Brian and Carl stood on the stoop at the address of the stately home on the victim's ID. As they waited for someone to answer the doorbell, they surveyed the well-manicured lawn and perfectly-designed gardens out front. This was unmistakably the home of someone with money and prestige. The news that the two cops were about to pass on to the inhabitants didn't care about money or position. It was devastating for anyone, rich or poor. Neither man looked forward to giving the news either. It had to be done, and then questions had to be asked while memories were fresh. That would be the hardest part. They geared themselves for the encounter as they heard footsteps in the entryway. The door swung open and a bleary-eyed woman who looked out of place in the elegant surroundings stood inside the door looking irritated. 

"Yes....," she spoke out with a slight accent, "....can I help you?"

"Yes you can Ma'am," Carl responded, showing his badge. "I'm sorry to disturb you so early in the morning but are you the lady of the house?"

"Certainly not," the woman responded brusquely. "I'm the housekeeper. You would need to speak to Mrs. Simpson." She eyed the two officers suspiciously. "I'll get her, just wait right here."

The maid indicated the inside of the foyer and the men stepped inside, closing the door behind them. They stood waiting as the dowdy woman left them to take the nearby staircase to the second floor of the house. She disappeared down a long hallway. It was at least ten minutes before they saw a pale, blonde woman in her early forties dressed in an elegant kimono-style robe of silk and lace descending the stairs. She had a rather attractive older man in a smoking jacket following close behind her. They hurried over to the waiting Detectives with a confused look on their faces. 

Carl spoke up without hesitation. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Simpson?" They both nodded. "We need to ask you a few questions. Do you have a son named William Richard Simpson?"

The woman answered with surprise in her voice. Her son was upstairs asleep and was every mother's dream child, never getting into mischief of any kind.

"Yes sir, we do. What is this about? Do you need to speak to Billy about something?"

Carl felt a pang of discomfort. Here came the part he hated most.

"No Ma'am. This is about your son. Do you have any knowledge as to why your son was out in the park during the early hours last night?"

Surprise was clearly evident on the faces of both parents. 

"Don't be ridiculous! My son is upstairs asleep as we speak. He just graduated from high school but he's not the type to prowl around parks in the middle of the night. You must have him confused with some other boy."

Carl fumbled in his pants pocket for the bag containing the young man's ID card. He lifted it up so that the parents could see through the bag. He heard an audible gasp from the mother and saw the stricken look on the father's face. The father finally spoke.

"There must be some mistake. Some kid must have stolen my son's card. But you still haven't told us what this is all about. Did the kid who took Billy's card do something illegal?"

"No Sir," Carl answered. "Before I give you any more information, could you please go upstairs and check to see if your son is there. We'll wait right here."

It dawned on Carl that Mr. Simpson could be right. The boy in the park could easily have been someone else. The boy had been injured so badly that it was hard to recognize him from the photo although he had the right build. If that was the situation, this case just became much harder. He passed on his thoughts to Brian as the woman and her husband went upstairs hurriedly. A couple of minutes passed and then both men knew what the answer would be as to whether young Billy was upstairs. The look on Mr. and Mrs. Simpson's faces said it all. They hurried over to where the Detectives were still standing. 

"He's not in his room," the mother announced perplexed. "Please tell us what this is about."

Carl cleared his throat. Brian looked on sympathetically. He was glad the task of breaking the news to them had been taken on by his partner.

"I'm sorry to inform you but your son was found in the park this morning and he's been taken to Memorial Hospital."

Carl stopped speaking when he heard the mother let out a groan and start to buckle under the fear that overwhelmed her. He waited until her husband had steadied her and then continued. 

"We need to ask some questions so that you can get to the hospital. I'm sure your son will want you there as soon as possible."

"Can't this wait Officer...?"

"Detective Carl Horvath and this is Detective Brian Kinney, and no it can't wait. I'm sorry but the sooner we get some information the better are our chances of finding out what happened."

"Oh my God, yes...what did happen? Please tell us!" the young man's mother begged.

"He had been beaten by unknown assailants, but that is all we know right now. We haven't been able to find an eye witness yet, but we did find his cell phone. There was a message on it that might help to identify who he was supposed to meet in the park. Apparently that is why he was out there when the attack occurred. Of course we don't know yet if he was lured there on purpose or was chosen randomly. Let me show you the message and see if you can give us any help."

Brian pulled the phone out of his pocket and passed it to the couple. They read the text and then shook their heads. Tears were forming in Mrs. Simpson's eyes. It was obvious that she was thinking the worse and Brian wished he could reassure her that her son would be alright.

"Do you know anyone with those initials?" Brian inquired.

"Not that I can think of," the couple answered in unison.

Just then Mr. Simpson turned to his wife and spoke.

"That message sounds like it could have something to do with the big Prom last night. Maybe he met someone there. We need to talk to Jillian."

"Who is Jillian?" Carl asked.

"That's our daughter. She's Billy's twin sister. She was with him all last night until they got home. I'll go wake her up right now."

"That's a good idea. Maybe she can tell us who this JT is," Carl agreed.

Mr. Simpson headed up the stairs while his wife ushered the Detectives into a large sitting room off the foyer. She took a seat on the divan while nervously twisting her hands in her lap. The men smiled sympathetically at her, but it was obvious her mind was on her son and she simply couldn't muster up a smile in return. Long minutes passed as Brian and Carl stood with their backs to the door. They turned around as they heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Mr. Simpson entered the room with a slight figure just behind him. 

As the father stepped aside the Detectives got a good look at the young lady who was standing there rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The moment she looked up Brian felt a sharp stab in his chest. He almost gasped out loud. He had seen this girl only the night before. He would never forget her face and the way she was almost a clone of the pretty boy that Justin had asked to dance at the Prom the previous night. In a flash of disturbing clarity Brian knew that the girl was going to tell them the initials on the cell phone message stood for Justin Taylor...but that wasn't possible. Brian knew better than anyone that his young lover had never sent a message to Billy Simpson and had no plans for meeting in a park at night. He wanted to pull Carl aside and talk to him, but the older man was already questioning the young lady.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Miss, but did your father explain what has happened?"

"Not exactly," she answered in a timid little voice. "He just said that Billy got hurt last night after he snuck out of the house to go and meet someone." Her voice suddenly grew stronger. "But that isn't possible, you know. My brother isn't into late night rendezvous'. He's too shy to even ask someone for a date."

Brian realized he needed to ask an important question, even if it disturbed the family.

"Excuse me, Miss, but this is important. It could have something to do with why your brother was attacked. You're his sister so you would probably be the one person to know the truth. Is there any chance your brother is gay?"

He looked quickly to see how the parents would react. Neither of them looked surprised. That would make things easier. The girl hesitated but saw her father nod his head and then turned back to Brian.

"Yes, he is, but that has nothing to do with how he acts. Like I said, he has never even asked anyone out on a date or had a boyfriend in his entire life. So why do you think that has anything to do with what is going on?"

The young lady had become emboldened by her defense of her brother. Brian respected that. He had the feeling he could be direct with her.

"We suspect that this is a gay bashing. You may have read in the paper that we have had a number of those for quite a few months now."

Carl interrupted. "The thing is," he added, "that this doesn't quite fit the pattern. Usually the victims have been easily identifiable as gay because of where they have been hanging out and with whom. Your brother doesn't fit the profile. However, he did get a text on his cell phone from someone asking him to meet up in the park. We were wondering if you might know who the person is. All we have are initials."

"I can't imagine who would ask him to meet like that. What are the initials?"

"JT," Carl stated.

Brian held his breath as the two men waited for her response. It didn't take her long to come back with an answer.

"I can't swear to it but that could be a classmate of ours. His name is Justin Taylor. We all graduated together and we spent a little time with him at the Prom. Justin is gay too and he actually asked Billy to dance with him...."

"What!", came the surprised voice of her mother. "Why did he do that in public? He knows what a conservative place that school is."

Brian felt sorry for the girl. He could remember how it had looked like she was encouraging her brother to accept Justin's dance invitation. He started to say something when she interrupted him.

"It's my fault, damn it! I was tired of always seeing Billy sitting on the sidelines and missing out on the fun. He's had a crush on Justin for a long time and so when Justin asked him to dance I knew he really wanted to. But I don't understand any of this. Justin is a really nice guy. I know he didn't ask Billy to meet him in order for Billy to get hurt. That isn't the kind of thing he would do."

"Detective," the father interrupted. "Is there really anything else that can't wait for a little bit. I know that we need to get to the hospital. You haven't told us how bad it is but I get the feeling our son needs us right now!"

Carl felt their fears and his heart went out to them. 

"No, that will do for now but we need to stay in touch. I'm sure there will be a lot more questions and you'll want to know how the investigation is going. Here's my card. You can call me anytime you think of something that might be important or just want to ask me anything. My partner will be available too. His number is on the card below mine. Before you leave, could you give us an address for this Justin Taylor?"

Brian listened as Jillian told the Detectives what street Justin lived on. She didn't have the exact house number but described the house. Brian didn't need the number of the house. All he needed was the chance to talk to Carl before they moved on to see Justin.

They said their goodbyes and walked outside. Carl stopped in front of his car before getting in. Brian stood next to him. He wasn't looking forward to what he was about to reveal. He didn't care what Carl would think about his being gay but he was concerned for Justin. He knew Justin had nothing to do with the bashing. He had the best alibi on the planet. What really scared him was that someone had probably lured young Billy to the park using Justin's identity. That didn't bode well for Justin. Whoever had done this evil deed obviously knew who Justin was. That thought chilled Brian to the very marrow of his bones. 

"Brian," Carl interrupted his thoughts, "what's up? You've seemed distracted for a while now. I know you used to work in this part of town. Do you know any of these people?"

"No, not the Simpson's but I do know the Taylors. I have something to tell you Carl and you are not going to like it. I think this Justin Taylor is a dead end for the investigation."

"Why's that?" Carl asked curiously.

"Because I know the family....and Justin in particular. Let's just say that I know he had nothing to do with the bashing or with Billy being in the park last night."

"And just how could you possibly know that?"

Brian didn't hesitate any further.

"I know that Carl because Justin was with me all night. As a matter of fact he was with me from the moment he left the Prom until I got your call this morning."

Carl's face showed his surprise, but he was professional enough not to express his feelings.

"What are you not saying Brian?"

"I'm saying that Justin Taylor is a very good friend of mine and we spent the entire night celebrating his graduation. I know he's a lot younger than me but he's over eighteen and can legally choose who he spends time with, in case you were wondering. Look Carl, I know this doesn't help but you can eliminate Justin as a suspect in any way. I know he had nothing to do with any of this, but we now have a major clue. Whoever did send that message to Billy obviously knew about the Prom and the dance that the two of them had. That narrows down the field of possibilities considerably. Of course, that is if JT does stand for Justin Taylor and not someone his sister doesn't know about."

Carl had to agree although he wasn't too happy to hear that his partner was messing around with such a young kid. He just prayed that their relationship wasn't that old. Brian could get in serious trouble if he had been having a sexual relationship with an underage boy. Right now, however, their priority was to gather more information. Brian's thoughts on the perpetrator made sense. It was something that needed a lot more investigation. He made up his mind quickly. 

"Okay Brian, you've got a good point. We'll discuss your 'friendship' later but right now we need to work on the case. You need to talk to this Justin and see if he has any insight on who would hate Billy Simpson enough to hurt him and then try to implicate him in it. I'll head to the hospital first and see if there is anything new I can find out there. We can meet back at the office after that and compare notes."

Brian nodded his agreement. He felt relief that Carl wasn't in the mood to grill him any further about Justin. He had far more important things on his mind to worry about. He had an unshakable feeling that Justin was a part of what had happened in the park last night, and it scared the veteran cop. He had a sense of urgency that almost sucked the breath from his lungs. All he wanted to do was get back to Justin's house and make sure the beautiful blond was safe. Only then could he breathe normally again.

To be continued.......................................