Past Tense

Chapter 15


Over the next several days, Brian felt his heart race whenever the phone rang or Cynthia buzzed him at the office. He would deny it to all and sundry, but he was ever hopeful that Sam Spade would come up with some information on Kip Thomas or at least on Kevin Thomas if they weren’t the same person.

Brian would also have been happy to hear what Sam had found out about the John Kinney named as the father on Chase Hammond’s birth certificate. This information had taken a bit of a backseat to the Kip Thomas investigation, but Brian still wanted to get that settled. He knew some small part of him was kind of hoping, in a non-defined, non-conventional sort of way that Chase Hammond might be his half brother. He wasn’t exactly sure why he felt that way, but he liked Chase. Chase was a normal, interesting, smart guy, and Brian liked him, wanted to get to know him better. Brian couldn’t help but think that if dear old dad, Jack Kinney, wasn’t Chase’s biological father, then in all likelihood he would never see Chase Hammond again.

In that regard, Brian was very incorrect. The Thursday before Michael’s party, Cynthia buzzed to tell Brian that Chase Hammond was on line one. Brian picked up immediately.

“Chase, what can I do for you?”

“I…” Chase began but then hesitated. “I’ve got some information about John Kinney.”

“You do?” Brian asked with the crease in his brow growing deeper as he spoke. He had expected to hear any information about John Kinney from his detective, not from Chase Hammond, but then Sam Spade was busy with Brian’s other investigation. “What have you found out?”

“My investigator has discovered that both John Kinney and Marjorie Adams are deceased. They are the couple in that picture your mother gave you. They’re my biological parents, as far as my investigator can determine. Your father is not my father.”

Brian let out a long breath. That truly was not what he had been hoping for. “I see,” Brian said slowly. He wasn’t sure exactly how to respond to Chase’s news.

“I see you’re underwhelmed by this. I guess you got your wish. I won’t be bothering you or any of the exalted Kinney clan again.”

“Wait!” Brian said quickly. He knew Chase was about to hang up on him.

“Why should I?” Chase demanded. “You didn’t want me to have anything to do with your family, and now I certainly won’t.”

“How the fuck do you know what I wanted?” Brian said anger evident in his tone. He hated it when people told him how he was feeling about something.

“I … What do you mean?”

“I mean that I … I’ve kinda got to like you,” Brian said uncertainly. It wasn’t his usual practice to reveal his feelings, but he sensed that if he didn’t say something now he would never get the chance. “We may not be brothers,” he continued, hoping he was choosing the right words, “but we’re still related – second cousins thrice removed or some such shit.”

Chase laughed into the phone, and Brian was relieved to hear genuine humor in the laugh, not sarcasm or skepticism. “Yeah, I guess we are … distantly related. And for some mysterious reason I kinda like you too.”

It was Brian’s turn to chuckle. “You are among the very few who have ever chosen to tell me that. Most people just detest me outright.”

“I don’t feel that way at all,” Chase admitted.

“Then why shouldn’t we be friends?” Brian asked wondering what Chase’s response would be.

“Damned if I know why not.”

“Good, then it’s settled; we’ll keep in touch.”

“Sure,” Chase said. He wasn’t sure how much that statement could be relied upon, but he would like to spend time with Brian Kinney now and then.

“Sound like you fucking mean it,” Brian ordered.

“It was you that I thought didn’t really mean it. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, as they say.”

“I’ve taken that road many times,” Brian assured him, “but I do want to keep in touch with you.”

Chase smiled. He wanted that too. “Then we will.”

“As a matter of fact,” Brian began, “my best friend is having a party this Saturday. Do you think you could drive over for it?”

“I might be able to,” Chase said, a smile lighting up his face. It seemed like Brian really was serious about them spending some time together. “But shouldn’t you ask your friend if it’s all right to bring another guest?”

“Trust me, my friend will be thrilled. I told him all about you.”

“You did?”

“Yes.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That you might be my half brother, but I didn’t care if you were or not. You’re a nice guy.”

“Oh shit! The curse of the nice guy label.”

It was Brian’s turn to laugh heartily. “Well, there are worse things I could have called you.”

“Oh yeah, like what?”

“A true Kinney. That’s a label truly to be denied,” Brian said with a chuckle.

“Will some of your family be at this party?”

“Yes.”

“Your mother?”

Brian snorted. “Fuck no, and we need to get to know each other a lot better before I subject you to good old Joan.”

“So who will you be introducing me to?”

“Come on Saturday and you’ll find out.”

“Okay, it’s a date,” Chase said.

Brian chuckled. “Yeah, a date.” Then he cut the connection.

He sat thinking about his conversation with Chase. It was too bad they weren’t more closely related, but they could still be family, hopefully the kind of blood family that Brian had always wished for. He turned to his computer and shot an email off to Chase telling him the loft address and what time to meet him there on Saturday before they would go to the party at Michael’s.



*****



“Detective Coltrane?” Brian said into the phone. He had been surprised when Cynthia told him who was on the line.

“Mr. Kinney, we’ve made an arrest in your case.”

“An arrest? When? Who?”

“I’d rather not discuss this on the phone. Can you come down to the station?”

Brian frowned. Couldn’t this guy just tell him what the fuck was going on? “I guess I can come down there, but can’t you tell me who you arrested?”

“I’d rather do it in person.”

“All right, give me a couple of hours to clear my calendar.”

“I’ll be waiting for you,” Coltrane promised.

Brian set the phone down and thought for a minute. He couldn’t quite comprehend why Coltrane wouldn’t tell him who they had arrested. That should be simple enough. And how had Coltrane made the arrest when it was Sam Spade who had really been working on the case. It must have something to do with Kip or Kevin Thomas though, since it hadn’t been long since Brian informed Sam of the strange coincidence of the names. Brian was tempted to call Sam, but he had to tie up a few loose ends at the office and it would take him at least a half hour to get to the police station.

There was someone he should call though. He picked up the phone and hit the familiar number. Justin picked up right away.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Justin asked. It wasn’t like Brian to call him at work.

“I just had a call from Detective Coltrane. They made an arrest in my case.”

“Fuck! That’s great. Who did they arrest?”

“Coltrane wouldn’t tell me.”

“That’s weird.”

“I thought so too. Anyway, I’m meeting Coltrane at the police station in two hours. Want to join me?”

Justin smiled. “I do have a job you know…but of course, I’ll be there, even if I have to feign illness.”

“Do what you have to do,” Brian said before he hung up.



*****



“Hey,” Justin called as he saw Brian approaching the entrance to the police station after he had parked his car.

“Hey,” Brian responded. “Are you ready for this?”

Justin nodded, before he opened the door to the police station and went inside. After going through the desk sergeant, waiting for a few phone calls to be made, and eliciting some muttered oaths from Brian, they were ushered into Coltrane’s office.

“Glad you could make it,” the detective said.

“Yeah,” Brian responded, as he saw Sam Spade sitting in front of Coltrane’s desk. “What’s going on?” Brian had a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach that he wasn’t going to enjoy this meeting.

“Thanks to a tip from you, Sam contacted me to check out Kevin Thomas aka Kip Thomas,” Coltrane said.

“So they are the same person?” Brian asked.

“One and the same,” Coltrane replied. “We found Kevin Thomas at his apartment. He was packing and in possession of an airline ticket to Brazil for tonight.”

“He was taking off with Brian’s money,” Justin said with a funny look on his face.

“Looks that way,” Coltrane replied.

“So, did you get any of my money back?” Brian wanted to know.

Coltrane shook his head. “We’re still looking into that, but he has next to nothing in his own bank account. I think it may be stashed in offshore accounts that he could access from Rio.”

“Shit!” Brian reacted.

“The Philadelphia police brought him here earlier today. I’ve been interrogating him ever since. He’s a bit of a mess.”

“He’ll be a worse mess when I rip his fucking balls off. Where the fuck is he?” Brian demanded. There was no humor in his voice. He started towards the office door.

Sam and Coltrane stifled laughs. But it was Justin who quickly grabbed Brian’s arm and shook his head. They needed more information. Physical confrontation would probably just make matters worse. Brian stopped and looked into Justin’s eyes.

“Calm down,” Justin whispered. “We need to hear what they’ve found out.”

After a long pause, Brian nodded and turned back towards the other two men.

“As much as I’m sure that Detective Coltrane would like to give you permission to de-ball our culprit, I don’t think he’s allowed to,” Sam said. “But it sure would save the state of Pennsylvania the cost of a trial.”

“Except that you’d be up for malicious mischief with intent to maim,” Coltrane added with a straight face.

Who knew Coltrane had a sense of humor, Brian thought. “So why did you want me here?” he asked. “You could have told me this on the phone.”

“Sam has been looking into Kip or Kevin’s dealings ever since you gave him the tip that they might be the same person,” Coltrane told them.

Everyone looked at Sam.

Sam smiled slightly and started his story. “After your call, Brian, I made a quick trip to Philly. It didn’t take me long to find Barton and MacLean. I managed to ask a few pertinent questions and found out that Kevin Thomas had handed in his resignation a couple of days before. I guess he knew things were starting to close in on him. A few people I talked to at the ad agency said that Thomas had been on a downward spiral for months. Losing the Hammond Foods account recently had been the last straw. There was widespread speculation that Thomas was going to be fired. Several people suspected that Thomas was using cocaine. So, a lot of your money may have gone up his nose.”

“Fuck!” Brian muttered. “Did you find out how he was able to get all my credit card accounts transferred to him?”

“He set up an alternate identity as Brian Kinney in Philadelphia,” Coltrane explained. “The Philadelphia police found a lot of information on Thomas’ computer.”

“But how…”

“We thought you could explain to us how Thomas might have got access to some of your information,” Sam said. “Was he ever in your apartment?”

“Loft,” Brian corrected. “Yes, twice. You don’t think he’s been plotting this from the very beginning, do you?”

“From a couple of things he’s said, he seemed to want to be you,” Coltrane added.

“Yeah,” Brian said thoughtfully. “I kind of felt that right from the first time I met him. He was a sneaky bastard.”

“I think he may have helped himself to some information from your loft right at the outset,” Sam supplied. “Did you ever leave him alone there? Even for a few minutes?”

Brian frowned trying to remember. “I … might have gone to the bathroom. He could have been alone for that time.”

“That might have been long enough,” Coltrane said. “One pertinent piece of information would be all he needed to get started.”

“But that was years ago,” Brian said. “How…?”

“Maybe he didn’t need your money back then. Or maybe he just waited till he felt the time was right,” Coltrane said. “Sam indicated Thomas has reasons for wanting revenge against you.”

“Yeah,” Brian said. “But how would he get my passwords?”

“I don’t know,” Coltrane admitted, but we’re working on it.”

“A knock on the office door interrupted them. “We’re moving Thomas to holding,” a police officer informed Coltrane.”

“I want to see the bastard,” Brian exclaimed.

“Stay calm,” Coltrane ordered. “He’ll pass right by here.”

A few moments later a handcuffed Kip Thomas walked through the outer office escorted by two policemen. He glanced up and noticed Brian Kinney staring at him from an office doorway. A look of sheer hatred flooded across his face. Justin moved to stand beside Brian.

“I see you’re still with your blond whore,” Kip yelled at them as one policeman pulled him sharply by the arm. They hustled him towards the stairs. “Justin 17!” Kip yelled with a maniacal smirk on his face, before they escorted him into the stairwell.

“What does that mean?” Coltrane asked.

“I kind of got Kip in a compromising situation when I was 17,” Justin admitted reluctantly.

“And Justin 17 became my password for all my credit cards,” Brian added with a rueful smile.

“It is?” Justin asked with a smile.

“Yeah, and don’t gloat,” Brian commanded.

“Me, never, wouldn’t dream of it,” Justin said, but he found it hard not to smile that Brian had used that as his password.

“Well, that will be another piece of information against Thomas when this comes to trial,” Coltrane said.

“I’d rather have my fucking money,” Brian replied, but they all knew that wasn’t likely to happen.



*****



Saturday night, the sound of the loft’s buzzer announced the arrival of Chase Hammond. Brian pushed the button to release the door, and said, “Top floor.”

Brian looked at himself in the long mirror leaning against the wall. He looked good. “I’d fuck me,” he said to his reflected image. “Justin, Chase is on his way up.”

“Coming, my little pumpkin,” Justin said facetiously.

“Asshole,” Brian reacted, but it made him smile.

“I’ll be right down, stud muffin.”

“None of that ‘stud muffin’ shit when Chase arrives,” Brian ordered trying not to laugh.

“Of course not, mon petit Chicken Wing.”

Brian cracked up. “Will you cut that out!”

“Maybe,” Justin replied. As he appeared at the top of the steps to the bedroom, he sported a mischievous grin.

Brian drew in a sharp breath. Justin seemed to glow in the dim light of the loft. He was dressed in slim camel trousers with a soft caramel colored cashmere sweater that just skimmed his torso. “Maybe we should stay home tonight,” Brian said. “You look good enough to eat.”

“That’s for later,” Justin replied with a beautiful smile.

They both heard the elevator coming up. Brian slid back the loft door, as Chase pushed up the elevator gate.

“Howdy, cuz,” Brian said with a smirk, as he held out his hand for Chase to shake.

“Backatcha,” Chase replied with a chuckle.

“Chase, I’d like you to meet my partner, Justin Taylor.”

“Oh? Was I supposed to bring a date?” Chase asked as he looked from one man to the other.

“Not at all,” Brian quickly replied. He didn’t want Chase to be nervous or feel out of place at the party.

“Nice to meet you, Justin,” Chase said. They shook hands.

“You too,” Justin said with one of his best smiles. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Brian has told me a lot about you.”

“I think we should get going,” Brian said. “We can either take a cab or you can drive,” he said to Chase. “I don’t think we’ll all fit in my Corvette.”

Chase agreed to drive and they were soon at Ben and Michael’s house. All talking ceased and everyone at the party stared at the new face that Brian Kinney, of all people, was bringing to the party. After a brief introduction of Chase by Brian, chatting began once again. Brian steered Chase to the pass through to the kitchen where the bar was set up. They each got a beer and turned to face the room.

“People are staring,” Chase said to Brian. “Am I wearing something inappropriate?”

Brian snorted. “No, look at what Michael has on. That’s inappropriate.” They stared at Michael’s Wonder Woman T-shirt.

“That is … interesting.”

“You have no idea,” Brian said.

“Where have you been hiding this long lost cousin, Mr. Kinney?” Emmett asked as he sashayed up to them.

“Brian merely gave the big queen the evil eye and left him to talk to Chase. Brian headed over to see his son. He picked up Gus who was sitting on the sofa. “Hey, Sonny boy, how do you like the party?”

“They have Cheese Doodles,” Gus said happily as he stuffed one in his mouth.

“Of course they do,” Brian said with a shake of his head. Michael had nothing but the finest of junk foods for his party. “There’s somebody I want you to meet, Gus.”

“Okay, Daddy,” Gus agreed.

Brian carried him over to Chase. “Chase,” Brian said interrupting whatever story Emmett was regaling the man with. “I want to introduce you to my son. This is Gus. Gus, this is my cousin, Chase.”

“Hi,” Gus said shyly. “I like your name.”

“Thanks,” Chase replied with a warm smile. “I like your name too, Gus.”

Gus grinned and then buried his head against Brian’s neck.

“Hey, no Cheese Doodle crap on my sweater,” Brian said.

“Sorry, Daddy,” Gus said.

“It’s okay, Sonny Boy.” Brian ruffled Gus’ hair and then set him down on the floor.

“He’s beautiful, Brian,” Chase said.

“I’m not beautiful,” Gus objected. “I’m a boy. I’m handsome.”

“Right you are, Sonny Boy,” Brian said. He bent over to give Gus a hug. “Go find your mothers.”

“’Kay, Daddy. Come play trains with me soon.”

“I will.”

Gus ran over to his two mothers who had observed the whole encounter.

“Gus lives with his mothers.” Chase nodded.

“Brian, could I have a word?” Ted asked.

“Yes, Theodore. Chase, this is Michael’s husband, Ben,” Brian said as Ben walked by, “in case you don’t remember from when we came in. He’s a professor at Carnegie-Mellon. Maybe he can entertain you with some stories about his writing exploits, while I go see what Theodore needs so desperately.”

Brian and Ted walked into the kitchen where it was quiet.

“Have you heard anything more about Kip Thomas?” Ted asked.

“I talked to Sam Spade this morning. The police have all they need to prosecute, but they’re having a psych assessment done of him first,” Brian stated.

“That bastard isn’t going to get off because he’s mentally deranged, is he?”

“He fucking better not, or I will have his balls.”

“Um, Bri, I was talking to Melanie…”

“And…?”

“She seems to think that we shouldn’t have paid off the credit card companies,” Ted said sheepishly.

“You told her what happened?”

“No, never, Brian,” Ted promised quickly. “I used a hypothetical friend who had had his identity stolen.”

“Of course you did. She fucking better not find out about this, or I will have you murdered,” Brian threatened.

“She won’t, but she said that some people had taken the credit card companies to court, and they had won their cases. They didn’t have to pay,” Ted explained.

“And why didn’t we know this sooner?”

“Sorry,” Ted said looking devastated.

Brian sucked in a breath. “Okay, Theodore, it’s a lot of money, but we’ve got it all worked out, and I’ll hopefully get a bit of money back from whatever Kip has left. And nobody knows anything about this. Right?”

“Right,” Ted said looking up at Brian with relief on his face.

“Good, then let’s leave things the way they are.”

“Sure, Boss, whatever you say.”

Brian walked back out into the living room where he found Justin and Chase in conversation. He walked over to them. “What are you two gabbing about?”

“You,” Justin said with a grin.

“But of course.”

Chase laughed and shook his head. “You are something else, Brian Kinney.”

“Yes, if only they could figure out what.”

“You have a wonderful family and friends,” Chase said as Brian pulled Justin against him.

“I’m beginning to realize that,” Brian said sincerely.

“Aw, you always knew it,” Justin reminded him.

“Twat,” Brian replied, earning a smile from his partner.

“Speaking of family, I guess your mother isn’t here?” Chase asked.

“Here? Yes and no,” Brian replied with his tongue stuck in his cheek.

“What does that mean?”

“My biological mother, Joan, is not here. She wouldn’t be … comfortable with my friends.”

“Oh?”

“But see the woman in the bright red wig over there. That’s Debbie Novotny. She has been my … surrogate mother since I was fourteen.”

“I see. I was hoping I might meet your biological mother tonight. I wanted to thank her for the picture of my biological parents.”

“I’ll be glad to introduce you to her another time,” Brian stated. And he actually meant that he would like Chase to meet his mother. Brian and Joan were getting along much better since they had looked at the family albums together, and Brian had taken Joan out for dinner. He had Chase Hammond to thank for the melting of the ice between them. Joan’s sentences no longer began with a criticism when she talked to him. “But let’s leave that for another day,” Brian added. He wanted Chase to get to know his friends first. “Come with me and I’ll introduce you to Debbie and her husband, and Gus’ mothers.”

“I’d like that very much. I think I’m going to enjoy knowing these people.”

“They take a little getting used to, but they do grow on you … like fungus,” Brian joked.

Chase laughed as he followed Brian over to where Debbie Novotny was sitting holding a baby. He really was glad to meet Brian’s family. He hoped they’d be together many times in the future. Brian was hoping the same thing as he made the introductions.

The end