Carl was back at the station now, having made sure the couple had made it to the hospital. He was sitting at his desk with a large map of the city sprawled out over it, and a sheet of paper in his hand. The paper held all of the addresses owned by James Stockwell, which had been faxed over by Patrice. Luckily for him, the list was short.

There was his home, the apartment, an office building in the financial district, and a warehouse on the outskirts of the city limits. Carl knew he had to have taken them there. He found it on the map, circled it, and quickly plotted the fastest course. He then ran back out of the office, letting dispatch know he was on their heels and to send back-up.

Realizing he was free to roam the room, Justin stood and began feeling his way around. He knew he had to work fast – Stockwell was on the fence about killing him, but he wasn’t going to count on his indecision for long. Reichert could very easily convince him to end it at any moment.

He felt along the wall, which was cold to the touch and metallic. He found the room he was in was small, only about ten paces in each direction. He didn’t feel any furniture or a way to turn on any lights. He then felt along the floor for anything that might be of use. It was much easier now that he could move around. He wasn’t expecting to find anything, but when he reached the back corner his hands fell on a thin metal rod.

He gripped it in his left hand and pulled it up to find it sat heavily in his grip. He stood and swung it a bit, but with him only using one hand it was unruly and difficult to wield. So, he forced his right hand open and clenched it around the base of the rod, just like a baseball bat.

The motion wasn’t lost on him and he shivered as images of that night started flashing in his head.

‘You look hot Daphne. I’d fuck you.’

‘You…You too, Brian.’

‘I thought you wouldn’t be caught dead in a room full of eighteen year olds.’

‘I’ve come to recapture my lost youth.’

Justin gasped as he could see Brian’s face, spinning and twirling. He felt lighter than air as Brian danced with him in the middle of the room. He couldn’t see anyone else, because they weren’t there. It was only him and Brian. They were the only ones who mattered.

Brian’s eyes seemed brighter – clearer – than they’d ever been before. He looked into them as he was spun, and dipped, and lifted. They said only one thing, and Justin could see it clearly in his mind as if it happened yesterday. ‘I love you.’

There were no words, but the meaning was clear. Justin suddenly felt the same emotion he felt that night. Wholeness. For the first time in his life he felt complete.

More memories came – darker ones.

‘We gave them a night they’ll never forget.’

‘Me neither.’

Brian hesitated before kissing him, because it was different than all of their kisses before. It was special. That kiss meant more than all of the hundreds of other kisses they’d shared. It was as if he was asking for permission before taking the next step forward.

Then, Brian took a step back.

Brian was getting back into his Jeep.

‘Later.’

‘Later…’

He turned and walked away, swing his hands from the scarf around his neck. He remembered thinking how he couldn’t wait to get back inside and get Daphne home…So he could get to ‘later’ with Brian.

Then –

‘JUSTIN!’

He had turned in time to see the blur of the bat. Then there was nothing.

Justin panted and used the pole to help support him. The memories continued to swirl around in his mind like a whirlpool. Flashes of people’s faces, Daphne’s smile, Brian’s eyes. They all began jumbling together.

He let out a whimper and fell to his knees. His hands pressed against his head. To stop himself from going crazy, he picked one image and held onto it. It was Brian, holding him securely against him as he spun them both in a small circle. He was in the air, but that wasn’t why he felt weightless.

The light was shining on Brian’s face and his smile was broad.

Justin smiled thinking about it.

‘He loves me.’ He thought, holding onto the memory as tightly as he could. ‘Brian loves me.’

Justin could hear footsteps pounding down the hallway. They must have realized they hadn’t tied him up. Justin looked towards the door, remembering where it was even in the darkness. He stood, gripped the bar in both hands once more, and stood next to the door with it raised – ready to strike.

‘Fuck Reichert .’ He thought as he forced his right hand back around the bar, refusing to feel the pain as it throbbed in protest.

‘Fuck Stockwell.’ He tightened his gaze on the door as it swung open and bathed the room in light once more.

‘And fuck Hobbs.’ He swung.

He felt it hit and heard the cry from one of them. He didn’t wait to find out which. He bolted from the room, jumping over the body of the man he hit. He felt a hand reach out to grab him, but he slid past without it finding purchase. He sprinted down the hallway and was led into a large, open warehouse. He didn’t stop running even as his eyes searched desperately for a door outside.

“No!” James shouted behind him, and a shot ricocheted off the floor near his feet. Justin flinched, but he didn’t stop running. On the other side of the open room he saw a door. He ran towards it and threw all of his weight into it. It burst open and he fell onto the ground on the other side.

Ignoring the suddenly pain in his shoulder, he pushed himself back up and began running barefoot around the building. He figured it must have been some kind of steel yard, because he could see long rows of metal rods lined up on the ground. He ran around them as they were taller than he was and would stop the bullets from hitting him. It seemed Stockwell had finally made his choice.

He continued running but found he was in a network of warehouses and he couldn’t find the way out of them. He took turns and hoped eventually he would find a way out and back into the city, but every turn he took just led him to another row of warehouses.

Even with his adrenalin pumping, Justin knew he couldn’t run for much farther. He’d never been athletic and had spent the last few months holed up in the loft – he was no runner. He made another turn and then gasped in shock. There was a road, leading away from the warehouses. But it was gated up with a chainlink fence and barbed wire on the top. Justin ran to it anyways and started tugging on it desperately. “No, no, no, no!” He shouted angrily.

He was so close to freedom!

He panted and turned, trying to find another way out, but Stockwell ran up behind him with his gun out and pointed at him. Justin stopped, panting heavily. He continued to look around for a way out, but he saw nothing. Warehouses had him pinned in on either side and the gate was locked behind him.

Justin licked his lips nervously as his eyes locked onto Stockwell’s. “Don’t do this.” He pleaded loudly, his voice sounding flat now that they were outside.

“It’s too late, Kid. Things got out of hand. I’m sorry you have to pay for it.” James cocked the gun and Justin put his hands up defensively. He took a step back out of instinct and he ran into the chain link.

“You can’t run from it forever. You’re always going to be gay!” Justin exclaimed and it stunned Stockwell. So much so he even lowered the gun.

He glared at Justin though. “I’m not gay! I just…I like the way it feels. You know what! Fuck you! I don’t have to explain anything to you!”

Justin shook his head slowly. “The person who did this to me,” Justin raised his cramped right hand. “He’s hiding too. And one day, he’s going to realize there isn’t a reason to and he’s going to regret what he did to me. He’s just afraid…Just like you. But things will be better if you just accept who you are.” Justin continued, gaining a little confidence as the gun stayed pointed to the ground. “I know you didn’t mean to kill the hustler. And you’re afraid that if people find out about it, they’ll realize who you really are. That’s why you covered it up completely, isn’t it? You could have just told people you found him that way - no one would have questioned you. But they would have wondered how you found a gay hustler.”

“I worked too hard to get to where I am. And I love my family!” Stockwell insisted bitterly, tapping his heart. Justin nodded.

“I’m sure you do. But you can’t hide this forever. That urge is always going to be there. That desire…Someone tried to beat it out of me and it’s still there.” Justin reminded and he could see Stockwell’s eyes go to his hand again.

“…Maybe.” Stockwell said, slowly looking back at Justin. Something in the man’s eyes had changed, though. It seemed off. Like he’d made a decision that Justin wasn’t going to like. He braced himself. “That may be. But I can’t let you go, Taylor. You’d ruin everything I’ve worked for. Decades of planning – ruined! I’m not willing to let that happen!” Stockwell exclaimed and the gun came back up.

Justin closed his eyes tightly and held his breath as he prepared for the shot to fire.

“Freeze!”

Justin was confused because he already was frozen. He peeked his eyes open and saw a familiar man approaching James with his own gun pointed at him. Justin wondered how he knew him, and then almost immediately realized that was the same cop who showed up the night he’d seen the murder. Justin had been too out of it to really get a good look at him, and he didn’t remember his name, but he didn’t care. He was here and that was all that mattered.

“Put the gun down, Jim.” He said and Stockwell turned towards him, even though he kept the gun pointed at Justin. “I’ve got units on their way here right now. This is over.” He spoke calmly and evenly, and Justin couldn’t help but smile a bit.

He watched Stockwell’s hand shake a bit, then he relented and lowered the gun. Justin let out a huge sigh of relief and watched the detective walk forward to grab it. “Come here, Son.” He said and Justin didn’t hesitate to jog over to him, ignoring the fact that his feet were cut up and cold. As he walked by him Stockwell looked into his eyes, then frowned deeply and turned away.

Justin was surprised that he felt sorry for him. He felt like he should say something, but no more words came to mind. So, he remained quiet and stood by the detective as he holstered his gun and started taking out his hand cuffs.

The shot was so sudden and unexpected Justin’s heart stopped beating and he fell to the ground. When his heart started again he saw that the detective had fallen as well. He looked to Stockwell who was staring towards their left. Kenneth was there with a gun held up towards them. He had an angry, red welt on his face from where Justin had hit him.

“Ken! Thank god, come on. Let’s -.” James didn’t get to finish as Reichert shot him three times in the chest. Justin covered his mouth in shock and watched as James fell, almost in slow motion. He hit the ground with a thud and his arm hit Justin’s leg. He scrambled backwards to stop it from touching him.

“You…” Kenneth’s voice was low and menacing. His eyes were locked onto Justin like a predator. He stalked towards him and Justin was immobilized by fear. “This is all your fault!” He exclaimed and grabbed the front of Justin’s shirt. He threw him against the wall of the nearest warehouse and leaned against him. Justin cringed as he could smell his poor breath. “You should have just minded your own business. He would have been mine!”

Justin was slammed against the wall again and his head hit it, causing his vision to blur slightly. In the back of his mind he wondered how many more hits his head could handle before it decided it wasn’t worth the effort. He could feel the cold metal of the gun press against his side and he tried to even his breath so he didn’t have another panic attack.

“There’s no one left to save you.” Kenneth whispered darkly into his ear before running his tongue up the side of Justin’s neck. He closed his eyes and shivered as he withheld a gag of disgust.

The gun moved up from his side and to his head. Kenneth let him go and he fell an inch or so onto the ground, but he couldn’t move. He looked into the man’s eyes, because he wasn’t going to cower anymore. And when he heard the shot he knew it was over.