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Author's Chapter Notes:

Apparently everyone wanted me to post the next chapter IMMEDIATELY, so here you go. Not sure you're going to like this cliffhanger any more than the prior one, though . . . Hehehe! Enjoy! (Evil Author laughing and rubbing her hands together in evil glee...) TAG


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Chapter 20 - This Is What You Saw?



Justin stood there, frozen in place, watching as the Jeep carrying his lover and a suspected monster drove away.


Justin simply couldn’t get over seeing Michael in that Ironmen hoodie. Of course it all made sense now: the over the top animosity, the bills he was trying to get Brian to pay, even the odd way Michael seemed to always turn up just AFTER they’d had run-ins with the kidnapper. To Justin‘s way of thinking, there was no other explanation.


Michael Novotny was the man who had taken Gus!


The only real question in Justin’s mind was what to do about it. He was glad he had panicked and shut down the emotional link to Brian the second he had his epiphany. He didn’t know what Brian would do if the truth were revealed while he was driving in the car with the man who’d abducted his son. He might have an accident. He might try to strangle Michael. He was definitely going to be hurt when he found out it was his best friend that had done such a horrible thing. But it wasn’t exactly the kind of news that would keep.


Justin pulled out his new phone and pushed the button on the side to turn it on. It was so cheap it didn’t have a lock screen, so he didn’t need a code to open any of the applications. He went into the contacts log first and noted that Brian had already input his name and phone numbers. Justin hesitated with his finger poised over the icon that would dial the number, unsure how, exactly, he would impart this troubling revelation. At the last moment, though, he decided to wait until he could talk to Brian when he was alone. That would be the safest course of action. 


“You okay, Justin?” The boy’s panicked reverie was interrupted as Melissa Patterson walked past him heading for the silver Audi that he’d mistaken for his father’s car. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost or something.”


“Uh . . . No, I’m fine. I just . . . My lunch doesn’t seem to be agreeing with me,” Justin replied evasively.


Melissa responded that she hoped he felt better the following day so he wouldn’t have to miss any more school. Then she got into the Audi and the car drove away. Justin scanned the roadway but saw absolutely no sign of another silver Audi. So much for that threat that he better be waiting when his dad arrived or there would be hell to pay. He and Brian probably could have stayed at the loft and had one more fuck after all. 


Justin spent the next twenty minutes nervously pacing in front of the school while waiting for Craig. He was tempted to call his mother and ask where the hell his father was, but that would be cruel. His mother already had her doubts about her husband and there was no reason to rub it in. Besides, that would give away the secret that he now had a phone, despite being grounded, and he didn’t want that. So he just paced and waited and worried and paced some more until he was fed up with all the pacing and waiting. 


When he couldn’t take it any longer, Justin pulled out the phone again and resolutely hit the button to call Brian. Not that Justin knew what he was going to say yet, but hopefully Brian would have had time to get home. At least that way he wouldn’t crash when Justin told him the news. 


“Kinney!” the familiar voice answered as soon as the call connected.


“Hey, it’s me,” Justin replied hesitantly.


“Glad to see the phone works. I wasn’t sure about the coverage with that cheap brand, but I didn’t want to get you something more expensive in case your parents took it away too,” Brian answered, sounding happy and chatty. “Just be careful and don’t get caught okay. I don’t want your father finding out you’re defying him again. He’d probably lock you up in a dungeon or something just to keep you away from me.” 


Justin could sense Brian’s good mood, both through his words and through their renewed emotional connection. He couldn’t keep himself separate from Brian for long. The last twenty minutes had already felt like an eternity. So the minute he’d heard Brian’s voice over the phone line, he’d renewed their link, keeping only the Michael knowledge shielded from Brian. Justin already felt a thousand times better; he was less worried and less panicky now that he could sense Brian’s presence. 


Brian, on the other hand, was obviously feeling just fine. He was decidedly upbeat and far chattier than usual, gabbling on about random stuff while Justin struggled to think of how to break his news. 


“So, I’m assuming that you must have gotten away with skipping today or otherwise you’d still be getting yelled at, right?”


“I guess. If the school had called my parents again, my dad would have been here, ready to yell at me, at exactly 3:05 pm. But, since he still hasn’t shown, I suppose I’m in the clear.”


“He hasn’t shown yet? Isn’t that pretty late?” Brian sounded a little bit worried, and Justin was touched by the note of concern.


“It’s no biggie. Craig probably just had another emergency business meeting,” Justin replied, giving the word ‘emergency’ enough emphasis that Brian caught on right away.


“Oh. One of those meetings, huh? Yeah, my Pops used to have meetings like that a lot too. Usually when he was banging some bimbo from the plant.”

 

 

“You’re probably not wrong. I’m not going to complain, though, as long as it means I’m not going to be yelled at again this afternoon,” Justin reasoned, earning a laugh from Brian’s end of the phone line. In the moment that followed, Justin could hear a honking horn and some other traffic noises in the background and realized Brian was speaking from his car.  “You’re not home yet?” 


“Nah. I had to drop Mikey off first. He needs to get ready for his big date with the Love Doctor,” Brian answered, his contempt for David evident in the tone of his thoughts. 


“Oh, well, that’s good . . .” Justin hesitated, still not sure how to go about telling Brian his suspicions. 


But Brian must have sensed that Justin was upset because Justin immediately felt a drop in his lover’s happy-go-lucky mood.


“What is it, Justin? Tell me,” Brian demanded.


“Well . . . I . . .” Justin closed his eyes, sighed, and then just blurted it all out. “It’s Michael, Brian. He’s the kidnapper. He’s the one who took Gus.”


“What the fuck are you smoking, Sunshine?”


“Nothing. I’m serious, Brian. I think it’s Michael.”


“That’s ridiculous. Where the fuck did you come up with a stupid idea like that?” Brian asked, clearly not buying Justin’s suspicions.


“Didn’t you see what he was wearing? The black Ironmen hoodie?” Justin pointed out. “The same hoodie the guy at the museum was wearing . . .”


Brian broke out laughing. “You almost had me for a minute there, Sunshine.”


“I’m not joking, Brian. I think it’s Michael.”


“Just because of a damned sweatshirt?” More laughter. “Sunshine, how many of those damned shirts do you think the Ironmen franchise sells in a year? I’m guessing it’s upwards of a hundred thousand or more. You can’t go around accusing someone of a crime just because they have the same sweatshirt as a million other people.”


“But it’s not just the hoodie, Brian,” Justin continued, laying out all the facts he’d amassed. “There’s also the fact that whoever did this knows you - so it couldn’t be just anyone that has an Ironmen hoodie, right? Plus, I saw the kidnapper worrying about bills he couldn’t pay and the next day Michael was complaining to you about his bills.” Justin heard Brian scoffing on the other end of the call and hurried on. “And I also get really bad vibes off Michael whenever I’m around him. He’s insanely jealous and he really hates me but sometimes he’s really angry at you too . . .”


By that point Brian’s laughter was drowning out Justin’s words. “Sunshine, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you’ve got it all wrong. The kidnapper couldn’t possibly be Mikey. I’ve known Michael for more than fifteen years. He’s almost like a brother to me.”


“That’s not how he thinks of you, though.”


Brian sighed but there was still a note of humor in it. “You think I’m clueless about his little crush on me? Come on, Sunshine. I’m well aware of his feelings. He certainly hasn’t tried that hard to hide them over the years. But I also know Mikey’s heart and he’s not a bad person.” Brian must have sensed Justin’s continued incredulity because he kept on arguing. “So, what? You think I’ve got all this empathy shit, but somehow I still don’t know my best friend? Think again, Sunshine. I’ve always known about Michael’s feelings for me. Which is exactly the reason why I never let him get too close. I love him like a brother, but that’s all it will ever be. Mikey, though, is a romantic little twat and has always had these fantasies about the two of us growing old together in Palm Beach.” Justin could feel Brian’s inherent disdain for that particular dream. “I don’t know . . . For a long time, when I didn’t think I’d ever find a better alternative, I figured it couldn’t hurt to have that option as a fall back position, so I guess I kinda let him have his fantasies . . . Just in case, you know . . . And, yeah, that’s probably why he’s so jealous of you, Justin, because you’ve already got more of me than he’s ever likely to have. But don’t you get it? That’s exactly why he’d never hurt me or my son. Because he LOVES me. Even when he gets aggravated because I’m not returning his feelings, he still LOVES me.” Justin could feel the melancholy smile Brian was wearing without even seeing it. “It’s not Mikey. It couldn’t be.”


Justin could hear the sincerity and conviction in Brian’s voice. And he could feel, through their emotional connection, the underlying confidence Brian had in his old friend. It was hard to doubt a belief held that strongly. So, even though Justin still had some concerns about Mr. Michael Novotny, he decided to defer to Brian’s judgment. Besides, Brian was right; even if he hadn’t previously acknowledged his empathic abilities, he had likely accessed them enough to be aware of the character of those closest to him over the years. Justin would have to trust Brian’s discernment. At least until Michael - or someone else - proved Brian wrong.


“Okay. If you say so, Brian.” Justin was actually relieved to be able to dismiss that suspicion. 


“I do. So you can scratch Mikey off your list of suspects, Inspector Clouseau,” Brian responded, his good mood percolating through again. “Although, knowing how sneaky and conniving you are, you’d probably be the Pink Panther rather than some bumbling loser like Peter Sellers . . .”


Justin let the man ramble for another five minutes or so, just enjoying listening to the happiness in Brian’s voice. While they’d been talking, Brian had been driving, and it was at that point that he finally reached the loft. Justin could tell when Brian had pulled the Jeep into its parking spot under the building because of the beeping and buzzing and various other car parking noises. Then, for about ten seconds, the phone line went dead as Brian turned off the ignition and the phone switched from the car’s Bluetooth connection to the regular phone line. 


“Did I lose you?” Brian asked as soon as the line reconnected. 


“Nope, I’m still here. And there’s still no sign of my dad. The loser. I bet he completely forgot he was supposed to pick me up,” Justin complained. 


“You mean we could have stayed here and fucked some more?”


“That’s just what I was thinking too,” Justin admitted with a chuckle. “Have I mentioned how much it sucks to still be in high school?”


Justin could hear Brian rustling around as he started to get out of the car. “You’ve only got a few months left, Sunshine. You can hold out that long,” Brian reassured him. 


“Not if my parents follow through on this idea they have of grounding me till I’m no longer gay.”


That got Brian laughing again. “Well, we’ll just have to get really creative about sneaking you out for some occasional playtime,” Brian assured him, causing Justin to grin from ear to ear, because Brian had basically just promised there’d be more playtime. “Shit . . . Guess what you left in the back of my car - besides the disgusting bag with your half-eaten food, that is - your damned school bag.”


“Oh, shit. I did!” Justin only then realized he’d been too distracted by, first, all the kissing, and second, his suspicions about Michael, to even notice his missing messenger bag. “Oh well. Since I didn’t go to any classes, I wouldn’t have known what homework to do anyway. I guess I’ll have to get it from you tomorrow sometime.”


“Aha! So this is just your super-sneaky way of fabricating an excuse to come back over for another fuck, isn’t it?” Brian teased him good naturedly. “Well, I’ll just add this bag to the pile of other stuff I’ve found of yours around my place. I’ve now got a pair of your smelly socks, the sketchbook from yesterday, and your school bag. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were moving in.”


“If only. At least then I wouldn’t be imprisoned in my room, alone, with nothing to do but jerk off a hundred times a night.” He’d been about to add, ‘to all my memories of you’, but thought Brian would only make fun of him for being a silly, sentimental twat if he did, so he held his tongue.


“Well, judging by all those drawings of my cock in your sketchbook, you’ve got plenty of material for your personal spank bank,” Brian commented, clearly reading Justin’s thoughts far too well by that point.  


“I draw other stuff besides your dick,” Justin insisted, trying to reclaim his dignity. 


“Yeah, my ass, and my hands, and even my feet - by the way, I didn’t know you had a foot kink, Sunshine.” Justin hoped that his embarrassed blushing didn’t transmit through their empathic link; a hope that was dashed by Brian’s next comment. “Don’t sweat it, kid. Your drawings are actually pretty decent and I’m flattered you can make even my feet look so sexy.” Brian chuckled. “But I promise I wasn’t looking through your drawings just to admire pictures of my own naked ass; I was trying to follow your advice and see if your drawings of the kidnapper’s visions might help me figure out who it was.”


“Too bad they didn’t help us find the guy before he took all your money, huh?” Justin lamented. 


“Yeah, well, I don’t give a fuck about the money. All that matters is getting Gus back safe and sound.”


“Yeah. Let’s hope it’s soon, too,” Justin voiced what they were both thinking. “But you should still go through the rest of my drawings and see if anything clicks. Even if he does return Gus, you can always turn him in to the cops later. He shouldn’t be allowed to get away with shit like this, you know.” Justin could feel Brian’s agreement even though the man didn’t actually say anything. “Oh, hey, since you have my bag, you should check out the new drawing I did this morning. It’s in the blue notebook. I didn’t have time to completely finish it, but it might give you another clue. I think I got the ugly kitchen down pretty good.”


“. . . For whatever good it’ll do,” Brian answered, and in the background Justin could hear the loft door sliding closed with its characteristic metallic clang. “Nothing we’ve seen so far was at all familiar. Although, I gotta say that your drawings are a lot clearer than how I see things when I’m channeling this shit through you. The crap I get is, like, third-hand and everything’s blurred. It’s like looking at the world through gauze mesh or something. I can barely see anything . . .”


Which was when Brian’s contented mood turned to ice cold rage. 


Justin couldn’t hear any sounds coming through the phone lines but he could feel his lover’s emotions roaring into overdrive. “Brian? Brian, what’s wrong?”


“This is what you saw last night? This kitchen?” Brian was panting with anger as he bit out the words. 


“If you’re looking at the drawing in the blue notebook, the one of a kitchen, then yeah. That’s what I saw. Why? You recognize it?”


“I can’t fucking believe it!” Brian yelled so loudly that Justin had to pull the phone away from his ear. “This kitchen - this ugly-assed reject from the 70s - this is my damned mother’s fucking kitchen.”


“Your mother? But, how? Why?” Justin was lost, unable to comprehend how any mother could do such a thing.


“Does it matter? I don’t give a crap why. Although . . . I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Saint Joan's idea. That’s not her style . . . Fuck, it WAS Claire,” Brian concluded. “That fucking cunt! She really was at the damned museum this morning just for the ransom drop. I’m gonna fucking kill her!”


“Are you sure, Brian?” Justin asked, trying to think rationally even though Brian couldn’t right then because of his overwhelming anger. “You said you hadn’t told your mom or your sister about Gus. If they didn’t know he was alive, how would they know to kidnap him?”


“Well they must have found out about him somehow because this is definitely my mother’s house,” Justin could hear Brian slamming things in the background. “I grew up in that fucking kitchen. I can still smell the burnt potatoes, the menthol cigarettes, and the spilled cooking sherry. Hell, you even got the patterns on those stupid ‘collector’s plates’ she thinks qualify as decorations down right. Fuck! I’m going to fucking KILL THEM BOTH!”


Justin heard the loft’s door sliding open again and footsteps echoing in the stairwell. “Brian, stop! Please don’t do anything stupid. Let the cops handle this. Please!”


“Fuck that! I’m going over there and get my son and then I’m going to beat the shit out of fucking Claire!” Brian’s declaration was followed by a *ping* as the call was terminated and the line went dead.


“Fuck, Brian,” Justin muttered as he tried to call back, but of course Brian didn’t answer. 


The worried empath could feel Brian’s unrestrained RAGE coming through their emotional connection. Brian was virtually blinded by the anger he was feeling; it was the only emotion coming through at all. And that scared Justin more than anything else. Justin didn’t want Brian going over there by himself - Brian obviously wasn’t thinking very clearly and getting himself arrested for assault wouldn’t help matters, even if he was justified in his anger - but what could the youth do, stuck at school with no transportation? Somehow, though, he had to stop Brian before he did something he regretted. 


Justin quickly determined that the best solution was to head Brian off before he could do anything he’d regret. With that in mind, the boy put his new phone to use, looking up the phone number for the precinct where Detective Horvath worked and making a call to the number he found. Unfortunately, the dweeb that answered the call was clueless and, even when Justin said it was urgent, he put Justin on hold for what felt like an interminable amount of time.


While Justin was waiting on hold, he continued pacing up and down in front of the school, letting the exercise help drain at least a small portion of his anxiety. He felt so useless. He should be there with Brian, supporting him, and also making sure that the man didn’t get himself into more hot water. But, no. He was trapped in the life of a highschooler, without a car, and completely powerless to get anyone to listen to him. The stress of his impotence was driving him insane. And, meanwhile, he could feel Brian’s swirling rage taking his lover farther and farther down a path that could lead to real trouble.


So it really wasn’t surprising that, while he waited on hold for Horvath, Justin wasn’t paying attention to anything other than the conflict he was sensing from Brian’s end of their connection. What did surprise him was when the path of his pacing was suddenly blocked by a pair of scuffed old tennis shoes. Even more alarming, when he looked up he found he was surrounded by his least favorite group of people; the shoes in his path belonged to Chris Hobbs and Chris was accompanied by all of his usual sycophantic bully boys. Great, that was JUST what he needed.


Justin quickly scanned the vicinity and was worried to find he was all alone. The school had emptied out and everyone else that had been waiting for rides had been picked up already. Even most of the teachers' cars were now gone from the nearby parking lot. 


This did not look good . . . Not good at all.



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Chapter End Notes:

2/4/20 - Did I get ya? Hahaha! I worked really, really, really hard on all those red herring clues. Credit to Kari Lucas who helped me conceptualize this story and talked me into NOT having Michael be my villain. Now, on to the REALLY big climax . . . TAG

 

PS, if you thought this chapter was the big surprise, you don’t know me. There’s almost always another twist. ;)

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