap out 3 short....3 long...three short. S.O.S.

Ted was able to be at this for a good 5 minutes before there was a BAM!!...at his door. Ted kept tapping away.

BAM!! BAM!! BAM!!! The door was weakening.

S.O.S...S.OS...S.O.S...

BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! SMMMAAAASSSSHHH!!!! The strong lock was broken, the door was splintered and flew open. Three masked men in black, one in a cape and top hat swarmed in. The smashed door was kicked shut as best it could be as they evilly advanced.

"Boys! Mr. Schmidt here is going to make us very wealthy. But first we have to have a little chat! Sit him down away from that telegraph and TIE HIM UP!!!"

Laughing evilly and like idiots, the two thugs in black advanced, each holding several coils of rope.

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Same time...front of the bank...

Emmett kept a wary eye on the mercantile and avoided it at all costs. And so it was that he wasn't really paying attention when he entered the bank.

Well, this didn't look right! There were customers on the floor and the tellers looked terrified and had their hands in the air. And there were several men...in...black...and...oh fuck it!

The men in black turned around and trained their guns on Emmett. "Who the hell are you?" they yelled.

Emmett gulped. "You know what? I'm nobody! I was never here. You seem busy. I'm just gonna go on and get outta your hair and..." He took a step back slowly.

"SHUT UP! Hold it right there! And reach for the sky!!"

Emmett sighed a huge breath and did as he was told.

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Justin's House...

A brown horse galloped up to Justin's yard and a rider dismounted.

He banged on Justin's door. It was Oscar, one of the other police officers in the meagre forces that Grizzly Hills possessed.

"Open up! Police!"

The door was yanked open and Brian filled the doorway. He had his police pants on but his shirt was open all the way down the front. "What is it, Oscar?"

"Brian! Thank God! Deb told me you might be here! You've got to come quick! The bank's being robbed! They've taken hostages! And the school was invaded! The kids are being held hostage! Justin didn't show up for school again! We need every man we can get and...say...why didn't you come in to work today? And what are you doing here?"

"I was going to take a "I nearly had my ass killed" day. And as for what I'm doing here, I'm doing none of your fuckin' business, that's what! Now get back to town and I'll join you shortly." WHAMM! The door was slammed shut and locked.

Oscar shrugged. Oh, well. He hadn't known Brian Kinney all that long but he knew him well enough that he did whatever the fuck he wanted. At the same time though, he was somehow very dependable. He jumped back on his horse and galloped away.

Someone with X-ray vision would have seen Brian buttoning up his shirt with lightning speed. Justin gathered his boots and gauntlets together. Brian girded himself with his belt and made sure everything was in place. By that time, Justin was holding out a boot. Brian jammed a foot into one and then the other. Justin held out his scarlet tunic and Brian backed into it. He buttoned it up quickly and when he was done, Justin was there with his gauntlets draped over his forearm. He pulled them on, flexing his fingers till they were all the way on and showed that they were, as the supple leather stretched skin tight against his fingers and knuckles. He stood there in all his Mountie glory and then gathered the blond in his arms and bent him back for a deep, hot, yet quick kiss of farewell.

The two men had never danced this dance before but they did it as if they had done it all their lives.

Someone with super hearing would have heard: "Stay here, Justin! I'll be back as soon as I can!"

"What!? No!! I'm coming with you! OK, Bank robbery might be your bag but those kids are mine! It's my fault they're in jeopardy! I've got to do anything I can to help them!"

"No way Justin! You're not a police officer! This could get you killed! I can't - I can't risk losing you!"

"I'll be careful! I'll be fine! I just want to do something! Anything to get those kids out of danger!"

"Justin! NO!" Brian's voice was of pure consternation and horror.

"Brian, I just can't sit here and pace! I've got to do something!!!!"

Brian growled deep in his throat. "RRRRRR....Silly little twat! Fine! Come on!"

Well, that's what someone would have seen and heard if they had X ray vision and super hearing. Of course no one did in the slightest so no one really saw or heard anything at all.

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Ted's Office....

"TELL ME!!!" screamed the madman.

"NO!! Not until you let the hostages go! They're useless to you!" yelled Ted.

BANG!

Ted reflexively spasmed as he tried to jump out of his skin. But he could barely squirm and he groaned.

There was a bullet hole in the floor just to the left of his leg. Mr. X slowly moved the gun back to his thigh. "Last chance! And you! Go grab a hostage and bring him over to the door.

The thug obeyed. A few minutes later he re-appeared with a tall, lanky business man type.

"Ted's eyes widened. "Emmett! But I thought you were a lumberjack!"

Emmett inwardly cringed. Oh yeah! He'd always come in with that outfit on before. Dammit! Things were really getting out of control here!

"Hi Teddy! It's not...it's not what you think..."

Mr. X moved to Emmett's side and pressed the gun to his temple. "SHUT UP!! Last chance...Teddy! The combo and key! Or I'll drop him where he stands!!"

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Oscar arrived back in town and jumped off his horse before it had fully stopped. He ran toward the bank.

"PSSSSTTT!!!!" There was a hissing signal from a narrow alley and a wad of money was flapped into view and then pulled into the alley out of sight. Oscar went to investigate.

Before he was fully there, a black leather glove grabbed his shirt front and yanked him into the alley. Oscar caught sight of a masked face before he was spun around and an arm was pulling tightly and painfully against his windpipe. The other gloved hand waved the wad of money in front of his eyes hypnotically. A voice whispered and blew erotically into his ear.

"Did you do as you were told? Did you let it slip that the school was held captive? Even though that's not the case!"

"Y - yes Sir!" Oscar managed to choke out.

"Good boy!" The leathered arm loosened its hold and the gloved hand stroked his throat lovingly. "Here is what was promised you! Continue to be our good little cop slave and there might be more! Betray us...at your peril!! He! he! he!!!" The money was slipped into his pocket and the faceless man copped a feel and laughed nastily again. Then Oscar was shoved roughly out onto the street again. When Oscar recovered his equilibrium and turned to the alley, the masked man was gone.

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Brian and Justin dashed into town on Midnight.

Brian took a quick look around and decided it was sufficiently deserted and what wasn't was concentrated on the bank. He cupped Justin's chin in one soft, supple glove and kissed him hot, hard and fast. Then he grabbed him bodily and dropped him off by the side of the horse. It was over and done by the time Justin could blink but it was done and when Justin finally comprehended what had happened he was spitting mad.

"Brian!! What the HELL do you think you're doing!?"

"Kissing my boyfriend goodbye before he heads off into a potentially perilous situation?" Brian pretended to guess.

"In public?"

"Oh yeeeeaaahhhh....about that....well, here's the thing. I kinda let it slip to Stockwell that were both gay and it seems everyone else knows there's something up so I just figured....what the hell? So...yeah...welcome to life outside the closet!"

Justin was paralyzed with rage. "Brian! How dare you! You had no right! And to our worst enemy to boot! You should have talked to me first!"

"I didn't plan it!" Brian said irritably, "It just happened! Look, I'll explain later, OK!? Right now, we both have jobs to do! I have to foil this robbery and you need to get the kids out of the schoolhouse and to safety!"

"Fine! But mark my words, mister! This discussion is NOT over!"

Brian saluted smartly and moreover tipped his hat sharply with his fingertips to convey that he understood. Justin was left feeling conflictingly angry at what he had done and horny at the erotic military display.

BJBJBJBJBJBJB

Ted's Office...

Ted's whole tied up body slumped in defeat. "OK...OK...I'll tell you! Just don't hurt him! Or anybody else. They're innocent and can't help you! The vault is under my dominion alone."

Mr. X tapped Emmett's temple with the muzzle of the gun. "I'm waaaii - tiiing," he singsonged.

"Fine! The combination to the vault is 69 L...96 R...69 L. And the key is taped to the underside of my middle drawer on the left side."

"Boys! Check it out!"

One thug rushed to the vault and the other to the desk where he pulled out the drawer and scattered the contents all over the floor. He turned it over and found the key.

"D'uhhhhh!!! Found it Boss!" the thug bragged.

Ted looked over the mess in disdain. "Classy," he remarked sarcastically. "OK! OK! You got what you wanted!! Now let him go!"

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear! Did you say: I want company while I sit here being bait for a rather large Mountie! Is that what you said? You heard him boys!" He shoved Emmett forward. "Get the extra rope and TIE HIM UP!!"

TBC

 Disclaimers: QAF characters don't belong to me. This is fanfic and just for fun. Most, if all are OOC. Set in Canada because guess what!!? I'm Canadian!

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

Chapter 2

At the Bank => Part 2

Justin snuck over to the side of the schoolhouse and tried looking in all the windows.

He was rather confused. There didn't seem to be any kids. There didn't seem to be...anyone or anything out of the ordinary inside. That was odd. But he had to make sure.

He crept around back and carefully used his key for the back door. He crept inside.

All was quiet. Well this was strange. He was right. So where were all the captured kids?

UUUGGGHHHHH!!!! He was struck from behind in the center of his shoulderblades. He was catapulted forward and over a desk to land on the other side.

He was up and turned around in a thrice though and what he saw next filled him with fear.

It was déjà vu all over again. Two musclebound black clad thugs in masks were advancing on him smacking their black-gloved fists into their black gloved palms. They laughed like Neanderthals.

"NO!! Not you! Not again!" Justin yelled.

Instead of running toward them, Justin decided to do the opposite as last time. He threw a desk at them and ran toward the front door.

This hardly fazed them though and really only served to make them mad. "D'uuuhhh! Get ‘im!!" yelled the one who took the brunt of the desk and broke it into several pieces.

Justin wrenched open the several locks on the door and yanked it open. "BRIAN!!! HELP!! HELL-MMMMPPHHHH!!!" A black glove was slapped heavily down over his mouth and an arm snaked around his torso, pulling him back. Dammit! He was...getting...pulled back in...

Oh no!! Not this time! Justin stomped...bit viciously at the palm. There was a cry of pain and it was snatched away.

At that moment, Justin saw Brian run out of a sporting goods store in response to his name. Justin knew he only had seconds.

"TRAP!! He screamed. He was grabbed tightly around the chest and pulled back into the schoolhouse. His hand caught the door frame and he kicked again. He managed to stick his head out and yell: "IT'S A TRAP!!" again before the glove landed over his mouth in a tight seal again and he was dragged by both thugs back inside.

The door was slammed and the thug holding Justin, leaned up against it as he held Justin captive and glove gagged. Justin squirmed and kicked and fought like a wildcat but it was no use. The heady smell of the leather permeated his nostrils and he wished they were Brian's gloves. But dammit, they weren't.

The second thug took his time, taking the rag out of one pocket and the bottle out of the other. He poured some of the ether onto the rag, deliberately, taunting him.

MMMMMPPPHHHH!!!!! Justin screamed against the glove and shook his head violently back and forth. His efforts to struggle redoubled.

"Hold him steady," the thug with the rag said and the other tightened his bear hug till it nearly crushed his bones. Justin groaned against the tight gag.

The rag was slowly and deliberately pressed against his nose. "Sweet dreams...again!" the thug whispered lovingly to let Justin know, yes it was indeed the same guys as before.

And then he was weighing a thousand pounds, the fog was rolling in, the blackness was descending.

BJBJBJBJB

Brian made a short detour into the sporting good store. The bank seemed to be in a kind of standoff and that wasn't going anywhere soon so he figured he had a few minutes. Plus, he didn't want to scare the civilians but there was one new tool that Brian wasn't willing to let go of at any cost.

He was just making the purchase and getting his change when he heard faintly, "Brian...Help!!"

Jamming his change into his pocket and grabbing his purchase, he ran out the door. Justin was being pulled into the schoolhouse!

"Trap!!" screamed Justin, "It's a trap!" then a black glove was gagging him and he was yanked bodily backwards into the school.

Brian didn't pause for a second. He sprinted toward the schoolhouse and dashed up the stairs and bashed open the door with a huge noise.

It was too late. The thugs were by the back door with Justin out cold and slumped over one of their shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"LET...THE BLOND...GO!!!" Brian yelled in a terrible voice. He drew his weapons. "You're under arrest!"

"Sorry lover boy! Not this time! Don't worry though! You and the cute teacher will be together soon enough! Maybe I'll have him teach me a few things first though," sneered Thug No.1, "In the mean time..." He pulled out a small black pellet the size of a large pearl and threw it to the ground. The pellet exploded and gushed out smoke that filled the room and out the back door where they were already headed.

A smokescreen! Damn! Brian began to choke and cough as the acrid smoke burned his lungs. He took a step forward but realized the smoke was burning his lungs too much and besides that he was completely blinded. He was forced to retreat out the front door where the black smoke was pouring out with a vengeance. He stumbled out, coughing. And by the time he made his way around the building, and after them, they were long gone.

BJBJBJBJJBJBJ

They had found a second chair and now Emmett was tied to it and to Ted back to back. The evildoers had pulled the ropes painfully tight and both of them couldn't move a muscle.

The thugs had opened the vault and were laughing gleefully yet moronically. Ted and Emmet could hear them having money fights with the cash. Mr. X allowed this for a while but when they started throwing around the coins, he stepped in.

"You morons! Will you cut it out and get this stuff packed up before one of you swallows a roll of nickels and goes blind!! Now hurry up!"

"D'uuuhhh! OK, Boh-oss!! They said and started to pack the money into large sacks with dollar signs ($) painted on them.

"Lord, my load is heavy!" lamented the lord of the lawbreakers.

Meanwhile, Mr. X had taken a look around the office and had devised something truly fiendishly clever.

He had found the metronome Ted used for keeping time when practicing his opera singing in the vault. He found a straight razor that Ted used to keep himself so meticulously clean shaved. And he took the spear gun that Ted had saved from his last vacation to the Caribbean off the wall. He put the spear gun on Ted's desk and pointed it at the two men who were tied back to back.

Well, to make a long story short, he tied an end of a rope to the metronome, the other end was tied to the razor which was arranged so that it hung down like a pendulum. Mr. X then tied a rope to the window shutter handle and the end of that to the spear gun trigger, which he then pulled tight and tied with the bit of rope. He armed the gun with a spear and surveyed his handiwork with evil satisfaction. Under closer scrutiny he also tied the legs of the chair to different doorknobs and such so they couldn't tip themselves over. Then he smiled. Everything was perfect and ready.

"You HAD to bring home a spear gun, didn't you? A SPEAR GUN!!? Other people would have brought a parrot...or a freakin' monkey... or a colourful shell...but oh no! You had to bring home the spear gun!" raged Emmett.

"The instructor was big, dark as rich chocolate, with muscles on his muscles. I wanted to remember him always," Ted reminisced sulkily.

"Then why didn't you bring him home!?" Emmett wailed.

Ted just shrugged miserably. Mr. X had made him the instrument of their own doom....and it was all his fault.

BJBJBJBJBJBJB

Brian finally reached the bank. He decided to table the Justin situation for now and get back to what he had come to town for in the first place. But he vowed to capture the kidnappers and if anything happened to Justin...

Brian shoved that thought away as he bounded heroically onto the scene. His gun was drawn. A new accessory was snapped onto the left side of his belt where it could be drawn by his left hand with ease. It was a leather sheath decorated with Indian art. There was a snarling wolf jumping on it. The Bowie knife was tucked snugly inside.

"Oscar! Why haven't you done anything?" Brian demanded as he made his way over to the fellow cop.

"Well, you're in charge now! I was kind of waiting on you before we did anything concrete. Besides, they have hostages and they've threatened to kill them if we did anything," Oscar lied. Actually, he had been commanded by his EVIL overlords to wait for Brian.

"Oh for the love of...Look! Just back me up, OK? Give me some cover fire if I need some! Do you think you can manage that?" Brian demanded gruffly.

"Of course, Brian," Oscar said, not planning to do anything of the sort.

Brian backed up against the side of the door and yelled, "I'm coming in to negotiate! Nobody do anything stupid!" He whipped around and pushed his way into the bank.

Oscar made to follow and then backed out quickly and barricaded the door. The maverick MP was on his own.

Inside, Brian realized this was the case. He was mad as a shook up jar of hornets. Man, he was going to chew Oscar a new asshole once this was all over!

The robber guards had each grabbed a hostage and pointed their gun at their temple. All the innocents were crying softly.

"All right copper! You're going to let us walk out of here, free and easy or everyone of these people are going to be dead before they hit the ground!" threatened the spokesman. They all began to drag their human shields toward the back toward the employee's entrance.

Brian was stymied and frustrated and furious. And then he was even more furious when Mr. X and a bunch of thugs carrying money sacks came strolling out as casual as you please, with no hostage at all, and with a swagger and smug smile on his face.

Brian swung around and pointed his gun at the smug bastard. "Hold it right there! Reach for the sky!!"

Mr. X did no such thing. He just casually waved his cash carriers ahead and turned to Brian and spoke in a chillingly evil tone.

"Lower your weapon! If anything happens to me, I have orders to have Justin instantly killed! And I have two more hostages in the bank manager's office! Only you can save them Brian! Listen! Even now, you can hear them screaming for help!"

Brian listened and indeed, he could hear faint cries for help.

"So....apprehend me....or save them! You only have time for one! Make your choice!" Mr. X laughed insanely.

Brian knew he had none. He dashed toward the back as Mr. X's mocking laughter rang in his ears.

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

A few minutes earlier:

Mr. X started the metronome moving back and forth. This moved the rope. On the other end the razor started swinging back and forth. It had been positioned right over the rope that was holding the spear gun trigger. The razor began to slice at the rope with every swing, strand by strand...by strand. Soon it would snap, the gun would fire and...

"HELLLLP!!" yelled Ted, struggling uselessly in his bonds.

"That's it! Yell! Yell for help like it's your only hope! Because it is!"

"You want us to yell? But why? Isn't this usually the part when the victims get a tight hankie gag so they can't escape?" asked Emmett curiously...and hopefully.

"Normally, yes! But you two aren't really my true targets! So I don't care if you're rescued or if you die! Just that you have no escape so you'll really yell!

Swing...slice...swing...slice...swing...slice...

"Hey, well, you're the boss! HELP!! HEEELLLLLPPPP!" yelled Ted.

"That's it! That's it! Scream....scream you're hearts out!"cried Mr. X manically, as he directed his thugs to depart and swirled away after them.

"HEEELLLLP!!! HEEEEELLLLLPP!!!" they both yelled.

Tick...tick...tick...tick...tick...went the metronome.

Swing...slice...swing...slice...swing...slice....went the razor.

TBC

 Disclaimers: QAF characters don't belong to me. This is fanfic and just for fun. Most, if all are OOC. Set in Canada because guess what!!? I'm Canadian!

PLEASE REVIEW!!

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

Part 2:   Chapter 3

The Mine

Justin groaned as he awoke. It was dark and his head was pounding again. That damn ether!

His hands were tied behind his back. His chest was tied up again. His legs were tight together. It was dark. He couldn't see a thing. At least...at least he felt like he was right side up...He thought.

He struggled a bit. He wiggled his legs. That was strange... He moved them back and forth. He realized he was starting to swing.

Justin began to scream. He was trapped, tied up in the dark. And it could have been a foot...or many stories high...but it was clear he was suspended in the air.

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Tick...tick...tick...tick...tick...went the metronome.

Swing...slice...swing...slice...swing...slice....went the razor.

"HELLLLPP!!" screamed Emmett and Ted.

The rope was nearly half way cut. Was halfway cut....Swing...slice...swing...There went a few more strands.

"HEEELLLLLPPPP!!" screamed the two men

CRRRAASSSHHHHH!!! The door to Ted's office smashed open and in the opening was framed the biggest most magnificent man Ted had seen since the Caribbean. It was a "pec"cy Mountie with huge thick arms that could hold a man in the morning and open a stubborn jar of pickles at night. His scarlet tunic was so red it hurt his eyes and his eyes flashed a magnificent holy....

Ted shook his head. What the hell was he doing???

"Help!!" he yelled, "Just get us out of the way of the gun! It's rigged to fire any second!!"

Brian took in the situation in a second. The ticking metronome, the spear gun, the legs of the chair tied so they couldn't tip over...

That was it!! Brian rushed over, drew his Bowie knife and sliced away the ropes on the right side of the chair.

Swing...slice...swing...slice....the rope was starting to fray....unravel....

Brian shoved the two men over to the left and hurled himself over and to the right.

SNAP!!! WHIZZZZ!! CHUNK!!! The spear fired and buried itself into the wall.

Ted and Emmett were tipped heavily over, sideways. They both landed painfully on their shoulders.

"OOOOOWWWWWW!!!" they yelled.

"Oh, just be glad of the pain you twats! It means you're still alive! And...Honeycutt!!? What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Oh, didn't you know? Being a tied-up hostage was at the top of my to-do list this morning! Just get me the hell out of here!!"

Brian just rolled his eyes and got to work, sawing at the ropes tying Ted's wrists to the armrests.

"Be careful, Bri!" Emmett warned. "That whacko told us that we were bait for a big Mountie! He wanted us to scream for help! Which maybe makes me think that this is..."

"A TRAP!! Brian!! LOOK OUT!!!" yelled Ted who was facing the right direction. But it was too late.

UUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!

Have you ever been whacked from behind with a sack full of nickels? Well, neither have I...but Brian just was and even for that fine figure of a man that had been carefully molded and made in the image of the police academy, it was a stunning blow. Brian was knocked forward and flat on his face. The wind was knocked out of him. His knife went skittering across the floor out of reach.

The thug who had been hiding in the vault and waiting this entire time, jumped onto Brian. He turned him over onto his back and straddled him. Brian continued to gasp for breath.

Ted and Emmett struggled mightily. They were still mostly immobilized. Brian had only managed to cut through two of Ted's wrist ropes. But maybe...Ted struggled and twisted his hands.

Finally, Brian‘s lungs regulated and he sucked in a huuuuge breath. Then another. God....not breathing...really took the strength out of a guy!

"Got your breath back?" the masked thug in black asked.

Brian nodded and started to tense to struggle out of his predicament.

The thug only laughed and then grabbed him by the throat with one leather gloved hand. Brian started to choke again. He grabbed that arm with both of his Mountie gauntlets but he was still weakened from his encounter with the sack of nickels. Hey he was still strong, don't get him wrong, just not...100 percent.

"My friends took the ether to use on your school buddy so the Boss left me this to help you to sleepytime!" The thug laughed unkindly and still pushing Brian's head into the floor, he pinched his cheeks with a thumb and finger. Brian's mouth was forced open. With his other hand he took a bottle out of a pocket and dumped in the contents: a single pill.

The thug released Brian's throat but before he could spit it out, his hand smacked down over Brian's mouth in a tight glove gag.

Brian struggled mightily and shook his head desperately, trying to dislodge the glove. The heady smell of the leather filled his nostrils and it reminded him of Justin. Conflicting sensations rushed through him. He loved it. He hated it. He couldn't...get...free.

And then the thug was stroking his throat with his other leather glove and whispering in his ear. "That's it...swallow...swallow.... relax boy...swallow and sleeeeep...."

"MMMMMPPPHHH!!!"

SHIT!! But it was no use. Brian responded reflexively to the gentle massaging to his throat and he swallowed. And then...everything was getting hazy...the thug had released him and was laughing...but it was all long and drawn out and distorted... HAWWWWWW ....HAWWWWWW... HAWWWWWW...HAWWWWWWWWWW!!! Things were blurry. Things were heavy. His eyes were heavy...so heavy...everything was slowing down...everything was stopping...everything went black.

Still tied up to each other, Ted and Emmett could only watch as the burly thug got up and slung the now unconscious Brian over his shoulder.

"If you were thinking of following me...you should keep this in mind," the thug said menacingly. He strode over and smashed a powerful leg through Ted's window and part of the wall as well. Guffawing loudly, he made his escape, kidnapping the hunky Mountie as he did so. With his other hand he picked up and stole the last bag of nickels to boot!

Ted and Emmett were left tied up in the ruined and ransacked office.

BJBJBJBJBJBJB

The first thing he was aware of was flickering lights.

The second that he was feet weren't touching the ground.

This jolted him awake in a hurry. His eyes flew open and he sucked in a huge breath. The air was stale and his throat was dry.

"Welcome back!" said an unpleasant voice that didn't sound welcoming at all.

"So, what fresh hell is this?" croaked Brian.

He looked down and saw that he was suspended over a black void. His legs were tied up haphazardly but with enough rope to practically mummify him. His arms were tied behind his back and his arms to his chest. Rope was coiled at least 10 times around his chest. More rope was tied off in a big knot and went up and over a pulley attached overhead...somehow above in this dank cave. This rope was then attached to mine tracks. Brian could see a second rope tied there and followed it till he saw Justin dangling beside him, tied up in a similar manner. The two ropes were holding back a mine cart filled with dynamite. Brian could see the track was on a slight incline and the only thing holding it back was the ropes that held them up. Another rope was tied to them and attached to the cart itself

"Funny you should use the expression! For hell is where I am going to send you!" Came Stockwell's chilling voice

"Oh cut the crap, Stockwell! Where the hell, are we? And will you let Justin go!? He has nothing to do with this! If you want to punish me for my efforts to bring you to justice, that's one thing but he knows nothing about that! We don't talk about work! So you have no reason to kill him!"

"Actually, I do! First of all, if you think I believe that, you crazier than I am!"

"I don't think that's possible," Brian quipped.

Stockwell reddened. His mask was off so it was a safe bet that it was just the three of them. He looked extra greasy in the torchlight. He held two torches aloft and in the light it was evident that they were in some sort of mine shaft.

"And secondly..." he continued, sounding even more evil if that were possible, "I DO have a reason for wanting him dead! He knows who I am! Who I really am! And we can't have that now, can we?" He twirled his moustache and swooped closer. "Bet you wish you never pulled my mask off now, do you boy!?"

Justin whimpered and struggled away from Stockwell's repulsive fingers as they stroked a cheek.

"Don't you TOUCH him!" yelled Brian in a terrible voice.

"I'm straight, actually," Stockwell said conversationally, "However....if I wasn't...or even inclined, I could totally see where you're coming from. You really know how to pick ‘em Bri. Young. Skin as soft as cream...Mmmmm.... Pray I never see you again. If I do...I might find myself... inclined... just for the hell of it!"

Brian was so mad his face was as red as his tunic. "We WILL get out of this, you monster! And if you ever threatened Justin like that...I'd cut off your cock in the middle of main street! And be damned if anyone cared about it! You may have everyone else in this burg snowed but not us! And we will stop at nothing to expose you once and for all!"

"Brave words! But I don't think so! My bank trap worked out perfectly and now I have you both! So there'll be no one saving the other nonsense! There's no one to save you this time! Bwa hahahahaha!!!"

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

Emmy Lou Gold sat in front of her dressing table mirror. A tear ran down her face. An open letter sat beside her on the dressing table.

It was getting worse. And she was running out. Her gaze turned regretfully to the letter and then to the mint box also hinged open. There was about 10 or so left, enough for another 2 days or so and then...oh hell, what was she going to do?

She had told Ethan that she wasn't feeling well, which had then progressed into a full on head cold that had left her bedridden. She refused to come out of the bedroom. Ethan brought her meals but he only managed soup and sandwiches. Ethan, poor dear, was a dullard in the kitchen. So she'd also sneak out for something decent at night. But only when she was sure Ethan was asleep.

Well, of course, Emmy Lou wasn't sick at all. She was healthy as a horse and proud of it. But she couldn't go out...couldn't show her face...not when it looked...like this.

She would have to leave again. Just for another trip to "her mother's". But Ethan was hovering so close, it looked like she might have to leave under darkness again. And where to? She'd run out of favors and she was so far along at this point, none of her girlfriends would take her in. Why, they'd hardly recognize her! And the ones who did...Emmy shuddered to think what would happen. Scandal!

No, the only solution was to hide...until this was over. Her gaze turned distastefully to the letter she had received yesterday. Why?? Why must she deal with such incompetents?

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Honey!? Sweetie? Are you feeling any better? It's lunch time!"

Emmy Lou brushed her cheeks frantically. "Just a minnnnn-nnnute!" she trilled.

She snapped the mint case shut, grabbed it and the letter, and hotfooted it over to the bed. She jumped in and buried both items deep under the bedcovers. She hurriedly wrapped a scarf around her neck and jammed the wig of blond ringlets on her head, unaware that it was slightly askew. She covered up to her nose and then warbled out weakly, "Come in..."

Ethan entered with the homogenous soup and sandwich that made Emmy Lou want to scream in boredom. But she dared not do so; instead she smiled tightly, coughed and thanked her husband gently. He kissed her gently and tried to feel her forehead but she shied away from his touch. Ethan tried to squelch down the disappointment and wondered what had happened to them. Emmy Lou had always been so affectionate with him and now she would barely let him take care of her in her hour of need.

"I hope you don't mind...I was thinking about going to Kip's this evening...Shouldn't wait up...Will you be all right if I do?" he asked.

"Oh yes...that'll be fine! You have a good time...don't worry about me....just enjoy yourself." At last...some time to herself in the house to get something decent to eat and have a run around!

"OK...well, call me if you need anything...anything at all," Ethan finally said and left.

"Oh yeah. She had to leave and soon. But where? Who would help her?

And then an image filled her mind, a memory that was so quick, yet so, so profound.

She had been sitting on her window seat, staring out the window, trying not to die of boredom when that new Mountie and Justin had galloped into town. The schoolmaster rode in front as he always did, with the Mountie's huge arms, bumpy with muscles, wrapped protectively around him. And then....and then Brian had cupped Justin's chin in on sexy smooth gauntlet and bent to give him a quick but searingly hot kiss before lifting him bodily off the horse.

Emmy Lou's eyes had bugged out of her head like eggs and her mouth dropped open to her chin. Constable Brian!!? Justin!!? That way?? Really?? Oh my God!!! But then...that would explain Brian's feverish wondering as to Justin's whereabouts the other day.

And maybe if they were...that way...they'd be more inclined to help her out. If worse came to worse, she could turn the screw a little...Emmy Lou hated to use the word blackmail...it was so ugly. But if worse came to worse...well, Emmy Lou was desperate. There was no other word for it.

BJBJBJBJBJBJB

"Bwa-hahahahahaaa!!!!" cackled Stockwell maniacally.

"Curse you villain!" Brian intoned heroically. He struggled experimentally. DAMN! The ropes were tight as a drum. He could barely squirm. "You'll never get away with this!"

"Oh? I disagree! You see, I already HAVE gotten away with it! Not only do I have you both in my clutches, but now I have enough funds to pay off my underlings for a year at least! And I have all the deeds I need to steal any gold mine I want, whenever I want....with a little...creative persuasion that is." He twirled his moustache thoughtfully...and evilly.

"So...you're planning to torture more innocents or even threaten their lives...to feed your insatiable greed! You fiend! I won't let you succeed!" cried Brian.

"Well, look who became a poet....and didn't know it," mocked Stockwell.

"It sounded cooler in my head," muttered Brian.

"Oh whatever! You'll prevent nothing! As you can see, I've really gone all out on this one! Let me talk you through it!"

"Do we have a choice?" asked Brian.

"No! So just hang there and enjoy it!"

Both Brian and Justin sighed long-sufferingly.

"As you can see, these ropes are the only thing holding back this cart. They are also the only things holding you up! So..."

He twisted the two torches around each of their ropes so that eventually the torches would burn through and burn the rope. This would set them free to plummet down the mine shaft and at the same time set the mine car free to roll down after them. For good measure, he wrapped a string of small dynamite sticks around one of the ropes that would be on fire. This would set everything else on fire and blow whatever was left of them to smithereens.

"As you can see the mine shaft is the black void. It's about 100 feet deep give or take. The mine cart will set whatever's left of you on fire. As I said, nice choice of words Constable! However you look at it, I'm sending you to Hell!"

"So, it looks like we can add a God complex to the list of crazy on you!" piped up Justin bravely and for maybe the first time. "But you are hardly God and you will not succeed!"

"Save your bravado for the angels! Or the demons, I don't really care! Rot in Hell! I'm done with you...and there's no one to save you now!!!" Stockwell turned and swooped out of the mine like a mangy, flea ridden bat, laughing maniacally.

"I'm afraid he's right Sunshine! Damn! Can't get loose...of these ropes!"

"There must be a way! Must be someone who would hear!" Justin also struggled without any result and they both yelled until they were hoarse. Of course no one came.

The torches continued to burn torturously slow until they were halfway used up and halfway to the rope.

"So...you had to out me to that, did you?" Justin said resentfully.

"Justin! Do you really want to go through this in our last minutes? Maybe moments?"

"Sorry...I just...don't know what else to say right now."

There was a moment of silence.

Keeping an eye on the flames which were burning closer...and closer......and closer.....he finally said, "I thought he already knew. I asked him if it was part of a hate crime, him coming after you. I'm sorry Justin. It was an accident."

"I guess it doesn't matter," Justin said dully, "It looks like he really got us over a barrel this time. He knew exactly how to play us Brian! And he could do it again, at any time, even if we did find a way out of this."

The flames burned slowly closer.

"Oh, Sunshine, I lo - I mean, I love the way your hair glows in the firelight. Just want you to know...been the best couple of weeks of my life."

The flames burned closer. They were almost there.

But Justin understood. "Love you too, Brian. Oh God! What if I fall in first!?"

"Then...no matter what...I'll be right after you!"

There were two soft whumps as the ropes caught fire.

Both men yelled again for help in renewed fear. The rope quickly burned up and down. The string of dynamite started and lit up in a chain reaction that led to the entire cart getting lit up just as Stockwell had fantasized.

"HELLLLLP! HEEEELLLLLLLP!!!

The rope quickly unravelled. And then....SNAP! SNAP!

Together....The two men plunged into the void!

TBC

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

Chapter 4

A Question of Gratitude

Last Time...

There were two soft whumps as the ropes caught fire.

Both men yelled again for help in renewed fear. The rope quickly burned up and down. The string of dynamite started and lit up in a chain reaction that led to the entire cart getting lit up just as Stockwell had fantasized.

"HELLLLLP! HEEEELLLLLLLP!!!

The rope quickly burned through and unravelled. And then....SNAP! SNAP!

And Now...

Together....The two men plunged into the void!

"YAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH - OOOFF!!"

Up above, two pairs of hands had grabbed their two ropes and halted their fall into a silent, deep and pitch dark doom...just in the nick of time!!!

Hand over hand, and what seemed torturously slow, but really as quickly as they could the captive crimefighters were hauled upwards until they were lying on the floor of the mine tunnel once again.

"Whewww, thanks fellas! We were about..." started Brian.

"There's no time for that now! Do what I say or we're all goners! Roll to the sides of the tunnel, NOW!"

The two men obeyed.

Long and surprisingly athletic legs gave a mighty kick with a "HEEEEE - YAHHH!" thrown in for good measure. The mine car, still a blazing time bomb, rolled quickly past them and plunged down into the deep mine shaft, car, explosives and all. As it rolled forward and plunged in, it made way to reveal their deliverers....Emmett and Ted!

"But...but how!?" gasped Justin.

"There's no time to explain! We're still in terrible danger with that mine car----- waiting to go off," said Emmett.

"Remember this!?" said Ted, holding up the Bowie knife in the light of their smaller torch that Emmett just relit with a match.

Wasting no more words, he bent and sliced Brian out of his bonds and then hurried to do the same to Justin. The two men helped the rescued rangers to their feet and at that moment the booby trapped mine car exploded with a great noise and a pillar of flame that reached even up to where they were. The fire filled the tunnel like a solid mass of flame and smoke. It came closer and closer with a great noise. It was as if they were trying to outrun dragon's breath. The mine tunnel quaked horribly and cracked some of the supports, starting a horrible chain reaction.

"RUN!!!!" screamed Emmett, doing just that, dragging Justin along as best he could who desperately tried to get his circulation back.

This earthquake was so intense that it was felt all the way back in Grizzly Hills. The townspeople felt it deep within their bones and wondered what it was. Debbie felt it and saw all the dishes and glasses clink and clatter on their shelves. One glass moved across the counter and smashed on the floor.

Stockwell, who was still on his way home, felt it and just rubbed his hands together and smiled evilly. He relished every tremor and then continued on his way.

Meanwhile, the firestorm continued to advance. One support cracked through completely and fell in. There was another huge rumbling as tons of rock and dirt fell in behind them.

This shot all four men full of adrenaline but it wasn't enough to get Justin completely up to speed. He still limped along like a bear with a thorn stuck in his paw.

Emmett saw the next support crack and buckle. If something wasn't done, the cave in would overtake them in no time. There was no time to lose.

Quickly, the lanky man butted Justin in the stomach and lifted him fireman carry style with surprising strength. He ran for his life.

Brian, on the other hand, felt the adrenaline rush, felt his police training kick in and pins and needles sweep the numbness away. It swept everything away except the training. And so it was he who grabbed Ted in one burly arm and ran with him over a shoulder.

CRACK! BLAM! CRACK! BLAM! CRACK! BLAM! Supports blew out one after another, coming closer and closer. Throughout, was the steady roar of the firestorm coming closer....and closer...and closer...Soon it would overtake them. They ran faster.

Emmett ran as fast as his long legs would let him letting his small torch in front of him, not to mention the firestorm in back of him, guide his way.

The fire and smoke were exploding the collapsing tunnel out of their way, hungry to overtake the desperate adventurers and devour them.

There! A light in the distance! The mouth of the tunnel.

The mine shaft was full on collapsing behind them now Support after support collapsed and caved in.

Both Emmett and Brian's lungs were bursting but they knew they had to keep going. They put on a final burst of speed with the cave in right behind them. They ran....ran...reached...and jumped out of the tunnel instants before the cave in reached them. The mouth of the tunnel was filled with tons of rock and debris seconds before they jumped out. Both men launched themselves forward, grabbed and shielded their charges and rolled to either sides of the tunnel.

FOOOOOMMMMM!!!! An explosion of fire blew out the mouth of the tunnel before it was once again covered and smothered by the continuing cave in. Finally the various rumblings faded away and it was silent.

The four men unrolled and sat up. They were dishevelled and dusty, red-eyed, parched and exhausted. Now that they had time to look, they saw that Emmett was still wearing what was left of his snooty suit. However, it was shredded. It was ripped to ribbons and dust and dirt had been so ground in, in places that it would never come out.

Justin sat up and commented on it. But Emmett waved him off.

"Oh, don't worry about it, my sweet ray of Sunshine! Besides, I have a feeling that certain jig is up anyway!"

Brian and Ted were sitting up as well. Both were sore and felt it and they made their way over to the others slowly.

"Geez, Honeycutt, where'd you learn to do all that?" Brian asked incredulously.

"K-O-Karate training at the Hazelhurst Community Center. A must for any gay boy living in Hazelhurst Mississippi. Of course, I was the only gay boy in Hazelhurst...Anyway, it gave me a killer kick and wicked core strength to this day."

"But why didn't you tell us before this?" asked Justin. "I mean you must still practice!"

"Well, of course I do sugar! But you never asked! And besides, it's not exactly the thing that comes up in polite conversation! I mean, think of it!...More honey for your tea?...Oh thank you, what nice drapes!....Oh by the way, I'm a black belted killing machine! You see? It just isn't done!"

Brian rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. Drama queen Emmett was back with a vengeance. "What I really want to know...is how are you guys here!? I mean, thanks a lot! We were done for! But how did you find us!"

"Oh now that IS a story!" enthused Emmett. "You see it all started back at the bank after you were sedated and kidnapped. The big galoot stole you and the last sack of nickels he used to whack you with and then...."

BJBJBJBJBJBJBJ

Earlier that day...

It was a few moments after the thug had gone out the window with Brian and the sack full of nickels.

Ted and Emmett struggled around in their tied up and now tipped over condition.

"Did he manage to do anything over there?" called Emmett, "I can't move a muscle!"

"Yes. But only a few ropes on my wrist! I think it's enough to just...to try and..." Ted pulled and twisted struggled around his wrist and in a few moments he managed to twist free. "Got it!" He used that hand to untie his other and then his biceps and legs. But he couldn't reach around to where he'd been tied around his chest and waist. This was unfortunately, the crucial part for Emmett who was still bound up securely.

Now that his legs were free, it was a simple...well, fairly simple task to drag them over to Brian's Bowie knife that had been jolted out of his grasp earlier. Ted got the knife and sliced himself the rest of the way free and then set about freeing Emmett. Moments later they were both standing up and rubbing the circulation back into their arms and legs.

"Oh shit! Look what they've done to my office!" wailed Ted.

"Screw your office! That guy just kidnapped Brian! Which means sure as shootin' they've kidnapped Justin! We've got to follow that guy right away before the trail goes cold!"

"But he told us not to," objected Ted weakly.

"Theodore Schmidt! There are a lot of reasons I have been hesitant and dare I say it, ashamed to set foot in this town but I never thought for the life of me that one of those reasons would ever be YOU!"

Emmett strode over and ripped the spear gun arrow out of the wall. There was a crunching noise and spiderweb cracks formed all around where it had been. A sizable piece of the wall collapsed and Emmett was looking at a huge hole in the wall. Emmett sighed but soldiered on.

"This almost had your name on it!" she shouted, a bit too shrilly. He tapped the arrow against Ted's chest but only succeeded in cutting off the man's tie. "That big red musclehead saved your life and you're just going to abandon him!? Well, not on my watch! We're going to rescue them, not listen to the bad guys! They're not the boss of us!" In emphasis, Emmett threw the arrow defiantly away over his shoulder. There was a sound of glass smashing. Emmett winced.

That was something expensive, wasn't it?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," sighed Ted.

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"Will you two chuckleheads stop screwing around and get to the point!" yelled Brian, "Just skip to the part on how you managed to find us!"

"Oh that's simple!" elucidated Emmett, "Once we finally got going, we went out what was left of the window and followed the guy's tracks. What with carrying you and all that coined cash, he left quite deep footprints that were as easy as pie to follow. We followed him to the edge of town where he was joined by a bunch of other prints. These led up here. We stayed in hiding around the corner until Stockwell came running out laughing like a lunatic. We ran in as fast as we could in time to save you. And the rest...is history!"

"It must be, from the way you tell it," grumbled Brian, "I've always found history stories long and boring!"

"You know, I'm detecting a distinct lack of gratitude here," huffed Emmett.

"Oh, I'm sooooo sorry! What can you expect from a musclehead?" Brian grumbled back.

By this time, Justin had made his way over to Brian. He grabbed his hand and squeezed surprisingly hard. "Emmett, Ted...Of course, we're grateful....Aren't we, Brian!?" he said squeezing again. Brian took a deep breath and nodded smiling fakely. "And Emmett...maybe musclehead was a rather harsh term. After all, Brian did save you and Ted as well."

"Well...I guess it was..." Emmett huffed, "Sorry. It just slipped out in the heat of the moment I guess."

"Good....now that that's settled...Let's get out of here and go home," said Justin.

And they did.

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The next morning...

Justin jolted awake and found he could not go back to sleep.

This was rather odd because they had only gotten a few hours sleep. After the four of them had made their way back to Justin's they skulked around and hid out like they were the criminals. When it was apparent that no one was watching the house and/or coming after them, Emmett said he needed to go home to Candy Boy and Ted decided to go with him. Emmett's house was nice and secluded which was perfect since they were both supposed to be...well, dead. Also, they had talked out most of their issues and once Ted found out why Emmett was dressing up, he could understand. They found themselves talking about other things and soon Ted was more than willing to take it back to Emmett's to continue....talking... more in private. (Yeah right! )

And of course, after they had left, the gloves came off (and the boots and the pants and the shirts) and they began another marathon of mind-blowing survivor sex and bondage. This continued long into the night.

And so it was, that Justin was awake and turning around to find a new warm spot deeper into the bed and Brian's arms when he realized the brown pair of eyes that didn't know they were soulful were open and looking at him hungrily.

"Good morning," said Justin. It was the rosiest pink of the crack of dawn.

"It will be once I'm balls deep in your hot ass!" said Brian incorrigibly, "Are you ready for round...what are we on now?"

"Eight, I think. I've lost count. And I'd love to oblige but....mmmpppphhhhhh...mmmmmmmmm....."

But Brian didn't want any buts except the sweet cheek he grabbed in one meaty palm to pull them closer together to grind their cocks together and shove his tongue down Justin's willing throat. He kneaded the sweet ass and loved the second groan that resulted.

Justin allowed this for a little while since this was quickly becoming his favourite spot in the whole world. Well, second favourite but it was a close second to having Brian's dick shoved balls deep into his horny ass.

Finally though, he broke apart and murmured, "Something woke me up, I think."

"It's the crack of dawn. What could it be?"

"I don't know. I just feel....something."

"Well don't worry. Stockwell thinks we're dead for the time being and even super criminals need their beauty sleep. It must be anxiety. But trust me, nothing's out there. Besides, I'm here to protect you."

"God, that's hot," Justin moaned.

"Just like you. Now don't worry! We're fine. Absolutely nothing's going to go wrong!"

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Justin sat bolt upright in bed. "I knew I felt like something was going to happen!" He looked over wryly. "You were saying?"

"Oh, whatever!" Brian said, rolling over and pulling the covers over his head, "It's too early! Tell whoever to come back next week."

"Hey!!! What happened to ‘I'm here to protect you?"

Brian's only response was a pretended snore.

Justin rolled his eyes and poked him. "That wouldn't fool anybody! Now put on some pants and follow me!"

Brian sighed hugely but obeyed.

The plaintive knock came again.

Justin pulled on some pants commando style and for good measure pulled on his robe for good measure. Brian pulled on a shirt but left it unbuttoned and also his pants and they went to investigate. On the way, Brian grabbed the poker.

"Uhhh....coming!" called Justin.

Brian set up shop behind the door and Justin cautiously answered it. They both recoiled in horror.

They were faced with a most unusual and spectacularly ugly creature.

Dear Reader, I call it a creature because what was now standing on Justin's doorstep defied description. So here goes: It was not man. It was not a woman. It was...human. That much was sure. The rounded head and pointy chin resembled an egg exactly. The head was perfectly bald except for growing out of the back in a semicircle, were thin ringlets of blond...ish hair that hung down past the shoulders. The ears were pierced. The face. Oh dear. There was a womanly button nose but other than that...the mouth was too large, the chin too sharp and the cheeks and forehead too wide to be a woman's. He...surely, it was a he...had deep, also dirty blond, five o clock shadow. And yet...the eyes were too dainty and sky blue to be called anything else except a woman's. And the body was only 5'8" or so, definitely not tall or wide enough to be a man's.

The...thing...wore black rain boots, a dress, but as if it had been thrown on in a hurry. And somehow...the curves...didn't quite fit. The chest was too flat. Over this was a large over coat and it wore a woman's Sunday hat. It carried a large carpet bag suitcase.

"Hello Justin. Hello Brian. Good morning. I'm sorry to call so early but I need your help. May I come in?" the voice was cultured, very polite but deep like a man's.

"I'm sorry but who -"

"...Or what..."

"Do we know you?" finished Justin politely, jabbing Brian in the stomach with his elbow.

"Oh, of course. I know I look a fright. Justin...Brian...it's me...I'm Emmy Lou."

TBC

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

Chapter 4

The Woes of Emmy Lou

   It was a few minutes later.

   Justin and Brian graciously invited Emmy Lou inside and now they all sat awkwardly in the living room. Emmy Lou sat primly in a chair and Brian and Justin sat dumbfounded on the sofa.

   Brian had put the coffee on. He had a feeling he was going to need a lot of it when it was done.

   "Well, you're probably wondering what's happening," said Emmy Lou awkwardly. Now that she actually had to cross this bridge, she wasn't quite sure where to start.

   Brian and Justin just nodded dumbly.

   "Well, as you can see...I'm not exactly....normal," said Emmy Lou in her deep man voice.

   Brian nodded. "Boy, you can say that again!"

   Justin grimaced in embarrassment and smacked him.

   "Ow! What? I was agreeing with her...him...with...Emmy! Ow! You know, I'll just shut up now!"

   "An excellent idea!" snarled Justin. To Emmy Lou he said, "Were you in an accident, Emmy?"

   "Alas no. This is the real me, I'm afraid. Brian, I don't really blame you. I know I look like a freak. Perhaps I am one. As for gender, I'm confused myself. I suppose in a way, I'm both. Or neither. Depending on how you look at it."

   "How can you be neither?" asked Brian.

   "It's just my overwhelming strangeness cancels everything out. Some days...some days...I don't even feel human....much less like a woman."

   "Are you a woman?" asked Justin. "I mean...I just...I'm very confused. You've always just been...Emmy Lou...you know?"

   "Let me explain. Inside, I feel very much like a woman. I mean....I'm attracted to men. I love Ethan very much. And I enjoy womanly things and enjoy...no that's not the right word for it...I feel more comfortable...more right...wearing woman's clothes. But outside...I'm like this...and down...down there....well I'll spare you a visual...but...I have both...I have both...a penis...and a vagina."

   Brian and Justin were hornswoggled. Brian took a deep swallow of bitter, black coffee.

   "I'm told it has a certain name. I keep forgetting. Hermee....Hermphrody...oh dear!"

   "A hermaphrodite!" breathed Justin wonderingly.

   "Why yes! That's it! My goodness, Justin! You really are very clever!" said Emmy Lou.

   "But why? Why do you look like that!?" Brian said in consternation. To placate Justin, he added quickly, "I mean, I swear it was just a few days ago that you looked normal...like a woman I mean."

   "Ah yes! Well, here's the answer to that. You see..."

   KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

   They all jumped.

   "Now who could that be?" wondered Emmy Lou.

   "I'm not sure. But we have acquired a few enemies recently. It's best to be cautious," said Brian.

   "Oh my! How strange! Well, at any rate, no one must know that I'm here. I sneaked out and left a note that I was going to my mother's for a while."

   "Go ahead and hide in the bedroom," Justin instructed. In moments, they took up this plan. Emmy Lou hid in the bedroom along with her bag and once she was behind the door, Brian once more took up vigil with the poker and Justin carefully opened the door. But once more, it was a complete surprise. It was the last person that they wanted or expected.

   "Justin! I have great news! I'll be alone for the next few weeks! Emmy Lou went to her mother's! We can be together! I've missed you so much!"

   Justin was flummoxed. "Ethan!!? What the hell are you talking about!!?"

   "Oh Justin! Don't play hard to get! Not now! Not now when we can be together! I've seen all the signs. You coming in to my place all the time! Accepting my gifts! The way you held my hand! You've driven me wild!"

   Justin's jaw dropped down to his chin. Unfortunately, Ethan took this to mean entirely the wrong thing and grabbed Justin in an embrace and kissed him, shoving his slimy tongue into his open mouth before Justin could stop him.

   Brian was paralyzed with stupefaction and rage. He simply could not move for a few moments. The poker dropped out of his hand. The DONGGG!!!...as it hit the ground seemed to wake everybody up and several things happened at once.

   Ethan pulled back a bit in confusion. Justin placed both hands on Ethan's shoulders and shoved hard in disgust. And Brian stepped out from behind the door to stand behind Justin with his hands on his shoulders in towering rage and hate.

   "But... but....Justin, who is this person!?" asked Ethan, as if he were the injured party.

   "Ethan, what the fuck!!?" Justin sputtered, "You know who this is! This is Constable Kinney and he's...well, he's what you seem to be deluded into thinking that you are! HE is my boyfriend Ethan, not you! Are you completely loco?"

/   "But...but...I though...You held my hand..." Ethan continued to mewl.

   "Oh...wow! OK, Ethan, you were the one holding my hand! And we weren't. You would grab my hand and shake it and not let go. It was awkward and embarrassing. Second, you gave me bits of candy and jerky. I would give that stuff to the schoolkids and a dog! It's not like we were exchanging jewellery or anything! And as for coming in all the time, well you run the only mercantile in town! Of course I come in! To buy stuff!"

   "But...but...Justin...don't do this....we belong together...we just have to be careful...."

   Justin frowned and then looked closer. He poked Brian and gestured. They were both alarmed to see one of Ethan's eyes rolling back and forth and around while the other one remained fixed and dilated. It was clear the man had completely snapped.

   "Oh yes!!? And what exactly do you have to be careful about?" piped up a deep voice. "Could it be because...you're married!"

   Everyone swung around to look. Emmy Lou had come out of the bedroom. What was left of her hair was hid underneath one of Justin's hats and she had inexpertly dressed herself in one of his suits. What with her hair hidden and her five o'clock shadow, she looked like a small, and rather ugly, androgynous man.

   "What business is that of yours?" Ethan shot back, "How do you know I'm married? And who the hell are you anyway?"

   "Ethan! It's...Don't you know....Oh the hell with it! You can call me Lou! Justin was kind enough to offer me a place to stay for a while. I had a fight...with my wife," he said meaningfully.

   "Sucks for you," said Ethan rudely, "Mind your own business!"

   Lou's lip wobbled and his eyes grew moist. Abruptly, she turned her back.

   "You know what! It's MY business!" said Brian, "The fact is...you ARE married! And for all intents and purposes...I am married...to Justin! Not you! Look, I don't care if you are homosexual or bi or....whatever the hell you are!! The fact is, you are married, you made your choice now deal with it. You made your bed! Now lie in it! Don't ever touch Justin again! Don't come around here again! Oh! And we've been apprised of your nocturnal activities involving binoculars!" He grabbed Ethan around the shoulders in a tight ‘buddy hug' and steered him toward the road. At the same time, he put his mouth close to his ear but the words spoken next were far from friendly.

   "I'll be making periodic checks over there. If I ever catch you watching us or stalking Justin in any way....you won't make it back to town alive. Now beat it!" Brian let him go, gave Ethan a swift kick to the behind that landed Ethan face first in the street, and then strode back inside Justin's little house.

   The door slammed and locked. The drapes were pulled shut.

BJBJBJBJBJBJ

   Ethan picked himself up from where Brian had kicked him full length and face first, smack dab in the mud of the muddy road. He began to trudge away from his lover's house and back to town.

   How could Justin have done that? After all he'd done for him...for them to be together. Why was he saying all those hurtful things? After all they'd meant to each other! Ethan thought back to all the times they'd held each other's hand and looked soulfully into each other's eyes. It hadn't been embarrassing! It was the most moving experience of Ethan's life. He always wanted more but Justin seemed to be in a hurry a lot.

   It was all that damn Mountie's fault! He'd turned Justin's head somehow! He'd...he'd brainwashed him! Ethan knew he had to rescue Justin at all costs. He double his surveillance and...

   "Oh damn. He couldn't do that either. Somehow that damn pig had gotten wind of his binocular activities. Ethan thought carefully. Ah ha! The only one he'd told about that was Emmett Honeycutt. Oh, he was next on his list! He was going to make him pay! And that mind twisting Mountie too! He'd get revenge! And then he'd get Justin back! He knew he could make Justin love him again!

   The first thing he needed to do was to go and tell Mr. X all about the brainwashing bouncer wannabe Mountie and get his advice. Mr. X would know exactly what to do. Mr. X was so very, very wise. And maybe after that, Mr. X would see what an asset, what a clever thinker he was and give him a better job that just paying off the local slave cops.

   Ethan reached the main street, town area. One eye was still lazily looking around and back and forth and around again. But he really wasn't seeing anything, just consumed by his dark thoughts.

   In short, Ethan was nuttier than a bowl full of bridge mix.

BJBJBJBJBJBJBJ

   "Emmy Lou, I'm so sorry! I mean...my God! I can't...I had no idea...You have to believe me ...nothing has ever happened between me and Ethan like that! We have absolutely no history of....of anything!"

   "Justin, don't worry! I know. I've known something was wrong for a long time. He spends so much time at Kip's. He...ohhhh, dang!  A lot of that time he was probably watching you. I know that now. I'm so sorry Justin.  And there have been other signs too. Over attentiveness. Attempts to hold eye contact. An almost manic desire to wait on certain male customers. And the lack...of intimacy between us. We don't...well we don't very often and we have separate bedrooms. And he enjoys it that way. And now...Now it seems he's completely snapped."

   "Then why? Why have you stayed with him this long?" asked Justin.

   "Because...I want to be married. And because...until this display...whatever his flaws...whatever shenanigans he did get into....he always came home to me. And for a long time that was good enough. But not anymore. He...he didn't recognize me. He didn't even look. I know I don't look like his Emmy Lou but there had to be something...somewhere...on any level...that he could have recognized. But there was nothing. Just nothing." Emmy Lou wilted back into the chair and sobbed with a broken heart.

   Justin patted her shoulder soothingly and Brian did his own brand of comforting. He poured some more coffee and secretly Irished it up it up with a little Jim Beam before giving it to her.

   They waited a little for Emmy Lou to compose herself, for Justin to brush his teeth and tongue vigorously and for all of them to process the unpleasant scene.

   At last though, Justin asked, "Emmy, I'm sorry if I'm being insensitive but I'm dying of curiosity. You were about to tell us when we were so rudely interrupted. How do you go from woman to...well...this?"

   "Oh. Well, you see, a long time ago when it became evident I was not going to develop....properly...the doctors who I was seeing in Toronto asked me which gender I felt like. Which gender I wanted to be. I told them woman. And so they prescribed me these..." Emmy Lou produced her mint tin from a pocket and opened it. Inside, were the white pills Brian had seen earlier. There were only a few left, maybe ten at the most.

   "Ahhhh....your mints!" said Brian, "So what are they really?"

   "It's estrogen. The female hormone. I suppose if I told them I wanted to be male, they would have given me testosterone. As it is, my body produces both...either not enough...or too much of one and makes me...like this. But with regular doses, my body normalizes.... enough...to get by."

   "But surely that doesn't fix your hair....enough," asked Brian.

   "No. This happened a good while ago, in my twenties. My hair.... just a wig, I'm afraid. But I don't really consider that as fake. It's what it would have looked like...if this didn't happen. The estrogen slows the facial hair but I still have to shave quite a bit. My curves come back and my breasts fill out. And I wear special panties that hide my penis from Ethan. I've never told him."

   "As you can see, I'm nearly out. I've had to cut back and back. I pretended I had a cold ever since I received this in the mail." Emmy Lou produced a letter. Brian and Justin perused it.

   "It's from the pharmacy that I deal with in Toronto. They send me a six month supply at a time. But occasionally they don't have enough to send me. When that happens they have to order extra from Thunder Bay. That has to travel to Toronto and then they send it to me here. The whole delay process means I run out like this and I won't get my prescription for another two weeks. And then there's another week for me to....change back. Usually, I get the letter in time for me to...prepare. I tell Ethan I'm going to my mother's or even my sister's back east if I really need time. Then I go to one of my girlfriends ho only know that I'm "sick". Perhaps they even think I'm faking just to get away from Ethan for a while. So they take me in. But I've always looked well, halfway normal. As the time runs on and I run out more and more I just pretend to get "sicker". I stay in my room a lot or keep the lighting low. No one really is the wiser. But this time, I was waiting and waiting...and then finally the letter. And I already looked like this. So I can't go to anyone else now. That's why I came to you two. I knew you'd...understand. I knew you'd help me."

   "And how did you know...exactly why would we....understand?" purred Justin in a dark and dangerous voice that even Brian found rather scary.

   Emmy Lou gulped but she'd come this far and she knew she had to go all the way here. So she took a deep breath and said as if it were no big deal but everyone knew it was: "Oh well, you know, yesterday I was just watching the street out my window....bored really...was pretending to be contagious for days...and I...well I saw you guys come into town and I saw you guys....kissing...and I knew you would...um...might be....sympathetic."

   About halfway through this speech Justin‘s face grew darker and darker and it smoothly but sllloooooowwwly swivelled around sideways to glare at Brian. If looks were a bondage death trap, Brian would have been dead. Brian just looked straight ahead.

   "So I figured what the hell....you says? So yeah...welcome to life outside the closet, isn't that what you said?" mimicked Justin in a furious whisper. "Welcome indeed! I wonder who else saw us!? Who else is going to come begging favors? Hmmmm!!! Stockwell maybe!!? Since he's the one you actually told!"

   "Oh Justin, of course not," Brian said consolingly, "At least...not for a little while. He thinks we're dead, remember?"

   "WHAT!??" screeched Emmy Lou...Or would have screeched if her voice wasn't so deep.

   "Yeah. It's quite the story but here's the short version! Stockwell's an evil sonofabitch!" yelled Justin. Then he took a deep breath.

   "Look, Emmy Lou, I'm totally not mad at you. But you can't stay here. Not while I'm in this state! It wouldn't be fair to any of us. But don't worry. We'll take care of you. Brian will take care of you and take you to a safe place. Now!"

   "What?? And just what am I supposed..."

   "Figure it out!!" Justin snarled, "I'm going back to bed!"

   SLAM! And darn it, if that isn't just what he did!

BJBJBJBJBJBJBJ

   Now Brian may have been a total studmuffin and a hunk to boot but that doesn't mean he was a slouch in the brains department either.  He had gone through high school and then the police academy with top marks on all his written exams. When he wasn't studying, he was working out on his awesome hunky bod. Besides this he had achieved an extra credit of top marks in Chemistry 12th grade. He got this by coasting through the class, reading ahead and learning everything in the book by the middle of the year. For his midterm project, he went home and concocted a powerful superglue and its antidote. The next day, he went to school extra early and placed the glue on key toilet seats around the school. Then he went to the library and just waited.

   Shortly after the school opened for everybody else, there was a dreadful outcry. The principal, the chemistry teacher, and a young, pretty substitute teaching what-the-fuck had all sat on the baited toilets in the various teacher's restrooms. And they were all stuck like roaches in a roach motel.

   Humming a cheerful tune, Brian had gone to the chemistry teacher and the principal and told them, this was his project and he wanted an A or they were never getting off there again. He made them sign papers and also one that said he would be exempt from the Chemistry Final and receive an automatic A. Furious but trapped and facing life on the john, the teachers had no choice to but to agree to whatever Brian said. He then gave them the antidote and told them good day. He used most of his extra free time working out.

   You may be wondering what all this has to do with the current situation. Nothing at all. I'm just rambling.

   So anyway, even though Brian liked to adopt a "what the fuck" attitude, he was in fact extremely smart. And therefore, after Justin had flounced out of the room in the mother of all queen outs, Brian mobilized his mental machinery into motion and in a minute or two (give or take) he had easily figured it out.

   "Come on Emmy Lou. I'm taking you to a guy who's about as much of a woman on the inside than you want to be on the outside."

BJBJBJBJBJBJB

   Brian knocked.

   Emmett answered the door. He had a more reserved face on this time and his voice was cold. "Yes, Constable? Is there a problem, Officer?" Clearly, in spite of Justin's efforts to smooth things over, there was still some hard feelings there.

   "Hey Honeycutt, look, I need a..."

   "Oh my God! Is it Justin? Is Sunshine all right? Mr. X didn't strike again did he? Where is he? Where's Justin!!!" Emmett began craning his neck and stretching trying to see past Brian's enormous girth.

   "Calm down will'ya!? Justin's fine! He's at home queening out because he's out of the closet now! But he's fine and safe. I came over for another reason. I need another favor."

   "Ohhhh! Thank heavens! Well, if it's not about Justin then I'm afraid Candy Boy's indisposed...where you're concerned!" Emmett's coolness was back with the intensity of an icehouse.

   "It's not about Candy...him either! Will you just look for a minute?" Brian brought out Emmy Lou out from where she was partially hiding behind and to one side of him.

   "Oh hey, Emmy Lou! How's it going?" Emmett said.

   "Emmy Lou's jaw dropped. "But...but...how did you know...it was me?" she asked in her deep man voice.

   "Oh pleeeeeeze!! You might be having a bad hair day and wardrobe issues but those sparkling baby blues give you away in a second! So, what's going on, girlfriend!!?"

   "Well, it's a long story!" Emmy Lou said. "But the short version is I need a place to stay for about three weeks until I get my medicine that will...will change me back!"

   "Back to what?" Emmett pretended confusion.

   Emmy Lou burst into tears and wrapped her arms around Emmett's long, taut waist. She sobbed into his shirt softly.

   "Hey now guuurl! There's no need for that! Dry those tears! No seriously....stop that! This is a silk shirt!"

   Emmy Lou hiccupped and started to laugh and cry at the same time." Sorry! It's just...I never thought anyone would treat me with this much understanding while I was like...this! Much less recognize me right off the bat."

   Emmett wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided Emmy Lou into the house.

   "Well hey now! Why don't I make some special bubble berry tea and we'll have a real chin wag all about it! Now you just consider mi casa, sous casa, OK? In the mean time we'll..."

   At this point, the door slammed heavily in Brian's face and he heard no more.

   Brian smirked. The queen was still pissed. Great! That made two drama queens pissed at him. But Brian didn't mind. He just needed a little time. And Emmy Lou would be taken care of. That's what really mattered for now.

   He mounted Midnight, flicked the reins and with a flourish, rode away and headed back to Justin's.

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   "JUSTIN!! I'm home!" Brian slammed the door and locked it.

   There was no reply.

   "Justin! JUSTIN!! Shit! Are you here!!? Are YOU HERE!!!? JUSTIN!!!....  JUUUUUSSSSSTTIIINNNNNNN!!!!!!!"

   The bedroom door slammed open.

   "For the love of God...WHAT!!? Stop screaming! You could wake the dead! As it was, I was trying to sleep like them. So what... do... you...want??"

   Brian rushed over and enfolded the smaller man into his huge chest. "Oh thank God! I thought you were...I thought something had happened to you. I hate leaving you alone like this!

   Justin allowed a few beats against that studly chest. Then he pressed away. "Stop that! I'm still mad at you, you know."

   "I know. Justin, it really was an accident. Really...I'm....I'm...Well, I really didn't mean to. It just slipped out. To Stockwell, that is."

   "Uh huh..." said Justin, not really believing this bull.

   KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!!!

   "Oh for God's sake, what the hell!!!?" Brian ejaculated. "Who is it now? I swear if that's Ethan come back, I'll..."

   He threw open the door.

   His face went slack with horror. It wasn't Ethan. It was Stockwell, in full Mr. X getup.

   "Well! Well! Well! If it isn't my two favorite gayboys! And alive and kicking so I see! You were right Ethan! Although how you managed to escape, I'll never know! Get em boys!"

   "Thank you Master!" sniveled Ethan from where he was trailing behind like a duckling after its mother. Along with him were two muscled thugs who strong armed their way into the house.

   "NO! No, not again!" Brian yelled from where he was pinioned by the two thugs, one on each arm. "Justin! Justin, RUN!"

   Justin tried, made for the back door but Mr. X only laughed...BWA HAHAHAHA!!!!!...and threw out a gas pellet. It exploded as it hit the floor. Instantly, the house was filled with knock out gas! Mr. X and Co. held rags over their faces but Brian and Justin were not so prepared or equipped.

   They quickly grew disoriented, stumbled, and then succumbed to the gas. In no time, our heroes were laid out flat on the floor, two knocked out and helpless hunks, ready to be tied up and gagged, ready for transport to...

TBC

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

Chapter 5

Michael

   Grizzly Hills was having a peaceful day for once.

   Everyone made it to work on time, the bank wasn't being held up, City Hall was quiet and there were no children screaming their heads off due to the fact that school was closed for another day. The schoolmaster was still missing. This was causing some unrest with several parents and the School Board but other than that there was very little unrest in the tranquil little backwoods town.

   Twelve thirty PM rolled around. The train whistle blew, the locomotive chugged and the train blew into the station. A figure with a red tunic stepped out onto the platform, went through the small station and out the front to where his horse was being brought around.

   It was déjà vu all over again. A red coated Mountie stepped forth upon Grizzly Hills once again. And yet....it was very different too. This Mountie was shorter: about 5'10" to Brian's 6'3". He was less muscled too although his muscles were hard and ropy with a deep chest and a flat tummy. He had short brown hair under his Stetson and green eyes. His horse was brown with a diamond shaped patch of white on her forehead. She was a mare but she was fast, brave and true.

   There were no children or schoolteacher to meet him. There was no greeting envoy from the mayor. But that was all right; the new Mountie didn't mind. After all, nobody knew he was coming.

   "OYYYY!! Hey, YOU!!" someone yelled.

   The Mountie winced and then looked around to quiet the yeller. He was now pretty sure that somebody knew he was coming. The wincing eyes bugged out of his head like a horny bullfrog.

   Coming toward him was the sexiest, burliest, most mouthwatering vision of a lumberjack that he'd ever seen. The lumberjack was easily 6 feet tall with huge shoulders and a chest so broad and deep you could easily set a breakfast tray on it and eat breakfast off of it if you so desired. The Mountie's mouth watered and he had a strong desire for some eggs over easy.

   The lumberjack had sandy hair, a square jaw and blue eyes that flashed angrily. He had the perfect amount of 5 o'clock shadow. He was wearing denim pants that hugged a thin waist and looked sprayed onto tree trunk legs. His shirt was blue/white/black checked plaid flannel. His shirt was molded over his deep chest and huge arms like a second skin ready to burst out of them. He carried an axe over his shoulder in a non-threatening manner.

   The sex god....uhhhh...I mean, lumberjack strode angrily over and yelled again, "Hey You! What are you doing here? You a cop?!"

   The Mountie looked down at his own scarlet tunic and pants with the stripe down

it, not to mention his brown leather boots polished to a high gloss. He said: "Uhhh...yes...I guess I am....a cop. Can you lower your voice though? I'm here on special business."

   "What kinda business? You here to clean up the bank robbery? Catch whoever did it?"

   The Mountie with the boy next door good looks had no idea what the lumberjack was talking about but he saw in consternation that a few store owners and patrons were emerging from different doors. He ineffectually hid behind his mare, forcing the other man to follow him a bit.

   "Yes! Yes! I'm here for that! Sure! Now will you please lower your voice! No-one's supposed to know I'm here yet. And you're blowing it! Please be quiet!"

   "Oh yeah!? Well maybe I'll be quiet when I get my money! You see, I was supposed to get paid yesterday! Now the bank's been robbed and I'm outta dough! What are you gonna do about that copper!?"

   "OK...look! Honestly...I don't know! I'm supposed to meet up with Constable Brian Kinney and see where he is on the case! Then we'll get your money back! OK? Michael smiled in a disarming way and pleaded, "Now...please be quiet....uhhh...quieter. What's your name, anyway fella?" He held out a hand.

   "I'm Ben. Sorry I jumped down your throat. I just need my money and you're the first copper I've seen today. Seems like the town's deserted of cops today." Ben tried to repress a shudder of pleasure at the sexy smooth feel of the Mountie's leather gauntlet. "And your name?"

   "I'm Michael. Brian managed to phone me a week ago saying he needed backup for a case. We used to be partners so I volunteered to come up from Vancouver. But he warned me to be secret as possible. Plus, I haven't heard from him in about three days so I've been worried. Do you know where he is?"

   "Hey, like I said, the cops have been pretty scarce lately and they let the thieves get away scot-free yesterday. I'm mad as hell!"

   "I can imagine...."soothed Michael, grateful the ticked off timber tumbler had at last calmed down. "Look...is there still a diner in this town? Maybe we can continue this conversation in a more secure location? If you want you can help me find Brian."

   "Yeah, it's over there," Ben said, pointing. "I guess I can spare some time."

   The two men walked over to the diner, with Michael leading his horse with the bridle and reins. Mikey was glad that by this time, most of the lookey loos had gone back inside their respective doors. He tied up the horse to the hitching post outside and made their way inside.

   "Hi Ma!" called out Michael.

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   Justin woke up with a familiar pounding in his head and cursed as colorfully as Brian's tunic. He was upside down.

   "I swear to God! If one more person...just OOONNE MORE....gasses me, I swear...I will cut off their balls with a rusty tuning fork!!"

   "Dang, Sunshine!" cried Brian who was hanging upside down beside him like a big slab of beefcake. (Oh...guess I mean, beef. Oooops!)

   "Well!! I'm dang sick of it!" Justin yelled. "Where the hell are we this time!?" He looked around and screamed.

   The two of them were tied around the ankles with coils of thick rope and more around their chests and wrists behind their back. A few stones were tied as weight to various parts of their tied up body.

   The two of them were tied by their ankles to a length of rope. The other end of the rope was tied to the slats of the floor of a long suspension bridge that was spanning a wide ravine. This suspended them under the bridge in the open air. It was also why they were upside down. The ravine looked about 500 feet deep and at the bottom was a wide and fast flowing whitewater river. If the impact didn't kill them, the current, cold and rocks dragging them to the bottom surely would.

   "Well, well! It looks like someone's awake." Came the hated voice of Mr. X.

   "Stockwell, goddammit! Can't you just leave us the fuck alone!" Brian yelled, completely losing his patience with the insane man that ran their town.

   "Not when you know all my secrets! They only problem it seems, is how to make you stay dead! How! How do you keep escaping? How!! HOW!!!? HOW!!? HOW!!? HOW!!?" he screamed, jumping up and down causing the bridge to buck and sway alarmingly. Brian and Justin were sent swinging and thrashing wildly high in the air. Both screamed and struggled in terror.

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   "Hey baby!!" Michael was engulfed in motherly enthusiasm that probably rivaled some of the grizzly bears that lived in the outskirts.

Michael also submitted to the perfunctory noisy kiss and then discreetly rubbed off the resulting lipsmack of lipstick with a napkin.

   "Hey Ma! Although I'm hardly a baby anymore! I'm a full fledged Constable now!"

   "So I see! You worried the hell out of me when you didn't come home! I'm glad to see they whipped you into shape!"

   "Oh Ma! I wrote you as soon as I could!"

   "Hmmmph! A likely story! You never would have gone if you weren't playing tag-a-long with Brian!"

   Ben watched this exchange with high amusement. He raised his eyebrows in askance.

   "I wasn't playing tag-along!" Michael said in frustration. To Ben he explained, "Brian was the one who signed up first. I went to see him off. We were...talking. Well, I was talking. We were moving along in the line and before I knew it, we were on the bus. They were so impatient! I only needed to tell him one more thing and then I would have gotten off! But just when I was finished, the bus lurched and they took off. I tried to tell the driver to let me off but he thought I was a recruit getting cold feet. He wouldn't stop! I was drafted! And they never let me go! Fortunately, I took to everything like a duck to water...after a while and here I am! A better man for it!"

   Ben laughed until tears were streaming down his face.

   "Hey! It's not that funny!" protested Mikey.

   "Oh yes it is! OK! Well, keep in touch and let me know when I can get my money, OK?" Ben clapped him on the shoulder and made ready to leave.

   "Wait! It's not how you're thinking! Honest!" For some reason, Mike didn't want this beefcake to go. At least, not yet.

   "Sounds like you followed this guy to the police academy like a lost puppy! You must really be hung up on him," Ben said, "Hmm...Too bad."

   "No! It's not like that! We haven't seen each other for ages!" Michael protested.

   "Mmmm-hmm! So why are you here now again?" asked Ben.

   "Brian said he needed my help so I hopped the first train and came right up," Michael said without thinking. Then he did, and he cringed.

   Ben smirked. "Mmmm-hmm. Well, you're clearly not hung up on him at all! I'll see you around...officer! Let me know when you find the guys who took my money!" He left and this time Mike couldn't really think of anything to stop him.

   "Whoooooo-hooo! Hope he comes back in here again! What a beefcake!" Debbie whooped, voicing Michael's thoughts.

   "I'll say! I was instantly attracted! If only he'd lower his voice!" Michael said. "I just wish I knew if he felt the same! And what was all that about Brian? He was way off base!

   Deb just looked skeptical.

   "What!? I am not hung up on Brian! We haven't seen each other in a while and it sounded like he was in trouble. So I dropped everything and came up on the next train!" Michael said cluelessly.

   Deb just narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms and looked gave an even more skeptical look.

   "What!?" Michael  yelled.

   "Michael! Will you wake up! That is the very definition of being hung up on someone!"

   "But it has nothing to do with romantic feelings! Brian said he was having trouble with a case! He said he was in trouble! He said his life was in danger! And if Brian's as huge as I remember, that's saying a lot! So...yeah, I came! We're cops Mom! It's business!"

   "Uh huh!"

   "Oh, I don't have time for this! Where is he anyway Ma? He said to not alert the townsfolk that I was here but come straight to you."

   "I haven't seen him today." Debbie thought about it. "Hmmmmmm....Come to think of it...Sunshine didn't check in today as well..."

   "Huh? What are you talking about Ma?"

   "Oh, sorry. It's the local color. Sunshine is my nickname for the schoolmaster, Justin Taylor. Justin hasn't been in for work in the last few days. Justin is who Brian is hung up on these days."

   "Is that so?" Michael said, pretending not to care.

   "Yup. Came into town and hooked up with the only piece of blond gay twink ass in the entire town the first day. They've pretty much been joined at the hip ever since. Looks pretty serious." She finished shrewdly, looking at her son carefully as she deliberately twisted the knife.

   "Oh please! Brian doesn't do serious! This guy must have turned his head that's all!"

   "I don't think so, Michael. This isn't the city. Things work a bit differently out here in the sticks. You'll see."

   "Whatever." Michael fell back on his training to focus. "Anyway, you said they're both missing! Where could they be!?"

   "I'm sure it's nothing serious! If their anywhere, they're probably at Justin's....taking the day off!"

   "Hmmmmm...Granted, that sounds like Brian's M.O. But what about Justin's? Would he take several days off from work?"

   "Hmmmm...No...Actually that doesn't sound like him at all," Deb admitted.

   "And why'd Brian ask me to sneak into town and find you all hush...hush? Why all the sneakcracy?"

   "Why...I don't know! I...- No! That can't have anything to do with it!"

   "What can't? What is it, Ma?"

   "Well...A couple of days ago, the boys came to me with a crazy story. Of course, I didn't believe a word of it."

   "Believe what, Ma?"

   "Oh well...It's ridiculous, of course...but they claimed the mayor was crazy and tried to kill them!"

   "OK. What's the ridiculous part?"

   "Michael! Are you hearing yourself!? He's the mayor! He can't be crazy! He's...he's...well, he's the mayor!"

   "Actually, a lot of cases I've worked on turned out to be a high ranking person who was successfully hiding their psychopathy behind a benevolent exterior," said Michael.

   "Huh??" Debbie was completely confused.

   Michael sighed. "The perps were important people who were nutty as a fruitcake on Christmas but managed to hide it behind a sane, friendly mask," he explained.

   "Ohhhhhhh....Well, why didn't you say so?"

   Michael held is head in his hands.

   But surely....Stockwell....he couldn't be....could he? I mean the story was so....so...so..."

   "Crazy?" asked Michael quirking an eyebrow.

   "Well yes! He claimed he had tried to kill him using the saw at the sawmill! Who would do that? It's so cliché! So over the top! So..."

   "Crazy? Look, Ma, that's what makes it so likely to be true!"

   "Huh? What are you talking about?"

   "Don't you see!? What better way to get away with outlandish things than to be outlandish and incredible! No one would ever suspect you of doing them especially if otherwise you are an upstanding citizen. And recently there was a bank robbery too, right?"

   "Yes, the culprits got away scot-free! Some police we have in this town! Hmmph!"

   "And maybe that's why he asked me to come! And keep it secret! He didn't want the mayor knowing he had help coming. And why he sent me to you! He knew you'd probably tell me all this!"

   "But it's all nonsense!" protested Debbie.

   Maybe so....maybe not..." Michael said mysteriously.

   "What do you mean?"

   "Well....tell me about the bank robbery? Was Brian involved?"

   "What!!? You ungrateful little shit! How could you think to accuse..."

   Michael pinched the bridge of his nose. "In the police effort, Ma! Did he try and stop it?"

   "Oh! Well yes, I believe I watched him ride up on that black horse of his." Actually, Deb had watched the whole thing from the diner in such detail that she had to wash the makeup imprint off the window afterwards. But Deb was such a lady that she felt there was no reason to go into details like that.

   "Uh huh! So it's probably safe to assume that he tried to stop it. And if Brian went after it and failed, there was probably a damn good reason why he didn't!"

   "Well, you bet your sweet bippy there was!"

   The door was flung open dramatically ringing the bell madly.

   It was, of course, Emmett, followed more meekly by Ted and even meeker than that a smaller man dressed inexpertly in one of Ted's suits. It didn't quite fit and the man looked quite uncomfortable wearing it as it was.

   Michael swung round to look at this odd entourage. They looked back at him. "Uhhh....What do you know about this?" Michael asked in his best official voice.

   Emmett stalked over and took in the uniform. "Well well!! Looky here! If I'd known Mounties were duplicating like this, I would have bought stocks!"

   Michael harrumphed uncomfortably and tried moving away for some space. Emmett moved right up and invaded it again. After his coming out as a karate expert and then his night with Ted, Em was feeling quite emboldened. Yes, sirree! This bottom was on top of the world!

   ""Look what can you tell me about this?" Michael tried again.

   "Practically everything," Emmett purred in his sexiest purr.

   "Uhhhh...OK! Why don't you go grab a booth and I'll be with you in a minute to take your statement," Michael tried to keep it official but was quickly coming unraveled. He found the tall, thin man unsettling.

   Ted took pity on the poor officer and dragged Emmett away. "Behave yourself," he admonished in a stage whisper.

   "Oh pooh! You never let me play with the new toys!"

   "A Mountie is NOT a toy!

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   Meanwhile, Brian and Justin continued to hang from the bridge over the gorge screaming for help. Above, Mr. X smeared the coils of rope wrapped around the bridge slats with honey and then poured birdseed all over that making sure there was plenty stuck firmly in the honey and rope fibers.

   "There!" Mr. X cackled gleefully...and insanely, "So simple and yet so deadly! You'll be destroying by the forces of the very nature that you hold so dear!"

   "Hey! I don't hold them so dear! I'm a city boy! I only came here because you asked me to! So you can let me up! There's no skin off..."

   "SHUT UP!!!" screamed Mr. X, "You're not talking your way out of anything! Prepare to DIE!!!"

   "HELLLLPP!!" they both screamed. Their voices echoed uselessly into the distance.

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   "So what's this all about?" Michael asked.

   The four of them were seated in a booth. Michael and Ted made sure that Emmet and Ted were seated on one side while Mike and the small man who would only identify himself as "Lou" were on the other side.

   Emmett began an animated account of his harrowing adventure at the bank. He talked compulsively for quite a while and waved his arms a lot as he described their terrifying death trap at the hands of the maniacal Mr. X. Their selfless heroism and cunning sleuthing to track down the captured cop and rescue him was also duly documented. The only problem was that Emmett was prone to embellishing the facts a great deal. Fortunately, Ted was there to correct him and bring him down to earth....time and time again. Between the both of them, they finally got the story out in a...mostly accurate way.

   "And you're sure it was the mayor who was perpetrating these events?" asked Michael.

   "Sure as shootin'!" answered Emmett. "Sorry Deb! I know this is going to rock your world...but after he left the mine, he took of his mask when he thought nobody was looking! We were hiding behind a rock outcropping and saw everything. It was definitely him!"

   Deb looked faint. "Oh my God! I still can hardly believe it! And I feel so bad! I practically called those two sweet boys liars right to their face!"

   "The important thing now...is where are they now?" Michael said, bringing things back on track. "Deb says that neither of them have shown up for work this morning. And I know Brian! He's a control freak! If he's supposed to be somewhere...especially work...he gets there!"

   "Well, he can't be too far!" declared Emmett, "He was out at my house...on an errand...earlier this morning. If he went somewhere...or something happened...it would have happened this morning. You should check Justin's house. That's where they'd have been last. Or still are! Between the sheets! That slab of beefcake might be a control freak but he's also an insatiable sex machine!"

   Michael thanked them for the information, paid up for breakfast and headed out on Diamond to Justin's house at a gallop.

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   "You'll never get away with this!!" Brian yelled bravely.

   "I won't be getting away with anything! I don't have to! All I have to do it back off a little and the birds who come after this birdseed and peck away at the ropes and do my dirty work for me! When all is said and done, you'll be dead and disappeared...without a trace! Bwa! Ha! Ha! Ha! Haaaaa!!!" He stalked off the bridge and disappeared into the forest back to town.

   "Oh God, Brian! What are we going to do! I can't get loose! And even if I could, I don't think I'd want to! This is even more terrifying than the mine! At least then you couldn't see where you'd be falling!"

   "It was probably farther than this," said Brian morosely.

   "Gaaaaahhh! Not helping Brian! Get me out of this!"

   "I - I can't Justin. I'm pretty trussed myself. And I wasn't able to call in this morning. Emmett's mad. Ted was probably with Emmett. There's no one who can get here to help us in time. I - I think this is it!"

   "It?"

   "I can't figure a way out of this. This might...might be the long goodbye!"

   Justin gulped and swayed gently in the breeze.

   A cardinal, the color of Brian's tunic landed on the rope railing of the bridge and cast an interested eye down.

   "Get! Get away!" yelled Brian.

   The cardinal ignored him and hopped the rest of the way down and began to peck interestedly at the honey and birdseed. Mmmmm! Delicious!

   The cardinal was joined by a bluejay, and then two sparrows and a family of goldfinches. Slowly, more birds came to see what was happening and slowly, oh, so slowly, Mr. X's evil plan was pecked slowly to fruition.

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At Justin's House:

   Michael galloped up to the right address and did not like what he saw. The front door was ajar and open slightly.

   "RCMP!! Open up!"yelled Michael unnecessarily  and then stepped inside.

   There was no one there. And there were signs of a struggle; scuff marks on the floor where someone might have been held in place put was struggling to get away. A few pieces of furniture were overturned. Michael investigated further and found hair fibres on the floor a few blond and a few dark. There were also trace fibres of what appeared to be hemp. Quite a few of them. Hmmm. Someone had used a lot of rope to tie someone up and probably gag them too. A blond and a brunet. Michael was glad he had acted on his suspicions. Brian and Justin were definitely in trouble!

   Michael may have been smaller in stature but his brains were working fine and they worked overtime as always. In seconds he had made a perimeter sweep of the house and found horse tracks leading away from the house. They were unnaturally deep; say, if they were carrying the tied up and gagged dead weight of an unconscious 6'1" Mountie!

   Michael retrieved Diamond and followed the tracks. They led down the road a bit and then veered suddenly off into the first trail leading into the wild forests of the as yet untamed British Columbia Rockies.

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   Peck! Peck! Peck! Peck!

   Even with the small flock of birds, progress of their doom was painfully slow.

   The two tied up and helpless, hemp handcuffed, hitched, hobbled, hampered and otherwise hung out to dry hunks just sort of dangled over the deep drop for a little while without saying anything.

   Finally Justin asked, "Brian? Back there with Ethan. Did you mean what you said?"

   "I said a lot of stuff. You'll have to be more specific, Justin."

   "Oh right. Well...the part...the part where you said you considered us married...if things were different...if we were allowed I mean."

   "Justin! Do you really think this is the right time to be taking about this?"

   "Yes! If I'm going to meet my maker than I'd rather go with a clear head and at least know! You know!

   "Yes...I guess I do. Well, the truth is..."

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   Michael and Diamond blundered a ways into the woods along a meandering trail for a while. Suddenly, they turned a corner and found themselves in a clearing where the trees had been thinned out and there was no brush.

   Working in this clearing, hacking and sawing away at a number of huge felled trees was a crew of lumberjacks. They were all tall and heavily muscled so that Michael fancied he'd walked into a muscle worshipper's wet dream.

   They all wore denim jeans and hiking boots and flannel shirts, either the red/white/black variety, or like Ben, blue/white/black. More than a couple of these hunks had sweaty chest hair popping out from under said shirts and almost all of them wore five o'clock shadow like it was a badge of honor.

   Michael moseyed Diamond slowly through this den so as not to startle anyone. His scarlet tunic drew the attention of every eye in the clearing. There was total silence and more than a few distrustful, unfriendly looks.

   "Uhhh.....just passing through... police business... you're doing good work here, boys...." Michael murmured as he passed through the huge clearing.

   "Yeah! Good work...HARD work! And now for free!" someone yelled.

   "Uh oh!" thought Michael.

   In alarm, he saw that he was being slowly cut off and the men were pressing closer and closer to his horse. Shouts of....Where's my money!!? And...my children need food, you know! And...What are you people doing about it!!?...became louder and louder and uglier and uglier.

   "Uh oh!" thought Michael again, "If I don't get out of here, there's sure to be a riot!" He looked around to see if there was any help, any friendly face. There was none.

   Far away at the opposite end of the clearing to where he had come in, Michael could see an opening into the forest, the trail continued. But the lumberjacks continued to close in and Michael found it harder and harder to navigate Diamond through the throng.

   "Hey! Come on, fellas! Make way! Make way for the Mountie! I'm on a case! Important business!"

   "Oh is that so!!!? Important business, huh!!? Too important for us, are you! We're good enough to chop your wood and fuel and make just about every stick of furniture your ass has come across but you don't think we're good enough to look at or speak to properly when payday comes around! Well, we deserve to get paid! And we deserve respect! And if we're not going to get either this quarter, maybe we can take a pound of flesh out of your Mountie hide! And when word gets around that we have one of the RCMP's finest, maybe we'll get what's coming to us!"

   "You wouldn't dare! Stay back! Respect the uniform! Let me through! I'm on ..."

   "A case...Right!! We heard you the first time! Hey Boys! Let's show this Mountie what we think of his "case"!"

   "NO!" yelled Michael.

   "YEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" yelled the enraged and burly mob. "GET HIM BOYS!!"

   The huge lumberjacks encircled Diamond in a tight semicircle so that there was nowhere for her to go. She reared and whinnied rather panicked. She rather calmed down again when an apple appeared out of nowhere and was fed to her. She settled down at once and began to munch.

   "Diamond! You stop that! Keep going! You turncoat! Help! Help!"

   But there was no help and next moment Diamond's reins were grabbed out of his hands and she was bumped and Michael was knocked off his perch and fell.

   He landed on a crowd of outstretched hands that seemed to be everywhere. He heard: That`s right boys! Knock him off his high horse!...and then a massive cheer rose like a noisy ocean wave.

   The hands grabbed his biceps, his legs and ankles and he was passed along the top of the throng and away from his horse. Then he felt himself lowered to the ground but he was still held fast despite struggling mightily. He just wasn`t any match for their brawn.

   Ropes appeared out of nowhere and then he was being pressed against a tree and coils were going around his chest and legs and ankles and he was tied to a youngish tree as if tied to the stake. They tied his hands into rope cuffs and attached them around the back of the tree. And when all was said and done he was tied to the tree and he couldn`t move a muscle. And he was surrounded on all sides by unfriendly huge muscles and angry faces and axes.

   "Please! Let me go! I was on the trail of whoever took your money! Besides, no good can come of this!" cried Michael.

   "A likely story! We'll use you to get answers! One way or another!" The spokesjack said menacingly.

   "You dare not hurt me! Or kill me! Killing or hurting a police officer is an especially terrible crime! You'll be hunted down mercilessly!" Michael warned.

   "We're not going to hurt you! You'll just stay here as our...guest...until we get some media coverage and somebody finally listens to our complaints! We didn't want it to come to this but we need our paychecks!"

   "But I was on my way looking for..." Michael trailed off, realizing nobody was listening to him. Dammit! How did these things happen to him? He struggled mightily in the ropes. He HAD to get out of here! Brian could be in real trouble from what he had found at Justin's house. He HAD to get someone to listen to him! How would Brian have done it!? He would never have ended up in this position, a prisoner and tied up and helpless....

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Elsewhere....

   Brian hung upside down, tied up and helpless.  Justin hung beside him, equally tied up and swinging gently over the gorge.

   A merry band of birds were now busily pecking away at the ropes and seed. The ropes tied around the bridge slats and attached to their ankles were frayed everywhere.

   There was a snap as one rope gave way. Justin gave a cry as he dropped several feet and then stopped again swaying violently with the backlash effect.....

TBC

A MOUNTIE ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN!

Chapter 6

The Bridge

       Ben had been in the outhouse on the far edge of the clearing trying to drop a stubborn deuce for the past 15 minutes.

       He had become aware of a dull roar and ugly yelling sounds and this was only making him clench and his problem worse. Finally, he gave up and finished and cleaned up as best he could.

       He slammed out of the outhouse with an impressive noise.

       "Just WHAT the HELL is going on out here!!?" he yelled.

       When Ben yelled, people listened. The angry mob noises quiet and grew confused and then fizzled out especially when they saw Ben's face which was and dark and angry as a thundercloud.

       "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!!!?" he yelled again as loud as possible.

       "Ben!!? Is that you? Ben!! Help me!!"

       "Michael!! Where are you?!"

It was then that the local shit stirrer, a lumberjack named Jacques elbowed his way through the crowd and into his face.

       "Ben! You're gonna love this! We're gonna get our pay back one way or another this time! Now we're organized! Now we've got a plan!!"

       "Jacques! So this is your idea! I should have known! What in God's name have you done!!?"

       "What have WE done! It was a group effort! And it's something that HAD to be done! You wanna get paid right?"

       "I talked to a cop on my lunch hour! He said he was working the bank robbery! There's nothing for us to do!!"

       "Oh, a cop, huh!? You mean, like this one!!?"

       Jacques pushed his way through the last of the clearing with a flourish, shoving over several men as husky as himself. This earned him more than a few dirty looks. However, it had the desired effect and Michael was shown off, tied to his tree, in a big "reveal".

       Michael was dishevelled and more scared than ever. He was stiff as a board and so tightly tied, he had gone numb. But he prayed that because of his encounter and whatever had passed between them...if anything...was enough for him to find help in this last port in this shit storm he had blundered into.

       "Ben....help me..." he said simply.

       Ben's eyes bugged out of his head and he gave a wordless cry of horror.

       Jacques was standing there with his arms crossed and a stupid, smug smile on his face like he had solved everything and saved the day. "Well, what do you think? We'll get our pay back in no time! Once Stockwell sees that we hold one of his...."

       Ben was boiling and getting madder and madder by the minute. So he did what any guy with 20" guns and a bod to match would have done...especially with a musclehead who was thinking with his smaller one. He hauled off and punched Jacques to the ground with a mighty uppercut to the jaw!

       "D'uuhhhhh! What's the idea?" Jacques complained from where he'd been laid out flat on the ground.

       "That's what I should be asking you!" yelled Ben. "What the HELL were you thinking!? Did you even have an idea in that pea brain of yours!!? This is the cop that was called in to work on our case! And you've kidnapped him! At the very least it's assault of a police officer! You...we'll all get in terrible trouble!"

       "Oh Sir!" he said, addressing Michael, "I'm so sorry for this! Please forgive these blunderheads! They think with their muscles more than their brains sometimes! Please tell me what we can do to make it up to you."

       "Untying me and letting me go would be a good start," croaked Michael.

       "Of course!" Ben raised his omnipresent axe.

       "No!" Jacques' equally heavy hand grabbed the handle as it was coming down. "You can't! This will wreck our plan! I had it all figured out!"

       Ben wrested his axe away from Jacques. "Plan? What plan? To kidnap and hold a police officer hostage! Even if that was a plan...which it isn't...it's the most cockamamie thing I've ever heard of! That's it Jacques! I'm tired of your shit stirring! You cause problems every week around here and I'm sick of it. Go chop your quota somewhere else! You're off my team!"

       "But....but...I don't mean to! I just wanted to get organized...I just wanted to get things done..."

       THUNK!!! THUNK!! Ben's axe whacked into key places on the tree and Michael was able to struggle free.

       "Thanks Ben," he said gratefully.

       "You're welcome..." Ben said, toeing the ground. Why was he all of a sudden so uncomfortably shy? "And I wish you'd let me return the favor...and say thank you...for not pressing charges on these lunkheads. They didn't seriously injure you did they?"

       "Nothing but my pride. Look Jacques," Michael said, "I understand where you're coming from....really, I do! You're just worried and afraid. Well, I'm worried and afraid too. My friend...the other Mountie who could tell me what happened to your pay...was kidnapped this morning! I found evidence suggesting they'd been knocked out and tied up! And this plan...it never would have worked! I also have eyewitness accounts that the mayor is insane and probably behind all this! If you had handed me over to him, you would have played right into his hands! He would have killed me like a fish in a barrel and then finished off by killing every last jack here!!"

       There were astonished gasps all round.

       "But...that...that can't be true!! I mean...well I mean, he's the mayor!!! He can't be crazy!" protested Jacques.

       Ben was disgusted. "ANY-one can be crazy, Jacques!" He squinted and gave him the evilest of his evil eyes. "AAAANNNY-ONE!!" he reiterated.

       Michael gave himself a shake. "This isn't solving anything! I have to get going! I have to find Brian and his friend Justin! I have a feeling they're in terrible trouble! What I could use is a guide. Someone who knows the way deeper into the forest and the way around it."

       "Well, I don't want to brag....." started Jacques.

       "Then don't," said Ben smoothly. "I'll do it. At this point, I don't think I'd trust your safety to anyone else."

       Michael was hoping he'd say something like that. But he wisely kept his mouth shut about it.

       After that, things just fell into place. Michael was slapped on the back, no hard feelings by everyone and was suddenly everyone's best friend. Michael was oblivious to the death stare Ben was giving everyone behind him but if he had, he would have realized they just didn't want to be on Ben's steadily growing shit list. He was shown where Diamond had been stored in a comfortable, fenced off paddock area. He was generously helped into the saddle by 10 huge hands and then Ben took the reins to lead Diamond out of there and Michael just enjoyed the ride. There was no way Diamond could have carried them both.

       They made their way over to the entry way to the deeper forest. Before they took the plunge into the brush, Michael turned and shouted..."If you see Stockwell...don't let on you know anything! Don't tell him about me. Just let him go! He's extremely dangerous."

       There was a rousing shout and then they were off and soon it was quiet of the deep woods once more with only the rustling trees and birds and other white noise that could be ignored if they wanted to. Neither of them did.

       "Thank you for coming with me," Michael said shyly.

       "Well, I couldn't trust you to the tender mercies of someone like Jacques, now could I?"

       Michael shuddered. "No...Certainly not."

       "It was true what I said back there. I didn't want to trust you with anyone else."

       Michael's face was pink with pleasure. "I didn't want any other guide," he said.

       "Oh!!? Suppose it had been Brian there? Can you honestly say you wouldn't want him in my place," asked Ben jealously.

       "Ben...are you...are you jealous? Are you...Are you gay too?"

       "I am...And I am...However, if you made such an outlandish claim in public...I'd denounce you as a liar of the spot!" warned Ben malevolently.

       "Same here, I'm sure. Look, Ben, I wanted to tell you earlier. You've got the wrong idea about me and Brian."

       "I don't want to get in the way...I know you're hung up on him..." Ben said forlornly.

       "That's just it!" Michael said exasperatedly, "I'm NOT hung up on him! It's complicated. You see, the thing with me and Brian is..."

       "QUIET! Do you hear that?"

       "I don't hear anything," said Michael.

       "Exactly! It's quiet! TOO quiet!! We've got to get off the trail....right now!"

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       Brian and Justin were still tied up and hanging out to dry....and die.

       The bridge was host to a proper flock of little birds now. The pecked away merrily, unaware of the doom they were causing.

       The ropes were frayed everywhere and a few had snapped sending both of them in heart jolting drops before other areas of the rope had gripped on again.

       They both screamed for help just to relief the boredom but it was all to no avail. They were just too deep in the forest. Mr. X had done his work well.  No one could hear them yell. And when they dropped and died, their disappearance would be a mystery that could and would never be solved.

       There is one more issue that needs to be addressed but for some odd reason, I can't for the life of me remember what it was.

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       Michael jumped down off Diamond and together they led her off to the left into the brush and the thickets of the forest.

       Sure enough, before they were out of sight, they started to hear a voice and by the time they had gotten Diamond deep enough so she wouldn't be seen and they snuck back a ways to peek out from behind some trees, they could now see what was attached to the voice.

       It was a queer little man dressed all in black. He had a black top hat and a black cape and he stuck out like a sore thumb against the greenery. He had a long moustache that curled up at the ends.

       Ben gasped. "It's the mayor!"

       "That's him huh? Wait what's he saying?"

       They both listened and as strange as his appearance was, what came next was downright creepy.

       "Dead....dead....dead....No one to help! No way out....Hee hehehehehe!!! No way this time! No way...no way...no way.... dead...dead... dead...Dead...dead...dead....Dead...dead...dead...!!" Repeat and remix. Over and over and the man skipped merrily like a schoolgirl down the forest path. He looked and sounded completely insane. This was, of course, because he WAS completely insane.

       They watched and listened until he was gone. Then they grabbed Diamond, hustled back to the trail. Michael grabbed the reins and kickstarted Diamond into a run down the trail. He yelled over his shoulder: "Follow as best you can! I'm sure to need your help! But I'm got to hurry and save those poor souls! It might already be too late!"

       And then Diamond was running....running...running to the rescue and Michael could only hope that Ben was keeping up.

       The trail twisted and turned, turned and twisted. Diamond jumped over roots and logs and still they went on. Just when Michael was despairing that they were just going deeper and deeper into the wilderness for nothing and that they were too late to boot, there was a break in the trees at last and a terrible sight met Michael's eyes.

       Over a deep gorge was a suspension bridge and from far off at the center hung two figures. One of them was huge and wore a scarlet tunic. There was a flurry of birds above them.

       "Dead...dead...dead....They're both dead...dead...dead...!" chanted the man in black inside his head.

       "Brian!! Is that you, Brian!?" yelled Michael, dismounting.

       Far away, so far, he seemed teeny, the man in scarlet whipped his teeny head around and yelled, "HELP! Michael?? Oh thank God, Michael, HELLLP!"

       Michael's heavy leather boots pounded on the little bridge's wooden floor. The suspension bridge swayed wildly and it swung the imperilled men back and forth sickeningly. They both yelled in terror.

       "Sorry! Sorry! "I'm coming though!" Michael yelled, not slackening his pace. He finally reached them and waved the birds away. They flurried around him but they wouldn't leave. The ropes they were working on were down to a single coil which was badly frayed. As Michael watched, one of them unravelled and snapped. Michael grabbed it with one hand before it could fall over the edge of the bridge, plunging the Mountie into the depths below.

       Then the other rope was fraying madly and Michael grabbed that one with the other hand. But as strong and true as Michael the Mountie was, he was feeling the strain. It was all he could do to just hold them there. He couldn't pull them up. And even if he could, they'd been lowered somehow so that they were below the rope railing of the bridge. There was no way to get them up without cutting the bridge in half! And then....the rope that was attached to Justin....began to slip....slowly....out of his smooth leather palms...

       "I can't hold on!!" Michael yelled.

       "You've got to!" yelled Brian.'

       "Michael? It's Michael, right? Please...just try to hold on..." begged the blond man.

       It slipped another few inches. Then the one holding Brian slipped a few inches.

       "Michael....Let me go," said Brian.

       "What!?"

       "I want you to let me go. If that's the only way you can pull Justin up, then I want you to let me go. I'll...I'll survive ...somehow."

       "And destroy me in the process!" Justin cried, "Don't you dare! Let me go! Save Brian! Grizzly Falls needs him more!"

       The rope attached to Justin slipped a few inches.

       "And I need you more than anything!" Brian yelled, "I thought we'd just gone through this! As far as I'm concerned, you're my husband!!"

       Brian's rope slipped a little. Then Justin's.

       "This is all very touching!! But it may be a moot point! Oh God! I can't help you both! I don't know if I can help either of you!!"

       Both ropes slipped a few inches.

       "God help me!! I don't know if I can do this by myself!" yelled Michael.

       The ropes slipped a few inches. Michael strained with all his might but it was no use.

       "You don't have to!" said Ben, appearing out of nowhere. He grabbed Brian's rope. "And if you keep me around...you'll never have to do anything by yourself again."

       "Ben!" Michael exclaimed happily.

       "That's my name, don't wear it out." Ben hauled Brian up a few pulls and then wrapped the extra rope around one meaty palm. He held it there and cried out as it sliced into his palm but he stoically held up Brian and his biceps flexed and bulged like apples. He grabbed Justin's rope and did the same thing with his ruined rope.

       "Hurry!" he gasped, "Get my axe and chop away the boards that are over them so I can pull them up!"

       "Right!" Michael grabbed one of them out of the double axe sheath that was attached to Ben's back somehow and did just that. Ben never felt really right unless he had two axes crossed across his back at all times.

       Michael made short work of the floorboards and soon three boards were plunging down into the gorge where the men had been headed moments before. The icy white water of the river below consumed them and carried them away.

       Ben handed Justin's rope over to Michael. Now that the danger was over, Michael was able to wrap it more securely around his gauntlets. He held him carefully while Ben hauled Brian up hand over hand until his feet poked over the side, then he was up to his knees and then he was lying safe on the bridge

       "Knife...in my belt..." wheezed Brian.

       Ben found it and made a few strategic cuts and without further ado Brian was struggling his way free and throwing that hated, weighted rope overboard. In the meantime, Ben had grabbed the rope from Michael again and in another impressive show of strength hauled Justin easily up hand over hand. Michael got a kind of sappy look on his face watching Ben's pecs and biceps bulge impressively. Brian watched shrewdly and smiled. Oh yeah....Mikey had it bad for a certain handsome woodcutter.

       And then Justin was up and safe and cut free and they all got the hell off of that hated bridge, taking care to avoid the gaping hole.

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       They let Brian and Justin have Diamond. Brain sat in the saddle, barely holding onto the reins, almost completely letting Diamond walk back along the trail on autopilot. Justin sat the way he did the first time, on Brian's lap, on top of his twitching dick and pressed as much as he could back into Brian's broad chest. Brian wrapped his arms as possessively and protectively around him as possible.

       Ben and Michael walked a ways behind them. Ben had ripped pieces of his shirt and wrapped them around his palms to bandage the rope burns. This meant his shirt was now ripped, unbuttoned, and untucked leaving his torso and washboard abs on mouthwatering display.

       Michael tentatively reached for a hand and was thrilled when Ben didn't pull away. He pointed toward Brian and Justin.

       "You see....that's how it is between Brian and me. Absolutely nothing. Of course I'm attracted. He gorgeous. I've known him my whole life. But he's never felt the same way. At one time, I wished he did. Who knows, maybe I got on that bus because I couldn't let him go. But I was never anything more than a fly, an annoyance. At the police academy, he distanced himself from me...made sure we weren't partners...in anything...and at the same time managed to home in and bone every gay guy there. He just instinctively knew which ones to pick and no one resisted. Who knows? Maybe no one could resist? Brian's a phenomenon....a force of nature. And even here...he did it again. The first person he met was a piece of gay blond boy ass and he grabbed on tight. So I have to do the same."

       "What? Grab onto some gayboy ass?"

       "Well, that...although I have a very different type," Michael said with a wink, grabbing Ben's bubble butt. Ben gasped in pleasure. "But also...let go of him...get my own partner and lover...someone who'll...love me back...instead of always being the man on the outside...looking in and watching him be happy with someone else. Because whoever this Justin character is....it looks like the real deal. They were willing to die for each other back there."

       "Mmmmm....I heard."

       They walked along, hand in hand, in comfortable silence for a while.

       The four of them wandered down the path slowly, letting the traumatized men soak up the peacefulness of the pine forest.

       Eventually, they reached the lumberjacks' clearing where another surprise awaited them.

       "Hey Ben!" Came Jacques nerve grating voice, "No hard feelings about earlier, I hope! I've got a surprise that I hope will make up for last time!"

       "Oh God, Jacques! What have you done this time!?" lamented Ben, "Wasn't your last surprise enough of a disaster?"

       "This is different, I promise! You'll be so happy, you'll forget about my little...mistake and let me back on your crew for sure!"

       Ben sighed. "Well, let's get it over with! What is it?"

       Jacques led them over to a tree. In fact, it was the very same tree that they had tied Michael to but now, in his place and bound securely...was Stockwell!!

       "Jacques!! I specifically told you not to engage him!" scolded Michael.

       "There was hardly any other choice! He came out of the trees ranting about death and then about being rich as a king and then back to death and killing someone again. He hardly acknowledged us! It was an easy thing to grab him and tie him up. By the time he even noticed he was in trouble we had him half way tied up."

        Stockwell strained and struggled against the bonds that held him. He still wore the black outfit and the cape was smushed in behind him but he was unmasked and his eyes glinted with hate, evil, and madness. He gibbered softly to himself but he wasn't totally crazy yet.

       "They're dead....dead...dead...they must be ...must be dead. No one to help them...no one....must get...free..must see....must get free...to see...hee, hee, hee!! EVIL....must get back to EVIL...Good will pay...to EVIL....and now I'm rich...rich...RICH!!! Bwa Ha! Ha!!!!!!"

       "You see?" Jacques said, "It's been like that since he got here. Good will pay to evil...I can't make that out...but the fact that he's so rich...as a result of evil....that must mean he's responsible for the bank robbery right? And that means he's the one who stole our pay!"

       All the lumberjacks growled and shook their axes.

       "I'm not sure what it means either," said Brian, "But I can confirm that he stole from the bank. I was there when he did! That's why he was trying to kill us just now! That's who he thinks is dead!" He and Justin got down off of Diamond and approached the villain.

       Brian held a brown, gauntleted hand in front of the madman's face and snapped his fingers sharply several times to get his attention. It took a few tried but finally Stockwell focused and quieted his ranting.

       "Yooooo - hooooooo!!" Brian cooed mockingly, "Looking for us? Hoping we were out of your hair, Stocky? Well, no such luck!! Someone did free us! You failed once again! And now you are going away for a long time for attempted murder and bank robbery!"

       "What!! It's YOU! Oh NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOO! How!!? How do you keep getting out!? Why won't you stay dead!!!!?"

       Incredibly, Stockwell still had no concerns for his own well being. His entire focus was wondering how Brian and Justin had survived and for several minutes he was incoherent with rage and he fought to get free not to get away but to try and kill our heroes once again. However, the lumberjacks had done their work well and he remained securely tied up. Finally, he gave up and collapsed back in his bondage, exhausted.

       "And you're going to tell us where you stashed all that money you stole!" declared Michael.

       Stockwell shook his head as if waking from a dream and stared at Michael for the first time. "Oh my God!!!" he screamed, "He's multiplying!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!"

       Brian slapped him sharply and yelled: "SHUT UP, dipshit! Tell us! Give back that bank heist money!"

       "I'll never tell!!" Stockwell smarmed with a smirk that made Brian want to punch off his face.

       "He won't tell! Any idea what we can do to....change his mind, Sunshine?" Brian asked.

       "Hmmmmmmm....." Justin pretended to think. Then: "Oh, I know....How bout we shove him in a room and gas it with ether! And then do it again...and again...and again!!!" he snarled.

       "Maybe we'll tie him to a log and slice him with a buzzsaw!!" snarled Brian.

       "Take him back to that gorge and hang him over the edge!" snarled Justin.

       "Shove dynamite down his pants!!" suggested Brian, "And I'm not sure what was going on with Ted and Emmett....But I'm sure they'll have all sorts of fantastic ideas!!"

       Stockwell gulped. He could only imagine what kind of ideas those two would come up with. But he steadfastly refused to say anything.

       Well of course, they mostly untied him and exchanged a lot of the ropes for handcuffs and hustled him back to town. They paraded him down the street in disgrace and locked him in the jail that was in the basement of the city hall he used to rule.

       He remained tight lipped until Justin and Brian showed up. Justin held up the big bottle of ether. Brian held up a bunch of dynamite. They were NOT kidding around.

       Stockwell sung like a canary and as well revealed several key players in the organization of EVIL. Among a few were Ethan, Kip, the barkeep, the head of the PTA, the head of the school board, and several key city councilmen. All these were duly arrested.

       After Brian had made his report to Vancouver, it was decided that 2 police officers were not enough to govern this sleepy little town. Michael was given leave to stay, much to his and Ben's delight. As well, four more hunky Mounties were assigned to Grizzly Hills and they arrived on the train in full uniform in due time much to the horny delight of all the townspeople.

       Brian moved in with Justin after a 2 week camping trip where they fucked like bunnies the whole time. Michael moved in with Ben. They took it a bit slower and their loved bloomed soft as sweet like a fragrant flower. They had more ups and down that Brian and Justin but that the way it is with love. Every adventure is different.

       Emmy Lou stayed with Emmett until her medication came. She hardly wanted to leave when it did, Emmett was so sweet with her but all good things must come to an end and besides it was getting kind of crowded in there with Ted living there as well.

       Stockwell stayed where he was until a prison transport could be fetched to come take him to a real jail.

       And so, for a while, they all lived happily in the quiet backwoods town of British Columbia, Canada.

Two months later:

       "Captain Brian! Captain Brian! Terrible news! It's just come across the wire!"

       "Take it easy Constable! Tell me what's wrong!"

       "The prison transport that was taking Stockwell to the Federal prison! It was found overturned and on fire! Stockwell's escaped!!" reported Oscar

THE    END ???

OR.....

TO   BE   CONTINUED....

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