2.
The next day after signing the papers and making the changes on the insurance policies, Brian called Ted and had him call everyone to Britin. He called Ben and personally asked him to be there. Em arranged the food that everyone would bring. Besides Puttanesca, Deb made a dish consisting of shrimp, zucchini, peppers, and angel hair pasta in cream sauce. Em fixed fruit and vegetable trays. Cynthia and Murphy, with his wife, Angie, were there. Cyn brought a big garden salad and Angie made a tomato mozzarella salad. Ben got two loaves of garlic bread, and Ted and Blake made a chocolate ice cream cake and an apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Justin fixed a tiramisu. The girls had actually moved back, so Brian talked to Melanie and found out that Lindsey was on a two-day trip to New York with her mom and sister. Mel, Gus, and JR would be there. She was bringing tea and kool-aid for the two kids as well as Ted and Blake to drink. Daphne brought lemonade as her contribution. Brian also told Melanie about the change to the insurance policy, citing he didn’t trust Lindsey not to spend the majority of it on herself if something happened to him. Melanie was surprised but pleased about the policy for JR.
After showing everyone through the manor, they gathered around the table to eat.
“Oh my God,” Deb shrieked! “You’re married!”
“Maw, calm down. We signed LDP papers.” Seeing her blank look, he explained. “A Legal Domestic Partnership is more binding than marriage. So we decided we wanted to wear the rings we had from our first engagement. To Justin and I, we are married.”
“Murph, Cynthia, and Ted, did you consider the new hire for the art department?” They all smiled and gave an enthusiastic agreement.
“Well, Justin Taylor-Kinney, you have a job in Kinnetik’s art department. You will have your own office as you will work on our animated advertisements. You will be responsible for obtaining more clients from the entertainment world as well. Did you get a chance to look at the resumes I gave you?”
“Yes, Bri, I’m going to hire Angie to help with finding more clients. As for a PA, I’m hiring someone who switched to a business degree concentrating on marketing and office skills. Daphne, you have the job if you would like the challenge.”
There was a loud cheer and Daphne grabbed Justin in a big hug.
_________________
The next day Jennifer was at a little coffee shop near her home. She was sheltered by some potted plant arrangements. She knew that Brad had access to the loft at one time, and came and went whenever he wanted at Kinnetik. She had been talking to Deb, getting her head on straight before apologizing to her sons. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice talking on the phone. Peeking around, she saw Brad on the phone. She started recording the conversation.
“Kip, I can’t do anything about it! Look, I know I fucked up by getting involved with Novotny! But he caught me on Brian’s laptop. I had to play nice with him to stay out of trouble. Brian took his laptop with him to the manor and I was never able to crack the code on the PC. I’m sorry, but I can’t get into Kinnetik at all. Both Novotny and I are banned. Plus, he changed the locks and codes on the loft. I doubt the PC is there since he’s moved to the manor... I talked to the lawyer you told me to, and he says I can’t sue him as I didn’t move into the loft and I never went to the manor. I’ve gone too far as it is and I’m not going any further, step-brother dear. I'm leaving town. I get caught and I’ll be charged with fraud. Fuck off, Kip! You’re the one that swallowed what that kid told you and dropped the charges.”
Jennifer called and asked Carl to meet her at Kinnetik. She sent the recording to him. When Carl showed up, he had Detectives Brandon Greene and Tucker Rand with him.
“Jen, I don’t know if Brian and Justin want to talk to you,” Carl said as the officers went into Kinnetik with her.
“Hello, Cynthia. I’m Police Chief Carl Horvath and these men are Detectives Rand and Greene. I think you know Jennifer? It is of the utmost importance we speak with Brian and Justin as soon as possible.”
“They’re doing a presentation at the moment but should be done soon if you don’t mind waiting?” She told them. “Does this involve Michael or Brad?” At his head nod, she continued, “Then you can wait in Brian’s office. Michael still doesn’t know the meaning of stay away.”
Brian finished the presentation and goes to see why Jennifer and the police are here. He had Justin join him. The recording of Brad’s side of the phone conversation is played.
“Mr. Kinney, we need to find a way to find out exactly what he’s done,” Horvath says.
Brian calls Ted in and has him listen to the conversation.
Ted thinks a moment, then says, “I’ll go over both Kinnetik’s and your joint personal accounts. I’ll try to do some deep digging. Ken can cover for me while I’m checking the personal account.”
Two days later, Ted tells Brian he’s stumped but feels something is screwy with the accounts. Brian receives a call from the bank about a large withdrawal from his account. $50,000 was taken out, cash which should not have been allowed. The bank says Brian and Justin should use their credit cards as they are freezing the accounts, both checking and savings. Brian rechecks as Ted had used Brian’s laptop to do his looking into the problem and saw no cash withdrawal. “This shows no withdrawal, Ted. What’s going on?”
Four days later, the bank calls and says they’re stumped. Ted makes a suggestion and makes a call to an old friend.
The next morning at the bank, Brian, Ted, and Dale Wexler were still looking into what had happened.
“Ted, I had no reason to look. I’m rich, I should have had no trouble.” Brian said.
“Well obviously, your hacker has figured his way back into your account; thank God they didn’t get into Kinnetik.”
“Well, little fish,” Dale Wexler said. “They could still get in. I’ve talked to the police and they are searching for Kip Thomas. No Justin, I see that look, and you are not responsible for him being in this. We need a freeze on your accounts both personal and business. To access money, Brian, you, Justin, or Ted, will have to go directly to the bank for it. I’ll get right on trying to follow the trail. I’m almost positive it’s a ghost account set up. But instead of your account disappearing, it shows one certain amount.”
“Why should Justin... Justin? What did you do? I remember right after the charges were dropped, you said it’s a mystery. Spill it.”
“Um... uh... weeelll, I might have convinced him to drop the charges against you...”
“By doing what?” Brian asked with an arched eyebrow.
“I let him blow me and told him my dad put a guy in jail because I was underage. So I said I wouldn’t tell if he dropped the charges.”
Brian grabs Justin in his arms. “Dammit, Justin, I should spank your ass! He could have hurt you, you twat!”
“Oh, please! He was on his knees and I was not a weakling.”
Later at the loft knowing that it would take a while for Dale to find the evidence, the two tried to relax. Brian was totally wound up. He rarely got to that extreme. Justin cornered Brian and ordered him to stand still in his dominating voice. He proceeded to strip Brian and fasten his arms around a beam. He commands him to keep his legs spread. He gets a ridged butt plug and lubes it. After slowly opening him up, occasionally brushing against his prostate, he inserts the dildo and turns it on. He then smacks each of Brian’s butt cheeks. His moans and pleading for more, then his begging for relief, get louder.
“Un-uh! Spread them and hold still.”
He feathers his fingers up and down Brian’s thighs, tapping the butt plug, making it move inside him. He puts a cock ring on Brian to keep him from cumming.
“Justin! Gawdddd! I can’t stand it. Please let me cummm.”
“Not before me, baby.”
He finally pulls the plug out slowly, and lines himself up, and begins to push into him. Pulling out a bit, then he slides in, until he bottoms out. He gives Brian a moment to adjust then starts to slowly pump, angling so he brushes Brian’s sensitive nerve bundle, loving the moans and constant tightening of Brian’s muscles around his dick. Finally, he starts moving faster, hitting his prostate with every thrust, while Brian constantly chants Justin’s name. His legs and arms are shaking, so Justin takes the cock ring off, and with one final push, he commands, CUM NOW! They both reach their release.
After waiting a few minutes to let Brian’s legs be in a more comfortable position while massaging them, he unfastens his arms. He guides him to the couch and helps him lie down with his head in his lap. After about ten minutes, Brian says, “Let's take a nap in bed, then it’s your turn.”
When evening comes they are more relaxed, though the concerns are still there. They order in a variety of Thai dishes to eat, then watch some movies.
_________________
After two weeks, Dale meets with Brian and Justin about the hacking.
Dale, Ted, Carl, Brian, and Justin meet at Britin.
Dale says, “They set up a ghost account, using your info. They managed to fix it so you were rerouted to that fake account. You need to get with the bank and make a new account.”
“We have an IP address of the computer.” Carl grimaced. “You might want to sit down, Brian.”
“For Pete’s sake just tell me,” Brian says.
“It’s Red Cape, Brian. It’s Michael,” Carl says sadly, shaking his head.
Justin asks, “Do you want to talk to Michael or... hmmm, you think we could bug the shop?”
Carl thinks a minute, “That should work, but how do we accomplish that?”
“I’ve got it!” Ted exclaims. “Hunter is watching the shop for Michael this weekend in spite of their differences lately. He’ll be there alone. I’m sure Hunter will plant the bug for us.”
It took a couple of days to set things up, plus the FBI was in on this as it was a federal crime. Cynthia and Ted gave Brian and Justin some privacy to adjust to what they’ve been told. With Brian and Justin’s permission, they unfroze the account, but only allowed a maximum of $750,00 to be taken out. Once arrests were made, the money would be replaced.
Starting Monday, FBI agents were in place close to Red Cape and all conversations were being monitored. They’d been told that Brad would visit Michael, but so far nothing. But then they heard talk of a Comic-Con the next weekend, and that Brad and Michael planned to go. On Thursday, Carl happened to be in the diner along with Brian and Justin. Carl received a call that Brad had entered the shop and that Kip Thomas was let in through the backdoor. They knew this was it.
Carl, along with Detective Brandon Greene, Detective Tucker Rand, and four FBI agents met at the backdoor of the shop. Two more agents were just out of sight at the front. They listened as they made the transfer of $300,000 dollars. Dale had obtained Brad and Kip’s account numbers, as well as Michael’s. $100,000 was placed in each account.
Then they heard Michael laugh and say, “Ha, Brian, you refused to give me money for my store. Now I’ve got it anyway.”
Having already entered the back of the shop, the agents along with Brian, Carl, Brandon, and Tucker, swiftly went to Michael’s office where the men were at.
“Not so fast, Novotny!” Brian said and stepped back.
The lawmen entered the office.
“What the fuck? Who are you? You have no business back here. Carl? What’s going on? Ma won’t like this at all,” Michael blubbered out.
They quickly cuffed the three men and read them their rights after making them transfer the money back. They confiscated the computer and the receipts from their transaction.
Justin, Deb, Ted, and Dale were outside the store when they brought them out. Before she could be stopped, Deb stepped forward and smacked Michael so hard he hit the ground.
“You’re dead to me, Michael! I’m so ashamed of you. I may have spoiled you, but you made yourself the greedy manipulative person you are now.”
The agents loaded the three men in their cars and drove off.
Deb felt someone’s hand on her arm and turning, she saw Brian with tears running down his face; he enfolded her in his arms. Justin wrapped his arms around both of them and let them cry.
Brian and Justin took Deb to her house where they stayed with her until Carl got home. Deb had quit crying, although she was still fuming and pacing in between cooking.
“How’re you doing, Red? They’ll be arraigned tomorrow. I really don’t think you should be there.” He sat, and then pulled her to sit on his lap, holding her tightly.
“No Carl, I, no we, should be there. Brian, I want you and Justin to be there with me. One of you on each side. We have to be composed and let him see no emotion at all. I texted Ted and he will handle Kinnetik. Oh, I’m so glad Vic isn’t here to see this. He’d be so ashamed.”
“Maw, besides Carl, you have me, Ted, and Emmett. You’re our second mom. In fact, you know I consider you my only mother. Justin has always called you a second mom as well. We all love you.”
Shedding a few tears, Deb patted Brian’s cheek.” Thank you, son. Yes, you are my son as much as Michael was. We’ll get through this together. Maybe it will teach him a lesson and he’ll grow up finally.”
The next day Deb, Carl, Brian, and Justin were in the courtroom. Carl, plus Brandon and Tucker sat together as they would testify. The defendants entered the courtroom. Brad and Kip scowled at Brian and Justin. Michael tried his puppy dog eyes and managed a few tears. When no one looked at him, he tried to cross his arms, but couldn’t because of the cuffs. It surprised all of them when all three pled guilty. Kip, being the lead instigator, got twenty years. Brad got twenty as well as he was the one doing the transfer of funds. Since it was his first offense, Michael got eight years. Chance of parole in five years. Neither Kip nor Brad got a chance of parole. Brad and Kip were sent to prison in New York in maximum security. Michael was in minimum security at Allegheny State Prison.
At home later, Carl said that Michael pled guilty because he saw how much he had hurt his mother. She said, “Maybe, but he would have gotten more years if he didn’t, right?”
“True, but let’s give him the benefit of doubt in this.” He hugged Deb.
_________________
That weekend, Deb was determined to have a family dinner. All the boys and their spouses were there. Ben and Hunter were commanded to be there. Melanie, Lindsey, and the kids were also there.
When Lindsey had a chance, she started in on Justin about coming home from New York.
“Lindsey Anne Peterson-Marcus!” Brian yelled. “How the hell is he supposed to paint with his hand the way it is?”
“He could put more money back if he went on and painted. Then he could retire,” Lindsey scoffed.
“What? He could have five years at the most painting pictures, or twenty years working in the art department at Kinnetik. Justin can handle a lot more than just the art side of the ads. Lay off of Justin! There will be no second chances for you, Lindsey.”
“Well, I never!” She looked down, then peered up through her lashes with tears in her eyes. “How could you speak to me that way? I’m your son’s mother!”
“You’re the uterus that carried him. Nothing more. The girl I met at college, whom I saw as a sister, is no longer there. You nag and berate everyone to get your way. I discussed this with Melanie, and she agreed with me. You will NOT cause trouble. We’ve had enough dealing with Michael and his schemes! Push us, and Justin and I, along with Melanie, will be raising Gus. You will NOT teach him or Jenny how to be manipulative and greedy like you are.”
“Brian!” She gasps.
“IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!” He got right in her face.
“Mel?” Lindsey’s voice wobbled, as she turned her tear-filled eyes toward her.
“I’m sorry, Lindsey. Brian, Justin, and I have discussed this at length. I agree with what Brian said. Think of someone besides yourself for a change. If you are that unhappy with me, perhaps you should seek Sam out. Oh, that’s right. You can’t. You were with him in New York. He told you to go home as he was tired of your demands. Then he announced his engagement the next day. You really should watch who is around you. I received a call from a friend who was there and heard the whole thing. It’s up to you, Lindsey. Straighten up, get a job, and help me pay bills. Or look elsewhere. Who knows, maybe you’ll find another sucker. But Gus stays with me.”
With that, she walked over and linked her arm through Brian’s, smiling smugly at her.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Chapter beta'd by BritinManor
Chapter End Notes:
I’m sure Lindsey will be plotting to get her way.