PRECINCT BLUES PART 1O: INDISPUTABLE TRUTH

JUSTIN:

I don’t want to be here. I just don’t. But I promised Brian that he wouldn’t have to face any of this alone. Consequently, it’s because of Brian that I don’t want to be here. I don’t want either of us here. I know beyond doubt that whatever we find inside that house is not going to be conducive to the peace of mind of either of us, and yet… 

Yet if we don’t go in to see what that fucking bastard did- how he violated his friendship with Brian firsthand- I know that we will never move past this completely. No matter how hard we try, or what we do to forget about it and move on with our lives, there would always be some questions left unanswered. So, to that end, we have to see this through once and for all, so that Brian and I can LIVE in peace. It’s the least we can do for ourselves, and for each other. I just have to keep it together for Brian’s sake, and not let any of the venom I feel towards the idiots who are and always have been trying to own Brian outweigh my main goal…

Which is to be his partner.

To be his husband, not only in name but in deed.

To hold him up when he’s unable to do it for himself.

To be EVERYTHING he needs in this moment, and to remind him of who he really is.

If I can just keep these thoughts and objectives to the forefront of my mind, I can refocus the underlying anger I feel hidden just beneath the surface. I have to do that. For Brian. And because of Brian. Because if I don’t…

“Yoo-hoo, Mr. Novotny-Kinney!” The high-pitched voice calls out from across the street. I’m about to ask her who the fuck she’s talking to, but Brian beats me to it.

“Excuse me, but what the hell did you just call me?” His lowered voice and raised eyebrow should have been warning enough for the woman, but apparently if she’d spent any time with Michael, it’s irreversibly diminished her brain cells.

“Oh, Mr. Novotny-Kinney, you’re so funny,” she titters as she comes closer. “Brian…  I may still call you Brian, right? Anyway, Brian, I was wondering what in the world is going on over here. I mean, I would have called the police on your behalf, except that they are already here. So how about you give me the lowdown on what’s going on, Sugar?”

Her southern drawl and cloying perfume are giving me a headache, but it’s the fact that she is calling Brian by his first name, after referring to him as MR. NOVOTNY-KINNEY that is setting off all kinds of warning bells. “Excuse me, Miss…”

“Jacqueline. Mrs. Jacqueline Deevers. I live just across the way over there. My man and I just moved in a little over a year ago; right before Michael snatched this place up. Of course, this home was our first pick, but we would have had to renovate something fierce, and we were looking for a turnkey property at the time. What he has done with your place is just shy of amazing. Although it wasn’t in bad shape, there were some things that definitely needed remodeling. Like now, it has an open floor plan, and I know that he was planning on doing some other renovations to the bedroom. Brian, did Michael ever get you to bend your rules about the decor of the bedroom?”

Brian is about to lay into her, but I stop him just in time. Stepping in between them, and refocusing her attention back to me, I ask, “And just how do you know Brian?”

“Oh, I’ve met him several times over the last year, whenever he’s in town. Michael said that he was still tying up some loose ends in Pittsburgh so that they could officially move out here within the next six months. I guess you’ve finished up your business earlier than expected, Brian, although I’m still confused about why the police are here…” she lets the sentence trail off as if her sly innuendo is going to lead us into exposing what she wants to know. Fat chance, Lady!

“We’ll get to their reasons for being here in a few moments, but… well, I’m curious. How are you so sure that this Brian, and the one you’ve obviously had a conversation with before are the same person?”

She frowned at me, while trying to look somewhat sympathetic as if I’ve been touched in the head or something. “”Of course, I know it’s the same one. While my husband was out of town as was Michael, he and I kept each other… company,” she practically purred, leaving no doubt to the type of time she and faux-Brian spent together.

I smiled evilly before asking sarcastically, “And he was able to get it up?”

“Look, I don’t know who you are or what you are implying, but OF COURSE HE WAS! And let me tell you, Brian Novotny-Kinney fucks like a dream, too! Don’t you, Darling?” She reaches for him, but once again, I plant my feet so that I’m even more firmly in between them.

It’s taking everything in me not to laugh in her face right now, but… well, she asked for it, didn’t she? “Hate to break it to you, Darling, but whomever you let into your twat wasn’t my husband, whose name is Brian Taylor-Kinney. Which in case you haven’t figured it out yet is this man right here, so I fear that you’ve been duped by whomever it is that Michael paid to impersonate him.”

“Maybe it’s you who are being duped, as you say,” she sneers back. And that’s it… It’s time for me to be the prissy, territorial motherfucker Brian knows I can be. I turn up that tone that is so reminiscent of my mother, that I can feel the slight tremble roll through Brian. And I’m secretly hoping that the tone won’t keep him from getting it up for me later… but, well, this chick needs to be put in her place.

“Not likely, since unless Michael knows about the curve in Brian’s dick which hits MY spot just right, he gave you access to just a cheap imitation of what he NOR you will ever have. Besides, outside of one drunken night a very long time ago with another harridan, far, far away, MY HUSBAND would have rather fucked a duck than ever commune with pussy again. So NO, you did NOT fuck my husband.” I take a deep breath, and turn down my inner-bitch just a notch for the sake of helping the investigation. I signal one of the officers over, before turning back to her. “Look, I’m sorry that I had to be so blunt with you…”

“I’m so sure…”

“...but you just wouldn’t let your delusion go,” I say over her. “It reminded me of the same way I’ve had to handle Michael Novotny all these years. But here’s the bottom line, you can either tell this nice officer what you know about the activity that has so obviously gone on here in Brian’s absence, or not; it’s your choice. But considering that you were also duped by Michael’s machinations, I would think that you would like to get a little revenge by telling the men who are here to gather evidence against him, exactly what you know.”

I can see her thinking it over, and I suppose I can understand. It’s obvious to me that she spends more time alone than with her absentee husband. No, I don’t condone what she’s done with the other guy, but I understand it better than most. Because not so long ago, she and I had that level of bone-deep loneliness in common. She has some decisions to make, but that’s not my problem. 

My problem is getting her to tell the police what she knows about Michael’s hired Brian, while keeping the real one in check. There’s still no telling what we’re bound to see when we go in there. 

“Fine! I’ll do it, but…”

“But?”

“Can I sort of remain anonymous? I mean regarding my past relations with whomever that man was? The last thing I need is for my husband to find out that I’ve had a little meat on the side, even if he’s been with his young, dumb tuna fish while he’s been away.”

“If it’s hurting you that bad, why not leave him?” Brian asks, and I can tell that he’s genuinely curious.

She smiles sadly at us both, before replying. “I tried that once, but I just ended up right back where I started. It took an acknowledgement that I wasn’t quite ready to make.”

“Which was?”

“That I love him enough to accept all the things about him regardless if sometimes those things hurt me. It took an acknowledgment that some people just aren’t built for monogamy, no matter how much they love you as a person and partner.”

Brian and I leave her in the company of one of the officers taking statements from the neighbors, and make our way up the lawn. Surprisingly, it’s Brandon who greets us with a smirk on his handsome face. “You through playing?” he asks me.

I smile back. “She asked for it. I almost feel sorry for her.”

“But not enough to let her live in her delusion that she slept with your man.”

“Nah, never that. But I do wonder just how much Michael paid the lookalike that she couldn’t even tell the difference in Brian’s unique eye color. I mean, it’s one of the very first things I noticed about Brian right away.”

“And the other?”

My smile widens even more then. “You really want to know the answer to that?”

Brandon laughs at the very obvious innuendo. “God, you’re just as bad as he is.”

Brian clears his throat briefly before responding. “Trust me. Sunshine is much worse.”

After a few more moments he sobers, reminding us of the real reason we’re here during the investigation. “I’m glad that you guys have gotten your shit back together. You’re going to need the strength of each other to get through this. Are you ready?”

“That’s a loaded question, if there ever was one,” Brian responds for both of us. “But there’s no help for it. If there’s anyone who can tell you what the fool was thinking, it’s the two of us and Mel. Speaking of which, she said something about a live feed?”

“Yeah, she’s on now. So we better get in there. They’ve…,” Brandon hesitates briefly before blowing out a huge sigh. Apparently, he’s resolved himself to just say whatever it is he was debating with telling us. “They’ve also found a secret room at the back of the house where the bedroom is.”

“That must be part of the renovations Jacqueline was just talking about,” I muse aloud, and Brandon confirms it.

“I don’t doubt it. Although it was built in sort of the way a panic room would have been added, it wasn’t on the original blueprints of the home. So whomever Michael paid to build the room is quite possibly an illegal contractor, because they would have needed to file permits, especially for a reno of that size. Daris is having the room checked by a contractor before we go in there to make sure the ground is structurally sound.”

“Do you honestly think there’s a possibility that it isn’t?” I ask, before huffing out, “Michael would have wanted to keep Brian hostage, yes, but not run the risk of killing him. He was trying to create a Stockholm Syndrome situation.”

Brandon hesitates again before being honest. “Oh the surface, I can agree with you that it would have been the main goal, but… Well on the flipside of that, I think he would have been…”

And that’s when it hits me. Michael would have needed somewhere to bury Brian if he continued to reject him. “Don’t even speak that thought aloud, Brandon. I think both Brian and I can tell where your mind just went.”

“Officer Greene, we’re ready for you now.”

Brandon nods to the young woman, then turns back to us. “You guys don’t have to do this. Based on my knowledge of Michael thus far, it shouldn’t be too hard to speculate what his main objective was…”

I’m about to answer, but Brian does instead. “Yes, we do. I do, Brandon. I need closure, and unfortunately, this is the only real way for me to get it. I have to see just how far he would have gone to have what he wanted.”

I grab Brian’s hand and thread our fingers together in support and solidarity. It’s exactly what we talked about after we reconnected in our way; facing this last piece of evidence in Michael’s treachery. It’s not that we haven’t been convinced of it thus far. There’s just too much that has come to light for any delusions to be left about the asshole’s intentions. But it’s one thing to know what he intended to happen, and another thing to see it in person altogether. No speculations, no guesses or innuendos, just in-your-face realness.

“We’re ready,” I assure Brandon, before stepping a little ways forward so that I’m shoulder-to-shoulder with the man I love.

BRANDON:

These two are really something else. The way Justin supports Brian… it’s total and complete, without doubt or question. It’s sure and solid, and RIGHT. I can only hope that Emmett and I reach that level of trust and belief that we can overcome even the hardest of circumstances as long as we’re together. 

Yeah, I’m actually thinking of a future with him. For the first time ever, I have found someone who makes me want to envision a different life than just being the ultimate playboy. There’s just something about him that encourages me to dream a different dream for myself. Perhaps it’s being around Brian and Justin throughout all of this, where I also see how they have earned the loyalty of their extended family that has me thinking Em and I could have that, too. I don’t know, but I’m sure that I want to spend some more time with him getting to know more of the quirks that make him the fascinating person he is. 

Turning my attention back to the matter at hand, I regard Brian as he steps into the living room for the first time. I watch him closely as he stares at the picture above the fireplace mantel; can see the sadness and anger lurking within his eyes as he speaks quietly to Justin. “Going that night was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I left you alone for this shit, Sunshine.”

“You had to, Brian. I didn’t send you just because it would have meant something to Michael. In fact, I didn’t encourage you to go because of him at all. It was because you were getting all kinds of shit from Debbie and I was tired of hearing the ‘Woe is Michael’ speech every time I was around. So me suggesting that you make Michael happy at that moment was as much about you and I as it was about him and ending his neverending tantrum. I think I’m more in shock about how this place is decorated though. It almost seems… tasteful.”

“He would have wanted you to feel completely at ease here, Brian,” I interject. “Melanie and Alex suggested that it may have been how he envisioned you and he would have been if you had agreed to move in with him back when you first started working for Ryder.”

Brian nods. “Their theory has some merit, although that would have never happened. And didn’t.”

“Can I ask why? I mean, I have my own theory, but I’d like to hear the truth of how you saw things.”

“The simple answer is that I needed my space, and Michael is counterproductive to having a breather on the best of days. The more in-depth answer to that is a little more complex.” He takes a deep breath before continuing. “Back then, I also needed privacy because I wasn’t sleeping much at all. There was always the fear that Jack would find out that I was back in Pittsburgh before I was ready for him to know; that he would show up and do what he’s always done. It’s how Michael ended up with a key to the loft in the first place.”

“I thought he said that was for emergencies,” Justin said.

“That excuse came later on, but only because he suggested it. Originally, it was a bribe for him to keep quiet about where I was living. I also thought that giving him the key would appease him enough that he would finally stop begging for me to let him move in with me. But I also gave Lindsay a key so that he wouldn’t think him having one would mean more than it should have. Sadly I was misguided enough to believe it could work. By the time I met you, the both of them were so used to coming and going as they pleased that I wasn’t sure how to stop it, or if I even could without incurring the wrath of the entire family. I had enough shit to deal with, trying to keep Jack in money and booze so that the threats to show up at my job would stop. Then of course, there was the whole Claire complaining about her divorce and what they expected me to do about it… I just couldn’t deal with anything else so I did what I always did when life got too hectic.”

“Pain Management 101,” I say, and he nods.

“It was the only way I could cope without committing murder, although it was still tempting. So when I came out of Babylon that long ago night with Michael hot on my heels, and saw Sunshine, all I could think was Hello, Salvation. I know it sounds weird, but although Justin is fucking gorgeous, the gift of anonymity that he provided was just as alluring as the man himself.”

Moving further into the house, Justin is quick to notice how much the first floor of the home is reminiscent of the loft before the robbery happened. If there wasn’t a confirmation that Michael had anything to do with it before, there certainly is now with Justin saying that other than the white walls, everything in here is almost like a replica of the furnishings that we found at Lance Freeman’s place in North Carolina. I wonder if it was just Michael reinventing the wheel so to speak, or if this is what he considered his Big Boy space. I mean yes, the place screams elegance and wealth, but… “Do you both think it’s possible that Michael was channeling his inner-Lindsay when he decorated this place?”

“What do you mean?” Brian asks me, as I continue to look around.

“What was the one thing he hated most about her? I mean, before they joined forces to get rid of Justin by any means necessary?”

“That’s easy. He hated that she was born to privilege while he had Deb, who admittedly treated him as if he was a little prince, even while bankrupting herself.”

“Take a look around, and look closely beyond the subtle superhero decor, Brian,” I advise, and he and Justin do so. It’s Justin who is about to put the pieces together before I even have a chance to ask my next question.

“Lindsay helped you decorate the loft, didn’t she, Brian?” Justin asks, still viewing the place with narrowed eyes.

“Sort of. She suggested a few places that people of her set often shopped at. But I wouldn’t let her tag along as I picked out the furnishings. Although…” he trails off, seeming to remember something.

“What is it?” I ask.

Justin huffs, before once again picking the thoughts out of our heads and putting them out in the open for us to analyze. “That beyond the Italian fixtures, which had to be imported, Brian didn’t have to wait for shipments and deliveries even though all of the furnishings should have been custom made to order.”

“How do you know that?” I ask, even though having grown up privileged myself, I already know where he's going with his train of thought.

“I’m from the same social set, and the one thing I remember is my mom always having to place orders. The floor models were just intended to be that… FLOOR models, and were never offered even if they had some items in the stockroom for purchase immediately. But for the right price or favor, the proprietors could be convinced to part with bits and pieces of their vaunted showroom. I always thought it was weird, considering how many customers would have come in and out, testing the furniture and such.”

“In theory, that would have been correct, Sunshine,” Brian interjects. “Except that they set appointments beforehand so that none of the customers see themselves coming and going, so to speak. It’s done so that each person believes they are getting a one-of-a-kind item… well, that is until they happen up at a friend’s house, who just happens to have the same item. By then, it’s too late to cancel the furniture shipment and the like.”

“So if we follow your theory, Justin, Lindsay arranged for Brian to have all of the high-end furnishings at a discounted rate?”

“That’s exactly what she did, although I’m sure the currency used to pay versus what we know about her penchant for extramarital activities leaves a major question of if there’s a paper trail to support it.”

“Sunshine, be nice,” Brian sighs, but there is little heat to it. In fact, there is a small twitching to his lips that says he actually agrees with Justin’s assessment, although he feels he has to be somewhat circumspect in voicing his own opinions on the matter.

“I am,” Justin replies, with a small smile and a quick roll of his eyes. As usual, I‘m hard-pressed not to laugh. I’m learning that the cheeky devil will either speak his mind, or bust. And I doubt any of us will see the scattered remains of Justin Taylor-Kinney anytime soon.

Moving further into the house, we finally arrive at the bedroom, which is alive with all sorts of activity. Since we found the opening about an hour ago, the CSI team has been collecting evidence and taking pictures of the entire interior of the main bedroom. They haven’t been allowed into what can only be described as a dungeon yet. What’s sad is that Michael’s lame attempt to sort of reenact the red room of pain from Fifty Shades actually comes off a bit comic bookish. 

But again, that’s not even the most disturbing part. It looks like he blended two images together and had them made into the wallpaper. If I’m not mistaken the base image is of Brian, high on whatever it is he’s taken, and Michael standing wayyy too close for anyone’s liking. Then on the overlying layer, it looks like there is a kiss about to happen, which is… yeah we won’t analyze that lead feeling in the pit of my stomach too much right now. 

But in analyzing the scene again, I understand just why it feels so familiar to me. It looks like the background of the blended images look like they were taken within what looks to be a bathroom stall at Babylon. Technically, this certainly would have happened before my time since prior to my arrival, Brian and Justin had been dealing with some pretty hefty issues that didn’t leave much time for partying. But I’d recognize it anywhere since I’ve gotten countless blow jobs within the space. 

The thing that makes it the most discomforting is that if Michael was able to obtain a picture within that space, who else has been photographed or recorded within the confines of that room as well? Just the thought makes me want to catch a flight back to Pittsburgh so I can knock the fuck out of Novotny and Sapperstein! The other disgust-inducing object in the room is the projector screen which has been rolled down for viewing. There is a collage of Michael and Brian’s greatest moments, at least in Michael’s eyes, which I suppose is meant to act as some sort of a reminder of what Michael means to Brian.

“Well, this is puke-inducing,” Justin says, in an almost-bored tone but we all know better.

“I agree,” Brian says, still looking around the room. “What’s that lever over there for?”

We all follow his gaze to the left side of the room, where there just seems to be a whole lot of empty space. As we’d discovered before opening the hidden pocket door to gain entry in here, the window with the bars at the back of the main bedroom was very deceptive. Seeing it from the outside, it would have just looked like an extension of the Batman decor, and could have easily been explained away to say it was just an office of some sort, if Michael had to. But the left side of the room, which is basically hidden unless you come into the space a bit further, is where the truth of Michael’s obsession becomes visible in its full unsettling reality. It’s there that Carl and Daris are currently standing.

“After the contractors made sure that we wouldn’t fall into the ground, we decided to wait before pulling it,” Daris informs us. “But before we do, you should know that there is also another pocket door in here that leads to an underground tunnel.”

The implication is clear to me, Justin, and Brian, even as a shiver runs through me. Unfortunately, I was right about Michael’s intent to off Brian if he continued to deny Michael. But I just have to know… “And what’s in the tunnel?”

“I already sent the rope to be analyzed against the sample we brought with us from Pittsburgh. The guys here have already been given a packet of what to look for from the information we found during the Kemp investigation, including what we have accumulated during its reopen,” Carl informs me, and I nod before turning back to Brian and Justin.

“Because this is technically an interstate case, the police department here in Palm Springs have not only agreed to let us use their resources, but to allow any information we gather here to be used for the case in the Pitts. I think there is even some talk about letting Novotny serve out his entire sentence there, since California’s prison system is as overcrowded as most states with a population this size.”

“So pull the lever and let’s see what else the fucker had in mind,” Justin says, calmly. 

It’s clear that he’s angry, but he doesn’t let it come out in his voice. I think he knows what it would do to Brian if he allows himself to lose the very tight control he’s holding over himself. I really admire that quality within him. I don’t know if I could contain myself if this was my own situation, but Justin is doing an admirable job of putting Brian’s needs before his own. Once again, I can see exactly what it is about Justin that has made Brian fall for him so hard and fast.

“Everyone, I’m going to ask that you all stay on the left side of the room until whatever is under here is revealed. Although the room is structurally sound, there’s no telling what kind of shit is beneath these floor boards. All we’re sure of is that there is a bunch of high-lows and scaffolding underground which seems to have a direct correlation to the rest of what’s in this room,” Daris advises.

Although everyone else comes over to where we’re standing, Justin makes certain that he and Brian are front and center. I notice that his hold on his lover’s hand tightens that much more, and Brian returns the gesture even as his eyes stay glued to the scene on the left side of the room. I can tell that as much as he wants to put a stop to all of this, he also realizes that he needs to know for his own peace of mind so that he can really begin to heal. I can’t imagine how hard this is really going to be for him, but I’m real fucking glad that he has Justin. I suspect he’s going to need him in a way none of us could ever have imagined.

As Daris and Carl pull the levers open, the floorboards open with a loud groan. I don’t know whether to consider Novotny an engineering genius, or simply a fucking comic geek with way too much imagination, though I suspect it’s a little of both at this point. As a series of buttons on a control panel on the wall by the lever are pressed, one by one, the room begins to take shape. The king-sized bondage bed that has risen out of the floor is in the center of the space, and is like nothing that I’ve ever seen before. But it’s obvious that it’s not the case for both of the men standing next to me, if their sharp inhales are any indication.

“That fucker really does want our life,” Justin muttered through gritted teeth. “He wanted MY life.”

“True, but not quite, Sunshine. After all, he added a cage beneath the bed. No prizes for guessing what he intended to use it for,” Brian says, wryly. 

Justin turns to his partner then. “You okay?”

Brian is silent for a moment, before answering. “Considering that Michael knows my aversion to being caged, hence my need for open floor plans, no I’m not. I think this is about to change the way we play, Justin.”

The younger man nods solemnly, and I can feel the sadness emanating off of the two of them. I’ve never seen them in action, or really understood the magnitude that they have engaged in the scene, since they just don’t seem like the type to make it a full-time lifestyle. And perhaps they aren’t, but the fact that they know their way around an apparatus like this indicates that they are far more well-versed in it than anyone could have ever suspected. As we continue to look around, there are other indications that Michael has indeed spied on the two of them in more places than just the loft and Babylon. Although Lance obviously provided Michael some pretty substantial details about Brian’s whereabouts, it’s pretty obvious from the conversation Brian and Justin are having as each new piece is revealed, that the fucker was there personally, watching every single move that Brian made… and Justin’s reaction to it.

“But why? Why go to all this trouble if…” I ask, but am cut off by Justin.

“Because although Brian and I don’t engage in the lifestyle full-time, there are certain aspects of it that we love. Based on all of the equipment and toys in this room, it’s apparent that Michael was hoping that even in my absence, Brian would want to play with him. The thing Michael never got, and not many others did either, is that even though Brian had played with others before me, I’m only submissive FOR Brian. And that’s only because I want to be in those moments, or if it’s a situation like what you witnessed last night, Brandon. It’s all of the underlying need, desire, and reasoning that no one but Brian and I see in those moments. It’s when the both of us are at our strongest, but also totally vulnerable with each other, no matter who the Dom/sub is. We’re absolutely transparent to each other without fear of reprisal. There’s a level of trust that has been achieved between me and Brian that can never be duplicated or forced, no matter how long Michael has known Brian.”

“And on that note, I think it’s time to get Melanie back up on the feed in order for her to give us her input. It’s time to find out what Michael intended for Brian, and ONLY Brian, to see,” Daris informs us. 

And honestly, I think I just felt my stomach drop with those ominous words...