March 7

Brian sat at his desk, staring at his computer, but he wasn't really seeing anything as his mind was on other things. When he'd gotten in that morning, he'd found a note from Yasmeen on his desk, telling him that he'd gotten a call from Detective Tak Nakumara after he'd left for the day; and that he needed to speak with him. And it had been preying on his mind ever since.

It'd figured; the one day this week that he left early for the dinner celebration, and that's when he called.

Sighing, Brian scrubbed a hand over his face, and checked the clock, frowning when he saw that he still had another five to ten minutes before Tak showed. When he'd called the detective back this morning, he'd been hoping for a quick update, or something equally and easily be resolved, since his scheduled was packed from the moment that he arrived, right up until he left at around seven this evening.

Unfortunately for him, it hadn't been anything that was going to be resolved with a five minute phone conversation alone, as had been made clear by the detective. Tak had mentioned that he did have a new lead to the case, for which Brian had been ecstatic, but that he really needed to talk to him face-to-face on a delicate matter that had arisen as a result of the new information. And Brian really hadn't known what to make of his words or tone.

Tak had sounded both amused and concerned when mentioning this new lead, leaving Brian feeling a bit wrong-footed and wondering what about this situation could be amusing. Truth be told, he'd been a little irritated about that; this was his husband's safety that was at risk, and he found nothing amusing about it.

But he was willing to give the detective the benefit of the doubt; and he'd agreed to meet with him, but unless it was an emergency, he said that he could only do it if Tak came to the office during his lunch or after seven that evening. He'd spent too much time away from his office as it was lately and he couldn't keep putting his clients off, even if it was for understandable reasons.

"Mr. Kinney-Taylor."

Brian looked up to find Yasmeen standing in his open doorway, and grinned; it always amused him at how formal she sounded whenever he had a visitor. Mostly because she had absolutely no problem treating him like he was a wayward boy, even though he was older than her by a few years, when no one else was around. He was certain that was all Justin's fault.

"Yes, Yasmeen," Brian said, pushing his computer aside, as he figured that the detective had finally made an appearance.

"Detective Nakumara is here," Yasmeen said; she rolled her eyes at his expression, letting him know that she knew exactly what he was thinking, which just had his smile broadening. "Shall I show him in?"

"If you would, please, " Brian said, sitting up in his chair and straightening out his suit jacket. "I'd appreciate it, Yasmeen. Also, if you could find out whether or not he wants anything to drink; I'd appreciate that as well."

Yasmeen nodded and stepped outside the door; Brian listened as Yasmeen addressed Tak, showing him towards Brian's office, and asking him if he'd like anything to drink; which he'd politely declined. Brian rose from his chair as the detective crossed the threshold and nodded to Yasmeen as she'd discreetly closed the door behind her. He held out his hand in greeting as Tak reached the desk

"Brian," Tak greeted, taking his hand and shaking it with a nice, firm grip. And Brian had always admired that in a person, whether it be a man or woman; a good, firm grip demonstrated confidence in themselves, and that increased his confidence in them.

"Tak," Brian nodded, and then gestured to the chairs in front of his desk after dropping the detective's hand. "Please, have a seat."

"Thanks for meeting with me today," Tak said as he sat down, pulling his ever-present notebook and pen from his pocket as he did so.

"Not a problem; and thanks for accommodating me by coming here," Brian said, sitting back down himself. "I'm sorry that I couldn't make it down to the precinct; but my day is pretty tight today and I've been putting off these accounts far too many times lately."

"It's fine," Tak said, waving Brian's concern off with a flick of his hand. "As I said on the phone, this wasn't an emergency situation; but I did want to jump on it as soon as possible as it's the only lead we've got so far."

And Brian could fully understand and appreciate that.

"What can I do for you?" Brian asked, resting his clasped hands on his desk.

"We received an anonymous tip from a man that claimed to have had sex with the person that we assume is the stalker," Tak said as he flipped through his notes.

Brian's brows shot up into his hairline at that statement. Well, that was certainly an odd claim. And he couldn't help wondering what brought them to that conclusion and how it played into the reason the detective was visiting him today. Maybe they actually got a photo of the man?

"Okay," Brian said slowly, rubbing his hand over his jaw as he stared at the detective. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, this person," Tak continued, reading from his notes; Brian guessed it was to make sure that he didn't miss anything. "Claimed that he had sex with someone over a week ago..." Tak paused as Brian snorted his displeasure. "Yeah, I know; I wish he would have gotten to me sooner. Anyways, this man picked him up at a bar and he ended up going with him, and spending the night. And while, he did give a rough description of the person; it was much too vague to do much good. But what did stand out, was that he mentioned that the guy kept calling him Justin that night and that the man was wearing a very distinctive item of clothing, which is the only reason we're paying any attention to this tip."

"The jacket," Brian surmised, rolling his lips under; it was the only thing that made sense. Justin had made too big of a deal over that jacket for it not to have been a significant clue.

"Exactly," Ta k nodded, flashing a diamond sharp grin Brian's way; and really, that was good news as, if they could find out where the two had met, they could potentially get this guy's location. "The witness mentioned the wolf on the jacket."

"So, what's being done?" Brian asked, feeling excited for the first time in a couple of weeks; as it had been disheartening when Tak had told him that they'd run out of leads the last time they'd met. "Did this guy give you an address or…"

"Unfortunately, they went to a motel room that the guy rented for the night," Tak sighed, scratching at his eyebrow as he continued reading from the notebook. "We did investigate that angle, but unfortunately the guy paid in cash, and he gave a fake ID. We are hoping to get something from the surveillance tapes though."

"Of course he did," Brian huffed, deflating a bit; well, that was out then.

"And we do have the make and color of the car the suspect used; but without a license plate number, it doesn't do me much good," Tak continued, making Brian deflate even further, because this didn't sound like much of a lead at all. "And unfortunately for us, the witness didn't think to grab the license plate number as it wasn't until several hours later that something clicked and by then, the suspect and his car were gone."

"Fuck," Brian muttered under his breath, his frustration mounting; so what was the point to this meeting other than to tell him what he already knew – they had nothing. "So, it sounds like more of a whole lot of nothing to me. I'm not sure why you think I'll be of much help."

"Well, it was more the story he told us," Tak hedged, instantly garnering Brian's attention; there was just something in the way he said it that made Brian's hackles rise. "It was what had him coming to us in the first place; and that, in turn, had me coming to you for more information on the caller."

"What?" Brian retorted, not liking this feeling at all. "Is he a former trick? Because, I have to tell you, I never learned their names or their personal details, so I can't supply you with any information to track the anonymous caller down."

"No," Tak hurriedly reassured Brian, but it didn't really bolster his confidence. "He said that you hired him through a service; back when he was younger, and in dire need of some quick cash; he joined an escort service, and the reason he remembered you so vividly, was because you had called him Justin during your interactions."

"I'm not sure what to tell you," Brian stated carefully; while the detective really couldn't do anything as he didn't have anything other than hearsay on his past actions, Brian wasn't keen on incriminating himself further by admitting to them.

"I'm not tying to get you to confess to anything," Tak said, rolling his eyes. "I just want to track this guy down as it's the only lead I have. Even if he can't lead me to the actual perp, he can tell me where he last saw him other than the motel, and he could be potentially sitting on other identifying details and not even realize it. At the very least, we might actually get a sketch of this guy."

Okay, Brian could understand that; but he didn't really know how much help he could be, as the last time he'd hired someone had been over five years ago. Actually it had been eight, closer to nine years ago; before Justin had even moved away to New York. He just hadn't seen any need to use one when tricks were plentiful at Babylon; and nothing, and no one, could ever be more satisfying than fucking and sucking with Justin.

"The problem is," Brian said with a shrug. "The same applies to the service. I barely remember what they even look like. I could run into them on the street and not even know who they were. That is how little I paid attention to them back then."

"He said that you'd remember him," Tak pressed on, trying to drive the point home; Brian was skeptical. He'd never bothered to know anything about or even engage in conversation with his tricks; it's what made his interactions with Justin stand out even in the beginning. Brian never cared to know his tricks; and he certainly didn't feel the need to share any information on himself. He'd just talked to them long enough to get them into bed, fucked them into the mattress and then kicked them out.

But with Justin, he'd found himself asking after his his likes and dislikes; he'd shared his first time story, and had even dragged him to the fucking hospital to see his newborn son. Honestly, he had to have been completely blind, and so far lost in the land of denial that an interactive map with GPS couldn't have helped him find his way, to not realize that this kid was so very different from the start.

"Well, he said that; and I quote," Tak said, reading from his notebook. "'There is no way that the King of Liberty Avenue would ever forget me as he'd special-ordered me, looking for my exact physical characteristics.' He said that you chose him because he bore a striking resemblance to, and I quote again, 'his Prince,' as he referred to Justin."

Brian winced, because there was only one time period that he could think of where that would have been true; and he still hated thinking of that time to this day.

"He said that it wasn't just a one time deal either," Tak continued. "And that he'd heard through the rumor mill that there had been a break-in at your loft, and that it might have been instigate by Justin's potential stalker; and that this encounter with the suspect had left him feeling uncomfortable before remembering everything, but that it had increased doubly so when he remembered the interactions with you all those years ago."

And fuck, he was right; Brian did know exactly what time period that the detective was talking about. It had been during the fiddler fiasco, when Justin had left him for Ian. Brian vividly recalled calling that service every time the pain of missing Justin had gotten too much to bear; and he'd ordered this guy, just so he could pretend to have Justin in his bed for a little while.

"Swanson," Brian sighed; and yes, despite telling the guy the first time they'd met that his name didn't matter, he did eventually learn it; or at least his working name. It was hard not to know it when you requested the same person every few days. "His name was Blaine Swanson; although, I doubt that it was his real name. They never give out their real names at those places. Hell, I don't even know if the site is still in existence."

"Could you tell me what the name of the site is?" Tak asked, readying his pen to take down the information. "And maybe that will be give me a start in tracking this guy down."

"Sure, it was called Silverlight Escort Services," Brian said, still remembering that service well. "But I have to warn you, the chances that it is still up and running are slim; they've likely been shutdown or have set up operations under another name. We are talking about ten to eleven years ago. Those places pop up and change with rapid frequency due to the nature of their business."

"But nothing is ever truly erased from the net," Tak grinned, notating the name into this his handy-dandy notebook. And Christ, Brian hadn't thought of that show in years; but Gus had been obsessed with it back then and it had just popped into his head for some reason. "And I have very talented and technologically -gifted friends. At least this gives me a starting point."

"Well, hopefully you'll find something out," Brian said, internally shaking his head at his earlier random thought. And then he stood when Tak began to rise from his chair. "I'd really like for Justin to rest easy knowing that this asshole is behind bars."

"Hopefully this will get us somewhere," Tak said, closing his notebook and shoving it in his pocket. He thrust his hand out. "If nothing else, we might just learn what this guy looks like sooner rather than later; and that will get us somewhere."

"Thank you, as always," Brian said, shaking the detective's hand. "Please keep us updated and feel free to call if you have any other questions."

"Have a good one," Tak said as he turned on his heel and loped over to the door, letting himself out.

Brian shook his head, sat down and got lost in his thoughts again; his skin crawled a bit at the thought that someone slept with this guy for the same reasons that Brian had all those years ago. He'd hated doing it then, feeling pathetic that he couldn't seem to let go of Justin's ghost in his bed; and learning this had certainly brought home just how unhealthy his actions had been at the time. He was glad, however, that it hadn't led anywhere other than to Brian drawing comfort from a, now that he thought of it, only passable substitute for the real thing, and hadn't ended in an obsession like this guy.